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View Full Version : Olympics Update From 'Ground Zero'


02-23-2002, 03:56 PM
FYI I live in SLC, but for a variety of reasons hadn't "gotten involved" before Thursday.


Last night I saw the Norway - Canada curling final. The announcers were

freaking so it must've been pretty exciting, in a snooker-type of way.


Also, Thursday @ 5:00 the scalpers wanted $60 for

Alanis-at-the-medals-plaza. 6:00 $50. 7:00 $30. SIDE NOTE(It was my

first time downtown and I was surprised at how little was really going

on other than concerts at two additional places. Eddie Money was

playing in a tent for $6, and some local bands were free on the Bud

Village stage. There's not much else, mostly pin traders and guys

selling counterfeit Olympic gear & phony FDNY hats. There's a few

sponsor tents, but not much to eat other than beer and hotdogs.)


So I walk the five blocks back from the Olympic Square to a decent

place to eat, figuring I'll just head home and watch the skating. In

the booth behind me some guy's talking about how his wife on the

biathlon team is getting them all tickets to Alanis.


Anyway, remembering a newspaper article saying that Dave Matthews

tickets dropped from $200 to $3 on opening night, I make the trek

back, figuring if nothing else I can watch it on a Jumbtron or just

stand outside and listen. As I enter the security area, a guy rolls

up on me. "You going to the medals plaza?" -"Yeah". "Gotta ticket?"

-"No". "Need one?" -"Yeah". He *HANDS* me one. "How much?"

-"Nothing", and off he goes. Ka-freakin'-CHING!


Alanis rocked; the new songs she played were less angsty than some of

her other stuff and her band sounded great. Apparently, Eric Avery,

the old bassist from Jane's Addiction, is now playing with her.


I stopped at a 7-11 on the way home(I live very close to the Hockey

venue; my friend said a scalper wanted $250 for a preliminary game),

and there's a guy in there wearing a Canada jacket, talking about

"striking gold in the mountains here". I guess his daughter is on the

Canadian women's hockey team, and her and the whole family were out in

the van, getting ready to head to Vegas to celebrate her Gold medal!


Olympics bottom line: Events like the hockey, halfpipe and

aerials/moguls/jumping would be cool to see live, but you need a lotta

cash, connections, or patience to really enjoy the "experience". The

best concert venue in SLC is Harry O's, a club in Park City.

Regretful misses there: Sheryl Crow the night before her plaza

apperance, legendary DJ Paul Oakenfold, and the Crystal Method.

However, on local TV they said that there was an 1.5 hr wait to get in

the night Sheryl played, and this was after she'd already gone on. Also, "The Last Lap"(normally Club Axis), where most of the athletes have been going(to a roped off, upstairs area), is charging peons up to $60 at the door to get in.


Incidentally, I'm undecided about what to do about the N'Sync medals

plaza show tonight. /images/smile.gif

02-23-2002, 06:26 PM
You are ahead of me- I wouldn't go to any Olympic event if someone gave me a ticket. A lot of people around me have made the drive down there. I passed. I am tired of seeing the stories in my local paper about some guy who volunteers to do some crappy job at the Olympics. I am tired of the hype. I mocked a friend of mine for having to go talk when the torch came to our town. I guess I am a scrooge.


Your symphony has a good final concert I might get down to this year though. I don't expect to score a free ticket on my way from the hotel to the concert though.:)