It’s a nightmare situation for any serious music fan. You plunked down your hard-earned money on concert tickets — and if it’s a bigger act, probably a pretty big chunk of money — you’ve waited for weeks and months for the show to arrive, and then, just as you approach the venue on the given night, a traffic jam of monster proportions stops you in your tracks. You can see the venue. It’s right there! And yet, you can’t break through the line of cars to make it into the parking lot. The night goes on, the band hits the stage and you aren’t there.
Such was the case for hundreds of U2 fans stuck in their cars outside of the LA Forum last night, hoping to catch the Irish rocker’s triumphant return to the LA area after their much-heralded Joshua Tree, stadium tour last year. While there hasn’t been any word from city officials why traffic appeared to be especially bad last night — it’s never great — for those stuck in the morass, it was sheer torture watching the clock tick down, knowing they were missing out on seeing the band. As people do in the 21st century, many took to Twitter to vent their frustration.
https://twitter.com/joker2070/status/996600675533438982
@theforum @U2 the most unorganized traffic nightmare I have ever seen. Not a single officer guiding traffic. 35mins to move 1/2. That’s horrible Forum/ @CityofInglewood pic.twitter.com/DVuDiuDrRZ
— Alex Bier Rio (@AlexBierRio) May 16, 2018
@U2 Please try and save your fans tomorrow from the traffic nightmare that caused so many of us to miss the start of the show, even if Mephisto himself has to stand at Manchester and Prairie. First time I’ve been late to the start of a U2 gig, and I was at the Forum at 7:00pm.
— Garret Mathany (@dotheMathany) May 16, 2018
https://twitter.com/ProfesionalLAer/status/996636824603787265
@U2 #U2Forum #U2eiTour @LANow U2 pls don't play the Forum again! We gave up trying to park, and just went home. Crawled in traffic last 0.5mi for 90+ mins with 100's of other fans, to find there was nothing at the end of the traffic cones!! A chaotic mess. Shame on Forum.
— Richard (@rparker58893353) May 16, 2018
Standstill traffic #u2 outside the #forum what’s going on??
— Mary Reynolds (@ocmary) May 16, 2018
And after two hours in traffic there’s no parking
Missing the show!! Parking attendant said call the forum but guest rel closed 😡🤬— lisa wolowacki (@wazntme9598) May 16, 2018
Let’s hope things run a little smoother for U2’s show at the Forum tonight.
