Red Hot Chili Peppers – Gigography
Live in Indjija
My clock read 3am. We’ve been sitting in the darkness of our small dorm room, trying to sleep. It didn’t work. Well, at least not for me. We’ve been resting, and I thought that would be enough. I thought that would be a good preparation for the day to come. And I knew it was going to be a strenuous one. We’ve been planning to spend all day in Indjija – from early in the morning (before it dawns) till somewhere late at night (had no idea how late yet). But I was ready for it – more than ready. The arrival of Red Hot Chili Peppers in our small country and then this small town I have never even visited before was like a dream coming true. And I’ve been too excited to sleep, eat, or do anything other than walk around the room like I was in a prison cage. I could read my roommate’s thoughts just by looking at her eyes. “Save the strength, you’re going to need it later”. Well, I knew all that but still couldn’t calm down – that was definitely easier said than done.
And while thinking about everything and anything, my mind’s racing, I couldn’t help remembering what happened yesterday. Just last night, I didn’t know who I will be going with on this concert. I was supposed to go all alone because no one I knew wanted to go. The feeling of loneliness culminated. But it wasn’t for the first time and certainly not for the last time… I had one spare ticket for the concert (I was about to sell at first) I had two bus tickets to Indjija… I had everything that was needed but I was to go with my ‘imaginary’ friend as I had no other. And yesterday, just one day before the event, my roommate decided to go with me. Totally out of pity but I still appreciate it. I was really glad that I wouldn’t have to go through all that alone – through what, I couldn’t know as I have never been to a concert before, mostly because of my homophobia.
I smiled at her dim outline lying on the bed – and couldn’t see if her eyes were opened or not. We turned off the lights in order to get some sleep, but it turned out to be impossible. It’s was 3am already. And the bus for Indjija was leaving at 4:30am. If we had been smart enough we would have had 3 or more hours of sleep already. But no! We had to go shopping and say good bye to all of our friends in the dorm – like we’re not going to come back that same day. I smiled again. It’s been fun indeed… which reminds me. One of our mutual dorm friends called. In the end he was like: “well, what can I tell you, just get back alive out of there”. And that actually made me laugh. Later on that day, or next day I don’t even remember anymore, I realized how right he was and how his wishes were more than appropriate. He was to call again before we ‘take off’. Such a caring guy really.
It was some 15 minutes before 4am when we decided it’s the time – time to go. Some 17floors later (yeah, the elevators were not working) we were in front of the dorm. It’s been still dark and the air was fresh. I could even feel a slight breeze on my skin and in my hair. It felt nice. The weather has been really crazy these days – high temperatures (above 100F), mercilessly burning sun, and no fresh air in the atmosphere. We’ve been hoping it would be different today (although there was no reason for making that assumption). We called a taxi – it was the fastest and safest way to get to the bus station. The driver looked surprised, but obviously decided to keep his thoughts to himself… at least for the first five minutes.
-There is a bus going somewhere this early? – He finally started the conversation, as we’ve been expecting he would, sooner or later, that is.
We explained him where we were going and why – interrupting and finishing each other’s sentences. He gave us a strange look over the rearview mirror and shrugged, looking back at the road again. It’s been deserted – almost no cars in our sight, no people, just the highway and silly flashy advertisements and billboards on its both sides.
-Are you girls sure it’s a smart thing to go this early if the concert begins at 4pm? And whose concert is that anyways? – He couldn’t resist asking.
Yeah, no wonder he was surprised. He knew nothing about Red Hot Chili Peppers and it looked to me like he had never heard about the band before. It is weird how people don’t want to know or don’t care about what’s going on around them. I mean, every newspaper in the country was talking about the concert, and every headline was referring to it. It’s by far one of the most important events (well at least music event) in the country. I sighed, feeling there was no need to explain anything further to this uninformed man. It looked like he felt the same. We got to the bus station at 4am – much earlier than we expected. I guess we forgot to exclude the heavy traffic from our time calculations. Better to be early than to be late, I thought to myself while we were stepping out of the cub and run across the street, not bothering to look for pedestrian crossing.
The bus station itself looked deserted. There were no people around, and it seemed like the weird taxi driver had it right. No one travels this early if it wasn’t for an emergency – and seems like there was none tonight. There were, however, a few men lying on the benches, in their worn out clothes and silly hats pulled over their faces – probably the homeless with no place to go. It was creepy and it gave me chills, so I caught myself shivering. I looked at our bus tickets I bought a couple of days ago. No big surprise there but we got ourselves the first two sits. The bus slowly arrived at the station. We got in, looking around, and to our strange realization there were only three more people inside. This is going to be one hell of a ride, I thought to myself. I was feeling happy and relieved; empty bus means that no people from Belgrade are coming to the show this early. So, we’re right on time! I checked the bus’ glowing red clock, wondering why they’re making those look so unfriendly. It read exactly 4:28am. Then the driver came in and after a few seconds I heard the good old roar of the bus engine:
-We’re taking off – I said as it slowly started to dawn. A look out the window and at the clear sky showed that this is also going to be one hot day – no exceptions there.
