K and I scored a few tickets to the Super Bowl Fan Jam concert featuring B.O.B., Gym Class Heroes, and All American Rejects. Concert was at 7pm, they said to arrive by 4. I don't think so. It was a bit on the brisk side and we figured 5 would be good enough sans coats. The line was probably 150 deep and full of 18-22 year olds. We were clearly the elderly of the bunch. Which became factual when I started doing the math. If I had gotten knocked up at 16, these kids could be mine. Ugh.
As we waited, the 1Iota people (company putting the show on) were plucking young hipster looking people and putting them inside first. CS commented, "Why aren't we getting picked?!" I responded with, "Well Mr. Chaps-oxford-cloth-button-down-shirt, I don't think we have the look they want next to the stage." He said it was because I looked like this...
After an hour and a half, we made it in to the standing floor area to find all those hipsters wearing different colored football jerseys, each representing one of the bands. Since this was more of a TV production than concert, they were doing multiple takes of commercial intros and promos. More standing. More waiting. We saw B.O.B. first, even though he played 2nd in the TV edition they said was "live".
I admit I didn't do my homework. I didn't know what B.O.B. sang and I didn't know what he looked like. It wasn't until his last song, Airplanes, it made sense. I did know our next group, Gym Class Heroes.
I was so overwhelmingly surprised to learn, in line, that Adam Levine was making a special appearance. SWEET, hello #4!
I was overwhelmingly disappointed that he didn't take his shirt off. GCH also had Neon Hitch (who?) show up.
AAR were/was the headliner. I'd seen them before and I remember the lead singer looking much healthier and less cracked out.
They did a great job making this place not look like the sheethole Pepsi Coliseum, including the ads that only showed Lucas Oil. They really wanted the VH1 world to think that's where we were. They decked out the PC with lots of TV screens that moved 360 degrees, LCD banners the length of the event, and laser lights. For free, it was pretty cool. Some people paid $40 for the experience.
It's been a great NFL Super Bowl experience so far. Now, what's it like from the working side?...
