Bamboozle: 10 things you should know before you go

by Elizabeth Seward on

Bamboozle is a music festival that takes place in New Jersey every year right around this time of the year. Founded by John D’Esposito, Bamboozle began in 2003. While keeping up the annual festival in New Jersey, Bamboozle has also acted as the Bamboozle Roadshow and a festival in other cities, like Chicago, Illinois and Anaheim, California. The festival attracts close to 100,000 people each year–and most of those people are traveling to the festival from somewhere outside of East Rutherford, New Jersey.

The lineup for Bamboozle 2011, which kicks off tomorrow, certainly includes some head-turning
acts. Motley Crue, Lil Wayne, and Bruno Mars are some of the names you’ll see in big bold type on the show’s ads, but some perhaps-lesser-known acts will prove to be worth your turnpike road trip if you catch their sets. I’m not gonna tell you who to see, but I’ll tell you this… if I were going to Bamboozle, I’d be sure to check out Circa Survive, An Horse, Das Racist, Eisley, Starting Last, and Thrice.

If you’re traveling to Bamboozle, you probably already have your tickets since the festival is happening tomorrow. But you might not have done your homework yet on everything you can and can’t do at Bamboozle. Before you pack your bags and depart for a New Jersey music adventure, make sure you know the rules and have packed accordingly. Because nothing quite kills a music festival buzz like having your brand new cooler confiscated.

So here we are, in no particular order, none at all, some things you should know before you go.
1. The New Meadowlands Stadium is a smoke-free stadium. Roll this one around in your mouth for a minute… you won’t be smoking inside the festival. So if you have a nicotine lust that’s hard to kick, it would be to your advantage to think of a workable solution before you’re sweating anxious bullets, begging a security guard for mercy.

2. Don’t wear clothing that displays indecent messages. How exactly ‘indecent’ is defined here is beyond my conjecturing, but I’m sure your best judgment will do the trick.

3. You may only bring in a bag that’s no larger than 12 inches on each side. Giant-purse-wearing-ladies and backpack-carrying-dudes: beware. Not only will your bags be searched, but you won’t be bringing them into the festival at all if they’re too big. And if you can’t bring in your bag, then you can’t bring in your raincoat and your hoodie and if you can’t bring those two things in, what are you going to do when it’s cold and raining? Wish you’d brought a smaller bag, that’s what you’ll do.

4. You cannot bring in: bottles, cans, hard-sided coolers, thermoses, or ice chests. Translation: Basically, you’re going to have to buy your beverages inside the festival. Even if you manage to bring in the right kind of cooler, you know, the kind with soft sides, you’ll still have to fill it with drinks purchased inside. And even though they didn’t explicitly say ‘no flasks’, you can’t bring in alcohol, either.

5. No lawn chairs. If you want to comfortably set up shop in front of the stage all day long on your nice little lawn chair, well, it ain’t gonna happen.

6. Don’t bring in stickers or promotional materials. Chances are strong that your band is already struggling enough. The last thing you guys need is to watch a bag-check employee trash the newly printed cds you had made just for Bamboozle promotion. Save yourself some time, money, energy, and tears by leaving the promotional material at home to begin with.

7. Leave the umbrella behind. Bamboozle might be a rain or shine festival, but if it rains, it’s on you to keep yourself dry. You can’t bring your umbrella inside, which means, I’m guessing, you either get to purchase an umbrella inside if it rains or you’ll be expected to mud-fight with other attendees circa Woodstock ’94.

8. Leave the baby behind, too. Ok. I take that back. You can bring babies to Bamboozle, but you can’t bring strollers. So keep this stroller-ban in mind before you decide on whether or not you’ll be bringing your young one along.

9. No: beach balls, banners, flags of any kind, frisbees, or laser pointers. You’ll have to figure out how to have fun without these toys.

10. All bags AND VEHICLES are subject to inspection upon entry. Anyone who refuses can be turned away. And depending on what you’re hiding in your trunk, you might be better off turning away.

Image Credit: Dana Cama

Photo of the day – The Old Man and the Sea

by Meg Nesterov on


Context is a funny thing. If this man were, say, working on his car in Passaic, New Jersey, we wouldn’t find him very romantic or interesting. But put him on a boat on the Adriatic Sea in Slovenia and he’s now a perfect travel photo subject, thanks to Flickr user SummitVoice1. He makes us sigh and think, “That’s the life. Just a man, a simple boat and the open water.”

He should still probably put on a clean shirt, though. Fare thee well, old salt, hope your day is smooth sailing!

Find a classic travel subject for your photos? Post your favorites to the Gadling Flickr pool and we may use one for a future Photo of the Day.

Fired middle-aged waitresses sue over skimpy uniforms at Atlantic City casino

by Justin Delaney on

In Texas, we have no shortage of restaurants catering to the drooling male demographic. Hooters, Twin Peaks, Burger Girl, and many others require threadbare uniforms to entertain and engage their mostly male patronage. The decent food/hot waitress business plan has proven an effective tonic for a thirsty male demographic, and the phenomenon seems to be infesting the suburbs. Skimpy uniform capitalization extends beyond the suburbs though, and casinos are another hotbed for this sort of uniform minimalism.

At the Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, several waitresses were recently fired after a modeling agency came in and evaluated the cocktail servers in their skimpy “Roaring 20’s” outfits. What appeared to be a harmless photo-shoot in the new uniforms was actually an evaluation of the servers to keep their jobs. According to USA Today, fifteen servers were let go after the “sham evaluation process.” Seven of the sacked middle-age waitresses lawyered up and are suing the Resorts Casino Hotel in an age and sex discrimination lawsuit.One of the fired waitresses, Katharyn Felicia, had been a loyal employee since 1978. A two time employee of the month, she felt that the process “was very degrading to women.” The Resorts Casino Hotel feels that they gave each waitress a fair shot, and the jazz era uniforms are part of a re-branding effort. The flapper costumes include elaborate hats, deep slit short skirts, and fishnets. The property is trying to capitalize on the popularity of the HBO program Boardwalk Empire which takes place during prohibition in Atlantic City.

Seattle’s Safeco Field gets food concession with local ingredients, menus by award-winning chefs

by Laurel Miller on

Buh-bye, limp hot dogs in soggy buns. Baseball season starts April 1st, and Seattle’s Safeco Field–go, Mariners–is celebrating its first home game on the 8th with some serious food.
Centerplate, the leading hospitality provider to North America’s premier sports stadiums, has developed a partnership with award-winning Seattle chef Ethan Stowell, as well as chefs Roberto Santibañez, owner of Brooklyn’s Fonda/culinary director of Hoboken’s The Taco Truck, and Bill Pustari, chef-owner of New Haven’s Modern Apizza.

The revamped Bullpen Market at Safeco Field will feature fresh, local ingredients and easy-on-the-budget prices. In addition to an Apizza outlet, there is chef Stowell’s Hamburg + Frites, and La Crêperie, and Flying Turtle Cantina/Tortugas Voladoras from Santibañez.

Says John Sergi, Chief Design Officer of Centerplate, “Our mission was to create a restaurant-style experience–the anti-fast food–in a concession environment. We (brought in) Ethan as our consulting chef…in order to help us make the food ‘restaurant-real.’

Stowell is the executive chef and owner of Ethan Stowell Restaurants, which includes Tavolàta, Anchovies & Olives, and How to Cook a Wolf. He is the acting chef at eight-month-old Staple & Fancy Mercantile, in Seattle’s gorgeously revamped Kolstrand Building in the Ballard neighborhood.

Best-known for his use of local ingredients and simple, seasonal food, Stowell was named one of the 2008 Best New Chefs in America by Food & Wine magazine and has been honored with multiple James Beard Award nominations for “Best Chef Northwest.” Santibañez and Pustari were added to the line-up to create programs featuring the signature concepts for which they are both nationally acclaimed–Mexican food and pizza. I might get into sports if this is the future of stadium food.

Three simple reasons why Palo Alto, California is like Reston, Virginia

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Business travel often takes you to places you normally wouldn’t visit. I’d never plan a vacation to Peapack, New Jersey, for example, and London, Ontario is another that surely won’t make anyone’s “bucket list.” The upside, however, is that you get to see places you’d never visit otherwise. And, you remember that “off the beaten path” – the goal very committed traveler – isn’t necessarily sexy. This is what I’m seeing right now as I sit in Palo Alto. The conference I attended is behind me, and I’m killing some time before catching a flight home.

What I can’t shake, a feeling that’s been with me since I arrived in town on Tuesday, is that I’ve been somewhere like this before. I spent a couple of months in Reston, Virginia on business back in 2003, and the parallels stood out immediately.

Are Palo Alto and Reston brothers from another mother? I think so, and here are three simple reasons why:1. They are immaculate: when I was in Reston, I was blown away by the absence of litter … and the absence of dirt. The place is frighteningly clean (in a creepy, Monaco-esque way), and I wouldn’t be shocked if you could do surgery on the street with no fear of infection. Palo Alto is no different. I feel like I should take my shoes off before crossing University Avenue.

2. Planning is crucial: Both Reston and Palo Alto carry the ethos of a planned city. The seductive curves of Boston’s narrow streets are not to be found, and centuries of mismatched architecture – of the sort you’d see in Manhattan – have no home in Palo Alto or Reston.

3. These cities are purpose-driven: Reston, of course, arose as something of an enclave for employees of the federal government. There are some businesses in town, and they have effectively become part of the purpose. For Palo Alto, subtract “government” and add “Stanford.”

It’s eerie, right?! A country separates these twin towns, but the connection, if only spiritual, will never be severed!

[photo by richardmasoner via Flickr]