COLUMBUS — It gets hot at Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival, standing on black concrete with the sun beating down while belting out heavy metal or having an emo episode.
For most, it’s a shady spot under a small tree in the grass, or inside the main stage area, that offers a space cool down. For the VIPs, a rock n’ roll oasis awaits just beyond the festival’s second-largest stage.
Shady high-top tables, cushy white patio furniture, picnic tables and a massive, air-conditioned wedding tent are just some of the places the VIPs can get a break from the action.
But with a $346 one-day price tag, or $926 for four days, are there enough pros to outweigh the cost?
At the end of the day, there’s no wrong answer. No matter how someone tackles Sonic, it’ll be fun — and if it’s not, you probably pregamed too hard.
Air-conditioned tent and bathrooms
The air conditioning is a huge plus, no doubt about that. But the real win inside the tent is a massive bar with way shorter lines and almost too much seating.
Unfortunately, there’s no difference in price for any of the beverages. However, being able to reload the tall-boy-fun faster to get back to the pit, rocks.
For those in-between seeing their favorite band, they still don’t miss any of the action, as every set is streamed live on the massive screens in the corners and back wall.
One older VIP praised the area because she called herself a “washed-up, but still kicking, metalhead” who still wanted to be part of the action, but not in every pit like her glory days.
When the drinks are flowing, at some point, folks have to hit the head. General admission has to beeline for the only porta-potties near the Cathedral stage, or use the few bathrooms inside the main stage arena.
But nice enclosed air-conditioned trailers lined the back of the VIP section, with much shorter lines.
Again, for the older crowd, this was a huge asset.
Camaraderie all around
Outside the tent is a fleet of picnic tables, each with groups of metalheads stoked to share a space with the next.
The fellowship in sharing a meal or standing in line together for merch was very apparent even later in the day, as folks got more tired (or more drunk).
“I think it’s the camaraderie I like the most,” said Katherine Dill, a three-time Sonic VIP from Cleveland.
“[In the VIP area], you get to meet a bunch more people here because there is space to do it. Meeting people is always our regular goal.”
VIPs had it pretty good with merch lines, too. General admission folks had to battle multiple corrals at two different tents to get a coveted Sonic Temple 2026 t-shirt.
Yet, the VIPs were able to pick up their gear in mere minutes — though the merch tent didn’t feature as many options as the general admission tents.
Before folks eat, drink and be merry, about a dozen food tents are set up in the VIP area, with some of them exclusive to the section.
Delaware Source sat down with a couple of different groups chowing down, and their main points were all the same — the selection of food this year in the VIP section was sublime.
Following the trend, shorter lines for food meant fueling the good times quicker.
It wasn’t uncommon to see a grown man slam some kind of sandwich in mere seconds before sprinting out of the section to the next set.
