Back from Metallica ^m^
(The following is a message I posted on the Metallica Fan Club Message Board, it has been edited to suit the readers of this blog here.)
I’ve just gotten back.
A very great show from the boys. I got there around 7, so I only got to catch Scars on Broadway, which imo sucked. Nobody there seemed to care about them either.
A fellow Metallica Fan Club member helped guide me to get near front and center during SOB, and by the time they were done, I was one person behind the rail. When the guys came on I was stoked! My heroes were mere feet in front of me.
But that crowd sucked! The constant shoving from the crowd just got old. The stage was too small for a festival of 30,000 people (or as the promoters said, “the biggest concert in Tucson in 30 years”), so everyone kept shoving towards the center, not to mention me having to worry about all the constant crowd surfers kicking us in the heads. My brother said he saw one girl crowd surf, then get right back to where he was standing, then do it again. There were more people who were there just to be drunk and mess everyone up than enjoy the concert.
The crowd would keep shoving during the wait before Metallica came on, when Metallica played, when James was talking, and during slow songs, and probably when the concert was over. I could not jam, sing along, or put my arms up doing the fan motions without worrying about getting crushed by the crowd. I’m a big person, and a bunch of them kept using me as “their tree” for support. I didn’t mind that, but what I did mind was when people would pull on my long hair to use it a a rope to keep them from falling. Then there were those that kept trying to pull me back. During Fade to Black (around the middle of the concert set), I finally decided not to get crushed and require new lungs so I moved back so I could listen to jam to the songs.
Plus, that was the worst parking situation ever. Because there was only one main artery out of the Pima County Fairgrounds, it took my brother and I two hours to get out of the parking lot, and that’s only because we found a dirt road back artery in the dead of night that was moving a lot faster than the road to get back to the main road.
When I later read the testimonies on the Metallica Fan Club Message Boards (Poor Posting Me - must be a member to access the site) I found very similar testimonies from fellow fan club members. I’m glad to hear that this wasn’t a normal thing with the constant shoving from the drunks, and that I wasn’t the only one who had the same problem.
Oh well, I got my Metallica concert fix to hold me until they tour the States again. I will never go back to the Pima County Fairgrounds in Tucson for a show, ever.
In all, I enjoyed the trip, and it was definitely worth it because I finally got to see Metallica to do what they do best. But I’m hoping the crowd doesn’t have 98% drunk turds like this last one did. As soon as they tour SoCal and play shows all around LA and San Diego in the same week, I’m booking all of them!
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Idiot people. If I were you I’d give ‘em a smack.
It makes you mad when drunks try to ruin a good time, especially if you’re seeing your favorite band. I’ve never been to a rock concert before, but I know how they are. I would like to go and see my favorite bands, but most of the best bands don’t come and they are not given radio airplay, because of all the junk and too much Latin pop.
Yeah, of course these “fans” tried to justify their actions by saying, “it’s Metallica!”
See, I know what a pit is like up front and there is usually a little pushing and swaying, but this was ridiculous to the point where we couldn’t even enjoy ourselves. I hope when one of your favorite bands visit your neck of the woods the crowd would be more appreciative.
-.- That’s not right. Anywho, was it worth all the pushing and shoving?
I think it was. It’s Metallica, remember, one of the best classic and hard rock bands.
And it will be a big surprise if one of my favorites comes to the island, although the pop/rock band Lifehouse that doesn’t get even a minute of airplay in any station, came here for one concert and sold out.
It was definitely worth being five to ten feet from them, but it was not worth being crushed and nearly trampled on.
Being in the back might have saved you some shoves, but it wouldn’t have been worth as much.
The back is where the more laid back people are, the ones who want to sit back with their beers.
I’m the kind of fan who likes to jam, sing along, and do the hand motions. I’d look completely out of place.
I was in the back away from the action. I was sitting down. Some guy fell on me cause he wasn’t watching where he was going. He was trying to hit on every girl that walked by.
Hi Tim.
I guess that’s what cheap beer at a radio festival can do. I hope you were able to enjoy the show.
I don’t know, maybe you could have enjoyed it more and not look out of place.
Sounds like you had fun. And I agree with SL. There are a lot of drunkards, weirdos, turds, and people of that sort out there, but must we focus on them? I dont mean we’re straining our eyes on anything its just that: SL: I edited my post for a reason. Not that I don’t think that’s true, but its also very disrespectful.
I’m sorry you had a bad time…….I would love to go see linkin park but after watching their live shows with all the drgged up people forget it. I wouldnt fit in anyway not that I care but, I would most likely smack the people that are bothering me and say oops I’m sorry LOL .I have done it a few times. I have been to tons of concerts and never did like being in the pit. I also love Metallica fav. song nothing else matters
At Meeps: Same here, except on the tons of concerts part.
And at SL: I think dstcoyote22 has the right to post whatever he wants to talk about in his blog. SL: Please watch your tongue, an Administrator is technically up there with the Webmaster. If you don’t agree then that’s not my problem.
I guess that comment by SL was deleted, I don’t know who or why. I am in no way offended, but I don’t understand how this was turning into a thread about drunks.
Yes, I ranted about the crowd, but so did everyone else I know who was there, and you know what, they almost had the same testimony I had. Perhaps I spoke too much about it, but that’s what was on my mind the minute I came back from Tucson. As the days pass, I keep getting newer, more positive memories from the concert, and it makes me wish I was still there.
Either way, I had a great time going with my brother.
This comment thread is making it like I’m sounding like the negative overweighed the positive. Well, in a way, yes, some of the negative did outweigh the positive. I mean, fearing for your life because of idiots is NOT fun.
But I have to realize this was a radio festival, where the whole objective is to get as many people in a venue as they can. They probably got every able body in Tucson to go to this concert because the tickets were cheap and the beer was cheaper. It wasn’t necessarily a “Metallica” promoted show, especially because there were four other bands that played. It was a way to get these fans who listened to the radio station to get exposed to these bands.
This could be compared to a sports team playing an away game. You have a bunch of your biggest fans there to see you, but the crowd isn’t full of them like when you’re on a self promoted tour.
So, why did I want to go? Since 2004, I had been waiting for the next opportunity to see them in the US, and close enough to where I live (Southern California). Finally, a show surfaces in Tucson! I figured it’s the best I could do until they tour the States after their new album gets finished. I just couldn’t wait any longer to see them!
Seeing my boys live for the first time was well worth the trip, and I can’t wait until next fall.
(I guess that comment by SL was deleted, I don’t know who or why.)
I asked SL to remove it. As SL has never been to a concert to experience the druggies and drinkers…….These kids get so wasted,,,,,,why bother going to a concert?? Have a nice day everyone
why bother going?
Because there is nothing like seeing your favorite band on stage. It’s a totally different experience, none that even listening to a live recording can do.
Unfortunately, being around people sweaty getting high and wasted is part of the experience, but it’s not the whole thing. The thing is, I accept that that’s the environment, and I can’t control that, so I’d just rather focus on the show as much as I can.
In fact, those who don’t drink tend to have a better advantage up front, because all the drunks who try to be wild tend to get dehydrated a lot faster, and many of them can’t handle it. I love the sight of all these guys who get wasted before the concert and can’t handle everything around them.
why bother going?
I was talking about the wasted people going ……it would be a waste for them…….
ah, I see
People at concert’s are truely wild. And unproper I do say.
Not all concerts are like the one I attended, SL. Me, I want to go wild, but still be able to enjoy the show.
I’m sure you’ll enjoy yourself if you go to one that has reserved seating, it’s a lot more mellow and there is no point in pushing to the front like in a General Admission area.
In your case, it might have been because there were too many people in one area. If it were larger or more control on the number of people (no over capacity), you wouldn’t have been squished or shoved that much.
I agree Merc. The large amount was the case, and I’ve read around the net that it was very poorly planned, and that the concert staff did not know how to handle such a big crowd.
One website dedicated to Tucson’s music even quoted my article.
Even though this was a radio festival, the concert planners should have known that if they got Metallica over to this place on the outskirts of a town like Tucson — that flocks of us would be there JUST for them, so they needed to organize it a bit better to meet the safety requirements of the crowd.
I’m very confident that when they tour the States in October, it will be THEIR OWN crew and event staff: people that know how to handle crowds. And the majority of the crowd will be there to jam, not ruin it for everyone else.
The staff at the entrance could have at least regulated the people that entered after they saw that it was full.
exactly!!!! They needed to divide up the crowd, so that people with pit tickets could have their own exclusive area, and that those who didn’t had to be behind them.
People need to get a life. Or find a bigger concert.
I know you’re new to this, SL (since you began last year), but avoid saying “get a life” on the net. That is like one of the rules of netiquette and some people get irritated by that. I know forums where they bashed and flamed people who said that. And those people in the concert just wanted to have fun and enjoy their favorite music, most were drunk, but that doesn’t mean all their life is going to concerts and getting drunk. They have lives too, and that was the only concert were Metallica was playing that day, so they couldn’t find any other bigger concert.
I agree with ml