My husband had never been to this concert venue. I used to go to the venue with a group of friends when I was in high school and I knew what kind of terrain we were getting into. I also did a lot of online research and recommendations. When I am going somewhere for the first time in a long time, I like to get the lay of the land.
It is a beautiful location but access has not changed since I was there over fifty years ago. Luckily my husband did not ask too many questions before we started our journey because he doesn't like to wait in lines and there are a lot of lines.
First we took the fifteenth spot on the highway at the driveway to the venue at 5:00. Mr. Merry knew something was up. We waited about 25 minutes before the first gate opened. I spared no expense for this trip and purchased premier parking. We drove approximately 1.5 -2 miles to get to the premier lot. Since I made sure we were early, we got the third spot from the gate.
We had almost an hour before the security gate opened. We waited in our air conditioned car and watched people for the first 30 minutes. Then we stood under a tree for shade until the line started to form. I would like to give a special shout out to a group of girl friends who had shirts made that said "The We Fight Authority Fan Club" in different colors.
I would like to go on record that the people at this concert were the same age as my husband and I. And that age is "old enough to know better". We were a little shocked at the amount of alcohol being consumed in the parking lot.
Finally the security gate opened. I did not bring a bag so all we had to do was pass through metal detectors. Then we followed the crowd down a path that was about .5 mile to the next gate passing all kinds of booths and pop-up tents selling food, merchandise of all kinds, renting lawn chairs for those sitting on the lawn. But mostly they were selling different alcohol beverages. At this point it is 1 1/2 hours before the concert starts. 
Look at the beautiful blue sky.
We get to the next gate which will let us into the concert venue. We are at the front. We are standing with other adults our age. Again, old enough to know better. We were chatting with different people. The woman in front of me was drinking a 16 oz White Claw. Her husband left the line to get another beer and she turned. In the crook of her other arm she had a full White Claw and another empty can. She gave him the two empties and told him to bring her another drink, this time with ice. I want to mention that the canned drinks were $23-$25 at the stands. She was $100 at least into drinking 1 hour prior to the concert. And she wasn't the only one. Those gates open and we went 90 mph across the field and down a steep incline into the pavilion. I had purchased really good seats (in case we sat in them) and then access passes to the sky lounge which includes a bar with seats, couches to "lounge" , a bartender and table service. As the second couple in the lounge, we scored one of the couches! This meant we were under the roof - higher than the inclined seats, ensconced in a very comfy couch with an end table, and had the most adorable bubbly server at our beck and call. We had special bracelets which we helped our first time bartender learn how to fasten to our wrists. All the workers were so sweet and so young.
Again, look at the sky!
We were sitting on our couch people watching and about 3/4 of the ticket holders had arrived. And the skies decided to open! Everyone on the lawn and on their way to seats in the pavilion were drenched. The walkways became slippery and many of the walkers were intoxicated. People were falling all over the place and some needed medical help with golf carts EMTs.
Now look at the sky. I'm not sure if you can make out behind the couch next to us (the bars were behind the couches) but the whole hill of people were scrambling as the rain was just pouring at this point. So that was fun.
We ordered drinks. I had a $28 strawberry lemonade with vodka. (I am not against alcohol. I am against paying lots of money for concert tickets and getting blotto before a concert even starts!) and Mr Merry ordered a $10 coke.
You can see the raindrops on the glass. After the rain we ordered this $28 chacuterie tray to share and waited for the concert to begin. IT WAS FABULOUS. John was so friendly and had such a great rapport with the crowd.
He sang all his old songs and newer songs, songs we all knew the words to. The sound system was outstanding. You felt like you were in a room with him. The musicians were excellent.
He shared lots of personal stories and it was like having a conversation with him. And the sound system was so good - we could hear and understand every word.
A lot of the crowd was in constant movement - to the vendors for drinks and to the restrooms.
There was an intermission and everyone was headed to the concessions. Here are some more shenanigans in front of us.
He was a few songs into the the second set when people started to leave to get to the parking lots and avoid the traffic. I do not understand paying all that money for tickets to leave early!
John does not do encores and announced he would do two more songs. And more people left.
We remained in our comfy couch until almost everyone left the pavilion and made our way at the back of the crowd to our car. I had packed a smaller cooler with crackers and cheese for the wait. These pictures are directly in front of our vehicle, taken through the windshield. I did not take photos of others being sick in the parking lot.
We had a wonderful time! The concert itself was every thing we hoped it would be. We were so pampered on the deck. We left huge tips because those girls work so hard. It was worth every penny for all the upgrades.
And we both decided that it was a wonderful experience and we don't need to do it again.
