I hope that it's not as hard to get in this year as it was last. Stagger the good bands please!

dang it, I literally just posted about this in reply to you in another thread.

But yeah, it's a 'mare.

Common Grounds is impossible to get into every year!

No kidding I always try to see bands that are playing common grounds in atlanta on their way to Fest. I seriously dread anytime I have to see a band at common grounds!

I love shows at CGs during the year, but yeah, it can be hard to get into, and sometimes unpleasantly crowded to hang out at during Fest. Other having more places of similar size, I can't really see a way to solve the problem.

Last year i waited for an hour and a half in line to see Russian Circles, but i also showed up like 3-4 bands before them just to make absolutely certain that i didnt miss it

it seemed to me that the venues can be kinda slow letting people in. i missed Dear Landlord at Fest 7 because of the line at 1982, but my mate who got in said it was barely half-full while they played. THAT sucks.

I'll definitly try to avoid CG as much as possible .. I think a big problem was that too many people camped at the venue.... I f.e. just wanted to get in for gunmoll, which was just half full, as the garden was full with people that waited for the bands afterwrads... like in other venues there is way more circulation

This is true. But, I can hardly blame Festgoers. CG is a great place to sit and hang...the garden is nice and shadey and there's a bar...I hung out there all Saturday last year, though, I went into the venue and saw all but one of the bands that was playing while I was there...

Now that I think about it, yeah, the crowd was sort of light for Gunmoll, but it was crowded for bands before and after. That sort of thing has to be hard to anticipate though, because a lot of bands that NEVER get a huge crowd reaction on a regular tour will have a ton of people pack in for them at The Fest.

Hell, even with the club mostly empty, that was 4 times as many people as I had ever seen at a Gunmoll show.

On Saturday last year, we talk to some people in line that had waited an hour and barely moved. I feel like there were more people last year though so that might be part of it.

I just avoid Common Grounds as a rule of thumb. Even if awesome bands are playing there (and there usually are), it's just easier to spare myself the inevitable heartbreak of waiting in line for two hours and missing their set.

Thanks to Phil and his girlfriend, I was able to get into CG for Banner Pilot and Dear Landlord last year. Other than that, I don't think I even went to that club.

josh and i missed the first minutes and just were standing 1,5h in line for 20 min gunmoll, just to leave the venue afterwards again..

but I think thats the great thing about the Fest, probably every band has a bigger crowd then they normally have..

Ditto, that was just about the best day ever.

Oh, it'll probably be harder than ever this year.

The only way to make Common Grounds work is to just post up there all freaking day- which, I know, creates a positive feedback loop- but that's just how it is.

It sure is empty right now, though, and I guarantee that it'll stay that way until the end of August. So, now's your chance to get in and hide in the stockroom.