My experience in the front row this weekend

By ALISON BARTOWSKI For The News-Letter

This weekend I went to the Cash Cash and Tritonal concert at Echostage in Washington, D.C. The tickets stated that the concert would go from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. but we assumed this was a lie. We showed up to the venue at 8:30 p.m. to get a decent spot and the venue was practically empty, so we managed to snag a spot in the front row.

The opener, Gladiator, didn’t start until around 10 p.m., and the room wasn’t even remotely full until 11. We actually had room to dance and no one was pushed up against me. When the second opener, Yogi, went off stage there was a wild push to the front and my friends and I got smashed into the iron fence separating us from the stage. Luckily a 6-foot-5 bouncer was right in front of us and passed out free water bottles every once in a while.

When Tritonal came on stage I felt people breathing on me and my personal space was severely compromised. However it was truly great to be in the front, as I got some great photos and videos of the performance and was intermittently doused with water, fog and confetti.

Both the music and overall performance were great from both artists as they played not only their own songs, but also remixes and mashups of others.

A hilarious video accompanied a rendition of Drake’s “Hotline Bling” — it was one of my favorite moments of the night. There was also a great light show on the stage throughout, and at the very end the two headliners preformed their collaborative song together. Near the end of the show my friend had a whole bottle of water poured on his head and his face grabbed by one of the members of Tritonal.

Yet people were rather aggressive to get to the front and would completely push themselves in so things got very tight. The backs of my legs were constantly being kicked and punched by various people.

At one point a girl had her arms completely around one of my friends and wouldn’t let go in her quest to move him out of her way. I politely asked her to stop as he was obviously uncomfortable, and she asked if I would let her get to the front. When I said no so she called me a b*tch and punched the side of my head. Thankfully, the bouncer saw her and lifted her out of the crowd and then kicked her out of the club.

And worst of all, since the concert ended at 3:30 a.m. we had to wait in Union Station until 5:25 a.m. to take the Amtrak back to Baltimore.

It was an eventful night, to say the least.

My advice to Hopkins students who want to experience the front row is this: Know what you’re getting yourself into and don’t let anyone make you uncomfortable. If you’re seeing a show in D.C. it might be best to find someone to crash with for the night so you’re not exhausted for the rest of the weekend.

Best of luck, concert-goers! It’s a jungle out there.