Maceo's

[Crazyfool01]

4 minutes ago, stuie said:

Erm... well, I'm sure I'm not alone in experiencing shitty atmospheres and homophobic comments elsewhere around the festival.  It's to be expected in a mixed crowd that large I guess but some areas are nicer than others for sure. 

I’ve not really experienced very many shitty atmospheres myself … or heard homophobic comments in all my festivals … but yeah that’s not great I agree … 

[Skip997]

10 minutes ago, stuie said:

Erm... well, I'm sure I'm not alone in experiencing shitty atmospheres and homophobic comments elsewhere around the festival.  It's to be expected in a mixed crowd that large I guess but some areas are nicer than others for sure. 

Can't remember hearing any homophobic comments, but have experienced shitty atmospheres.

[stuie]

31 minutes ago, Crazyfool01 said:

I’ve not really experienced very many shitty atmospheres myself … or heard homophobic comments in all my festivals … but yeah that’s not great I agree … 

Nothing too major and nothing that's bothered my old self too much but Block 9, NYCDL and Maceo's in particular are a bit of a safe haven, hence my atmosphere comment. 

[Skip997]

1 minute ago, stuie said:

Nothing too major and nothing that's bothered my old self too much but Block 9, NYCDL and Maceo's in particular are a bit of a safe haven, hence my atmosphere comment. 

True

[Crazyfool01]

1 minute ago, stuie said:

Nothing too major and nothing that's bothered my old self too much but Block 9, NYCDL and Maceo's in particular are a bit of a safe haven, hence my atmosphere comment. 

Yeah absolutely fair enough lots of friends raving about some of the backstage bars this year … Just based on what I’ve heard previously I’ve not been bothered by trying to get into any . 

[Mouseboy11]

5 hours ago, stuie said:

Nothing too major and nothing that's bothered my old self too much but Block 9, NYCDL and Maceo's in particular are a bit of a safe haven, hence my atmosphere comment. 

Still not managed to get into NYCDL, need to make more of an effort for it as the music is spot on for me.

[kalifire]

People who have access tend to be disproportionately praiseworthy about restricted areas, in my experience. It's just confirmation bias. I'm sure some backstage bars are great, but who's going to sweat it when they're backstage to the best place on earth for a few days anyway? Like others have said, let the crew have their space, and they can come back out and enjoy all the fun when they've taken a breather.

[Mich1268]

Are those three the only back stage bars? Any at greenfields or greenpeace?

[Clouds]

Every time I’ve been into Maceo’s it’s been relatively quiet. It’s a nice place to take a break from the insanity of the SE corner, you can sit down, the toilets are nice and drinks are better/cheaper.

[mazola]

7 hours ago, kalifire said:

People who have access tend to be disproportionately praiseworthy about restricted areas, in my experience. It's just confirmation bias. I'm sure some backstage bars are great, but who's going to sweat it when they're backstage to the best place on earth for a few days anyway? Like others have said, let the crew have their space, and they can come back out and enjoy all the fun when they've taken a breather.

Yeah pretty much this. They're great in the fact that they are somewhere to go before the festival opens proper, but never felt the need to go back to them after Wednesday when I volunteered with Oxfam.

I guess it's different for people like @Skip997, who have been working the festival for years. More like popping down the local for them and knowing they will know half the people in the bar whenever they pop in, so can definitely see the appeal in that case.

 

[Skip997]

27 minutes ago, mazola said:

I guess it's different for people like @Skip997, who have been working the festival for years. More like popping down the local for them and knowing they will know half the people in the bar whenever they pop in, so can definitely see the appeal in that case.

Yea this.

Plus Maceos is a really fun bar.

[stuie]

1 hour ago, Clouds said:

Every time I’ve been into Maceo’s it’s been relatively quiet. It’s a nice place to take a break from the insanity of the SE corner, you can sit down, the toilets are nice and drinks are better/cheaper.

It really depends when you go in Maceo's! 

Monday and Tuesday, yeah it's a nice bar with a bit of a vibe. 

After NYCDL closes, it's level 10 insanity of the SE Corner.  One of the queerest places I've been. 

 

 

[philipsteak]

1 hour ago, Clouds said:

Every time I’ve been into Maceo’s it’s been relatively quiet. It’s a nice place to take a break from the insanity of the SE corner, you can sit down, the toilets are nice and drinks are better/cheaper.

I miss the one that used to have a fire for this reason. Can't remember the name. Someone's name possibly? Was a Godsend in 2016 to have a moment. Maybe the last year it was there?

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

14 minutes ago, stuie said:

It really depends when you go in Maceo's! 

Monday and Tuesday, yeah it's a nice bar with a bit of a vibe. 

After NYCDL closes, it's level 10 insanity of the SE Corner.  One of the queerest places I've been. 

 

 

As far as I know, the only bar that opens at midday on the Wednesday and goes right through until everyone's had enough on the Monday morning

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

This was the lineup in there from 2022. Gives some of the actual festival stages a run for their money. It can get a little claustrophobic in there, though. As fun as it is, it does feel like you're isolating yourself from a bigger party sometimes

[stuie]

7 minutes ago, Supernintendo Chalmers said:

As far as I know, the only bar that opens at midday on the Wednesday and goes right through until everyone's had enough on the Monday morning

Yes, I think it's the only one.  I've been in The Broke Britain when it closed at 07:00 but when it closed the last remaining stragglers went to Maceo's 🙂

 

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

1 minute ago, stuie said:

Yes, I think it's the only one.  I've been in The Broke Britain when it closed at 07:00 but when it closed the last remaining stragglers went to Maceo's 🙂

 

Maceo's is a great barometer for understanding where you sit in the party animal ranks and looking around and realising that you are a mere Private surrounded by Five Star Generals.

[Twiggy553]

I had wrist bands for Maceos last year,  and its fine but wasn’t worth the faff to be honest.

So many people have wristbands so at the times when you actually want to go there so does everyone else. You still have to queue to get in and its ridiculously busy inside. The dancefloor is tiny, there’s really nothing exclusive about it.

The festival outside is much better, you’re really not missing anything 

[Skip997]

9 minutes ago, stuie said:

Yes, I think it's the only one.  I've been in The Broke Britain when it closed at 07:00 but when it closed the last remaining stragglers went to Maceo's 🙂

 

Guerrilla bar runs right through until sometime Monday morning.

[Memory Man]

29 minutes ago, Supernintendo Chalmers said:

Maceo's is a great barometer for understanding where you sit in the party animal ranks and looking around and realising that you are a mere Private surrounded by Five Star Generals.

Avalon emerson b2b roi perez at 6:30am sounds absololutely bang out of order in the best possible way. Big crack on for all the party warriors that make block 9 what it is

[Greenelk]

So with crew bars, which ones do you need separate wristbands for, and which ones can you just get in with your main epo band from working with Oxfam/Festaff etc?

[oakdown]

9 minutes ago, Greenelk said:

So with crew bars, which ones do you need separate wristbands for, and which ones can you just get in with your main epo band from working with Oxfam/Festaff etc?

Depends on what day it is and sometimes who's on the door. Never had a problem getting into any of them pre-festival, except for Park and T&C which are notoriously exclusive (for fair enough reasons). Always picked up the extra paper wristbands for Acoustic and Maceos to help from Weds onwards and been fine, never had a problem with just my EPO at Arcadia, Unfairground or West Holts.

Pretty limited experience mind since I tend just to pop in to buy a pint or use the cleaner loos once the fest is on, your mileage may vary.

[jfaragher]

13 minutes ago, Greenelk said:

So with crew bars, which ones do you need separate wristbands for, and which ones can you just get in with your main epo band from working with Oxfam/Festaff etc?

In previous years, it's only been some of the ones that double as artist hospitality that have excluded EPO only people - so Park, Silver Hayes, Avalon, Woodsies in particular.  West Holts was open to all crew last year, which was a nice change (especially given their excellent location).  Acoustic can sometimes be  "only for Acoustic Crew" occasionally - weirdly more so before the show, when they get a bit fed up with being swamped by massive roving groups of volunteers on bar crawls.  All of them may get a bit more exclusive when they're busy, but it's unusual that this happens.

[paulshane]

13 minutes ago, jfaragher said:

  West Holts was open to all crew last year, which was a nice change (especially given their excellent location). 

I guess I met a jobsworth when I tried - they guy was very polite but wouldn't let me in with my T&C band.

[Mark E. Spliff]

1 hour ago, philipsteak said:

I miss the one that used to have a fire for this reason. Can't remember the name. Someone's name possibly? Was a Godsend in 2016 to have a moment. Maybe the last year it was there?

Wally's. I believe the last year was 2017: