Future Islands at Beach Goth 2016 - Sunday
photo by Andy Sawyer

Growlers issue statement, but many Beach Goth attendees still pissed

Orange Country music fest Beach Goth had its share of problems over the weekend, and that was even before it rained. The problems started when the fest’s venue was moved weeks before the event. As mentioned, there’s already an angry petition about that. Many want refunds or at least want their voices heard (via social media).

The Growlers who are the band behind this fest, must be pretty stressed out right now, but up until now they’ve also been pretty silent. The fest wasn’t even issuing any official updates online while it was happening (or at least not that we saw). Now the Growlers have finally posted what I guess is an apology, and optimism for the future. Like many attendees who made the most of the rainy conditions (and there are a lot), The Growlers are focusing on the positives that came out of a semi-disaster. “We witnessed so many amazing things at this year’s fest,” the Growlers wrote, like “The spontaneous dance party that broke out during Future Islands’ set, right after the rain stopped.”

Not surprisingly, this statement (read it in full below), didn’t do it for those who are angry. Jason Giffen for instance, wrote this comment under the statement:

Did you witness my friend getting her hair pulled by security? Did you witness another friend getting choked out because he had a go pro? Did you witness security basically locking people inside and breaking every fire code violation possible? Did you witness there were zero water stations? Did you witness someone basically start a stampede prior to She Wants Revenge playing? Did you witness women getting their breasts over searched in the security line? Did you witness security selling garbage bags to people when it started raining? Did you witness a festival being over sold? Did you witness there was only two fucking lines for will call on day one causing people to wait hours for tix that should’ve been sent in the mail? Y’all fucked this one up.

I’m standing up for what I believe and I believe you owe us a fucking refund.

That was the sorriest excuse for an apology when so many of your fans were treated terribly this weekend.

Read the Growlers’ statement below:

FROM THE GROWLERS:

To all who attended Beach Goth this weekend,

We saw it in your eyes. We hear you. We feel you. We want to sincerely thank you for supporting us – and each other – at this year’s festival.

We started Beach Goth in 2012 and have watched it grow into a strange and beautiful party larger than we could have ever imagined. After last year’s Beach Goth, we reflected on some of the challenges we experienced, and we set out to create a better festival for our fans in 2016. We wanted low ticket prices, a peaceful space for fans to hang out, quality food and drink options, and creative and thoughtful art and vendors. We settled on the beautiful Oak Canyon Park: we toured the space, planned the festival of our dreams and got beyond excited to share a new venue for Beach Goth with you. In the months that followed, as we recorded our new album and continued to tour, the plans shifted, due to various reasons, many of which were beyond our control. Eventually Beach Goth was moved back to the Observatory grounds.

We witnessed so many amazing things at this year’s fest. The spontaneous dance party that broke out during Future Islands’ set, right after the rain stopped. The guys who carried their ladies over the puddles. Meeting those of you in person who traveled wild distances to be a part of the adventure. Hearing Patti Smith say the words “Beach Goth!” to a crowd of thousands. In the past 48 hours, we’ve listened to your comments on email and social media, and we’re taking your words to heart. If we invite you to a show or party again, it will be for the fans first and foremost. We want you to feel the love that we have for you.

In the words of Saturday night’s legendary headliner Patti Smith, “People have the power / the power to dream, to rule / to wrestle the earth from fools.” Let’s stand up for what we believe and make a future experience that we can all be proud of.

With love and respect,
The Growlers

Check out our photos from the weekend HERE, HERE and HERE.