Getting ready to what some are calling one other nice recession, it’s exhausting to consider individuals are keen to spend extra money for concert events that already value upward of $500. However Exterior Lands producers One other Planet Leisure was betting on the truth that music lovers have been able to splurge for unique entry, premium food and drinks choices, and a spot to get away from the massive crowd at Golden Gate Park over the three-day outside occasion, which wrapped up Sunday, Aug. 7, with a headlining set by rapper Put up Malone.
And so they have been proper.
Greater than 300 festivalgoers opted for the ultra-luxe VIP stage generally known as the Golden Gate Membership, now in its third 12 months. The premium expertise is among the many greatest additions to San Francisco’s premier summer season competition since Exterior Lands launched the cannabis-centric Grass Lands in 2018. Whereas VIP areas and personal cabanas have been an improve possibility because the the competition began 14 years in the past, with field suites added a number of years in the past, Golden Gate Membership’s most important attraction is its Skydeck Parlor. The elevated deck, with decor by San Francisco designer Ken Fulk full with an ADA-approved elevator, gives a panoramic view of the Polo Area and unobstructed sightlines to the primary Lands Finish stage.
Three-day passes value $4,699, plus charges, or $1,995 for a single-day move — costs Allen Scott, One other Planet president of concert events and festivals and co-founder of Exterior Lands, stated permits them to maintain the final admission ticket costs low this 12 months (beginning at $175 for a single day ticket) regardless that skyrocketing inflation considerably elevated the manufacturing finances for the San Francisco competition.
Among the many unique choices on the Skydeck Parlor have been bites by native culinary stars equivalent to movie star chef Tyler Florence of Miller & Lux; Nancy Oakes and Dana Younkin of Boulevard Restaurant; and Ravi Kapur of Good Good Tradition Membership and Liholiho Yacht Membership.
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So as to add extra decadence, caviar glad hour was hosted by Caviar Co. every day.
“What different festivals do you go to the place they’ve caviar service with blinis and creme fraiche or providing bumps of caviar?” stated Petra Higby, who was serving dollops of choose caviar as Native Natives wrapped up their afternoon set on the competition’s second day. “It actually takes VIP to the subsequent stage.”
The most costly caviar served over the weekend was the corporate’s Oestra, a big pearl caviar with a nutty taste and buttery end from Israel that goes for $140 per ounce. Higby stated they undergo a pound of caviar every day, which totals about $5,000 value of the delicacy.
Different high-priced gadgets embrace the wines curated by Saison co-founder and head sommelier Mark Vivid. Other than free pours of choose wines, bottle service for an extra value included $300 Dom Pérignon to restricted bottles of Charles Krug’s 1974 Cabernet Sauvignon for $1,500. Straight from the Saint Helena vineyard’s cellars, Vivid stated one glass of the uncommon Krug wine might go greater than $500 at a restaurant — should you might even discover it provided on a menu.
Scott stated the Golden Gate Membership was “impressed to create an occasion inside the occasion,” which is why every day featured actions equivalent to tarot card readings and boutique retail buying areas highlighting Bay Space-based distributors.
Whereas the Wine Nation competition BottleRock Napa Valley additionally presents a number of sky decks and luxurious experiences, together with an indoor pop-up spa, what makes the Golden Gate Membership completely different is its concierge service. Sporting inexperienced blazers (assume the Masters Match winner’s jacket), a few dozen pleasant helpers encircle the Skydeck Parlor, out there to reply nearly any questions membership members had concerning the competition in addition to offering tableside drink service for a clientele that ranged from vogue designers and actors to tech moguls.
Exterior of the elevated viewing lounge space, extra green-jacketed helpers have been out there to escort membership members in personal golf carts — a service dubbed Mr. Fulk’s Extensive Journey — to the Lands Finish, Twin Peaks and Sutro levels. As soon as on the most important live performance levels, membership members acquired an unique front-of-stage viewing space, full with entry to a cooler stuffed with complimentary drinks.
“Past simply the posh of the membership, which is simple, what individuals are actually enthusiastic about is entry to the entrance of the stage. With the ability to get artist entry like this at a competition this massive is form of unprecedented,” stated Kelsey Schimmelman, occasions supervisor at Ken Fulk. “So I don’t assume individuals are simply right here to really feel like they’re eliminated in a particular separate lounge from everybody else, they signed up for the membership to get as shut as potential to the artists that they got here right here to see.”
For many who selected to be dropped off for the digital dance music vibes on the SOMA Tent, membership members have been in a position to hop in a skip-the-line lane that ensured straightforward entry all through the competition.
Introduced layers of garments which can be too scorching to put on through the weekend’s unusually heat afternoons? Membership members didn’t have to fret about lugging any of it round because of a coat test close to the Golden Gate Membership’s personal rest room trailers.
And, oh, what bogs. Whereas VIP areas had already seen an improve in rest room services with flushable moveable bathrooms 4 years in the past, Golden Gate Membership members’ personal bogs have been as near residence as festivalgoers might get. The personal stalls have been in air-conditioned, art-decorated trailers that got here with moist wipes and, for the women, facial mist and complimentary tampons.
Scott stated One other Planet is already working with Fulk to determine what different perks the Golden Gate Membership will supply at subsequent 12 months’s occasion.
“We’re at all times engaged on issues,” he stated. “It would by no means be precisely the identical occasion every year.”