49ers fans dig Levi's Stadium opener, including celebrity acts, little pregame traffic

Posted: 09/14/2014 08:37:20 PM PDT

Updated: 09/14/2014 08:42:22 PM PDT

By Mike Rosenberg

mrosenberg@mercurynews.com

SANTA CLARA -- After half a decade of planning, a couple years of construction and several warm-up events, the 49ers opened Levi's Stadium on Sunday evening -- for real this time -- with the nation's eyes focused on the team's new high-tech stadium and its home in this Silicon Valley city.

The Niners marked the prime-time game against the Chicago Bears with a pre-game ceremony featuring franchise luminaries such as Jerry Rice and Joe Montana. There were fireworks on the field and a thumping halftime concert by rapper, Snoop Dogg. Local celebrities such as Barry Bonds pumped up the crowd of about 70,000, which was far louder than it had been in previous stadium events.

Before the game, while one route produced traffic jams that lingered for hours, most fans got into the game on time whether coming by car or train and reported few problems. The new turf looked iffy at times, but held up without any major failures. At press time, it was not known if post-game traffic -- still the single-biggest concern about the 49ers move south from San Francisco -- would be relatively smooth.

The 49ers and their partners said they had learned a lot in four warm-up events over the last six weeks in preparation for opening the lavish, $1.3 billion stadium. At times during a pair of preseason exhibitions and a couple of soccer matches, traffic snarls were brutal, the gourmet high-priced food ran out or was poor, the much-heralded WiFi system was slow and fans complained of blistering heat.

Great views

Perhaps improvements the team made, or the 49ers finally playing a real game -- and winning 17-7 at halftime before falling behind in the fourth quarter -- resulted in most of the Niner faithful appearing to be a lot happier Sunday than during the past events.

'The bathrooms are too far away, and the WiFi isn't working, but the stadium is sick,' a satisfied Justin Glueck of Walnut Creek, who paid $6,000 for his seat license, said while holding a Budweiser and wearing a Ronnie Lott jersey at the game. 'The views are really good.'

The event at Levi's Stadium started at 5:01 p.m., in a nod to the stadium naming rights sponsor's trademark jeans. The team promised a pre-game show it billed as 'epic,' though it turned out to be rather mild. Actor and fan Jeremy Renner narrated a six-minute video on the scoreboards that focused on the team's history and its new potential.

'This won't be a stadium for the wave, or for fair-weathered fans who just bought their jersey last week,' Renner said. 'This is our new home - it's where the faith never ends. It's where history will be remembered, celebrated.' After a brief fireworks show on the field that produced so much smoke it was tough to see the large 'SF' mid-field logo -- they still are the San Francisco 49ers, after all -- the team's offensive players entered through a tunnel of cheerleaders and two flame towers that shot fire straight up.

But the ceremony drew the most cheers when a crew of Niners legends were introduced, including Hall of Famers Lott, Rice and Montana. Rice then became the first VIP to blow the stadium fog horn, a new tradition signifying the start of the action.

'Beyond frustrating'

The best image of the show came when Boy Scouts and others unfurled a giant American flag across the field during the national anthem. That happened while fans in the lower bowl held up red, white and blue cards that, created another American flag that stretched from endzone to endzone.

For the halftime show, Snoop Dogg, clad in a No. 5 'Coach Snoop,' 49ers jersey, played a surprise concert with dozens of fans, giving shout-outs to the Bay Area and San Francisco. It was an expected but familiar theme, as NBC announcers showed images of the Golden Gate Bridge leading to commercial breaks and a graphic displaying how far away the stadium was from the City by the Bay.

But it wasn't all fun. Fans who arrived early for the 5:30 p.m. game realized some of the parking lots hadn't opened yet. A lot of them just got out of their cars in gridlocked streets and started tailgating right on the spot.

But fans going to the blue lots off Lawrence Expressway reported pre-game waits of up to two hours.

'I have to say it's beyond frustrating,' San Jose resident Joey Windham, 35, said from his car before the game, where he had barely budged for two hours. 'It pretty much has zapped the life out of everybody.'

49ers Chief Operating Officer Al Guido said the team did open some lots early to accommodate 'anxious' fans who jammed local streets but will need to improve for future games.

'People were mistaking parking lots not being open for traffic,' Guido said. 'We got to figure that out.'

Contact Mike Rosenberg at 408-920-5705. Follow him at http://ift.tt/15QzhJY.

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