Macklemore and Ryan Lewis kick off of Camping Trip tour by meeting Spokane fans
The crowd had been building outside the Bing since Tuesday morning.
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis kicked off their sold-out Camping Trip tour at the Bing Crosby Theater on Tuesday night, and nothing – not downtown road construction, a considerable lack of street parking, dangerously smoky air – kept their fans from queuing up early.
Hours before the 9 p.m. concert, the line to see the Seattle-based hip-hip duo stretched down Sprague Avenue, snaking around the neighboring Knitting Factory building – where Fitz and the Tantrums were to perform later that day. The first 50 people in line would have their patience rewarded with an autograph from both Macklemore and Lewis.
Jessica Randock, the first person in line, said she arrived with folding chairs at 8 a.m. She and her friends were grabbing food and using the Davenport Hotel bathrooms in shifts. The staff working the merch booth couldn’t pinpoint how much revenue they’d brought in, but the 200-count batch of Spokane tour T-shirts was long gone.
By 6 p.m., the smattering of people on the sidewalk had grown into a throng. Security cleared the area near the autograph table, and Macklemore and Lewis finally sank into a pair of red canvas chairs at 6:23 p.m.
They signed everything – hats, sweatshirts, denim jackets, iPhone cases, ticket stubs, CD liner notes, headphones. A kid took off his Russell Wilson jersey, and Macklemore and Lewis emblazoned the large white “3” with Sharpie scribbles.
A young woman said it was her 21st Macklemore and Lewis concert, much to the duo’s delight. Macklemore spotted Malachi Burrow, who featured prominently in the rapper’s Spokane-shot “Downtown” music video, in the line.
“My man!” he exclaimed. “World famous!”
“It’s my son’s very first concert,” a man on the sidewalk proclaimed as a young boy reached the autograph table. “I told him he may never see a better one!”
And by 6:45, the last autograph seeker had had their turn, and Macklemore and Lewis retreated back into the theater.
Was the wait was worth it? According to fans who had been standing in line for 10 hours to meet their heroes: Definitely.