A while ago I had the opportunity to come back to Porto Alegre and see Jack White, one of my favourite artists of all time, live in concert. It was too good an opportunity to miss, so I booked my accommodation and a flight back to where my journey began. That was the easy part!
Once I had my mind set on it, I HAD to get that ticket. Back in Australia, I tried a number of times to buy from the official ticketing website with no luck. I thought it was due to not being a Brazilian citizen, so I asked one of my Brazilian friends at work to try - no luck either. Turns out you need to actually purchase the ticket with a Brazilian credit card! I asked some of my friends in Brazil to buy the ticket for me, but by this time the tickets were sold out. Unfazed, I started looking for other means of getting a ticket.
Next option was a third-party ticket reseller. I had some luck last year with viagogo, even though they are fairly expensive. I took the plunge and purchased the premium section ticket I was after, and forked out AUD $300. I was so determined to be at this concert that the price didn't faze me for one second.
A few weeks into my trip I received an email from Viagogo saying they were unable to secure my ticket, so they refunded my money. I immediately logged back on to their website and tried to buy again from another seller. This time it was a littler over $300 and again I didn't think twice about purchasing. I was going to be there!
A couple of days later, the same response from Viagogo. At this point I did start to panic a little. Sitting in the hostel in Curitiba, my mind was racing trying to think just what other ways I could get a ticket. I searched on Facebook for an event listing, and eventually found the official event. I clicked attending, still not a doubt in my mind I'd make it there.
Over the next couple of days I scoured the posts on my phone, constantly switching between the Facebook app and the Google Translate app, to figure out what everyone was saying. I decided to put my own post up there, translated in to Portuguese, asking if anyone was selling a premium ticket. Now to wait...
A few days later, I received a friend request and a private message from a girl in Brazil. Success! She couldn't make the concert and was willing to sell me her ticket for face value. Bonus: it was an e-ticket so she could just email it to me. The final hurdle (or so I thought) was getting the money transferred to her. She wouldn't accept PayPal or Western Union, and my bank wouldn't allow me to transfer her the money (plus it would've cost considerably more than the actual amount she was selling it for). So I had one last option - ask a HUGE favour of my friend Vanessa in São Paulo to pay this girl the money, then I would have to pay her back in cash when we meet up in São Paulo. She immediately agreed (I kinda sold it to her as a big deal) and transferred the money - it made me so happy and thankful to have friends like this around the world that would help me have these amazing experiences.
Fast forward to a couple of days ago, and I arrived in Porto Alegre from Florianópolis. As soon as I checked in to the hostel, I set out on the city to find somewhere to print my ticket. Easy I thought! If only they spoke English (or I guess, me being able to speak Portuguese is more reasonable). It took an hour or so to find some sort of printing shop, only to be told in finger wagging and basic charades that they would only photocopy. The man pointed me across the road to a shop that would print documents for me.
I printed the tickets (and one spare!) at the shop across the road, folded them tightly in my pocket and headed straight back to the hostel. After all this, I even put the tickets away in my locker to make sure nobody nicked them!
Finally, the day of the concert arrived and I was all set. I got to the arena a couple of hours early and sat down in line to make sure I'd get a spot on the rails. The doors opened at around 8:30PM and after briefly panicking over the possibility of my ticket being rejected at the door, I was finally let in. Jack and his band came on just after 10, and It was absolutely AMAZING - everything I imagined it would be and more! The band was on fire and the Brazilian crowd were loving it.
He played until midnight, and straight straight after the show I darted to the merchandise stall and bought a concert poster to mark the occasion (and to add to my collection back home of shows attended). Then it was a sprint across the road to the airport to get the last bus of the night back to my hostel. Back and feet aching, I held the poster above my head all the way home on the crowded bus to make sure it wouldn't get wrecked.
I slumped in to bed at around 1AM - hungry, dehydrated, ears ringing and body cramped, and it felt amazing.
Jack White at Pepsi On Stage in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Photo courtesy of David James Swanson at http://jackwhiteiii.com.
