OK Jiffy Lube Go'ers, let's have it.........

[allucaneatbuffett]

Listened last night online, sounded like a good set list. Can anyone who went last night shed some light on how it was? Did it look like alot of empty seats? How as the traffic getting in, and on 66!! Any tailgating at all? Were cops riding around inspecting everything? Any people walking around verbally boycotting buying anything in that place?

Once you are up and had a cup of coffee, tell us about it.. It really pained me not being there.

[PA Parrot]

Yeah!!! Another Bristow thread!

[allucaneatbuffett]

Yeah!!! Another Bristow thread!

Sorry you are so upset If you don't like the threads, don't click on them...

Some of us that couldn't go, or didn't want to, would like to here some of the details around the show.

[surfpirate]

I'm going to go out on a limb here
and suggest that those details
are being discussed in several other
threads. All you got to do is click.

[Saltx3]

Yeah!!! Another Bristow thread!

Sorry you are so upset If you don't like the threads, don't click on them...

Some of us that couldn't go, or didn't want to, would like to here some of the details around the show.

I don't always speak for my husband (PA Parrot) but I'm thinking this was not to be construed as a mean comment. He can correct me if I'm wrong

In fact, we were already there for the 8/27 show when the annoucement was made to reschedule. Neither of us could take 2 more days from work to attend the show last night so we cashed our tickets in. However, in all honesty, we are not terribly upset that we missed it this year because of all the hoopla.

[LIPH]

Yeah!!! Another Bristow thread!

Sorry you are so upset If you don't like the threads, don't click on them...

Some of us that couldn't go, or didn't want to, would like to here some of the details around the show.

I think his point was, there are already multiple threads about last night's show. Questions about it could easily have been asked in any of them. Your mileage may, and obviously does, vary.

[allucaneatbuffett]

ok. sorry. I just did some poking around and saw other threads. to be honest, whenever I get on here, I just go to this general discussion thread. never have really trolled around the other one's. hopefully enough feedback will be provided to satisfy me!!

[Wasky]

Ok - here is a quick rundown of the experience.

The rumors are true. No tailgating of any kind. And it was strictly enforced. The problem we had before we even left the house was for JiffyLube Live needed to define "tailgating." We knew no alcohol, no grills, but what about the other stuff? We got our answer as soon as we arrived (at 4:03 p.m.). No nothing. The rule ought to have been "No one is allowed to have a good time. This is a concert for crying out loud and you will not have fun."

The level of execution for enforcement was unreal. It was also amazingly uncomfortable. The air was still - it was like a funeral. Cops, security, flagmen, and extra personnel watched you like a hawk. All of which were friendly. I had no problem with the people executing the orders. But every move you made was examined. I poured a coke into a red cup with ice to go along with my ham and cheese sub sandwich and could feel the cop’s eyes laser through me. I looked back at him and felt guilty. (And I wasn't doing anything wrong!)

No alcohol. (Ok, no problem.)

No grills (ok, no problem).

No tents/canopies (ok, not really sure why until we thought about it). They don’t want you to linger around.

No tables (hmmm, like tents/canopies, this one was tough to see but we understood they don’t want you to encouraged to tailgate.

Finally, the icing on the cake is that coolers had to be put in the car. So basically you could bring a chair to sit next to your car in. But you can’t have containers that have anything that you can eat or drink.

But don't get too comfy - by 5:00 p.m. venue staff requested people move toward the venue gates. We got roughly an hour to relax before show time. They basically don't want you to bring anything that would cause you to want to hang around. That's why the porta-potties were hauled away. Truthfully, watching them hauling away the portable bathrooms from the parking lot was an "in your face" move by the pavilion. The bathrooms were there when we arrived and they deliberately made sure they took them away when people got there. The lots opened at 4p.m. you couldn’t take the portable bathrooms away in all that time? Clearly a message being sent.

One thing I will say is that these people enforcing the rules have a job to do. They didn't make the rules. But, maybe Buffett fans have a problem with authority. I was very disappointed in Buffett fans giving a hard time to the venue staff (most of whom are half the age of the concert goers.) One of the (many) people in the area I was should be ashamed of herself. Yelling at some 18 year old kid for telling her they do not allow canopies being set up, then telling him that "You'll be out of business by next year because I am not coming back here ever again” is really unnecessary. There is no excuse for that.

As we sat and talked about the policy, one thing that was resounding was this was not about safety as much as it is about money. The venue’s general manager, Matt Rogers, said the new policy is an effort to curtail drunk driving, which, in the past two years, has taken four lives after concerts at Jiffy Lube Live. I'll pay homage that lives were lost. I'm sorry for that. But let's be clear here, in reality, tailgating (eating and drinking (not only booze) in the parking lot) means you are not eating and drinking (spending money) in the venue. You can't drink in the parking lot, but they'll sell you as many 24 ounce beers as you want inside.

Yes, they will tell you that they have tighter controls on sales and distribution of alcohol inside but it just means people will drink more, faster and not have time to process the booze through their systems before the concert ends – then they’ll take to the roads. Trust me, I saw my fair share of drunks inside the venue. When the cash is flowing, so is the alcohol. Looks awfully Machiavellian to me, Matt Rogers.

So my advice is this:

1) Boycott the venue. Don't go. We'll see Jimmy in VA Beach, PA, NY or NJ - but never again at Bristow.

But if you do go

2) DO NOT BUY A THING FROM INSIDE. Do not support the venue. Send a message back to the lawyers. When sales start plummeting, and the cash flow starts dwindling, even "safety" can be over looked.

This rule is about money not safety. People have been tailgating at Nissan/Jiffy Lube for 16 years with few problems. It took the death (and lawsuits) of four people to care about drunk driving. Why weren’t you trying to prevent it for the first 13 years of the venues existence? Why weren’t you proactive in the saving of lives then? Economic times in the last 3 years have been the worst in our lifetimes. Now all of the sudden you worry about drunk driving? How convenient.

[Bicycle Bill]

Just a little on the cynical side, but I think Wasky is on the right track. I felt the same way at Alpine Valley in 2009 when I saw how much they wanted for a 16-ounce can of beer.

-"BB"-

[FunkHouse9]

I take more issue with them selling alcohol up until the end of the show which, I am told, is the case. If they cut it off an hour before, so be it. But facilitating people drinking until it's time to go get in their cars is hypocrisy.

[PA Parrot]

Yeah!!! Another Bristow thread!

Sorry you are so upset If you don't like the threads, don't click on them...

Some of us that couldn't go, or didn't want to, would like to here some of the details around the show.

I don't always speak for my husband (PA Parrot) but I'm thinking this was not to be construed as a mean comment. He can correct me if I'm wrong

In fact, we were already there for the 8/27 show when the announcement was made to reschedule. Neither of us could take 2 more days from work to attend the show last night so we cashed our tickets in. However, in all honesty, we are not terribly upset that we missed it this year because of all the hoopla.

Correct you? I think not. That's one thing I've learned in our 30+ years together.

[Wasky]

@ FunkHouse9

Booze sales stop at 10:15 p.m. The show ended 10:30 p.m. Yep - I was buying beers all the way up to Southern Cross (the encores). Totally inconsistent and verifies my point of view on it all.

But, they will just change the time they shut down the sale of alcohol.

[phrankbama]

@ FunkHouse9

Booze sales stop at 10:15 p.m. The show ended 10:30 p.m. Yep - I was buying beers all the way up to Southern Cross (the encores). Totally inconsistent and verifies my point of view on it all.

But, they will just change the time they shut down the sale of alcohol.

They might cut into profits!

I witness several very drunk people last night, one guy was staggering OUT carrying a half empty beer. What this says is that it is OK to drink too much inside, just can't do it in the parking lot.

[FunkHouse9]

@ FunkHouse9

Booze sales stop at 10:15 p.m. The show ended 10:30 p.m. Yep - I was buying beers all the way up to Southern Cross (the encores). Totally inconsistent and verifies my point of view on it all.

But, they will just change the time they shut down the sale of alcohol.

They might cut into profits!

I witness several very drunk people last night, one guy was staggering OUT carrying a half empty beer. What this says is that it is OK to drink too much inside, just can't do it in the parking lot.

While I was waiting patiently in a line of cars to leave, some guy drove right around us and pushed right in front of us. I honked my horn and motioned to indicate I thought he was being a jerk. He was waving his arms at me clearly trying to indicate that I may have been in line first but he's now in front of me. I shook my head and dismissed him. I gather his wife agreed that he was being a jerk and the conversation appeared to end with "well then why don't you drive then" because she got out of the passenger seat and came around to the driver's seat. He got out of the driver's seat, came around and opened the trunk, popped open a beer and climbed in the passenger seat. Had the second driver been equally rude and pushed her way in front of me, I was planning on telling the cops up ahead that they were open containers in the car. Because she seemed irritated with him and didn't seem visibly drunk, I assumed that her life was already hard enough having to deal with that jerk, so I didn't make it more difficult for her by ratting them out.

[FunkHouse9]

I should also add that there was no shortage of people drinking beer in the lots afterward but certainly were not too many people doing anything about it.

On the flip side, traffic in and out of the venue itself went pretty smoothly. Perhaps the best yet.

[Wasky]

Agree. Traffic in and out was a breeze! Made it back to Northern Baltimore county the earliest ever.

[FunkHouse9]

Took me 2 hours to get from Gaithersburg, MD to JLL in rush hour and one hour to get back in pretty bad construction traffic. Still far better than average for that place.

[Travis McGee]

It was weird, the parking lots were a ghost town, but the bathrooms weren't full of puke, it was easy to get in and out of the place (which was a first) and the show was great. I don't really have any complaints. Of course, as an older gent, my tail-gate-ing days are mostly over.

[tigzoe]

Yeah!!! Another Bristow thread!

Sorry you are so upset If you don't like the threads, don't click on them...

Some of us that couldn't go, or didn't want to, would like to here some of the details around the show.

I don't always speak for my husband (PA Parrot) but I'm thinking this was not to be construed as a mean comment. He can correct me if I'm wrong

In fact, we were already there for the 8/27 show when the announcement was made to reschedule. Neither of us could take 2 more days from work to attend the show last night so we cashed our tickets in. However, in all honesty, we are not terribly upset that we missed it this year because of all the hoopla.

Correct you? I think not. That's one thing I've learned in our 30+ years together.

And all is well with Ma and Pa! Have a good evening Mr and Mrs Salty. Yes, I know who gets credit when credit is due!

[Bfan53again]

Can this honestly represent Jimmy's thoughts about the situation at JLL???

Backstage before the show, Buffett, in shorts, t-shirt and flip flops, looked out at the subdued and somewhat sparse crowd. He told USA TODAY that only “300″ fans had complained about the no tailgating policy, out of 25,000 tickets originally sold for the show.

While he knows it ticked a lot of fans off, he says, “I can’t argue with the reasoning behind it,” a reference to the fact that four post-concert drunk driving deaths in the last two years prompted the no tailgating policy.

As for why the show seemed emptier than usual, Buffett said “10,000 people asked for refunds.” That, however, he attributed to Hurricane Irene, which pushed Saturday’s concert to Thursday, noting that a lot of his fans make the show “a destination.”

If so, Bubba is now clearly in a state of complete denial........