09-19-2016, 10:56 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-19-2016, 11:08 AM by Drunk Monk.)
So we went in with one of my main JNK partners-in-crime who had never worked a stadium show before, much less Levi's. Tara went for Taylor Swift, so she sort of knew what to expect. What's more, one of her teachers was there with her daughter who is a grade below Tara, and one of Tara's most in-yo-face classmates (because of which she finds her annoying). Her classmate has been bragging about going to Beyonce for weeks, but she's not even in the Bee-Hive.
Traffic was harsh getting in and once again, Levi RM has no idea what to do with psych, so they gave me a radio (which I couldn't hear because it was way too soft) and said 'do what you like'. They also gave me wristbands and meal tickets for my crew (Tara and my JNKpnc). I was introduced rather formally at the meeting to the RM crew. Then I just posed. We took the JNKpnc on a walking tour of the venue, and grabbed dinner, which this time was ribs, collared greens (done in ham), sweet potatoes (with pineapple), salad, veg pasta, a roll and potato chips. It was enough for all of us as Tara and I eat light (we brought in burritos just in case but never ate them). T's friends had a hard time getting in because Levi's is a beyotch that way, but we hooked up with them just when Queen Bey hit stage at their seats which were at the top of the 200s, and fortuitously, there were three empty seat behind them. Turned out that the JNKpnc knew Tara's teacher because his son-in-law went to the same school before, an odd factoid I knew from facebook, and Tara was really amused seeing her get down to Beyonce. The occupants of the seats didn't show up for like 7+ songs, so we enjoyed the whole beginning of the show.
The opening was awesome. The 100+feet cube screen is so powerful, even from the back of the stadium. Queen Bey was in full force, and we caught Kitty Kat (which was amusing because Tara goes by Cat at school) and Baby Boy, her reggae-influenced tune, which made me very irie and amused the heck out of my team. We could feel the heat from the pyro all the way in the back there.
When the seat occupants came, we went back to RM to show face. I got in a major discussion about drug protocols with the CMO, which was great, allaying my guilt for posing all night. Then we went down to the floor just in time for Daddy Lessons, a song that elicited an amusing dialog with Tara about learning to shoot on the way in. Tara has Formation on her iPhone, and I have Sasha Fierce on CD, so she knows Beyonce. We caught the rest of the show from the floor. Because I'm not allowed to wear my RM jacket at naziLevis, I was issued a uniform jacket that says "Medical Services" in fat white letters on the back. Can't be discreet in that. But Tara and the JNKpnc wore good ninja black jackets, so they both snuck up close to stage and got a really good view for a few songs, while I hung at the back of the auditorium pressing my back to a wall so as not to look like I was posing all night. We caught the rest of the show from the floor, only moving once so as not to let our posing spots go too stale (we were asked once to show our floor access wristbands by a levisstormtrooper so we shifted positions).
The Purple Rain tribute was moving - the auditorium lit up with waving cell lights and just to hear Prince on a massive soundsystem was a delight. It was tempting to cover Tara's eyes during Naughty Girl. But she's a big girl now (Stacy has even taken her to Victoria's Secret....whaaaaaaaat?) At one point, the glory stage filled with ankle deep water, accentuating the dancers high kicks and reminding everyone of Bey's N'awlins undertone of Lemonade. Her closing Halo was so overdone, a boisterous finally with fireworks blasting up at every line, totally ruining the vibe of the song to my way of thinking, but still celebrating the power of Queen Bey.
In the end, Tara felt Beyonce totally slayed Taylor Swift, but concede (after I reminded her) that T-swizzle is much younger. And the JNKpnc was totally moved. He too has joined the Bee-Hive.
Traffic was harsh getting in and once again, Levi RM has no idea what to do with psych, so they gave me a radio (which I couldn't hear because it was way too soft) and said 'do what you like'. They also gave me wristbands and meal tickets for my crew (Tara and my JNKpnc). I was introduced rather formally at the meeting to the RM crew. Then I just posed. We took the JNKpnc on a walking tour of the venue, and grabbed dinner, which this time was ribs, collared greens (done in ham), sweet potatoes (with pineapple), salad, veg pasta, a roll and potato chips. It was enough for all of us as Tara and I eat light (we brought in burritos just in case but never ate them). T's friends had a hard time getting in because Levi's is a beyotch that way, but we hooked up with them just when Queen Bey hit stage at their seats which were at the top of the 200s, and fortuitously, there were three empty seat behind them. Turned out that the JNKpnc knew Tara's teacher because his son-in-law went to the same school before, an odd factoid I knew from facebook, and Tara was really amused seeing her get down to Beyonce. The occupants of the seats didn't show up for like 7+ songs, so we enjoyed the whole beginning of the show.
The opening was awesome. The 100+feet cube screen is so powerful, even from the back of the stadium. Queen Bey was in full force, and we caught Kitty Kat (which was amusing because Tara goes by Cat at school) and Baby Boy, her reggae-influenced tune, which made me very irie and amused the heck out of my team. We could feel the heat from the pyro all the way in the back there.
When the seat occupants came, we went back to RM to show face. I got in a major discussion about drug protocols with the CMO, which was great, allaying my guilt for posing all night. Then we went down to the floor just in time for Daddy Lessons, a song that elicited an amusing dialog with Tara about learning to shoot on the way in. Tara has Formation on her iPhone, and I have Sasha Fierce on CD, so she knows Beyonce. We caught the rest of the show from the floor. Because I'm not allowed to wear my RM jacket at naziLevis, I was issued a uniform jacket that says "Medical Services" in fat white letters on the back. Can't be discreet in that. But Tara and the JNKpnc wore good ninja black jackets, so they both snuck up close to stage and got a really good view for a few songs, while I hung at the back of the auditorium pressing my back to a wall so as not to look like I was posing all night. We caught the rest of the show from the floor, only moving once so as not to let our posing spots go too stale (we were asked once to show our floor access wristbands by a levisstormtrooper so we shifted positions).
The Purple Rain tribute was moving - the auditorium lit up with waving cell lights and just to hear Prince on a massive soundsystem was a delight. It was tempting to cover Tara's eyes during Naughty Girl. But she's a big girl now (Stacy has even taken her to Victoria's Secret....whaaaaaaaat?) At one point, the glory stage filled with ankle deep water, accentuating the dancers high kicks and reminding everyone of Bey's N'awlins undertone of Lemonade. Her closing Halo was so overdone, a boisterous finally with fireworks blasting up at every line, totally ruining the vibe of the song to my way of thinking, but still celebrating the power of Queen Bey.
In the end, Tara felt Beyonce totally slayed Taylor Swift, but concede (after I reminded her) that T-swizzle is much younger. And the JNKpnc was totally moved. He too has joined the Bee-Hive.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse