28th Oct 2011.
How I waited for this day to arrive.
May- i got to know METALLICA would be coming to India. it was completely unbelievable and an impossible thing to ever happen. however, soon it was confirmed on Metallica's website that they would indeed be touring India, not only Bangalore but Delhi as well. *omg*
June- waited desperately for ticket information
July- reserved tickets and soon paid for them and got confirmation
The wait till October was unbearable - half believing that this would actually happen..all sorts of doubts crossed everyone- maybe just a joke.
But when in October first week we held the tickets in our hands, it seemed Yes after all it is true! It was a long wait but oh-so-worth-it!!
And we engaged in making grand plans for the day! That included taking off for the day from work, I mean I had to be there from the start! We planned to go early to get in fast and also to chill and meet friends before going in. Basically start the party early!
And then came the day! The 28th of October 2011. All night till 4 am I was listening to Metallica songs..guessing the probable set list and being all excited - could hardly sleep- coz we were up at 8am. Finally got ready and put on the Metallica tshirt and off with friends to the venue. Few people were there but not that many yet. It was 11 am. I left my brother and his friends at the gate since they didn't wanna hang with me and my friends.
I went ahead with my friends and we set up our music (Metallica ofcourse) in the car and the other stuff we had planned..i met my other friends..and everyone was superrr excited. But the phone signal was not working because I tried to contact my brother and I couldn't get through for over 2 hours. And then we went to the mall to use the washroom, from there I connected and got to know that my brother had fainted and all..I panicked! I packed food and drinks for him n rushed back..but I could not get in touch with him because of 2 reasons:
1. No SIGNAL
2. The crowd had swelled to a crazy extent and there was a swarm of people and my brother was in the centre of it
That's Akant and I to the right.
And everyone, including Sanjana and Kunal to the bottom. Sanjeeta was with her friends at the time.
And Arpan I could not find anyway!
Well, we let the people get in first, gates opened at 4. In my hyperness and frenzied anxiety, I could just not tolerate being in the crowd. So we entered towards the end, and sat around far from the stage, bought some merchandise and tried to feel better. Again I went on two searched around the place but no trace of dear Arpan. Finally some announcement was made asking people to move back and it appeared like people were not complying since it was impossible with no one to guide them and the firang guy on the mic called the audience "Buttheads". It was India and he thought he could get away by calling us that. Just really pathetic. And a reason why the crowd became so angry. Worse of it, nothing started till 6 pm..people had been waiting for ages for something to start- there was no opening act - nothing was happening and we were all just getting impatient. Then eventually someone picks up the mic- the same firang guy and declares that there are some"technical glitches" due to which the concert is postponed and asks us to "come tomorrow". I mean random guy, no apologies, nothing. Just a come tomorrow. like wtf. everyone was too shocked to realise what hit them. And some 20 people out of a crowd of 25,000 got really agitated and angered by this announcement and started the vandalism. they had come from so far around the country and waited for so long just to hear this? the point is that it's not the people who should be blamed if you put any crowd in any country who are crazy abt Metallica and have been waiting all their life to listen to them and you are treated horribly and told off like cattle - you can't expect them to just suck it ! There have been riots over shows being postponed in countries, at least nothing that bad happened here. And everyone knows that the permission to hold a concert is not sought in a day, it took months to get permission for 28th and the organizers very well know that.
So ultimately we were victims of a terribly mismanaged event and the worse is that we had so many expectations out of it and had pegged out hopes on it and hardly expected it to go so horribly wrong. Pathetic, sick organization. Also highlighted by the fact that they sold more tickets than the capacity, people who booked tickets online did not receive them- had to wait in 5 hr long queues to get their ticket and were ultimately told that "get in anyway u want we don't care", and the 4 organizers of the shitty DNA networks are behind bars! rotting in jail- thank god!
Got to know that eventually Arpan got wind of the cancellation as he was right up front with his friends and they left before and we also tried to escape before the scene got any worse. It was a task getting out but that's when the phne finally connected and I spoke to him. *phew* All through, Akant was a constant support so I didn't feel all lost. And well we did have a decent enough time before the drama started.
Tried to wear off this nightmare by going to chilis and having an awesome meal and the depression hangs over but should pass off- by listening to some more Metallica. Ah!
How I waited for this day to arrive.
May- i got to know METALLICA would be coming to India. it was completely unbelievable and an impossible thing to ever happen. however, soon it was confirmed on Metallica's website that they would indeed be touring India, not only Bangalore but Delhi as well. *omg*
June- waited desperately for ticket information
July- reserved tickets and soon paid for them and got confirmation
The wait till October was unbearable - half believing that this would actually happen..all sorts of doubts crossed everyone- maybe just a joke.
But when in October first week we held the tickets in our hands, it seemed Yes after all it is true! It was a long wait but oh-so-worth-it!!
And we engaged in making grand plans for the day! That included taking off for the day from work, I mean I had to be there from the start! We planned to go early to get in fast and also to chill and meet friends before going in. Basically start the party early!
And then came the day! The 28th of October 2011. All night till 4 am I was listening to Metallica songs..guessing the probable set list and being all excited - could hardly sleep- coz we were up at 8am. Finally got ready and put on the Metallica tshirt and off with friends to the venue. Few people were there but not that many yet. It was 11 am. I left my brother and his friends at the gate since they didn't wanna hang with me and my friends.
I went ahead with my friends and we set up our music (Metallica ofcourse) in the car and the other stuff we had planned..i met my other friends..and everyone was superrr excited. But the phone signal was not working because I tried to contact my brother and I couldn't get through for over 2 hours. And then we went to the mall to use the washroom, from there I connected and got to know that my brother had fainted and all..I panicked! I packed food and drinks for him n rushed back..but I could not get in touch with him because of 2 reasons:
1. No SIGNAL
2. The crowd had swelled to a crazy extent and there was a swarm of people and my brother was in the centre of it
That's Akant and I to the right.
And everyone, including Sanjana and Kunal to the bottom. Sanjeeta was with her friends at the time.
And Arpan I could not find anyway!
Well, we let the people get in first, gates opened at 4. In my hyperness and frenzied anxiety, I could just not tolerate being in the crowd. So we entered towards the end, and sat around far from the stage, bought some merchandise and tried to feel better. Again I went on two searched around the place but no trace of dear Arpan. Finally some announcement was made asking people to move back and it appeared like people were not complying since it was impossible with no one to guide them and the firang guy on the mic called the audience "Buttheads". It was India and he thought he could get away by calling us that. Just really pathetic. And a reason why the crowd became so angry. Worse of it, nothing started till 6 pm..people had been waiting for ages for something to start- there was no opening act - nothing was happening and we were all just getting impatient. Then eventually someone picks up the mic- the same firang guy and declares that there are some"technical glitches" due to which the concert is postponed and asks us to "come tomorrow". I mean random guy, no apologies, nothing. Just a come tomorrow. like wtf. everyone was too shocked to realise what hit them. And some 20 people out of a crowd of 25,000 got really agitated and angered by this announcement and started the vandalism. they had come from so far around the country and waited for so long just to hear this? the point is that it's not the people who should be blamed if you put any crowd in any country who are crazy abt Metallica and have been waiting all their life to listen to them and you are treated horribly and told off like cattle - you can't expect them to just suck it ! There have been riots over shows being postponed in countries, at least nothing that bad happened here. And everyone knows that the permission to hold a concert is not sought in a day, it took months to get permission for 28th and the organizers very well know that.
So ultimately we were victims of a terribly mismanaged event and the worse is that we had so many expectations out of it and had pegged out hopes on it and hardly expected it to go so horribly wrong. Pathetic, sick organization. Also highlighted by the fact that they sold more tickets than the capacity, people who booked tickets online did not receive them- had to wait in 5 hr long queues to get their ticket and were ultimately told that "get in anyway u want we don't care", and the 4 organizers of the shitty DNA networks are behind bars! rotting in jail- thank god!
Got to know that eventually Arpan got wind of the cancellation as he was right up front with his friends and they left before and we also tried to escape before the scene got any worse. It was a task getting out but that's when the phne finally connected and I spoke to him. *phew* All through, Akant was a constant support so I didn't feel all lost. And well we did have a decent enough time before the drama started.
Tried to wear off this nightmare by going to chilis and having an awesome meal and the depression hangs over but should pass off- by listening to some more Metallica. Ah!
