The We-Love-NYC-Homecoming-Concert Nightmare

When A Dream Became A Nightmare

To celebrate New York city’s vaccination efforts and return to semi-normalcy, on August 21, an amazing concert took place (or was supposed to) in Central Park’s Great Lawn. After such a long and strict lockdown in NYC and an endless fight against COVID-19, we all hoped that this event was going to be the beginning of a new time for the city.

The headliners were announced, and my biggest dream was about to come true when I saw that the Oscar and Grammy-winning singer and actress Jennifer Hudson was going to perform on that day. I was living in Maplewood, New Jersey and I was so excited to buy the ticket to attend the concert. No offense to any other artist who performed or had to perform that day, but the one and only reason why I wanted to go to this concert was that I would finally make my biggest dream come true: witness the appreciate the performance of the greatest singer on the planet: Jennifer Hudson.

I knew it was my only shot because in exact 10 days I was going to move back to my home country, Brazil. After 2 and a half years in the United States, I finally thought I’d be able to attend a Jennifer Hudson concert. I had never seen her live before, when she performed live near where I lived, I was always working and my boss never cared enough to give me a day off. I remember that between 2015 and 2018 I spent the Fourth Of July in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and I always enjoyed attending the 4th of July concert. However, the year I decided to spend the holiday in a different city, Jennifer Hudson performed in Philly. In 2019 she got to perform in Philly, and I was not there. Our paths and my crazy work and study schedule never allowed me to find a way to see her. I’d always follow her on IG, but she’s rarely posted about her schedule for the month. So it was always very hard to know where she’d be performing. I’d always find out just after she’s just performed. So, the We Love NYC- The Homecoming Concert in Central Park’s Great Lawn was definitely my ONLY chance to see her. If I had a hard time trying to see her in the U.S., there would be no hope to see her in Brazil. I don’t even think she’s been to Brazil before (although Brazilians are obsessed with her. She should totally come to Brazil).

Buying the tickets…

Buying the tickets was already difficult and I thought I wouldn’t have been able to buy them. They announced it everywhere and said that most tickets would be given for free. I don’t know where people got them for free because I could not find any free tickets. Then, the paid ones were going to be sold on ticketmaster.com. On the day they started selling the tickets, I got on the website and saw that all general admission tickets were already sold out. I freaked out. I said to myself: “How am I going to see her?” The only tickets that were available were very expensive. And when I mean expensive, I mean expensive. They were over 2 thousand dollars because they were for the VIP or whatever front row there was. I was so mad and desperate. So, I heard of another website called ticketfaster.com. I found the ticket for general admission for $40. I talked to a few people who attended concerts very often and I asked them if they’d ever heard of this website before. I was afraid it’d be a scam. They had not heard of the website so they said I should look up reviews on the internet. I did and I saw that a lot of people were buying from it, so I decided to give it a shot. I bought the ticket and waited anxiously for the day.

I was so excited. All of my friends know that I am extremely obsessed with Jennifer Hudson, so that concert was a really big deal for me. And not only that but also after such a difficult time during the pandemic, it’d feel so good to be back to a concert.

The week of the concert…

Hurricane Henri. That’s all we could hear about on the news. Rain, storm, rain, another storm, and the possibility of having to cancel any concert that week or weekend was very high. But official information kept us updated and they said that the Homecoming concert was going to happen. The forecast didn’t look that bad for Saturday, so I didn’t really think it’d affect the concert.

Saturday, August 21, 2021

The big day arrived. I was so anxious and happy. I called my mom that morning and she could not believe that I’d finally see Jennifer Hudson perform live in Central Park. I was beyond the moon happy and grateful. I saw a friend who was visiting from Texas that morning, and I made sure to arrive early in Central Park. I didn’t know if there was going to be a long line there or not, so I made sure I’d arrive early. The day was sunny. It was warm and nobody thought that very soon a huge storm would invade NYC.

Since I lived in Maplewood, NJ, I had to take the NJ Transit every time I needed to go to the city. On weekends the schedule sucks because the train only operates once per hour, so if you miss it you miss it and you have to wait one entire hour for the other one.

I got to the train station in Maplewood at 11:50 so I could catch the 11:55 train. If I had caught that train, I would have gotten to Manhattan at 12:35, and I’d get to Central Park between that time and 1 pm. 1 pm would be enough time to get in line before the gates open. They would open the gates at 3 pm, so I really thought getting there at 1 pm would be a smart thing to do.

It was 12 pm and the train had not come yet. Everybody was at the station waiting and waiting and waiting. 12:30 pm and still nothing. The train was running late. Very late. So, I decided to take a Uber to Harrison, NJ so I could take the Path train to NYC. I’d done it before so I knew what I was doing. But the traffic was insane. What was supposed to be a 10-minute drive to the station ended up being a 40-minute ride to the station. When I got there, the station was closed. I really thought I was going to pass out. I was so anxious and mad that at the other station the train hadn’t come and was super late, I had spent all that time in traffic going to the other station, and finally, the other station was closed. Then, I got on another Uber to Newark, so I could get on the other path. Arriving there, the other train was only going to come in 45 minutes. I didn’t know what to do. Going from Jersey to Manhattan by Uber is a lot of money. I didn’t have that amount. It would cost over $100. The only choice I had was to wait. I put on my headphones and listened to Jennifer Hudson. I would picture myself watching her perform live. I knew I was going to cry.

I “met” Jennifer Hudson when I was a kid. She was on American Idol and she was my favorite. I grew up in Brazil following her journey and I always dreamed that I’d see her one day. This can sound silly, but most people want to move to the U.S. because of New York, or because of the “American Dream”. I wanted to move to the U.S. because of Jennifer Hudson.

And this wasn’t my first time trying to see her. As I said before, the other times I tried to see her I was either working or she wasn’t there. For example, I saw The Color Purple on Broadway 3 times and she wasn’t there. I saw Cynthia Erivo (who is also one of the greatest voices in the world) 3 times, but I didn’t see Jennifer Hudson. Every time I tried to see Jhud perform, something happened. So I was very hopeful that at this time it would work out fine for me.

I got to the World Trade Center, which is the final stop for the path train. I knew that if I looked at the time, I’d feel anxious and nervous. So, I avoided looking at the clock. I got on the subway to Central Park and I don’t know which line I got on, but what I know is that I ended up arriving at a station 5 blocks away from the park. Now, if you live in New York or if you’ve been to New York you know that 5 blocks in NYC are different from 5 blocks anywhere else in the world. You just walk, walk, walk, walk and never get to where you need to. So, that’s what I did. I walked all the way to the entrance of the park where the line started.

The line…

The line was absurdly long. It was exhausting to just look at it. I was late, but the concert hadn’t started yet, so I thought I’d be fine. After I spent so many minutes waiting in line, I heard that the concert had finally started. I was still out on the street. I had not even gotten inside Central Park. This is how long the line was. And worse than that, the line was not moving. I had been to thousands of concerts before and I know that long lines are as just part of the experience as attending the concert is. But this one was different. You’d be 40 minutes in line to just take 5 steps, and I AM NOT EXAGGERATING.

Then, after a long time, I noticed something that almost made me collapse. I was at the wrong line at the wrong entrance at the wrong side of the park. The subway I got off was nearby east Central Park. I was supposed to get to the concert through the west gate. I was so mad at myself. I was running late because of the train and traffic, the long line was not moving, the concert had already started, and I was standing in the wrong line. By the east gate, not the west gate. I asked the people if they thought this would prevent me from getting in, they said I should ask. So, that’s what I did. I went to this guy who was the one checking the tickets of the ones who were in line, and in a very rude way, he said I should not be in that line and that I should go to the west gate. Well, this is New York and that’s pretty much what you get. Rude people. I didn’t have time to feel offended, so all I did was to run, and I mean, run to the west part of Central Park. Now, if you’ve been to New York, you know how wide the park is. It takes a long time to get from east to west. But I had to fight. My biggest star, my biggest inspiration was still going to perform, so I needed to do it. I was so tired, frustrated, hungry, thirsty, but I could not think about any of these things. I had to fight. I crossed the entire park, and when I arrived in the west part, the line was so much longer. I will say it again: IT WAS SO MUCH LONGER. I wanted to cry. I felt so hopeless, so weak.

I walked to the back of the line. I went past so many streets that I lost count. And it was the same story: the line was not only long, but it was not moving. I was alone, so I didn’t have anybody to talk to, my headphones were dead already, so I could not listen to music, and I was still on the street. So, it’s not like we could hear the concert from the line. What we could hear was just a loud noise, but we couldn’t really hear the music.

People started to get impatient and leave the line. I felt so bad for them. And from the moment people started giving up, we would be able to move a bit faster. It was moving so slowly that we even started to question in line if they had reached the full capacity of the concert and they weren’t allowing anyone in anymore.

While I was in line so much went through my mind. I thought of giving up, I thought of cutting the line, I thought of asking the people to let me go ahead of them. I was so hopeless.

Then, the unthinkable happened: I heard a girl saying the words that cut my heart into a million pieces. She said: “Oh, Jennifer Hudson is performing now”. I could not believe it. I was so sad. As soon as I heard her say that, I started crying nonstop. I am from a Favela in Brazil. I come from a poor family, and affording a concert in another country isn’t just part of my reality. I know where I’d been and what I went through to get to that line and hope to see my biggest inspiration perform. I know how hard my entire journey to learning English as a second language was, how hard my entire journey to moving to the U.S. by myself was. It was not easy, and though it may sound silly to some, a dream is a dream and every dream is worth achieving. Seeing Jennifer Hudson perform in Central Park was a big deal to me.

Then, I decided to look up on Google if she was still performing. Then I saw this news:

She had already performed. She looked gorgeous, and I’m sure she blew everybody away with her powerful and angelical voice. Lucky and blessed were those who were able to witness history and one of the most beautiful performances live in Central Park’s Great Lawn.

I said to myself: “Even though I didn’t see her, I might as well just stay in line and at least see the other performers”. It took so long, but finally, I got in.

Checking everybody’s vaccination card and going through security screening were the reasons why it took forever to let people in. In my opinion, they were extremely disorganized. There were not enough staff and the whole thing was a mess.

Anyways, I got in and I didn’t really care anymore. I just wanted to see the stage and enjoy the rest of the concert I had left to see.

The stage looked beautiful, and the performers I got to see were great.

If you think this entire day was a complete nightmare, wait until this part. The sky was beautiful and clean, but all of a sudden, it looked dark and the clouds looked very scary.

People started feeling a little uncomfortable standing there. The forecast suddenly showed us that there would be a storm. Then, before we noticed we saw lightning. It was very scary. We were all standing in the middle of the lawn, and we thought we could be struck by lightning at any time. Then, the announcer said that the concert was not going to be stopped and that they would only stop it if the storm got more serious.

Well, if you read the news, you know what happened. After standing in line for an eternity and not being able to see the artist I wanted to see, and finally getting in but only seeing 3 people perform, I had to evacuate the park because of a severe storm due to Hurricane Henri. People were scared and terrified. The thunders were loud and the lightning was super scary. I got so wet. I got my phone wet, but none of that was worse than how frustrated I got. I ran to the closest subway station, and while I was running out of the park, I cried so much.

When I reached the subway station, I took those photos and sent them to my friends who were all at a bar. They felt so bad for me, and they said: “Come to this bar, Gabe. You will have fun here”. I was already planning to meet up with them after the concert, so this is what I did. I got on the subway and went to Penn Station to get on the NJ Transit to Newark, which is where they were.

When I got there my friends welcomed me with so much love and affection. They made me feel so loved and special.

I got to dance and enjoy the night with them, and also perform. They had a live band playing that night, and the bar was super full. I talked to the performers and said that I would like to perform as well. They let me do it and it felt so good. The day had been a complete nightmare, but the night had ended better than I expected. I performed two songs, and I talked to the crowd about the day and how much I love Jennifer Hudson. They made me feel so loved and special. I really enjoyed performing for them that night. Not a lot of people expect me to be an opera singer, so it’s nice to surprise them.

I felt very special, and the sad feeling that was inside me wasn’t there anymore. I just hoped I’d see Jennifer Hudson one day.

A few days later, I went to the movie theater to see RESPECT. I cried so much and admired her flawless work one more time. Jennifer Hudson is an amazing actress with a perfect voice. Her vocal range is unique and the way she sounds can make people feel empowered. She seems to be so humble and funny, and I just love her so much. She means everything to me.

I don’t like to hold on to ‘What if’s’, but if it hadn’t been for that train to run late in the morning, I really think I would have made it to the concert by 5 pm and I would have seen her perform. But there’s nothing I can do about it. I just hope to see her perform live one day.

She’s the biggest voice. She’s the Whitney Houston of my generation. She is so good and so special. Jennifer Hudson truly knows how to blow people away with her artistry and flawlessness. I love her!

I don’t know if this story will get to her one day, but if it does, Jennifer Hudson, I want you to know that I love you!

Thank you for reading my story today!