Prague 5th May 2005 |
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I left home as usual at about 03:00 for a 06:30 flight from Stanstead - this time with EasyJet. It was a good flight, and we landed in Prague few minutes early. I got a taxi from the airport to my hotel. When I arrived at the hotel I had a quick shower then set out to look around and locate the Sazka Arena where the concert will be held. I have to say at this point that I think this was destined to be a difficult concert from the beginning. To start with it was very difficult to get tickets if you are outside the Czech Republic. The Arena looked great, and had a great web site in English, but it is the most difficult place I have ever tried to get tickets from. I don't know why iit was not possible to sell us tickets and then either post them or keep them for us. When you spend a lot of money to visit a place for a concert, and take a few days off work, book flights, book a hotel, you really feel better knowing you have tickets. I just don't understand why they would not post tickets less than 35 days before the event. The post only takes a few days - my Austrian tickets arrived in about 3 days, and Eventim.de always get tickets to me in a couple of days - I offered to pay DHL or whatever, but the answer was still no. They could not be posted, then we were told we could reserve tickets to pickup the day before the concert, or on concert day, but a few days before the concert we (I and another UK fan) had an email saying this was a mistake, and tickets could only be reserved until 03.05 (2 days before the concert) so we no longer had reservations :( I was lucky that my husband knew someone who was in Prague for a while, and he bought me 2 tickets, so I had my tickets with me when I left home. (Sorry about complaining - but it was a real worry for me and some of the others.) On this first day in Prague I tried to get some tickets for a couple of other fans who was going to be late arriving, but I could not buy them - the box office at the Arena said they can only sell them tomorrow (concert day). I spoke to NMR for the forum briefly by phone, so I knew he had also arrived safely in Prague, with his friends. The Arena was only 3 stops away from my hotel on the Metro, so it was very convenient. Having been for a look around Wednesday morning I decided not to take my camera - security looked very tight, and there were big signs all round with lists of forbidden things. It looked a huge place. I spent a few pleasant hours in the afternoon walking around Prague, looking at the sights and shops. By the time I got back to the hotel in the early evening I was very tired and hungry, and after eating in the hotel restaurant I just wanted to sleep. I slept very well for about 10 hours. The next morning I had breakfast early, and was just getting showered when Christiane and her friend arrived at the hotel. The three of us then went out together for them to buy concert tickets at a local store. At about lunch time we went to the Arena to begin our wait. We waited outside the arena for many hours. In the middle of the afternoon Christoph from Austria arrived with a Czech friend of his. Being in a queue with Christoph is always fun. There was very tight security at the arena - there looked to be more x-ray machines than at Heathrow Airport. We queued in about 10 lines. When we were allowed into the arena at about 18:00 we had to run right round to the other side of the arena inside to find the way to the standing area, when we finally got there (and it was a long way !) we were faced with Security Guards and solid metal doors. We had to stand in front of these doors with an ever increasing and restless crowd behind us all pushing and crushing us for about 90 minutes. When we were finally allowed into the hall at about 19:30 Chris and I were the first to go into the hall - as usual we headed for the centre of the front row. The concert was great - the music was great and Rick, Jay and H.P. were great!
I think that maybe female fans alone have more problems - so the lesson I have learnt is next time try to stand with some male fans I know if I can, and also stand a little to the side, not go for very centre. It was the "toughest" concert I have ever been to - althought I was one of the first into the hall, but I only managed to keep my front row place for about 2 minutes. But the atmosphere when Scooter were on stage was great - and there were so many happy fans around me just enjoying the music. Scooter were great in Prague! It was a great show - everything was just wonderful there was a little less pyro than I have seen before, but there were lasers throughout the show, which were very good. As usual, I couldn’t remember the exact track list, but this is from Scootertechno.com:
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Intro (WLIL)
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I think Scooter were on stage somewhere between 75 - 90 minutes. This was great - but always passes so quickly. After the concert I briefly met NMR and his friends, and Bond007 from the forum inside the Arena as we were leaving. After the concert a few of us went for a much needed drink, (I was very de-hydrated) and then on to a disco for a while - we had a great evening - I got to meet Scooternation.tk here.I got to bed at about 3:30, and slept very well for about 5 hours. I had to leave the hotel by 10:00 the next morning, so I got up, had breakfast, showered and got ready to leave - just as I was preparing to leave the hotel Christiane arrived at my hotel and said she wanted to go out with me, so we went out to look around Prague together. At about lunchtime Chris was tired and fed up with walking around and she said needed to get ready for her journey back toGermany - so she headed back to the train station. I continued to walk around Prague.I spent several hours walking around Prague - it is a beautiful city. I didn’t get any pictures of Scooter - but many of Prague - I am happy that I have been able to visit this beautiful city. I went back to the airport for my journey home in the evening, and arrived back at Stanstead at about 23:00, ready for the weekend with my family. I finally got to meet MNR and Bond007, for a short time, and a few other German fans, Christoph again and scooternation.tk - It was great to meet you all, and thanks of course to Rick, Jay and H.P. For making it all possible. |
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