When I posted here that I hoped to try some new things this year, among the thoughts I'd had was to finally go to a non-classical concert, - a gig, in fact. The teens were sure that this should be u2 and I was quite happy to go along with this...even I know and enjoy some of their music. So, when the booking opened for the Vertigo tour at 9.00 a.m. I was poised by the computer...only to discover that it took about 30 mins to get the ticketmaster site to work..by which stage the affordable tickets for London had all sold out. What to do? Typically, Luci wasn't answering her phone (maybe she really does turn it off when she's working) and G's phone was beside me on the desk, so not much point calling him for advice. Brainwave. I phone school and ask if they can get a message through to one of the kids to phone me, stressing that it's not a family crisis but a "simple" matter of U2 tickets.
"Oooh..booking opens today doesn't it....but the lines are really busy" says the school secretary, rather surprisingly. I get a mad image of hoardes of middle aged mums like us spending the morning intent on defeating the demons of the bookings system, none of us suspecting that the others are there....School secretary shows signs of wanting to engage in a full scale Bono appreciation conversation, and to talk about the Make Poverty History campaign,- which is great, except that I'm worried that all the tickets will sell out while we chat. I ring off, and about an hour later G phones and agrees that the prices are impossible unless we can get standing tickets. At this point, Ticketmaster suddenly claim that they might after all have some for the extra Twickenham date....so I go through the whole procedure, complete with overloaded website messages, computer crashing etc for another half hour or so, before being told that this too is sold out. Grrr. Back to the drawing board, then. The kids, whose exams will be safely behind them, will go to the Cardiff gig but my ordination retreat starts that day, so clearly it's not going to work for me. Bother. While this is the first time I've spent a whole morning trying to get tickets for something I wasn't totally sure I would enjoy, the fact that I now know I can't go has lent the whole thing an allure it wouldn't otherwise have, and the blogosphere seems to be full of people describing their own success or failure in booking. Just as well I'll be locked up with the bishop, really, or I might be the only person I know not going ....
Alternative suggestions for a good first gig for a 40 something who is still not sure what she really likes beyond the strictly classical, anyone?I really would be glad to know.
3 comments:
bristol sounds like a much better idea HS. buy 1 get a cripple free!
oh, the Wing and prayer weekend is good for gigs!
Indeed the Wing and a Prayer weekend would seem an excellent place to start (and for not much more than the U2 ticket would have cost you...).
Alternatively an opening has recently opened up for a gig-going partner for me in Manchester. Any time - just say the word.
Mercury Rev on 10th March? Preview CDs could be made available. And the Rev part of the name is surely a sign?
Thanks for all suggestions! Sadly, given that I felt that £99 for U2 was beyond my means, you'll understand why I still can't manage W &P w'end, despite the allure of (never mind the music) some of my favourite people on the planet. There must be some good reason why I HAVE to be in Manchester sometime soon, mustn't there? Meanwhile, I discoverd that S o H is going to be really quite accessible this very weekend, but have already sorted to do something else. Am I doomed, do you think?
Perhaps I could go and see Steve L next time he's anywhere near..do you think that would count?
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