Holy cows, Lexie, what a story! I'm glad you survived the pit--that's something I'd never consider doing, far too claustrophobic.
My concert-going days were back in the days when "festival seating" was common, and more than once I ended up on the outer edge and tail end of a crowd entering the venue b/c I was just too scared to be in that pack of people. I'm sure at least some of you here remember the Who concert in Cincinnati in 1979 where 11 people were killed in a crush to get in.
Anyway, glad you had such a great time, and my hat is off to all of you who've been courageous enough to brave the pit and tell the wimps like me all about it!