I'm having a Short Day

This is a bit out of sequence (Stilllll writing the other promised posting), but I wanted to let it all out while it was still fresh!

Getting general admission tickets to music concerts is about the only time it really sucks to be, as they say, "vertically challenged". Everytime I do it, I say never again, but apparently I'm a very slow learner.

Tonight was the U2 concert. Paul, Tania & I rocked up at an eager 4pm (5hrs before the band hit the stage) only to find we were quite far back in the queue. All considering we managed to get reasonable positions, about 3 deep behind the railing of the second section (somehow Paul's brother got 2 rows from the stage despite showing up 30mins later...go figure). Still, for one of great shortness, even 2 deep is too deep. With two tall guys in front of me, with an extra inch assistance from the raised floor they were standing on, there was not much to see except for a lot of backage.

After about 1.5-2hrs of waiting around in squashy, sweaty confines, I decided to leave Paul & Tania to battle the crowd and went out on my own. I figured, standing out on the side would be a less crowded wait, and I had at the very least a clear view of the screens.

It turns out that having a clear view of the stage was really just not meant to be for me. When the support, Kanye West, came on, I could just see his head if I stood on the tips of my toes. Should have known that when Kanye said that his most favourite cities in the world to visit were 1. Tokyo, 2. Japan, 3. London, 4. somewhere else and 5. Melbourne that it wasn't going to be my night.

Then U2 came on. It was definitely the biggest concert I've ever been too, and the atmosphere was pretty charged, the view of the crowd on the way to the toilet was quite aweinsiring. The set was bright, flashing and damn cool. However, standing out in the smokers corner, by myself, next to the totally pissed guy who kept tripping over my bag, having to deal with really tall people continually standing in the space in front of me without even checking to see whose view they were blocking, took the shine off it a little. Admittedly, U2 are not one of my favourite bands, but I do recognise that what they do is pretty good. There was one moment though, when they sang One, that sent shivers up my spine... or maybe that was the cool night air resulting in me not being ensconced in the warmth of the squashy tall bodies in the middle of the stadium? (just joking) I ended up leaving during the encore to avoid the masses, and actually got my best view of the stage all night behind the lowest section of seating on my way out!

The hot jam donut outside the stadium was definitely a highlight of the night!