Longest Wait, No Reward

4 Hours. Divided into two separate waits. 3 hours for one. 1 hour for the other.

Wednesday night was supposed to be the Cradle of Filth concert in Pittsburgh at Club Zoo. One of the few bands I like I have yet to see. I've had the privilege of seeing many, many bands in the 6 years or so I've been going to concerts. I've also gotten a few added to my list because I seen them live before knowing who they were (Mensrea, Acacia Strain, Arch Enemy to name a few).

The doors were supposed to enter at 6. We got there at 6:15 to see a line standing still. We figured they just changed it to 6:30 and jumped in line to get a good spot. An hour later (29 degrees out) no movement. Heard news that a band couldn't make it. No biggie. Didn't know who they were anyway. Another hour later (8:15, 24 degrees out) the biggest thing we've done so far is help a plastic Santa crowd surf the line. Many, many people started some chants typical of a line that has been outside over 2 hours after the doors were supposed to open. We were told there were technical difficulties. Twitter feeds told me the power went out at Consol Energy Center again between periods during the game. Again, no biggie, it's across town anyway.

8:45: "ATTENTION OWNERS OF CLUB ZOO, I'M TIRED OF WAITING, I DON'T HAVE A TICKET, I'M LEAVING IN 15 MINUTES. **** YOU."

9:00: (Same person as 8:45) Among other things about waiting and riots he plainly stated, "I TURN 30 IN A WEEK. IT'S MY BIRTHDAY NEXT WEEK." before being hit with a giant pile of snow slush and leaving. If only someone could have hit him with a snow ball directly.

9:15: FINALLY! Cradle of Filth just went inside and so are we!!

9:25: First band is finishing warm ups and when they get ready to start, POW! Lights go out. The next hour is spent standing around in the dark while Security uses flashlights (and a light up Crowd Surfing Santa) to help light the place.

10:25: "Sorry, a transformer blew because the Consol Energy Center needed too much power (or something along those lines). You can call TicketMaster for a refund or wait for the rescheduled date."

I probably won't ever go back to Club Zoo. The first time I went (All That Remains & Lacuna Coil) it took about 45 minutes to do a sound check for All That Remains before they came out and closed the show. Two trips, two technical difficulties, 4 hours of waiting.

Knowing me, I'll give it a third chance for when/if Cradle comes back. That's if they pick Club Zoo, which I hope they don't.

***update: apparently it was the entire city that went down at some point. Either way, to have us wait outside for so long BEFORE the power went out is ridiculous***