My Frontrow Experience - 09/26/2017 - Allianz Parque, São Paulo.

[NeonKinight]

09/26/2017 - Somewhere Far Beyond, Brazil.
Alert : Long Story. Viewer Descripction is advised.
 

PT. I of III

6 o' clock in the morning, it was time again.  

Troughout the whole year, I was tryin' to decide if what I had back in november 2016 was only a very livid dream, or it was real for sure. I had only some memories of what was the most utopic and unachievable dream for me, the dream of experiencing what a Guns N' Roses concert would feel like. You know, growing up in brazil is tough, despite all the samba, carnaval, bunda, rio de janeiro and our violence, living here is expensive, and getting a well paid job is a dream for the majority. Our minimum wage is 238,5 U$, and for those who goes to college and things, They receive around 600U$ in their first years. And we have to pay our bills, feed ourselves, etc, etc, etc...and the price for the topmost GN'R ticket wast above 800 Reais (Almost 200 U$ Dollars). I was sure that i wouldn't be able to pay that amount of money once again, and almost assuming that i would never seen them again. 
But then, destiny smiled at me. 

Hey, do you wanna go to the GN'R Show with me? I'll pay for you. 

That was what my girlfriend asked me on the telephone, less than 2 days before the show. It sounded like she was asking to get married, BUT EVEN BETTER. 
I've never said a more determined "yes" in my whole life, still not believing in what I heard, still thinking it was joke...but it was not. She was dead serious, and even planning what we would to that day, before the show. I couldn't believe my eyes, my ears, or any other sense in my body....How was that even possible? How I've managed to find a girl like that? How could it be she might be mine?
I begun to search around for a ticket....in the front row, or how we call it here, the "premium lane", where the ticket costs more than 800/900 Reais, but the wind was SO on the back of my ship, that It felt like everything i'd do would hit the bulls eye, and with no big surprise, I've found one affordable ticket, with almost no effort, in the premium lane.

In just a few minutes, i've jumped from "I'll never see Guns N' Roses live again" to "Holy fuck!! I'll see His Royal Fatness Axl Rose and Slash in just a few hours!"

There I was for the second time. On the way to realize the most unachiavable dream, for once more. 
I woke up early that morning, feeling electric, searching for ALL (and I mean, ALL) of my documents, money, everything i'd bring to São Paulo with me, even a hat, sunglasses, shirt wristed on my waist....long story short, a cosplay (or better yet, a cos-poor) of Axl Rose. While I was dressing, I grabbed one of my pants and noticed that I used that same one before, years ago,  when I was with my ex-girlfriend....You know when you have that foreboding sense that you'll see her again? I didn't had that much time for such toughts or speculations, because there was a long journey 'till Allianz Parque, there was the road ahead of me, still some hours to see if what I had in 2016 was only a dream...or not.  

There's a bus company in brazil, called "Cometa", wich was heavilly influenced by the american "Greyhound".

Maybe a Cometa could be my way.

"Próxima Estação, Next Station, Sé. Acesso a linha 3 vermelha, Access to line 3 Red, Desembarque pelo lado direito do trem, Disembark by the left door of the train"

After lefting the bus, feeling that cold wind of São Paulo, I head to the subway station, inbound to "Palmeiras-Barra Funda", the closest station to Allianz Parque. In my head, there was some toughts making a firefight...Can this be really happening? Will everything go right? Am I dreaming?  - Sir, excuse-me, how do I get to Palmeiras Barra Funda? Jabaquara....Sé, and then, one more train and i'll be there? Thanks. - Where's my tablet? oh, there it's......
Still feeling dazed n' confused, I was on my way, at least, and it was just a matter of 30 or 40 minutes and I'd be there, then....I Walked into the train.... what's everybody staring at? They act like they never seen a motherfucker wearing black. Ok, I was different from everyone on that train. Everybody heading to their jobs, tryna get their last minutes of rest, maybe someone coming back from their nightshift...and there was I, Axl Rose Looking-Alike, dressed in a old leather jacket, Cowboy Hat, Black Oxfords, with a red bandana hanging from one side of my pants...it was such a curious sight in that morning. The train stopped at sé station, and I started running the stairs up to get the next one. That's one of the things you'll see in São Paulo : People hushing everywhere, at any time, specially in the "Metrô" (Subway).

Luckily, I managed to get one, and I was in the final miles 'till palmeiras barra funda, and when I walked out of the station, I looked at my cellphone, and it was still 8h in the morning...and there was already, a lot of "camelôs" (Street sellers) selling Guns N' Roses things outside of it, asking expensive prices even for a "nothing special" t-shirt. I Asked a couple of taxi drivers to be sure that my way to the stadium was still the right one (I was wrong, but only discovered that this year) and, then, after 15 mins walking and getting dehydrated due to the very, very hot weather, I was close to that green giant again...Allianz Parque. Walked down those streets listening to Appetite For Destruction the loudest it could be, specially, Nightrain... and almost certain that I'd see my ex-girlfriend again.
So if she's somewhere near me, I hope to god she doesn't see me. 

BLACK HOLE SUN

Got to the "premium lane" row exactly at 9am, and holy fuck, how it was hot. There were "camelôs" selling all sort of things, from water bottles to umbrellas, T-shirts, and even tickets, for even more expensive prices. I've made a couple friends there, discussin' about our favorite albuns, musics, the Rock In Rio Disaster, and then....

My tablet fell of my pocket.
The screen was gone.
And my ticket was there. 
"Holy fuck, I lost everything." 
I heard a long "Puta que pariu..." (Holy shit/Oh Fuck....)  from someone in the row...Grabbed the tablet from the ground, almost in tears and....

 

It was still working.

That was my time to say "Puta que pariu". In a good way. 

"I'm behind you." I looked back and there she was : the woman that made possible for this whole story to happen, we are talking 'bout my girl. 
She jumped those bars that was separating the street from the crowd, and we've sat in the ground and made ourselves a little lodge, with my hat and a couple other umbrellas, and despite the sun, despite all the noise, despite all the good things that'd happen, I layed on her legs and it felt like the coziest place in earth, specially with her cigar scent. God, How I loved that.  
Unfortunatelly, the row was starting to move, so we had to get up, dismantle our little cottage and move ourselves a little closer to the heaven's door, I mean, the gates that separated us from the entrance of the arena. At one moment, I decided to look straight ahead....and guess who was there.
No, not My Girl this time, but the past and forlorn Sweet Child O' Mine... It was 2 years since the last time I saw her, and she didn't changed a bit.... Dressed in black, with a white nurse hat, walking along with her mother and her boyfriend... "Why She's here?" Then, I Remembered there was an Alice Cooper show, her favorite band, right before Guns N' Roses....My foreboding sense was goddamned right all along. But that day, I was not alone. 
It was time for me, to even the score.
I was trying to delay the inevitable and ignore her, but at some point, after just a few minutes, we've looked in the same direction, we noticed each other, and she gave me the coldest stare i've ever received in my whole life. It was like a brigde of recently frosted ice, forming between us, a bridge that was somewhat intangible, but yet, real, solid, and you could feel that it was there, like a train crash between two stares. We looked away, but the damage was done...and that bridge of ice is my last memory of her. 
Maybe forever. 
But who cares, anyway?!

Just a little Patience

We've spent our whole afternoon on the row, waiting untill the 16h00PM, that was the that when we'd be allowed to enter the arena. Brazillians are very soulful n' friendly people, always there to help someone, even if they know themselves for 6 minutes, so you could ask for food and water, and everyone would give you a little bit, and that was our lunch. We've made a couple of friends there, even a couple that were celebrating their 1st year together that same day.  When it was 15h30PM, the police told us to form a line, and holy fuck, what a shitstorm that was. People were almost gettin' smashed by each other, in such a way, that even those who were far back in the line, were getting smashed too. 
"Hold my hand and don't release it." she said, and there was the two of us, in the middle of a huge amount of people, holdind each other's hands. After 15 mins of getting smashed, shouting and holding her hand, we were finally able to enter the stadium, running trough a big white hall 'till the soccer field, where the show was meant to take place. There was I, once again, realizing that this was no dream. We sat right in front of the stage, on the left corner of it. 'till Tyler Bryant N' The Shakedowns came along sometime around 18h30pm. There was nothing special, nor nothing bad about that band, and the only thing I remember is that how deep their guitars sounded, and that Tyler Bryant passed right in front of me. Hope he'll became famous one day, just for me to say "Hey, that guy once was less than 1 meter away from me" . 
Then, there were the preparations for Alice Cooper's show.

Only Women Bleed

To be honest, I was never an alice cooper fan, so I didn't knew his songs, nor what to expect, but I remember that it was already night when he entered the stage, and I remember how creepy his intro sounded like, and how dark the stage was, leaving us just with a dark red light that came from the monitors, and suddenly, with a black coat and the same face since 1756, there was Alice Cooper. Got admit something, that guy KICKS ASS, his voice is still the same, his show is electric and performatic, and I remember that I was so close to him that I saw his muscles working on his leg, and holy shit, were Glen Sobel's drums, loud his kick and snares were awesome, and made my almost deaf in my left ear. I loved  The only songs i knew was under my wheels (for obvious reasons), I even got to think that Axl would appear and sing this with alice...but that was in Vain. 
"Only Woman Bleed" was deeply beautiful, I can still remember the whole stadium singing it....I simply loved "Feed My Frankestein" and I sang it trought the night.

But I couldn't help thinking about her, Sweet Child O' Mine.

I Always knew we would see an Alice Cooper show together.

But I didn't tought it'd be like that.