{"id":26612,"date":"2014-08-19T18:20:51","date_gmt":"2014-08-19T22:20:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/?p=26612"},"modified":"2014-08-23T10:52:36","modified_gmt":"2014-08-23T14:52:36","slug":"concert-adventure-part-i-waiting-for-the-monster-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2014\/08\/concert-adventure-part-i-waiting-for-the-monster-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"Concert Adventure, Part I: Waiting for the Monster Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

In March<\/a>, when Rihanna <\/a>and Eminem<\/a> announced the dates for their joint, three-city Monster Tour<\/a>, I wasn’t sure what tickets to get.\u00a0 It would be practical to get seated tickets, but in huge venues like New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, which has over 80,000 seats<\/a>, even the best seats are fairly far away from the stage. I thought maybe I’d want to brave general admission for a spot on the floor, similar to what my sister and I did in 2011 at Lollapalooza<\/a>. That experience was harrowing, but unforgettable. I was sure I could cope with the early arrival and day-long wait necessary for a great standing spot in GA, but would I be able to recruit a friend to accompany me? Under pressure when tickets went on sale for the August tour dates, I decided to not decide: I got seated tickets for Saturday’s show and GA\/standing tickets for Sunday. After all, I had months to figure out a plan and sell the extra tickets.<\/p>\n

Time flies, as it does, and even though I couldn’t think of any ardent Eminem or Rihanna fans among my friends and the concert weekend was looming, I couldn’t bear to sell those floor tickets. Between the time the tickets went on sale and the show dates, I purchased tickets for and attended an Eminem solo show at the 90,000-seat Wembley Stadium<\/a> in London. I had great seats for that but still felt so far away<\/a>. I kept looking at the people right in front of the stage and thinking, “I wish I were there.”\u00a0 Finally, with mere days to go, I turned to my gorgeous and generous friend Jen. My birthday is in December, but Jen often treats me to a celebratory concert or play in the spring. That timing is just our tradition. Back in March, I had shyly mentioned that the best gift would be her company at the Monster Tour, but I hadn’t want to force the issue. She definitely didn’t fall into the ardent fan category and it seemed too much to ask. But, last week, I decided to throw myself on her mercy and she cheerfully said yes, because that’s the kind of person she is.<\/p>\n

Therefore, on Saturday, I used the seated tickets with MrB.\u00a0 We wound up getting there shortly after doors opened because we weren’t sure how challenging it would be to get on one of the buses running between Port Authority and the stadium. (It wasn’t challenging at all, either getting there or getting back. Great service!)<\/p>\n

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When I posted this photo on Instagram I pointed out that you can’t judge a book by its cover: This man was attending his THIRD Eminem show.<\/p><\/div>\n

If you’re ever going to a music event at MetLife, you can’t do much better than seats in the second row of section 142 on the side of the stage. (Well, you could do the first row!) The front of that section is as close as you can get without being on the floor. When we arrived in 142 on Saturday, only the diehard, front-of-the-stage people were in position, so I got to study the set-up. I noticed that it seemed very civilized and I was encouraged.<\/p>\n

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The early floor standees.<\/p><\/div>\n

Here are the first 10 minutes of the show from section 142.<\/p>\n