I got a bad feeling about how the night was going to go when we drove into the parking lot of the Southland Mall.

They absolutely hammer you on the radio and the media, take the bus to the big event! Save the hassle! Save the traffic! Just ride the bus. So you figure, I'll do the conscientious thing, stay out of everyone's way, and just take the bus. One less car near the stadium. One fewer person tying up traffic in what is sure to be a nightmare.

It was just past 5:00 when we pulled into the Southland Mall parking lot. We thought the concert started at 6:30. It actually didn't start until 7:45, so we were WAY early. Nonetheless when we got in line it was about 4 people wide, I'd estimate, and I would say at least 200 feet long.

This is 5:00.

So we waited for buses. There are literally hundreds of people waiting for the bus. One bus pulled up. 100 people run to the bus and jam it full in a manner of seconds. This still leaves hundreds behind. There's cause for concern. No other bus pulls up for the rest of us.

So we wait more. No bus. Time ticks by like the beads of sweat on the brow of a fat man in a jogging suit. No bus. Then another bus shows up. Jams full of people in seconds and pulls away. Same scenario as before. What the hell? Is this the bus loading plan they have for us?

Miraculously the next series of buses pulls up only a moment later, and its two in a row. So another mad scramble ensues to get on them. It wasn't an actual riot, but you could start to feel the rumblings of one coming due to the lack of buses. I was on the fourth so I didn't find out if they burned anything to the ground after I left. It was dark when we returned so I didn't notice anything but as far as I know, there was no riot.

But could the driver have taken a more serpentine path to the stadium? I'm not saying I'm an expert on Regina but we went through parts I never even imagined existed. Down residential streets, past mini-malls in the middle of suburbia. Roared by schools and people jogging past their houses. I know where Taylor Field is but Christ if we didn't go through Avonlea to get there.

Then we get to the site, going to the Lewvan just to come all the way back to Albert Street. That seemed like an excessively long path to take but then who am I? Surely the City of Regina and its bus drivers know routes better than me. The driver dumps us out at Albert and 9th Avenue, and like refugees dumped at the entrance to the evacuation camp, we stumbled up to the sea of humanity that was the entrance to Taylor Field on that night.