FoundwhatI'mlookingfor
Babyface
Sorry for the length, but I think this will help some people decide how to approach their wait in line. So, here's the scoop from SD 2:
I got there at about 7:30 a.m. to check on status of the line. As reported, a couple die-hard fans had taken the initiative to start marking numbers on people's hands and marking their names in a notebook (good idea guys). I was no. 111. The SD staff agreed to honor what they'd done, but as reported after about 200 names and after the line got moved from one side of the arena to the other and broken into fan club vs. other lines, they stopped giving out numbers. That said, the numbers did really help with identifying people that had been there all day and keeping out those trying to cut (of which there were very few, perhaps due to the numbering system).
I hung out for an hour and a half or so to get the vibe, then I had to leave for a couple hours to go to work and grab stuff to work on in line, and the others around me were gracious enough to let me slip back into place. Overall the fan experience was awesome in line--very good people, one set of fans even brought me a burger back from their food run, at their expense. Thanks, guys.
When I got back the line had indeed moved to the other side of the building and there were indeed two lines--one for the masses and the other for the fan club. Also as reported, people were scrambling to get a way to prove they were in the fan club. Ultimately, they did not check people's u2.com membership info, however. Could just be a SD thing, or the fact that this was not a pre-sale show--you couldn't just show the W-FAN on the top of your ticket to prove you'd purchased through the club.
After I got back, around 12:30, not much started happening until about 3:30, when the arena staff came out and told everyone to stow their gear. After that, people who had been in and out of line began really staying in their spots.
Again not much happened until about six, other than the guy from Mexico City, who, as reported elsewhere, had had Bono and Edge sign his t-shirt, came back and was ecstatic (as we were for him), but little did he know what lay in store.
At 6 the place began getting electric as anticipation rose--but still nothing happened until about 7:40 when they started letting people in. There were 3 lines of people being let in--2 on the regular GA side and one on the fan club side. I guessed I was about no. 30 in the fan club line. They looked at your ticket to get in the door, then you had to have it scanned, and, as reported, either the laptop showed a "Proceed to the Floor" sign (which it did for me and my buddy), or it gave some other sign (reportedly a Vertigo logo) indicating you were in the ellipse. The guy from Mexico City indeed got in the circle. Another high for him.
As my buddy and I proceeded to our spot on the floor, we ended up, being no's 30 and 31, among the first hundred or so people (remember there were twice as many people from the general line flowing in at the same time we were). So bottom line--my 7:30 a.m. arrival got me behind one person off the rail at the tip of the ellipse. Not a bad spot to be sure, but the rail would have been priceless. The guys who kept the numbers--no's 1 and 2--ended up on the rail about ten people down from me (not in the ellipse).
The show was awesome, (spoilers coming)
Running to stand still, Gloria and the addition of With or without you were great. I'd seen Monday's show and Wed was much better, no doubt. Mostly the same setlist other than Gloria and w/or w/o you. Again they were challenged with Elevation (doesn't really fit in the set in my opinion) and the Fly. Love & Peace or else was great live, and even city of blinding lights was good as an opener (not my fave on the album). Hearing 40 twice as the closer was again outstanding.
As for the guy from Mexico city--he ended up being pulled on stage when Bono was looking for someone who spoke spanish and Bono handed him the mic and had him say a couple things in spanish (love is the drug and something about Dublin town). My guess is Bono remembered him, saw him in the crowd, and wanted to make a gesture toward fans in Mexico (he said in SD 1 they'd be in Mexico next year). Now that guy had a good day.
Would I do it again? Yes. If I came early I might go in the general line, though, as it seemed to flow faster than the club line with its two lines being admitted at once vs. one for the club. A friend from work, who came down between 4-5 p.m. and was in the general line, was only about 4-5 rows of people behind me and he didn't spend all day in line. That could be an anomoly but my guess is in 2d nights in the same town the crowd will be fewer and his experience won't be out of the ordinary.
On the lottery for the ellipse, I'm still wondering if there's some way they're tracking the tickets and giving better odds to fan club members--there did seem to be more of them in the circle, but I was told chances are about even.
Have fun at your show!!!
I got there at about 7:30 a.m. to check on status of the line. As reported, a couple die-hard fans had taken the initiative to start marking numbers on people's hands and marking their names in a notebook (good idea guys). I was no. 111. The SD staff agreed to honor what they'd done, but as reported after about 200 names and after the line got moved from one side of the arena to the other and broken into fan club vs. other lines, they stopped giving out numbers. That said, the numbers did really help with identifying people that had been there all day and keeping out those trying to cut (of which there were very few, perhaps due to the numbering system).
I hung out for an hour and a half or so to get the vibe, then I had to leave for a couple hours to go to work and grab stuff to work on in line, and the others around me were gracious enough to let me slip back into place. Overall the fan experience was awesome in line--very good people, one set of fans even brought me a burger back from their food run, at their expense. Thanks, guys.
When I got back the line had indeed moved to the other side of the building and there were indeed two lines--one for the masses and the other for the fan club. Also as reported, people were scrambling to get a way to prove they were in the fan club. Ultimately, they did not check people's u2.com membership info, however. Could just be a SD thing, or the fact that this was not a pre-sale show--you couldn't just show the W-FAN on the top of your ticket to prove you'd purchased through the club.
After I got back, around 12:30, not much started happening until about 3:30, when the arena staff came out and told everyone to stow their gear. After that, people who had been in and out of line began really staying in their spots.
Again not much happened until about six, other than the guy from Mexico City, who, as reported elsewhere, had had Bono and Edge sign his t-shirt, came back and was ecstatic (as we were for him), but little did he know what lay in store.
At 6 the place began getting electric as anticipation rose--but still nothing happened until about 7:40 when they started letting people in. There were 3 lines of people being let in--2 on the regular GA side and one on the fan club side. I guessed I was about no. 30 in the fan club line. They looked at your ticket to get in the door, then you had to have it scanned, and, as reported, either the laptop showed a "Proceed to the Floor" sign (which it did for me and my buddy), or it gave some other sign (reportedly a Vertigo logo) indicating you were in the ellipse. The guy from Mexico City indeed got in the circle. Another high for him.
As my buddy and I proceeded to our spot on the floor, we ended up, being no's 30 and 31, among the first hundred or so people (remember there were twice as many people from the general line flowing in at the same time we were). So bottom line--my 7:30 a.m. arrival got me behind one person off the rail at the tip of the ellipse. Not a bad spot to be sure, but the rail would have been priceless. The guys who kept the numbers--no's 1 and 2--ended up on the rail about ten people down from me (not in the ellipse).
The show was awesome, (spoilers coming)
Running to stand still, Gloria and the addition of With or without you were great. I'd seen Monday's show and Wed was much better, no doubt. Mostly the same setlist other than Gloria and w/or w/o you. Again they were challenged with Elevation (doesn't really fit in the set in my opinion) and the Fly. Love & Peace or else was great live, and even city of blinding lights was good as an opener (not my fave on the album). Hearing 40 twice as the closer was again outstanding.
As for the guy from Mexico city--he ended up being pulled on stage when Bono was looking for someone who spoke spanish and Bono handed him the mic and had him say a couple things in spanish (love is the drug and something about Dublin town). My guess is Bono remembered him, saw him in the crowd, and wanted to make a gesture toward fans in Mexico (he said in SD 1 they'd be in Mexico next year). Now that guy had a good day.
Would I do it again? Yes. If I came early I might go in the general line, though, as it seemed to flow faster than the club line with its two lines being admitted at once vs. one for the club. A friend from work, who came down between 4-5 p.m. and was in the general line, was only about 4-5 rows of people behind me and he didn't spend all day in line. That could be an anomoly but my guess is in 2d nights in the same town the crowd will be fewer and his experience won't be out of the ordinary.
On the lottery for the ellipse, I'm still wondering if there's some way they're tracking the tickets and giving better odds to fan club members--there did seem to be more of them in the circle, but I was told chances are about even.
Have fun at your show!!!
