From the earliest arrivals to the ones getting to the Forum even as people were heading inside, the crowd in the thousands was calm and orderly.

There was no rushing to get inside. People moved calmly even when the line snaked almost completely around the building. Once the gates opened about 9:30 a.m., things moved quickly.

Even so, the end of the line remained at the building’s north end an hour later. New arrivals filled the line as fast as those at the front moved inside.

Even members of the media waited. Getting cleared for credentials was a process often lasting 30 minutes or longer. Part of the reason was a police dog had to sniff every piece of equipment carried inside.

An officer sat the dog at one end of a line of bags on the ground, gave a signal, and the dog quickly gave a nose check of each one.

Recorded rock music blared by the entrance, and there was almost a feeling of a rock concert about the event.

The crowd spanned generations and race lines. There were teenagers, young adults and aging hippies side by side. Many sported T-shirts they bought while they waited.

As they moved, volunteers kept urging everyone to turn on cameras and cell phones before getting to the metal detectors at the entrance. Security workers wanted to be sure the devices were real.

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