One year ago

[Sean%20O <bfdiesel@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Coming out of lurk mode!!

It is amazing to think that one year ago I also had the good fortune of seeing 
the best band in the world.  Like most of us I waited patiently for that email 
to come that said I was a winner in the lottery.  I must have checked my email 
every minute.  I attend the Van Halen concert in Philadelphia that night and 
all I could think of was getting home to check my email again.  I could see 
from several of the bulletin boards that some people were acknowledging receipt 
of the golden email.  By the time we got home, it was 2AM and decided to check 
ebay since I had read a few people buying passcodes.  I thought about it for a 
long time since there was alot of negative comments about those people and that 
even if you purchased the passcode, you would not be allowed entry once at the 
O2.  As I watched the sale of passcodes go by one by one, I decided to jump in. 
 Some of the sales were going for alot of money but one person was selling them 
for a reasonable price ($100) so I did the buy it now thing and within a few 
minutes I had the letter and a passcode.  If things did not work out, I figured 
the most I would be out was the $100.  When I went to the ticket site and 
entered the passcode, up came a screen that said Led Zeppelin at the O2.  I 
could not believe it.  Here I was going to purchase tickets to see Led 
Zeppelin.  I was shaking as I entered the information and when I got the 
confirmation I almost started to cry.  By this time it is after 3AM in the 
morning.  I went to bed and woke up my wife to tell her that we are going to 
London to see Led Zeppelin.  She is also a fan but not to the extent that I am. 
 She told me I was crazy.

After making all the booking arrangements for the airfare and hotel, we 
appeared to be all set.  I could not really get a hotel near the O2 at that 
time.  Once the concert was postponed, and the new date announced, I 
immediately booked a hotel near by.  We were within walking distance to the O2 
as we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express.  Once we arrived in London we hopped 
on the Underground and headed towards Greenwhich.  On our way from the 
Underground to the Hotel, we walked by the Pilot Inn so I had a good reference 
for where we would end up that night.  

First priority was to get our tickets.  As most have stated, the lines were 
very long and we spent over two hours in line.  The closer you got to the 
front, the more the excitement grew.  Finally, here I was, with my wife by my 
side, signing the paperwork for our two tickets and wristbands.  We were in.  
After all the uncertainty, I had my tickets and we were going to see Led 
Zeppelin.  

We went back to the hotel and slept for a little bit, and then decided to head 
over to the Pilot Inn.  While I don't really know most of you, I did run into 
Nech standing outside with I think TangerineMan and Eddie Lombardi.  Nech 
described the rehearsals and I just could not wait until the next night.  
Inside the place was great and we met several nice people from all over the 
world.  When the Pilot Inn closed, we headed back to the Holiday Inn.  Once 
back there, the bar was still open and there were a fair number of people 
hanging out.  We met up with a few more fans and discussed our plans for the 
next day. (BTW, if you look at the TBL issue with the O2 wrap up, that is my 
wife in the picture of the Pilot Inn) 

As the next day came, everyone was very anxious.  Since we had standing 
tickets, our plan was to not have anything to drink after 4:00PM since I knew 
once we were on the floor, going to the bathroom and getting back was going to 
be out of the question.  We met up with a few friend back at the Pilot Inn 
around 3:00PM and had something to eat.  I did have one beer and that was it.  
I didn't want anything to impair my experience.  We started over to the O2 and 
followed the signs for the Standing tickets gates.  There was already a very 
long line that wrapped around the quite a bit.  After a while we could hear 
Foreigner doing there sound check.  It wouldn't long.  We were discussing where 
we were going to stand and based on the length of the line we figured we were 
going to be about half way back on the floor.  We were all Jimmy fans so we 
knew we we going to stand on that side of the stage.  Shortly the line started 
moving and as we entered the arena, we all looked at each other and our jaws 
dropped as there was a clear path to the front of the stage.  As most gathered 
in the center, we took our places to the right and we were about 20 feet from 
the stage.  Here we were standing about 10 people deep in front on Jimmy's 
side.  We were overjoyed.  As the other acts took the stage, everyone was 
polite but you could tell we were all anxious for the boys to take the stage.  
After a brief intermission, the lights went down, and the introduction was 
played.  And then there it was.  That thunderous sound of the drum intro into 
GTBT.  I got chills.  Here I was watching my favorite band of all time.  I 
looked over to my wife and I had tears in my eyes.  At that point she got it.  
She understood all the passion I have for the band.  As she looked around the 
rest of the crowd, she was amazed.  We have been to hundreds of concerts 
together, but this one was special and she started to see why.  For the next 2 
plus hours I experienced one of the greatest moments of my life.  I had a 
camera with me and I must have taken over 100 pictures as well as a few video 
segments and all of the encore.  I was looking at the pictures on the camera 
from time to time and thought that they looked okay.  However, when I got back 
to my hotel room and loaded them on the laptop, I almost fell off the chair.  
Being as close as we were I had captured some amazing pictures with amazing 
clarity. I continue to look at them all the time.   

As someone else has mentioned, this experience was right up there with 
marriage, and the birth of my children.  
I still get chills everytime I listen to the show.  I am brought back instantly 
as soon as I here the intro and watching the video just blows me away.

Sorry for the long post, but today I was brought back in time one year ago.

Enjoy,

Sean O