(Raffle cancelled, more below)
The concert/merch story
I spent 6 hours in line this past Sunday trying to get a Pearl Jam poster for the September 18, 2022 concert in St. Louis. After 5 hours of waiting for the Merch Trailer outside, a lady 3 people in front of us got what the staff said was the final 2 posters. We were crushed, we had waited all day to try to get a poster before going into the venue so that we could put them in a tube and store them safely away during the show, only to be told at the trailer that they were out and we would have to try to get one inside.
They were out of ALL of the St. Louis specific things at the merch trailer, I asked what all they had available, and she pointed to the wall behind her. On that wall was a poster, hanging for display. I asked if I could buy that, and after a little bit of sweet talking and her checking with her manager, she sold me the last undamaged poster that they had. The two guys I was with were out of luck, they didn’t get a poster after standing in line for 5 years (that was a typo, meant hours, but it was a long time).
From there I immediately went and sat down at the entrance line to try to get into the building as soon as the ticket doors opened at 6pm. The doors opened at 5:50pm and we bolted upstairs to the third floor merchandise area. At the top of the escalator, one of the staff pointed us down the hallway behind a roped off area, we could see no one, we weren’t sure where she was sending us. Around the corner though we found the merch line, with maybe 12 people waiting, perfect, we were going to get some St. Louis merchandise (shirts, stickers, and posters for my buddies). So glad we were able to make it work, had we gotten in the door 5 minutes later we likely would of had another hour or more wait for merch, the lines inside the building were insane all evening that I saw.
I was able to pick up another poster inside, which totally made my day, and made me 100% question the insanity of getting there at 1240pm for merch to open at 1pm (it didn’t open until after 2pm). The plan originally had been to hit the merch trailer, then head back home for a few hours, clean up, get ready for the show. We didn’t bring chairs, or water, or food. We planned poorly. We spent 11 hours downtown instead. The show was excellent, I actually had two tickets but only myself in attendance, so I had some room to move around in the seating area, which was good as I just had heart surgery on Tuesday and was supposed to be taking it easy.
My Pedal The Cause Story
So what is Pedal The Cause? It’s an annual bicycle ride(s) to raise funds for cancer research programs here in the St. Louis area. I have been riding in it every year since 2013 when I moved back to St. Louis with my buddy Dave. At the time we originally started, his mother was/had been battling cancer. Previously in my family my father has had cancer, my mother has had skin cancer, my aunt has had breast cancer and my uncle passed away from cancer. This year, 2022, Dave’s wife Beth has been fighting breast cancer.
This year, our 10th year riding, we ride for Beth! While I am not able to ride the original routes I had planned (150 miles over two days) I am still planning on being out there riding, less than two weeks after having heart surgery myself.
You can see my Pedal the Cause profile and my fundraising totals over the past 10 years.
The Raffle for a Pearl Jam Concert Poster
I was going to raffle off this poster for my fundraising efforts, but it generated exactly zero dollars in donations, so I have cancelled the raffle. Thanks for reading.
