J. Cole Concert

I went to a J. Cole concert Thursday night, alone. I wasn't sure how I felt about going to a concert alone, but everyone I knew who would have gone was either so into J. Cole that they got the 100 Euro seats, or not into him enough to spend the 40 Euros I was spending for GA. 

I got their a bit early because I had GA. There really wasn't a lot of people so I was able to explore the space a bit (Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam) and buy some concert earplugs (god bless, they were a necessity). I found a good spot on the floor where I could sit on a barrier. I hung out. I was a bit bored because I got their at 6:30 for an 8:00 show that didn't start until 9:00. 

But as soon as the show started I knew that going alone was the right choice. Yes, going with friends is always nice, but you don't need friends there to be able to enjoy the music. J. Cole is a great performer, and the audience was great too.

The audience members in GA were seriously nice. It's no secret that the Dutch people are tall. I saw so many tall people move to let shorter people stand in front of them. I saw tall people tap other tall people on the shoulder in order to bring to their attention that there was, in fact, a shorter person behind them. About 3/4ths of the way through the show I was told to get down off the barricade, restricting my previously unrestricted view. I was fine though because I knew the show was almost over. And yet the man in front of me turned around and said I could move in front of him. To be honest I'm not exactly sure  what he said, because 1: it was loud, 2: I was wearing earplugs, and 3: he was speaking Dutch. But it was clear enough with the hand motions what he wanted, and he moved back to create an opening for me. I said "thank you" in what was probably inaudible Dutch, and moved forward. Since I was only one person I was able to move from that spot into other small openings in the crowd. 

I was in a really nice spot when two guys came pushing through in an effort to deliver a beer to a friend. They were apologetic the whole way, and upon delivering their beer, tried to find a way out. They had kind of trapped themselves in a small pocket right in front of me. They started to ask me (in Dutch) if I wanted to go back in front of them. I could hardly hear them with the earplugs, and I don't think I would've understood them anyway. One of them said "English?" and then proceeded with the same line of questioning. They switched places with me explaining "we're very long, yes?" and confirming twice after we moved that I could see. There were only two more songs or so after that, but I saw many examples of tall people being nice, or people moving through the crowd without protest. 

All in all it was a very nice night, and I'm very happy to have gone.