Parking, Arena shows, and being old

MW55037

Had to work late tonight. Left work at 8 to try to make it to the San Diego show. Then spent an hour in traffic trying to park at SDSU, made a wrong turn and faced the prospect of having to go all the way to the back of the line. There was no signage for parking, no traffic control except at the one intersection you'd expect to turn at but couldn't. I bailed. I'm too old for this shit. Done with arena shows, done with the fan club. $250 for tickets down the drain. C'est la vie. Learned my lesson. I've seen the band 5 or 6 times over the years and my memories of those shows are enough.

BLACK35

Wow, so it the band's problem you left work late

Weston1283

I'm sorry that happened to you, however, not sure how the band would have even the first bit of control over traffic, parking, or local signage and roads.

Also, leaving work at 8 PM for a 7:30 show was setting yourself up for failure, and is again, something the band has zero control over

lowbudgetlush

Sorry you missed the show but this has nothing to do with Pearl Jam. 

RK50065

do you have a low number?

ClownofThorns

Weston1283 said:

I'm sorry that happened to you, however, not sure how the band would have even the first bit of control over traffic, parking, or local signage and roads.

Also, leaving work at 8 PM for a 7:30 show was setting yourself up for failure, and is again, something the band has zero control over

Ed should have been on that bike directing traffic, dammit!

JojoRice

HesCalledDyer

You’ve had tickets for this show for how long?And the date has been set for two months. You didn’t arrange time off work? Or look into parking beforehand? How is that Pearl Jam’s or Ten Club’s problem? Sorry you missed the show but the only person to blame is yourself for being totally unprepared.

RS65573

I think his point is he's too old for this, not its PJs fault. Speaking as a guy who has to get up at 4:45, I get it.

JojoRice

HesCalledDyer said:

You’ve had tickets for this show for how long?And the date has been set for two months. You didn’t arrange time off work? Or look into parking beforehand? How is that Pearl Jam’s or Ten Club’s problem? Sorry you missed the show but the only person to blame is yourself for being totally unprepared.

Agreed.  Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance!

JimmyV

Not gonna pile on here. Sucks to miss a show and I get the frustration, even if it is misdirected. This seems like someone venting in anger and nothing more. It's a new day and hopefully a better one for the OP. 

Zod

That sucks you missed the show.  And traffic trying to park near a concert is never pleasant. 

I'm going to blame your work on this one.  Usually you want to show up well in advance to give yourself buffer time for the shit happens factor.    Sounds like work got in the way of that :(

Cropduster-80

Every show I’ve ever been to from any band, I need a poster. Getting a poster requires getting there hours early.  

Posters would have solved all your problems as if you get a poster no way you miss the sideshow that follows 

Gern Blansten

MW55037 said:

Had to work late tonight. Left work at 8 to try to make it to the San Diego show. Then spent an hour in traffic trying to park at SDSU, made a wrong turn and faced the prospect of having to go all the way to the back of the line. There was no signage for parking, no traffic control except at the one intersection you'd expect to turn at but couldn't. I bailed. I'm too old for this shit. Done with arena shows, done with the fan club. $250 for tickets down the drain. C'est la vie. Learned my lesson. I've seen the band 5 or 6 times over the years and my memories of those shows are enough.

You expected to get there right at showtime and walk right in? I mean it's clearly PJ and the 10c's fault but....

Hold On

You sound a bit like someone blaming the airlines because you were late and missed your flight. 

 I flew in from Hawaii a few days ago, so I don’t know the SDSU area and had never been to the campus before.  I got to SDSU at 5:30, drove around to scout out parking and decided to park in a surface lot instead of a garage for easy exit afterwards, ate a meal at a nice little Thai restaurant on campus, got to the venue about 7:10, waited about 10 minutes outside to buy some merch, and walked into the venue at 7:30 just in time to see Ed play solo in advance of the opening act.  

Then after the show it took all of 10 to 15 minutes before I was off campus and on the open road, since I wasn’t parked in a garage.   THAT’S how to do a concert, especially when you’re paying a lot of money.  You enjoy the entire experience.  

Oh, and I’m old too (mid-50s), so it’s not about being old. 

100 Pacer

Not quite on topic but just FYI for anyone flying into LAX: apparently quite a lot of construction on site with reduced lanes and heavy traffic. Rental agency advised to leave plenty of extra time for arrival and departure.

JimmyV

Traffic problems never occur on the east coast. 

100 Pacer

JimmyV said:

Traffic problems never occur on the east coast. 

Sure as fook ain’t no traffic in Ottawa!

JimmyV

100 Pacer said:

JimmyV said:

Traffic problems never occur on the east coast. 

Sure as fook ain’t no traffic in Ottawa!

The smoothest of sailing straight through to Canada's Capitol City! 

ddeschler

Wouldn't you want to at least see some of the show, if you've already got a ticket that you can't sell, even if you're late?  Half a PJ show is better than 0 of a PJ show.  You could've seen that reverse Mamasan Trilogy.  Pretty rare.

SHZA

RS65573 said:

I think his point is he's too old for this, not its PJs fault. Speaking as a guy who has to get up at 4:45, I get it.

Agree, I didnt read it as really blaming the band or asking for advice on how to get to a concert on time. More of a story of how he feels that seeing the band is no longer worth dealing with the types of inconvenience that he would have put up with as a younger man 

KB82926

Sorry to hear your trouble. 

Ed actually announced they started a bit late because the traffic was backed up and they wanted to give the fans more time to settle. Amazing humans, they are. 

mcgruff10

I get your frustration op.  sounds like the perfect storm.  I hope you head back to another show, I heard fresno has a few tickets available. 

Lerxst1992

SHZA said:

RS65573 said:

I think his point is he's too old for this, not its PJs fault. Speaking as a guy who has to get up at 4:45, I get it.

Agree, I didnt read it as really blaming the band or asking for advice on how to get to a concert on time. More of a story of how he feels that seeing the band is no longer worth dealing with the types of inconvenience that he would have put up with as a younger man 

Thanks for this. I keep reading the OP looking for any blame towards the artists that I probably missed? Seems to be a general comment about dealing with jobs, poor logistics and signage while aging. 

RS151862

I’ve always said the band should take more responsibility for traffic control. 

lexicondevil

I don't see anything that makes me think the OP is blaming the band. Just sounds like venting about a crap night. I guess people gotta get mad about someone else being mad. Cheer up everyone. We have a tour happening!

Green_Disease

I went to college here in the late 90s and thought I knew the area but I came down hours early. I Went to the venue to scope parking and the distance to and from my hotel as well as the best route. I made an attempt at early merchandise at 1 but the line was insane. Came back at 3. Got my posters but no San Diego shirt. Assholes had them on ebay by 2:00 for $80+. I hope those people rot in hell.  Came back to the arena and pulled in parking about 750 pm. Caught like 2 songs from Josh. Swooped his vinyl at merch table as well as this onesie for a friend. Show was FUCKING AMAZING. Sucks it's the clubs fault you don't plan well. I will say in your defense. Traffic control was mediocre at best. 

MW55037

Sorry guys, OP here. Was just venting about a frustrating night after a 12 hour work day. I never intended to be blaming the fanclub and definitely not the band. Even the venue probably can't be blamed much; SDSU has lots of night classes and just isn't set up to handle concert traffic in addition to regular evening traffic through the area. I am serious about being done with arena shows--don't want the hassle--and hence don't need to maintain my fanclub membership. (Sorry, no my number is not particularly low. Only been a member since 2000.) Not quitting the fanclub out of spite but because it's just not necessary for me anymore. I'll stick to smaller bands doing more chill shows at bars and clubs. That's definitely more my vibe these days.

Loujoe

^Get that^

potnik

JimmyV said:

Not gonna pile on here. Sucks to miss a show and I get the frustration, even if it is misdirected. This seems like someone venting in anger and nothing more. It's a new day and hopefully a better one for the OP. 

Great post. 

To the OP sorry you missed the show and agree with JimmyV hope today is going better.

meistereder

Oh, I thought we were all going to commiserate about parking and getting old.  I see OP came back, so I won’t comment on the original post, but I do want to say that I walked 1.3 miles from the green line to my hotel, then 1.2 miles to and from the venue, which was hilly, and my hip hurts now.   I’m 48, which is old for concerts, but I didn’t think I would need a a frigging hip replacement at this age.  I did avoid the parking annoyances, and I did get some good exercise which I needed to burn off the burrito I got from Trujillo’s before the show and the two Stone IPAs I drank at the show (would have been more if I wasn’t sitting 150 steps down from the restrooms.  This may be a digression, but again, I saw the thread title and thought I could vent myself.  Fun show.