THE SWEATY PITS OF HELL
In short, Atlanta was sweltering;
waiting in line was definitely no cake walk. Living two hours away we left in
time to make it to the venue by 12 o’clock, and after the unplanned detour siri
decided to take us on we made it to Aarons Amphitheatre around 12:30 only to endure
optimal direct sunlight. Usually with assigned seating it’s not worth a heat
stroke waiting in line hours early but I wanted the exclusive Atlanta tour
poster, hence our early arrival.
Aarons Amphitheatre at Lakewood
would not open the parking lots until 3 o’clock so the early arrival line we
were parked in took up one lane of the two lane road outside of the venue. We were
about the 8th car. Finally the main lot directly outside of the
gates opened and we had to drive less than a second down the road to it and
then stand in line outside of the gates.
A small merch booth was set up outside
and they were slowing getting all the products up; however this merch tent
never offered the limited poster. Later on I spotted a few people walking
around with it and they didn’t have sound check; turns out there’s a mysterious
other entrance to the venue I have never seen before, and a merch tent over
there was selling them. Luckily my MVP hoped on a golf cart while I held our
place in line and snagged one! (It was $40)
I also bought a tour program ($20)
and a red rock sign foam fingers ($15).
Continuously throughout the day I received upgrade messages
from LiveNation, these included Fast Lane passes, parking passes, and lawn
chair rentals. When I bought my ticket many months earlier I opted for Fast
Lane since it was only $5 more, and it was well worth it, get it if you can! VIP
Parking Pass was a load of crap and luckily I didn’t waste $25 on it because parking was free and if you’re early you’re
basically where they park VIP. And as far as lawn chairs go you can bring your
own so long as it’s really short like beach chairs.
HEY VIOLET’S ACOUSTIC SET
Around 3 o’clock Hey Violet came out
to the merch booth and set up to sing some songs. They sang two then the
security had the crowd form a line for pictures. It took them about 45 minutes
to take all the group pictures and I ran over to take some pictures of them as
they were leaving. They were very kind and respectful to all of their fans and
it was really cute to watch them interact with them.
Finally Inside
Once inside I lurked in the shadows
and shade and was finally able to cool off. Concession stands started booming
and the merch line was longer than my high school graduation line up. Also when
you buy a water bottle they unscrew the cap and that is why I smuggle in a
water cap into almost every show. I met a couple people with sound check and
was able to get a photo of the lanyard, which I believe is slightly different
from the Euro leg of the tour.
HEY
VIOLET LIVE
I hung out with friends on the lawn but returned
to my seat for Hey Violet and they rocked. I didn’t know the songs but they had
lots energy and did their thing. And their cover of Blank Space got the crowd
hyped! It was harder to take good pictures using my I phone during their set
because the sun was still out but the darker it got the better photos were
turning out, but videos were the best way to go to get a clear picture, I thought.
THE CROWD
First off the overall crowd at the show was younger, mostly
around 11-16, whatever that’s fine they like the same music as me cool I don’t care.
However, they are immature. You don’t have to like the opening band but it is disrespectful
to boo them and it shows bad character on your part, isn’t funny, and guess
what; 5SOS isn’t going to like someone who can’t show respect. Plain and
simple.
Finally, hooping and hollering is fun and totally okay, I do
it too, but when you emit blood curdling screams and look at your friend for a approval
and then do it again you are interfering with everyone’s experience. You are
now the asshat who everyone around you wishes would dislodge part of their
braces and choke on it. And your posh mom sitting next to me who isn’t doing
anything about it sucks hairy butt too.
5 SECONDS OF SUMMER!!
As expected the crowd exploded and
Ashton was the first member we could see then the lights fully came on and the
other guys were revealed. Michael made corny jokes about his biggest fans being
there (the giant fans on the ceiling). They
talked about how hot it was multiple times and Calum showed it the most. Luke’s
vocals were majorly on point and Michael killed Wrapped Around Your Finger. Hearing
Calum play the bass live is so much better than videos and dare I say the
album. Ashton’s solo for She’s Kinda Hot was one of my favorite parts because he's
smashing those drums in the back, probably exhausted, and then slays his solo. Instead
of their impromptu pizza song they sang a song where they basically chanted “Atlanta”
and something like “We’re leaving Atlanta today.”
Their camera set up is awesome as
well; their team knows what they’re doing. If you had lawn seats and only could
see the screens it would’ve been like watching a concert movie there were so
many dynamic shots quickly changing back and forth from each member in synch
with the current song being performed. They’ve definitely learned and picked up
some tricks One Directions big multi million production uses and have made it uniquely
their own. All though this was great it did make snapping good clear pictures
hard because the guys kept moving, lights were flashing and the camera angles
kept changing, but videos turned out really well for just a regular I phone.
SET LIST
- End Up Here
- Out Of My Limit
- Voodoo Doll
- Permanent Vacation
- Don’t Stop
- Disconnected
- Long Way Home
- Rejects
- Heartache On The Big Screen
- Wrapped Around Your Finger
- Amnesia
- Beside You
- Everything I Didn’t Say
- American Idiot
- Kiss Me Kiss Me
- She’s Kinda Hot
- She Looks So Perfect
- Good Girls
- What I Like About You
The Calm After The
Storm
The race to the parking lot began. We
didn’t even try to go to our car until at least twenty minutes after their
final bow. Even then no one in the parking lot was moving and the road was
completely congested as well. Everyone sat for at least an hour until finally
we were able to get on the road. I’m not sure if that’s a venue flaw or traffic
conductors error, either way it’s worth mentioning if you ever plan on going to
Aarons Amphitheatre.
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