80’s in the Park Inaugural Year
This was actually written well after the event, since things really did not run smoothly, but I didn’t want to say anything bad about the whole thing. The people putting this on apparently had little experience with an event like this, and unfortunately, it showed. The lineup was fun and included such acts as Tommy Tu-Tone, Molly Hatchet, LA Guns, Warrant and Slaughter. Tickets included various pricing options, including VIP with reserved seats in front, a party area, unlimited drinks and what sounded like backstage access. Since I was with Hair Metal Mansion at the time, I contacted the team early on and they were eager to allow me to photograph in exchange for us doing some advertising. Shortly before the event, I broke my foot and was on crutches. I contacted the team to see if the pit area would be large enough for me to maneuver with crutches, and they assured me that it would. There was no indication that there would be any issue with the photo pass I had requested.
Fast forward to the day of the show. This was held in a large, fairground type area and it was a hot, humid day. Carrying around camera gear while on crutches was not ideal, but I was prepared to do what I had to do. When we got to the gate, I found that there was no photo pass. After inquiring, and having to hike back to the gate, I got a wristband and was told that would get me where I needed to be. This I doubted, since I saw people with actual photo passes. I was able to speak to the fellow who I had been corresponding with and he assured me it would not be an issue. He spoke to the security person at the entrance of the pit to let them know that I was cleared. I still had doubts. We tried to find our seats and learned that tickets were also a problem. Not only were our seats, which should have been near center stage, way over to the far side, but the VIP passes were easy to counterfeit and lots of people were doing it. As the day wore on, and each seat down front seemed to have three or four occupants, it became impossible for me to sit in the seat I had purchased. The backstage access was not supposed to have been allowed apparently, but everyone felt they were entitled after the promos implied it, and it became a mess. To make things even worse, you could only enter the seating area from one place. If you exited the seating area from near the stage, you had to walk clear around the fairgrounds to get back.
I tried a few times to get into the pit area and was either denied, kicked out or had too many random fans in the way to take pictures. I was able to get some photos of Tommy Tu-Tone, and then Quiet Riot, before security sent everyone out of the pit and nearly sent me sprawling when he shoved me to get me moving faster. They put up fencing prior to Slaughter coming on, and the only security guy that knew I was cleared was no where to be found, so I gave up trying to photograph any more. The following day, I left the camera back in the room and decided to do my best to enjoy day two of the event. They seemed to learn from day 1, since they had the VIP seating in better order. We found our seats to be where we expected them to be, and there were fewer people with counterfit tickets this time. It was a good evening of music and we had fun.
After the show, I exchanged several emails with the folks running the thing to let them know my concerns and to give some constructive criticism as to how I felt things could have been handled better. It seems they had “sub-contracted” the photography duties to a local group and they either lost my emails or decided no one except their own staff would shoot the event. I let them know how frustrating this was, especially since I had contacted them just a couple of weeks prior, and had no indication that there might be an issue. Had I been local, it wouldn’t have been as bad, but I came a long way to cover this event and expected to go home with something to publish in Hair Metal Mansion. From what I understand, they have made great strides in subsequent years and the event is run much better now. Perhaps, one day, I’ll venture back.
