Saturday, January 2, 2010

Tiesto Concert in La Paz



My second night in La Paz I went from drinking beer in a Jacuzzi to rushing around the streets of La Paz looking for the stadium which was hosting the Tiesto concert.
I had left Copacabana with one of the English girls leaving the other two, to their homeless travelling Argentinean beach party. I was at my fill of dread locks, the smell of marijuana, macramé jewellery and bongo drums. Our first night in La Paz wasn’t the greatest in a dirty hostel with an 11:00pm curfew, so not expectable. We shelled out some extra bolivianos for huge beds, a private bath, breakfast, internet, happy hour and a Jacuzzi. I was informed by some Aussies that Tiesto was having a concert that night and when the English girls met up with me I downed my beer jumped out of the Jacuzzi and was off on a mission. We needed to find the concert grounds and touts selling tickets on the street as the hostal's suuply had sold out. It turned out to be a mission indeed after we arrived at the wrong stadium and the directions weren’t so clear from randoms on the street. I stopped a sports car blaring music thinking he would have to know where it is. He gave us the name of the place and we were off running again. Holding out the hope we could still get tickets.
The smell of street meat on coal fires and the presence of police told us we were close. Rounding a corner we saw the sign and a massive crowd waiting to get in. Who knew Tiesto had such a following in Bolivia. Each of us split up looking for ticket touts and the best deal. I found a group of young Bolivian guys selling tickets for 150 Bolivianos which was a good deal. We had some concerns about if they were fake but, bought them anyway. Then the sight of the line winding down the street and through a neighbourhood took us back and we were at the end of it. At least we had our tickets and were for sure getting in. We felt better about the legitimacy of the tickets after being in the line with the guys who we bought them from. They were all around 20 years old and students. They charged us a bit more than the asking price but it worked out in the end because they feed us an endless supply of wine in the line and beer inside. It seemed bottles of wine magically came out of the darkness.
Having skipped dinner I had to buy some of the fragrant street meat with potatoes which was put in a bag for me to take away. As we were allowed to enter the grounds and had to walk for ages to get to the actual gate, I had to run to catch up holding my meat in a bag, the Bolivian boys laughed at me as I yelled, “Tengo carne en una bolsa!”
A huge stage was in front of us and the lights of La Paz surrounded us, it was an impressive scene. An Argentinean DJ got the crowd started with some great mixes but they went wild when he mixed Got a Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas. Then after much chanting Tiesto came out with a spectacle of lights and visuals. Girls were up on guy’s shoulders; arms up in the air and bodies didn’t stop moving until he was finished. The time flew by and I didn’t realize it was close to 1:00am when Tiesto mixed his final song. The energy was amazing and I couldn’t stop smiling. It truly was a once in a life time experience.

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