Frost Amphitheater - BMFS

Cool. Looking forward to seeing you (and Billy!).

the main thing i remember from modern frost shows is some of the most thorough searches on my way in ive ever seen. usually they just feel around for guns or knives or bottles or whatever and dont pay any mind to stuff like cannabis or tobacco, but they searched thru all my stuff and denied me entry because i had a nicotine vape pen. even tho i generally dont need to, i usually conceal my cannabis just to be safe, but i never thought id need to hide a vape pen.

there is a bunch of chain link fencing all around the entrance. along this fence, there are occasional bushes. it was very easy for me to find a bush large enough to duck into, and i just stuck everything in a bag and put it thru the fence, hiding behind a bush or whatever on the other side. told them id put it in my car, got it into the venue via bush, grabbed it on the other side after getting in.

hide your shit better than usual or use the bush method.

Was there in 82 and 86. Things look to have changed alot. Was an awesome place back in the day. My 2nd favorite place to see the band. Haven't been there since

I do love the Frost experience, with the exception of the issue Daylight mentioned above. 
 

Yes,  some of those Frost  folks checking bags and masquerading as 'security'. display some horrendous behavior.  They definitely went with the low bid on that contract recently. Lost iPhones and other valuables routinely 'disappear' from the lost and found by the security tent. I witnessed two of the bag checkers literally fighting over who would get to keep an item they 'confiscated.' I even talked to one of their supervisors, who told me they take it they get to keep it. They find it, they keep it. WTF? 

 

they do allow people to bring in food so just put your contraband inside a sandwich or get creative. Also the MAGS don't check head level so stick it under your hat. 
 

And.. there are some really nice people also working a lousy min wage job for long hours on their feet  and commuting many hours to work there  because they can't find work in the Central Valley, so it helps to be kind to the good ones, who hopefully aren't feeling entitled to steal your stuff

Interesting. The four times I've been there since it reopened I didn't notice any extra hassle with search and I don't recall any pat down at all, but then for the three rock shows I got there late or right at showtime so the searchers probably already had their quota (that's total amateur hour BS, BTW) and the other was a laid back jazz show. That's good info there.

As for the venue itself, almost nothing has changed except the bathrooms and concessions are WAY better. Sold out shows do get pretty packed, but the tiers are just big enough that people spread out, which means the interior is roomy and the sides & back get jammed.

Also, the place is bigger than it seems and the sound gets flat and a bit muffled if you're more than halfway back, so especially if you're with a group you'll want to spend the extra time and get there early to get a good spot. If you're by yourself it isn't that hard to slip around and find a good lower spot among the space hogs.

If you need a chair, there is an ADA row of comphy chairs along the cross isle on either side of the mixer, which is a good spot. Those are first-come though and I don't know how closely they monitor those seats, so again, earlier is better. Those are easily purchased, just click the ADA link when buying.

There is ample paid parking, but you don't HAVE to pay for parking, as all regular campus permitted lots are open and free after 4:00 Mon-Fri and all day on weekends. There are many of those lots a 5-10 minute easy walk to the venue, and lots of street parking as well. Just study a campus map (it's Stanford University, you have to do a little studying).

I expect to be there for the Saturday show, so to avoid me just look for the tall guy with the Giants hat.

GTTS!

I think the Frost was behind a construction fence most of the time while my son was at the school.

As to stash, the necessaries fit nicely in one's hand, under one's cell phone (chicken bongs excepted).

>the place is bigger than it seems and the sound gets flat and a bit muffled if you're more than halfway back

I think they've fixed that. Seemed pretty loud and clear the last few times I was there recently

Two shows now? haven't been paying attention...

The only show I've seen at the revamped Frost was Phil's last year, and I had no problem bringing in a couple of vapes (Pax 2) and plenty of smoke in a plastic container. I don't remember the search as being much more than perfunctory too.

I don't know what you look like, Daylight, but maybe you were profiled?

i look like someone who probably enjoys some cannabis, but it was at a JRAD show and im nowhere near a wook. i have long curly hair but otherwise dress plainly - no tie die, no jewlery, no tats, no dreads, just nondescript dead shirts and jeans. i wont even wear dead shirts that look to hippie or cartoony. my tshirts are probably wrinkly but im otherwise clean. i honestly wasnt even expecting a nicotine vape to be an issue at all in the first place. when i pulled it out i just said "oh thats my nicotine vape" and figured they'd just say oh ok and that would be that.

from what i can tell, the frost doesnt even offer a smoking section, and iirc neither does the greek. kind of a misguided virtue signal IME - a bit of tobacco smell walking by the smoking section at setbreak really isnt the end of the world, and all that seems to end up happening, at least at the GD/jam related shows ive seen there, is that people are sneaking cigarettes in all over the place. cigarette smell in the bathrooms, people lighting up all over the edges of the lawn and really in any less populated area where folks think they can get away with it. seems like it would be preferable to just offer a smoking section and keep it all to one or two out of the way areas instead of leading smokers to inevitably light up in places they shouldn't. ive seen a little bit of indoor tobacco use at venues that offer smoking sections, but not very much. 

luckily all the times ive been to the frost were after i switched to a vape, so i dont really have to worry about bothering others as long as im not blowing giant vape clouds all over the place, so it wasnt an issue for me that time. prior to that i can recall a few strict no smoking shows while i was a tobacco smoker, and i always ended up mixing up a tobacco/cannabis spliff to soften the blow for anyone who really hates tobacco smoke, and id just wander around the lawn smoking it so im not inundatinmg any one person with tobacco smoke, but still, if a smoking section was offered, i'd have been there at setbreak isntead of smoking tobacco on the lawn mid-show.

There's a grassy area at the back of the Frost down below the back of the bowl (but still within the confines of the venue) that has a line of pine trees, big wooden chairs here and there, and a picnic table or two as I recall. That's where I did my stealth smoking, in part because there were never more than a dozen or so people back there and they were spread out in different areas. The sound wasn't the best, of course, but it was much better than listening from the lot, and I just found it to be a cool place to chill out for a while should the need arise.

>>>i wont even wear dead shirts that look to hippie or cartoony<<<

What other kind are there?

And damn, we're talking about stealth smoking areas? At the Frost?? I haven't had ANY issues with that at that venue, even at the jazz show.

Daylight, I think maybe security just marked you as a person with good shit, so YOU got the big shake down.

If that's the case, I give those security peeps some props for spotting the right guy.

I should have been more clear. When I said stealth smoking, I was responding to what Daylight said about tobacco.

>>>i wont even wear dead shirts that look to hippie or cartoony<<<

What other kind are there?

my favorite GD shirt i own is a drawing of an astronaut with the red/white 13 point bolt on the glass portion of his helmet, and underneath it just says SPACE. i always look for shirts that are not recognizable to outsiders as GD shirts.

i dont think you need to stealth smoke, plenty of people are lighting up herb on the lawn, but IMO its pretty rude to burn cigs in the middle of the crowd, which drives people to look for places outside the lawn to smoke, which then kinda necessitates stealth smoking, because to find a spot where youre not bothering people with your cig smoke, you wind up in areas where its much more likely you will be approached by staff/security for smoking.

Daylight, I think maybe security just marked you as a person with good shit,

my good shit is only for me, my friends, and maybe zoners who ask really nicely. not really security worthy imo. LOL

Gee, can't imagine why I haven't been to a show in four years.

Keep waiting for it all to settle, but between SPAC and this and the Gorge with that edi thing..........

Looks like I have to wait a little longer, choose venues wisely

>Oh.  Tobacco is another front out there.  They will cut your balls off for that.  
 

Don't need security to do that for tobacco smokers around here. Definitely unacceptable. 

And some of  the less than professional  'security' team that check bags can been seen smoking cigs they've 'confiscated' over by the security tent. 
 

...there is NO smoking on Stanford campus. Anywhere. 

So no, they're not cutting off balls at the frost - they're just stealing your stash. Tobacco, weed etc. 
 

Once inside the venue, most of the smoking rules are rarely enforced. it's a beautiful chill venue. 
 

A decoy stash for them to steal might not be a bad idea..could actually have some fun with that.

>>>>decoy stash

Good idea.  As kids, we used to have a decoy stash of fireworks when shooting them off around town.  Cops would come and we would sheepishly hand over a small bag of fireworks with a much larger bag hidden away in the bushes.  I have done that with beer at festivals too.  Have a cheap six pack in your cooler with most of the rest of the beer and booze hidden away in various nooks and crannies. 

> A decoy stash

Some Top rolling tobacco and a couple grams of Mexican brick weed?

I was thinking about a "sealed"  box of Marlboros packed with tampons  and an bunk  lighter. Have a little fun with it. Maybe a "sealed" wee bottle of gold tequila. 

and a few top shelf joints on hand  to share with the staff that DON'T take the bait

Ah, tobacco, missed that.

In many ways, we Californians have definitely gone 'round the bend on restrictions and regulations, but banishing tobacco smokers to the far corners is one I've always been OK with.

Didn't know they put chairs in Frost 

Only for some shows, not for Billy String. Unless you count one row of ADA seating that's available 

Yeah that picture was the SF Symphony. Not a lot of dancing.