Stadium venues get passing grades

The Kansas Speedway turned out to be an ideal site for the inagural Kanrocksas Fest.

If Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer, it also commences the winding down of the outdoor-music scene, whether it be individual shows at Crossroads KC, Sandstone amphitheater and Starlight Theatre or the festivals, like Rockfest and this year’s Kanrocksas Music Fest.

This summer, Kansas City christened two new outdoor venues: Kansas Speedway, which hosted the two-day Kanrocksas festival, and Livestrong Sporting Park, home of the pro soccer team Sporting Kansas City, which hosted Farm Aid and the Buzz Beach Ball, both in August.

Another place was reborn as a music venue: the renovated Arrowhead Stadium, site of the Kenny Chesney’s Goin’ Coastal Tour in July. Arrowhead has another concert booked: Taylor Swift headlines a show Sept. 24 with Needtobreathe, Charlie Worsham and Adam Brand.

Here’s a look at all three venues and how they worked as music sites.

Arrowhead Stadium

If you’re going to the Swift show, take plenty of money. Parking at Arrowhead is $27 per car, cash only.

Once you get over that sticker shock and get inside, you’ll have access to the usual amenities: shelter from rain or sun; bathrooms with soap, running water and real (not portable) toilets; and the stadium’s well-above-average food and beverage concessions, where prices are typical for a professional sports venue.

Football stadiums are built to generate noise, so it can be a tricky transition to music. For the Chesney show, I stood in the back, field level, where the sound was fair to good.

Oddly, it was better during the Billy Currington and Zac Brown Band sets than for Chesney’s set. His vocals were never as crisp and clean as theirs. I heard from someone in the upper deck who said it was worse up there.

However, the video display was fantastic: huge, high-def images that brought the stage scene a lot closer to far-away fans.

If it’s sunny, bring some eye shade. The sky was nearly cloudless for the Chesney show, and the field was covered with plastic neon-white tiles, which reflected the heat (good) but also the sunlight, creating a blinding effect, even through polarized Ray-Bans.

The field was lined with sections of folding chairs, in long rows. They were a little too close together for my comfort, but I’m taller than average.

The only significant issue I ran into involved tickets and wristbands. At the gate, someone was supposed to inform those of us with seats on the field to trade in our tickets for a wristband. No one told me that until I reached the gatekeeper at the field level.

So I had to go back and figure out where to get a wristband. (The gatekeeper didn’t know.) After asking about four people, I found the right gate — it was half a stadium away — and made the exchange.

I discovered this about 30 minutes before the opener went on, so no big deal. However, I saw some fans run into the same problem, but close to start times for Zac Brown and Chesney. They weren’t happy. I expect the attendants will be more vigilant and clear about this for the Swift show.

Kansas Speedway

No site is perfect or problem-free, but this one came close. One of the best parts of the Kanrocksas festival was how it fit within the sprawling confines of the Speedway.

The promoters didn’t get the crowds they were hoping for, but nonetheless, it looked and felt like there were in the vicinity of 30,000 people in the place Friday night and 20,000-plus the next night.

All that space meant people were dispersed, and lines were relatively short. It made for a low-stress experience. In fact, there was so much room, it looked like some of the sideshows and special features (the water slide, the Ferris wheel) didn’t get the attendance they deserved only because they were so far off the main thoroughfares.

The festival’s best features were its stages and sound systems, which delivered world-class videos and sound. And the two main stages were placed ideally: at opposite ends of the infield so it was quick and easy to run from the Flaming Lips’ set to Eminem’s.

The weather that weekend was usual for early August: oppressively hot. But the site was loaded with places to grab shade or get sprayed or misted by cool water. Also open for use: the Speedway’s restrooms.

The one time the heat got the best of me was Saturday at the No. 3 stage (Ad Astra), where shade was at a minimum. For about two hours, between 1 and 3 p.m., it was bloody scorching at that stage, so I had to retreat with about 10 minutes left in the Black Angels set and about 15 left in OK Go’s set. (And I’ve stood in Sandstone’s asphalt parking lot for six hours during a few hellishly hot Warped Tours; this heat was worse than any of those.)

 

Kid Cudi fans at Kanrocksas.

Otherwise, the only thing I’d change about this setup would be access to that third stage, which was south and east of the second main stage, facing away. Getting from that stage over to Ad Astra was more complicated/confusing than it looked, given how close in proximity they were. Once the route had been navigated once or twice, though, it was all good.

Parking was free (so was camping). I parked in the media lot and was in and out quickly every time. I heard from a few people who parked in general parking that it was not a big deal getting in and out over there, either.

This site’s other built-in bonus: You’re a short drive and a tolerable walk from the Legends and all its bars and restaurants, if you’re looking for a break from the festival atmosphere. I’ve been told a second festival is still under serious consideration. Let’s hope so.

For a project with such large and lofty ambitions, the inaugural Kanrocksas was a success on many levels.

Livestrong Sporting Park

I’ve been to this place three times: for the first Sporting KC game, for Farm Aid and for a couple of hours of the Buzz Beach Ball. I’m not going to lie: Each time I parked in the Legends parking lot, even though signs (and attendants) are posted telling drivers not to.

For the soccer game, it wasn’t clear where to park. For Farm Aid, traffic was bad and I risked missing the opening act, so I bailed out on driving all the way over to the venue’s parking lot, which is the distant Speedway’s lots. (I did, however, return to Legends during my break and dine at one of its restaurants.)

Parking aside, this sparkling and impressive new stadium gets passing grades as a music venue, though it could use some polishing.

As at Arrowhead, there was a problem at the field level/stadium level border. For some reason, they turned the two aisles that run from the concourse down to the field into one-way aisles, one up, one down. That created a backup at Farm Aid for anyone trying to get on the field. If something else was going on and creating a backup, I couldn’t figure out what it was. All I know is an attendant told me I couldn’t go down the up aisle.

Neil Young at Farm Aid

The sound: It was fine, though there was a brief echo at the end away from the stage. Granted, a lot of the performers (Jakob Dyan, Jason Mraz, Dave Matthews, Neil Young) were doing acoustic sets, which don’t involve a lot of mixing. Nonetheless, they all sounded clean and strong during their sets, even across the vastness of the stadium.

For the short time I was at the Beach Ball, the sound was good on the field but much rougher up in the seats. As with Kanrocksas, they had two stages positioned at each end of the field, so it was a straight shot from one to the other.

The weather was bright and hot for Farm Aid, and they had the field covered with those same bright white tiles. But there are plenty of places to take shelter from the heat or precipitation. And as at Arrowhead, there is access to all the restrooms and concessions.

To reach Timothy Finn, call 816-234-4781 or send email to [email protected]. Read more from him at our music blog, Back to Rockville, at KansasCity.com.

Comments

[Green]

One bad thing I noticed at Livestrong was access to the field, not only does it take awhile to get down there but a line of people forms from the top to the bottom, the result is a steady flow of people blocking the view from those seats near the stairs, you pretty much have someone standing in front of you the entire time. Maybe they need more bathrooms below, more food and beer or a better way up and down but it seems like a mess.

[Mrbrown]

I was at Farmaid...no major complaints with the facility...I still don't like $8 beers but that's the reality...and I will say that I really do appreciate the free parking even in the approved lots..the walks not bad..one tip...go in the back way off of like K-7 and come in from the west

[Catherine]

This kind of venue looks like a nightmare for anyone with mobility issues, particularly anyone needing a wheelchair. Then again, most places that have huge crowds generally are.

[Sleepy]

Would like to have seen U2360 at Arrowhead rather than Busch. I would have ha to pay to park, but saved a lot on gas.

[Shawn]

Another plus to Livestrong - free WiFi. I don't know about the other venues, but it worked even on the field.

[Ian]

What's the status on another Kanrocksas? I know that the Brandmeyer Fitz guys were dead set on it becoming an annual festival beforehand, but it's been hard to judge from the outside how successful it was on a financial level.

[Jaques]

1)
nice lil review of the venues, thank you :)

2)
Great point from Green about; MAKE SURE DONT HAVE A SEAT BY THE UP/DOWN AISLES... I wonder if those up/down aisles are always in the same spot, knowing in order to avoid them.

3)
Anyway you will/can get an interview with Chris Fritz and ask him how Kanrocksas did? Inquiring minds want to know...

Will there be another fest next year?
Did VIPs get a refund for the mistakes made?
Any fun insight from Chris?
more more more etc etc etc professional reviewer questions...

[Green]

What were the mistakes on the VIP end? As for a festival next year, I think its a tough sale, numbers were down, in the press conference you could tell they were not happy about the attendence, I think they would have sticked the entire issue had nobody asked. Aside from the attendence, the other issue is the track will be under construction next year, not sure how that will play into the setup, but it could hurt the things that made kanrocksas work very well. If its gonna happen, they will need to book someone huge, Pearl Jam, Metallica, Tool, Rage, maybe Chili Peppers, they should be pushing their new albem by then, time will tell.

[Green]

Sticked ??? I meant skipped, its to early!

[Ryan]

I think Kanrocksas will happen again but the likelihood of it happening at the Speedway will be low for 2012. They're doing a major resurfacing project on the speedway track and they're building a professional level road course on the infield so the infrastructure will be pretty jacked up next summer. I do think it will be back though.

Livestrong uses the new Cisco stadium connectivity system which has enough wifi routers for 18000 people to be connected at once without any issues. This allows the cell towers in the area to still work well. I do think they need to figure out the passageways down to field level though. You can tell they never really thought about it.

[Jake]

Green if you go to the facebook page and read all of the comments, the only complaints come from folks who paid extra to buy VIP, and Kanrocksas actually replied to those comments and agreed that VIP did not work as well as they hoped.... some of the issues were; the VIP viewing was faaaaaaaar away, swag bags not provided as promised, back stage meet and greets did not happen, the lounge was not as it was described, and a few others...

We did not attend, but I like the idea of this fest, and we might go in the future. My objective in asking about this was thinking that it might show good will if they really did give refunds to those folks, as they indicated they might (in the comments section on facebook).

As I said, the comments on facebook page were astoundingly (almost) 100% positive, except for the VIP people, and if they smooth them over (maybe free VIP next year)(or a refund of the extra money) and the the comments would be 100% perfect, which is amazing for a first year event.

[NEW]

Green, I heard the numbers were down too but if the promoters did their homework, they will know that festivals take a year or two to build up a national reputation. That has been the case with everything from Bonnaroo to Mountain Jam to Cochella to Waka. Just look at what SXSW has turned into compared to what it was like in the early 90s.

The fact that this festival has received really positive reviews and came off without a hitch bodes well for it's future.

[WinstonKC]

The local writer/radio show co-host/magazine editor Kimberly Winter Stern has the Kansrocksas scoop in the latest "435 South" magazine. She interviewed Chris Fritz who states that there will be another fest in 2012.

Kansrocksas laid out the blueprint for putting on a successful festival at a Nascar track. There's the potential for similar fests at tracks across the country.

[NEW]

Good to hear that Winston. I guess race track festivals have come up a few notches since Altamont. But now that I think about it, it's really nothing new. Venues such as Watkins Glen in NY and Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ, and Ontario Raceway in CA among others were doing festivals back in the 70s. In fact, there was one in Watkins Glen in 1973 that drew 600,000 (yes, 600,000! Not a typo). Look it up.

[Jake]

Thanks WinstonKC, you have the scoop, and you bring GREAT NEWS!!great work.

I have never heard of that magazine, but I will find it (any tips on that?)

[Jake]

Maybe the article will show up here in a week or two....

http://www.435southmag.com/category/current-issue/

[Green]

I think a mass tent in the middle between the two stages could be nice, lose the stage on the far corner, I didnt think it was needed, maybe put some of the smaller bands in a bigger mass tent, but walking to the third stage wasn't any fun. If the construction is an issue they might move the fest to the parking fields, but you lose a lot of the amenities if you take it out of the infield. Clouds would be nice too, anyone know where you can buy some clouds?

[Alex Jones]

HARRP might get you some cloud cover. Call up the government and ask them to turn on the HARRP for the next fest, of course there might be some side effects (earthquakes, flooding, etc)

[WinstonKC]

Jake,
The latest 435 South issue just came off the press.
Chris Fritz is this month's "Person of Interest".

435 South is mailed to homes in the golden ghetto and is available by subscription and at Barnes & Noble.

I'm sure the website will be updated soon.

[Jake]

Thank you very much WinstonKC :)

[wadkc]

I did the VIP thing for Kanrocksas and loved the fact that my tent was right by the entrance. Drink a beer at the tent, head in for a show, Drink a beer at the tent, head in for a show. All day long. I got a swag bag, I don't why they said there wasn't any. I saw a s^*t load.
Stage could have been closer but I thought it nice it didn't block the view of most. I thought the best perk was the girl that came around to your tent at night for a massage. Wait that was a dream I had.

[designer sunglasses store]

I saw one more thing concerning this on another blog. Youve obviously spent time about this. Well done!