Review and Photos by Fred Kuhlman
Venue: Tempe Beach Park, Tempe, AZ
Date: Saturday & Sunday February 25th & 26th, 2023
If you have never attended the Innings Festival, then you are missing an outstanding event. The Innings Festival is a 2-day party that celebrates both baseball and music and is done at the beginning of baseball spring training. During the 2 days, a number of baseball legends show up and fans can get their photo taken with them. There is also a number of talk shows about baseball. The music is divided between 2 different stages (at least at the Tempe, AZ festival). The music starts at about 1PM and goes until about 11PM. As one band is playing on one stage, the other stage is being setup for the next band. As soon as one band is done, then the next band starts on the other stage. Since the stages are about ¼ mile from each other, the fans need to move fast to get between the 2 stages. A lot of people just stay at one of the stages to make sure they get great position for the bands they want to see. The festival attempts to provide at least 3 to 4 big name acts each day.
For the 2023 Innings Festival in Tempe, there were 9 musical acts each day. On Saturday the big-name acts included Weezer, The Black Crowes and Green Day that ending the evening. On Sunday we got Marcus Mumford, The Revivalists and Eddie Vedder, who closing the festival. I will be posting 2 additional reviews with photos that cover the musical acts for each day.
I would like to thank the many workers that covered the event. They did an outstanding job in handling the large crowds and keeping everything moving on time. With over 24,000 people there on Saturday and 17,000 on Sunday, these workers had a lot to do. The other thing was when I showed up on Sunday morning when the gates opened, the entire venue was clean of all trash. It had rained Saturday night after everyone left and the ground crew put down mulch to cover all of the small mud puddles so there would not be a Woodstock event.
At these all day festival, some people usually complain about 2 things, the lack/cost of food/drink vendors and the bathroom facilities. Well, neither of these were a problem this year. There were a large number of port-a-potties between the 2 musical stages and other ones positioned throughout the venue. Lines at times were about 15 people deep, but they seemed to move fast. There were also a large number of food and liquid vendors. It did get a little busy after 5PM on Saturday. I was a little shocked that the food vendors would not except cash, but I had to either use a credit card or activate my wrist band for purchases. Also the prices were not out of range in what I have seen at other indoor concert venues around the valley.
If they run next year’s event the same as the last 2 years, there are 3 major tickets that can be purchased. The majority of people will purchase a General Admission Pass. This will allow you into the venue and the ability to attend all of the events. The next level is a VIP pass. This gives the owner special access areas near the front of the stages. This can be nice if you want to go between stages to see all of the bands and still get a decent location to view the bands. The best single pass is the Platinum Pass. This gets you very special seating or stage location at both stages. It also has access to private bars and bathrooms. Probably the biggest advantage is the free shuttle service between the 2 stages. This is great to move you between the stages to be able to see all of the bands. The General Admission Pass is the cheapest and the Platinum Pass the most expensive. The number of VIP and Platinum Passes are limited each day. You have the option to purchase either a single day pass for either Saturday or Sunday or you can opt to purchase the 2-day pass. There are also group packages available that have very special features but also have a similar price tag.
The only minor complaint that I saw for the 2 days was Sunday evening and the lone coffee vendor in the middle of the venue. Since the weather got cold (low 50s) a lot of people were in line. There were at least 100 to 200 people in line from 5PM until Eddie Vedder took the stage after 9PM.
Overall, the 2 days were perfect. Saturday was in the high 60s and low 70s but a little windy. Sunday after the storm blow through overnight, it was cooler but still comfortable in the 50s and 60s. Both days were clear or partly cloudy. Personally, I enjoyed both days even though I walked over 6 miles each day. I loved the diversity of the music and the people attending were very nice. If you get a change to attend next years event, I would highly recommend it. I would also highly recommend you get the Platinum Pass (if you can afford it) if you want to see all of the bands and have great seats/position. Hopefully I will see you there next year.
