Bamboozle busier on second day with 40,000 in attendance
Foo Fighters draw older spectators; twice as many fans flood festival area
Crowds were twice as large today as they were on the first day of the Bamboozle music festival.
Asbury Park city manager Terence Reidy said 40,000 people attended today, while about 23,000 came yesterday. The crowd today skewed a bit older than yesterday’s attendees. Many business owners on the boardwalk and in Ocean Grove attributed the older festival-goers to today’s headlining act, the Foo Fighters. Yesterday’s headliner, Skrillex, drew younger spectators.
Many fans today said they had come to see the Foo Fighters or Blink-182, although the latter canceled earlier this week due to a band member’s illness. My Chemical Romance played understudy to Blink-182 and started their set around 6 p.m.
Yesterday, many attendees said they had driven or flown long distances to get to the festival for all three days. Today, many fans were from New Jersey and said they were only in town for the day. This aligned with event organizers’ predictions. At public awareness meetings, officials from both the city and promoter LiveNation said they expected 20,000 attendees on Friday, 40,000 today and 30,000 tomorrow. So far, their estimates have held true.
DJ Pauly D, of “Jersey Shore” fame, was a popular draw today, as were headliners The Foo Fighters. Many attendees said they had come to see Never Shout Never, who played on the main stage earlier in the evening.
As far as refreshments, the lines for food were long while those who wanted alcoholic drinks — priced from $7 to $9 — never had to wait long. Food cost $5 to $12 and was similar to typical boardwalk fare — funnel cake, hot dogs and fries.
The Foo Fighters are scheduled to play Saturday Night Live in Manhattan later tonight. They started their headlining set at around 6:30 p.m., much earlier than last night’s headliner, Skrillex, who didn’t start until after dark. Although tonight’s headliner started earlier, concert organizers said the bands at the other six stages would play at their regularly scheduled times.
Doors opened at 5 p.m. yesterday and 2 p.m. today. Tomorrow, doors will open at 2 p.m. once more and Bon Jovi, Brand New and the Gaslight Anthem are headlining.
