Re: Gate crasher at Sea World-Orlando
RvrRat wrote:
Anyone here ever crashed a gate?
Way back in 71, I was a sophomore at Va Tech. Jethro Tull was coming there on their Aqualung tour. I was barely able to make ends meet and the tickets were way too expensive for my budget.
It was a Saturday night so all of my ‘moneyed’ friends were doing their ‘pre-concert’ partying along with me and my ‘non-moneyed’ friends. They were razzing us about how great the concert was going to be and how we might be able to hear it outside the venue. We non-ticketed students just partied and told them to go to their damn concert. Off they went.
The rest of us stayed back and partied a little more and whined about our lack of funds. Enough of this, let’s go check it out! Off we went to just pick up on the vibe of the whole thing.
As we got to the venue, some unknown person said “Follow us, we have someone on the inside.” We walked around the outside of the building and the group grew to about 30-35…mostly guys. As we walked, someone inside was matching our pace and making eye contact.
The building had doors all the way around with huge columns separating them into groups of about 8 doors. Two cops were at each group of doors.
When the guy inside saw a couple of cops that weren’t paying attention, he ran to one of the doors and pushed the handle. In we ran, 35 strong!
The 2 cops grabbed a couple of guys but I had made sure I was in the middle of the middle. Dash across the circumferential hall and thru the doors into the actual concert hall! Find empty seats and sit and look nonchalant! Thru the doors come 5 or 6 cops looking all around! Don’t breath hard….don’t even look up…act like you’re talking to the couple of guys you came in with! The cops walked on down to the floor level. Whew! We were in!
As the lights went down, people came up to bump us out of their nose-bleed seats. As the music started we worked our way to the (less suspicious) floor. As luck would have it, about the time we got to the floor, people started to rush the stage and we were caught up in it all.
We ended up sitting in the center aisle at about the 6th row, surrounded by others. We settled in for the concert as those around us fired em up and passed em around. It was great.
Great show.
When we got back to the dorm, our moneyed friends laughingly asked how we had spent our night. It was with great pleasure that we told them our story and explained how much closer we were to the show than they were!
I have never done anything that brazen...one time had to get Gregg's son backstage as the security didn't believe him when he said he was his son!! I think it was Michael Allman??? Too many drinks that trip that is all I remember? My kids were young too so not sure but we had been at Wet n Wild in Orlando and then to my first trip to "Chuckee CHEESE"...had my neices and nephew too I drank a whole pitcher of beer by myself...so can't remember where the dam concert was but in a big field in Orlando area ? Must have been early 80's? His kid was a tall teenager that is all I know?? 