Epicenter Concludes After Traffic-Ridden Day 1, Weather-Evacuated Day Two

– Epicenter

Correction: A previous version of this story reported the time the grounds were evacuated as around 2:30 p.m on May 11. The grounds were evacuated around 5:30 p.m. EST (2:30 p.m. PST). The previous version also used the term “canceled” to refer to Day Two of the festival, but the reference has been replaced with an explanation that the grounds were evacuated.

The inaugural Epicenter Festival in Rockingham, N.C., May 10-12 faced tough traffic on Day One and had to evacuate Day Two due to harsh weather but returned Sunday with Foo Fighters, 311, Mastodon, Tom Morello, Killswitch Engage and more.

Day One featured a packed Rockingham Festival Grounds and a packed road to see the likes of Korn, Rob Zombie, Evanescence and Machine Gun Kelly. The traffic was so bad that organizers had to write a several-tweet apology at the end of the day.

“We want to thank everyone for enduring absolutely terrible traffic today. As a first year festival, we expected that traffic could be bad, but this year’s learning curve was worse than we imagined.  We underestimated the effect of the local Friday afternoon business traffic,” organizers wrote on Friday. “Additionally, we thought more campers would check in on Thursday but far more checked in today. We are hopeful that with the campers all checked in now and no business traffic, that conditions will be better tomorrow.”

Epicenter was produced by Danny Wimmer Presents after the company’s split with AEG Presents on the World’s Loudest Month festivals that included Carolina Rebellion in Charlotte, N.C.

A number of very upset fans voiced their frustration on Twitter, with John Loehr writing: “We missed every band! We got to a stand still before 6:45, and arrived at the gate at 10:45 with obviously no one moving inside and decided if we went in to park we would be stuck not seeing anything and in traffic on the way out. It’s bull! They better be giving some refunds.”

Unfortunately, organizers didn’t get a chance to make it up to fans on Day Two, as the festival grounds were ordered to be evacuated on around 5:30 p.m. EST due to severe weather. The festival encouraged fans to remain stationary in their vehicles and RVs to shelter from lightning and severe weather for more than two hours before announcing around 5:00 p.m. that Day Two would not resume.

The festival did return for what seemed to be a more routine Day Three, but a number of fans continued demanding refunds and complaining about the festival supposedly making $1 GA tickets available to the public.

Pollstar reached out to DWP for comment for this story.