Robbie! & much irrelevant talk about us getting cooked.

At first, the Robbie Williams concert was 7 months away. Directly after that, it was 1 month away for about 1 month. :)

On July 1 I got up at half past 4 am, hopped on the first morning bus, walked a little way since the trams were still asleep, and found a group of happy campers behind the great arena, Ullevi. It seemed I was the 2nd or so non-camper there. :)

I slowly moved into the internal holes of the camper bunch, guarding a spot for my mum who couldn't be arsed to get there until about 10.30! :O Some Robbie fan! We fried and sizzled on the asphalt, eating, drinking, reading, aching and sweating, until about 4 pm, when the gates opened and everybody tried to get into Ullevi at the same time. I hope no brave little campers got swept back in line in the confusion/s... It would have been smarter and fairer and less squeezy if the organisers had set up a proper queue, instead of just a series of squares for everyone to scramble through at the same time. *COUGH* (Because I wanna camp next time! :B )

We were kept in a couple of limbo pens for over an hour, I bet, one of them had shade! OMG! Whenever a gate was opened, the guards informed us that any squeezing would result in a slower progress. :p After someone had handled my ticket for maaaaaaaany seconds, we rushed power-walked into Ullevi. Running is so much easier... But there were rows upon rows of guards inside the arena, ready to make runners start over! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! I wasn't drunk, unlike some! Running wouldn't have resulted in MY tripping and being trampled! :p At least I overtook quite a few people, inspired by a racing novel I'd just finished. :)

[witch hunt of poor ickle public smokers 2006]Various bunches of biatch-kids chain-smoked on us during the later part of the day. One of the bunches asked around for a cig lighter. I wish I'd brought one (for ballad-waving). I would have played leisurely with it in front of the junkies' eyes. MUAHAHAHAHAHA! As it were... one of the GUARDS finally became their lighter-dealer. The guards had said earlier that they were there to make sure we were comfortable. Obviously not. (Uncomfortable smokers do not count since it's their own damn fault if they die of cravings. Smoke allergics do count since it's not their own damn fault if they DIE OF SMOKE AND MISS THE CONCERT!)

I'm not fully allergic to cig smoke... yet... I only get clogged up... *clogs them smokerz' noses with smouldering ashes* :D I don't know HOW crowd-smokers know that the crowds they currently inhabit are free of allergic people. Or even people who aren't trying to get cancer asap. IT'S AMAZING! :O DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!

I blew back their smoke into their hair, pinched my nose shut (great, more cancer smoke for my mouth, but that won't be a problem since I never speak anyway, eh) and coughed a bit on the smokers.

(No, I dunno how to tell strangers, nicely or coolly, to stop force-feeding me tar. They might have teleported me back to 8th grade using the "Ummmm...?!" Glances and rendered me even sadder than before. Besides, why the feck should I have to point such things out to them? Did they receive pro-smoking propaganda in Kindergarten?)

DIE!!![/witch hunt of poor ickle public smokers 2006]

It was lucky I knew Robbieman would "soon" lift my spirits back up into heavenly spheres. But first, there was much sitting around in the arena and waiting for people fetching water to spill cool water on us. :) Then someone or other must have gotten on their feet, because everyone did. Good for the evil advertisers, bad for our backs.

Then there was DJ Coco, Robbie's DJ apparently. Mhm. Then Basement Jaxx came in to warm us up. Or cool us down. Or distract me from my poor ickle public smoker neighbours. :D At least they had more outfit changes (x) than the warm-up band for Robbie's 2003 concert (0). But what is the point of warm-up bands? Jaxx were well-known... I thought... And unknown bands will mostly be associated with fatigue and impatience forever... Our backs would last so much longer into the real concerts if it weren't for them. :C And the ADS! :p

I had found a spot in 2nd row, stuck out my arm, and grasped the barricade to stay in place. I would have been in the FIRST row if one of the smokers hadn't been guarding spots for her 48 friends... I DO hope those friends had waited at least as long as I. They arrived kind of late...?! Should have smoked less to improve blood flow to their walking instruments. Hmm, if I hadn't guarded a spot for my mum (of course, our outside crowd wasn't very dense) I could have whined more about this. *mutter*

At last Robbie shot out of the stage when I wasn't looking his way, the sly thing! :O There HE was. Again. Real. OMG. Wearing a green tie thing tonight. Well, and some more.

I started out a bit cold, like the rest, I thought. :p But straight in front of us was a very stern-looking guard who I paranoidly imagined would be pissed if anyone showed signs of happiness or summat. After a little while, however, I had thought things over. I wasn't going to be the one responsible for any repetition of an ole Swedish concert after which Robbie complained loads about how cold the Swedes had been. (Well... they are known for it...) I WAS HERE TO HAVE MY SOCKS ROCKED BY ROBBIE AND ROCK HIM BACK!!! :D Soon I was singing along (OK, I might not have done THAT if I'd been alone, hehe... Um, in that case I woulda been busy...) to every line I knew, and mass-conversing with Robbie in between. And taking pics (mostly blurry ones, I dared not fiddle too much with the cam... Sigh...), and trying to catch HIS eye. My mum cannot stop talking about how he caught hers in 2003. :B (She found herself unable to return his mortally charismatic gaze. :p ) I envied her, and kicked myself for not STARING HARDER at him then. Not sure how I did now, hehe. (:B

Once or twice Robbie jumped down to touch/get touched by us worshippers, but he never came near me. I'll just keep waiting, luv...

He himself kept, uh, mentioning the name of his hotel, with great energy. :) He invited all 56 000 of us. Aye. Especially a very veteran fan of 24, who had seen Take That back in those days. :O "The... ELITE... HOTEL... You've deserved it! You followed me all these years, I think you deserve a little..." Hawt lip movements ensue. XD

The other 55 900+ concert goers claim the heavenly event lasted about 2 hours, but I know better. 'Twas 5 minutes long indeed. COME BACK HERE, ROBBIE!!! :9 Suddenly... it was over. XC Everyone dashed for the exit. They appeared to have bet on themselves to be the first one...s to reach the street.

Mum: "OHHHHHHH GAAAAAAAAAAWD! MY BAAAAAAAAACK!"
Yoze: "Uh, mum... Can't we lean against the barricade here in the peaceful temple of rock & roll for a few hours and crack our backs back into place while the others race out?"
Mum: "No, we desperately have to be the first people to reach the street! CROWDSURF OUT RIGHT NOW!"

Then I was distracted and disoriented and noticed too damn late that she was confusedly taking the longest possible road to the bus, a late stop that rendered us and our cracked backs seat-less. Oh well, exercise. +P

The next night... The next concert... I floated around outside Ullevi. OMG, I didn't know the sound was THAT good out there, hehe. (I should have gone and at least LISTENED to U2...) 2 laps around the arena, watching the strong-boyfriend-equipped fans climbing a high fence to get glimpses of Robbie (which they did), dipping my feet in a lil river outside during Come undone, then a happy ending among other listeners on the grass. *romantic sigh*

Blurry happy pics linked to Monkeys.