Sunday 24 March 2013

Tougher Than The Rest

The earliest that I saw people lining up for shows in Brisbane or Sydney was 9pm the night before - but in Melbourne, it will take more than a 12hour head start to grab the highly sought after number 1 spot in the GA line.
Bumping into concert regulars as soon as I arrived in the city I saw fresh numbers had already been given out, and were already past 30.
This was at 7pm on Saturday night.
The first guy in line was there at 2pm and prepared to camp out overnight for the privilege.
After checking in to my room for the week here I went and grabbed the 42nd spot in line - that's better than 71, for Sydney 3 and 121 and 107 for Brisbane 1 and 2.
So far we've had roll calls at 10pm Saturday, then Sunday at 7am, 11am and now heading into the 1pm.
So far we've gone past 110 with some seven hours to go.
Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena being closer to the city centre than previous venues on this tour, the wait between roll calls has bee made a lot easier as you have time to disappear for a few hours - as long as you're back in time.
Miss that roll call, and when you do get back you're moved to the back of the line.
If anyone thinks any of this waiting, roll calls and sleeping outside arenas is mental, then you'd be amazed by what happens across Europe.
Tales of people sleeping on the streets for up to five nights in Sweden have spread through the GA camp.
While the US lottery system designed to cut down on people waiting and could see people who only wait 60 minutes get first in line, has it's fans and it's haters.
With GA tickets for Tuesday and Wednesday's consecutive shows, I'm expecting their to be a race from the stage on Tuesday night to the start of the following night's GA line.
And when it comes to Hanging Rock, where a strict no camping rule has been talked about, I'm guessing a lot of people will be sleeping in the car park before the gates open at 2pm.




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