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Sunday, September 14, 2008
X-Fest: The Aftermath
DAYTON — Blame Ike.
The so-named hurricane created the weather conditions Sunday, Sept. 14, that forced the early conclusion of X-Fest 13 at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds.
Organizers expected 20,000 to 25,000 people to attend the annual all-day modern rock concert presented by WXEG (103.9-FM). And a massive sea of bodies filled the concert site on the fairgrounds’ race track when officials pulled the plug about 2:45 p.m. — nearly five hours early, and before six of the 11 scheduled national acts had performed.
Patrons, who paid between $30-$40 (plus service fees) for a single ticket, initially stood in disbelief at the evacuation announcement. A second announcement about five minutes later prompted most ticketholders to begin heading slowly toward an exit.
A vocal crowd of several hundred, however, formed in front of the Main Stage, resistent to leaving the concert site. Various vulgar-laced chants began, and several plastic bottles flew through the air, with one hitting a speaker on stage.
Band crews scrambled to pack up musical equipment, while vendors closed concessions.
Eventually, a line of security staff formed a flank-like circle around the recalcitrant patrons and herded them toward the fairground gates on South Main Street. Before everyone was out, however, a large tree near the old Roundhouse fell and landed on a car parked nearby, sending security forces running to the site.
Once outside the fairground gates, many young people were temporarily stranded while they waited through increasingly strong winds to catch a bus or reach someone by cell phone to pick them up. Limited parking near the concert grounds forced most patrons to park several blocks away.
Whether there were any injuries to X-Fest patrons related to the weather was unknown at press time.
A notice on the radio station’s Web site late Sunday afternoon indicated that patrons should hold onto their ticket stubs. “(The station) 103.9 the X, and each of the X-Fest 13 bands who were unable to get their set in want to work together to make it right,” the posting said.
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Fans flock to X-Fest despite foul weather forecast
DAYTON — Wind-whipped dust clouds swirling through the ever-growing X-Fest crowd early Sunday afternoon at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds matched the ominous tones of the taped music used to introduce thrash metal band Five Finger Death Punch.
One of 11 national rock acts scheduled to perform as part of the annual day long music festival presented by WXEG (103.9-FM), the band took the stage about 1 p.m., following opening performances by Black Tide and Theory of a Deadman.
The Christian metal rock band RED, which also had been expected to perform early in the day, reportedly ran into trouble getting into town, and so was rescheduled to play at 5:15 p.m. on the event’s side Local Stage.
Gates opened at 11 a.m., but ticket-holders were still streaming in two hours later, disregarding weather forecasts calling for rain and possibly severe storms later in the afternoon.
Steve Kramer, WXEG’s program director, said that organizers were monitoring the weather, and would respond depending on the situation. “Safety first,” he said about the station’s plans.
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