Don't ask me, we never managed to see it!
3:00 pm Friday, I was already on the phone with T reminding him to come home early so we can go out and grab an early dinner before watching the concert. 2 days before that I went to Music and More in Metro Centro to buy the tickets for the concert. I bought the VIP tickets ($C 450.00) thinking that it would be very crowded in general admission ($C 250) and since we don't plan to drink alcohol that night (except for a couple of beers maybe) really didn't need to have Platinum ($40.00) either.
The concert was supposed to start at 8:00 pm but we were advised to be there at least an hour before because of parking. It was held in an empty parking lot (dirt floor) with chicken wire (a bit thicker) to separate the 3 groups with Platinum being in front - chicken wire fence - VIP - chicken wire fence - general admission.
We got there a little before 7:00 pm and after parking the car a block away we were surprised to find out that despite having bought the tickets in advance, we still have to queue to get in. I know, I know...of course we have to queue but not in a 300 meter line. There were 3 of these lines for VIP alone, 1 for general admission and 1 for platinum. We immediately realized that we would have been better off buying the general admission tickets as not only were there less people (apparently the most ticket printed was VIP - it at least looked that way), the parking lot being not that big and with the stage elevated, not only would we not have felt the difference but we would actually be closer to the exit / entrance gates in case there's a stampede.
The lot was definitely packing more people than it can accommodate. We can see that already from outside, still we forged on excited and determined to enjoy the night. We were prepared for this. We were in jeans, t-shirt and rubber shoes and no bags, no camera, only some cash, cell phones and the tickets...all in the front pockets of our jeans.
After queuing for more than an hour and about 3 meters from the gate, we experienced a surge of people trying to cut in line. As cutting in line is fairly common here (check-out counters, ATMs, etc), we have many times politely told those who try to cut-in in front of us to please go back to the end of the line. I can't tell you how many have tried during the course of the hour but the worst was when we were finally near the gate. V was sandwiched between T and myself with T leading our line and had the tickets in his hands. When the surge started, he put them in his back pocket, but still with his hand over them, afraid that someone might just snatch them. All of a sudden some guys became aggressive and started pushing T and for the split-second he took his hand away from his pocket to parry the bodies ramming him, our tickets were pick-pocketed.
T almost got into a fight because he thought he knew who exactly among those aggressively pushing took the tickets. I pulled him away from the crazy crowd before it got worse. T, normally a patient man, was reacting to the situation. Dejectedly, we walked back to the car while V cried. T being so frustrated, offered to buy us tickets from a scalper for 3 times its price. I firmly said no. I understand that we really wanted to see this concert but with the type of crowd and our mood, I didn't think it was safe anymore.
Tonight, I told my gf A about it and funny enough they too have a story to share. One of their friends actually managed to get in to see the concert with his girlfriend but lost his wallet (credit cards, driver's license, etc) and his cellphone in the process. He even made sure they were in his front pockets.
His problems started when at some point in the concert people started to scale and or tear down the makeshift fence in between the areas and started to throw things at the guards when they tried stop them. It became apparently chaotic. He was more vigilant about a stampede and was paying more attention to the tiny exit gate and logistics rather his own stuff. When the surge reached them...he was a sitting duck.
This reminds me of Manna's concert here in Managua last year that we were not able to attend, where we also bought tickets - you guessed it...VIP. We got confused with our social calendar and said yes to a sit down dinner on concert night. We thought we can still catch it later in the evening, but as dinners go...it was hard to leave, so we missed it. From those who attended, we also heard of people losing their wallets and cellphones and like the Aventura concert, was not well organized.
I have decided to not attend concerts here anymore- at least the outdoor ones - I don't think they're worth the aggravation. As far as logistics and security is concerned....they are stampedes waiting to happen.
We got there a little before 7:00 pm and after parking the car a block away we were surprised to find out that despite having bought the tickets in advance, we still have to queue to get in. I know, I know...of course we have to queue but not in a 300 meter line. There were 3 of these lines for VIP alone, 1 for general admission and 1 for platinum. We immediately realized that we would have been better off buying the general admission tickets as not only were there less people (apparently the most ticket printed was VIP - it at least looked that way), the parking lot being not that big and with the stage elevated, not only would we not have felt the difference but we would actually be closer to the exit / entrance gates in case there's a stampede.
The lot was definitely packing more people than it can accommodate. We can see that already from outside, still we forged on excited and determined to enjoy the night. We were prepared for this. We were in jeans, t-shirt and rubber shoes and no bags, no camera, only some cash, cell phones and the tickets...all in the front pockets of our jeans.
After queuing for more than an hour and about 3 meters from the gate, we experienced a surge of people trying to cut in line. As cutting in line is fairly common here (check-out counters, ATMs, etc), we have many times politely told those who try to cut-in in front of us to please go back to the end of the line. I can't tell you how many have tried during the course of the hour but the worst was when we were finally near the gate. V was sandwiched between T and myself with T leading our line and had the tickets in his hands. When the surge started, he put them in his back pocket, but still with his hand over them, afraid that someone might just snatch them. All of a sudden some guys became aggressive and started pushing T and for the split-second he took his hand away from his pocket to parry the bodies ramming him, our tickets were pick-pocketed.
T almost got into a fight because he thought he knew who exactly among those aggressively pushing took the tickets. I pulled him away from the crazy crowd before it got worse. T, normally a patient man, was reacting to the situation. Dejectedly, we walked back to the car while V cried. T being so frustrated, offered to buy us tickets from a scalper for 3 times its price. I firmly said no. I understand that we really wanted to see this concert but with the type of crowd and our mood, I didn't think it was safe anymore.
Tonight, I told my gf A about it and funny enough they too have a story to share. One of their friends actually managed to get in to see the concert with his girlfriend but lost his wallet (credit cards, driver's license, etc) and his cellphone in the process. He even made sure they were in his front pockets.
His problems started when at some point in the concert people started to scale and or tear down the makeshift fence in between the areas and started to throw things at the guards when they tried stop them. It became apparently chaotic. He was more vigilant about a stampede and was paying more attention to the tiny exit gate and logistics rather his own stuff. When the surge reached them...he was a sitting duck.
This reminds me of Manna's concert here in Managua last year that we were not able to attend, where we also bought tickets - you guessed it...VIP. We got confused with our social calendar and said yes to a sit down dinner on concert night. We thought we can still catch it later in the evening, but as dinners go...it was hard to leave, so we missed it. From those who attended, we also heard of people losing their wallets and cellphones and like the Aventura concert, was not well organized.
I have decided to not attend concerts here anymore- at least the outdoor ones - I don't think they're worth the aggravation. As far as logistics and security is concerned....they are stampedes waiting to happen.
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