AWESOME concert tonight, totally worth the money, so great. More review later. Everyone on this site has been so great at providing advice, downloads, etc. so I wanted to get my thoughts out there ASAP, esp. for those going to shows coming up this week.
1) Meeting them - before
I was told that the buses got there about 1:00 pm and everyone went inside. Then somewhere between 2:00 and 3:30 pm, 4-5 different Idols came out one by one to meet fans. In San Diego that wasn't really a lot of people at that time, so I'm extremely bummed that I missed it! I got there about 4:00 and that was apparently the time that the 'meet and greets' started. There was one group that went in at 4 and then another at 4:30. Then apparently there was a press M&G at 5:00 and then at 6:00 they have warmups. So pretty much you gotta get there really early. I would assume most cities would be like that.
David Cook came out, so did Archie, as did Syesha, so I was told by fans still there. By the way, all of the fans there were so nice and friendly (BEFORE the show!)
2) Meeting them - after
My advice, get yourself or one of your group to bolt out of the concert at the end to grab spots at the front of the security line near the buses. I was dumb - I thought I'd wait until people "left" and came out and found out that - NO one left! LOL. There were hundreds of people lined up out there, and pushy and rude and all that. Once you are 4-5 people back, you'll never get anything (esp. being short like me).
That said, most of the Idols did come out between 11 pm and midnight - it seems to be a regular thing. They are given sharpies and they started on one end of the line and went down the other. Pretty patient, seemed like they spent a lot of time, though there was a little sense of it being a chore for them. Kristy Lee came out first, then Carly, and so on. They were all out there. But again, it was a mob scene and almost impossible to get near them without being incredibly pushy (which I'm just not) so I didn't get the photo with DC that I really really wanted.
Oh - the security lineups would probably probably vary by city but if this helps - they did start at one end - their left, your far right.
But - and it was definitely a consolation - MJ came back off the bus after people started chanting his name and came back over to the far right area he had covered once, and so I got a photo! He was super nice but you could just tell that it's all a bit overwhelming and exhausting for all of them. Even DC at several points admonished the crowd to stop pushing. (C'mon people!)
Got to see Brooke's husband and Archie's dad and I think Carly's husband was there as well, she looked bummed to be leaving them as she got on the bus.
After the clock struck midnight, just like Cinderella, Idols got on the bus and I think they pulled out about 12:15 am or so to get up to Fresno. (Don't envy that drive!)
Oh PS - the buses have colored stickers on the windshield of them I think to tell them apart. The boys' bus was yellow and the girls' pink. If it helps.
3) Cameras
At the Sports Arena there were no problems bringing in regular digital cameras. I don't know what if any they did block but lots of people had cameras or phones that shot video. Someone said something to me about "professional" cameras being blocked. (PS - Definitely absolutely bring extra batteries, that saved me).
4) Souvenirs
The same ones on the web site is all they have there. I waited until the end of the show when there was no line to buy my shirt (though then I lost any hope of a good photo spot by the buses). I thought the show guides were pretty cool, IMO. BTW, it was also so cool to see a lot of DC shirts!
A few other random items...
The concert started at 7:15 (with the schlocky pop tarts guy starting at 7). It just went by SO so fast, I couldn't believe it. It was over by 10:15 pm. I wanted them to keep going - it wasn't enough!
Seats -- the best seats to me would be the ones on the far right and far left of the stage near the bottom, where the overhangs are. They blocked off any access to the stage in the front, so even if you are in the front row you can't reach up and touch them like you see on TV. I was in the 3rd row of the lower loge and they were great. Weird thing to me was - I would have expected the floor to be standing the whole time but really they didn't except through DA and DC.
Even though I had good seats I was glad that I brought binocs because then I could really see the sparkle on their shoes and facial expressions, y'know?
One last thing - the set list tonight was the exact same as Glendale and I think a lot of the costumes were the same as well! I asked MJ if they were singing the same songs in every city and he said he thought they would be shaking it up. No details, sorry! But that's exciting, reason for me to consider going again!
Have a great time y'all! And be nice... DC would want that.
KO
But the show was fantastic, even if I was in the very very back row.
