Gelsenkirchen

When I was in Kazakhstan I met a couple from Austria and they talked about how frustrating it was for them to deal with German train because they’re always late. And they were right. I missed my series of trains and some of the upcoming trains got cancelled which is departs every hour. And I lost about 3-4 hours of my travel time in that case. Not accounting that I also again slept through my train to Dusseldorf to Arnhem in Netherland. It was such a chaotic ride to get this small Industrial town called Gelsenkirchen where Taylor Swift is having her concert. Yes, I am attending her concert, again! It was out of impulsivity because I got a reasonably priced resale ticket from Stubhub and her concert almost aligned perfectly with my itinerary and in a couple of days I’ll be going to Antwerp, Belgium for Tomorrowland with my friends. So, I decided to buy the ticket months before, without knowing she’ll be releasing her new album and altering her setlist significantly. All I know is, I wanna see her again and Paramore!

I arrived in Gelsenkirchen at a pretty decent timing to get changed to my concert and to look for storage locker to put my backpack so I don’t carry it to the stadium. I could already seen all the Swifties from 5 stations away wearing their concert outfit resembling specific eras or just a funny outfit that retaliates with Taylor’s life in the past.

Arriving at Veltins Arena wasn’t an easy journey. There is only one tram taking us from the nearest train station at it wasn’t air conditioned. Everyone was sweating and it was fully packed with people going to the same venue. But the weather was decent enough at a chilly 23C so we could breathe fresh air again after we got out from the tram. I wander around for a few minutes admiring the architecture of the stadium, which is different from what I have seen before in Asia where the stadium are pretty wide (to host both football and athletics events) and low (less than 3 tiers).

I didn’t realize how hard it was for me to look for my entrance. I circled the stadium twice and couldn’t seem to find the right entrance for me according to my ticket, at this point I started to get a little bit anxious about my ticket. But I managed to find the entrance and i got in to my seat which said “restricted view” at the very end of the left wing. But after a few minutes two ladies came to my seat and said the seats were theirs, and i was so embarrassed at that point while Paramore is already performing. I went out to look for my seat and found it after missing three songs from Paramore. And it turned out a lot better than my previous seat. I got the seat right in front of the left screen while still being able to see the entire stage. And.. most importantly, those are the areas where you can see Taylor exiting after the concert!

The 3-hour show went pretty quickly and she didn’t disappoint as usual with her performance. And a few things have been changed from her original set list, which featured her new album “The Tortured Poets Department”. Which happened to be my favorite era (and I also wore the outfit with the album’s theme color). Going out to a concert alone definitely still can be fun as long as you let go of all your negative thoughts surrounded by people who have the same interests with you. Which I thought it would be hard, considering I went to a lot of concerts and festivals with my friends in the past. But this was just as enjoyable if not better.Читать далее