I slept in a little and Kellie got up early and got breakfast at the Bluebird Cafe. When she told the staff that she was seeing Finn Wolfhard in concert they said how he had been there yesterday with a group of 11 other people. Apparently they had been the quietest large group they've ever had. He was definitely hanging around Atlanta the day before, so we could have run into him. Another restaurant said that his group had ordered smash burgers from them the day before.
Kellie met back up with me at the AirBnB and we decided we would go walk around. Upon seeing a small line already at the venue, Kellie decided she wanted to start waiting in line. It was probably around 10:45am at that point. I went to the coffee shop next to the venue to get a latte, and gathered some snacks for sitting in line the rest of the day. We met fans in line that even had hand-made costumes to match the album cover. I had never spent most of the day in line before, but it was a positive experience and went by way faster than I thought it would. We made friends with the people in line, and were able to take turns leaving the line when needed. Kellie grabbed her beads to make more bracelets after giving some out. We were probably person 8 and 9 in line. (The longest I had waited in line prior was around 3 or 4 hours when Tyler Oakley decided to come to Milwaukee one day last minute in 2016. My friend Laurette and I were 3rd and 4th in line, and got center middle seats.) There was also a Mexican restaurant right next to the venue so Kellie and I were able to take margaritas to go to drink in line. (I think a lot of people in line were mostly 19-23 age range and mostly women. (Finn is currently 23 so it makes sense.) There ended being an injured? bird that joined the line like an hour before doors. From the line we could even hear Finn soundchecking some of his songs. In line I also colored in my Stranger Things coloring book to help pass the time, and played heads up. Kellie dropped off our stuff at the AirBnB before the show. A couple hours before the show the venue employees separated us by general admission at one side of the venue and VIP/fast pass at the other side. We were sadly separated by our new line friends who had VIP tickets. The people who had VIP tickets got to go in first, and it was a long line. (I get that VIP does usually get in earlier, but it was so sad seeing SO many people enter the venue before us after being one of the first to get there. Our hope of getting to be close to the stage became less and less as time went on. They also let in a group of people for ADA accessible seats before us.) At this particular venue there was floor space and then rows of seats. (Side note: There was a marquee outside the venue with no text on it and not lit up??? Instead they had a concrete slab with the current month of performances outside the venue). When they split the lines Kellie and I were 2nd and 3rd in the general admission line. A girl who had driven there from Florida had gotten to the venue at 8:30 that morning and was the first one there. She also had made a ton of bracelets to give out at the show. Before the VIP entered the venue the two girls we had become friends with told us to come find them when they made it in, and they would try and safe a space close to the stage for us. (This is how we ended up getting pretty close to the stage after all). I felt bad walking in front of people but if they had known we had been waiting outside for over 8 hours I think they would have approved anyways. Kellie was around the 2nd row area and I was behind her in the 3rd row area.
The concert was awesome despite there being a huge man pushing into my space throughout the night. It was so surreal seeing Finn Wolfhard in person after spending a few days doing Stranger Things related stuff. I'm so glad his performance landed during the time we would be in Atlanta. It was definitely the icing on the cake of this trip. It was his first show of the 2nd leg of the tour he was doing, and he seemed especially locked in and serious. There wasn't much interaction with the audience, but it seemed like he couldn't hear us very well anyways. I really enjoyed the Tom Petty cover he did, and him playing harmonica with it. (Kellie and I ended up being posted on Finn's Instagram twice. The first time being a picture of the crowd where you can barely see our heads ha ha. The 2nd was a compiled clip of the show that showed both of us outside the venue at the very beginning.) The girl next to Kellie in the crowd had a small banner with Finn's face on it probably when he was around 15 years old doing heart hands. He did seem to glance at it, but didn't comment. With us being so close to the front it did seem like he glanced at me a few tines throughout the set or maybe I'm just delusional.
After the show we stood in the merch line, and Kellie bought a few things. After that Kellie and I walked to a nearby bar for cocktails. The description of the bar seemed cooler than what it actually was, but it was also crowded in there. We had our drinks outside before walking back to our AirBnB for the night. I ended up eating Kellie's nachos from the night before going to sleep.
The next morning we packed up our things. It was sad leaving the AirBNB, it would have been nice to stay there longer and maybe explore actual Atlanta a little more. We stopped at Little Tart before heading to the airport. The bigger location this time. I was hungry for another chocolate croissant so that's what I got along with an iced Chai. We returned our car before parting ways to opposite ends of the airport. Apparently one side of the airport is specifically for Delta flights which is who Kellie was flying through. One of the perks of her job is getting Lounge access where she was able to work remotely while waiting for her flight.
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