June 22nd, 2011 M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, MD

[Maoilbheannacht]

Actually, i think the Light Rail saved my wife and me. We were riding in around 4:45 and were getting off on the Hamburg street exit (after most people mistakenly got off at Camden Yards exit!!). As we were passing the stadium parking lot, we could see an incredibly long line wrapped around the stadium, which i completely expected at that time.

We got off the train, and crossed the bridge, and not knowing where to go, walked up to Gate B which is directly in front of us. There was a sign that said "General Admission/Field" with about 25 people in it, so we asked one of the guards, and she told us to stand in that line. By 5:40 when the gates opened, the line was moving, and 10 minutes later we had our wristbands, and were walking down to the field, amazed at how empty the field still was. We walked past the Red Zone wishing at the time we could have gotten in there. We kept going, figuring we would see where a good spot was, and turned a corner, got our neck stamp, and then realized we were in the inner circle, 10 feet from the front of the stage, with a perfect view of the stage and mic, with the outer circle walkway about 8 feet behind us. .

Needless to say, i dont know if we just got very lucky, and happened to be at the right place at the right time, or if people just didnt know about gate B, but it was the best experience i have had, with none of the waiting!!!

Well, the idea is to have only one GA line so those that have waited the longest get in first. My friends and I were only interested in getting into the inner circle and didn't have a desire to get a specific spot and guard it so we did not get in line until 5:00 pm. But people that had been waiting since 8:00 am or the night before probably would not be happy at all about someone getting in before they did who just happened to show up and did not wait at all.

 

[ntalwar]

Well, the idea is to have only one GA line so those that have waited the longest get in first. My friends and I were only interested in getting into the inner circle and didn't have a desire to get a specific spot and guard it so we did not get in line until 5:00 pm. But people that had been waiting since 8:00 am or the night before probably would not be happy at all about someone getting in before they did who just happened to show up and did not wait at all.

Someone in the GA Tips thread posted something like people who show up at 5pm can frequently get a spot right next to people who showed up at 6am. I think even when the opening act starts, only half the GA crowd has shown up. Some stadiums have 2 GA lines as well - maybe the 2nd one wasn't widely publicized here.

 

[secretly alone]

Well, the idea is to have only one GA line so those that have waited the longest get in first. My friends and I were only interested in getting into the inner circle and didn't have a desire to get a specific spot and guard it so we did not get in line until 5:00 pm. But people that had been waiting since 8:00 am or the night before probably would not be happy at all about someone getting in before they did who just happened to show up and did not wait at all.

I had wandered around to the back of the stadium to listen to the crew soundcheck and we noticed there seemed to be another GA entrance, other than the one the line had formed in front of, and we were a little wary about it.

I agree, it's not fair at all for people to saunter in whenever and then get in before or end up pushing their way through people who've been waiting forever. Luckily, the security was wonderful and very respectful of the people who'd put in all that effort. But all these clusterfucks we've heard about other shows seem to be when the security messes up the process of letting people in.