The Commercialization of Music Festivals

[Woffy]

1 hour ago, Hugh Jass said:

Warm piss isn't as naff as Carling.

Hugh, you are Bear Grylls and I claim my £10.

[Woffy]

14 hours ago, Spindles said:

That was my 'doing a bottle of rum and all the ecstasy during Kasabian' in 09, except I have no memory of what happened thereafter as for the good of my mental state my brain turned the record button off for 6 hours.

I think you have finally nailed the solution to making Kasabian bearable.

[Spindles]

No, it was still a massive disappointment.

[glasto-worker]

3 hours ago, Hugh Jass said:

Thank you for your passionate, if not rather tetchy, defence. Just for clarity I'm not suggesting anyone at WBC deliberately waters down beer or anything untoward like that. So please don't think I am.

However I do think the lager served from the bars really isn't very nice. Whether it's the paper cups or the machinery used I don't know, I'm not am expert, but it tastes watery to me compared to purchasing it in a pub. It also goes through me much quicker than regular beer, after a couple of pints I'm back and forth to the toilets every 15 mins, that adds to my suspicion that there's something not quite right with it.

if you walk into any pub and get access to the Cellar ' you will find similar equipment ' to that used at a festival except it will look far more at a festival ' but its all doing the same basic job '

 

what is far different is the amount of lager that is sold compared to any Pub - each MDU is meant to be operated ' on demand ' but at a busy event they tend to pour more than is required.

 

if you look at the photo of my team standing about - look at their serving table and you will not see any pints waiting ' but look at the next table ' { which is being operated by a different team } and you will see there is loads of full pints standing there .

 

You can see a load of servers by the counter so there is no demand - some band was playing

 

rather than just walking up - stop and look - avoid any counter where you can see lots of full pints because some of that beer may have been standing there for ages.

 

each segment of the counter is operated by a different team { so they don't fall over themselves } so pick a counter where the serving table is empty and you will end up with a ' freshly poured pint '

 

its not the equipment or anyone adding anything but ' the standing time of the beer '

 

in a large counter bar there can be 20 or more segments { we call them stations } - they are divided up by the support poles .

 

just pick the station where there is no full pints sitting about .

 

I do my best to pull up MDU operators who are stacking up pints but I know it still goes on - they are told its a ' on demand service ' but some just don't listen.

 

You will find a stark difference in the taste - there should never be more than 12 pints waiting but at some tables I have counted 300 pints waiting with no one having any idea which have been standing the longest.

 

The Tent Manager ' should spot this straight away ' but there is some bars where they tend to stay in the background -

 

In the 80's we used to have ' taps on the counter ' { just like a normal pub } but with higher demand that system had to be changed.

 

some of the smaller bars { such as the guest bar } still do have taps but its very rare in any of the large bars.

[Hugh Jass]

Thanks for the advice, some interesting stuff there, I will remember to avoid full tables in the future.

I do need to ask... what on earth is the chap with the sunglasses doing in the bottom picture?

[Gnomicide]

6 minutes ago, Hugh Jass said:

 

I do need to ask... what on earth is the chap with the sunglasses doing in the bottom picture?

Tremendous spot! 

[BlackHole2006]

3 hours ago, Spindles said:

No, it was still a massive disappointment.

All I remember fromt that set was the front man bloke (forgot his name) saying "Glastonbury, show me your hands!" every other minute or so.

[glasto-worker]

1 hour ago, Hugh Jass said:

Thanks for the advice, some interesting stuff there, I will remember to avoid full tables in the future.

I do need to ask... what on earth is the chap with the sunglasses doing in the bottom picture?

yes I know very suspect - in fact they are good mates - the mere fact they had time to take the photos { I was out the back at the time } shows me the bar was dead -

 

you cant see it from that shot ' but that bar was huge and there had to be 130 staff working there.

 

its a ' 16 station bar ' - that is Reading but its the same set up in any counter bar.

 

Once the band ended the bar was nine deep and the MDU's would go into full production .

 

By the time it pours 12 pints - 20 machines so 120 pints - the bar will sell 120 pints - that is roughly every two minuets so in a hour that bar is selling 3,600 pints

 

In one day they can go though 3 or 4 tankers .

 

Glastonbury has access issues so that size of a bar would never be used there.

 

I know that people will tend to queue in the middle not appreciating that staff ' in different stations ' will not leave their station.

 

the rules are in place as there is not much room between counter and serving table so staff are told ' not to move '

 

have a look the next time and you will see that people tend to clump together.

 

its rare that there is customers using every station

 

there is two types they use ' Counter bars ' where you cant walk into and a ' walk in bar ' in a large tent

 

A ' walk in bar ' does have a different layout ' but look close and you will see ' they also have serving tables although you may not see the actual MDU's

 

if I walk up to a bar I will pick the station where there is no drinks as I would rather wait - I will pull up any server who strays out of their station { they may think they are doing a customer a favour - trust me they are not }

 

I can spot a sour pint without tasting it and will hand it back and tell them to pour it in the bin { they are dead reluctant but they have instructions to dispose of drink that has been standing there for a long period }

 

in a well run bar ' there should never be any wastage ' but I would have to be daft to claim they are all well run.

 

we did a secret test - marking some pints and we were on hand checking when they were handed out to customers and we found some had been poured 60 minuets before - we dumped the pints and the customer was given a fresh pint .

 

I see it all the time ' in stations that I am not controlling 'where pints end up being dumped ' in the wrong order on the table ' no one has a clue which are the fresh ones - best just to avoid those stations.

[russycarps]

9 minutes ago, glasto-worker said:

yes I know very suspect - in fact they are good mates - the mere fact they had time to take the photos { I was out the back at the time } shows me the bar was dead -

 

you cant see it from that shot ' but that bar was huge and there had to be 130 staff working there.

 

its a ' 16 station bar ' - that is Reading but its the same set up in any counter bar.

 

Once the band ended the bar was nine deep and the MDU's would go into full production .

 

By the time it pours 12 pints - 20 machines so 120 pints - the bar will sell 120 pints - that is roughly every two minuets so in a hour that bar is selling 3,600 pints

 

In one day they can go though 3 or 4 tankers .

 

Glastonbury has access issues so that size of a bar would never be used there.

 

I know that people will tend to queue in the middle not appreciating that staff ' in different stations ' will not leave their station.

 

the rules are in place as there is not much room between counter and serving table so staff are told ' not to move '

 

have a look the next time and you will see that people tend to clump together.

 

its rare that there is customers using every station

 

there is two types they use ' Counter bars ' where you cant walk into and a ' walk in bar ' in a large tent

 

A ' walk in bar ' does have a different layout ' but look close and you will see ' they also have serving tables although you may not see the actual MDU's

 

if I walk up to a bar I will pick the station where there is no drinks as I would rather wait - I will pull up any server who strays out of their station { they may think they are doing a customer a favour - trust me they are not }

 

I can spot a sour pint without tasting it and will hand it back and tell them to pour it in the bin { they are dead reluctant but they have instructions to dispose of drink that has been standing there for a long period }

 

in a well run bar ' there should never be any wastage ' but I would have to be daft to claim they are all well run.

 

we did a secret test - marking some pints and we were on hand checking when they were handed out to customers and we found some had been poured 60 minuets before - we dumped the pints and the customer was given a fresh pint .

 

I see it all the time ' in stations that I am not controlling 'where pints end up being dumped ' in the wrong order on the table ' no one has a clue which are the fresh ones - best just to avoid those stations.

goddam some of this info is priceless!

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

@glasto-worker

Have you seen these machines?

 

 

 

[glasto-worker]

30 minutes ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

@glasto-worker

Have you seen these machines?

 

 

 

yes I have - there is a issue over ' the cap ' at the base of the cup leaking and also ' there is a problem over gas pressure '

 

place a cup on the grass and it may leak

 

it looks fine until the gas has to be changed and then all you get is Mr whippy.

 

The current MDU's can meet demand so I cant see them being replaced anytime soon.

[stuartbert two hats]

2 minutes ago, glasto-worker said:

yes I have - there is a issue over ' the cap ' at the base of the cup leaking and also ' there is a problem over gas pressure '

 

place a cup on the grass and it may leak

 

it looks fine until the gas has to be changed and then all you get is Mr whippy.

 

The current MDU's can meet demand so I cant see them being replaced anytime soon.

I don't think anyone is suggesting they will supplant MDUs, but they don't half look like magic!

[5co77ie]

35 minutes ago, glasto-worker said:

yes I have - there is a issue over ' the cap ' at the base of the cup leaking and also ' there is a problem over gas pressure '

 

place a cup on the grass and it may leak

 

it looks fine until the gas has to be changed and then all you get is Mr whippy.

 

The current MDU's can meet demand so I cant see them being replaced anytime soon.

you seen how Thornbridge Brewery deliver their beer to festivals? - in plastic bags like a wine box - where the gas is pumped into the space around the bag to force the beer out - no fobbing - ever.