View from the stratosphere
The girls and I are back home from our trip to Michigan where we saw One Direction (with 5 Seconds of Summer) at the Palace of Auburn Hills. The show was fantastic. The boys were amazing. And speaking as a grown woman with fully functional organs, I think I might have ruptured an ovary about halfway through.
Niall was his usual charming self. Louis was fun, as always. Zayn was flawless. Liam was a dancing fool. And Harry... Ah, Harry... Harry was absolutely smouldering. I have to say, though, if I weren't a hardcore Harry girl, last night probably would've turned me into a Liam girl. He was so full of energy and light and life. I can't believe there were some so-called "fans" there with cruel signs abusing him. Honestly, how could anyone not simply adore him?
We arrived at the hotel to find it full of Directioners and a wedding party - about a 50/50 ratio, it seemed. We had three hours before the gates opened and it was only a few minutes' drive from the venue, so we just chilled in the room watching "Castle" and listening to the occasional girls in the hallway screaming and squealing about the upcoming show. Lucky us, we had the room right next to the elevators, so we got a full dose of everyone on the floor.
We all seemed to leave the hotel about the same time, so it was a steady stream of cars to the venue right up the road. Gin said she expected us to be able to roll right in to the parking lot. I asked her how long she'd been delusional.
It really didn't take long, though. We skipped the south entrance line that stretched half a mile and went right up to the north entrance, which was totally clear. A few cars watched us go and seemed to say, "Oh, is that an option?" as several of them started following us. Hello? There's a sign right there.
We got out and considered a stroll around the building to look for tour buses, but we decided just to get in line instead. The northeast entrance was a short line. Those who used the south were in a massive crowd. Did people really think there was only one door?
Anyway, we got in and enjoyed the music being piped in - all very "One Direction fan appropriate" stuff - Demi, Cher, Olly and the like. Well done. I'll never understand when I go to concerts and they play music before the show that's nothing anyone there to see that band would want to hear. Like when I went to Matchbox Twenty and the Goo Goo Dolls a couple of weeks ago and they were playing hiphop over the loudspeakers.
We had pics taken in a simulated phone booth like on the Take Me Home cover and took pics with cardboard cutouts of the boys, both courtesy of Nabisco sponsors as part of the #1DVIP promo. Then I stopped at the bar for a drink - mainly because I was one of the few people there who could legally drink. There were massive lines for merchandise and food, but I walked right up for the booze with no wait. Nice. There are some advantages to being a 1D-obsessed mom. :)
The girls both wore cute dresses, with Gin accessorizing with a careful selection of bracelets proclaiming love for Zayn, Liam, Niall ... and Larry, plus her "infinite Directioner" and paper airplane necklaces. I wore some bright green capris - hat tip to Louis- with a Batman shirt - love for Liam - and my paper airplane necklace, which never leaves my neck. Many of the girls there were wearing outfits that are smaller than my underwear, but most were tastefully dressed in clothing that either directly or indirectly addressed their love for the boys. There were even some guys there. Not many, but we did pass a few.
After wandering halfway around the building, we located the elevators, which were the only way to make it up to our level - in the stratosphere. We came off to find a very quiet hallway lined with doors along one side - those were the suites, and that's where we were headed. It was pretty nice. Each one had a couch and bar and private restroom, with a door leading out to the balcony. We were at the very last one, so we could duck under the rail and move to where we alone had a clear view of backstage. It did leave us with a slightly obstructed view for the show though, and a feeling that we were watching from the outside rather than really being "in" the whole event. Thanks to our position, though, we got the first view of the boys from backstage, and they even sent a wave to us.
Well, that's just a small sampling, but we'll see if I can manage to get through my hundreds of pics (and videos) to post more later.
Niall was his usual charming self. Louis was fun, as always. Zayn was flawless. Liam was a dancing fool. And Harry... Ah, Harry... Harry was absolutely smouldering. I have to say, though, if I weren't a hardcore Harry girl, last night probably would've turned me into a Liam girl. He was so full of energy and light and life. I can't believe there were some so-called "fans" there with cruel signs abusing him. Honestly, how could anyone not simply adore him?
We arrived at the hotel to find it full of Directioners and a wedding party - about a 50/50 ratio, it seemed. We had three hours before the gates opened and it was only a few minutes' drive from the venue, so we just chilled in the room watching "Castle" and listening to the occasional girls in the hallway screaming and squealing about the upcoming show. Lucky us, we had the room right next to the elevators, so we got a full dose of everyone on the floor.
We all seemed to leave the hotel about the same time, so it was a steady stream of cars to the venue right up the road. Gin said she expected us to be able to roll right in to the parking lot. I asked her how long she'd been delusional.
It really didn't take long, though. We skipped the south entrance line that stretched half a mile and went right up to the north entrance, which was totally clear. A few cars watched us go and seemed to say, "Oh, is that an option?" as several of them started following us. Hello? There's a sign right there.
We got out and considered a stroll around the building to look for tour buses, but we decided just to get in line instead. The northeast entrance was a short line. Those who used the south were in a massive crowd. Did people really think there was only one door?
Anyway, we got in and enjoyed the music being piped in - all very "One Direction fan appropriate" stuff - Demi, Cher, Olly and the like. Well done. I'll never understand when I go to concerts and they play music before the show that's nothing anyone there to see that band would want to hear. Like when I went to Matchbox Twenty and the Goo Goo Dolls a couple of weeks ago and they were playing hiphop over the loudspeakers.
We had pics taken in a simulated phone booth like on the Take Me Home cover and took pics with cardboard cutouts of the boys, both courtesy of Nabisco sponsors as part of the #1DVIP promo. Then I stopped at the bar for a drink - mainly because I was one of the few people there who could legally drink. There were massive lines for merchandise and food, but I walked right up for the booze with no wait. Nice. There are some advantages to being a 1D-obsessed mom. :)
The girls both wore cute dresses, with Gin accessorizing with a careful selection of bracelets proclaiming love for Zayn, Liam, Niall ... and Larry, plus her "infinite Directioner" and paper airplane necklaces. I wore some bright green capris - hat tip to Louis- with a Batman shirt - love for Liam - and my paper airplane necklace, which never leaves my neck. Many of the girls there were wearing outfits that are smaller than my underwear, but most were tastefully dressed in clothing that either directly or indirectly addressed their love for the boys. There were even some guys there. Not many, but we did pass a few.
After wandering halfway around the building, we located the elevators, which were the only way to make it up to our level - in the stratosphere. We came off to find a very quiet hallway lined with doors along one side - those were the suites, and that's where we were headed. It was pretty nice. Each one had a couch and bar and private restroom, with a door leading out to the balcony. We were at the very last one, so we could duck under the rail and move to where we alone had a clear view of backstage. It did leave us with a slightly obstructed view for the show though, and a feeling that we were watching from the outside rather than really being "in" the whole event. Thanks to our position, though, we got the first view of the boys from backstage, and they even sent a wave to us.
Well, that's just a small sampling, but we'll see if I can manage to get through my hundreds of pics (and videos) to post more later.
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