Sorry if this has already been touched on in another thread, but I couldn't find it. So every venue has their own wristband, and some change their wristbands every day. But if you already have the wristband for a venue that day, do you have to stand in line next time you go to that venue, or can you just go to the front, point to the venue's wristband on your wrist and they'll just wave you through?

Depends on the venue, Double Down for the past two years makes you go back through the line, its just one guy usually and hes busy checking ids from all over the world, so he isnt keen on taking his eyes off his business to check to see if you have a wristband already, some places let you in if they see that you have yesterdays wristband on, like i said, it depends on the venue.. its not too much of a hassle, but do not try to blow past the doorbum at Double down, he will scold and berate you..

You'll always have to wait in line--they need a rough headcount on who is in the club for fire code reasons.

Really want to see a band? The best bet is to get there 1-2 bands early.

Honestly, last year i didn't really have a problem at any of the venues. The only time i got turned away was during Tiltwheel at Nelly's and Punch at the Atlantic. So i would definitely keep some buffer time if you really want to get into one of the smaller venues, but now that there are three "big" venues i don't think you'll have much an issue.

While the bigger venues often don't have to worry about reaching capacity, they do tend to have long lines of people to wristband earlier in the evening. They also tend to have more of a nightclub mentality, in that they are totally used to having a long line outside the club and really aren't going to break a sweat trying to make it shorter. Later on, when most people have been wristbanded and the bouncers have less to do, they'll switch up a bit and start grabbing people out of line who have already been banded. If you go in and out a lot, sometimes they'll even recognize your face- in stark contrast to some of the staff at the too cool for school venues, who sometimes seem to take pride in doing everything they can to reduce you to a faceless schlub who they've never laid eyes on before.

At the smaller venues, if you're stuck in a long line and the club didn't just open, then it's probably a capacity situation. Always best to investigate your actual odds of getting in before wasting your time standing around.

If you want to see something at The Atlantic, you should show up an hour early. That was the only venue I consistently had trouble with last year.

If you're planning on seeing things at The Theater, I would recommend just showing up there early and grabbing a wristband. Last year, they had people checking IDs and handing out passes in line. This was incredibly useful for those who were 21+.

I had absolutely no problem getting into any of the other venues.

I can tell you that based on the problems we had last year at Loosey's we are going to be doing things differently and some of the new stuff is going to eliminate the line for those who already have bands. Some of the stuff though is going to take a little longer for some of you guys. I will say this, just because you already have a band on, doesn't mean you get to bum rush the door and just run through waving your arm in the air. That goes for VIP and press too. We still have to check to make sure the band is attached properly (to make sure you didn't get someone elses band in an attempt to drink underage), we still need to glance inside your bag (to check for bottles of booze, etc) and we still have to make sure we have the room for you and your nine friends that followed you in. The only real issue we had last year during Fest 10 was with the wristband/line so we are gonna try to fix that this time around and make it more pleasant for ourselves and for you guys. Also, be cool. I personally worked three 20 hour shifts in a row at Fest 10 so mid way through Sunday afternoon, I was beyond tired and grumpy. Fest is a lot of fun and everyone needs to enjoy themselves, that is obvious, just don't forget that most of the people you encounter that are working, have been there all day, more than likely with little sleep and very sparse breaks. On the note of the press/VIP folks, we still have to check your ID and put one of our bands on you so that our bar staff can know for sure that you are old enough to drink and/or have passed through our front door. No, you don't have to wait in line, just walk up to the front and let them know who you are so they can get you in.

Danny