Before I got to cardiff I actually did make it to Glasgow in time to see the boys play .. I flew from Amsterdam, arriving in Edinburgh at 18.00pm where the cab driver was indeed waiting for me with a plain paper that had my name printed on it .. ah well .... no fancy signs then huh ...
He told me the traffic was heavy .... all the way to Glasgow.... oh fuck .. here we go is what I thought ... but I had already decided beforehand that I was gonna take it as it comes ... no way I could change it ... just go with the flow ... and swim along. And yes, at times it was very heavy traffic, makeing us roll at 30 miles per hour on the highway but still .. we were moving .... and once we got in glasgow .. it seemed most traffic had cleared .... looked like most folks had already reached their destinations by then .... clearing the way for me to get all the way to Hampden Park ... yeah .... Arrived there at 19.45 with the gig starting around 20.15 ..... quickly made my way to the Box office, picked up my ticket and went in .. Was amazed by how many drunk Scots there were ... some even staggering allready, before the gig ..... Some small fights were going on, loads of police was present, mmm this was a strange atmosphere ... still friendly mostly, but heated up in a way ..
I checked out the fieldfirst,it looked as if I could make my way easily halfway the field ... but that was not my plan ...
I was gonna dance this time, and not want to get stuck in between some too drunk scots ... ok ... first had to piss .. which I did ... took me 10 minutes .. as there were more clients for the toilets ... Then made my way to the front, to check out the space at the side of the stage ... people wanting to enter the front pit were refused entry as it was full ... and so they turned around. One of the security guys turned around, and was not watching his little isle ... ha ha ... I was bold, and decided to walk in as if I belonged there .... and they did not notice me ... or felt `i belonged there I guess, they were not there for me and I was not gonna look at them with the question on my forehead: is it ok to go in >>>> ???? no, the decision was followed with the left leg moving towards the middle entrance ... I did not hesitate for a split second and walked straight trough ..
.. and yes ...
I could not believe it ... here I was, arriving at edinburgh at 18.00 and two hours later I was in the pit .... then just before you turn left into the main pit that circles the stage I even found a wristband on the floor ... which made my presence in the front completely legit ! Checked out how far I could get to the centre in front of the stage, but that was impossible .. I got to the side, at Adams side, seeing the whole band clearly, but the sound was not very good there and too many people around me with damn cameras, and more importantly, they did NOT sing along ... Went to the back of the stage for the entrance of the band, saw them come out of the corridor and making their way to the stage, from the front of the field you can see some spotlights moving, and the crowd starts to go nuts ,, ... now I saw them before hardly anyone in the stadium saw them, which was nice to experience ... seeing the spark coming, and lighting up all the little wildfires .. then went back in the pit and stayed there outside of the rail, to adams side for a while, was nice, but only few there knew the words to the new songs ... the choir which was impossible to reach seemed to be consisting of a smaller bunch, more central up front it seemed .. and after elevation I made my way again to the back of the stage ... where there was tons of space ... logical, as you had to watch the screen, or look at the drummers back, or side .. at some spots you can peek a bit underneath the stage and more funny things you normally dont see ... so hey ...
I had decided I was gonna loose myself in the music, and dance .. so I did .... man it was fun ! Finding the ideal spot where the speakers gave me a proper mix of bass and mids and highs ... being a few yards away from some of the crew that made sure the technical stuff was arranged, saw the towel girl up close ( she is lovely) (she allways brings frsh towels on stage for the boys, and some water .. not a bad job to have ..) and saw the volunteers getting ready for their walk on performance ... also witnessed the exit of the boys after the concert....
It was great to see all these things, and have a blast at the same time ...
Once again I was gone after the remix of I'll go crazy ... I had to sit down for a few minutes, decided to go and get a pint .... which was tasy actually ! Then took it easy for a few songs, and then was able to dance like mad again .... All in all .... a great night ... with some strange sound problems during MLK and Walk On as all sound was cut out ..... Then after the concert stayed in the pit to see if I could find some familiar faces ... met Montse again, by surprise .. the girl I had met in Wembley and whom I spend some nice hours with .. chatting away, making time fly .. we both had to go to the central station, hopped on the bus not realising it was gonna take some time for it to make its way trough traffic ... hardly any bus lanes .... luckily we got at the station in time, and then each of us went our separate ways, I had to go to glasgow national airport to fly to cardiff at 14.05 the next day and she was gonna go to glasgow prestwick, to fly to dublin at 06.00 .. she actually had to work at 09.00 that must have been fun ...
I had a leaking airbed at the airport, I woke up after one hours sleep on the floor ... nice one .... moved to the seats, and slept again, only for a wee while, as very soon I was woken up by a huge group of teenagers, that were all lining up in front of the check in, at I had chose the wrong side ... man, it was the far side of that huge hall ... .. I thought I was dreaming .... but no ... the flight to Alicante was leaving at 04.00 and here was this bunch of drunk over excited kids ... all ready for a week of partying .... I guess next time I know where NOT to ly down and try to sleep ... ah well ... I moved to the back, laid down on the floor, and closed my eyes ... and gues what ... I was once again, roughly woken up by this thundering sound ... was that a train coming or what ... ??? Nope I had actually positioned myself right next to the door that was used to let the unused trolleys pass by .. after check in all these troleys get left, and they need to be brought down again ... so they line m up, and then simply let them roll down hill by themselves ... and I was right next to the ramp, tha was hidden by this rolling door ... oh yes .... what a night .... few lessons learned ... AFter that .. I just spend some time checking the newspapers, had some breakfast and loads of coffee, hurray for the free refill ! And then flew to Cardiff with a propellored airplane, which was exciting .... and smooth flying I must say, small airplane, great service .. fly.be is OK !
So, that was how I arrived in glasgow, and cardiff ... after missing my flight a dew days earlier ..... quite a colourfull story even if I say so myself ...
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