We got totally screwed.
We got there at 5:45AM the day of the show, and got numbers 292 and 293. We were later re-numbered to 248 and 249 because people bailed on the line, or people who were having spots held didn't show. The line was actually really well managed, and security was really good about kicking out line jumpers, of which there were quite a few. I think because it was a Monday show, and a lot of people had to work, it increased the number of line jumpers.
Once we got in, it was a different story. Even with somewhat decent numbers (numbers similar to these had gotten us good spots on the outer rail in the past), this time the outer rail was pretty full. I think people have learned that it's the place to be. Given the lack of outer rail and the emptiness of the pit, we decided to try for outside rail in the pit.
This seemed like it was going to work out really well at first, because we had a group of short people who were right in front of us, and we could see over their heads. The problems came later on, when the pit started to get packed in like sardines. Later arrivals started to panic, and they started to think of excuses for jamming into the mess (I'm looking for my wife/gf/bf/dog/cat/ferret/etc).
We were with our friend Lisa, and both her and Jess sat down to take up more space. I didn't, as I figured we were packed in enough already, but then two kids (I'm old enough to call a 20-yr-old a kid now) who were doing the "Just passing through" thing ended up stopping right in front of us. And by in front of us I mean that his ass was pressing against my crotch. I told him he had to move but he lied clumsily, trying to pretend that he had been there the whole time. He knew that I knew he was lying, so he was really sheepish about it. I could have easily "relocated" him, but most of the things I could think of would have probably gotten me ejected from the stadium. So I sat down like Jess and Lisa and forced him forward a few inches at a time, until I had space.
More drama ensued when another group of people did the "just passing through" thing, only to run out of anywhere to go while literally straddling us. They ended up being pretty cool people later on (I ended up making peace with them so we could relax and enjoy the show), but they were initially pretty obnoxious. Since they were having a hard time jamming in front of us, they decided that WE should stand up to give THEM more room. I pointed out that we had been there since 5:45AM and if they had wanted better spots they should have gotten their a bit earlier than 6PM.
The guy tried to argue that anyone arriving at 6PM had the exact same right to the exact same spot as someone who had waited all day. You can guess how that went over. Then the girl tried to get security to make us stand up. The guy tried to argue that us sitting down was a safety hazard, which was pretty much like arguing that a speed bump is a safety hazard because you could crash if you hit it while doing 90mph through a neighborhood. The security guard told him to suck it up.
We stayed seated which probably prevented even more people from jamming in, but the damage was done. All the Last Minute Joes were 6'2"+ and both Jess and Lisa's views were totally blocked. As the show progressed, crotch-to-ass guy moved around so he could push his ass against me again (I guess he was into that) so I just kept "accidentally" kicking the back of his ankles.
It was a pity that Jess missed most of here last GA of the tour because of this fiasco, but I guess it's taught us that you should avoid the pit if you're shorter than 6'2 and don't like crotch-to-ass contact.