WaPo: Jiffy Lube Live (Nissan Pavilion) Bans Tailgating

[Lanky Livingston]

Tailgating was the only thing that made this dump worthwhile - it takes a minimum of 2 hours to get home after any concert, b/c there is one two lane road out of there. What a crock!

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This summer, you won’t hear sizzling grills and sloshing coolers in the sprawling gravel parking lots that surround Jiffy Lube Live. Tailgating has been banned at the 25,000-capacity venue in Bristow that’s owned and operated by concert-promotion behemoth Live Nation.

That means no tents, no picnics and no alcohol will be allowed in the lots before hotly anticipated concerts from Toby Keith, Lil Wayne, Jimmy Buffett and others. The venue’s general manager, Matt Rogers, said the new policy is an effort to stem drunken driving, which, in the past two years, has taken four lives after concerts at Jiffy Lube Live.

“The safety of the fans is of paramount importance and we have an ongoing commitment to work with the local police department on all shows to ensure a safe environment for all of our fans,” Rogers said in an e-mail. “As always, we welcome all feedback and comments from our fans.”

Judging from an eruption of angry comments on Jiffy Lube Live’s Facebook page, that feedback amounts to a backlash. Many fans say they’ll boycott the venue this summer — which can’t be good news for Live Nation after summer-concert ticket sales plunged 12 percent last year nationwide. Jiffy Lube Live, which changed its name from Nissan Pavilion a year ago, is already infamous to any music fan who has endured that rush-hour slog into Northern Virginia’s farmlands.

Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Jiffy Lube Live’s main competitor, has a similar policy that bans open containers outside the venue. FedEx Field, on the other hand, allows tailgating at Washington Redskins games and concerts.

Rogers said Jiffy Lube Live banned pre-concert gatherings after consulting with area residents and police.

“It’s their decision,” said Sgt. Kim Chinn of the Prince William County police. “We support their policy, certainly. We want to keep the people safe.”

Chinn made the “no tolerance” policy clear: Anyone spotted drinking alcohol in the parking lot will be asked to stop. Anyone spotted drinking a second time will be escorted from the venue and issued a notice of trespass, banning him from the grounds.

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[Sarge]

That's some bull**** right there. I hate this place to begin with because like Jamie said, unless you're extremely lucky, it takes two ****ing hours to out the one exit they provide when the concert is over. And they have the typical $10 piss beers and other dan snyder priced food

I saw Rush last month in Baltimore at 1st Mariner Arena. Yes it's a dump, it's the old Baltimore Civic Center. But it's right downtown near the Seafood places, plus we parked right across the street from the place in a parking garage and walked up to a side door that they had open for patrons. Great show too BTW. After the concert we got right out of the garage and into the streets and next thing you know we were on our way home.

**** Nissan

 

[Sarge]

The "not opening the gates until one hour pror to the show" is the worst part. Frankly I'm surprsed the cops allowed it. I went to see........yes Rush, there last year. As always, I get there mega early to avoid the traffic. Except guess what? They didn't open the gates and it was less than 2 hours prior to the show. People were backing up on the highway and I think the cops went down there and told them to open the gate. As it was, we got in there, but then they didn't open the arena until less than an hour before the show. By the time I got thru, got a T-Shirt and something to eat the concert started.

What was a ****ty situation before is going to turn into a zoo. Hell, why not just go back to the old "general admission" tickets and make it a complete free for all