Last month, my friend gave me concert tickets to see Glass Animals in Chicago. This was a very last-minute concert for me, but it ended up being one of the best nights of my life and I want to share this experience with all of you.
The alarms went off at 4 am, but I had been awake since 3:30. We got ready within 5 minutes and we called the Uber to take us to the venue.
For context, Glass Animals is my friend’s favorite band and she was determined to be in the front of the crowd.
We got to the venue around 5 am and we were the only people there. We laughed for 20 minutes in shock at the fact we were the first people to line up for the concert and were definitely going to be in the front. We had been talking for a few days leading up to the concert about what we were going to bring for our long day of waiting, and we forgot all of it (my friend even forgot her jacket… in the March weather or Chicago).
We sat there on the sidewalk in freezing weather for three hours before the nearby Target was open and we could go collect what we needed. The Target employees let us in early because they could see it on our faces how desperately we needed inside. We ran around for a few minutes, got everything we needed, and took an Uber back to the venue as fast as we could to avoid anybody getting in line while we were gone. However, nobody else joined the line until 11:30 AM.
Around 10 am is when the day took a turn into the crazy experience it became. After 5 hours of waiting alone, my friend and I were starting to get tired, cold, and hungry. That’s when we met Mark, the tour bus driver for the band. He was walking out of the venue and noticed us sitting at the front of the line. He asked us if we wanted any coffee and we desperately wanted coffee, so we said yes. He walked into the tour bus and a few minutes later returned with two cups of coffee and a huge bag. In this bag were a variety of snacks, millions of water bottles, a giant comforter for us to wrap around us, and special Glass Animals sugar cookies.
My friend and I just stared at each other and thanked Mark a million times. We talked for about half an hour after that with Mark about our lives and it was just such a sweet moment.
At this point, more people began to join the line, but it was scattered and it didn’t build for a very long time. It was such a close and intimate crowd at first. At one point when there was only my friend and I, and a dad saving a spot for his daughter near the front.
As my friend and I were talking to him, the guitarist for the band brought us tea and asked us if we needed anything since we had been there for so long. My friend and I were in shock, and I wish I had gotten a photo, but honestly, it feels better knowing I got to experience that for myself and not for proof. The tea was delicious and I am not a tea drinker so that was pleasant.
After that nothing exciting happened, except a thunderstorm and a panic attack.
After 14 straight hours of strange experiences, it was time to line up for the concert. My friend was wearing heels and asked me to be the runner. I had never been in front of a concert like this before, so I was nervous and excited. One of the workers made sure to put me at the front of the line (because I had been outside for 14 hours). After scanning my ticket and showing my vaccine card, I ran faster than I ever have before and I got us to the barricade. We got up to our spots, made friends, and the concert began.
I don’t think I will ever experience something like this again, mostly because I will never camp out for a concert that long again. Despite the misery and how sick I got following that, it is a core memory that I will never forget.
