Inaugural Speed and Sound Festival Crashed and Burned

The DJ comes on the radio and announces that Sound and Speed is going to be held in Nashville for the first time. Hurry and get your tickets. It's a great combination of NASCAR driver's and your favorite country artists.

My husband and I are big NASCAR fans so I purchased tickets for him for Christmas.
The days flew by and finally it was the morning of the event. We got down to the Country Music Hall of Fame about 8:30 on the 14th and it was a complete mad house.
There were huge crowds of people every place you looked. They had 3 booths set up where you were to get your wrist band.

What they failed to mention in the publicity of the whole event was that you are only allowed one wrist band for one driver and that's all. Dale Earnhardt Jr was the hardest to get.
If you wanted even a slim chance to get a wrist band you had to be in line at midnight the night before.
Needless to say I wasn't about to camp out in the cold and snow and it had already been said that camping out was not allowed yet they let people camp out anyway.

My husband and I acquired our two wrist bands and headed into the Gaylord Entertainment Center where more chaos prevailed.

The driver's and artists were split into 3 separate sessions for autographs. Neither of the 3 sessions was started on time so that cut into how much time you had to get through the line you were waiting in.

We were herded through like cattle. We were told only one item autographed and no posed pictures.

Michael Waltrip the driver of the #15 NAPA car is one who likes to talk to his fans. He has always been that way. Security decided Michael was spending to much time with his fans and cut off his line. People who had wrist bands for him but didn't get to see him were just out of luck.

JoDee Messina didn't make it to her first autograph sessions with Greg Biffle. She did show up for the third autograph session so those that didn't get to see her from the first session could get their autograph. Needless to say not everyone knew she was going to come for the third session got to see her.

There was floor seating where you could go and sit and listen to musicians through out the day.
I was going to head up the stairs to the main floor of the GEC where the restrooms, cars, and concession stands were when I was informed by security from the GEC that "if you go up the steps you aren't coming back down." Who was this woman to tell people that?

Through out the day we talked to several people who were very disappointed in the whole event. One gentlemen was told "if you complain one more time you will be thrown out." Many people that we talked to had driven from out of state just for this event. They would have better luck meeting their favorite driver at an actual NASCAR race rather than Speed and Sound.

The Sound and Speed Website www.soundandspeed2006.com has been completely cleared of all of it's information except for this:

"Thank you for visiting the Sound and Speed website.
If you have comments about the 2006 event, please e-mail info@soundandspeed2006.com. Your comments are appreciated and each one will receive a personal response in approximately ten business days. For information about Sound and Speed 2007, please register for e-mail updates.

Reported From Music Row.com
"Advance ticket sales of over 5,000 to the festival alone exceeded organizer's expectations and walk-up tickets added to the perception that the marriage of country music and NASCAR had won the checkered flag."

"Reportedly over $180,000 was raised from two music and memorabilia auctions, one for fans and the other part of a VIP-packed Friday night gala named The Groove at Sound and Speed."

Excerpts from CMT Review:

"However, due to logistical issues, fans couldn't get unlimited meet-and-greets because every line required a different color of wristband. If you had the wrong color -- or no wristband at all -- then you were out of luck. As a result, with just three autograph sessions scheduled, fans could only get in three lines over the course of the day."

"With such limited access to the celebrities, many frustrated fans promptly asked for refunds."

Needless to say we will not be attending Sound and Speed in the future. I will give them credit though, due to all of the complaints we were told that they informed Ticket Master the event had been cancelled so you could get your money back.

Related Websites:
Victory Junction Gang Camp
Sound and Speed
Country Music Hall of Fame

Article Written & Submitted by Nora Mayor