Consider me double-sold on hosting a festival in the parking lot of Citi Field. There's been talk for the last couple years that Founders has wanted to move Governors Ball to Queens, specifically nearby Corona Park. This year, the organizers behind the Panorama Festival attempted the same gambit.
It's now painfully obvious why.
For every person who's ever been to Randall's Island — the site of Governors Ball, Panorama, and any number of other summer concerts — the scene in and out is familiar. There's the grinding traffic into the grounds, if arriving by car, or the sun-scorched walk across the Ward's Island Bridge. Leaving a concert there is most reminiscent of scenes from the 1981 Kurt Russell thriller "Escape from New York."
And the mud. Don't forget about the mud.
When it rains, the grounds turn into a literal mud pit. Had The Meadows been held at Randall's Island after Friday's downpour, the festival would have been a complete wash. Witness Governors Ball 2013, which happened amid a Friday night rainstorm.
Contrast that scene with the one at Citi Field. Sure, some people were disappointed that the festival was being held in a literal parking lot — and not Corona Park, as some had thought — but the upside was that it was easier for organizers to clear out the rain and for attendees to keep their feet dry and dance.
Getting to and from Citi Field was also a huge plus.
The Mets/Willets Point station is well-equipped for dealing with massive crowds, given that it experiences an influx of 30-40,000 fans 80-100x a year. That means a big station and express trains direct to and from Times Square. For the fancier ones among us who decided to hop in a cab or an Uber, that wasn't too bad either.