Radio 94.7 put on a decent attempt for City of Trees’ first year. Entertaining bands, local vendors, local eats, beautiful venue(and how grateful I was for the trees!), affordable VIP tickets with enough perks to make it worth the cost. The venue was not only scenic, but the stages were set up so that there really wasn’t a bad seat in the place. Big thumbs up for that coming from a short person who always struggles to see the action at concerts and music festivals. Band highlights for me included Of Monsters and Men and Elle King. If it ended there, then it would have been a perfect day. But of course, as festivals go, there were glitches that could have been avoidable: * Adequate water. Even at 2:30 p.m. first thing inside the festival, the water line looked ominous. I filled my bottle immediately knowing that the line was only going to grow. And yes, the line grew so much that the throngs of people cut the venue in half. My second time in line, the only available water station ran out during the hottest part of the day. I saw no one handing out bottles like you claim, but I was escorted over to a hose where the first aid folks were filling bottles one at a time until a replacement water truck was set up to replace the empty station. 94.7 later claimed there were water fountains, but I don’t know how they expected festival-goers to know where to find them. And those water coolers at the first aid stations? No bottle filling allowed. Knowing what Sacramento summer weather is like(100 degrees on this particular day), there should have been a better plan to keep people hydrated. More water stations and a plan to keep the water flowing, please! * No water in vs. no water out. I totally get the«no water in» rule at music festivals because of the threat of patrons sneaking in booze(especially when the festival offers free water inside), but the«no water out» rule perplexed me. Before I left, I filled my water bottle in case there was a wait to get out of the parking lot, only to be told I had to dump it before I was allowed to leave. That was a music festival first, and I’ve been to a lot of music festivals. Did they really think I’d gotten my hands on 30 ounces of their mediocre vodka and was about to swill it in the parking lot before a perilous joy ride back into the city? What about those folks who hoofed it a mile or more to the park entrance in a haze of dust to catch a Lyft? What about those who waited hours in their car to get out of the park? Totally unnecessary rule that likely kept liquids from those who needed it. * Lights after dark. This was my first time at Gibson Ranch County Park, and what a surprise it was to exit the concert at night, only to find that there were NO lights beyond the concert entrance. Parking lots were no longer visible. Jungle gyms were no longer visible. Picnic areas were no longer visible. Pot holes and wire fences were no longer visible either. It was so dark that as I walked to my car, I saw a shooting star(OK, that part was cool). I only found my car because I made a mental list of landmarks I had passed on the way in early in the day. I was lucky enough to have juice on my phone to power the flashlight so that I wouldn’t end up tripping on anything, and I used my key fob to hear my way closer to my car. How silly it was that once I found my car, I had to circle the parking lot searching for the exit onto road leading out of the park. (Note: I left midway through Cake’s set, so I bypassed the hours-long wait to exit the park.) All that said, I still think it was a decent event that’s a good addition to the Sacramento scene. I’m looking forward to an even better concert experience next year.
