Either before or after Oakenfold came on, Madonna’s musical director came out to let everyone know t

I can't rightfully title this as just a review because I had motives beyond just enjoying a concert when I took the trip to Miami. But let's start from the beginning. I don't remember exactly how I found out about this concert cheap hotels chicago but when I did, it didn't take me long after to get a ticket. This was many months ago. I think there was a fan club presale so I joined it to get the code that'd let me buy a good ticket early. Then a second show was announced and I had to choose which date worked cheap hotels chicago best for me. It's pretty obvious which one I chose.
One reason I waited a little longer to buy a ticket was to see if there'd cheap hotels chicago be any shows announced cheap hotels chicago as closer to home, preferably right here in Orlando, but the next closest city was in Atlanta. That sealed the deal and I went ahead and bought my ticket by phone because I wanted a first row seat so that nobody would be standing up in front of me and obstructing my view. Having never even seen the American Airlines cheap hotels chicago Arena with my own eyes at the time, I got something upper level that would provide me with a panoramic view and it was a damn good view.
From the time I bought my ticket, cheap hotels chicago several cheap hotels chicago months had passed. Next up was to decide whether cheap hotels chicago or not to make it a day trip, overnight, or a two-nighter. My original plan was a two-nighter and I found a few places cheap hotels chicago right smack in downtown Miami within walking distance of the arena at reasonable rates. The problem was that I didn't book them when I found them because I still wasn't 100% sure what I wanted to do. When I was finally certain, at that point, cheap hotels chicago the condo I wanted to rent was swallowed along with my other rental choices. Hotel rates were sky high and paying those were out of the question. That left me with doing a day trip or staying overnight. I found a condo room available at a decent rate for one night so I took it. In hindsight, considering how much time I spent in the unit, I was better off not wasting my money.
I had my ticket and my accommodations set and the big day came. I left home around 11am and checked in after 4pm. Nope, I didn't take no fuckin' Turnpike. I took 192 to I-95. My travel speed was a steady 55 mph on cruise control with one stop at Publix to grab some grub and take a piss. At that speed, I only used 3/4 of a tank of gas to get all the way to Miami from Orlando with no tolls. I know going faster would save me time but fuck that, gas ain't cheap. cheap hotels chicago I'm trying to use as little of that shit as possible. Before leaving home, I loaded my music player with some old No Limit by Master P and TRU; particularly the first albums produced by Beats By The Pound. My No Limit collection ain't complete but these were welcome additions because there are songs that don't get released or you just may have never heard or don't remember that stand out. "Playa From Around The Way" on the "Ice Cream Man" album is one of those songs. How it passed cheap hotels chicago me by back in the day is beyond me but I'm glad I found it. That song is tight as fuck and I played that shit on repeat. On the "True" album by TRU, "Fuck Them Hoes" is another really good one.
On this trip, I brought cheap hotels chicago my bike with me because I wanted to explore the city after the concert. My ulterior motive was to survey the surroundings to see if Miami was pedicab -suitable. I've found that it very much is and I'll discuss that more later. cheap hotels chicago My condo was a few blocks from the arena. I could've easily walked but I rode my bike. The day was cold and overcast in Orlando. When I got to Miami, the clouds broke up and the sun was shining. That warmed things up for a bit but at night, it got cold. The clothes I had originally planned cheap hotels chicago on wearing cheap hotels chicago weren't gonna be put on display that night to the chagrin of all the available females that night. I dressed for comfort instead.
The ticket says 8:00pm. One would assume that meant the show started at 8pm but it's been the subject of many online debates since this concert has happened. I left around 7pm to ride around the arena. There was already a long line out to the street when I got there. I went to the side and there was a line there, too. Around back, there was a Bongos Cuban Café. And on the other side was the back of the arena and parking. I thought there'd be more to see. If the sun was still up, the views over the water would probably be amazing but we have that little thing called Daylight Savings Time that fucked that up.
I went ahead and locked my bike up on a pole on the sidewalk along the main drag. Since my business is pedicabbing, I was on the lookout and didn't see any. It ain't like there weren't a lot of people out and with Madonna's fan base, they probably cheap hotels chicago could've made some cheese. I know why there were none: because insurance requirements in Miami are too expensive along with them having a dated ordinance. But that's a story for another time. On my way up the stairs to the arena, cheap hotels chicago I could almost swear on my life that Gloria Estefan was there chilling at the bottom of the stairs. If it wasn't her, it was someone who was the spitting image of her. I didn't wanna say anything to respect her privacy but if it was her, she wasn't trying to hide the shit.
I got an email from the arena about the camera policy. Mine was within spec so that's the reason I brought it. It'd be nice if every ticketed event had a well-defined cheap hotels chicago policy either emailed to online ticket buyers or viewable online cheap hotels chicago so people know what they can and can't bring. It's happened in the past where I got to a place and they said I couldn't bring my shit in. It's a major inconvenience so props to the AA Arena for the heads up. From the outside, the arena looks small. As an Orlando Magic fan, seeing those banners for the Miami Heat's two championship runs on full display outside of the arena made me slightly jealous. Can't lie about it. The outdoor LED display was pretty sweet but there was no audio.
Here's the one thing about that arena that was severely lacking: security. There practically was none. You go to Sun Life Stadium and those motherfuckers cheap hotels chicago have armored vehicles, machine guns, and K9's to greet you. Go to a Spanish festival in Orlando and you get a full-body pat down like airport security post-911. Go to the Hard Rock Live at Universal and you gotta empty your pockets and walk through a metal detector. But the AA Arena? You just get your ticket scanned and they send you on about your merry way. They don't even check your bags. In my eyes, these days, that's incredibly lackluster in the wake of what happened at that movie theater in Aurora, CO. We're talking about public as well as performer safety. I think they've really gotta put better cheap hotels chicago protocols in place. Don't wait for a tragedy to happen and be reactive. Be proactive. They don't have to go as far as the city of Miami Gardens, which I've always thought was excessive, but then again they probably know something I don't.
Once inside, the place still had a small feel to it but also had a certain level of upscale ambiance because there were plenty of food and merchandise options available along with a club and restaurant. And the views were spectacular. Again, too bad the sun was down. My major complaint was that some vendors didn't cheap hotels chicago take credit cards. Hell, I fucking take credit cards. There's just no excuse not to these days. The food was overpriced as you can fully expect from any arena anywhere but not having cash, my options were limited. I walked around the entire arena and based on what I saw before taking my seat, it gets a thumbs up from me.
After I took my seat, this is where we run into problems. 2 big ones: There were no working LED screens on the scoreboard for the entirety of the concert. I thought that was crazy considering the ticket prices. And the seats had no padding. Not that they were uncomfortable cheap hotels chicago but I expected better. A major plus was the availability of 4G inside the arena. That came in handy bigtime because the show didn't start at 8pm. The opening act, Paul Oakenfold, didn't cheap hotels chicago start until 9pm and he did a (boring) one hour set. I expect better cheap hotels chicago from him. He only spun lame house music. Nothing progressive. Just a bunch of shit that all sounded pretty much the same. No trance. No drum and bass. Just same-soundy ass house music. Don't get me wrong, I love me some house, but the shit I listen to has more than just a generic techno beat. I'd never had the privilege of seeing Oakenfold spin before so it was a welcome, albeit disappointing, surprise.
Either before or after Oakenfold came on, Madonna's musical director came out to let everyone know the show was being taped for DVD. Not Blu-ray but DVD. This was the direct subject of online debate. Technical difficulties with the equipment being used for the DVD taping is said to have been the cause of Madonna being fashionably late. Yet, from what I saw, the camera operators were sitting on their asses bored out of their minds like everyone else waiting for shit to start jumping. If Oakenfold cheap hotels chicago was the opener, let's give him about 10 minutes after 8pm to come out. Let's give him the one hour that he had to spin. With that, you'd think Madonna would start her concert at 9:30pm. That lasted 2 hours. So you have a total show that should've ended around 11:30pm, not fucking STARTED at 11:30pm!
Okay, so that's when Madonna, the main attraction, started but damn, nobody really knew Oakenfold was gonna be there until he actually came out. I knew there'd likely be an opener, I just didn't know who. I didn't mind there being an opener but even he started an hour after the show was SUPPOSED to start. That long period between when he was done and when Madonna started, man, there was a lot of anger building in that arena. Disrespect is the word that comes up most and I'll even say that it was just that: totally disrespectful not to keep fans informed of what the fuck was going on. If there's a technical difficulty, then tell us that shit and we'd understand. Some people paid dickloads of money for tickets. Now you're taking their time, too?
In the news, fans left duri