My craziest Pearl Jam experience was getting to my first show in 1996.
I was studying for the year in Jerusalem, and my roommate was as crazy a fan of the band as I was. We each had our parents send us the No Code CD from North America because we couldn’t wait for the release in Israel. Since we missed the fall tour back home, we decided we were going to the closest show to us. Istanbul.
We even convinced four of our friends (three of whom who were not into the band) to skip a week of uni and come with us. Since we couldn’t afford the flight to Istanbul, we got on a cheap flight to Antalya on the south coast of Turkey; slept at the bus station and then got the 12 hour bus ride to Istanbul. Thankfully the world trade center was not sold out, since we arrived without tickets. The day after the show, the six of us took the 12 hour bus ride back to Antalya and hopped aboard the flight back to Israel.
Effectively, four days worth of travel for one show.
And it was worth it.
(And I'm not even going to go into the details of the semi-emergency medical needs for half of the group)
I'm gonna preceed this with an apology to whoever sat near me in Tampa 2008. in addition, dont be mad at me for what I did, I told my g'f that the two days of PJ a year are the most important days to me... nothing can stop me from seeing a PJ show.
I went with a girl I had been dating for a few months. We had never really argued, but I knew she probably drank/partied too much. However, she was fine the night before the tampa show when we went to the PJ show in West Palm Beach.
The drive to Tampa is three hours from West Palm Beach. So we set out around 10am so we'd have plenty of time to get to the hotel and have some fun and drinks before the show.
Little did it occur to me that her drinking in the car from 10am to 1pm would be bad. In addition, I hit a scrap of a tire in the road on the highway and the bottom of my car got fucked up. We had to stop at a gas station and buy zip-ties to hold the quarter panel and undercarraige together. not to mention, i did a lot of this rigging in a damn lightning storm that Ed later commented on. it was crazy lightning everywhere!
So I got a little upset with her because she was stumbling around near the car by the side of the highway. I was afraid she'd get hit by a truck or lightning, so i told her to get back in the car. She got pissed at me saying i was bossing her around.
Anyways, we got to the hotel and I tried to get her to drink some water to sober her up. That made her more pissed so that on the way to the show she stuck a bunch of beer in her purse. Then she almost got thrown out by security becasue of the beer. They told her to throw them out in the trash, but she FUCKING DOWNED TWO OF THEM!
I knew I was in trouble.
She is a huge Kings of Leon fan, so when the show started, she got up and was dancing like a maniac, but nobody else was even standing. She tried to get other people/girls around her to get up and dance.. god, I’m soo sorry people.. Then she got mad at me again because I told her I was going to go get her a water and she better drink it and settle down or we would leave.
I got back from the concession, and she was gone!
Then I saw waaaay back at the back of the venue, the security people dragging her off! So I followed. I begged and pleaded them to give her another chance, but hey said no.
Then the cops came and said they would arrest me if I didn’t personally escort her back to my hotel. WTF?!
So, as I left the venue, I begged a security girl to let me back in if I could make it. She showed me where to go to find someone to ask for her if I came back. I got in a cab with the now-passed-out-crazy-g/f…I carried her to the room, where she tried to punch me a few times. Then I settled her down and she fell asleep. So I rushed back to get another cab and raced to the venue. I found the security girl who remembered me and I got back in. Just as I was walking into the hallway, I heard “Sometimes”…ahh, the opener!
I could barely believe I made it back in time, and I didn’t really enjoy the show cause I was pissed and worried.
Worst of all, she left the hotel room at some point while I was gone and got arrested and taken to the hospital, where I had to go get her out until like 4am…
She didn’t remember anything from the before the concert up until she got arrested. Needless to say, she is NOT my g/f anymore.
Long post, I know, but it's a good story:
I decided to go to Chicago 2 alone a couple weeks before the show last year. Had no 10c tix, no hotel booked, no transportation rented, but I bought a plane ticket, and figured I could figure out the rest at some point. First concern was a ticket to the show. Figured I would go to the arena, and find a fellow 10 clubber that had an extra, and that would be that. The night of the first Chicago show, however, I was on here reading about the "poor" 10c seats, and decided to check tm. A single lower here and there, but nothing great, so I didn't buy. Went to bed, got up at 4:30 to get ready to make my 2 hour drive to the airport in Tampa, but decided to check tm once more before I left. Found some seats that had just been released I guess, right next to the stage, Stone's side. Bought my ticket, and headed to the airport.
Flew to CHI, took the "L" to downtown, and proceeded to walk all over and see a bunch of awesome sights (since I didn't have to go with my original plan of hanging at arena box office....sounds kinda creepy now). Took a bus to the United Center, picked up my ticket, then headed to the pre-party with some other 10 clubbers I had just met. Had a blast, met a bunch of awesome people , but best of all (sadly), finally got to put down my bookbag, which was my "luggage". Walked back to the arena, got my bag searched (and got a real weird look from security guard when he saw toothbrush, deodorant, clothes, etc...). He made me check it in at guest services (woohoo). Got my poster, and proceeded to see an awesome, awesome show with some pretty awesome seats.
OK, here's the "crazy" part. I picked up my "luggage", and took the "L" back to the airport, where I SLEPT ON A PUBLIC BENCH with my poster and bag tied around me so no one could get it without waking me up. Got a little sleep, ate breakfast, then flew back to Tampa. I then drove two hours back home thinking to myself that I had just had one of the best days of my life. Something I never would've done (going to a strange city, walking all around it alone, then sleeping on a bench), if not for a PJ concert. I must say, I can't wait to do it again!!!
You're my hero.
The oceans made me, but who came up with love?
"You put some udder cream on that shit?" ~EV 5/17/10
Comments
I was studying for the year in Jerusalem, and my roommate was as crazy a fan of the band as I was. We each had our parents send us the No Code CD from North America because we couldn’t wait for the release in Israel. Since we missed the fall tour back home, we decided we were going to the closest show to us. Istanbul.
We even convinced four of our friends (three of whom who were not into the band) to skip a week of uni and come with us. Since we couldn’t afford the flight to Istanbul, we got on a cheap flight to Antalya on the south coast of Turkey; slept at the bus station and then got the 12 hour bus ride to Istanbul. Thankfully the world trade center was not sold out, since we arrived without tickets. The day after the show, the six of us took the 12 hour bus ride back to Antalya and hopped aboard the flight back to Israel.
Effectively, four days worth of travel for one show.
And it was worth it.
(And I'm not even going to go into the details of the semi-emergency medical needs for half of the group)
I went with a girl I had been dating for a few months. We had never really argued, but I knew she probably drank/partied too much. However, she was fine the night before the tampa show when we went to the PJ show in West Palm Beach.
The drive to Tampa is three hours from West Palm Beach. So we set out around 10am so we'd have plenty of time to get to the hotel and have some fun and drinks before the show.
Little did it occur to me that her drinking in the car from 10am to 1pm would be bad. In addition, I hit a scrap of a tire in the road on the highway and the bottom of my car got fucked up. We had to stop at a gas station and buy zip-ties to hold the quarter panel and undercarraige together. not to mention, i did a lot of this rigging in a damn lightning storm that Ed later commented on. it was crazy lightning everywhere!
So I got a little upset with her because she was stumbling around near the car by the side of the highway. I was afraid she'd get hit by a truck or lightning, so i told her to get back in the car. She got pissed at me saying i was bossing her around.
Anyways, we got to the hotel and I tried to get her to drink some water to sober her up. That made her more pissed so that on the way to the show she stuck a bunch of beer in her purse. Then she almost got thrown out by security becasue of the beer. They told her to throw them out in the trash, but she FUCKING DOWNED TWO OF THEM!
I knew I was in trouble.
She is a huge Kings of Leon fan, so when the show started, she got up and was dancing like a maniac, but nobody else was even standing. She tried to get other people/girls around her to get up and dance.. god, I’m soo sorry people.. Then she got mad at me again because I told her I was going to go get her a water and she better drink it and settle down or we would leave.
I got back from the concession, and she was gone!
Then I saw waaaay back at the back of the venue, the security people dragging her off! So I followed. I begged and pleaded them to give her another chance, but hey said no.
Then the cops came and said they would arrest me if I didn’t personally escort her back to my hotel. WTF?!
So, as I left the venue, I begged a security girl to let me back in if I could make it. She showed me where to go to find someone to ask for her if I came back. I got in a cab with the now-passed-out-crazy-g/f…I carried her to the room, where she tried to punch me a few times. Then I settled her down and she fell asleep. So I rushed back to get another cab and raced to the venue. I found the security girl who remembered me and I got back in. Just as I was walking into the hallway, I heard “Sometimes”…ahh, the opener!
I could barely believe I made it back in time, and I didn’t really enjoy the show cause I was pissed and worried.
Worst of all, she left the hotel room at some point while I was gone and got arrested and taken to the hospital, where I had to go get her out until like 4am…
She didn’t remember anything from the before the concert up until she got arrested. Needless to say, she is NOT my g/f anymore.
You're my hero.
"You put some udder cream on that shit?" ~EV 5/17/10