Entry 2 - 23 Aug 98: The Journey
Although I have little to no basis of comparison, I would like to say this about Pearl Jam -- they are, without a doubt, the world's best live performance band, bar none.
Yesterday was certainly a day of extreme highs tempered with annoying and often painful lows. My day began at 7:00 am, when I arose from the worst sleep I have ever experienced in my life -- you think Christmas at five years old is bad? Try going to sleep before a Pearl Jam concert.
A cup of raspberry yogurt and glass of milk later, I was on my way. Having no money on me for bus fare, I found myself forced to walk from my humble abode to the Square One Mississauga Transit Station. That's nothing, I thought -- what's twenty minutes, tops, eh? Of course, I hadn't accounted for the extra hour of walking I had ahead of me. The plan was that I would walk to the station, grab some money from the ATM and buy myself a bus ride to the train station to the south. No such luck -- at that hour, the ticket booth isn't open, and the bus drivers require exact change. They might as well have required a handful of moon rocks, 'cause I didn't have a lick of change on me.
And so the walking continued, until I managed to find an open gas station just down the street. Snagging myself a Dr. Pepper and an Oh Henry, I proceeded to the near-by bus stop and waited.
But lo and behold, fate would have it that I was not to wait alone, for I had no less than a propaganda-spreading Jehovah's Witness to keep me company this morning! Had I been home, the door would have been shut in less than two-point-two, but instead I bore it, and managed to get me some rather unscrupulous literature questioning the basis of the evolution of man and beast. (Rather ironic, given the concert I was about to experience, eh? I guess it's evolution, baby...)
Now, as you may have noticed, I am alone on my journey to see Pearl Jam. Edward, a friend from Nova Scotia, had to skip out on his road trip, and so I am forced to venture on alone. I had tried to give my second ticket to a couple of friends, but they would have nothing to do with it. (No, your eyes have not gone insane -- I couldn't give the ticket away!)
But anyway, to continue... After my close encounter with cult-life, the bus arrived and I proceeded to the Port Credit Train Station. From there I traveled to Toronto's glorious Union Station, located beneath the CN Tower.
From Union I traveled north in search of the fabled GO Shuttle Bus. However, once again, fate would intervene, as despite what the GO information guy had told me, I decided to go to the Yorkdale Mall instead of the Finch GO Terminal. Something told me that Finch was not the place to be, and so went I to Yorkdale.
My instincts proved to rule supreme as the Yorkdale GO Terminal offered something which Finch did not -- hourly buses to Barrie versus Finch's one-every-three-hours. I hopped into the bus and was amazed at the crowd sitting before me -- they were all going to the same concert. I had never seen so many Pearl Jam t-shirts in my life up until that moment. (Then came the show itself, but I still got a way's to go before that...)
And so we ventured north towards Molson Park.
An hour or so later, we were there. The bus stopped at the exit to Barrie and something rather unexpected occurred -- the bus driver stood up, turned to the passengers and asked, "Does anyone know where we go now?" Apparently this was his first time in Barrie, and he had no idea how to get into Molson Park. Judging from the silence neither did anyone else. Luckily enough, I had come prepared. I produced for him a map of the Park from my backpack which I have printed out from the 'Net (from 5h's Going Mobile guide), and we were off and rolling.
The bus driver let us off at the Molson Centre in Barrie, and the group began to walk towards the main concert area. Scalpers came out from under every rock and bad place, but they would get no money from me this day. In fact, the scalpers reminded me of my ticket, which I managed to sell for twenty bucks. I simply could not get face-value for this thing -- the scalpers simply under-cut me. So I bested them -- I went so low that they thought I was insane. But I knew better, and so did the person buying the ticket, and all was well.
Making my way into the line, I plunked myself down against the fence and waited. It was now high noon, and the gate wasn't to be opened until 2:00 pm. Crap. So the waiting continued, on and on. People around me talked of various Pearl Jam-related musings while a security staffer sprayed us all with a garden hose. At one point, security guards began to remind us of items prohibited to the Park -- drugs, alcohol, umbrellas, cans, glass bottles, A/V equipment of any kind, cameras and plastic coolers. A/V equipment? That can't be right. Pearl Jam allows non-professional audio equipment at their shows, so something's amiss. Sure enough, the staffer returned a half-hour later with an undated report on the audio situation, and everything was fine. Not that it matter to me, for I had no audio equipment to speak of. Unfortunately, I did have a camera and an umbrella (an umbrella still at the Park, by the way), so I was somewhat worried as to what would become of them. I thought about hiding the camera in my combat jacket's map pocket, also known as the inside pocket to the civilian, but that didn't seem reasonable -- any security guard worth his weight in salt would check there. I thought of hiding it on my person, but the guard just looked too scary. I eventually just packed the camera at the bottom of my backpack and hoped no one would notice it.
At 1:45, the call came in -- it's go-time. People began to shuffle through the gates and were patted down, while people with bags were told to go off to the side for inspection. The guy who inspected me took my open backpack and began to affix a sticker denoting baggage storage. Wanting to take my bag in, I told him that he should just store my umbrella, as I wanted to carry my Pearl Jam merchandise in my backpack. With that, he took the umbrella, gave me a claim sticker and never once checked the bag further. The camera was in! And most people think it's a difficult process...
Once in the Park, I sought some memorabilia. Finding myself a sales booth, I managed to snag myself a soccer jersey (western-leg style), a sticker and a Montreal/Toronto poster, all of which amounted to $65 CDN. With gear in hand, I headed into the staging area and took in the surroundings. The side stage was rather compact, pumping out some Garbage while the crowd began to settle in for the support acts. Looking at the posters on the stage, I took note of the bands playing -- finally a reliable source concerning this concert! The plaque on the wall said the following:
Side stage:
All Systems Go 3:00 Hayden 3:30 The Matthew Good Band 4:15 Cracker 5:05
Main stage:
Cheap Trick 6:30 Pearl Jam 7:45
Looking at my watch, I felt a little disheartened -- it was now 2:30. Only five hours and fifteen minutes to go...
I wandered around for a bit and finally plunked myself down just outside of the main stage area at Gate 3, the closest to the stage. Gate 3 is to the left of the stage, a couple of hundred feet from front center. The stage was clearly visible, and tons of techies could be seen milling about, adjusting things, doing whatever it is that techies do. Rumors within the group ran amok, ranging from the usual Neil Young/Chris Cornell wonderings to the ridiculous. Here are some of my favorites:
- Van Halen was opening with Cheap Trick;
- Ken Griffey Jr., who was in town for the Jay's game, was the master of ceremonies with Dennis Rodman;
- That two or three additional Seattle bands were present, the names of which I cannot for the life of me remember; and
- That Jack was back.
Double-U Tee Ef?
At three, the second stage started buzzing as All Systems Go began their set. From where I was sitting, I could barely make out the tops of their heads, although the music was clear and groovin'. Of course, I could barely hear anything from the side stage at all, as the main stage had begun a pseudo-soundcheck, pumping out Soundgarden through the systems to ensure everything sounded okay. The people I was sitting with took it as a sign of Cornell's presence. I figured it was just a coincidence.
And so the bands played on, through Systems, through Hayden and Matthew Good. At 4:00, it happened. A short guy wearing black and red shorts appeared on the main stage and picked up a black and white guitar. No one around me took notice, as techies had been running around the stage all day. From where I was sitting though, I couldn't help but think, man, that sure looks like Eddie. Black hair, real short. I turned to the guys I was sitting with and said, "Y'know, I'll bet you ten bucks that guy in the red and black shorts is Ed Vedder." They all turned away from their game of war and crammed against the fence to see. "No, that's gotta be a techie," they said. But I knew. Even though this was the first time I had ever seen him in person, I knew. A few moments later, the short guy in the shorts began to play a few bars of 'Corduroy' on the black and white guitar. It was him, just as I said. The soundcheck had begun...
'Corduroy' lasted for around twenty or thirty seconds before the rest of the band came out on stage. Eddie stopped playing and turned to the band, said some stuff and adjusted some wires and whatnot. I looked back behind me and noticed that quite a crowd was beginning to form. I wondered if anyone was still watching Hayden and turned back to the main stage. Then, much to my glee and happiness, 'I Got Id'< began to stream its way from the stage towards us. I was elated -- I love that song! The guys around me, much the slaves of rumor, took it as a sign -- Neil Young was here! I ignored them and enjoyed the sounds. As the song ended, the crowd around me began cheering, and some guy in the back started flipping out about wanting to hear 'Dirty Frank' and held up a sign repeating his dementia. But the band played on, kicking in to 'MFC' like nobody's business.
After 'MFC', Eddie grabbed the mic and turned to the crowd saying, "That was fun. We'll see you in a little while," or something to that effect. Between his mumbles and the cheering crowd, little could be heard or comprehended, but that's what it sounded like to me. With that, the band exited the stage, and the crowd quieted down.
By now, the crowd surrounding the gates was massive. Where once it was just me and perhaps two hundred people, thousands now crowded the gates. Thankfully security was now on hand and my place in line was secured.
It was now 4:15, and we waited. The gates would soon be open, and then the real chaos would ensue...
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