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I got up at the usual time this morning since I didn't get any messages from the Vermont crew as to what the plans were for today. When I checked my e-mail I got a message (which arrived at 7:15) that they were going to meet at CM's place at 7:45. *looks at clock* Ten o'clock.
Great.
Fortunately, since DE was working in the morning, I could hook up with him if I wasn't able to meet up with the rest of the group. After dinking around for a little while, I gave him a call and found out that he was just about to leave. Whew! Just in time!
Anyway, to make a long story short, I picked up him, we picked up some munchies and some cameras, and headed out to the subway station. This was actually my first time on the new subway and it seems pretty nice. The subway itself is obviously much shorter than the older lines, which makes me wonder how they'll handle higher traffic loads in the future, but in any case, until they extend the line, it won't be all that useful huh?
The ride was fairly uneventful, and the subway and shuttle bus weren't as packed as I had originally feared. There were a lot of people walking towards the concert grounds in the blazing sun, but the temperature was pretty good and there was a nice breeze. Most of the people that were going to watch seemed to be in their twenties or thirties. There were some older people too in their forties who also brought their children along. I wasn't sure why children would've been a good idea seeing as there wasn't any children's entertainment there per se.
We arrived at the east end of the grounds and the bus disgorged it's contents (us). We didn't know where the entry gate was (there were three, on one to the north, one on the east, and one to the south) so we wakled with the (ever growing) crowd.
There were a number of peddlers on the street selling their wares. Mostly people who were taking advantage of the hot weather by selling their ice cold water to the masses. There was one scalper I passed by, and a few others selling trinkets. Although we were near the eastern gate, the majority of the people were heading towards the north gate, and we followed them blindly. It wasn't a bad choice however, since by the time we reached the gate, there wasn't really much of a lineup. The field however was strewn with empty water bottles, bags, and other garbage that the previous people in line had left behind or thrown out. I guess that what happens when you've got several thousand people packed into a small area. One bad point with walking to the north gate was that we had to walk all the way back to the concert grounds. All that walking in the blazing sun was a recipe for disaster considering the sheer number of people who were present. Already there were revelers suffering from sunstroke, but that is to be expected isn't it?
There were huge lineups in front of everything. The food stands (which were selling hot dogs and hamburgers for six bucks a pop - what a rip!), the beer tent (which had just opened and you can only walk off with two cups at a time), and the portapotties (I wouldn't want to go in one unless I really had to).
We had contacted the rest of the group before entering the gates and had an idea of where they were (between poles 302 and 303). Unfortunately, when we got closer, we couldn't contact them again. My cell phone kept giving me a busy signal as did DE's. So we wandered into the sea of people looking for that proverbial needle. We stood around looking for several minutes. Everyone looked the same to me. So many bodies and.. *eyes young girl wearing a bikini top and jean shorts*
Uhh.. who were we looking for again? Oh yeah, eventually DE spotted the group and we joined their camp. We were approximately three hundred meters away from the stage, and a few meters away from one of the ice cream stands that dotted the grounds. It was probably a poor choice considering how much traffic flowed through our area. The ice cream stand that was near us quickly ran out of stock because the runners that were supposed to restock the stands couldn't make it through the crowd! Oops. I guess they'll have to work on their logistics next time.
The acts that were taking place weren't big names so I didn't really pay any attention to them. Most of my time was spent trying not to move much, drinking as little water as possible, and people watching. *wiggles eyebrows* Considering the number of people who were there, it was mighty slim pickings, but I'm not surprised from the average age of the group (in their thirties or up). It also probably depended on your location as well. Most of the younger crowd probably came early to get a good seat near the stage, while the older fogies (especially those that worked today) were further out. I'd be curious to see what the age breakdown was as well as a chronographical map.
Some people brought along balloons and beach balls and were throwing them about the crowd. As soon as a ball/balloon was falling down into one area, it would quickly be swatted away into another part of the crowd. With the prevailing winds, most of these flying objects were eventually moved towards the north-eastern end of the grounds.
The weather was amazingly good however. The organizers couldn't have asked for anything better really, and things were going without a hitch. My only major complaint was the fact that the bands needed time to set up in between sets, and this usually took longer than the sets themselves, which meant that there was a lot of down time throughout the day. This certainly gave us some time to go out and wander for a bit, but due to the size of the crowds (and the length of the sets), it was nigh impossible to get back to your seats without missing an act or two.
Most of the early acts weren't all that spectacular as I mentioned before, but it got interesting when the evening section started. Actually, the switch between the afternoon bands and evening bands didn't seem like much of a switch since the time it took to set up each band took so long anyway. During this time, one of the special treats we got was a flyby from one of the air force's CF-18s. The crowd hooped and hollared when the jet swooped over us, roaring over the crowd and making the crowd itself roar with pleasure. After a second pass, the plane did a salute and took off. Apparently there was another treat at the beginning of the concert where a paraglider came in off one of those air transports, but I wasn't there to witness it.
Some of the later afternoon acts were okay. Blue Rodeo was a local band which got some attention (since I actually knew some of the songs). But it was the evening bands that most of the crowd was waiting for. Well, if you exclude Justin Timberlake. Going through the list of performers, one would be blind not to notice how out of all of the big names in the second half of the concert, his name sticks out from the rest. Still it was nice that he showed up. I didn't actually see the water bottles being thrown at him, but there were the occasional squeals from female fans that dotted the crowd, and a rather large booing section that was behind and to the left of us.
I was never much of a Rush fan unfortunately, so their songs didn't really do anything for me. But it got really crazy when AC/DC came out. They had one of the longest sets (over an hour!) and they made good use of it. One crazy fan actually climbed up one of the speaker towers and waved his arms like a maniac during the entire set. He was still up there when it got dark and I don't know when (or if) he came down. Anyway, AC/DC rocked the house, and everybody was into the show. They played as the sun went down and didn't finish until after nightfall. I actually recognized (and sang to) most of their songs, which is strange since I don't actually listen to AC/DC. MJO would be proud of me. *nods*
Since they finished past nine, a good number of people started leaving the concert grounds. It was getting late, and for most of them, it was a long day. Some people did suffer heat stoke and heat exaustion, like the lady in front and to the right of us, but apart from that incident (and DE) I didn't see anyone else suffering from the heat. (Considering how much skin I saw, I'd actually say "turn it up!")
The Rolling Stones took the floor and for a bunch of seniors, they seemed to have more energy than a classroom full of children! The first few songs (apart from "Start Me Up") I didn't actually recognize, and probably neither did a lot of the other people since many started leaving in the middle of the set. But for those who stayed, they did start switching to their more popular tunes. They even had a number of guest apparences with some of the previous performers. Justin Timberlake sang a song with Mik, and the guitarist from AC/DC (I forgot his name) did a guitar duel with Keith Richards. One thing that caught my attention was when they used the video screen to show some.. er.. risqué animation. Considering that there were kids present here and there, I wonder if they were still present, and if so, what kind of questions they'd be asking their parents. "Daddy! Daddy! Why does that lady have no clothes on, and why is she riding that tounge?"
Anyway, their set ended earlier than anticipated, but the ending was abrupt, and obviously temporary. The lights went out and the stage went silent, but the crowd stayed, and the cheering got louder. Minutes later, the Stones came out for their first encore. After it was done, it was decided that our group would start to leave. I knew that the Stones were going to come out again, but I decided not to argue. They were my ride home. As we pushed through the crowd and tried to find our way to the designated meeting tree (which I have never been to and thus didn't know where it was located), the fireworks started up and I tried to catch a glimpse of them as we slowly shuffled our way to the exits. It was actually quite treacherous since there was so much trash and garbage lying around the grounds. Some were heaped up in mounds by people kicking the odd piece of trash aside, but it was literally a minefield of water bottles and cardboard. I do not envy the people who have to clean up after us.
After the fireworks were over, the Stones came out for another encore, which I couldn't really hear since we were off to the side of the stage and the sound was muffled. One song that I didn't hear was "Paint it Black". Two of the bands during the day did some solo riffs from that song, which wet our appetite for the headliners, but I was surprised that they didn't play it in their set (unless they did and I missed it at the end).
It took a long time to make our way to the exit. It was basically a big bottleneck since the fences were still up even though the gates were down. As JM and I oozed our way through the crowd, there was a cry from our left and we saw that a number of people had actually pushed down the fence and the crowd flooded into the open field like a severe hemmorage.
We didn't have any problems finding the rest of the group, but I was really itching to go to the washroom since I hadn't gone all day (I didn't drink all that much either, but still..). There were so many people leaving from the concert that all of the roads were flooded with people. Those who were "lucky" and found parking close to the concert were screwed because the throng of people clogged up all of the roads. It was interesting passing by all of these stopped cars since they weren't going anywere. The plan of parking far away was a very good one, except that it took us two hours to walk back to the cars. I was pretty darned tired by the time we made it back, and I really had to go to the washroom.
I told them where I was parked and was asked if I paid for the spot. I hadn't actually since the gate for the parking lot was open and there was lots of parking space. Someone mentioned that you needed to show a ticket of some sort or they might tow the car, and that started to get me worried. They hadn't done that before, but I knew they had (or thought of) implemented a paying standard even after rush hour, but the gate was open..
So when I was dropped off at the parking lot, I rushed inside and was relieved to find my car still in it's spot. Whew! I went back home without any incident.
Friday, August 22, 2003 at 20:15:25 (UTC)
If you look closely, you'll see the the walls at either end of each station on the Sheppard line are dummies. The platforms were built to support six cars, but they've been temporarily shortened to support four until demand increases.
PRQ <e-mail>
Friday, August 22, 2003 at 21:01:56 (UTC)
Oh, that's cool. I guess the TTC didn't shoot themselves in the foot then.
Hey.. waitaminute! How did you find this site?!?
QYV
Saturday, August 23, 2003 at 04:33:27 (UTC)
Nah, they've got everything under control. Eventually the line -will- be extended, and the demand -will- be there. Don't listen to the naysayers; they're the same ones who said it made no sense to run a line up University, only two blocks off Yonge.
It's all in the magic of server logs, kid. Remember that: server logs.
PRQ <e-mail>