This is an old story (more than a year old now), but it's a slow news week, and I don't have anything to say about Manti Te'o. Back at the University of Edinburgh, EUSA (Edinburgh University Student Association) would host a variety of events on campus every week. These included live music, comedy, theater, etc. You know, standard college stuff.
Well, one weekend, in an attempt to participate in the campus culture and have a fun evening, a couple of friends and I decided to go to a live DJ set by Zane Lowe. Never heard of Zane Lowe? Yeah, me neither. But my friend was buying advance tickets and I agreed to accompany her. In fact, I'd never been to a DJ set before, so I thought it would be an experience, at the very least.
As you can see from this ticket, the show was scheduled to take place on a Sunday evening at 21:00 (that's 9:00 p.m. for those of you who don't read 24-hour time). At this point in my life, I had a standing Skype date with my parents every Sunday at 11:00 p.m., so I figured we would get there around 8:30, stay for a couple of hours, and then I would head home. I mean, realistically, how long could a DJ set last, right?
The first part of the plan goes well. We actually arrive a bit earlier than planned, but when we walk up to the venue, there isn't anyone there except for one or two official-looking people. At first, we assume everyone is already inside. It's then that we learn that the 21:00 time on our tickets is when the doors open. Ok, small setback. We decide to go to a nearby bar and drink for 45 minutes and then come back. I'm thinking if the doors open at 9:00, it should start by 10:00 and then I'll still be able to stay for an hour before I need to go home and chat with my parents.
You may be wondering, dear readers, why I didn't just cancel the Skype date so I could plan to stay later. Well, I certainly could have. But it was a Sunday night, I had class the next day, I was tired, and, to be quite honest, I missed my parents and wanted to see them. And I figured an hour would probably be long enough to enjoy a DJ I'd never heard of.
So at 9:00, we walk back to the venue. The doors are now open, we walk in, and... no one is there. Maybe 7 other people. It's then that we think to ask the official-looking people when the show is expected to start, and as casually as can be, one of them says, "Oh, probably around midnight." Excuse me? Midnight? You put 9:00 p.m. on the ticket and the show starts at midnight? Not once in any of the advertisement for this event did they indicate this show wouldn't begin until early Monday morning. They also inform us that there will be some opening acts we can enjoy starting around 10:00. Great. Thanks.
My friends and I spend the next half-hour sitting in the still mostly empty student union until one of them suggests we go across the street for some chips and cheese. That ends up being the most exciting part of the evening for me, as it was the first time I'd had chips and cheese.
After eating, we go back to the venue, where an opening DJ has started playing extremely loud music to a room of about a dozen people. I have one drink, bid my friends goodnight, and then go home, where I have a lovely conversation with my parents. The next day I learn that the DJ set lasted until about 3:00 a.m., at which time I was blissfully asleep. An excellent Sunday indeed!
And that is the story of the concert I didn't attend.
