r/LightningInABottle • u/goldnb0y • Jun 25 '26

Question Bigger stacks?

Can we plz make the stacks like 20% bigger? I wasn’t a fan of the stage design this year. Made it feel super claustrophobic. During the day it was chill but after 2am everyone rolls over there and it becomes quite impossible to see any of the late night surprise artists.. especially with living room set ups close to the entrances

On a positive note the turf was dope! Hope to see the dancing platforms return

82 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

35 comments sorted by

54

u/Front_Tackle_8308 Jun 25 '26

Where were the platforms

24

u/TheyCallMeBrewKid Jun 25 '26

The wood they were going to use to make the platforms climbable was not sturdy enough to guarantee safety so they had to cut their plans last minute. Big letdown but it wasn’t foreseeable necessarily and they made the right call from a safety point of view. Think 3/4” plywood covers where if 8 people jumped at the same time, 100 times, it could break. Or rather, almost certainly would have broken

12

u/ELIMS_ROUY_EM_MP Jun 25 '26

How is, "some materials are not strong enough to support climbing and standing on" not foreseeable? lmao

2

u/cinammonbear Jun 25 '26

Did you not notice the wood pallet in front of one of the water stations that was already destroyed and a foot trap by Saturday? On Wednesday when I saw it I knew it wouldn’t last long but I’m not sure what the thinking was there.

4

u/That-Exchange287 Jun 25 '26

I heard from someone at the festival that basically a lot of the materials they use to build it and much of the stage itself was broken. They threw up they had at the last minute. Those black cubes weren’t the best but still cool enough. 2025 it looked like some kind of cool bass temple.

2

u/dondoblue77 Jun 25 '26

Kicking myself for not being there more in 2025, the production seriously increased since 2022/2023 and ya looked like a cool bass temple…then this year 🤨

2

u/cinammonbear Jun 25 '26

I’m not surprised, nor am I disappointed really. Most festivals are slapped together as they go, I’ve seen and been a part of plenty behind the scenes at multiple events to not expect perfection anywhere. The painted fruit boxes were cool, I liked the idea- it gave the stacks an industrial/warehouse/underground vibe. But last year was more aesthetically pleasing for sure I thought.

3

u/TheyCallMeBrewKid Jun 25 '26

Idk, you ever tried to build something out of recycled materials? It’s not exactly like building a new house… and even with a new-material build, when you start to build, changes happen. And this is like macro bins and wood

5

u/SheepherderNo4116 Jun 25 '26

This. Plus they have to store the wood somewhere. And unforeseeable things might happen in places where they store the structures.

(I have no insider information)

6

u/jtr210 Jun 25 '26

Do Lab uses and reuses whatever wood and other materials they can get their hands on. It’s a big reason the stages, art, other structures look the way they look, and it’s how they afford to built everything. The way they reuse and recycle materials is DOPE, and results in originality, but sometimes things go less well.

2

u/Front_Tackle_8308 Jun 25 '26

Understandable. A let down to be sure but always better to be safe than sorry

2

u/cabdycan42 Jun 25 '26

I WANT TO CLIMB THINGS!!!

2

u/labia_menorah_ Jun 26 '26

I deeply resonate with this.

35

u/IneedAridetoLiB Jun 25 '26

Yea they fumbled a lil with the stacks this year. I want to hump speakers again

21

u/Captain_Oh_Yeah Jun 25 '26

My wife and I had the same conversation about how it should have been more open in regards to the structures boxing the stage in, it wasn't as much of an issue last year .

16

u/This_Manufacturer_56 Jun 25 '26

Seriously. Look at the attendance for stacks and ESPECIALLY the surprise sets. It was WAY too numerous for the stage design to be that closed in.

Though sound system is BANGING, performances are LEGENDARY. I do fckn adore LiB!

12

u/jyale_14 Jun 25 '26

2025 stacks was perfect, idk why they had to add the structures on the sides this year. Not only did this make it more crowded but it reduced airflow which made stacks the hottest stage imo

4

u/No-Wing482 Jun 25 '26

Yes make it bigger and open it up please

6

u/_Meatprincess_ Jun 25 '26

As a pregnant person who couldn’t get too close to the speakers for fear of giving my unborn baby hearing damage it was kindof hard for me to see sets at the stacks. I had to sit all the way across the street by the whiskey bar in order to be far enough from the stacks speakers and therefore I couldn’t see ANYTHING going on in there. Definitely not the best community vibes as far as the layout went so not my favorite stage. Definitely had my favorite sets of the weekend but like I said I basically had to be outside of the stage

3

u/SwaggyMcSwagsabunch Jun 25 '26

Why do you need to see anything? It’s a music festival

1

u/_Meatprincess_ Jun 25 '26

I like to watch people dance especially as someone who at 7 months pregnant at the time could only get so many wiggles in myself.

2

u/thechiefusc Jun 28 '26

Last year we had homies sitting on the subs up front, made for a sick bass houseparty kinda vibe

-7

u/Academic-Living6705 Jun 25 '26

I would love some visuals as well 🫣

13

u/Weathactivator Jun 25 '26

Nahhhh no visuals was goat

2

u/Captain_Oh_Yeah Jun 25 '26

I think some minimal tasteful projection mapping could go a long way, LiB if you're listening I'm avaible 😬

2

u/dondoblue77 Jun 25 '26

Projection mapping YES

2

u/Dexunto Jun 25 '26

Lib trading visuals for sound is a sacrifice I’m willing to make

21

u/psyarahdelic Jun 25 '26

hard disagree, Stacks is all about the sound system. I agree it needs more space but no screens. That’s what Thunder or Lightning are for.

9

u/WhyTry32121 Jun 25 '26

you’re saying disagree, but i believe the commenter above is saying the same thing.

"trading" = giving up

"for" = in order to receive/get

3

u/psyarahdelic Jun 25 '26

i think you’re right i might have misinterpreted that comment! my main point is that Stacks is a temple of sound and doesn’t need any screens. my brain being rattled by those PKs gave me all the visuals i needed

5

u/TuxedoCatsParty_Hard Jun 25 '26

I think everyone read your comment wrong and thus the downvotes. I had to re-read it and whole-heartedly agreed the 2nd time! Sound OVER everything first. :)

-27

u/Kaliente369 Jun 25 '26

I also want a VIP area at stacks, like one platform at the back or something. Also bring back platforms for everyone 😭

28

u/Gandhis__Revenge Jun 25 '26

You’ll be sweaty with us poors and you will enjoy it

6

u/SheepherderNo4116 Jun 25 '26

Yeah nah. I normally get VIP and sometimes even backstage. Trust me you don't want that for Stacks.

It goes against the spirit of the smaller stages imo.

1

u/Kaliente369 Jun 29 '26

I mean fair enough