lessons from rock tha bells in TO,

if i learned anything yesterday at rock the bells it is one must to organize and plan a twelve hour event with your attendees in mind at all times, this means

1. ensure sufficient bathrooms are available and cleaned regularly
2. reduce line-ups as much as possible (e.g. DO NOT make a thirsty, hungry, tired person wait in line to get a ticket to wait in line again)
3. stagger stack shows on two stages if necessary to avoid frustrating wait times
4. visit the venue you've booked prior and evaluate it for light, seating possibilities and general atmosphere (i found that airport hangers are not as conducive to concerts as they are to raves for example)
5. allow ins and outs, ESPECIALLY if the show runs longer than six hours
6. conveniently provide attendees with ample food and water (3$ lukewarm tap water after waiting two lines is unacceptable as is pizza pizza stink permeating your entire venue)
7. employ quality sound engineers
8. USE COMMON SENSE

if the above guidelines are not observed the result is simple and largely unavoidable:

if doesn't matter how much concert goers respect the artists they will leave remembering how poorly planned and organized the event was as opposed to remembering how great each half hour set was.

because de la was fantastic; pharcyde performed like they never broke up; mos basically threw down a helluva reggae set; rakim endured major technical difficulties and finished his set; nas was hype; q tip was full of energy and tribe was tribe - whole and superb.