One annoyance of TBA this year has been that cute little old-timey announcement board in the hallway where the night’s show schedule is posted. At least three times now, I’ve shown up for a show that’s listed in the program and online as starting at 10:30 pm, only to find that damn board telling me it won’t be starting til 11 pm. A half an hour’s not a huge deal, but it’s indicative of a larger problem: there’s a LOT of hurry-up-and-wait at Washington High. Last night’s Perforations was scheduled to start at 8:30 pm, and it did, but the 20-minute segment from 8:30-8:50 pm was followed by a solid 40 minute of waiting around for the next part of the show to start. Not to mention the general pain in the ass of waiting in line outside of Washington High, only to get in and wait in another line inside of Washington High.
Per official channels, “Things get backed up around using Washington High as a venue for 8:30 mainstage shows (particularly last night and tonight). Set changeovers can delay performers, so 11 is generally a safer bet. But doors always open by 10.”
With the disclaimer that I tried the “11 is a safer bet” approach two nights ago, and missed part of Miniature Dramas. SIGH.
/whining
Timing aside, I’ve been a bit frustrated by how compartmentalized the High School is feeling this year. One of the great things about coming to the school in years past, is how it felt like a hub for the entire festival. One felt as if they could show up for a performance early, grab a drink and wander the halls a bit taking in the installations and the general din of the festival.
I realize this probably impedes PICA’s ability to accurately check tickets/passes as well monitor drinking or prevent late comers from making a racket during performances, but there is kind of a coldness I’ve felt walking into the school this year.
I mean, I had a security guard ask to check my bag when I wasn’t even in line yet to get in and then insisted even after I told him that. Sheesh.
Next be sure to check in on Facebook with the LBA group, and represent the companion Line-Based Art Festival.
(Yes, this is a real thing. Everyone is tired of the lines.)
We do our best to accurately represent the starting times of shows, but a Festival with this many moving parts and performers is an unwieldy beast to manage. We publish 10:30 because it’s genuinely our goal to get things switched over from earlier shows to ready the building for late night crowds and bars. We’d rather have audiences show up a bit early when we hold the doors for opening than miss the artist they’re hoping to see.
We constantly have to make adjustments to respond to audience capacity and the changing nature of live performance. We are in a tight spot with a million city and OLCC regulations that we have to comply with, which accounts for the fencing and security at late-night events. Lines and set-change times are part of live performance and music, and we just try to manage all crowds as smoothly as possible, without dividing people up too much. Thanks for your patience!
my biggest gripe is that, for the second year in a row, an ATM rented by PICA charged my account but didn’t dispense cash. apparently i’m the only person this happened to last year (and this year, so far), but seriously, this reduces general confidence in the infrastructure of the festival. and it’s especially annoying when you’re hungry and waiting 30 minutes past a scheduled start time, knowing full well that dinner just isn’t gonna happen this time around… would’ve left if i wasn’t reviewing the show.
@Matt Stangel I think that’s really unfair to let a malfunction with a third-party rental speak to some perceived larger problem with festival infrastructure. When you get down to it, you know that TBA’s “festival infrastructure” is human. It’s a lot of really dedicated unpaid and underpaid individuals volunteering hours and hours to put on the projects and support these artists. We might give off the impression of being large and well-funded and professionalized (maybe I’m projecting), but I assure you it’s all smoke-and-mirrors – it’s put together with duct tape and a thin coat of paint and countless donations.
We understand the frustrations with delays, and we really try to avoid them. We do give a lot of autonomy over to the artists when we present a project – particularly ones with outside curation like Perforations – and that means relinquishing some degree of control. But seriously, when have any of you ever been to a show in Portland that started on time? Concert, indie theater production, anything? I think we can all count on movies starting on time, but otherwise…
But please let me know if it didn’t get resolved with the ATM, and I will check into it on our side if there is anything we can do.