Made in America Festival

Summmerrrtimmme and the livin’s eassssy (:
Had to stop by, write my 200^th review and show some love to M.I.A. since the 2^nd one is about to come! (August 2015 YAYYYYY!)
Last year, for one of our first dates, the bf and I went to Day 1 Saturday of M.I.A. at DTLA. One of my coworkers found a great Gilt City-​LA deal for a one day admission so we went at a nice discounted price.
Location/​Transportation: 200 N. Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90 012. The official site suggested that we take public transportation so that’s what we did! We parked our car for the entire day at the Metro Gold Line Atlantic station in East LA and rode in to the Little Tokyo/​Arts District stop. It was easy, we didn’t have to worry about the hassle of finding parking near the festival and the bf drank during the day time. We walked about 4 – 5 short blocks into the festival.
Lineup: For Day 1, we saw SUBLIME, Kendrick Lamar, Imagine Dragons, Metric. The sound for both major stages were set up right next to one another so the stampede from one set to another was kind of atrocious. When we walked over to the main stage after Sublime, it was very hard since there was a bunch of people just standing and there weren’t people regulating the traffic.
Sound: Although the stages were next to each other, we could still only hear the stage the artist was performing at. We thoroughly enjoyed Sublime’s set, the crowd was really fun and we made some friends with the guys next to us.
(+) Hydrating stations were scattered throughout the fairgrounds, we forgot to bring our reusable bottles but refilled the water bottle we bought that day using the hydration station. It wasn’t filtered but c’mon, free water is always nice.
(+) Beer garden was a nice place to cool down and sit down at. Beers were kinda pricey but what do you expect at a festival. Have to be 21 to enter, which is a plus.
(-) Food trucks: Plenty of food trucks but I didn’t like how it was behind the main stages so it was hard for people to walk through, it was hella inconvenient if you were standing in line. Some food trucks ran out of food early
(-) Porta pottys: They were located at the way back of the fairgrounds, have to walk up a slight hill to get to them. They were out of the way so if you had to use the toilet, you had to venture away from the main area. They were clean though but maybe not alot of people used them since they were far
(-) Need more shaded areas to sit at, people were literally dehydrated and I saw some sloppy people just passed out from the alcohol/​drugs/​sun combination.
I WILL DEF. BE GOING THIS YEAR AGAIN FOR KANYE WEST!
**Bring lotsa sunblock, reusable water bottle, sunglasses, hand sanitizer, cash for the food trucks**

That ish was off the chain! I hope they do it again this year and that the line up will be as fresh as lady year! I did the Kanye day. Party to the max! Can’t wait!

Made in America: It was about time they showed Los Angeles a good time!
AN eclectic variety of artists: Kanye West, Imagine Dragons, Yellowclaw, John Mayer, Steve Aoki, TDE, afrojack, Jeremih, SUBLIME. .. and more. Born and raised in the city of angels about 20 minutes away from DTLA I think the location was perfect. [Aside from the obvious poverty& homeless people around the area.]
Transportation: The first day we took and über and i mean it’s los angeles in the city there is ALWAYS traffic. Day 2: we too the metro with a group of friends which was very inexpensive and an adventure on the way there. It didn’t take more than 20 minutes via the metro and when we exited Union Station it was only a few blocks, maybe 4 away.
Weather: expect high heat, that’s LA summer for you. They offered hydrating stations, but the water did not taste filtered… it was free and very popular as there was always a line, i mean it was better than paying 5 $ for a small bottle to share amongst 5 ppl. in 90 degree heat. The only shade you could get was from trees, and maybe a sales tent. It would have been better if they had the mist spraying all over central park at least near the stage areas, opposed to only beneath 2 tents. Multiple guests were in little to practically no clothing. Day 2 we brought a camel bak water pack i highly recommend it!
Food: I really with they could have had more variety i mean they had about 4 food trucks.. . really? in LA where there’s a different restaurant at every corner. There was not much to choose from and not very tasty options.
Beverages they had multiple 21+ areas with alcohol at an ok price. downer: the lines there’s a line for your proof of ID and then a line to get into the designated drinking areas and another line to purchase your beverage.
Setting: great location, very spacious, would’ve preferred larger tented areas for shade. The stages were far enough from one another for you to enjoy each artist yet not too far for comfort, with the variety of artists came an eclectic crowd. I met some incredible people both LA natives, and people from around the globe.
I would definitely enjoy Made in America a second year in a row.

When it comes to music festivals, I’ve only really experienced them ¹⁄₃ days on the regular.
So this was my first time really experiencing all days of a music festival.
We stayed near USC and took the bus to MIALA grounds and I found that to be SO convenient as it was near public transportation. Thankfully we were with a few LA native who guided us in the journey. And as odd as it may sound, I enjoyed taking the bus as Vegas doesn’t have a good one.
Imagine Dragons had to have been my favorite of Day 1. I’ve always heard them on the radio but, to see them live was just something else. The lead singer had such stage presence and listening to him talk about Vegas and their struggles just kind of made me love them more! They just blew me away with their uplifting performance. And I say uplifting because after 10 hours of standing and dancing, they were a great closer!
School Boy Q and Kendrick Lamar were another surprise for me. Never seen both perform but, they were so electrifying separate and together.
YellowClaw had to be my biggest and most favorite surprise of the whole wknd. Never even heard of them til they got me jumping and dancing the whole time during their set. I have never seen a crowd so hyped and dance the way they did for YellowClaw. I definitely became a fan that day and have gone to their first Vegas show at Surrender. Still killing the game!
Day 2 was much more relaxing for me cuz I went so hard on the first day.
John Mayer was the one performer for MIALA that I was looking the forward to the most. I’ve always listened to him post break-​ups cuz despite what you think of his player-​persona, all his songs are break up songs. I admire that! lol
He brought it and more for me as most times it was just him and his guitar. And that face — ohhhh, that John Mayer face! Lol
He even did a rendition of Beyonce’s «XO» which was nice considering Queen Bey was in the crowd and her hubby is involved with Made In America.
Other than the performers, there were TONS of food trucks with insane lines. Best off buying food once you enter cuz lines will be up the ying yang through the day.
Starbucks was a lifesaver at Stage 3. Barely lines, coffee, and $ 2 waters!
I even got to ride the ride they had. Yes, I am afraid of heights but, «when in Rome!»
The worst part for me, which is why it lost a star, was that bathrooms. DEAR GOD, THOSE PORTA POTTIES :(:(:(:(:(:(
first off, they were unisex and not sectioned off. Hellooooooo, they were disgusting to sit on for women. I just about died in there!
Overall amazing experience, and I hope to see the 2^nd year of MIALA next year. Got to see many performers that I’ve never seen live and got to hear bands that I’ve never heard of.
The beauty of music festivals!!!

Went to the festival the first day around 4:00 pm. Parking was easy, plenty of lot parking for under $ 20. The walk to the festival was about 2 blocks, which is not bad!
The stages were awesome and easy to go from 1 stage to another.
It was HOT so bring a reusable water bottle, there are stations all over to fill up h20 or you can always get beer! The lines were LONGGGG at every beer station. You have to stay in the beer garden to drink, wack.
One bad thing was when I was looking for the restroom, I ask about 3 workers and they kept leading me to some where else instead of the restrooms… I finally walked all the way up to Hill St. and TONSSSSSSS of porta potties which was a PLUS. No lines ever!
Tons of food trucks, of course lines are always long but def. worth the wait for delicious food.
Sublime with Rome and Imagine Dragons were AWESOMEE!
I went to the after party at the Continental Club… OPEN BAR was awesome :)
OH YEA, there is an amazing jerk chicken wing place, don’t know the name but it is inside of a bakery? If anyone know, please let me know the name too! It was a block away from the festival…

Standing under some shade, the weather was sunny and the breeze was cool. Streets were closed off around Grand Park and City Hall was the backdrop to two stages. The radius around Grand Park never seemed smaller and it was awesome! So many music goers just hanging out at the heart of DTLA!
Surprisingly, traffic was actually better on the freeway and streets on this weekend than a day that did not involve a music festival closing down a portion of four main streets. It was nice to actually arrive at DTLA within 15 minutes.
We started at Grand Central market, had a drink and pre-​gamed before heading into the festival venue. The walk was a short one and entrance was no longer than a minute.
The sight walking in the closed streets of DTLA was filled with a skate ramp, an endless rows of food trucks, tents by local business and radio stations. The merchandise tent was enormous! There were green and blue bins everywhere, so there was no excuse to throw trash on the floor or to no recycle. American Eagle also had boxes of bags all over the place for free. There was watering stations and a tent that sprayed mist of water to whomever passed! It was refreshing when the sunny was shining to bright.
There were three or four beer gardens that were fairly large. I think a lot of the music goers populated the beer gardens more than the actual stage area. There two long rows of porter potties that eased the lines.
I am really glad I was able to attend the first Made in America festival in LA! The event was super organized, there were hardly any lines for anything and if there was the line moved quick!
Hopefully there is a next year!

5 stars for making this happen in DtLA! I live out here and having a festival like this out here is exciting. Downtown is making things happen.
The stages were top notch. The performances were fantastic. You didn’t have to be right up front to get a good show.
The restroom situation was not bad. Most people stood in long lines simply because they didn’t walk down just a little more. I never waited for more than one person. I also did appreciate they added more porter potties closer to the main stages the second day. I ran in to them and told my friends so they went looking for them but the staff told them the only restrooms were somewhere else… the staff didn’t know about the new restrooms.
The Biergarten was actually pretty good. They had so many of them and SO much space for you to relax. My only complaint about it is I hate Budweiser and I had never had a Strawberita/​Mangorita so other choices would have been nice. I know Budweiser does Kiren and Michelob Ultra as well as others. Maybe next year they can have more options.
Food, I didn’t eat any. I came well fed and went to eat after so I was good. I did see LONG LONG lines but they did have quite a few food truck options.
No fights, no extremely annoying drunk people. All in all for it being its first year things went great. All the annoying stuff are little things that can be fixed next year.
Tips for next year if you come is definitely dress comfortably and try to show up at least with a good buzz. Drinking beer all day will have you in and out of the restroom. Come with food in your belly. Oh and don’t bring your sun screen, they’ll make you toss it (LAME).
Make this happen next year Jay-​Z!

I’ve been toting my backpack and metal reusable water bottle to countless music festivals without problem for at least a decade, and yet you tell me (depending on which entrance I choose, of course) that I can’t bring those in, even though your FAQ mentions nothing corresponding to said claims?
From the get go, a huge communication fail.
Couple that with your ticket scanners not reading mobile tickets (had to go to the box office and have my mobile tickets printed), no printed schedules, and a majority of your performances performed on asphalt, this festival is a huge fail. There are so many successful music festivals out there. The fact that you failed to study any others to avoid n00b mistakes says a lot, and not in a good way.