ROCKMAG special edition PDP (translation)

Monday 16
Already several fans are wandering around the Parc des Princes this Monday. They are trying to make contact with other fans. Charlotte is the first to arrive. She knows already that she will live special moments next Saturday and she's moves a little away. Silent at the moment, this place will become an immense mob ready to receive its idols! But the police is present and prevents the young people from camping in front of the Parc. Kenza, 14 year old, Parisian, confides to us: "They make their rounds up til at least 3 in the morning." Morgann, 20, pretends to be their mother in order to protect them from police checks. Solidarity obliges it...

In the media, there are still remarks about the fact that the Parc des Princes concert isn't sold out yet...It's also hard to fill the Parc the 21st of June, but we can't attribute that as Tokio Hotel's fault, who is losing speed. Bercy was sold out in 2 hours. But some parents found it unreasonable to assemble minors, usually younger than 15, in a football stadium. Meanwhile, in Switzerland, the problem has been fixed: the organizers have placed the Stadium concert in Geneva to a more traditional hall, at the Arena.
And also, there is a date choice mistake: organizing a paying concert the day of the Music Festival, it's like making people pay to see fireworks on the 14th of July! (14th of July is France's national holiday)

Tuesday 17
The police, present 24/7, watches a good 30 fans carefully and sends them back home every evening. Checking identity papers and calling parents for the minors! It is said that barriers will be placed all around the PdP on Friday night, which suggests that lots of impatient people will be able to sleep there the eve of the concert. Morgane, 17, from St Brieuc, arrived with her suitcase today. It is 15:34, she will stay all afternoon and a good part of the night.

Wednesday 18
Nina, 15, Parisian, has come to do her tour of the PDP just like she has done every day since Monday. She walks around with a clan of friends: "If we come every day it's to show other fans that we are really awaiting this concert. Also, we want to be the first. We made a list to get to know the first 50 girls present since the beginning of the week, to be able to look out for each other and be well placed in the line the day of the concert." They take turns standing in line so as not to lose their places.
According to some misinformed people, Tokio Hotel would be arriving Thursday in Paris and would visit the place in the afternoon.

Thursday 19
Quentin, the editor of ROCKMAG, passed at 16:02 to take the winning lots, offered by the Boutique Officielle who is trying to put up its merch stand. A trailer is at the door entrance. Two "roadies", bare-chested and muscular are unloading things for the scene, in a very demonstrative manner, under the admiring eye of about 30 young girls. There is even one girl who is filming them. The weather forecast isn't looking very bright for the Parc today: 18° and heavy rain. But on Friday and Saturday, things will be heating up to 23°, with the return of the sun. Nina, Morgann, Kenza, Morgane and Maelle meet each other there every day, the atmosphere is very high. When we ask them about anti-Tokio Hotels, they answer: "There aren't any for the moment, and I think if they come, they will understand very quickly that they aren't welcome (laughs)!"
At 20h43, at the last minute, Nina announces to us that a new directive has been taken by the police prefect: the fans won't be allowed until Saturday 12H30 in front of the PdP! The waiting line organized by Nina's little group seems compromised. She will go the next day to the police headquarters to learn if the rules will be changed. Meanwhile, several people tell us that the band has arrived at the hotel Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome...and the fans are staying in front of it, lurking.

Friday 20
Contrary to what was predicted, it rains at around 16H and the weather stays quite cloudy. Indeed, since Thursday, things have changed. We find Nina at the spot. She tells us that her and a friend were absent for a while to change, and when they came back they police had installed barriers to "park" the fans (90% are girls) annihilating their efforts of the week. In spite of all, they manage to negotiate with a policewoman, and get an alright spot in the line. But still, their little group is now disseminated in different places. Their list is now obsolete. At 19h 400 people are waiting to sleep on the spot under survival blankets or tents in order to be the first on the lawn, 21H23. This time it's for sure, and Christophe, the photographer of ROCKMAG, is on the spot: Tokio Hotel arrives at the hotel Park Hyatt from behind, meanwhile the German security team enters from in front. Some of the 300 fans who are there start leaving, about a hundred stay, hoping that the four kids will show themselves at the balcony. But they don't show up. 21h57, the police leave, and then dozen fans which were still there disperse. Inside, Tokio Hotel is giving a filmed interview on the terrace. And at 22H36, they leave quickly in a white van to an unknown destination.
23h, at the Parc des Princes, the tension is rising. 300 fans are stationed behind the barriers in boxes, by groups of 40, under blankets given by first-aid security, and under tents. Several times, the security argues with them. They are forbidden to get up, and their parents aren't even allowed to come and take photos. The police is at the beginning of the avenue which leads to the stadium. I ask permission from someone in the security to stand up and take a picture, he tells me, yes. Barely being able to take a picture, 5 men come upon me, screaming and insulting me. The police asks me to leave because the security is at the end of their wits and we must not worsen the situation...
by Marie-Pierre Chantepie
(Stay tuned for the next parts about the BIG day!)