Two Saturdays ago, Abbey, Adam, Fink, Sarah and I woke up early, filled Adam's car with beer, food and a miniature MSU-helmet-shaped grill, and drove to Giants Stadium. Actually, we arrived at the "blue lot," an office parking lot about a mile away where we handed over our $20 fee and were told that tailgating was not allowed. We all kind of nodded in agreement to the attendant and then drove quietly to the back of the lot, passing groups of other concertgoers huddled together around their closed trunks looking lost and dreading the boozeless four and a half hours awaiting them. We backed into a shady spot and surveyed the scene, waiting for someone else to make the first move, and wondering if those first ones should be us. Soon, neighbors arrived, and with a bunch of red party cups in hand, the first beers were poured, the lawn chairs put out and the Spartan helmet fired up. Others followed. And once the tailgate tension ended, and grills powered up across the parking lot, we made friends with the group next door. Well, actually, Abbey made friends and the rest of us followed along as usual.
The concert (once we were school bused to the stadium) was really great. Numerous celebrities took the stage, from Leonardo DiCaprio to Cameron Diaz. Planes flew overhead with competing messages: "Don't believe Al Gore" and "Al Gore for President." And I've never seen so many acts on one stage -- Kayne West, Alisha Keyes, Fall Out Boy, Ludacris, The Police, Roger Waters, Smashing Pumpkins, John Mayer, Melissa Ethridge, and so many others. My favorite performance was by Dave Matthews Band, which reminded me how much I really want to see them in concert again. But, by far, the audience favorite was Bon Jovi, because although numerous celebs gave shout-outs to the "New York" crowd, the stadium actually stands just across the state border, in Jersey, BJ's hometown.
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