Lesson Learnt: Safety Shoes are a Must
I should be updating with pics from the London Expo (which was indeed awesome and I will do soon) but instead I'm going to ramble on about how awesome my first ever gig was and how it proves how much I've changed.
Last night I saw Green Day at Wembley with my brother and some of his friends. I had many reservations about this, I'd been told about moshing and I hate crowds and queuing, still wearing my steel toe capped work shoes and carrying a bag of food I marched to the que, where I jumped part of it to get to where my brother had been queuing for a while longer XD
As expected the queuing = not fun, 4 and a half hours of queuing then we were let in where we all rushed to get near the front and then there was another 1 and a half hour wait til the first support act. When he started playing and wasn't good I kinda figured it wasn't going to be good and that my aching legs were for nothing...
Still i assured myself, it's not too crowded, I had space and was with people I knew and then when the 2nd support act (an old 80s band called Joan Jett and the Blackhearts who i recommend, if only for their name) where quite good I thought "Hey I might enjoy this"...Then Green Day came on.
Immediately the crowd surged forward and i was trapped and swayed and pushed and shoved and all i wanted was to get the hell out of there! Then when I thought things couldn't get worse I was separated from the group I was with, so I was surrounded by pushing strangers, most of whom were taller than me! That's when it came to me I was wearing big ass boots and couldn't be hurt by people stepping on my toes, so I stared pushing back and it was awesome!
Such a rush to be in a surging crowd and part of it, so as I'd lost people I instead pushed my way forward to get a better view of the stage and was pumping my arm with the crowd and singing. It was amazing, one of the best feelings ever!
Green Day themselves were very good, very charismatic and good at getting audience involvement, they had people up there to sing with them and then made them crowd surf and for their encore dressed up and did the can can to lulus shout. By then overcome with my need for water (as I hadnt moved from the pit all day) I headed to the side where they were giving it out and there found my brother, so spent the last 30 mins with him, which was nice.
So things I learnt:
1) I can do it, I can survive and enjoy being in a crowded gig
2) I can cope on my own
3) I can hold my own as evidenced by getting to a place with a great view and pushing back against people (plus kicking someone in the shin, with my boots when he elbowed me in the face)
4) Wear safety shoes to gigs
5) Hydrate - as many people fainted
6) Live bands do have a great atmoshere
7) Always best to wear some band thing, eg t-shirt, or I bought a wrist band
8) Prepare for the ques and don't move from your spot once you have a good one
9) Expect bruises as you do get battered by the crowd
So despite my bruises and sorefeet and legs it was a great experience, one I hope to repeat with other bands now!
Last night I saw Green Day at Wembley with my brother and some of his friends. I had many reservations about this, I'd been told about moshing and I hate crowds and queuing, still wearing my steel toe capped work shoes and carrying a bag of food I marched to the que, where I jumped part of it to get to where my brother had been queuing for a while longer XD
As expected the queuing = not fun, 4 and a half hours of queuing then we were let in where we all rushed to get near the front and then there was another 1 and a half hour wait til the first support act. When he started playing and wasn't good I kinda figured it wasn't going to be good and that my aching legs were for nothing...
Still i assured myself, it's not too crowded, I had space and was with people I knew and then when the 2nd support act (an old 80s band called Joan Jett and the Blackhearts who i recommend, if only for their name) where quite good I thought "Hey I might enjoy this"...Then Green Day came on.
Immediately the crowd surged forward and i was trapped and swayed and pushed and shoved and all i wanted was to get the hell out of there! Then when I thought things couldn't get worse I was separated from the group I was with, so I was surrounded by pushing strangers, most of whom were taller than me! That's when it came to me I was wearing big ass boots and couldn't be hurt by people stepping on my toes, so I stared pushing back and it was awesome!
Such a rush to be in a surging crowd and part of it, so as I'd lost people I instead pushed my way forward to get a better view of the stage and was pumping my arm with the crowd and singing. It was amazing, one of the best feelings ever!
Green Day themselves were very good, very charismatic and good at getting audience involvement, they had people up there to sing with them and then made them crowd surf and for their encore dressed up and did the can can to lulus shout. By then overcome with my need for water (as I hadnt moved from the pit all day) I headed to the side where they were giving it out and there found my brother, so spent the last 30 mins with him, which was nice.
So things I learnt:
1) I can do it, I can survive and enjoy being in a crowded gig
2) I can cope on my own
3) I can hold my own as evidenced by getting to a place with a great view and pushing back against people (plus kicking someone in the shin, with my boots when he elbowed me in the face)
4) Wear safety shoes to gigs
5) Hydrate - as many people fainted
6) Live bands do have a great atmoshere
7) Always best to wear some band thing, eg t-shirt, or I bought a wrist band
8) Prepare for the ques and don't move from your spot once you have a good one
9) Expect bruises as you do get battered by the crowd
So despite my bruises and sorefeet and legs it was a great experience, one I hope to repeat with other bands now!