When I was younger, there wasn't much I wouldn't do in order to see my favorite bands performing live. I remember getting to the local music store at 7 pm the night before tickets went on sale and spending all night in line waiting for the doors to open. I would have stripped naked and danced in a fountain if I thought it would have gotten me one row closer to Vince Neil or George Lynch.
It wasn't that the concerts would sell out. It wasn't even that I could get great seats (I never really did). It was the fact that I was under 18, and I was out all night with a group of friends, depriving ourselves of sleep. We'd take sleeping bags, bitch about how cold it was and down Jolt cola - anyone remember Jolt?? And it seemed that despite our best efforts, we never got floor seats.Or good seats for that matter. But we did usually get phone numbers of loser head-banger guys who were also waiting. Above all, we had a good time and could brag about how long we waited in line to be one of the first people to get tickets for Guns N Roses. Besides, we saw the BonJovi videos of fans waiting in line. Maybe another band will do that and we will be whisked away to be Brett Micheal's lover, if only for one night. Ah yes, that's why we REALLY did it! OK, maybe not the guys, but for the girls, oh yeah.
I've seen almost every 80's hair band there was to see because I couldn't get enough. Bon Jovi, Skid Row, Guns N Roses, Motley Crue, Warrant, Winger, House of Lords, Trixter, Whitesnake, Scorpions, VanHalen (both with Dave and then with Sammy), Metallica, Poison, Ratt, Dokken, Cinderella, Krokus and the list goes on and on.
I was front row for Skid Row and again for Winger at a little tavern in Milwaukee called "Billy's Old Mill". I learned quickly why that sucked as it was a small venue, everyone packed in and standing - no assigned seats. Everyone in the crown was trying to push forward, trying to get closer to the stage. So my boobs got smashed up against the stage. It was worse than a mammogram. At least with that, someone is touching your boobs.
I remember going to the music stores the day before the concerts and you could again stand in line for hours to have the band autograph something for you. They would allow you to snap a photo (but you couldn't be in it) and then they'd send you on your way so you could erroneously mislead people for the rest of your life saying "I met Skid Row! See my pictures?"
Things have changed so much that this simple kind of fun is no longer something that happens. No one waits all night for tickets to anything. They go there, get a voucher and go home to sleep in their nice warm beds, setting their alarm to get there an hour before the store opens to bicker about where their place in line should be according to the number on the voucher. Fuck that. If it's really something you want, spend the night dammit. Vouchers are for pussies.
So tell me, what (if anything) have you camped out for?
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