Getting to the rail in GA.

Marieow · June 2023

I just upgraded to GA for St. Paul N2. I have GA for both nights in St. Paul now. I'm hoping to get to the rail for one of them. I've managed to get close plenty of times, but I'm really hoping I can have this experience at least once. The remaining 7 shows I have seats, although I'm hoping to find GA tickets in Austin to hang out with my friends who have GA.
Which nights do you have GA for?

BF25394 · June 2023

For last year's shows, I walked in at about 6:15 p.m. (opener was on at 7:30 p.m.) and was in front of Ed about fifteen feet from the front of the stage (i.e., with four people between me and the stage). I did not line up early.

There was a lot of room in the pit at last year's shows. It didn't feel crowded even that close to the stage. It was a pleasant experience aside from a couple of times when guys tried to rush the stage and were turned back. At one of the L.A. shows, a guy who weighed at least 200 pounds tried to crash past me on my left, and I managed to stop him and hold him with only my left arm, shove him behind me to my right, where the guy next to me who was about 6' 6" and jacked proceeded to shove the guy about 20 feet back and to the right. He stayed back there. Good times.

PJ_Soul · June 2023

I will say that, while there are plenty of great people in GA lines, I have also witnessed the very WORST of fandom in them as well. I couldn't stay in a GA line longer than an hour even if I wanted to, because there is a select group of highly vocal, bossy, entitled and aggressive people who appoint themselves the Masters of PJ GA and they make it completely unbearable for me, lol.

lastexitlondon · June 2023

PJ_Soul said:

I will say that, while there are plenty of great people in GA lines, I have also witnessed the very WORST of fandom in them as well. I couldn't stay in a GA line longer than an hour even if I wanted to, because there is a select group of highly vocal, bossy, entitled and aggressive people who appoint themselves the Masters of PJ GA and they make it completely unbearable for me, lol.

I agree. In Vienna I had very close to a fight with the self designated boss of the queue. I was happy to queue all night but this guy went and slept in his car and came back to run a list from the front. The fucking idiot then got caught going into the venue and lurking around the stage.

MayDay10 · June 2023

One time I left Show 1, stumbled on the GA line for Show 2 the following night, and sat down at about #15 in line. I got the rail.

Im glad I did it the one time. Was a great lifetime experience. I don't think I would do it again. Im too old and it was a lot of stress/energy, and by the time the show rolled around, while I enjoyed it immensely, I was pretty exhausted. Also needed to guard my space a bit.

I dont know how (or why) people can do it for show after show.

Loujoe · June 2023

Yeah. But surely worth it when a pile of picks land on your head and litter the floor around you. Ahhh memories..looonnng gone dayyyyys

lastexitlondon · June 2023

Well worth it . I've done it many times and now I look back I can't feel the pain only the elation. And the picks

GlowGirl · June 2023

I only got rail for PJ once - last year at Camden. It was an amazing experience. I got there at 6:15am, and was 14th in line. I actually had fun in the line all day. People were really nice. We got Uber Eats delivered, and I met a lot of cool people. I also got an Ed pick at the show. I would totally do this again. I have been in 2nd row of GA, and 3rd row - those were great as well. But the rail is really something special.

Zod · June 2023

BF25394 said:

For last year's shows, I walked in at about 6:15 p.m. (opener was on at 7:30 p.m.) and was in front of Ed about fifteen feet from the front of the stage (i.e., with four people between me and the stage). I did not line up early.

There was a lot of room in the pit at last year's shows. It didn't feel crowded even that close to the stage. It was a pleasant experience aside from a couple of times when guys tried to rush the stage and were turned back. At one of the L.A. shows, a guy who weighed at least 200 pounds tried to crash past me on my left, and I managed to stop him and hold him with only my left arm, shove him behind me to my right, where the guy next to me who was about 6' 6" and jacked proceeded to shove the guy about 20 feet back and to the right. He stayed back there. Good times.

We did the same thing at the Oakland shows. Showed up around 6:30 after the doors had already opened for GA. We were able to park ourselves a few rows back at centre stage. Felt like maybe 7 or 8 rows, but once people stood up and compressed, I think maybe 4 rows of people in front of me, which for a seated show would be something like row 2. Really good location for not much effort. I would love rail but I don't think I have it in me to wait in line for a day or two.. lol.

I also notice that the amount of people behind us didn't' really start to grow until 7:30 or 8, so technically our location probably wouldn't of been too different had we shown up 30 to 60 minutes later.

josevolution · June 2023

Youngin’s can have the rail! These days I prefer the bar rail 😉

Bentleyspop · June 2023

I don't get the whole infatuation with the rail.
I was on the rail for multiple shows in the 90s and early 2000s.
Its kinda gross
You got all kind of people pushing up against your back. With their variety of bodily fluids getting you.

You got EddieJeff, Mike, Stone sweating on you
Eddie spilling wine on you
Mike throwing pics in your face
Eddie throwing tambourines at your head.
It's gross eww

lastexitlondon · June 2023

Give me gross

hrd2imgn · June 2023

Soundgarden broke me on the rail, we almost got crushed to death at Lolla in 96, it was damn scary, everyone kept pushing up and packing it in tighter and tighter, I had to jump over the rail and go to the back of the lawn or die as I couldn't breathe, literally. Never felt a need to be on the rail after that, though I have been. People were screaming to the folks behind us to stop pushing. The rail at a PJ show is much more enjoyable most of the time

Marieow · June 2023

PJ_Soul said:

I will say that, while there are plenty of great people in GA lines, I have also witnessed the very WORST of fandom in them as well. I couldn't stay in a GA line longer than an hour even if I wanted to, because there is a select group of highly vocal, bossy, entitled and aggressive people who appoint themselves the Masters of PJ GA and they make it completely unbearable for me, lol.

That is definitely why I feel a little nervous about waiting in line, the entitled people who are oddly competitive, cold, and weird about this kind of shit. I usually go to metal shows, so I'm used to the pushing and pulling, but it's all in good fun, and people are rarely territorial about where they are standing in GA. It's a whole different thing with some PJ fans. It's fine, I'll play along. I just want to have a rail moment. I've been 2 or 3 people deep, and of course that's fun. I'm excited to meet new people.

Loujoe · June 2023

Good attitude. you'll have a blast. Sure you know Ev will yell at you if you start slam dancing

Brannigans law · June 2023

I love GA, but would never spend the time needed to get rail. I like the back of the pit, plenty of space to dance and move if I can't see. Need a beer or bathroom break? My space is still there when I get back.

Lost In Ohio · June 2023

JD87070 said:

Indy will be my first pit experience for PJ, and no plans to camp/sit in line all day. But i loved the way DMB did pit last year. Albeit, this was just for the handful of Warehouse members who got pit tickets, there were around 60 of us for the drawing at Pine Knob, so a much smaller scale than most PJ pits. But they just told you to go to a gate anytime before 4pm to get a bracelet with a number on it, at 4:15 they draw a number based on the bracelets handed out, and that person is first in line and the line goes on from that based on bracelet number. And when they took us inside they kept us in line until we got to the pit entrance. Worked out great! Kept everyone from wasting the day standing in line and even sprinting once you get inside the venue to get down there first. We were around 20 back from the front of the line and ended up on the rail in front of Buddy the keyboard player-most people went straight to the middle of course so we saw to the left wasn’t crowded at all and headed there and worked out great, Dave even took one of the selfies with my phone after the show! But since the entire pit for PJ is Ten Club members (especially the large arena pits) and they don’t do early entry, probably not a good way to do anything similar with these shows.

That's a damn good system. Wishlist could probably raise a lot more if this was in place.

On a similar note, I read about Paramore's system. They hand out numbered wristbands starting at a designated time. You then show up again starting at a second time, get in line according to your number, and then go in.

It seems like this sort of defeats the purpose. Wouldn't people just show up insanely early to get wristband #0001?

Lost In Ohio · June 2023

PJ_Soul said:

I will say that, while there are plenty of great people in GA lines, I have also witnessed the very WORST of fandom in them as well. I couldn't stay in a GA line longer than an hour even if I wanted to, because there is a select group of highly vocal, bossy, entitled and aggressive people who appoint themselves the Masters of PJ GA and they make it completely unbearable for me, lol.

I have words for tosspots like them.

Lost In Ohio · June 2023

Marieow said:

show previous quotes

PJ_Soul said:

I will say that, while there are plenty of great people in GA lines, I have also witnessed the very WORST of fandom in them as well. I couldn't stay in a GA line longer than an hour even if I wanted to, because there is a select group of highly vocal, bossy, entitled and aggressive people who appoint themselves the Masters of PJ GA and they make it completely unbearable for me, lol.

That is definitely why I feel a little nervous about waiting in line, the entitled people who are oddly competitive, cold, and weird about this kind of shit. I usually go to metal shows, so I'm used to the pushing and pulling, but it's all in good fun, and people are rarely territorial about where they are standing in GA. It's a whole different thing with some PJ fans. It's fine, I'll play along. I just want to have a rail moment. I've been 2 or 3 people deep, and of course that's fun. I'm excited to meet new people.

Honestly, I think the 3-4 days thing is somewhat overblown and partially due to the one guy in Chicago who made it into the Let's Play Two movie.

It definitely depends on city. If it's night 2, there will absolutely be people who skip out on the last song of night 1 just to go back to the line.

If it's a random one-off show in Cleveland or Cincinnati on a Tuesday night, will there be people in line on Saturday? Probably not. Will there be a line at 9am on show day? Absolutely. If you get in line in those cities at 8am on show day, you probably won't get rail front and center, but maybe off to the side or 2-3 back in the middle.

Indy may not have an overnight line due to the Smashing Pumpkins there the night before.

For the vast majority of shows, if you're there by 5-6am, you'll almost certainly get rail right in the middle. As long as your breaks are quick and rare, you'll be fine. Visit the bathroom at a nearby fast food place, get your food "to go" and eat it back in line. You can also utilize services like DoorDash or UberEATS to further minimize time spent out of line.

...and when the doors open, walk in an orderly fashion.

Marieow · June 2023

Lost In Ohio said:

show previous quotes

Honestly, I think the 3-4 days thing is somewhat overblown and partially due to the one guy in Chicago who made it into the Let's Play Two movie.

It definitely depends on city. If it's night 2, there will absolutely be people who skip out on the last song of night 1 just to go back to the line.

If it's a random one-off show in Cleveland or Cincinnati on a Tuesday night, will there be people in line on Saturday? Probably not. Will there be a line at 9am on show day? Absolutely. If you get in line in those cities at 8am on show day, you probably won't get rail front and center, but maybe off to the side or 2-3 back in the middle.

Indy may not have an overnight line due to the Smashing Pumpkins there the night before.

For the vast majority of shows, if you're there by 5-6am, you'll almost certainly get rail right in the middle. As long as your breaks are quick and rare, you'll be fine. Visit the bathroom at a nearby fast food place, get your food "to go" and eat it back in line. You can also utilize services like DoorDash or UberEATS to further minimize time spent out of line.

...and when the doors open, walk in an orderly fashion.

Thanks for the info! I have GA for both St. Paul nights. First night, I'm taking a red eye from San Francisco just to get there as early as I can. I'd get in the day before, but I'm doing some volunteer work. My flight lands at 5:30 am. Las Vegas for Eddie was the first time I waited all day. I ended up on the middle left side which was awesome, and I made so many new friends who I will see on this tour, one of whom will be with me in line. I got a steel bladder and a high tolerance for pain. haha
I have seats for chicago, indy, ft w and austin.

Getting to the rail in GA.

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