In Rain Blows, Part 1
I’m having a hard time writing this week. Lack of sleep has just turned my brain to mush. I know I’ve mentioned it a million times, but I’m just not cut out for the schedule that I have to keep for my job. I feel like a zombie. I’m going to try and press forward anyway. I’m breaking this into two posts because it’s way too long!
Last Sunday I went to the Radiohead concert in northern Virginia. Why northern Virginia? My good friend Holli lives there so I was able to combine a visit with attending the show. Fittingly, Holli is the person who turned me into a Radiohead fan a couple of years ago. Holli wanted this to be the first concert that her 4 year old daughter Faith attended, so we planned to sit in the lawn area in case Faith needed to be evacuated.
I heard horrible nightmare stories about the traffic at the Nissan Pavilion Amphitheater in Manassas, so we planned to arrive as early as possible. The parking lot opened at 4, and we arrived about 4:30 for the 7:30 show. We came in the back way and had no problems at all making it into the parking lot. The forecast called for a 100% chance of rain. This forecast was correct. On the way there we stopped at Target to get rain ponchos, and by the time we got to the parking lot it was raining fairly heavily. We had 3 hours to kill in the car. Various DVDs helped pass the time, and it seemed to go by pretty quickly. Faith was amazed when I showed her how to refog the windows after taking up all the window space with finger drawings. As 7:00 approached we got ready to make our run for the lawn.
The plan to keep Faith dry was to put her in a jogging stroller that had a plastic enclosure around the seat. Since it was rather cool, she was also bundled up in a sweater and a couple of layers of clothing. Holli also put earplugs in Faith’s ears in case the music was really loud. Holli’s husband Tom got Faith situated in the stroller and the rest of us donned our ponchos and prepared to make the soggy trek to the entrance. The people standing outside the car next to us decided to spark up a J right as Faith was being bundled into the stroller. Nice.
We made it inside the venue only to see a huge set of stairs leading over a hill into the lawn area. Obviously this wasn’t going to work for a stroller, so we started heading toward the front where there was supposed to be a ramp of some kind. On the way there we spotted actual restrooms as opposed to port-a-potties, so with the exception of Faith we all availed ourselves of the opportunity to go one last time. We then headed up the absurdly-angled “ramp” up the hill and into the lawn seating area. Seriously, this ramp was f’ed. The thing was at like a 45 degree angle. There’s no way you’re getting a wheelchair up that f’ing thing, and there’s no way that it meets code. Tom managed to get the stroller up there though, and we surveyed the scene. The lawn wasn’t very crowded, and we debated how far down we should go considering that we would have to push a stroller back up a muddy hill on the way out. We settled for an area on the right side of the stage closer to the front of the lawn than the back. We deployed our lawn chairs (bought for the occasion), sat down, and the opening act (Liars) came out soon after.
Everything seemed OK, if a bit uncomfortable because of the heavy rain, at first. The rain had not slacked off one bit in the 3 hours we had been there. Having it pelting your face was not as fun as watching it from the car. Faith said that she was dry but was actually too warm. I was sitting on one side of Faith, Holli was on the other side, and Tom was behind Holli. As the band was playing, I looked over at Faith every now and then and gave her a smile to make sure that she was OK. Eventually I started to notice though that something was amiss. Whenever I would look at Faith she started hiding her face. Eventually she started to become upset and started crying. I thought that maybe she was scared. After Holli talked to Faith and she was still crying, the decision was made that Holli and Tom would take Faith back to the car. I didn’t know for sure what was going on. I found out later that Faith was upset because she wanted to be out of the stroller and on someone’s lap so she could rock out with us. That’s pure Faith. I guess she felt isolated in her plastic bubble. Since the weather was so nasty that just wasn’t an option. So I spent the rest of my time at the show by myself. To see the further adventures of Baby Faith, Holli, and DAAAddy, read Holli’s blog entry (be sure to check out her photos!).
I wasn’t sure how long I was going to stay. I felt awful that the people who had been housing and feeding me for the last couple of days were now sitting in a car in the parking lot waiting for me so we could get out of there. I had a cell phone and could communicate via text message, but it wasn’t easy to get to the phone since I had it in an inside of pocket of my jacket that I was wearing underneath the poncho. I sat through the rest of the Liars set and waited for Radiohead to emerge. The rain continued.
Last Sunday I went to the Radiohead concert in northern Virginia. Why northern Virginia? My good friend Holli lives there so I was able to combine a visit with attending the show. Fittingly, Holli is the person who turned me into a Radiohead fan a couple of years ago. Holli wanted this to be the first concert that her 4 year old daughter Faith attended, so we planned to sit in the lawn area in case Faith needed to be evacuated.
I heard horrible nightmare stories about the traffic at the Nissan Pavilion Amphitheater in Manassas, so we planned to arrive as early as possible. The parking lot opened at 4, and we arrived about 4:30 for the 7:30 show. We came in the back way and had no problems at all making it into the parking lot. The forecast called for a 100% chance of rain. This forecast was correct. On the way there we stopped at Target to get rain ponchos, and by the time we got to the parking lot it was raining fairly heavily. We had 3 hours to kill in the car. Various DVDs helped pass the time, and it seemed to go by pretty quickly. Faith was amazed when I showed her how to refog the windows after taking up all the window space with finger drawings. As 7:00 approached we got ready to make our run for the lawn.
The plan to keep Faith dry was to put her in a jogging stroller that had a plastic enclosure around the seat. Since it was rather cool, she was also bundled up in a sweater and a couple of layers of clothing. Holli also put earplugs in Faith’s ears in case the music was really loud. Holli’s husband Tom got Faith situated in the stroller and the rest of us donned our ponchos and prepared to make the soggy trek to the entrance. The people standing outside the car next to us decided to spark up a J right as Faith was being bundled into the stroller. Nice.
We made it inside the venue only to see a huge set of stairs leading over a hill into the lawn area. Obviously this wasn’t going to work for a stroller, so we started heading toward the front where there was supposed to be a ramp of some kind. On the way there we spotted actual restrooms as opposed to port-a-potties, so with the exception of Faith we all availed ourselves of the opportunity to go one last time. We then headed up the absurdly-angled “ramp” up the hill and into the lawn seating area. Seriously, this ramp was f’ed. The thing was at like a 45 degree angle. There’s no way you’re getting a wheelchair up that f’ing thing, and there’s no way that it meets code. Tom managed to get the stroller up there though, and we surveyed the scene. The lawn wasn’t very crowded, and we debated how far down we should go considering that we would have to push a stroller back up a muddy hill on the way out. We settled for an area on the right side of the stage closer to the front of the lawn than the back. We deployed our lawn chairs (bought for the occasion), sat down, and the opening act (Liars) came out soon after.
Everything seemed OK, if a bit uncomfortable because of the heavy rain, at first. The rain had not slacked off one bit in the 3 hours we had been there. Having it pelting your face was not as fun as watching it from the car. Faith said that she was dry but was actually too warm. I was sitting on one side of Faith, Holli was on the other side, and Tom was behind Holli. As the band was playing, I looked over at Faith every now and then and gave her a smile to make sure that she was OK. Eventually I started to notice though that something was amiss. Whenever I would look at Faith she started hiding her face. Eventually she started to become upset and started crying. I thought that maybe she was scared. After Holli talked to Faith and she was still crying, the decision was made that Holli and Tom would take Faith back to the car. I didn’t know for sure what was going on. I found out later that Faith was upset because she wanted to be out of the stroller and on someone’s lap so she could rock out with us. That’s pure Faith. I guess she felt isolated in her plastic bubble. Since the weather was so nasty that just wasn’t an option. So I spent the rest of my time at the show by myself. To see the further adventures of Baby Faith, Holli, and DAAAddy, read Holli’s blog entry (be sure to check out her photos!).
I wasn’t sure how long I was going to stay. I felt awful that the people who had been housing and feeding me for the last couple of days were now sitting in a car in the parking lot waiting for me so we could get out of there. I had a cell phone and could communicate via text message, but it wasn’t easy to get to the phone since I had it in an inside of pocket of my jacket that I was wearing underneath the poncho. I sat through the rest of the Liars set and waited for Radiohead to emerge. The rain continued.
posted by JC at 8:53 PM
3 Comments:
This is so sad. The ramp sounds f'd. I'm sorry but my visual makes me laugh. Strollers maybe, wheelchairs, yeah if you want to crash at the bottom, or if you survive, you will never make it up.
oh boo. that sounds like a sad concert with you alone and your friends waiting in the car. hope something change with work soon. you don't need that stress!
Honestly, we were really REALLY glad you were able to see the show. We would have felt like total crap had you come all the way here and then had to miss part of the concert because of us.
I just want you to know, the legacy of this trip lives on constantly.. Faith says "No.. Nate Nate's allowed" at the funniest moments.
Post a Comment
<< Home