Free Press Summer Festival has released a sweet new smartphone app this year, which is awesome if you want to share your pics of the the action, tag your favorite bands, annoy your friends with constant updates, and have tiny little impossible-to-read maps of the festival grounds at your fingertips.
But if you're like me, you hate competing with 20,000 other people in the same two-mile radius for mobile service, draining your iPhone battery waiting for the maps to load, and loathe those people recording the entire concert on their smartphone.
I've covered a lot of music festivals for the Houston Press, and I can tell you, having a paper schedule ahead of time to plan your day is the best way to go. I like to get old-school with a printout (on recycled paper) and a highlighter.
Unfortunately, FSPF's Web site is the epitome of overdesigning. It's all ajax-y, loads funky on a smartphone, and this is what happened when I tried to print the lineup.
Thankfully, you all get to benefit from my obsessive need to have everything organized my way. I have created an open Google spreadsheet of the entire lineup, organized by day, time and stage, for all to share and enjoy.
Facebook it, download it, print it out, highlighter the hell out of that thing, then pack it away in a Ziploc bag for the festival.
I've done the hard work. Now you just have to figure out how to clone yourself for all those schedule conflicts.
Follow @hprocksoff
