Attending a concert is often something I always look forward to because I love seeing your favorite artists up on stage performing some of my favorite songs. I like picking out an outfit, and binge listening to all the songs to sing along with all my friends to pregame for the show. But what I hadn’t seen until last month was the chaos of general admission tickets.
On Nov. 22nd, I attended Niall Horan’s last show on his tour “Flicker Sessions”. My best friend, Kade, is one of his biggest fans and has followed him since his days in One Direction.
We left the house at 6:30AM to set out for our one hour drive to San Francisco. At approximately 7:40AM, we arrived at Union Square and parked in the underground parking lot. Quickly walking up the large hills, we arrived at the venue at 8:00AM, which was the earliest time we were going to be allowed to lineup for the show at 7:00PM. However, when stepping into the building, we were surprised to see there were already around 150 people filling up the first two lines. We guessed that the security ignored the rules and allowed them in early.
On Nov. 22nd, I attended Niall Horan’s last show on his tour “Flicker Sessions”. My best friend, Kade, is one of his biggest fans and has followed him since his days in One Direction.
We left the house at 6:30AM to set out for our one hour drive to San Francisco. At approximately 7:40AM, we arrived at Union Square and parked in the underground parking lot. Quickly walking up the large hills, we arrived at the venue at 8:00AM, which was the earliest time we were going to be allowed to lineup for the show at 7:00PM. However, when stepping into the building, we were surprised to see there were already around 150 people filling up the first two lines. We guessed that the security ignored the rules and allowed them in early.
I’m not one of the most hardcore fans out there, so seeing this colossal line at this hour was insane. Nonetheless, we placed our blanket down and prepared for the long 12 hour (yes 12) wait.
We filled these hours with sleeping, eating, and singing songs along with all the other fans. A couple of the fans came equipped with guitars and speakers, something I was convinces would become a hassle later on. Although the queue was exhausting, it was also fun. We made a lot of new friends all the way from Sacramento to Tracy.
At 6:00pm, people began standing up and girls running in large herds, cut the lines that had been previously made. Those of us who had waited since the morning were extremely upset which seemed to cause a lot of anger among the girls and stress among the security.
The eleven lines originally set up were to be condensed down to five by security. As the second line was being moved to the back of the first, nobody was sure what was actually happening. We simply followed. The first line, who were most probably sleep deprived, assumed we were being allowed into the venue. As we passed, they yelled mean things and threw stuff at us, intending to make us feel bad about getting let in early. As I made eye contact with some of the commentators and angry fans, I felt my anxiety rise. However, they were quickly proved wrong and hopefully embarrassed when we wrapped around to the back of their line.
Soon the security came around, and distributed the wristbands and lined us up to be let in. As the crowd ran past bag check and up the stairs, I struggled to find my friends. Although we made it up the stairs faster than most of the girls, we found ourselves behind the second barrier. Somehow we found a way to sneak the other side, past the second barrier to reach the first, close enough to touch Niall if we really tried.
The concert itself was a great experience. I value the time spent with both Kade and my new friends. But I don’t think I will ever spend 12 hours of waiting for a concert again. General admission? Never again.
We filled these hours with sleeping, eating, and singing songs along with all the other fans. A couple of the fans came equipped with guitars and speakers, something I was convinces would become a hassle later on. Although the queue was exhausting, it was also fun. We made a lot of new friends all the way from Sacramento to Tracy.
At 6:00pm, people began standing up and girls running in large herds, cut the lines that had been previously made. Those of us who had waited since the morning were extremely upset which seemed to cause a lot of anger among the girls and stress among the security.
The eleven lines originally set up were to be condensed down to five by security. As the second line was being moved to the back of the first, nobody was sure what was actually happening. We simply followed. The first line, who were most probably sleep deprived, assumed we were being allowed into the venue. As we passed, they yelled mean things and threw stuff at us, intending to make us feel bad about getting let in early. As I made eye contact with some of the commentators and angry fans, I felt my anxiety rise. However, they were quickly proved wrong and hopefully embarrassed when we wrapped around to the back of their line.
Soon the security came around, and distributed the wristbands and lined us up to be let in. As the crowd ran past bag check and up the stairs, I struggled to find my friends. Although we made it up the stairs faster than most of the girls, we found ourselves behind the second barrier. Somehow we found a way to sneak the other side, past the second barrier to reach the first, close enough to touch Niall if we really tried.
The concert itself was a great experience. I value the time spent with both Kade and my new friends. But I don’t think I will ever spend 12 hours of waiting for a concert again. General admission? Never again.