VintagePunk
Blue Crack Distributor
If I remember correctly, wasn't the Vancouver crowd supposed to have been exceptionally wild? Or am I thinking of something else?
At my shows, I was mostly on the outside rail. I don't remember having trouble with the crowd pushing, or surging forward, but I did have trouble with a couple of individuals. In Toronto, there was this guy and girl a few ahead of me in line. They had gotten ETS tickets, and had to go to the location and pick them up. When they got back, they'd been given those ETS bracelets. When we started to go in, I guess they decided to try to scam their way into the ellipse with their ETS bracelets, and were promptly refused. IMO, there's no way they could have seriously thought that those bracelets entitled them to get into the ellipse, anyone in line could have told them that. So, we were on the rail, and they ended up directly behind us. That was several shows in for us, we were both really sick, and after days of GA, we were exhausted. Still thrilled to be there and wanting to enjoy the show, but we were beat. That show, I was kind of low key, cheering and stuff, but not jumping around every second and screaming. I was taking it all in a more quiet way. This guy kept constantly banging into us, waving his arms, but not upwardly, more like straight at our heads, and sticking them forward into our line of vision! I ignored it for a while, and then when it got to be too much, I politely asked if he could stop. He then unleashed a tirade about how they'd been ahead of us in line, and it wasn't fair that we were on the rail but they weren't. I told him that wasn't my problem, and he shouldn't have tried to get in the ellipse. He also felt it was his place to judge my concert demeanor, saying that if I wasn't going to be enthusiastic, I should get off the rail. He kept up with the pushing and arm waving, quite deliberately. After asking him to stop a few more times, a little less politely, I finally told him that I'd get security if he didn't chill out. They were pretty well behaved for the rest of the show. In fact, I think they may have done the lateral movement thing, and found someone else who "stole" their rail spot to bother.
In Chicago, we were on the rail again, and between the opening band and U2, we'd often sit down to rest our legs, facing out with our backs against the rail. As we were doing this, a very large girl came and stood beside my daughter, and started kneeing her. I watched for a few minutes, and could see that this was deliberate - she was trying to push her aside to work her way into a rail spot where there was no more room. I asked her to stop, and I think she told me to go fuck myself. Fortunately, I'm not an easily intimidated teenager, and I have a great deal of concert/GA experience, so this wasn't going to fly with me. I stood up, positioned myself so that she couldn't get in, and then changed spots with my daughter. I just smiled at her, told her she was dealing with me now, and dared her to try it again.
There was no more kneeing. She did attempt to keep one hand on the rail while standing one row back from it, but before U2 came on, I think she realized it was pointless, and left.
Other than that, my experiences were all great, and really, these were just minor annoyances that I dealt with, and then went on to enjoy the show. Like I said earlier, there was incidental pushing and minor crowding, but nothing that made me feel like I was about to be crushed, or anything.
At my shows, I was mostly on the outside rail. I don't remember having trouble with the crowd pushing, or surging forward, but I did have trouble with a couple of individuals. In Toronto, there was this guy and girl a few ahead of me in line. They had gotten ETS tickets, and had to go to the location and pick them up. When they got back, they'd been given those ETS bracelets. When we started to go in, I guess they decided to try to scam their way into the ellipse with their ETS bracelets, and were promptly refused. IMO, there's no way they could have seriously thought that those bracelets entitled them to get into the ellipse, anyone in line could have told them that. So, we were on the rail, and they ended up directly behind us. That was several shows in for us, we were both really sick, and after days of GA, we were exhausted. Still thrilled to be there and wanting to enjoy the show, but we were beat. That show, I was kind of low key, cheering and stuff, but not jumping around every second and screaming. I was taking it all in a more quiet way. This guy kept constantly banging into us, waving his arms, but not upwardly, more like straight at our heads, and sticking them forward into our line of vision! I ignored it for a while, and then when it got to be too much, I politely asked if he could stop. He then unleashed a tirade about how they'd been ahead of us in line, and it wasn't fair that we were on the rail but they weren't. I told him that wasn't my problem, and he shouldn't have tried to get in the ellipse. He also felt it was his place to judge my concert demeanor, saying that if I wasn't going to be enthusiastic, I should get off the rail. He kept up with the pushing and arm waving, quite deliberately. After asking him to stop a few more times, a little less politely, I finally told him that I'd get security if he didn't chill out. They were pretty well behaved for the rest of the show. In fact, I think they may have done the lateral movement thing, and found someone else who "stole" their rail spot to bother.
In Chicago, we were on the rail again, and between the opening band and U2, we'd often sit down to rest our legs, facing out with our backs against the rail. As we were doing this, a very large girl came and stood beside my daughter, and started kneeing her. I watched for a few minutes, and could see that this was deliberate - she was trying to push her aside to work her way into a rail spot where there was no more room. I asked her to stop, and I think she told me to go fuck myself. Fortunately, I'm not an easily intimidated teenager, and I have a great deal of concert/GA experience, so this wasn't going to fly with me. I stood up, positioned myself so that she couldn't get in, and then changed spots with my daughter. I just smiled at her, told her she was dealing with me now, and dared her to try it again.
There was no more kneeing. She did attempt to keep one hand on the rail while standing one row back from it, but before U2 came on, I think she realized it was pointless, and left. Other than that, my experiences were all great, and really, these were just minor annoyances that I dealt with, and then went on to enjoy the show. Like I said earlier, there was incidental pushing and minor crowding, but nothing that made me feel like I was about to be crushed, or anything.
Hhhhmmm, anyone else have an opinion on this? Not only have I never been to a Dublin show, this is my first time in GA for U2. In the past I've always been in seats.
. Do they usually give that type of stuff away to those close to the stage after the show??
No restroom facilities at Croke Park?? I'm glad I know this now rather than last minute. Damn that's bad.
