Getting Against The Rail

Shorty · July 2013

To those with experience - please help. Thanks to random BS luck - I scored GA to Buffalo - the only one I tried (driving distance). First time in GA - first time Standing. Looking forward to it like you wouldn't believe. Since I've asked around - and get different replies - I think this'll help other first time GA'er as well.

In other threads - I've seen where GA = the first 3 rows. Is this true....
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=212859
And if this in fact the case - why would I start to line up at 2am the day of the concert just to get better than 3rd row deep? I know typically the reply would be: "Cause you love PJ idiot" However, since during the concert with ebbs and flows - you'll move around a bit (I am assuming here) - and some points during the entire show - you'll be closer than 3rd row deep.

My friend and I will be using the 2 GA's I won. If I have to line up early (real F'ing early if need be) - since I have a concert-partner with me - is it an issue to leave the line (go to the washroom - get food - get drink - get to the merch line)?

Any answers - tips - suggestiongs WELCOME.

Cheers,

polaris_x · July 2013

ya ... you can tag on and off ... personally for me, the only thing that isn't cool is letting 5 people join you in line ...

81 · July 2013

wait for the rain delay, then make your move

SVRDhand13 · July 2013

Number 1 rule of GA: drink as little fluids as possible!

Lukinz · July 2013

SVRDhand13 wrote:

Number 1 rule of GA: drink as little fluids as possible!

True story.

Shorty · July 2013

I'm not getting a lot of answers....

And, to confuse things more.....

(from: http://pearljam.com/tenclub/events)

Pearl Jam has decided to include a GA pit in front of the stage at each venue taking up 1/3 - 1/2 of the floor. Ten Club has acquired the entire GA pit for fan club members only; therefore there will not be a need for early entry. Please know there are less GA pit tickets available in the drawing then there are reserved seated tickets. If you are not interested in standing for the entirety of the show, do not enter the drawing for GA tickets.

What do we make of that? I must be missing something. I can only think of 1 way to be against the rail - beat the others looking to get against the rail. The only way to do it is be there early.....be in front of the line......

Help....

dougfloyd · July 2013

Shorty wrote:

I can only think of 1 way to be against the rail - beat the others looking to get against the rail. The only way to do it is be there early.....be in front of the line......

Help....

You already have your answer.

SVRDhand13 · July 2013

Lukinz wrote:

SVRDhand13 wrote:

Number 1 rule of GA: drink as little fluids as possible!

True story.

I learned this one the hard way :oops:

Shorty · July 2013

dougfloyd wrote:

Shorty wrote:

I can only think of 1 way to be against the rail - beat the others looking to get against the rail. The only way to do it is be there early.....be in front of the line......

Help....

You already have your answer.

And there it is - thanks man! 'Tis what I expected. Shitty but true....

Shorty · July 2013

I guess my next question is - will people be expecting a knife blade to the quad if they try to bud or buy there way infront of me....

Oh wait - coming across the border - no knife - replace "knife blade" above with "swift kick".

I don't want to spend 10 hours in line, all jumpy....

mookieblalock · July 2013

Its pretty obvious and you already seem to know the answer: You want to be close? Get there as early as possible.

landingonwater · July 2013

I'm planning to arrive in Pittsburgh at 10 or 11 a.m. to get in line. I'm sure some other nerds will be in front of me. I had general admission tickets for Neil Young and Crazy Horse's last stop in Cleveland, and my buddy and I got on the rail. We showed up at 11 a.m. and even brought lawn chairs (one of us just dumped them off in the car an or two before the doors opened). It was an exhausting day ... haha.

I'm sure folks will arrive before the 10C ticket window opens up, so I'm hopeful people aren't pricks when someone wants to head over to the will call window to get their tickets. We'll see, though. I'm a friendly man.

rr165892 · July 2013

When u do get in don't head for a spot in center of stage,head for Stone or Mikes side,always less crowded and the picks will be plentiful.Make nice with the hard working security guys working the gap between rail and stage,lots of goodies fall down there and you may need their help.if pit is only 10c it should be fairly calmish,although believe it or not some 10clubbers are obnoxious drunks so find a cool group who is good company and everyone will watch out for each other and share beer run duties.have a blast and think of your quest for the holy rail half the fun,luck and timing also help.

Shorty · July 2013

rr165892 wrote:

When u do get in don't head for a spot in center of stage,head for Stone or Mikes side,always less crowded and the picks will be plentiful.Make nice with the hard working security guys working the gap between rail and stage,lots of goodies fall down there and you may need their help.if pit is only 10c it should be fairly calmish,although believe it or not some 10clubbers are obnoxious drunks so find a cool group who is good company and everyone will watch out for each other and share beer run duties.have a blast and think of your quest for the holy rail half the fun,luck and timing also help.

Awesome - thanks rr

unlost dogs · July 2013

This is a great thread, such good advice.

I've got GA for Worcester. Never did that for PJ before, but I'm going to be 50 this fall and I figured I should go for it this one time and mark my half century by getting crushed to death by kids who are half my age. (Literally.)

I'm heading there now with a sleeping bag and a propane cookstove.

I Met Ed · July 2013

unlost dogs wrote:

I'm heading there now with a sleeping bag and a propane cookstove.

jakesbluskyhome · July 2013

I've had GA a couple times and been on the rail and I will give you the 3 key things:

1. Get in line first. The bigger the band, the earlier you have to arrive. For pj I would say early morning.

2. NEVER give up your spot once you get it. Because trust me, even friendly ten clubbers will turn ravenous when the band walks on stage. Not saying you'll get fiercely pushed and pulled, but people will definitely crowd you to be closer, and understandably so. Just be sure to tand your ground. (Along with this rule is dont drink too much, especially if you don't have a buddy holding your spot.)

3. Be friendly! You'll be waiting in line all day and once inside there will be plenty more waiting, so might as well make the best of it. You're surrounded by people that have a common love, so it's almost always great meeting and chatting with the peeps around you.

Have a great time!

Kathi · July 2013

definitely make friends with the people in line around you. it's fun to talk about nerdy music stuff all day without having someone roll their eyes at you.

I honestly don't think sleeping out is necessary, unless you want nothing but dead center. get there sometime in the early morning and you should definitely still be on the rail. most people will head for the center or mike's side, so stone's side is usually a bit easier to get. but, if you care about guitar picks etc being thrown, less chances of that happening there.

people who have lined up from the early morning will recognize each other, so leaving for 10 minutes for food, the bathroom, or will call pick up shouldn't be a problem usually. try to do one last bathroom break before you go in, and then stay in your spot...you may be able to leave and go back, but I wouldn't count on it 100%.

CDFish · July 2013

So I'm aadmittedly a bit confused. Are we supposed to line up to get into the building BEFORE we line up at the 10c window to claim our tickets?? This doesn't make sense to me. I do understand lining up early to claim tickets...first to get tickets, first to THEN get in line?? I'm guessing there's more than one entrance to the dcu and after going through security and what not, won't it be anyone's game? I'm envisioning a mad dash to get down to the pit...Call me crazy but I can't imagine people staying in an orderly line.

Kathi · July 2013

CDFish wrote:

So I'm aadmittedly a bit confused. Are we supposed to line up to get into the building BEFORE we line up at the 10c window to claim our tickets?? This doesn't make sense to me. I do understand lining up early to claim tickets...first to get tickets, first to THEN get in line?? I'm guessing there's more than one entrance to the dcu and after going through security and what not, won't it be anyone's game? I'm envisioning a mad dash to get down to the pit...Call me crazy but I can't imagine people staying in an orderly line.

If it's anything like Europe, you'll get an e-mail from 10c saying which entrance 10club GA will enter from. that's where people line up, so just one entrance for GA.

backseatLover12 · July 2013

Is it me, or does so many posts make one think that a large amount of fans with GA tix have never been to a concert before with these ridiculous questions?

CDFish · July 2013

backseatLover12 wrote:

Is it me, or does so many posts make one think that a large amount of fans with GA tix have never been to a concert before with these ridiculous questions?

Haha. That's why I don't understand why anyone would line up before they have their tickets?? And then get to leave the line to do whatever and then come back to your same spot in line? What happens after we enter the building?? Everyone is going to walk single file down to the pit?? Ive never seen this done at any show. Always just worked my way as close as i could...Just sayin.

jakesbluskyhome · July 2013

It's actually pretty simple. I've never gotten GA through ten club but I'd imagine it's the same.

You simply find out ahead of time where the line for GA is going to be (as I assume there will only be one entrance). Then line up there all day, and once 10c tix become available for pickup have a buddy hold your spot in line and go get them.

As for the "mad dash", yes this always happens. Depending on security it could be crazy or somewhat controlled. Since pj is all about safety I'd imagine it's fairly controlled. Just walk really fast until you get to the rail. It's pretty simple, just takes a ton of patience and dedication and a bit of luck

AndyVanSlyke · July 2013

Everything I know about this I learned from the Woodstock documentary

1.) Park your car whenever you don't feel like driving anymore
2.) Walk to the line, or the fence, or whatever you think is the line.
3.) Bathe in the nearest pond near the venue. You may also want to do some yoga
4.) Smoke as much as you can, you'll pretty much float to the spot in the pit where you belong
5.) Lastly, DO NOT eat the brown acid.

crazygeo · July 2013

I am in the pit and basically will be going wherever I want to go...no one is going to stop you, it's the GA pit
(If u want to ride the rail) U must get there early. But people move around. Good luck!
Personally my goal is about 1o rows back standing and rocking out. Rock On!!!

rr165892 · July 2013

10c and VIP area at Deluna were packed (same space) not everyone was ,to be kind PJ purists so we did get a bit of resistance on beer and bathroom runs.I had my 17 year old daughter joining us and many dudes were not the typical PJ Gentlemen when the pushing started.Only show I needed to "enforce" some space rules around us.I am usually easy going but I found going a lil redneck went a long way in creating a positive experience for the ladies who are smaller so they did not get pushed or squashed.So if you are traveling without bigger dudes find a nice guy with some size and ask him to help out.chances are he will be more then happy to help create some space.

Kathi · July 2013

jakesbluskyhome wrote:

It's actually pretty simple. I've never gotten GA through ten club but I'd imagine it's the same.

You simply find out ahead of time where the line for GA is going to be (as I assume there will only be one entrance). Then line up there all day, and once 10c tix become available for pickup have a buddy hold your spot in line and go get them.

As for the "mad dash", yes this always happens. Depending on security it could be crazy or somewhat controlled. Since pj is all about safety I'd imagine it's fairly controlled. Just walk really fast until you get to the rail. It's pretty simple, just takes a ton of patience and dedication and a bit of luck

that's it. it's usually quite controlled going in, and the pits are not bad at all.

oldschoolpjfan10 · July 2013

my advice...enjoy the day!!! have fun, grab some beers, listen to some music in some local bars and enjoy the scene. is being 10 feet closer to the band worth wasting a day over?

Shorty · July 2013

backseatLover12 wrote:

Is it me, or does so many posts make one think that a large amount of fans with GA tix have never been to a concert before with these ridiculous questions?

We're not all cool......

Mamasan Bren · July 2013

oldschoolpjfan10 wrote:

my advice...enjoy the day!!! have fun, grab some beers, listen to some music in some local bars and enjoy the scene. is being 10 feet closer to the band worth wasting a day over?

I adhere to this. Although, I've been lucky enough to have the rail experience a few times before, so it's of course up to you.

And food for thought:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=209312

shep · July 2013

Shorty wrote:

backseatLover12 wrote:

Is it me, or does so many posts make one think that a large amount of fans with GA tix have never been to a concert before with these ridiculous questions?

We're not all cool......

this is what i don't get...

every GA show i've ever been to, if I wanted to get to the rail during a show, i did at some point... a lot shifting and bouncing around happens in a tightly packed pit... no matter what time I showed up, I managed to get as close as I've liked.

every time I read posts here about "the line" or "the list" it sounds like you all expect to get a space and then have everyone stand completely still around you, and no one shift spaces, and respect your space.

this is a rock concert, with a GA pit. If you wanted a reserved space - you should have put in for a reserved seat.

now all that being said, I don't normally make my way to the front anymore... just don't like to deal with the heat and the sweaty bodies... normally i either show up and settle in in front of the soundboard (best sound) or get inside the cone of the stage speakers and settle in someone with a good view for my 5'10" frame.

but this idea of "self policing" areas really turns my guts. everyone needs to chill the fuck out and let it happen. Being self rightous about it and saying it's for the good of everyone is bullshit - you're all only doing it for the good of yourselves, and to protect what you feel you've "earned".

Personally, it sounds a little greedy to me.... you want to have your cake and eat it to. You want the best spots in the arena, and you want to freedom to eat, go to the bathroom, go buy merch, etc, as you please.... it's bull.

everyone needs to relax this idea of the "the line" and "the list" and just let shit happen. you gotta go take a piss? ok, your turn at the rail is up - give someone else a turn. You want merch? cool, I like merch too... just don't but your way all the way back to the front and say "i was here, these guys can vouch for me, let me in"....

I'm sure this debate will continue all the way up to shows.... but for me, I hope this "line and list" bullshit stopped by venue security long before it ever starts.... it's just encouraging people to waste their time standing outside the venue all day to feel "entitled" to hold on to the rail all night....

either way, you won't find me in the line - i'll get plenty close I gaurentee it - and I'll have a great time too.

See y'all in buffalo.

Getting Against The Rail

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