| rev:text
| - Where do I start? I could just say it was f'n amazing! I could just say hell yeah! I could use an array of emoticons and symbols like a hipster. But let me start by saying, they come back in 2017 and I'm all in!!!
The planning started last year. I was trying to figure out what to do for my sexy ass wife's birthday. I say that because it's proven fact. Anyhow, I stumbled onto the Rock in Rio site by typing in Bruno Mars in my Google search bar. I wanted to take my wife to see Bruno since we missed him the last two times he was in the Bay Area.
To my surprise, I click on the site and an entire line-up appears for a festival I had never heard of. At the time, it was just head liners...John Legend, Bruno, Taylor Swift, Sam Smith and that right there was enough! So I paid for two tickets through Ticketmaster for $296 each. I thought it was a bargain as we were already getting 4 headliners and some others were being built in to the expanding lineup.
What was left to do? Well, like any good party you have to throw an invite to all your close friends. So I did and the cool ones were all in. The rest? Hmmmm, their status remains questionable in my circle of friends. I'll re-evaluate that by December 31. One of our other friends was also celebrating his birthday so it turned out to be just what he needed as well.
I did have some problems with Ticketmaster and getting our electronic wristbands but that's another story. The wristbands came about 4 weeks before the event and came with instructions. This was a "cashless" event so you were to create an electronic spending account for the wristbands, which I did and for the most part this did make it convenient. But "cashless" wasn't exactly true. You could easily top off your wristbands at the event at any number of the top off stations there. The instructions were specific to the fact that the wristbands could not be shared or removed. But I'm pretty sure there was a lot of sharing and passing on of the wristbands.
By the time of the event there were so many performers. The event was slated to start at 3pm and end by 1:30am each day. I really started to feel like this was a bargain. Each performer did a full performance and was in excess of an hour and a half.
The event was held at The City of Rock, which apparently was purchased by MGM entertainment. For those familiar with Vegas and the strip this was that vacant lot behind Circus Circus adjacent from the Stratosphere and across from SLS. The Hilton was probably the best location if you wanted to stay near because SLS and Strato meant you still had about a 1/4 mile walk to the gates.
Like any event you walk by boosters, scalpers, and some weird a-s people on the way to the gates. I can appreciate that though because it makes the event real. Since this was Vegas, moments I was completely sober were few and far between so of course I was drinking a Heineken on the way there. Not often Do I get to drink in public so I take full advantage of it when I can. However, you can't bring anything in so security is there to make sure you drink it all or throw it away before you come in.
When you get past the actual gates, you still have to go through security. They split men and women up in separate lines. They thoroughly checked for contraband, opened bags, and patted everyone down. I say Hell yes, because the last thing I want to worry about at these events is my safety. Please check everyone and please check them well. If I can't bring any goodies in no one else should and I want to make sure there are no weapons anywhere around me. Last thing I want is to be stabbed to death getting in touch with my feminine side while pushing and shoving for position to get the best view of Taylor Swift's body glitter.
The organizers get a big round of kudos for their attentiveness to security and organization in general. People come from all over to these events and it's nice and just pleasantly refreshing to know you are getting your money's worth. When you finally get inside, what you see is a festival ground dedicated to music and good vibes. Another nice touch was the fake grass. I love grass at parks and when I go to enjoy nature but the fake grass meant I didn't have to worry about bugs or grass stains. This I thought was an awesome touch. It really kept us from getting messy and uncomfortable.
There were multiple stages set up. There were so many booths. There was a zip line tower (the wait each day was over three hours though), there was a giant Ferris wheel, and so many concession stands that were dressed up like shops from Rio. Each and every performance here was amazing and magical but Bruno and his Hooligans were simply earth shattering. He is a throwback in a world of auto tune and I'm a fan for life. Ed Sheeran was an amazing surprise too. That boy and his guitar rocked out. Big Sean can go back to Detroit and get "big" but other than that this was by far the best music festival I have gone to.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)