Reposting from the "July 24, 25, 27 Croke Park" fan gathering discussion thread:
Beyond Amazing*
Experience of a Lifetime*
Best show I have ever been to (including sat, croke 2)*
The above accurately describes ours and, more importantly, his, experience queuing and being in the pit for the Monday, July 27th Croke 3 show. The asterisk denotes that it was not without some trouble at times......it was hard, hard work and not all fans were as courteous as we were hoping.
We left our hotel at St. Stephens Green (The Shelbourne) shortly after 5:15 am on monday morning and walked the way to Croker with a 6am arrival. When there we were already given numbers 111-113 by whomever was doing the fan-run numbering/line system. (French fan club??? not sure) This was done excellently......they were vigilant on making sure that everyone was given proper numbers. They were extremely fair....I didn't notice any favoritism going on, no hanky panky......everything was done on the up and up and really made things go well and smooth from my perspective. By 8am or so there were upwards of 300 people checked in.
The rest of the day in queue was tough, as the Stewards *really* and I mean REALLY crammed us in the barrier created lines. It was difficult to even sit down.....However, the weather in Dublin is so pleasant that it wasn't so bad at all. 64 degrees and sunny with a shower here and there really made it not so bad. Our son just spent most of the day playing little games with my wife and myself, having a snack here and there, drinks sparingly and napping. He has the amazing ability to nap anywhere and under any conditions and this really worked out well for us (and him) while queuing in line for 10+ hours. He occasionally asked about "how much longer?" but never complained at all.
We had one minor mishap at our last porto-potty session at 3:30 right before being let in after 4.......he was attempting to climb over the barrier to get to the toilet line and someone in our line area oblivious to him attempting to climb over leaned back onto him which resulted in him being pushed over the rail and landed right on his knee (I heard others in line stating that he had fallen on his head and all other sort of nonsense.....but no, just his knee). He was hurt initially but is a tough sort of kid and after a few minutes was up and going again. Kudos go to security as they were VERY good about tending to him. They got a doctor and everything to check him out.....all quite unnecessary.....they were beyond nice and helpful. Also, the local dubliners in line were great. A local with a Red Sox Pedro Martinez jersey on was especially nice and chatted a bit with my son and us......good guy..... Met a couple of people from the Boston area right in front of us....good people as well.
Sound check was wonderful..... New Years Day, I Will Follow (instrumental, without Bono), and Electrical Storm (real treat). You knew something special was about to happen that night. They sounded good.
Getting from the queue to the pit was a tough experience. After letting in the first 100 people the scanners up and quit and they stopped everyone else from going in. This delay lasted for about 5 mins or so and seemed to have many people anxious......we were literally right in the front of the line when this happened so yeah, it was a tough wait. When they finally fixed things and let people through, well, this is where things got a bit dicey. I had a firm grip on my son's hand once we got through the turnstiles and we listened (as did most dubliners, it seemed) to the instructions of the stewards for everyone to "walk....keep it slow....NO RUNNING, OR YOU WILL BE TAKEN OUT!" It seemed, however, that others did not heed this warning (and also that security wasnt going to follow through with their threat) and really did make a mad dash to the pit. At one point, one individual literally attempted to push down the kid......he held his own and I gave him hell for it. When he had realized what he had done, he slowed down for a moment.....almost seemed apologetic for an instant but then moved on.
We managed to still get a slightly off-center first row back rail spot, but not without controversy. People to one side of us were attempting to actually "save" spots for friends that were in the line much later and hadn't even arrived yet. There wasnt anyone there in the spot against the rail.....and we took it.....not sure how someone can feel as if they are entitled to save spots on the rail for people who were in the pit line much further along than we were. For example, the person attempting to save several spots had a number of 160 something (we were 111-113...so that tells you something about how quick they were moving to their spot) and the people they were trying to save spots for didnt even have numbers. There were words exchanged, some unpleasant comments and eventually they attempted to start pushing......but whatever. These people were not Irish......
Once we got our spot on the rail it was work to try and keep it.....especially with my son. Some people (mostly very late-comers) would try to take advantage of his small size and attempt to bully their way into his spot...but he was well protected. Myself on one side of him, my wife 2nd row right in front of him and this very nice Irish couple to the other side of my son 1st row rail who held their spots well. She turned to me at one point and said "there are people next to us and they are really trying to push us down....we're doing the best we can to not budge to help your son out". Really, really considerate the Irish are.....when security was handing out water, she even gave us hers. Additionally, we met a wonderful member of security (many pit regulars seemed to know him) who spent a really large amount of time chatting with me and my son about the support bands, his time in college and a whole list of other subjects. He promised that he would look out for our son the whole night and make sure that he was well taken care of......great, great guy. Again, the Irish were wonderful. I forget his name, but he's in a couple of the pictures I just put up in the gallery.
By the time the band came on, all troubles had been forgotten (although being vigilant was still needed against many people who tried to bully into the 1st row when the band walked around the catwalk) and my son was in absolute awe of what he saw. He was clapping, drumming and singing along with the songs he knew. It was an absolutely amazing experience......as wonderful as Saturday's show was, being this close in that atmosphere, with the sound and performance as good as it was, easily made this the best concert I have ever been to.
The setlist was wonderful with the "40"-intro version of "Bad" being an absolute highlight......Bono looking over at the Edge telling him stop his intro guitar part and then slowly softly lead into it after a few verses of "How lonnnnnnggggg" were gone through, was just amazing. Goosebump moment for sure....among many. "Unforgettable Fire", "Walk On", "Streets" and "Ultraviolet" were other goosebumpers as well.....such a great set list.
At the end of the day we all felt as if a freight train had hit us (especially after the walk back to St Stephens Green), but overall it was worth it for the experience. I was beyond proud that my son fared as well as he did.....he held his own, as I knew he would, and literally had a lifetime experience as the only kid in the pit that night.
As we walked back and I asked him what he thought of the whole thing he only said this "it was the best night of my whole life, dad.....only next time we come to Croke Park to see them, we need to camp out."
He made me tired and proud just listening to him say that