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Shelby Colville

Professor Cassel

ENG 1201

11 September 2017

The Good and the Bad- General Admission

Theres a lot of expectations when it come to going to your first concert. You hear so

many things about it and what it is going to be like. A heavy crowded area, music so loud that by

the time its all over youre practically deaf, and just the feeling you will get by seeing the people

who have such a big hold on your heart. My first experience was pretty much all of those things

times 10. On June 25th, 2017 I was going to my first ever concert seeing my favorite band,

Twenty one Pilots. This specific venue was the last of their shows for a while, being that is was

the end of their tour and the end of their album Blurryface era, so it was bound to be chaos. I

was not wrong either. The general admission area was in for some serious chaos, with pushing,

shoving, trampelling, etc. All of this brings me to wonder, what can concert goers and the

concert staff do to keep everyone at a show safe?

My friend and I sat outside in the grass for over eight hours just to even maybe get an

okay spot in general admission. During this time the sun was so hot and there was no shade. My

friend got sick twice because of mild sun poisoning, I guess. We also got the worst sunburns I

have ever seen. They burned like fire and had the brightest shade of red that I didnt even know

was possible for a sunburn. We then get inside to wait and that was just building the anticipation,

as we weren't actually standing in the area where they perform yet. Eventually we get to the

arena, and we acquired really good spots for fow late we got there. To my surprise it wasnt that
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crowded, and it wasnt during the opening acts either. The entire arena was red, all the lights

were red and it gave the place this extremely creepy ambiance, there was this creepy one toned

sound that made it even better.

When it started, and Twenty one Pilots came out on stage, my mindset that it wasnt

going to be all that crowded was extremely wrong. Right when they were seen, there was the

biggest wave of pushing and my friend had to basically block me like a bodyguard, because I am

a pretty small person. The majority of the show was the same. When it came to pushing and

shoving, it was expected and there was a lot of it. Then a bit of ways into it things started to

really get crazy. A teenage girl tried pushing her way further to the front saying My friend is up

there I need to get to her, and with the smirk she had on her face everyone knew she was lying.

A few people tried to push her back to where she was. When she wouldnt move, she and another

30 something year old woman got into a major verbal fight. The girl and this lady, with her child

right next to her, started saying things to each other that a little girl shouldn't have to hear

whatsoever, with cursing and slurs that were beyond me to even think of. Sadly, she made her

way up further to the front anyways.

A few minutes later, Tyler and Josh from the band, got into gigantic hamster balls and

went out and surfed the crowd. Tyler went right over me and when he did, I almost got pushed

down to the ground, and almost lost my hat and my glasses, it was like a madhouse. One of the

guitarists from Pearl Jam had many bad experiences in their concerts. One of their concerts in

2000, nine Pearl Jam fans were trampled and killed as everyone rushed to the front of general

admission to get a good spot. This is one example that shows that people need to be more careful

and be courteous to others. All they want is to watch the band they are seeing and have a good
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time doing it and not have to worry about getting killed by the people standing next to the trying

to get a better look.

According the the Special Events Contingency Planning by the FEMA, pre planning

for an event can be a major help as it will prevent emergencies from happening. Having a good

plan beforehand means a safe and fun time for not only people attending, but the staff as well.

FEMA also states that the ICS is a good way to help as well. The ICS is a management system

that lots of businesses use for mass events so they can plan effectively and properly. This

handbook should be something all businesses planning an event should look to when it comes to

holding a mass event like a festival or a concert. The book has rules, regulations, and much more

about the planning and prevention for all events and what to do when handling any situation.

Another thing that I think they could do to help prevent bad things from happening is if

they enforced rules more than they do. When I went, they said multiple times that if anything

were to happen, to yell and scream for security and they will come and deal with it. An example

of why they dont really do what they say is when the two females were arguing and the girl was

getting shoved, everyone round us yelled and yet no one came and she was able to get closer to

the front. Going back to Special Events Contingency Planning, it states when diffusing a

situation that arises, to just go through the crowds cheerfully and have good communication with

who is in a situation. Doing so diffuses the situation dramatically, and doing the same thing when

there is not a situation can also help prevent bad situations from happening. Even with all of this

chaos, it was still the best thing I was able to be at in my life so far.

The very last song at the concert I was at was the worst when it came to the possibility of

getting hurt. It is the most hyped up thing when it came to these guys concerts. They put

platforms that have big drums on them for the crowd to hold up as the guys play on them. Josh
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was extremely close to where we were, meaning I was pushed against people so tightly, I could

not bring my arms down after taking a picture or video, they had to stay up in the air. Because of

the event that happened with Pearl Jam, I think it is really important for there to be more security

around to help people that are in the general admission area. So many things happen and theres

no way for them to know about it until it is too late.

As they played, there was water on the drums and I was able to feel the splash of the cold

water, the screaming was so loud I could barely hear the music, but it was the best moment of

my life. The red confetti exploded and all you saw were the guys and the confetti. Everytime

theres a pause from them playing the drums, everyone shouts HEY! and during this it was so

emotional, and so amazing. I would be lying if I said that tears were not flowing during that

performance. Being that close to my favorite band that I could almost touch, and being there for

the most iconic part of their concert, it was everything I could have dreamed and more. And that

part of the entire night was so worth all of the immense pushing and shoving.

Works Cited

FEMA. Special Events Contingency Planning- Job Aids Manual. March 2005.

https://training.fema.gov/emiweb/downloads/is15aspecialeventsplanning-jamanual.pdf
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Vivinetto, Gina. "Pearl Jam worries about concert safety." St. Petersburg Times [St. Petersburg,

FL], 3 Apr. 2003, p. 2B. Opposing Viewpoints in Context,

link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A99576240/OVIC?u=dayt30401&xid=e956b09f. Accessed

7 Sept. 2017.