See the Calm Before the (Hale)Storm at Loudwire Live 2017 [PHOTOS]

We're about 20 minutes away from opening the gates here at the Dort Federal Event Center for Loudwire Live 2017 -- get ready.

I'm always amazed by how much time, energy, effort, and people working together it takes to bring a festival of this magnitude together. Getting a behind-the-scenes look at all the moving pieces is something I just realized I've begun to take for granted over the years.

As I was walking around, I took a step back and thought, "Wow, my pre-radio self would think it's so cool being behind the scenes like this." So, I've decided to put my "been there, done that" radio guy persona aside, and share with you a glimpse at what goes into a music festival before they let you in. It takes a lot of people working together very hard to get this thing off the ground, and seeing it happen in real time is really pretty amazing.