Tickets were to go on sale at 10:00 AM this morning. My friend Sheila came over and we planned our strategy. She would try the 2 phone numbers while I used the laptop. At 9:00 AM I went on the capitaltickets site and created my account with them. I checked things out and left the site at 9:15, feeling totally prepared to do business at 10:00 AM.
It was a busy morning at our place with our son and a couple of friends in, to work on our porch project. They all had pancakes before heading outside. After serving them I wolfed down a couple of pancakes myself. Then at 9:53, Sheila and I sat down together on the couch, ready to slay the ticket monster.
It was not to be. As soon as I entered the ticket site I was notified that I was in a queue and advised not to leave the page or I would give up my place in line. And so we sat, staring at that message , waiting for it to change. Of course the 2 phone numbers were busy as well.
My question is...when did the queue start? At 9:15 there was no lineup but by 9:53, I was way too late. Sheila and I had a good visit while we sat staring at the screen that never changed. At 11:15, we gave up. Later we heard that tickets had sold out in 10 minutes!
Although disappointed, we really shouldn't complain, as we went to see McCartney in Toronto in 2010. It was one of the best concerts ever. He is a remarkable performer, with so much energy. In a CBC radio interview that year he said, "I go out there and try to give people the best night of their lives." He delivers. There really is nothing quite like belting out all those great tunes with McCartney as the very enthusiastic choir leader. As the cameras panned the crowd that night I was struck by the sea of happy, joyous faces....all these people, of various ages and backgrounds, all these strangers, united in song, in the pure joy of singing, in celebrating this performer, even with a totally silly song like Ob La Di, Ob La Da.
McCartney was so thankful throughout the show, always thanking the crowd profusely after each song, sometimes just pausing, drinking in the applause. After a particularly big hit like Yesterday or Hey Jude he would bow, and often raise his guitar in a salute to the crowd.. For a moment, in the pause after the song, as applause rained down on him and he acknowledged us...it was as if he and us...we were connecting after all these years. On both sides of the stage we were remembering and saying..."Hey, that was a great hit, how we enjoyed that when we were young. " With our applause we were thanking him, not just for that particular performance but for the fun and enjoyment we had with each song, over the years.
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| My Paul trading card |
Enjoyment..that's what he gives...joy. Because he still loves to give that joy to his audiences, he still tours. What a great gift, to be able to give joy to so many.
Well that's enough of that. I can't think about it right now. Next time...when I really want tickets...I'll go online long before the sale officially starts.
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