*** Global Citizen Festival Fanviews Here 9/26/15 ***

dankind

Suziemay said:

dlymnfld said:

My wife and I showed up at around 4:00 p.m. to go in at the west entrance and was at first shocked at the line outside in the street as it seemed to go on for blocks. But after finding the end of the line we were in rather quickly. I was in the farthest pen in the back on the west side but you could also freely walk to the farthest east side pen if you chose. Ed Sheeran went on right when we went in and I was overly impressed with his talent. I loved his guitar slapping as it reminded me of John Butler. I would definitely take my kids to see him in the future. The sound in the way back was better than expected but you couldn't see the stage. Watching the big televisions were fine but the audio and video was off. I Didn't really pay attention to Beyonce as I met a couple of NY's finest and was talking to them about the PJ NYPD shirt which they appreciated. I only started a conversation with NYPD because of the shirt and that I am in the same profession. I told them I was a huge PJ fan and this was the farthest back I have ever seen them. The replied that getting me to the first pen was not a problem and they proceeded to escort me and wife to the first pen. I met a really cool Secret Service agent on our way into the first pen as we had to be searched due to Biden and Ms. Obama being there. He said "you must be on the job and I hope you have a good time". I planned on staying in the back of the first pen as I refuse to make my way up close and invade people's personal space but so many Beyonce fans left when Pearl Jam came on (I am convinced Eddie played MYM and DTE first on purpose as a favor to us to weed out the non fans) I was able to get a pretty close spot. Pearl Jam's electricity was amazing and I felt they owned the festival though I am probably a bit biased. I especially loved the sky line of the city while Pearl Jam was playing and often caught myself looking behind me instead of the stage. Overall good times.

That's awesome!

Hey, you cops are all right. Back in the day, they always used to help me out with a ride downtown so that I wouldn't have to ride my skateboard anymore.

Gary Carter

I was in VIP3 and was surrounded by a few local fellow fans who I've known for years on end. Made the night so much better experiencing the band's set with them. As for redemption song, it was amazing. I'm not a fan of Beyonce by any means, but she nailed it and was genuinely into it. I love the fact a good cause can bring 2 different genres together. The power of music is truly something fucking amazing. All in all, I had an amazing time. This band still has it, regardless if it's 12 songs or 42 songs or however many songs, they fucking bring their game. They are like fine wine only getting better with age

samjam

dlymnfld said:

My wife and I showed up at around 4:00 p.m. to go in at the west entrance and was at first shocked at the line outside in the street as it seemed to go on for blocks. But after finding the end of the line we were in rather quickly. I was in the farthest pen in the back on the west side but you could also freely walk to the farthest east side pen if you chose. Ed Sheeran went on right when we went in and I was overly impressed with his talent. I loved his guitar slapping as it reminded me of John Butler. I would definitely take my kids to see him in the future. The sound in the way back was better than expected but you couldn't see the stage. Watching the big televisions were fine but the audio and video was off. I Didn't really pay attention to Beyonce as I met a couple of NY's finest and was talking to them about the PJ NYPD shirt which they appreciated. I only started a conversation with NYPD because of the shirt and that I am in the same profession. I told them I was a huge PJ fan and this was the farthest back I have ever seen them. The replied that getting me to the first pen was not a problem and they proceeded to escort me and wife to the first pen. I met a really cool Secret Service agent on our way into the first pen as we had to be searched due to Biden and Ms. Obama being there. He said "you must be on the job and I hope you have a good time". I planned on staying in the back of the first pen as I refuse to make my way up close and invade people's personal space but so many Beyonce fans left when Pearl Jam came on (I am convinced Eddie played MYM and DTE first on purpose as a favor to us to weed out the non fans) I was able to get a pretty close spot. Pearl Jam's electricity was amazing and I felt they owned the festival though I am probably a bit biased. I especially loved the sky line of the city while Pearl Jam was playing and often caught myself looking behind me instead of the stage. Overall good times.

Really cool story, thanks for sharing!

demetrios

Re-live the entire official 6 hour YouTube live stream of the 2015 Global Citizen Festival! Global Citizen Festival 2015 FULL 6 hour SHOW UN-LEASHED By T-Mobile in 720p. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc9sQkG3Do0

ceska

ewester032687 said:

Overall, I thought they sounded great. While I'll always prefer an experience where the whole crowd is into it (Hartford 2013 or seeing Wilco in Ithaca on Wednesday),
.

I didn't go to Central Park but I went to Ithaca! That was one of the best Wilco crowds ever!!

javis el errante

PJ_Soul said:

what dreams said:

The most amazing thing happened when Pearl Jam was announced. I had been battling a headache all evening and was feeling bummed that my physical condition was going to interfere with my appreciation of their set. I swear, like magic, as soon as Colbert announced PJ, I lifted off the bench and, boom, headache gone. All the stress I had been carrying in my shoulders dropped and I felt so glad to be there.

That's what happens, isn't it! I have experienced that. I had a TERRIBLE flu in Missoula 2012. I could barely even stand up when I was waiting in line to get into the venue, and I thought I might faint while Mudhoney opened. I had no voice at all either. Could barely talk. It was horrible. But then Pearl Jam came on and my flu literally went away for 2.5 hours. My voice came back, I was able to rock out (not like normal, admittedly, but even the fact that I could stand in the pit for the whole show was a miracle, so I was pretty amazed!). And then, as soon as they closed it with Indifference, my flu came crashing back and I was barely able to walk the 4 blocks to my motel without collapsing, lol. They really are magic! So anyway, long story short, I totally know what you mean. Maybe PJ should start playing hospitals!

I can relate too: Buenos Aires 2011, I went to La Plata the day before the show, I hang out with friends and stayed up until very late, about 7am I went to bed, after a long night of beer, I was kinda dehidrated, huge hangover, stomach ache, I woke up at 11 am, head buzzing, very hot night, very hot day, head to the venue, I arrive about at noon, jumped in the queue, when the gates opened at 4pm I could barely walk, didn't run for the rail, didn't look at the merch, went straight to the pit, I stand at the end of the aisle of the rail, that one in the middle, with eddie in front of me during all the show, I couldn't enjoy X as much as I wanted, but I luckily recovered by 9 pm when the lights turn off and PJ got int the stage...

Here's a pic of me where I was standing...

The_Giant_Midget

Show lucky number 13 for me and it couldn't have been better. Saw it with my girlfriend, best friends, and best of all in my hometown. The greatest feeling was bringing my girlfriend who always listened to Pearl Jam in the car with me but never really enjoyed them until she saw them live with all the best fans in the world singing along...then she finally understood it. Nothing like a live show to display how good this band really is to someone. By the end she said she knew all these songs and loved the cult following feel she got from seeing everyone sing in unison.

I thought the band played some of their best versions of Unthought Known, Lightning Bolt, and RITFW. I felt the band knew it was a short set so they gave 110% and it showed. Despite all the greatest hits it was one of the most fun shows ive been too probably besides Philly 4 in 09 and MSG 2 in 2010.

Anyway well worth the wait, kinda bummed I couldn't get any merch at the pop up shop but hopefully the rumors of a US tour in 2016 are true!

odiedragon

I won GA tickets in the first round, so that kinda sealed the deal for us. My husband and I flew in from Madison, WI via O'hare on Friday morning. Got to the pop up shop, didn't get the things everyone else wanted but got the stuff *I* wanted, so no complaints.

Saturday we got there early, or so I thought... before the line compacted, it went from 72nd street down to 68th. We got there around 9:30AM if memory serves. I had thought about camping out overnight, but decided against it. Worked out okay in the end though; we started out at the "side rail" as I was thinking of it, since the front rail was in a roughly oval shape. Pretty good view all things considered - there were backstage people with similar views along the far right side.

Non-musical highlights included:
STEPHEN STEPHEN STEPHEN STEPHEN because he's awesome. Wish we'd seen more of him... was hoping he'd show up for the finale! Oh well. His impromptu Jeremy jam early on made me laugh.
Bill Nye fanning Stone's guitar. I guess he's a fan in both ways.
Malala! Oh, my sweet Malala. You are a gift to the human race. It was so inspiring to hear her speak.

Coldplay was... exactly what I expected. Not bad, does what it says on the tin. Ed Sheeran on the other hand impressed the fuck out of me. I don't know if I'd go so far to call myself a fan, but he is clearly talented and a master of what he does. Beyoncé's set was a choreographed masterpiece of light and sound... that I never thought to experience and never hope to again. I know very little about her music, but it sounded like most of her songs were clips? Like she'd start one, and then blend into another. Maybe that's her thing, I have no idea. It just confused me.

There was a good amount of crowd attrition after each major act, which is to be expected. We eventually ended up off to the right but closer in than the far right rail. With all the people that left, in the end we PJ fans were mostly congregated together. It was great.

I don't want to bring up BooGate again, but I will say I didn't hear any booing over on our side. Grumbles and moans of tired and sore people who didn't want to listen to more of the same rhetoric? Yes. Booing? No.

Highlights of the concert itself:
GTF, Malala version - SHE STILL STAAAAAANDS \o/
Learning the story behind Unthought Known (and, later on, putting two and two together and figuring out why Ed named the song that)
Everything, even the "old standards" felt full of energy and intensity. Alive in particular.
Mike coming over to our side of the stage and "attempting" to play was HILARIOUS. I love it when people are in on their own jokes.
I loved the Ed/Beyoncé duet, I really did. I don't go for flashy pop music, and it was nice to see a more "real" version of a very talented performer.
BILL NYE amused me to no end, so I'm mentioning him again. Bill was after my time (I was more of a Mr. Wizard girl growing up) but the fact that he's clearly a PJ fan makes me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside.
I don't even know, it was all awesome. I feel bad for those who got b0rked trying to watch the MSNBC version. Find the whole thing on YouTube and have some idea of what the show was really like.

jasonrolfe

My wife and I had a great time, throughout the whole day. Many highlights! Ed Sheeran definitely impressed. Malala's speech was amazing. I don't think any of my memories will capture anything that hasn't already been said. Great day overall.

jasonrolfe

I have an odd question. I had dinner in VIP 3 that was a cold Asian noodle vegetarian dish that I really enjoyed. Had a creamy sesame dressing... Seemed that it came from a local restaurant. Does anyone know where? Sorry that this is a little out of place, but I really enjoyed it. A great surprise for festival food! Would love to eat there next time I'm in NYC. Thanks.

kosteva2

jasonrolfe said:

I have an odd question. I had dinner in VIP 3 that was a cold Asian noodle vegetarian dish that I really enjoyed. Had a creamy sesame dressing... Seemed that it came from a local restaurant. Does anyone know where? Sorry that this is a little out of place, but I really enjoyed it. A great surprise for festival food! Would love to eat there next time I'm in NYC. Thanks.

Not sure of name since didn't eat it, but I think it had Soba in name. Taco vendor was Dos Toros.

PJ212

I love this band. I love New York City. I love Central Park. I love jumping up and down on the Great Lawn in Central Park while Pearl Jam plays Do The Evolution. I love Eddie Vedder for dedicating Given To Fly to Malala. I love how the moon looked on Saturday night and EV telling a story about writing the lyrics for Unthought Known. I love how the lyric “So what you giving?” meant even more to hear at this festival. I loved hearing the full band on Imagine and feeling the past, present, and future all at once during that performance. I love Stone Gossard for being my favorite part of RITFW. I love Jeff Ament for being a bad ass. I love how loud Matt and Mike played and how powerful EV’s voice can be. I love running into people I’ve met at past shows who are already excited for what’s to come in 2016. Love. Love. Love. All we need.

Merkin Baller

PJ212 said:

I love this band. I love New York City. I love Central Park. I love jumping up and down on the Great Lawn in Central Park while Pearl Jam plays Do The Evolution. I love Eddie Vedder for dedicating Given To Fly to Malala. I love how the moon looked on Saturday night and EV telling a story about writing the lyrics for Unthought Known. I love how the lyric “So what you giving?” meant even more to hear at this festival. I loved hearing the full band on Imagine and feeling the past, present, and future all at once during that performance. I love Stone Gossard for being my favorite part of RITFW. I love Jeff Ament for being a bad ass. I love how loud Matt and Mike played and how powerful EV’s voice can be. I love running into people I’ve met at past shows who are already excited for what’s to come in 2016. Love. Love. Love. All we need.

I love this post.

odiedragon

PJ212 said:

I love this band. I love New York City. I love Central Park. I love jumping up and down on the Great Lawn in Central Park while Pearl Jam plays Do The Evolution. I love Eddie Vedder for dedicating Given To Fly to Malala. I love how the moon looked on Saturday night and EV telling a story about writing the lyrics for Unthought Known. I love how the lyric “So what you giving?” meant even more to hear at this festival. I loved hearing the full band on Imagine and feeling the past, present, and future all at once during that performance. I love Stone Gossard for being my favorite part of RITFW. I love Jeff Ament for being a bad ass. I love how loud Matt and Mike played and how powerful EV’s voice can be. I love running into people I’ve met at past shows who are already excited for what’s to come in 2016. Love. Love. Love. All we need.

charlotta02

Me and my friend decided to go from Sweden about a month before even that we didn't have any tickets yet. I had tried to buy VIP tickets when they were released, both Ten Club and regular, but after two hours of effort all tickets were gone, so then we could only rely on the lottery. But figured the worst thing that could happen was that we got a weekend in New York. The Day was approaching and we lost in each draw. But finally, in the last big draw, I won, and the festival was secured. It was such a relief!

We came to the park just after 12 and the queue to the west entrance began on the south side of the park. We did not believe our eyes. But we lined up and met some nice people from New Jersey who we chatted with. The queue was moving a little bit all the time so it made it all bearable. When we finally got in, after about 3 hours, the feeling was amazing to be able to throw oneself down on the grass and relax (3h queue at the airport when we arrived, 3h in line at Volcom - 3h seems to be my thing ). Very short after, the show began. So many interesting speakers. Ed Sherran was beyond expectation, what energy! Beyonce is a truly entertainer with her show, but are not really my cup of tea.

When PJ finally started, we had gone as far ahead as we could, but the VIP sections were in front of us, which meant that it was about 4000 miles to the stage. That's one thing I am a little disappointed of. To only see the artist on a screen is not my thing. Anyway, the setlist was all I could wish for, perfect composition. I really loved Redemption song, and Imagine - goosebumps! And I'm very happy that we went, because we really had a lovely weekend in the Big Apple. It was my first visit, what a city! And the festival was awesome in the big picture, sun was shining and spirits were high!

My friend is more of a Coldplayer than a jammer, and this was our chance to go do something fun together. I'm not a bit disappointed in the length of the show, knew before that it would not be as usual. But if the jammers are disappointed, imagine then being a Coldplay fan

lizabelle1217

Merkin Baller said:

PJ212 said:

I love this band. I love New York City. I love Central Park. I love jumping up and down on the Great Lawn in Central Park while Pearl Jam plays Do The Evolution. I love Eddie Vedder for dedicating Given To Fly to Malala. I love how the moon looked on Saturday night and EV telling a story about writing the lyrics for Unthought Known. I love how the lyric “So what you giving?” meant even more to hear at this festival. I loved hearing the full band on Imagine and feeling the past, present, and future all at once during that performance. I love Stone Gossard for being my favorite part of RITFW. I love Jeff Ament for being a bad ass. I love how loud Matt and Mike played and how powerful EV’s voice can be. I love running into people I’ve met at past shows who are already excited for what’s to come in 2016. Love. Love. Love. All we need.

I love this post.

Yep... Love everything about this! You captured it perfectly!

lizabelle1217

charlotta02 said:

My friend is more of a Coldplayer than a jammer, and this was our chance to go do something fun together. I'm not a bit disappointed in the length of the show, knew before that it would not be as usual. But if the jammers are disappointed, imagine then being a Coldplay fan

I was thinking about that! How did your friend like the new song they debuted? I thought it odd that they chose this venue to debut a new song, especially one that wasn't high energy.

charlotta02

lizabelle1217 said:

I was thinking about that! How did your friend like the new song they debuted? I thought it odd that they chose this venue to debut a new song, especially one that wasn't high energy.

I think she liked it, but she didn't say so much. I think she was a little bit too bummed over the fact that the set was over... I believe Chris said "and this is our last song today" or something like that just before. Maybe it took away the magic. I think it would have been better to put the song earlier in the set (if at all), like you're saying, new song and low energy.

jasonrolfe

kosteva2 said:

jasonrolfe said:

I have an odd question. I had dinner in VIP 3 that was a cold Asian noodle vegetarian dish that I really enjoyed. Had a creamy sesame dressing... Seemed that it came from a local restaurant. Does anyone know where? Sorry that this is a little out of place, but I really enjoyed it. A great surprise for festival food! Would love to eat there next time I'm in NYC. Thanks.

Not sure of name since didn't eat it, but I think it had Soba in name. Taco vendor was Dos Toros.

Thanks. I appreciate the comment. 'Soba' was also the extent of the name that I could remember. But I really enjoyed it. Cheers.

jasonrolfe

.

Lauraa

Lauraa

❤️