Kinda as a side note, discussing going to shows and stuff..... On NYE I played with my cover band at the Radisson in Indiana, for a huge crowd of about 800 people. (For those who don't know, this is pretty much how I earn my dough, because frankly, death metal don't pay LOL). Anyhow, due to the nature of the event, the crowd was mostly what you would call "normal" people, aged between 21 and early 30's mostly, the kind you'd probably see at a club downtown where dance music and expensive martini drinks are the norm.
The vast amount of rude, insensitive people in that crowd was just staggering. Obviously being NYE, the majority of them were drunk, which is fine, but I was still somewhat amazed at how rude and uncivilised many of them behaved. You'd be trying to walk through the crowd and say "excuse me" to get past them, and they'd either totally ignore you, or look at you like you're an asshole for existing. People were overly loud and obnoxious, were completely rude to my wife when she would try to get to the bar to get a drink for herself no matter how smiley and polite she tried to be in return, and the cops were summoned (not by me) at least twice before 10 p.m. because two drunken fights had broken out already, apparently over people taking over other people's chairs and tables when they'd gone to get a drink or use the washroom!
The point I'm getting at with this whole story is......even at some of the biggest metal shows I've attended, I've not had to deal with
that much obnoxious and rude behavior like that. Metalheads and metal gigs have this reputation for being rowdy and unruly and drunken/drugged moronic behaviour......and while it's certainly true that you might encounter some of that at some metal shows, I think it's over-exaggerated and highly ironic considering that these so called "normal" folks at shows like the NYE ones are the ones who usually place that tag on metalheads, yet they themselves are the rude idiots.
After the night was over my wife said to me, "Jesus Christ, what a bunch of fucking assholes!! I'm so glad I'm metal because my metal friends and metal shows are way cooler and more tolerable than this bullshit." She had a very valid point.
Zod, sounds like Wacken is a bit crazy!!! I think Graspop was perhaps a much smoother and more tolerable affair than Wacken is, going by your description. It's not to say that it doesn't get crazy crowded in the tents when bands start playing, but at no time did I really feel like I was trapped or in the middle of a bum rush. People on the whole were generally polite and it was easy enough for me to navigate my way in and out of the crowds. Sometimes it was a drag when you'd have two bands on different stages performing simultaneously that you wanted to see, or it might be a bit of a hurry if one was starting immediately after another on a different stage, but it never seemed to be much of a problem. The four stages at Graspop are all within a reasonable walking distance from one another, but at the same time they're separated enough that you don't run any risk of getting caught in the trample of some crazy cross-traffic, there's enough space for everyone. Again I don't have alot of personal experience with Euro fests to compare it against, but honestly I'd say Graspop was just about as perfect of a metal festival as I could've hoped for
Andy told me I should've said "yes that's me" and just been a rude cunt to them since he'd take all the blame anyhow!!! haha
