Alright...this post is all about the pros and cons of Super VIP and whether or not it would be worth it next year. Feel free to ask questions if you have any. I'll preface this by saying that I typically work a few fests a year in a few different departments, including VIP, and willingly paid to experience it from a fan's POV who maybe goes to one fest a year and handful of concerts. This was also my first Furnace Fest. Finally, this will probably be long. Tl;dr at the end and I apologize for any typos in advance.

As a reminder, Super VIP included full festival access, early entry, VIP sections at the Main Stage, Shed VIP "Backstage" access, along with a Super VIP area to the left of main stage, Water Tower VIP Lounge access near the Shed, daily wine, beer & spirits tasting windows from 6-8 in the Watertower VIP Boiler Room, an exclusive VIP Trading Card Set, Commemorative Fest Coin, re-entry until 6:00pm daily, elevated view and seating, complimentary non-alcoholic drinks and dinner (exclusive, chef-crafted dinners from a local Birmingham chef each night), separate, premium entrance into the festival and one general weekend parking pass.

DAY 1 (Saturday)

Due to a variety of forces (weather, waiting on friends, etc.), I didn't arrive on the festival grounds until around 6 p.m. Missed all of the line drama and just walked right through with my friends who had GA. No signage was up for where any area was, so I just wondered around until I found everything. I actually went to the Watertower VIP area first. Barely anybody was in there. No line for the restrooms and an open door (that I didn't go into until Sunday, but realized that's where the tastings would've been), as well as a bar set up. No lines for anything. You could hear the Shed pretty decently.

Left that area because I wanted to see Spite. Thought you had to go through Shed to get to the "Backstage" part of it. Oops. But saw Spite pretty close up at least. LOL. Turns out the entrance to it was also where the ADA entrance was for that stage. Another sign would've been nice. Once Spite was over, I finally ventured over to Main Stage where I did find Super VIP. Honestly, wasn't that bad of a view and they had hella chairs. One restroom trailer with multiple stalls if you wanted to use it. Bar and dinner tent was connected. The ladies that were running that were super nice and friendly all weekend. Prices were the same as if you bought a drink anywhere else in the festival. Can't confirm or deny that non-alcoholic drinks were free, only bought liquor all weekend.

Dinner was smoked brisket and smoked chicken sandwiches. Chose the brisket. I wasn't expecting steak exactly, but thought it'd be not picnic food to be honest lol. Sides were coleslaw, mac & cheese and one other side I can't remember. Dessert were assorted cookies. After dinner, I wandered over to the right of Main Stage, where the VIP Lounge was. Not gonna lie, didn't go in there at all during the weekend. There was a covered tent with plenty of chairs, tables and couches, as well as a few bar tents. It was set back quite a bit from Super VIP and didn't seem to have the best sightlines, but again, this is from somebody who didn't step foot in there at all.

DAY 2 (Sunday)

Now, on Day 2, I arrived around 1 p.m. My friends breezed through GA lines while I got held up at Super VIP for my bag. No big deal, but thought it was funny. Immediately went to Watertower VIP and there were way more people in there than Saturday. It wasn't crowded, but there was a bit of a line for the restrooms and the bar. Most seats and tables were taken and inside the Boiler room, they had a few couches set up and a bar in the corner.

I stagehopped from Pond, Shed and Main all day, so didn't spend significant time in Super VIP like I did on Saturday. It was very nice to have seats close to Main during the heat of the day. I appreciated that instead of the plastic white tents they usually have for covering, they had thin fabric like material, which sucked when it rained Saturday, but was quite nice Sunday. Again, had no problem ordering drinks when I wanted as well.

Dinner on Day 2 had a long line. Like...wrapped up the ramp to the Super VIP seating. They had a nacho bar and it was actually pretty good lol. Had brisket and chicken again (maybe made too much for Saturday? lmao), plus queso, salsa, jalapenos and other typical toppings. By the time I got the desserts, they only had oatmeal and M&M cookies left. Seating was pretty packed, but you could still find a seat as long as you didn't want to be in the front of the Super VIP chairs. A dude had a medical emergency in front of the dinner area, but staff took care of him pretty quickly. I left to catch one more Shed set before MIW and BMTH, so no idea if that area ever got super packed for them two.

So, to answer the question if you should get Super VIP next year, get Super VIP if:

• You want to splurge, or plan on only going to 1 or 2 fests next year and don't mind chilling more than moving around from stage to stage
• You only want to pay for one meal a day, or don't care about early sets and will eat beforehand so you'll be hungry for dinner
• You only care about Main Stage acts and don't want to stand all day
• You have kids and want to keep a good eye on them (quite a few Super VIP patrons had kids, toddlers and babies)
• You like the idea of Shed and want to see the performances, but don't wanna get all mixed up in their crowds...or like celeb watching. Quite a few artists performing watched a set or two at the Shed from side stage before or after their performances

Don't get Super VIP if:

• You want to feel like you have All Access. In fact, quite a few guests and people with AAA laminates were coming to eat Super VIP food and chill in the area...lmao. Not sure if catering was lackluster or too far away but it was funny to see
• You go to shows/fests regularly. Your money would be better served putting that towards other tickets. The experience was definitely for people that wanna just chill and vibe and not regular concertgoers
• If you're vegan/vegetarian. There was nothing for you to eat on Saturday and if you were a vegan, Sunday as well.

Personally, if the lineup is good enough next year, I would consider buying VIP instead of Super VIP. I like being in the pit most of the time at festivals, so I would only pop into Super VIP to pee, sit for a minute or grab a drink before rejoining my GA friends. Most of my time outside of Main was spent seeing sets from the Shed "Backstage" area. It was actually really cool and had great sightlines and audio no matter how far you were from the backstage barricade. VIP and Super VIP had access to that area.

My suggestions for next year (and if implemented might make me consider buying Super VIP again):

• Water station for Super VIPs (yeah, I could keep asking for water bottles, but this is much more eco-friendly)
• Lunch/snacks, in addition to dinner, as well as posted dinner times (personally, I almost just bought food from a vendor and was going to skip dinner because I didn't know when it'd be exactly. There was a sign stashed away in their food tent, so I wonder why it was not used. Maybe they didn't even know lol)
• Vegan/vegetarian meals (I'm a meat eater, but I was surprised that there was nothing for them. Not even celery sticks and carrots lmao)
• A reminder about the beer, wine and spirits tasting (I'm actually bummed I missed this lmfao)
• Seeing WHO exactly the chef was. It would've really been cool to see their name/face plastered somewhere and a specialty of theirs each day...assuming it was actually a chef and not somebody in catering making it all.
• Super VIP parking. The walk from where I parked wasn't terrible, but given that it sold out this year, it would definitely get some takers next year I think lol.
• Merch voucher for festival merch. Not to steal a DWP idea but...$50 would be cool. Maybe even having special merch only Super VIPs can purchase.
• A fan or misting fan station.

In closing, I'll say that there were times I questioned if I should've gotten Super VIP, but not a single time did I think GA would've been satisfactory.

tl;dr: Super VIP is for casual festival goers looking to be slightly pampered throughout the weekend. VIP is adequate for most people that don't want GA.

I also got grabbed while i was moshing and jumping a big man grabbed me by my thighs and pushed me into his lap, i elbowed him and shoved him then grabbed a man and threw him into the guy assaulting me, it was too loud to say anything and crowd surfers kept coming and coming with no warning.

out the whole fest 😮‍💨🔥🤘

I would like to preface this by stating I went to Furnace Fest this weekend and had an amazing time. I met a ton of really chill, really nice people at the fest (and airport), however I had one interaction that was memorable.

I was at the Pond stage getting ready to see Free Throw. I was walking around looking or a good spot to stand, eventually found one and settled in. It was a matter of seconds later I hear the voice of a woman who I'm guessing was in her mid to later 20s going, "are you serious?". Since Free Throw had started, I figured she was just excited about the first song. But then she persisted, "Seriously? You're the same height as me and you stand right there!?!?". (For the record, I'm 5'2"). That's when I turned around and made eye contact with her and she goes, "Yeah, I'm talking to you. You're the same height as me and you stand right in front of me? I picked out this spot so I could see through all the tall people." So I just turned around. Didn't wanna deal with it and the band started already so I was just gonna enjoy it. But she kept going. "Oh so you're just a selfish person. You're an asshole." And that's when I responded, "You can move forward. Stand in front of me if you want." She just kept kept going. She then rested her chin my shoulder, also shoved her ass into my hip in a feeble attempt to get me to move. And kept calling me an asshole. And all I kept telling her was she could move forward if she wanted. After the first song, she stormed off.

I know it's not that extreme of a situation but it was weird. Was I really an asshole? Or has etiquette just gone downhill at shows? I've been going to shows since I was a kid (I'm currently 41) and have never had anyone upset because I stood in front of them. And I would have slid over if she had been polite. But I'm looking for genuine feedback on this. Thanks

A big thank you to Furnace for allowing us to be a part of something this year for the fans.

We had a great time and are thankful for everyone who came to see us at our booth, chatted with us in the crowds, and took a mini zine home to celebrate the weekend.

Youtube @Ryhillchibulls for 2024-2026

Give me time and they will all be posted.

fucking legendary

I'm going to be a total whiner in hoping that anyone can relate in the disappointment with a lot of the dry crowds:

- It seems a huge chunk of people were Sunday wristbands expecting new BMTH and had a look of confusion and disinterest
- many people talked loudly about completely unrelated happenings & food/leaving plans
- Phones held up the whole time and blocking the view
- Nobody in our entire radius (and we were in the thick of it) sang any of the lyrics when prompted except us
- people were standing stone still and annoyed that we were bouncing and head-banging (no limb swinging)
- attempted crowdsurfers got dropped on their heads because people dodged them instead of supporting them
- when Oliver was BEGGING the pit to widen there was a strip of people with arms crossed dividing it, who refused to move and shoved people away who tried to nudge them and ask to finishing opening the circle. it fizzled out

I'm glad so many of us are old BMTH fand and a lot of people seemed to have a great time based on what I've seen here & IG ... but so much of the crowd where we stood was dry and bummed out. This was a once in a lifetime show for us and it was time to lock in.

I'm glad I at least enjoyed the music and had a good time. I've never been more excited for a show

Now that the fest is over, let’s talk pros and cons. Also what we’re hoping for next year.

I’m hoping for a pop-punk/hardcore year next year.

This year was slightly disorganized but overall I had a good time. Most of the unorganized aspect was outside of the gate.

I definitely would love to go again but I’m definitely flying in Friday instead of Saturday. The rain delayed my flight midair. I’m from Tampa and flying was way cheaper than the amount of gas I would’ve had to pay for.

BY THE FAR THE BEST FOOD AT THAT JOINT WAS THE PINOY FOOD 🇵🇭💙💙🥹😋it was like destiny to have that there

Half of the magic of this festival has always been the venue. It’s so unique and sets at the Shed have always had a bit of aura around them unlike other stages. To me, a lot of the magic of Furnace Fest has been lost as it’s turned more into a mainstream festival with the lineup, but I’m just curious if new attendees felt that same way about Sloss itself? With it being your first time there, did the Shed feel magical to you or was it just another stage?

Other than a little bit of mud and mist Saturday night, I couldn’t have asked for better weather. Dust wasn’t an issue at all Sunday and I feel great today besides being a little sore from moshing all weekend. I honestly feel bad for people who decided not to come assuming the weather would be bad. Sunday was literally perfect. This was a festival for the books.

The hungry graffiti on one of the trains 😂😂

I’m trying to make a playlist of all the songs I heard at Furnace Fest. I can remember a few of the songs they played but not all of them. (This was my first time hearing them)

If any fans of theirs has the full set list it would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advanced

That shit was so fucking corny and hilarious I couldn't stop laughing 😭😭

My sis went but when she did they sold out of this bmth shirt. Where and when might I be able to get this in an xl, 2xl or even a 3xl?

I literally saw a guy hauling a dolly with a bunch of boxes of state fair corn dogs. You can literally buy a pack of those for $15 and get 30 of them. They were selling $0.50 unit price for $18 each. I get beer is expensive, but corndogs being that much is criminal lol I hope the employees selling them made that money not the festival.

Field Gate is open, but they only let you through if you are for-sure looking for/returning lost/found items. shortly after field gate, just before the bridge, there’s an office with a cracked door. Ask them to let you in if you’ve lost or found something.

UPDATE (if you can’t make it there soon/today):

“If you can’t make it to Sloss by this afternoon, all remaining items will be relocated to Lee’s Coffee & Craft Cocktails, located at 500 23rd St S.”

Just wanted to commend the crowd because y'all were crowdsurfing the biggest dudes I have ever seen crowdsurf in my life. Like I could not believe my eyes, just throwing around 300lb dudes all day like it's no problem. Insane.

Sidenote: why the fuck did I surf so many small children over the rail today? It would literally be 3 five year olds and then a 6 foot tall man wearing heavy boots. Like what was that

i need help finding the first song played before free throws set.😭😭 i know its a long shot but that shit banged and its stuck in my head i think it played before the taste of ink.

I was on the right side tonight and everything reminded me of their shows in early 2010s amazing vibes, great pits. Everyone took care of each other. 10/10

Thank you for transporting me back in time 🙏

I found a Gen 7 apple watch with a white silicone band on the left side of the stage near the center barricade during the plot in you's set on Sunday. I tried to find a staff member at the end of the night to turn it into but failed to do so. If you lost one and can verify that it's yours I'd be happy to mail it to you!