I took the walk!

I have a long story to write down here, and it’s very late. we’ll see how far I can keep my eyes open.

today was the louisville hanson concert. I bought my ticket in july, during the fanclub members-only presale. I began wondering then if I could pull off camping out for the show. people camp out for every show in an attempt to get front row. but I didn’t think I could camp out if I didn’t find a friend to come with me. sleeping on the streets of downtown louisville isn’t a safe idea, especially going alone.

so on thursday night, when I finally finished work/class/meetings on campus, it was 10 pm. I drove by the venue, trying to see if people were camping already. I couldn’t tell. it was a party night, so there were people and cars everywhere. there were some barracades on some parts of the venue, so I just couldn’t tell. I drove around the block twice.

I came home and got online, and found out that people had been camped since wednesday sometime. the news had already covered it once, and the venue manager was taking great care of them – he gave them propane heaters and had a guard stay the night with them.

my plan was to get up at 4 a.m. and be in line by 6 a.m. but it was 11 at night, and I hadn’t even packed yet. I packed a backpack full of things: a throw blanket, some homework, a deck of cards, my camera, water, food to snack on, and other accessaries. I didn’t go to bed until midnight.

so that’s four hours of sleep. it was rough getting moving. when I got downtown and parked, it was still dark. I walked around to the venue and found my place in the line – the venue had set up a barracade along the front to keep us safer. I started to settle in, and immediately the person ahead of me started talking to me. she took pitty on me for coming alone. she was with a friend and boyfriend. within 20 minutes, the four of us were playing Uno.

my new friend told me that I had just missed the news station, who had just come to do a story on them.

our Uno game lasted from 6:30 a.m. to about 9:30 a.m. it was paused for events such as: people walking by on their way to work, who asked what tickets we were waiting to buy, who we wanted to see, who the hell hanson is, and one cute woman, who passed a second time, and said, “the first time I walked by, I thought you all were homeless people! I thought you looked really young for homeless people, and I didn’t see what could keep you all from working!” haha, the idea of 30 teenyboppers crowded together as homeless is funny.

homeless people asked for money so often that one of us in line started begging THEM for money. (I tried that tactic later tonight on a homeless man who approached me, and he didn’t buy it – he said I was too pretty to not have money. does that mean I’m supposed to be a hooker if I have no other means?)

our game lasted through the venue manager stopping by with free white castle for anyone.

it lasted through a radio station coming, who brought us FOUR BOXES of donuts! he made us sing Mmmbop for the radio, and asked some questions.

our game lasted through my idea to write our order numbers on our hands in sharpie pens. if we went through the trouble of spending days, the night, or the very early hours here, we deserved to keep our spot. I ended up number 20. I got to the venue at 6 a.m. the day of the concert – 12 hours early for the actual concert – and I was 20th in line. crazy, isn’t it?

after the Uno game finally ended, I tried to read some homework for a while. it was almost impossible to focus. either someone said something interesting, someone interesting walked/drove by, or I just daydreamed. if I had only known at that time how many HOURS of today I would spend idle, with nothing to do but stare at others or daydream.

the red bull car stopped by and gave away drinks for free. I was one of the few who didn’t take one. I didn’t see the point. it can’t be a good thing to put into your body, and it would probably give me an artificial rush that would just make me crash later. I could manage just fine without the crash.

then we played egyptian ratscrew and ate our lunches and prepared for the afternoon walk.

Hanson’s tour is called The Walk, which is the title of their latest record and one of the songs on the record. one song on the record is a charity single – it is sold through ITunes, and all proceeds go to an AIDS hospital in Africa. Hanson is taking a step in social activism and trying to instill in us that we can make a difference through doing something simple. start with what you have. for hanson, they have music. okay, so they started there, and made a single for charity.

then they learned about a shoe company that gives a pair of shoes to a child in africa for every pair that is sold. so hanson brought them along on tour. and to go with that, they’re taking a one mile walk in each city – barefoot. all the fans go with the guys, and media is welcomed in all forms.

okay, so, it’s 2 oclock, and we’re no longer sleeping in our sleeping bags – we’re crammed into our barricade lines, and everyone is pushing to the front. everyone wants to see when hanson comes out to start the walk. 3 or 4 news cameras were there. when hanson first came out, they asked us to be quite so they could talk to the tv stations briefly. everyone busied themselves trying to snap pictures. I indulged myself in that as well.

then the walk was off. I was – OF COURSE – barefoot. not everyone was. not even the majority of fans were barefoot. but hanson was. the guys split up, and the rush was on. the guys walk fast, and all of the fans just want to “meet” the guys – say hi, get a hug, shake hands, snap a picture, get an autograph, or just touch them – whatever. so it’s chaos as fans fight to get to one of the guys. I knew the walk would move fast, and I knew I needed to be near the front (if only to minimize problems getting my special spot back in line at the venue). I must have completely passed isaac and never realized it. I got to the mob around zac, and I just felt no urge to talk to him. what would I say? what would be the point?

I’ve met the guys before. I shook their hands, I got autographs, and I got a picture with them. I got to “touch” them as we posed for the picture. why should I need to do that multiple times? how can you actually “meet” someone multiple times?

so it just seemed pointless. I just wanted to WALK – I wanted to keep moving through (away from?) this mob of teenyboppers. soon, I was near the taylor mob up front. it was hard to stay up there, it moved so fast. at one point, zac was suddenly very very near me. I could have talked to him, if I felt the urge. I didn’t. I realized suddenly that we were at the Galt House – almost to the river. wow.

Taylor stopped, jumped up on a platform, and gave his mid-walk speech. I started to snap pictures, then realized it was silly, as the mob was gathering around me. it took me a moment to realize that zac was standing RIGHT NEXT to me. like seriously, our arms were touching. he looked down at his camera the entire time. taylor was giving his speech, and girls were turning around to snap pictures of zac. I was wondering what to do. listen to taylor? take pictures (like everyone else seemed to do)? somehow talk to zac?

as soon as

the speech ended, someone took zac’s attention. then another. I didn’t stand a chance. and I didn’t really care. I took off walking again.

there were two people in wheelchairs on the walk. taylor had found one, and he was pushing her. I think he pushed her the rest of the walk. (she later got to jump the line and sit in a special handicapped spot at the concert.)

at the end of the walk was another speech. again, I felt I should act like everyone else and snap pictures. I missed most of the speech. then I realized I didn’t want to be in this mob – I wanted to go make sure I would get my spot back in line.

so I made my way over, and people were already standing there. I found the most bitchy people in our group of campers, and I knew I’d be alright. we had numbered ourselves in order past 55. the venue manager was adamant that our numbering system be respected. he took really good care of us; he was amazing.

eventually, we got back into enough order. with some more time, we were able to sit back down again. we were very crammed. people we in and out getting food, restrooms (by the way, we had our own portapotties), and getting dressed up for the concert.

the doors were scheduled to open at 6, but at 5 they made us stand up and separate. they had two doors, so they forced us into two “equal” lines for entrance. from that point, there was no choice of sitting down. we were forced to stand for that last hour BEFORE we were even let into the venue and forced to stand for 5 hours inside.

I’ve never tried to get front row before, but I knew that people would be bitchy up there. and they sure were! I hope I’m not bitchy (since I”m not very assertive), but I AM willing to stand my ground. when we got in, I was second row. I positioned myself and then quickly peeled off my hoodie to tie around my waste (once we got crammed in, I wouldn’t be able to move enough to take it off). in the process of doing that, some girl crammed into my spot. I pushed my entire weight against her for about 5 minutes, until she somehow managed a sort of mosh-pit throw, and I fell over into the people next to me. I was ticked, but what could I do? then I realized she was short. the problem was that she was pushing me over to the side, directly behind an amazon woman in the front row. I don’t mean anything against her. I’m tall too, and I know she can’t help being tall. I know that she deserved front row (she won a meet and greet), and being tall took nothing away from that. but no way was I going to get stuck behind her.

the girl who pushed her way ahead of me had a tall friend who was still behind me. I spent the majority of the time strategically trying to keep her from getting in front of me AND keep that little bit of space behind the amazon.

my back was killing me from the moment we got up there. nothing could relieve it, and it was impossible to bent over, sit, or even squat for a moment to relieve my back. I couldn’t even put my hands down at my side. the girl in front of me had loooong hair, which was annoying, because I didn’t want to pull it. before too long, she tied it in a flipped-up ponytail. the ponytail was directly the height of my chin, and the flipped-up hair was directly the height of my mouth. I got so damn sick of getting hit in the chin and eating her hair and inhaling her hair.

the first opening band was a local band. the lead singer was amazing, but her songs weren’t so much. one was about sex, one about alcohol, one about cheating, and one about domestic abuse. the domestic abuse had a good message, and I think the cheating one did (I didn’t hear all the lyrics), but still. her voice was amazing.

hanson’s opener came on pretty quickly, it seemed. I was SOO excited to hear locklsey. I had downloaded a few songs, and I LOVE them. they opened with a song I knew, so I proudly sang along. I smiled so big – it was one of the happiest moments of the entire concert. then they sang a series I didn’t know, but they are an awesome band and incredibly engaging with the audience. they sang another I was familiar with, and ended with my favorite. another wonderful moment!

it took a while for hanson to get on stage. I think they were mostly ready at 8:30, but hanson wasn’t scheduled until 9.

I was directly in front of taylor, and the moment he came on stage was amazing – when I realized just how close I was. wow! his eyes sparkled, and when he looked at the audience, I could just SWEAR he’s looking straight at me! same for isaac, and zac at times.

they did an accoustic set in the middle, and an encore of over three songs. no solos this time, which was disappointing to me. I’ll see if I can remember a few of the songs: opener was Great Divide, it was also the finale – an acappella chorus on one mic. they did all the covers I expected – Let Love Grow and Hole in My Life, plus an unexpected: Never Been to Spain!! that song is amazing!! Can’t Stop, Where’s the Love, Mmmbop, A Minute Without You, Georgia, Go, Blue Skies, Been There Before, Hey, Running Man, A Song to Sing, Strong Enough to Break, Penny and Me…..I can’t think of any more right now.

by the time hanson came on, I had inched my way around the ponytail in my face. by the time hanson left for good, I was on the complete OTHER side of her. but the good thing is that for most of the concert I was not eating hair.

I felt really teary at times – Go, Georgia, Strong Enough to Break, and Penny and Me all made my eyes fill with tears. they never actually fell. there’s usually one song that makes me cry – I cried during Broken Angel at a concer three years ago. but it’s odd that I wanted to cry so much.

at times, I felt cynical. taylor, or the others, didn’t seem excited to be here. and why should they be? they’ve been doing this forever. for 10 years now, they’ve dealt with the crazy fans every day of the tour. this is the way it is right now: hanson arrives in town for that night’s show, and fans line up near their bus to get a glimpse of them. during the walk, they are basically CHASED for an hour. at the concerts, the fans know the words so well that they often sing for the guys. they can stop singing at any time. if they make a mistake (and they do – zac started a verse early on a song, and Isaac missed part of a verse on another). the fans snap pictures and hold up cell phones constantly in the concert. they scream over everything. after the concert, the fans line up at their buses in hopes of seeing them. the guys eventually leave, drive all night to the next concert, and start over.

damn, why would you want to go day after day with nothing but screaming girls?

and the girls – wow. I know I can become one of them. I can get swept away in how they’re acting and be almost as bad. the constant picture-taking is ridiculous. why take pictures throughout a concert? your pictures won’t be that great, neither will the videos recorded to your cell phones. you’re so busy snapping shots, edting and deleting, that you’re missing parts of the show. and for what? we have plenty of versions of every song hanson sings. any fan can snap a video/photo and put it on utube for everyone. and what are those billions of pictures going to tell you about the concert? you won’t be able to tell one picture of taylor from the next

– was he singing Hey for this shot, or Can’t Stop? who knows? who cares?

as I said, my back was killing me, but I times, escpecially near the end, I just felt sick. I had moments of lightheadedness, and wondered what would happen to me if I passed out here. my throat was burning by the first 1/3 of the concert – so much so that I thought I couldn’t scream or sing anymore (by the way, I only scream at appropriate times – when taylor asks us to, and at the beginning/end of some songs) or at times like a solo or a showcase of a backup – stuff like that. my throat burned SO MUCH for the last 2/3 of the concert.

the first two rows were standing on a slight platform of 1 1/2 inches higher than the rest of the floor. since that girl wedged ahead of me, I was literally balancing half of each foot on the edge of the platform most of the concert. maybe that effort added to feeling sick.

If I do this again, I WILL – pack several large warm blankets and pillows, make more of an effort to eat during the day, and sleep more than 4 hours. hopefully then I wouldn’t feel sick.

at times, it all just felt annoying. I went through all of this – getting here so early, defending my spot in line, planting my feet in my spot in the pit – but for what? I know all of these songs, and I can sing them all myself. I don’t need to be crammed in here with so many people unlike me – most of these people had piercings and tattoos and smoke. I inhaled far more secondhand smoke today than I hope to inhale in the next 15 years. some of the people annoy me (ponytail girl). the physical pain is almost unbearable.

okay, I am literally falling asleep as I type. I’m going to have to stop.

I think I’ve been saying a lot of negative things overall, and hopefully I can modify that later. a hanson concert is one of my favorite places! I think I’ve just grown up a lot faster than others in some cases, and today made me very aware of that. I HAVE to go to bed before I end up spending the night on this couch.