This was a rescheduled date from 2020 when all concerts were put on hold due to covid. When the tickets for this show went on sale I bought a couple of 100 level seats but in the back of my mind I knew this was going to be the tour I would do VIP tickets and get a pit pass down to the floor. I have never been able to see Guns N Roses from the pit any of the times I have seen them. Seeing how this concert was going to be just a few days after my birthday I knew I wanted to upgrade my tickets. I didn’t actually upgrade my tickets as I just bought new tickets and gave my other tickets to my kids. My son decided not to go and my daughter didn’t find anyone who was able to make it so I put the ticket up for sale and a friend of mine, Monica, offered to buy the extra ticket. The plan was my daughter was going to drive me and Jessica up and we planned on being there at the venue, Dicks Sporting Goods Park by 9 am. I wanted to be first in line even though I had VIP passes. My daughter was going to drop Jessica and I off then come back closer to the doors opening and meet up with Monica and they were going to sit together. Meanwhile Monica was going to drive herself up and come hang out mid-day. Before she even made it to the venue she was asking me about getting her pit tickets. They still had some available so she ended up buying a new ticket for her and for Alexis my daughter. However before I get into all that let me back up a little bit. So Jessica and I get dropped off and we walk around the venue asking everyone where the VIP line is going to be and we get all different answers from everyone we talk to. This one guy called “base” to find out and he claimed it was on the South side where we were going to line up. He didn’t seem that confident but we headed that way and got dropped off there with our chairs. We were first to line up. We put our chairs there and walked off to the box office to see what time they opened so I could confirm we were lined up in the right place. As we were near the box office which was closed this lady comes out and says I talked to the guy who gave you directions earlier. She said I have all these emails she had printed out and she started going through them. She did confirm that we were lined up in the right place. So Jessica and I went back to our spot and began our wait.
It was maybe 30 minutes after we were sitting there another group of people came up. They asked us a few questions then said they were going to get lunch and be back to get in line with us. After they left this family with 2 kids came up and were looking through the gates (you could see the stage from where we were at). They were saying they had seats and were coming back later in the night and just then security came by and told us we couldn’t line up this early then drove off. The family left right away but we really had nowhere to go since we got dropped up and had these chairs. We decided we would stay there until they came and told us again that we had to move then worst case we would move across the street. While we waited for them to come back that group of people that left to get food came back. We told them what we were told and they decided to sit next to us and wait and see if we would be told again or not. At first I don’t know if they believed us. This was only the 2nd time ever that I had been told that I couldn’t line up early for a concert. As we were sitting there maybe 20 minutes I walked away from our spot to smoke. While Jessica and I were standing there this other guy walks up and says he had been waiting but was also told not to line up so he was just walking around the venue over and over to avoid being detected I guess. Anyway it was a few minutes later security came back and told us we had to move and couldn’t line up before 3 pm. He said we were fine to line up across the street in the parking lot so we moved there.
It wasn’t long after that more people started showing up to get in line. It seems that the group we met first was traveling and following the Guns N Roses tour city to city. There was one girl in their group who was from Colorado but the rest of them weren’t. The guy I mentioned was from Colorado but the next 2 people who came and got in line were also traveling and following the band from city to city. Our little group of people were cool. One of the girls from that first traveling group kept offering us joints. If course I’m never going to turn down free weed. She was happy to share since she wasn’t going to be taking anything with her to the next city. I think it was around 3 when Monica arrived but not without a bunch of hassle. The venue parking was a mess and no one knew what anyone was doing. Monica and several others got sent from entrance to entrance with everyone pointing her in another direction. She was able to finally get in and parked. Right after that Alexis arrived. Before we got ready to go into the venue we checked out the merchandise and I got a total of 5 shirts. I was all in for this Guns N Roses concert. After that we packed the cars up and waited to get checked in. The vip early entrance was at 4. They checked us in and gave us our gift bags then lead us through security. I ended up dumping almost a full bottle of booze and it didn’t even matter. Had I kept it in my pocket I could have walked right in with it. I still had another small bottle stashed but there was no reason to throw it away. Once we were in I was going through my bag and I noticed I got another vip badge with 2 free drinks. I pulled them out not knowing at first and said out load, oh I get 2 free drinks to. The vip lady heard me and asked, you have 2 vip passes? Long story short they put those passes in my bag by accident. However if I hadn’t said anything and just put those on instead I would have got a free upgrade. It really was just the 2 free drinks and the other vip pass. The pass also gave those who had one front of the line access. Luckily only 2 people used that benefit and got in front of Jessica and me.
When it was time to take all of us to the floor we walked in single file. Once we hit the pit Jessica and I took off running to pick our spot. I wanted to be between Axl and Slash and I got that spot. Now we just had to hold our spots and save room for Monica and Alexis which we managed to do without any problems. The first band of the night was a local band The Vs. They were playing because Wolf Van Halen canceled due to someone catching covid. I was disappointed that we didn’t get to see his band but the vs did a really good job of warming up the crowd. I didn’t catch their whole set as I left to go to the bathroom and to get drinks. When I got back we had gotten a text from Monica saying the heat was too much and she was leaving. We all felt really bad because she was excited to see Guns N Roses for the first time. Plus she had paid to upgrade her ticket and Alexis’s ticket.
As we waited for Guns N Roses to hit the stage we hung out taking group pictures and posting them to social media. Guns N Roses was supposed to hit the stage at 7:45 and play until 10:45. They didn’t come out until just after 9pm but played until 11pm. When they did hit the stage it started with a little video on the main screen and ended with Slash walking out and the rest of the band following him. They opened with Its So Easy which they usually open with. The crowd went wild! In total they played 23 songs including their newest song Absurd. Slash was on fire all night and Axl was still hitting all his notes on que and he still sounded great! Axl didn’t talk much to the crowd but that was ok I would have rather have listened to them play, rather than listen to him talking. The entire place was vibing that night and everyone had a great time. This was the most I had ever paid for VIP tickets, which was over $1,100 but it was worth every penny! I was however really hoping to walk away that night with a guitar pick from Slash. That’s was why I picked his side. It wasn’t until the very end of the show that they were throwing picks out in the crowd and my daughter managed to get one thrown to her. It bounced off her hand but the security guy ended up giving it to her which she gave to me. All and all, what an amazing time I had with my girlfriend and my daughters first Guns N Roses show from the front of the stage! Looking forward to hearing more of their new music and hoping another live show in 2022!
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