As usual, I come home battered and bruised from an event at the Allient Energy Center. This might have been my second favorite of these shows (music-wise) after Deadmau5. Two things the venue should work on for next time are: getting lockers and having less promoters/publicists/etc. involved with one concert. 


I know many people who had stolen items, and this is not easily remedied if a coat or purse check is not available. This is Wisconsin, and when the show is so far off-campus a coat is surely needed en route, but cannot feasibly be worn once inside the mosh pit. The same normally holds true for a purse, which is needed to store tickets and ID — honestly, neon hot pants, which I was not wearing but saw many adorn, do not have pockets. Thus, there should be a more suitable place to store these items safely during AEC shows. 


Secondly, many more publicists, agents, promoters, event coordinators, and Allient staff were utilized in this endeavor than proved vital for communication and organization, helpful though they were. I know that, as a member of press, I was not the only one affected by these numerous individuals; I saw many others turned away from will call and other lines because the chain of communication had been repeatedly broken. I think we can only owe this unfortunate circumstance to an overdose of staff involved, which led to inevitably inadequate service. 


As always, concert-goers saw — or experienced — a lot of drug use; I even saw people wheeled out on stretchers, and my heart went out to one girl who was handcuffed and vomiting alone in a room with several police officers. Even if illicit substances were my thing, I can’t see the appeal — the show only went until 11 p.m. After three hours of blissful raging, by my calculation, you’ve still got five hours left in that roll and nothing to do with it. 


Overall, I enjoyed seeing all arrays of colored spandex, furry boots, candy necklaces and glow sticks. What I really liked about Tiesto, aside from the music he played, was the genuinely nice crowd he drew: When I got yelled at for having a friend on my shoulders, a helpful bystander said bracingly, “Hey, fuck security!” Respectfully, I took that as a pretty straightforward olive branch.