Well good readers, another weekend of the Innings Festival has come and gone. Baseball fans and music fans gathered to celebrate the return of Cactus League spring training on Friday and Saturday before they head to a ball game at some point from now through March 25.
Interestingly, the first thing I noticed upon entering Innings is that it appeared to be less attended this past weekend than the three previous festivals we’ve covered here at Beneath a Desert Sky.
On the surface, that was a positive. It’s probably fair to say that very few people “enjoy” being packed in like sardines at any public outing, be it a sporting event or a concert.
To that end, I have to say that it was a nice change to have a little more room to walk around— particularly during the day. In short, the weather was gorgeous the entire weekend— in spite of the dust lingering throughout the park.
I started the day at the Left Field stage, which features everything baseball. Like previous years, you had the batting cages, a pitching area, and a few MLB players for fans to take photos with.
Some of the players in attendance were Ben Zobrist and Jim Abbott in the speed pitch area, while Junior Spivey and Evan Longoria hung out at the batting cage.
I noticed more families this year as well, or at least, there were more of them at Left Field than I’ve seen previously.
I suppose it’s only appropriate to have a hot dog stand where all the baseball activity is taking place. For me though, the coolest pop-up was by far the one for Zia Records.
You can find plenty of music from most of the artists on the Innings bill. It’s a great idea that will always be a welcome attraction as far as this writer is concerned.
There also seemed to be more people sticking around for the live podcast known as Off The Mound with host (and former MLB player) Ryan Dempster.
There were two 45-minute OTM shows each day, with guests Evan Longoria as well as members of All-American Rejects and Miles Doughty of Slightly Stoopid.
Unfortunately, when Longoria was onstage Friday, the power went out. It looked pretty funny from the field to see him and Dempstser continue to chat as if nothing happened. Nobody on the field could hear a word they were saying!
Now that I think about it, it was surprising not seeing big lines at the merch booth— either day. The staff was pretty well organized, which certainly helped I’m sure.
Given that there was no media tent this year, it gave us the chance to check out the VIP sections. The setup kind of reminds me of the outdoor restaurants that have been popping up more in recent years. There were tables and couches spread throughout the “lounges”, which people seemed to enjoy.
At its peak on Saturday, I’d say the attendance was around 13 or 14,000 people by the time Beck, Boyz II Men, and final act The Killers took the stage. Of course, that’s not an official number. It’s just a guess.
By the way, we’re not done with Innings activities yet. We’ll see you this weekend for Extra Innings, now in its second year. Tune in next week for another report.
Photos of both days will be posted as a separate articles.
