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Dark Lord Day Improvements Show Promise, Festival Still Overhyped

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 27, 2009 3:20PM

Now I get to eat crow. Compared to previous years, Dark Lord Day 2009 was a streamlined and efficient operation. Lines for the most part were defined and orderly. Extra tents were set up to accommodate attendees looking to slake their thirst. Even Munster's finest got into the act with an increased presence for controlling traffic and the rare drunken buffoon.

The crowd seemed to be much less than last year, when the sheer mass of people threatened to overwhelm Three Floyds Brewery and brewpub. That could have been attributed to the overcast skies, the Golden Ticket system, or both. As for the latter, it actually worked out well. My wait in line for my bottle allotment (announced at the start of the day at 4 per ticket) turned out to be 90 minutes; some volunteers were worried about remaining volume as most all ticket holders were buying the maximum allowable allotment per ducat. By 4 p.m., however, there was virtually no line for Dark Lord as most of the crowd had left either burned out from a full days drinking or to beat the inclement weather home. This prompted the brewery to put another block of tickets on sale before they finally decided to open sale of Dark Lord to all comers fifteen minutes before the scheduled 6 p.m. opening.

The last-minute sale of Golden Tickets left some in attendance scratching their heads in confusion, given that the brewery announced they were previously sold out. Which reinforces my main criticism of Dark Lord Day. Three Floyds seems determined to hype Dark Lord Day to such a degree that people who miss out on buying the beer will go to any length to get a bottle; one Craigslist poster already has a bottle of Dark Lord listed at $70, another has a set of 8 for $300. Their declarations against scalpers is ultimately empty, as the brewery recognizes that once the product is out of their hands they can do nothing about it. But it was a very good step in the right direction.