Any chance of Looseys selling Strongbow this year? When it was known as Market Street Pub they had Strongbow on tap which was great but they under estimated demand from UK Fest goers and sold out half way through the weekend. That was very disappointing! Mothers always gets some in for the occasion and it seems to sell very well!

Danny, I'm in the industry as well. How do you guys feel about randos bringing your doormen and/or bartenders unopened Red Bulls / Monsters / etc? I've had this happen a few times back home while bartending and it has melted my heart every time. Are you guys ok with/allowed to accept this kind of stuff?

Timmy, I am sorry to say that no, we will not be serving Strongbow. About a year and a bit ago (before Fest 10) Loosey's made the decision to dedicate ourselves to only serving American made craft/micro brews (plus Bud Light, PBR and Yuengling, mostly because not everyone is cool and drinks good beer and it's cheap to give to our local bands for free come non-fest shows) and we have stuck with. I will expound upon this a little. The craft beer market is getting big here in the states. There were a handful of other 'craft beer' oriented bars around us and we wanted something that stood out completely from everyone else, so we booted out all of our foreign beers and stuck with stuff that is made in America.

That being said, maybe we could have a 'visiting worker' for the weekend, but Ill keep you posted on that as I have to discuss it with the wife (my business partner as well). Not a bad idea if it's that big a seller for y'all. I'll letcha know!
Danny

I'm sure my door guys would be totally down! Most of my boys only really drink water, but it is hard to get away from the door for 5 seconds, much less to the bar to get a beverage. That is super rad that someone would even ask. Door guys might be the most abused people on any staff. Might even get you to the front of the line!
Danny

- good, comfortable shoes.
- emergen-c and granola bars. (quick, easy, recovery breakfast to start each day. emergen-c goes surprisingly well with a beer or vodka)

- lanacane. quite a few of us carry more weight than the rest. it's florida. chub rub + swamp ass is never, ever a good combination. lanacane is a godsend. and you don't leave powder trails.

- bring plenty of socks and underwear. bring an extra set of socks and pair of underwear. you don't really need to change shorts and you'll probably be buying (too many) t-shirts while at Fest.

- drink water. you find out quickly who's been to Fest multiple times and who hasn't.

- if you're not in a rush, skip the registration line and go straight up to the main room. check out the tables, get merch ahead of time (instead of lugging it around for a whole day), run into old and/or new friends.

- if you end up getting a good cabbie, tip well and get their number. unless they're busy, you can usually save time by calling them directly instead of waiting to get a cab dispatched to you. this is a huuuuuuuuuuge time saver. continue to tip well.

- don't be afraid to offer door people, security, merch slingers, etc. water/drinks/food. not only is this good karma, but may pay off for you in your Fest coming and goings.

- don't eat at fast food chain. or at least try not to. i looooove the food in gainesville. Flaco's combo bowl is a MUST for any Gainesville visit. Reggae Shack is excellent too, but i might have to stay away from it. El Indio (near the Holiday Inn) has decent mexican food. i like to try Boca Fiesta's monthly special as well.

- don't be afraid to watch partial sets or missing bands. it's going to happen. have alternates. go into a random venue if the other ones are too packed.

- relax. don't go to Fest just to stress out.

- don't be a dick.

- try to keep phones/cameras charged.

- bring mailers (keeps your records safe while you're lugging them around)

- have options for your backpack. some venues won't allow them.

- make new friends

another option,

Shoe gel inserts and gold bond friction defense are my two best friends at The Fest. If I could, I would buy them multiple beers.

This is the biggest question I had. Thanks for clearing this up. Do most venues not allow backpacks? I'm bringing one but I'm not sure if I should be walking around all weekend with a backpack or if I should just leave it in my hotel room and only carry a few things with me.

High Dive is the most serious one about backpack restriction. i remember the Venue...or i guess it's the Florida Theater this year, would just search them. same with 8 Seconds. i think the Atlantic was cool with it. most of the smaller venues don't really care. High Dive is the biggest one you'll have a problem with. you could stash it somewhere before you go inside or find a friend to hold on to it for you until you meet back up with them. if you know any merch people or volunteers working other venues, you could even try having them watch it for you while you go to High Dive. i was working a merch table there last year and they wouldn't even let me bring my backpack in. good luck!

High dive had a uhaul outside last year that you could pay a couple bucks to keep your bag in

Are there any lockers close to the venues to stash bags/merch?

people posted it before, but fo real, DON´T go to food chains! gainesville has some of the best food i ever experienced. it´s a vegan paradise! but also a carnivore one!

if you see me, say hi, i buy you a beer!

this is me:

I use the same drawstring backpack every year and have never had problems with it, though I usually never end up at High Dive for some reason so idk how they'd feel about it. It's not that big and I'm able to get up front and crowd surf and whatnot with it and keep all my belongings [relatively] safe. Also last year the venue/FL theater stopped searching backpacks...or at least I never got searched.

But in general I got into every venue I wanted to get into okay with it.

Okay, so there seems to be a lot of wondering about bags/backpacks. Here's my take and the policy we will be using at Loosey's.

First, if you bring a back pack, make it small and keep it light. It WILL become a burden if you pack a change of clothes, camera, phone charger, laptop for blogging, etc. Bring what you NEED in your bag and that's it. As far as bag searches, I don't know how the other venues are going to treat it, but Loosey's (and probably 8 Seconds too) will be okay with bags, as long as it isn't a suitcase and as long as we can take a peak inside. We just want to make sure that you aren't bring booze or outside food in (or drugs/drug accesories, I found a packed bong in someones bag last year . . . really). I think that is going to be the case with most of the venues if they do bag checks. The reason for that is simple, we work really hard with Tony and the Fest crew to put this thing on and our payoff is selling our stuff (food and booze). So, if you are trying to sneak this stuff in, it takes money out of our pockets (and the staff too). Not to mention, like I have said before, drinks are cheap. Buy them from the bar and drink the liquor store stock in your hotel room.

Side note, if you carry a bag, put a fresh pair of socks in it. All that I have seen/read on the board about shoes means nothing if your feet ain't dry.

DH3

Thanks for this! Can't wait!

I plan on wearing a fanny pack with my phone and a pair of socks in it... do you think High Dive will have a problem with this? I know you don't work there, but word on the street? has anyone had problems with that?