Most accurate write-up I've seen so far: http://www.factmag.com/2012/07/07/bloc- ... ive-plans/
I was only supposed to have a 1 day guest pass and wound up with a 2 day pass and a press pass
I saw two instances of groups of people sneaking in. Saw several attempts to rush the gates at the boat. It was chaos at points, and security was clearly frustrated and exhausted. The accreditation entry (gate 1) had a massive queue of artists and only one guy getting people through. Artist vehicles/buses had an even more miserable time getting through.
Beyond the problems of over-crowding and getting people and artists in the venue, there were serious technical glitches all over the place. Mala and Coki came onstage to a broken deck and had to wait for the crew to set up a new table. Sound system was proper though.
The Carrhart dome (where Joker was supposed to play) on the other hand had perhaps the worst sound I've heard in the dozen shows I've seen in London in the past month. There were nothing but crowd fills (1 way full range monitors on the edge of the stage, pointed at the crowd) and four speakers over the stage -- no bass bins at all. It was hilariously quiet. I could speak at a normal volume and communicate quite clearly anywhere in the venue. Mosca went on at 11 and played until around 2 -- the only reason this venue didn't get shut down was because the stage manager's radio was broken and security was able to reasonably maintain the entrances (though I did see a fire exit get rushed and a security member got thrown to the ground).
Tried to make my way back on the boat after everything had been shut down, but police were already enforcing a rolling barricade at that point. A couple guys climbed up on top of shipping containers and some tribal drumming shit broke out -- people were banging on the containers with their hands and sticks.
It was quite tame though, no rioting or anything like that. People were certainly disappointed, but I think the closure was dealt with pretty reasonably.
