Rock in Rio was M’s 25th birthday gift from me, along with a fun-filled trip to Vegas (good luck one upping this). So Saturday was designated Rock in Rio day! We were to do nothing else besides get up, take the monorail to the SLS Hotel on the North part of the Strip, and walk across the street to the Las Vegas Festival Grounds.
Rock in Rio was a four day music festival held over two weekends; there was Rock week, which we attended, and Pop week, which was held the week after with headliners Bruno Mars and Taylor Swift. The festival featured over 120 acts and had a total attendance of 140,000 people. Originally born in Rio de Janeiro, this was the first time Rock in Rio ever came to the United States, and we were there for it.
We got in line early; three hours before the gates opened to be exact. With only about 50 people in front us, we knew we were in a good spot. As the time got closer to opening, they started to combine lines, which sucked because people who were lined up behind us snuck to the front of the line. Luckily we were still close to the front after being compacted. M and I made up a plan. He was to go get a spot by the stage, and I was in charge of getting food and drinks to hold us over for the day and night at our spot.
First, the gates opened. Everyone ran, then halted at the lines for security. After the security check everyone ran again, but was stopped at the wristband check in. Everyone was so eager to get in, but they were letting us wait. Like a horse at the Kentucky Derby, as soon as our wristband was checked we, along with everyone else, were in a full sprint to different stages, many running to the main stage like us.
After getting drinks and food to hopefully last the night, we planted at our spot; center stage, 5 rows back against the guard rail down the center of the crowd. As a side note, I was so thankful we didn’t move up a bit closer to stage and off the railing like we had considered; that railing would literally save us later on.
The first band that played was Hollywood Undead. I remembered a few of their songs from high school so it was a fun way to start the night. They played for an hour. Once they were done, we were able to take a quick bathroom break (our last of the night) and sit down in our spot until the next act. This was around 5pm.
Rise Against was up next. I only knew a few of their songs from Guitar Hero, but they had a great energy that really got the crowd going. The lead singer even stood on the railing in the front row by the crowd! After an hour of Rise Against music, we were unable to sit down in our spot. We stood until the next show started an hour later.
Linkin Park started around 9pm, so 6 hours after we initially arrived at our spots, 9 hours since we arrived on the grounds. This was the show I was excited about! I knew every song they play, except for one. They rocked! Just like Rise Against, the lead singer came down by the crowd. He walked down the middle aisle, right next to us and sang. This was when things started to get difficult. More and more people were wedging their way closer to the stage, which made it nearly impossible to even turn around. People were jumping the gate (which automatically ejected you from the concert) to get air. I knew if I was in the middle of that crowd, being my height, I wouldn’t have been able to stay. It was hot and cramped, and some people just couldn’t take it. People in the crowd were lifting others above their heads to push them over the gate to get air, but never to return.
Linkin Park, like the others, played for an hour. Then from 10pm-12am, we stood waiting, squished and unable to move, for Metallica – the ONE reason we were there.
They finally came out at midnight. It was AMAZING! M and I knew that we will never get the opportunity to get this close to Metallica at a concert again; 5 rows back, center stage. They played what seemed like all their songs. Whiskey in the Jar, Fuel, Sad But True, Nothing Else Matters, and probably at least 15 other songs were played. The “Die” chant during ‘Creeping Death’ was awesome, and I was so excited to be a part of one of the chants I had seen so many times online at Metallica concerts around the world. We were nervous because Metallica didn't play that song initially (it's M's favorite song), but they came back out for an encore and played it. I looked at M when the song ‘Battery’ began to play and said “this is going to be bad.” After the gentle, slow intro, the song quickens with heavy guitar. The moshing was awful on our side of the gate. We looked over in envy to the people on the other side, dancing and moving freely. Like I mentioned earlier, we were lucky we were against the gate. We had fresh air and were able to push against the gate when people squished us too much. During the last song of the night, Metallica released big, black balloons. M grabbed one and deflated it, but not before Metallica’s photographer shot a picture of the crowd. You can see the black balloon M is hold in the aisle. Kirk Hammett threw guitar picks into the crowd too. One landed right by M’s foot and he stepped on it until the concert cleared out enough to bend down and pick it up. There was a girl, the same girl who was shoving me during the concert and who I may have slowly elbowed in the ribs a couple times, who tried to pick up M’s foot to get the pick. She failed, haha!
By the time Metallica ended their two hour performance it was 2am, and we needed to get back to the hotel to get some sleep. While walking out of the fairgrounds we saw cans and garbage everywhere, we turned around and looked at the stage WAY in the distance. People were actually sitting all the way back here for the concert. It was unbelievable.
The monorail was full of Metallica fans heading back to their hotels. A guy next to me was showing his buddy a video on his phone of “how close he was”. You could barely see Metallica in his video. I pulled out my camera, leaned over to M and showed him MY video. We were so close you could see the sweat on their face. It was all worth it!
