POPPED! Music Festival

I was able to attend this event both nights. I had trouble finding my hotel and arrived late on friday. I really enjoyed Cage the Elephant that night. Saturday was there before they opened the doors, am so thankful that F'real was giving out milkshakes. Made for a good breakfast. I bought VIP tickets but entered through general admission both days and after talking to the right person I had no problem getting my bracelet to enter the VIP section. The shows on saturday were really awesome and definately compensated for the change of venue. Patty Crash was great, Budos Band<-- thumbs up. Zee Avi great music. Sun Airway suprisingly good. Kreayshawn worth the wait for sure. I stood in the front row for 6 hours waiting for her. Unfortunately my pictures didn't turn out that great because of my choice of camera. Should have went with the digital for inside. Girl Talk and Pretty Lights show were utterly mindblowing! The shows were great I had a blast!

The whole festival was awesome. I was impressed with every set except for Titus Andronicus, and even that was entertaining because of the crazy mosh pit that I got to witness from above. When I found out the event was moved from FDR Park to Liacouras I was annoyed because I thought I'd get cabin fever being cooped up inside for 12 hours, but that was so not the case! Every band in the line up was different and fresh, which kept my interest peaked. The 70s psychadelic band Budos Band were absolutely incredible, with the funkiest beats and awesome sax and trumpet player. And of course Girl Talk was freaking amazing- the light show and performance he gave was unforgettable. I danced my little feet right off the whole day, and left exhausted but elated!

The best indoor festival I've EVER been to. Even though it was moved inside at the last minute, everything was very organized and put together. The artist lineup was awesome, and I have no complaints. Can't wait for next year!

Worst festival Ive ever been to. I didnt pay 50 bucks a day to go to Temple...

The whole show was amazing. The bands showed up to play and they didnt disappoint. Elbow rocked the house and Cage the Elephant blew it up. They performed so many songs, so much emotion and fire from the band. The only bad part about the show was Panda Bear. they are the worse band in history totally didnt fit in with the rest of the bands.

Cage the elephant was AMAZING, company of thieves and elbow were almost as good. I loved the venue. But panda bear was literally painful to listen to... The bass churned my stomach and made my head hurt!

The Shins were awesome, along with Cults, Company of Theives, Dale Earnheart JrJr, and The Minature Tigers. It was frustrating not being able to leave and come back since the venue was moved indoors; we were left with nothing but overpriced crappy stadium food to choose from. Also, the lineup was changed several times without warning, so we missed a couple bands we really wanted to see.

Cage the Elephant, Pretty Lights, and the Shins were awesome, the rest of the concert experience was flat. The venue was awful and it felt more like a high school talent show than a concert. Lame experience overall.

the bands were amazing. This was my 3rd time seeing Girltalk and it keeps getting better each time. I've never seen Pretty Lights, but he blew me away! However, the organization of this event was horrible. This started off as a festival and turned into a cheap concert. The staff was very unprofessional, and the crowd control was unacceptable.

All of the bands were amazing. None of them were like "Why are you here?" Company of Thieves' lead singer was so nice and actually talked to my friends and I personally right before they performed. Cage the Elephant was also unforgettable and were overall a great act.

Absolutely awful. Poorly organized and executed. I was expecting an outdoor festival w/ room to move around and maybe not having to wait in lines literally everywhere I went, including to go outside to have a breath of fresh air. Instead, I got this. Got separated from my friends for about 3/4 of the night b/c they inexplicably stopped allowing people down to the floor and had one of the worst concert experiences of my life.

The festival got moved to the Liacouras Center because of the rain forecast. And while I'm grateful not to have gotten rained on for two days straight, I expected there to be many more food vendors especially since the website said "Do not bring food/water (it will all be sold at the event). Well the only food they had was the stadium's concessions: burgers, fries, cheesesteaks, etc and all over priced ($5.00 for a regular sized bottle of water). Its one thing to make the best of a bad situation and move the festival indoors, but then its another to deny re-entrance and force everyone to buy greasy, fatty, unhealthy foods all day (and pay a ton for the privilege.) I'm not sure if the concert organizers or the venue are to blame for this situation, I imagine the logistics of moving a whole festival from the original location was difficult, but c'mon.

Bottom line: The bands were good but the management really screwed this one. I understand weather is uncontrollable, but a decent back up plan would have been appreciated. Spending two hundred dollars on VIP tickets to have the same amenities as normal tickets but less standing room on the floor was not worth it. And what amenities you did have (craft beer) were mostly tapped out. And no more water bottles by 8 pm? Seriously? The bands were awesome, but the venue, staff, and management were a confusing disaster. It was worth $20 dollars, not $200.

the music was great.. would have been better if it had been outdoors.. the communication of the the event moving by the organizers was horrible. i am a music fan so i enjoyed all the bands, but the event is not what was advertised no comedians, no food truck, shorter setlists dropping bands.. if they decide to have it next year, bc i know they lost money on this event.. i would recommend it, bc it has a lot of potential, they just need a better back up plan.

Horrible...no comedians. No djs. No food bazar...some bands didn't play....absolutely horrible....didn't even go Saturday cause Friday suckEd so bad...only highlight was cage the elephant and company of thieves... Who should have gone on later no 6pm when it was still empty

I hope people who live near the park and pay city taxes will be allowed free access to the park. Those who have been enjoying the trees, lake, and grass there daily will tolerate this intrusion of non-natural amplified music, but be sure to let us park and roam freely.

Amazing lineup! FDR Park is a great location for a festival. A festival like this had never come to Philly before. I can't wait for September in Philly!

For the most part, the music was awesome. Kreyshawn is terrible tho and was borderline booed off the stage. The venue really lacked. They closed the dance floor off at the beginning of Girl Talk which left it half full and all the unfortunate people who went to go to the bathroom after Foster the People were left to stare at the dance party going on below them. They ran out of beer at 8:45 when they only started serving at 3:00pm. I wish the VIP aspect would have been made clear. VIPs were offered good beer (imports) and regular ticket holders were only offered Miller High Life. I think for $80 a ticket the least they could do was offer us a different choice and allowed us to go to the dance floor....My 2 cents? Wont be going next year...

The lineup was pretty good. The crowd was terrible until the more popular bands came on. The event would have been much better outside at FDR Park, but was still enjoyable.

Disappointment in the food department with the change of venue. Also there were not enough people staffing the food stalls and that created terribly long lines. Foster the People and Girl Talk were amazing.

many of the acts i was interested in seeing were taken off the bill after i bought my tickets.

It's was okay, really loved Pretty Lights and Girl Talk, everyone else was eh

It was so difficult and time consuming to get a beer.

I was extremely disappointed in Popped. Because they obviously did not have a back up plan in case of rain, when the venue was moved, it was moved to an indoor facility with only one stage and an atmosphere not even reminiscent of a music festival. The single stage left little time for all of the bands to play and were forced to limit their shows to 20 minutes or less. The port-a-potties were placed on the show floor- disgusting and awkward for those who wished to stand and watch the show rather than sit. Popped did not offer any form of refund nor would they let you switch to watch on a different day. Not only this but they did not allow for readmission so if you wanted to watch a band earlier in the day you were forced to sit around for up to 10 hours in the drab, single staged venue. I feel bad for the bands and for all of their fans who were subjected to this case of poor crisis management. I have never been so disappointed in a concert, festival, or venue.

SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN INSIDE! ruined the event by moving it inside, even though pretty lights was still unreal. the weather held up, and it could have been at the original venue -- which would have been less chaotic, more fun, and much more safe. also -- it was a pain and a wait to get to the ground floor. unorganized. the only reason i'm giving this event 4 stars is because derek is on FIRE and was unreal !!!!

Saw the second night of the festival which was moved to an indoors event center at temple university. The sound quality was great along with the light shows. Pretty lights and girl talk both put on amazing shows for which i was lucky enough to make it to the floor level. If you plan to see a show that you want to dance at get there early because i waited in a line for about an hour to get on the floor level and had to stay there tIl the show ended bc i would not have been readmitted, but otherwise i had an epic time!

Venue change made the festival boring and more like a sporting event than a concert. FDR park was the main lure for the festival, would have preferred it to be postponed.

I have been in music production and event planning for a long time and have helped run over big name 100 concert and I must say that the preparation for the rain location was absolutely awful! If you attended the concert you know what I am talking about. Lines Lines Lines Lines Lines. Other than the setting the artists really redeemed the concert from being a riot.

Everyone I knew going to this show was really looking forward to it. I understand that weather is unpredictable and that they did the best that they could but they really lost the "music festival" feeling. It simply felt like a long concert with one stage. Furthermore, the entire event just played out like a long concert, it didn't really feel like a festival and they didn't let everyone down into the pit at the end which kind of ruined it for a lot of people. The bands were great -- but they got rid of a lot of good ones as well. Overall I think that they should make better back up plans in the future if they want people to go again.

The concert was great because I loved the artists. HOWEVER, because the event was moved to the Liacouras Center instead of outside at FDR Park, due to inclement weather, they did not have a suitable amount of room for everyone to go down to the bottom floor and get up close to the stage. This was very annoying because we paid to see our bands up close, but we were forced to watch from the 2nd level all the way in the back because they refused to let in people unless someone left - which was at a rate of maybe 2 people every hour. Otherwise I had a great time.

Wish it could have been outdoors and I probably would have enjoyed much more if it was. But the Liacouras center had ample space and the artists had a great attitude and put on a good show! Thanks!

Venue change ruined everything for me. No food vendors (even at the Piazza), not easy to get on the floor of the Liacouras, had to pay stadium prices for stadium food and drink. Not a festival feel at all.. which is what I paid for. Would have been much happier with a rescheduled date or standing in the rain for that matter.

Despite the move to the Liacouras center, as opposed to the beautiful FDR Park, and the numerous cancellations, and even some less-than-stellar sound on night one, the Popped! music festival really was fantastic. Everyone that performed wanted to be there and gave it their all, and I got to see acts I never would have normally saw. No regrets

I initially thought this was going to be be a great festival until the rain came and doesn't seem to leaving. Food vendors and beer vendors for the event, well I don't even have enough thumbs for the whole thumbs down thing. They were slow and very unprepared for the event. The music was what I had expected, but the indoor show ruined this for me.

I was really looking forward to this festival. However, I didn't realize that the change of venue would so greatly alter the event itself. The acts were still great, however the logistics of the liacorous center were horrible. We had to wait 30 minutes just to get down to the floor area. They said it "was at capacity" however when I looked down it was only about 50% full.

A bunch of great bands came out and made the best of the change of venue. It would have been much better as an outdoor festival, but you can't do much about the weather. I really enjoyed Company of Thieves, Panda Bear, and the Shins of course. Really quality softer alternative music. I had a great time! Hopefully Popped will make it outside next time and I can give it a shot again!

I understand completely that the venue had to be changed, and that there would be some complications. However, there are plenty of things that could have been taken into account and prevented. When i got there around 8pm on friday night, the VIP wristbands that were supposed to be given out were already out! they had to write VIP on a plain white wristband. They ran out of beer at a couple of the beer spots also. the second night, they were only allowing you to buy one beer at a time in the normal lines (2 were allowed to be bought in the VIP area). and again they ran out of beer! could have been better planned for more people, and had better people to operate the food and beer stands. the people operating were in no rush at at all to get items sold. i saw beer lines with 50+ people in it!

Wow. Even though the weird mid-atlantic fall weather moved the event inside, it was sensational. The acts were great all around, but Saturday night's lineup absolutely blew the roof off of the place!! One downside though. After Foster the People's set, they stopped letting people onto the floor. So anyone that went up for a beer or pee at the wrong time had to spend the rest of the show from the upstairs seats. Not terrible, I actually had a blast up there too, but it would have been nice to go down on the floor. Oh well. Can't wait til next year!!

I'm sure Popped would have been great had it taken place at FDR park. Due to heavy rains, however, it was moved to the Liacouras Center. There were solid line-ups both days, but the venue would not let people enter and exit more than once, so seeing a bunch of acts meant staying in the arena for 8+ hours, which is totally unreasonable. Also, the acoustics there are terrible, drinks were way too expensive (and vendors managed to run out of beer on day 2), and they barely allowed anyone on the floor before closing it. Overall, the festival was a big bust.

The environment truly made a difference. In a negative way. Now I know that they did the best that they could with how the weather turned out , but I feel like if it had been at FDR, the experience would have been unbeatable.

BIGGEST WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY EVER, WHAT A LET DOWN.

The fact the festival was moved indoors to the Liacouras center ruined the event. It felt as if we were in prison. Being in adark arena all day long is just depressing! And to make matters worse the sound was horrible and the beer and food selection even worse. But probably the most annoying thing was that the bands went on 15 to 20 minutes early causing us to miss most of two of the bands we came to see.

The venue was changed from FDR Park to the Liacorus Center at the last minute because of possible flooding. However, the event seemed to be poorly managed and they gave many of the bands a much shorter set to try to squeeze them all in. This was awful, I'd rather just be refunded than pay upwards of $80.00 including "convenience" fees so see the band I wanted play four songs and be hurried off the stage.

Venue change not promoters fault, but lack of planning for it really pathetic. Short setlists, cut acts, stupid floor rules, beer sales a mess, food miserable, and on and on. Should've just taken refund.

This venue was ridiculous those that wanted to attend a festival not a concert were very let down. There should have been a free water station in the pit! But, no you had to go to the upper levels then wait in a line for nearly an hour and half just get back down and one of your favorite acts. Pretty big let down all the way around, except for the performers were still awesome!

IThe first thing I have to say is that the bands did a great job getting in as many songs as possible in the meager amount of time they were allotted. The stage crew also did an amazing job switching each band over quickly. If the rating was just for the bands and stage crew, I would give them five stars. Having said that, the "festival" sucked! The people who ran this rain or shine obviously did not see a weather report for the Philadelphia area in 2011. There have been flooding problems at the park for months. I would hope that it was a last minute decision to use the Liacouras Center and not a premeditated decision. There were supposed to be three stages; we ended up with one stage and 20 to 30 minute sets for most of the bands. The comedians were cut, many bands were no longer on the schedule and the food trucks were moved to the Piazza, which is only 2 miles away from the Liacouras Center but since you could not re-enter the stadium wasn't much help. The sustainability factor was completely gone with beer in plastic bottles being poured into plastic cups! I did see one or two recycling cans around. I think anyone who attended this festival deserves at least half of their money back!

most of the acts were great: standouts include zee avi, charles bradley, budos band, girl talk, and pretty lights, but the website did not reflect a LOT of bands that didn't make it, which was extremely frustrating

The only reason this show is even *fair* is because the staff at the Liacouras Center was friendly and helpful. The bathrooms were also very clean and accessible compared to most concert venues. We were obviously looking forward to the outdoor festival setup but the weather really took away half of the interest in this show. We only stayed for the Friday part, and Elbow only played four songs then high-tailed it. No one even knew who they were and there was a lot of chatter throughout their short set. We also would have appreciated a better notice on the venue change because we couldn't cancel our hotel reservation across town by FDR Park and ended up having to pay $60 in cab fare. Not to mention the fact that every employee of the Holiday Inn Stadium was either clueless, rude, or both.

This event was suppose to be held outside at FDR park but, due to flooding had to be moved to The Liacouras Center at Temple University. The bands were amazing but, the staff at The Liacouras Center were awful! They were rude, didn't understand that this was suppose to be a festival where people should be free to roam, and the food vendors were not allowed to sell inside and everything was WAY over priced!!!! If this event is held here next year, I will not be going. It should have been held at the Mann Music Center instead.

The Popped! music festival was moved from FDR park to the Temple campus due to rain and flooding concerns. The line-up went from three stages to one and a number of performers were cancelled. This was an unfortunate situation for the festival. The venue left much to be desired. Floor access was difficult, though seating around the stage was fine. The venue also stopped selling beer 2-3 prior to the last band going on stage. Come on!

I believe that the Popped Music Festival would have been a bigger success had it been outdoors as it was planned. I was disappointed in the staff, the location, and the rules set forth by the Liacouras Center. There was one point in the show where I left to use the bathroom and the usher informed me that I was not allowed to return to the pit where all of my friends were because there was only 15 minutes left. I would not have had a problem with this if he had informed me on my way out but he neglected to do so. The only reason I have given this event 3 stars is because of the performances that were seen. My friends and I made the best of the situation as I am sure the bands did as well. If they do this event in the future I only hope that they pick a location outdoors that they are not afraid of getting ruined during bad weather. I paid for a festival which was supposed to be a relaxing time outdoors with music, comedy, and good food and instead got a poorly planned and executed indoor concert with terrible lines and poor security.

second time seeing pretty lights, absolutely killed it.

POPPED! had a great mix of groups- some of whom I've never heard of and now who I listen to constantly. Time flew by and before we knew it, we were there 8 hours. Such a great time!

Granted, the whole event had to be moved on short notice because of the weather. But regardless, there were certain aspects of it that could have been a lot better. I went on Saturday only and haven't heard anything about how Friday night was. I arrived as I think Rakim was finishing up... and then had to somehow live through Kreayshawn. For a radio 104.5 event, the artist should have been chosen a lot better. Kreayshawn was beyond horrible and Rakim didn't sound so good from the little I heard either. Overall the crowd was rather blah. Even when Girl Talk and Pretty Lights played there wasn't much dancing to be had. The crowd was generally older than I expected but still I think it could have been much much more lively. Once the headliners came on, re-entry to the floor was not allowed even though there was plenty of room left for more people down there. Despite that, the event staff were extremely nice and for some reason we were personally escorted back to the floor after getting much needed water. This was the one redeeming part of the night.

Despite it being indoors, the bands did great: Cage the Elephant, Foster the People, Girl Talk & Pretty Lights made it worth the trip down there. I didn't like no re-entry, so I could not enjoy the food trucks or that they didn't serving beer til 3pm on Saturday.

The artists they had at POPPED! Music Festival were amazing. Was introduced to some new bands earlier in the day before headlining performances went on. Big props to Foster the People for just an astonishing set. Thought Girl Talk was just simply great too. Really got the crowd going and I felt like I were at a rave or something. Don't like electronic music too much but Pretty Lights was decent too.

comedy? food? music? only one of these 3 things actually happened, and half the acts were missing. I got an email saying the venue had changed and figured it wasn't a big deal-- they'd still honor my tickets. but I didn't realize that meant I'd only get to experience about 1/3 of the actual event. Would've been nice to know what I was getting into.

The Popped Music Festival should have taken place outdoors as it was originally intended. The acts were great, but each act played really short sets. If the event happens again in the future, they should have several stages and multiple acts playing at the same time. Also, the Liacouras Center is a terrible place to spend 8 hours on a Saturday!! Overall, it lacked the festival feel.

Would have been ten times more fun outdoors but all in all a crazy awesome experience.

The first 2 bands got cut for some reason which sucked because i wanted to see one of them. The day went by pretty fast although another downfall was the food selection was horrible! The last 4 acts were unreal! the whole place was a giant dance party!

They made us wait way too long to get on the floor, many people missed the band they came to see, it should of just been held at FDR or postponed!!

This was not what I paid for and it was a totally different experience than what I was expecting. They should have moved the event to another date rather than an indoor stadium. They cancelled so many parts of the festival that should have happened and didn't make up for it at all.

The vibe was really good especially in the last few acts and all the performances were really good and the music was nice live.

Best concert experience I've ever had. Foster the People had so much energy and Pretty Lights was crazy and so fun!

Overall, my only complaint was that I was not allowed re-entry into the concert. Since it was an all day event, i was not able to see all the bands, or even half, since I did not want to be in the arena the entire day. I understand it was relocated due to weather, but re- entry should have been allowed. Thank you.

Great bands, only wish the venue was bigger and had more festival activities. My friend and I got there early but were bored after walking around the venue...which took five minutes. Hope it's outdoors next year!

This festival's change in venue completely changed the atmosphere for the worst. Some acts were completely absent from the new lineup, food bazaars were no longer there, and I felt like I was trapped.

The floor space was "over capacity" when you could see places to stand. I missed all of Foster the People set waiting in line for 50 minutes !!!! Was worth it to see Pretty Lights close, but still not worth the ticket price to not see Foster the PPL. refunds anyone? epic fail liacouras center. Kreashawn sucks ! she deserved all the boos she got !

Lets be real it sucked that this concert was confined to the Liacouras Center. When you are watching numerous bands in a row you need some fresh air in between. However, the bands were awesome. I was only present for the following: Foster the people: surprisingly original sound, they have more songs than "all the other kicks" that are just as awesome. Girl Talk: YO that guy never stopped jolting his body up and down, amazing! Pretty Lights: sooooooo gooooood, would love to feel that music pumping through my veins again.

The evening of day two presented some fantastic shows. Foster the People's fantastic remix of "Pumped Up Kicks" put the end to a sound set. Girl Talk got the crowd going with one of the loudest and most interesting run of mashups I've ever experienced. Finally, Pretty Lights produced a level of crowd enthusiasm the other acts couldn't possibly have mustered. The indie kids and electronic fans alike were bumping. Well done. Despite a perfect trio of shows, the change of venue KILLED the vibe. There were monstrous lines to get down to the floor, despite the space for (approximately) a hundred more people. Nobody paid 60+ dollars to stand in the rafters, that's for certain. Forcing dedicated fans to choose between the opportunity to get up close or experience the whole show but from afar is wrong. There should have been a posting on the website, or anywhere for that matter, relaying the protocol of the new location.

The headliners were amazing! But the other shows were lame and the event was too disorganized, people couldn't get to the floor and were mad about it (with a reason).

I really enkoyed the POPPED! music festival this past SAturday, sept. 24, 2011 in Philly... ONE ISSUE, HOWEVER, was that it shouldve been held at a better venue-it was way too crowded and congested. everyone i talked to there was either annoyed and or too hot. it shoulda been outdoors as originally planned considering it didnt even rain saturday...oh well

I only saw Kreayshawn, Foster the People, Girltalk, and Pretty Lights and I loved every minute of it. I was tired, dehydrated, and sore but that was completely worth it.

awesome! i wish this festival would go on tour to more cities in the northeast! love Girl Talk!

Went on Saturday to see a number of bands, but especially pretty lights. They wouldn't let anyone on the floor unless someone left the floor, and no one would leave the floor because you couldn't get back on the floor. No water or beer or food on the floor. Couldn't go to the food vendors because you couldn't leave the gym. Two bands advertised didn't play. Feel cheated. Oh yeah, all ages show was the worst--awful stupid college kids who cried about you standing too close to them.

This was originally suppose to be a festival in FDR park with tons of Philly Vendors and things to do. Due to crazy amounts of rain they had to move it inside and a lot of the attractions werent able to be showcased. But the show was still really great! They did everything they could to make sure the show went smoothly and was a success and it was! Can not wait till next year!

What was originally planned as a great festival turned into an expensive run down event... For starters, quest love was no where to be seen, j.period and black thought were also missing. They were 2 huge acts on the bill! The fact that it was re located from a 3 stage outside event to a closed in venue really killed the vibe. And all of the food trucks that were a great part of the festival ended up not even showing up... Really pissed about paying that kind of money for what i got out of it. Should of had the option to get a refund... As far as girl talk and pretty lights, they killed it!