Dark Lord Day 2016

They likely have an idea of vouchers used. saw soggy ones that were disintegrating so I imagine those buckets of vouchers are hard to pin down to an exact number

 

Dark Matter's Blood Lord coffee I received in the mail today was dated 5/6 roasting date. Will they be continuing to release this at some point? I guess I just assumed all the roasting dates would be pre-DLD, and then whatever was left over at the fest was going to be sold on their website with the same roasting date (4/28).

 

Sorry for the late response… no you only had to get back in the long, snaking line if you had a back-pack on you.

After my buddy and I dropped off our stuff at the hotel, we just went back without backpacks and instead placed a beer in each of our jacket pockets (we brought 4 bottles back to DLD for sharing). We went right up to the entry tent and after the security/admissions staff asked 'you have backpacks?' and we responded 'no', they just waved us through.

 

I take it this is an attempt at initiating a "don't look a gift horse in the mouth" kind of debate, yes? If so, save it, it's just misplaced here. Yes, we were given free admission and yes, they had free pours of Zombie Dust and Yum Yum and some other FFFs beers on tap outside the tent, but the tent was a depressing mess and in my opinion sent a pretty clear message that FFF's just doesn't give much of a crap about the people who sell their beer or their investors. Would it have killed them to have a chair or two or how about a garbage can or a even some light? I'm a long-time FFF's beer lover and have been to many DLDs, but just because I"m a fan, I'm not going to overlook the fact that they made not even a minimal effort to host the people who have helped make them a profitable business. It cost them zero to let us in, we got no vouchers, no beer at all. I was the guest of the person who "won" the distributor tickets. It was his first and likely last DLD. Just left a bad taste in the mouth.

 

I invest many thousands of dollars in hundreds (probably thousands) of companies world wide. Not a single one has ever given me a perk. It takes the right time, right place, and right smarts to be on the "A" list as an investor. Free anything should not be something taken for granted.

 

Who is taking anything for granted? Who said they had to give anyone a perk? Like I said, I'm a fan, but that tent was just depressing, there's just no getting around that. If you're going to "thank" supporters, it's reasonable to do it in a way that isn't so unpleasant, no?

 

Well perhaps my definition of perk is far less than Dom Perigon on Ice (read: BVDL in a snifter) when I get free admission to a party, but to each their own. The tent may have been a dark depressing place, but there are many folks who stood in the rain for hours and never saw a rare tap the entire day only to have to enjoy beers like ZD and YY. I just don't know how to spin this other than its possible your looking a gift horse in the mouth.

 

Totally stupid making people get back in the long line w/backpacks instead of going right to the security checkpoint again - no logical reason for it at all. I didn't mind - I did more bottle sharing though in the line after putting our DL bottles in the trunk. The goofy part was, when we got to the checkpoint - they tried to give us more vouchers - being the honest guys we are we told them we already had them - very unorganized in this regard. Oh yeah - the guy at the south entrance said we could go right through - even with backpacks - I specifically asked him that. The women at the North entrance told us we had to wait in line since we had backpacks.

 

Yeah, I should clarify that both times I entered DLD through north gate. I hope they sort out that issue for next year (probably won't though) so that people don't have to keep checking which entrance they should line up in. Seems like there was a huge difference in how people were admitted north vs. south gate.... a couple of hours vs. 30-45 minutes difference.

 

It's disingenuous to suggest a single attendee was left with Yum Yum as their best tap option. That just didn't happen

 

South entrance wasn't even checking bags when I went in initially let alone leaving and returning

 

But it is not disingenuous to say that it took up 4-6 tap handles at any given time. That's a fact. It was super annoying to see it on tap at multiple stations under the same canopy. There was a point towards the end of the day behind the music tent, when I think BA Behemoth kicked and it was replaced with Yum Yum, which was already on tap at the other half of the same tap truck.

 

Yes that would be fair to say

 

That is fucking ridiculous, especially considering it was it was on at other tents as well. And it's even more ridiculous considering I don't even have a passing interest in Yum Yum when its on shelves or on tap here. Can you tell I'm still sour about the tap situation .

 

same thing happened with me. I went outside to grab a bottle of mine that someone was keeping outside of the fest and they made me get back in that long ass north line. After an hour in line I got to the front they were offering me more vouchers (which I turned down as well).

 

Lucky for me I didn't come back until 6 pm. Went back to the hotel at 1 and passed out for a few hours. At 6 there was zero line to get back in at the north gate with my back pack....I was sorta pissed I took such a long break but from reading all the comments about reentry maybe it's best I did take my time. Was in line at 7:30, and didn't have much of a wait but had to use the piss fence a couple times. my gf loved me doing that

 

I've been on the road for work the past week since the fest, so I gotta put in my two cents on DLD 2016, my 4th year in a row. I was in the north line by 7:30am, giving out pours of Double Shot and Montmorenci vs Balaton. I'm gonna do this in 3 categories: Bad, Needs Improvement, and Good. Starting with the bad that way I can end with positive vibes!

BAD

• Weather ;-)
• Line to get into the fest: Holy shit that north line was bad. What was the deal here? First of all, I don't get the point of trapping everyone in the cattle pens at 9:20. Open that at 9:55 that way we can immediately keep it moving. Next, why did I have to show my ID three times? The team of two who gave out wristbands should have been verifying IDs and guests, that way none of that needs to be holding up the line at the (very disorganized) bag check/voucher station. 3 ID checks? We're going to a beer fest, not the fucking White House. There's no way if I'm in the upper half of the line it should take an hour and 20 minutes to get into the fest.
• Bottle swiping. Thievery was rampant this year. I know there's not much Floyd's can do about this, but I was watching my Marshmallow Handjee like a hawk.

NEEDS IMPROVEMENT

• Taps. After 3 previous DLDs with bangin' tap lists, I never thought I would put this in the "needs improvement" category. I was bouncing between booths all day and never really found anything amazing. Guest taps were weak, with wayyyyy too many 3 Floyds "shelf" beers that no one was touching.
• Bathrooms in the cattle pens. There's already 50 port-o-johns in and outside of the fest, would it kill the organizers to put 10-15 at the ends of the pens? Especially if we're getting put in there at 9:30? Look I'll piss on the fence all day (and I did), but I really felt bad for the ladies on this one. One girl was in tears she had to piss so bad.
• Food Lines. I'm glad I got a burger right when I got in at 11:20, cause once I was hungry again at 5, the lines were ludicrous (I stuck to trail mix and venison jerky until the lines were dead around 7:30). I put this here instead of in the "BAD" category because of 3 mitigating factors: everyone wanted food between 3-6, the bottle line was super fast, which left more people wandering around for a different line to stand in, and with the vouchers, many people had the "use 'em or lose 'em" mentality and HAD to spend them somehow. Either get more food stops or go back to cash.
• Bands. Listen, I know Floyds and DLD is what it is and won't change, and that's fine. Just my opinion: the screaming/growling is intolerable. I love the actual music part of it, the heavy guitars, the rapid pounding drums. I just cannot see the appeal of screaming/growling words that no one can understand and calling them lyrics. Plenty of metal bands (Slipknot and Lamb of God to name 2) mix actual, intelligible lyrics with the screaming and that's cool. Just wish a band or two was not 100% screamo, that's all.

GOOD

• DL Bottle Line. That was amazing. I was Group D and wandered over at 3:45. I started a stopwatch when I entered the gate, and 7 minutes and 3 seconds later I was out in the exit area, and this was after languishing for over a minute on which variant to pick!! I walked around in a stunned daze for a few minutes. This was amazingly efficient and I want at least this part of the new system to stay.
• Vouchers. I liked them. Once you wanted something, all beers were one, most food was 2. Boom, you got what you want. No change, no bullshit.
• North Tent/DJ. Even though it was packed, I had a blast in this tent. Everyone is always super generous with pours, and the music was off the hook. I've never done so much dancing/jumping around at a DLD!
• Overall bathroom situation. Cattle pens aside, I never waited for more than a minute or two for a pisser. They were relatively clean considering the circumstances, and were plentiful.
• Bottle sharing. Don't ever take this away from us, Indiana. Don't you EVER do it, you hear me? This is the best part of the fest. Meeting awesome people, sharing great pours and great times.

Overall, a fun DLD. I'll be gunning for year 5. Can we please have a DLD that isn't raining for fuck's sake?!! See you animals next year

 

Agreed 100% ajcuster89 about the bands. Just give me ONE clean singing metal band and I'll be happy!

 

Pallbearer & Corrosion Of Conformity are both clean singing and played last year.

This year was all death/thrash/sludge with screaming vocals though, in classic DLD style. That first band was just terrible.

Mucca Pazza did play in years past, and that is way different from the typical bands.

 

Something doesn't add up here haha.