GA Tips and Tricks

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I'm one of the weird U2 fans that loves them, but really only likes GA on paper... I've only see one show GA that was in Hartford during Elevation and it was amazing (3 feet from outside the tip of the heart) but I also saw them in Boston during same tour in loge, front row to right of the stage... and I think that was amazing too.

Never been in the heart or circle, but that must be the best experience as you feel like you are in a club.

My question, if they scan and it's random if you get in the inner circle or not, the only point to line up earlier is to get a better spot around the stage outside right?

Is it worth it to wait all day, when someone that comes 5 minutes before the show has the same chance of getting in the inner circle as you?

Now -- did anyone notice if more FAN GA tickets got people in the circle than others? Now that would be cool.

I think just being on the field in Boston is going to be fun and I'm not going to kill myself trying to get close to the stage. It turns something fun into work.
 
^the "FAN GA" on the ticket just means what type of sale, it's not gonna guarantee you inside the circle or anything. It's just how the tix are marked more for accounting purposes I think. Last tour's GAs were marked the same and it had no meaning then.
 
clerks said:
My question, if they scan and it's random if you get in the inner circle or not, the only point to line up earlier is to get a better spot around the stage outside right?

Is it worth it to wait all day, when someone that comes 5 minutes before the show has the same chance of getting in the inner circle as you?
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Of course. Why would that make a difference? That would just be screwing yourself out of a good spot out of spite.

"Well, if someone can just waltz in at the end and get the best spot, why I should I bother guaranteeing a good spot for myself?" That doesn't make any sense.

:shrug:
 
Hewson said:
80 game season for 9 yr olds...holy schnikeys.
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Actually, it was 7 and 8 year olds (he turns 9 in just a couple days)! And those 80 games doesn't even count all the pre-season scrimmages and tournaments. It's tier 1 AAA ice hockey, so it is pretty intense......*but* the kid loves it and if you ask HIM, it's not enough! To us though.......we don't have lives ;)
 
Not sure if someone mentioned this but please don't try to sneak your friend(s) in as the GA line is going in especially if you're among the first 10 in line cause I will call you out on it if you're in front of me. This happened at the Vegas show where one guy was in his room hungover all day (so not technically in line but at least I'd seen him for a few minutes during the course of the line waiting) and then he actually tried to bring a friend in. Have no idea where this guy came from, he had no number at all on his hand so he had likely just flown in. I know one person doesn't seem to make a difference but in this case if the extra guy was in front of me, he would have buzzed into the ellipse instead of me. To say it simply, be honest and respectful of your fellow fans.
 
well, I plan to stand in line really early, and then my wife will arrive late since she needs to stay with our baby. I will definitely save her a spot. :)
 
In Cleveland, Mr. Beverly56 came with me about 5:30 am and stayed til maybe 8:30, made a coffee/hot chocolate run and distributed it to some of our line neighbors, then had to drive home (an hour drive) to work for half the day. He showed back up about 3:00 but brought an enormous propane heater which was VERY popular. Needless to say he had no trouble getting back in line with me. However I backed into the heater and melted the back of my coat. :reject:
 
I was just wondering if more GA FAN tickets got into the circle than regular GA's last few tours... I hope they gave us a higher chance of getting in.

All I was saying, is I'm more the laid back approach to GA... I pee a lot, so waiting in line is not the best thing for me.

Got there 5 minutes before hartford show (friend stuck at work) and we got a great spot... I guess I'm saying, I'd rather just hope I get a good spot, then work 12 hours to get one and then worry about protecting it...

To each his/her own.
 
^ i agree... if i were 18 then maybe i'd do the GA hustle, but i'm 31 and can honestly predict that i will enjoy the show much more if i can stroll in while the opening band is playing after a nice dinner at a restaurant... take as many pees as i want (and there will be a few because i like to drink beer at shows) and feel well rested and relaxed...

like you said, to each there own. i'll leave the pushing, cramming, sore blatter and tired legs to the kids!
 
EdWaiting.jpg


The Mister with The Heater

IMG_0239.jpg


Toasted buns.
 
If you bring a chair to sit in, what do you do with it when you enter the venue? Obviously you don't wan to tote it around with you all night and I doubt the venue would let you bring it in in the first place.
 
U2Fanatic4ever said:
wooohoo! I am bringing my soon to be 12 yr old son to his very first U2 concert in Sept at the DC show.. I am so excited for him. We are gonna brave GA. I am gonna just have the hubby come a little later so my son isn't in line as long. We'll just meet up then in line of course I will let people around me know beforehand which I am sure will be ok it usually is.
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Okay, granted I'm not nearly as seasoned as some of you in this GA waiting in line thing...but if someone in front of me suddenly had a group of people ( 2+) arrive and join them in line I don't think I'd be all too pleased. :huh: As a matter of fact, I'd definitely say something to you!

Maybe I'm wrong here....but I plan to go with my three friends and wait in line for at least a few hours. Lets say there is another party of four in front of me. Two of them go to the bathroom, go to get food, are gone and hour and come back. FINE BY ME!

Now lets say that there is a party of one ahead of my group, all of a sudden an hour before the doors open the "one" is now "three". If several others did that too, now I'm MUCH further back in line. NOT COOL! (someone correct me if I'm wrong here.....)
 
Yeah, in my opinion, saving spots in line is not cool. If someone near me tries it, I will say something. It impacts not just the people you're cutting immediately in front of, but every other person behind you in line.
 
bufftibbs said:
Okay, granted I'm not nearly as seasoned as some of you in this GA waiting in line thing...but if someone in front of me suddenly had a group of people ( 2+) arrive and join them in line I don't think I'd be all too pleased. :huh: As a matter of fact, I'd definitely say something to you!

Maybe I'm wrong here....but I plan to go with my three friends and wait in line for at least a few hours. Lets say there is another party of four in front of me. Two of them go to the bathroom, go to get food, are gone and hour and come back. FINE BY ME!

Now lets say that there is a party of one ahead of my group, all of a sudden an hour before the doors open the "one" is now "three". If several others did that too, now I'm MUCH further back in line. NOT COOL! (someone correct me if I'm wrong here.....)
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:huh:
apparently you didnt' read my whole post. I would ask the people around me first way beforehand. It's done often within reason and I am not talking a group but 2 people, as long as its ok with those around which it almost always is.. And I am not talking about no waiting at all just not them being there at the crack o dawn like me.. maybe just by noon at the latest.. I wouldn't be pleased if someone came an hour before the doors opening.. And yes, I am seasoned GA'er so this is quite common and if you approach it by talking with all around you beforehand then its a completely different matter..
 
U2Fanatic4ever said:
:huh:
apparently you didnt' read my whole post. I would ask the people around me first way beforehand. It's done often within reason and I am not talking a group but 2 people, as long as its ok with those around which it almost always is.. And I am not talking about no waiting at all just not them being there at the crack o dawn like me.. maybe just by noon at the latest.. I wouldn't be pleased if someone came an hour before the doors opening.. And yes, I am seasoned GA'er so this is quite common and if you approach it by talking with all around you beforehand then its a completely different matter..
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I did read your whole post. You want to line up, and then have two more people join you in line later...where you hold their spot.

Read what mads said. It doesn't just impact those around you. If half the people ahead of me had 2 join them "later"...not cool. I guess I can go out and get hammered the night before the show, sleep in the next day and then meet my friends in line at noon. Sweet!

I'm not saying half the people do this. But if everyone has this attitude, then my 100th spot in line suddenly became 125th. Maybe the cut off for the rail is 115. :angry:

Maybe I lived on the East Coast too long. I guess I'm no longer a very tolerant person. :lol:
 
bufftibbs said:
I did read your whole post. You want to line up, and then have two more people join you in line later...where you hold their spot.

Read what mads said. It doesn't just impact those around you. If half the people ahead of me had 2 join them "later"...not cool. I guess I can go out and get hammered the night before the show, sleep in the next day and then meet my friends in line at noon. Sweet!

I'm not saying half the people do this. But if everyone has this attitude, then my 100th spot in line suddenly became 125th. Maybe the cut off for the rail is 115. :angry:

Maybe I lived on the East Coast too long. I guess I'm no longer a very tolerant person. :lol:
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This has nothing to do with someone who is hungover this is just to cut down slightly the amount of time my son is there by a 3 hrs or so. And the part of the process with the GA line is the first person there starts a list and has people who come in sign it and give them a number. So if I were to come in usually I would sign them in and when they arrive they would get their numbers from this person. So if numbers are already assigned then they do not have an impact on the line because their spaces are already accounted for.Ue fans especially in a GA line and the procedures are held the same way city to city. As long as you repect this and not abuse it people understand.I have a kid who wants to come and see his favorite band I just am trying to make the day a tad easier for him. As I said as long as you speak with the people in line about your situation they pretty much understand. Of course there are going to be people who abuse the GA line up procedures but that's just the way it is. IMO my situation is not an abuse of the procedure. Sounds to me like you haven't done a u2 GA lineup maybe you should read up on some older threads on how it all works before you come in here and judge me.
 
bufftibbs said:
I did read your whole post. You want to line up, and then have two more people join you in line later...where you hold their spot.

Read what mads said. It doesn't just impact those around you. If half the people ahead of me had 2 join them "later"...not cool. I guess I can go out and get hammered the night before the show, sleep in the next day and then meet my friends in line at noon. Sweet!

I'm not saying half the people do this. But if everyone has this attitude, then my 100th spot in line suddenly became 125th. Maybe the cut off for the rail is 115. :angry:

Maybe I lived on the East Coast too long. I guess I'm no longer a very tolerant person. :lol:
Click to expand...


it's for her kid ffs :rolleyes:
 
wow... if there's fighting about the GA line here online, what's it gonna be like in the actual line? i'm gonna take my boxing gloves just in case :hyper:
 
mama cass said:
wow... if there's fighting about the GA line here online, what's it gonna be like in the actual line? i'm gonna take my boxing gloves just in case :hyper:
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I guess this is a good idea cuz apparently the dynamics and or the procedure has changed right before my eyes. "No tolerance for you get to the end of the line for one year!" (Soup nazi voice)
 
U2Fanatic4ever said:
This has nothing to do with someone who is hungover this is just to cut down slightly the amount of time my son is there by a 3 hrs or so. And the part of the process with the GA line is the first person there starts a list and has people who come in sign it and give them a number. So if I were to come in usually I would sign them in and when they arrive they would get their numbers from this person. So if numbers are already assigned then they do not have an impact on the line because their spaces are already accounted for.Ue fans especially in a GA line and the procedures are held the same way city to city. As long as you repect this and not abuse it people understand.I have a kid who wants to come and see his favorite band I just am trying to make the day a tad easier for him. As I said as long as you speak with the people in line about your situation they pretty much understand. Of course there are going to be people who abuse the GA line up procedures but that's just the way it is. IMO my situation is not an abuse of the procedure. Sounds to me like you haven't done a u2 GA lineup maybe you should read up on some older threads on how it all works before you come in here and judge me.
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I think it would be nice if people were tolerant of younger kids on line and even on the floor.
 
JCOSTER said:
I think it would be nice if people were tolerant of younger kids on line and even on the floor.
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Here's hoping for that! While my son is big for his age (a tall 94lbs at 8 years old) and can handle himself ("dad, if anyone elbows me i'm just going to elbow him right back), I would still prefer an easier time on him.....if only for the sake of saving his mother stress ;)

All that being said, our hotel in Dublin (Marriott Shelbourne) is about an 11 minute drive from Croke Park and from what i've heard there isn't alot around the stadium to even do, so all of us waiting in line early in the morning is really an inevitability. I just plan on making sure his ipod is totally stacked with live U2 shows, he has plenty of books that we can just toss before we go in and the like. He has said that he has no problem sleeping during the day.....lol (we'll see), so I think we'll be ok.

I just don't know what the queue procedure in Dublin is. Do they line up early.....late? I still have so many questions about the logistics of visiting dublin to see u2 (not to even mention, doing it with a then 9 year old).

The good thing (and bad thing) is that I still have 4 months left to figure all of that out ;)
 
JCOSTER said:
I think it would be nice if people were tolerant of younger kids on line and even on the floor.
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If they're shorter than me, I'm okay with them :D
I'm 5'2'' so I'll be fighting for a spot right up against the rail.

The thing is I'm usually okay with kids, and I would have no problem with having them on line or on the floor, or even come later to the GA line. Just don't show up in a van and shove 5 kids in front of me or anything like that. And I'm sorry to say this, but if they start to whine and complain and act up and spoil the atmosphere around us, then I would have a problem with that. People are expected to be tolerant of younger kids, but I'm going to a concert, and I do tend to get very excited during concerts. There will be a lot of jumping around and whatnot... I don't want to have to watch where I jump just because there's a small kid near me.

Other than that, if the kids are as excited as I am being in the concert, then hey, the more the merrier!! From the posts in this thread it looks like people are taking their sons, between 11-15, shouldn't be a problem. Someone on another forum was thinking of bringing their 5 year old son to GA, that I have a problem with. I think it's just dangerous to have children that young in GA... Luckily he changed his mind and decided to get seats for him and his family. Good choice.
 
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