One week ago we all were more than excited: the next day would be THE day. My alarm clock at 4 in the morning was named “Harry Day” and i guess i am not gonna change that anytime soon.
Some of us weren’t able to sleep that night, some were traveling, some were already queuing outside the Olympiastadium in Munich. We were all emotionally unstable for what was to come, yet all fierce for how we would make it one of the best nights of our lives.
But before THE night, there was that whole day..
it started early, people were arriving at the venue from all over Germany, some from other parts of the world. More than 70´000 expected.
When I arrived at the venue, pretty early but for some it was late already, around 8:30 am, i looked for the ones queuing for “Bishopsgate”, and as soon as i found them, the leader of that section, Victoria, provided me with number 57.
A proud 57, can you imagine?
Me and my friends calculated that barricade would host more or less 50 fans, so there i was with number 57, still happy and hopeful that i would be able to take the most famous picture one can take of his own hand: the barricade pic – iykyk.
But that, i was not to find out until several hours later, let’s say about 8 hours later.
So what now?
Now let’s wait, and make friends.
I immediately became friends with those in front of me, to entertain myself during the wait time and also to make sure they would hold my spot whenever i had to go to the bathroom, to buy merch or go for a walk.
I was so lucky with the people i met and i am still amazed of how variegated Harry fans are.
From the 14 year old girl accompanied by her father that was taking long naps in the queue and holding his daughters mirror while she was putting her make up on, to the 30 year old girl looking forward to having a good night and to hear her favorite song live, the mother who left her kid at home for the first time to pursue a dream, the other mother that was hoping that all this waiting in the cold would be worth it, as she had seen Michael Jackson, Queen, Metallica and hundreds of other artists live and didn´t want to be disappointed while keeping her 20 years old daughter company, to the camping fans waiting there since 3 days ago, who had brought tents and chairs and part of their childhood rooms.
From this to that, there were thousands of different people there, united for the same cause, waiting.
Waiting and waiting and waiting – for the fruit-man;
and it was cold.
So the first thing I had to do after I secured my fan-number, was to head to the first-aid tent not far from my spot, to get a thermo-blanket in order to wrap myself into it. I was amazed by how good they worked. The wind was strong and chilly, i probably looked like a christmas present and when i looked around i saw a sea of silver and golden blankets, creating the soundtrack of those waiting hours, which i will never forget.
It was awful but it was also kind of nice. That’s my thing with awful situations, i take the good part of it and transform it into a good memory. So glad i am able to do that, otherwise the wind would have really “blowed”.
I was prepared though, so for the whole day i looked like i was going to go on an expedition somewhere in northern Europe, instead of to a concert of the biggest popstar in the world right now. My idea was to let go of my hiking in the cold outfit before the support act would start playing, and make my transformation into the 37 year old PREPARED groupie i am proud to be. So at some point i would get rid of my jacket, my hat, my scarf.. put make up on and flourish. But later. For now i was freezing.
Some girls were also freezing, in a short skirt, and probably still sick in bed at this time. I am sure they have learned from their mistake – in a hard way. Harry will never see how you are dressed from your belly down, so don’t even bother. He will appreciate a smile tho, that’s what you should underline, not your outfit. Also, pods and front pitch in a stadium will never be the place for high heels. just a reminder.
it was really entertaining to see what everybody was wearing for the show, from thousands of feather boas, cowboy hats, fun shirts, old merch, 1d related things, props, peas and kiwi costumes, there was so much to see and if i could have, i definitely would have taken a picture of every single one of us and made it into a book. It would sell, i know it.
Around 11am they moved us to our actual lines where later they would give us the original number and put us in the REAL queue.
and what did we do there? WAIT, of course.
But now the wait was more exciting, they gave us the official fabric bracelet for the pod and some guy wrote numbers on our wrists. They told us we could move and come back not later than 1:30pm. So we went for a walk, we bought merch, had something to eat, to drink.. a lot of hot tea was involved as it was still very cold, but then, after a bit, the sun came out and you could suddenly hear all of us scream as if Harry just took over the stage.
Yes, the biggest star is still the sun in this fairy tale :)
So the sun was out, the wind slowed down, we all ate, we were happy, by that time we all had made new friends, exchanged numbers, charged our phones with our power banks (a concerts best friend tbh), and were curious for what was to come.
Soon after – or 2 hours later (by that time i had no feeling of the time passing by), they checked our bags and asked the camping people to get rid of all the stuff on the floor. Only A4 sized bags or smaller were allowed, but i had bought a tote bag at the merch shop that was bigger than that and -obviously- it was no problem.
Another hour later they checked our tickets.
And then.. there was unconscious hysteria in every one of us.
Johnny´s Place queue was the first one to be let into the stadium, and as they made their way through the gates, you could see feathers flying, golden blankets waving in the wind like flags of freedom and.. hear absolutely nothing. The silence before the storm. Considering that what would follow would be a tornado of feelings (of course i am over dramatizing this part, but that is what it felt).
Hollywood was next and then it was our turn.
Bishopsgate two by two were let into the gates around 4.30pm, showing the phone one more time for a quick ticket check and holding the hand with the bracelet up high.
What follows was the weirdest walk ever. We went down the stairs like little school kids, well behaving, feeling like if we had to show them (the security staff) that we are good people, knowing that we are not. In fact, we were burning inside from the desire of getting down there in the pitch and grab the best possible barricade spaces available. We were ready to run, and fight, to be the ones in the front, so that waiting a whole day would be worth it even more.
The wait had not been only one day outside the stadium, there’s more to that. The wait started when we didn’t even know that there would be new tour dates, or it started when in august 2022 we waited for hours on ticketmaster, stressed as hell, just to snatch these tickets. The wait had been months and it was the anticipation of May 18th 2023 that made this concert even better.
The wait counts, i would buy another ticket RIGHT NOW for a show in two years from now, just to experience this wait again, a mix between agony and excitement that hurts and is a wonderful warm feeling at the same time.
So we had been waiting forever, and now the moment had almost come: we were reaching the famous barricade.
When we arrived in bishopsgate, the front row was full, the space on the right i had planned to reach had already a second row, so i walked straight up to the front, in the middle, and held on to the barricade between the arms of two strangers. It didn’t matter what they were going to say, or think.. i said: “there is space for me too”, and.. they made space for me.
of course i was thankful but also i felt so powerful, it’s silly. The triumph at last. I WAS BARRICADE, and i was holding on to my space like i would drown if i didn’t.
Again: it is silly,
but in that moment it wasn’t.
We waited there for 3 more hours (yes, the wait was not over..), and it was suddenly not cold anymore. The stadium was open but we were protected by the sides of it so it was really comforting not having to keep the thermo-blankets anymore.
We sat on the floor, there was background music, all famous songs; and we sang along to all of them. The atmosphere was simply amazing, it was heartwarming.
the topics were when to go to “pee for the last time” or “how many minutes until the show starts”.
So we all went to the toilets once more, hoping that the fans next to us would keep our precious space. The toilets were sooo far and that little excursion lasted at least 35 minutes, so the anxiety of not being able to get back to barricade was massive. Anyhow peeing was more important and at last, everybody got back to the place they previously had and the whole crowd was happy, waiting some more while drinking just the right little amount of water to survive (in order to not having to go to the bathroom again before the show) and charging their phones – again.
At 7 pm we were nerve wrecks, we were not feeling any cold, we were ready. 30 more minutes and the support band would start: Wet Leg, the award winning band of this beautiful and talented girl (that makes everything she says seem so sexy) and her friends.
While i knew only two songs, i really enjoyed all the others too, they were a delight and in my opinion, they didn’t get enough credit from the crowd. Everybody was waiting for Harry and some just wanted him to get on stage already. But still, Wetleg were fantastic and if i wasn´t saving my voice for Harry, i definitely would have screamed for them more.
It is quite rare that the opening act is a grammy winning band. So we were very lucky.
After Wetleg, Harry´s background-prepare yourself we are almost ready-music started, we knew that we had about 25 minutes to get ourselves together because we were about to experience the so, so ,so awaited moment. Harry was there behind the stage spying on us, deciding for himself whether we were or not a good crowd, and choosing his outfit for the night.
Me and my queue buddy decided to manifest an open jacket and the color BLUE, so there we were, manifesting, singing old songs together with 70´000 people (i was impressed by how many teenagers knew the lyrics of 20 and more years old songs), breathing, getting mentally ready.
Suddenly we were torn between finally the show is about to start and realizing that in about 2 hours everything will be over: the wait, the excitement, the positive anxiety, the hysteria, that tickling feeling.. all gone. Our phones full of pictures that are not even close to the reality of how it was..
“As it was”…
shhhhhh, bohemian rhapsody is over! The show begins, the world stands still:
What an explosion. An explosion of everything good imaginable, of sparkles and glitter and fruity euphoria.
The new intro on the big screen gave us goosebumps and when the opening song started, we were all watching to finally see Harry..
when suddenly Mister Styles jumped out running between the members of the LoveBand, wearing what is one of the best, if not THE BEST, outfits of this whole tour. Exactly how we had manifested it.
We had already won.
The crowd got crazy and my ears were in shock, while our eyes were too.
That night we wrote history, together with this kind, humble, sparkly, friendly, amiable, warm, bright, sunshine-like, human human being.
He opened the doors to Harry´s House for us and we were part of the show, not only watching it. At some point i didn’t know if i wanted to take videos, if i wanted to just feel the moment, if i was dreaming.. and then he saw my sign and smiled at me, answering to my question “how are you” by giving me the thumbs up. Thanking the crowd for caring.
Thanking the universe for letting him be what he is.
He sang, soooo good, nobody tell me “he is just a kid from a boyband”.
He is a grown man taking over the world with his smile, his lyrics, his voice, teaching us to treat people with kindness, giving us the cinema, “the best song ever”, matilda, fine line..
He even gave us grapejuice.
The setlist was fire, the level of entertainment, the horns, the Loveband, the vibes.. everything was immaculate. Something we will talk about for many many years. Something to remember.
Glad that i have been a part of it.
Thank you
TPWK.
P.S. I have some of these “I WAS THERE” stickers i would love to gift some of you with
