Matt Freed, Post-Gazette Fans press forward to photograph the new championship column erected in the Great Hall at Heinz Field before this evening's World Champion Celebration Concert. Click photo for larger image

By Dan Majors
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

	Matt Freed, Post-Gazette Kicker Jeff Reed, center, and reserve quarterback Charlie Batch show off their Super Bowl rings to fans in the Great Hall at Heinz Field. Behind them is owner Dan Rooney. Click photo for larger image.

With all the things they've ever done -- or been accused of doing -- Steelers fans have never done this: a stadium-sized celebration of their fifth Super Bowl championship.

Their forefathers polkaed in the parking lots outside the concrete crucible that was Three Rivers Stadium.

But this is a new generation of Steelers fans who have a new home.

These swim-suited partiers swayed to summer music booming from boats that bob up and down on the Allegheny River. They still wave their Steelers flags and their Terrible Towels but they are tied to the 21st century North Shore, a new and improved expanse of cement walkways and architect-designed green space surrounding the open end of Heinz Field.

Here's a look at their experience today, as the event unfolded.

	Matt Freed, Post-Gazette Chad Kroeger performs with Nickelback at Heinz Field. Click photo for larger image.

As the afternoon begins, Nickelback and Jon Bon Jovi have yet to take the stage to perform for fans cheering their champion Steelers, winners of Super Bowl XL this past February. Tracey Koast, 32, of New Jersey, and her minions, are members of Backstage with Jon Bon Jovi, a fan club that travels to shows all across the country. They number 113 and counting, as they await their wrist-banded access to the general admission pit in front of the stage.

Members come from as far away as California, Italy and Scotland.

Ms. Koast, who has seen Jon Bon Jovi 30 times -- 12 times on this tour alone -- arrived in Pittsburgh at 6:30 last night with 28 other fan club members. They spent the night camped out in chairs and sleeping bags with coolers.

"I'm not a Steelers fan, but my husband is," Ms. Koast said. "My sister-in-law told me to make sure I get a picture of Ben Roethlisberger."

The stage itself is a bone of contention with some of the people outside the stadium. Members of Local 3 of the International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees are protesting the stage-hand work done by a non-union company hired for this event.

They do not picket, but they are a presence in their message-bearing T-shirts as they politely pass out information and answer questions. Mindful of what they are up against, they smile and wave to people passing into the stadium for the show.

"We're not making this difficult for anyone," said one of the union members who did not wish to be identified. "We just want people to know what's going on."

Lined up in the parking lot, hundreds of Steelers fans wait their turn to enter Heinz Field's Great Hall where Steelers players are autographing photos and memorabilia.

Joe Mangol, 43, and his wife, Alice, of Natrona Heights, are here with their daughters to get some footballs signed. The pigskins already bear the signatures of Hines Ward, Ike Taylor and others. They're waiting a half-hour to get a few more.

Because there is no exit and re-entry at the event, they will have to carry the footballs with them into the evening and through the music concerts.

"I'll use this as my pillow," Mr. Mangol said.

The sounds of "Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones greet fans wandering amid the tailgaters in the parking lots. There, near an oversized amplifier in the back of a pickup truck, "DJ Sizzahandz," 43, of Canonsburg, is the host of the party.

"We've got six vehicles," he said, mopping sweat from his brow with a Terrible Towel. "We're usually in the ghetto, there by the North Shore garage, but we're up here now with the Country Club people. Usually, this is the reserved lot and we're forced to go back to the fringe lot."

He and his wife are season ticket holders and tailgate institutions. "It's like religion for us," he said. "We're using this as a dry run. We have all our tailgate stuff together -- the tiki bar, tables, satellite dish and sound system." He doesn't mention the ring-toss game and the empty beer keg that the men take turns trying to stand on. "It's like a science and everybody has their part," he said.

In another part of the parking lot, Becky Werner, 31, of Butler, and her friends, are having a more sedate gathering with veggies, chips and meat sizzling on a small grill. Sitting in their lawn chairs, they point out the antics of well-lubed Steelers fans nearby and laugh.

They've come to see Bon Jovi.

"Well, it's not all about Jon Bon Jovi," said Jen Vissari, 33, of Butler. "Pittsburgh is such a nice place to come and tailgate."

It's 3:30 p.m., and Jim Kelly, 47, of Pine, and his sons, Bobby, 14, and Ryan, 11, are walking away from the autograph table beaming over the signatures of Steelers Charlie Batch and Mike Logan on their photos and ball caps. "I told them they did a great job this past season," Bobby said. "I can't wait for this season."

Mr. Kelly said the family, originally from Philadelphia, moved here just two years ago, but his sons are already die-hard Steelers fans. "I'm really an Eagles fan," Mr. Kelly said. "But you can't live here and not be a Steelers fan."

In the Coca-Cola Great Hall, Lori Feorene, 37, of Murrysville, and friends are seated at a table that minutes before had been occupied by Steelers players attending to their autograph duties.

The players have moved on and the seats now serve fans in need of a rest. Her friend, Bob Schartner, 66, came all the way from Sarasota, Fla., for today's event. They are Steelers fans and Bon Jovi fans.

"This is a great event," Mr. Schartner said. "There wasn't much of a traffic problem. In fact, it was easy to get in. We parked right in that [new] garage on the North Shore."

Nearby, sitting atop a corner of the bar, Julie Lewis, 30, of Sandusky, Ohio, waits to watch a dedication of the fifth Super Bowl trophy column in the Great Hall. "No one has told me to get down, which is amazing," she said, her husband, Jeff, 41, standing at her side.

"We came specifically for the Bon Jovi concert," she said. "But we knew about the dedication and the autograph and all. We knew it was going to be something."

Even though they are Steelers fans, they decided to forego the autographs.

"We're from where Cedar Point is," she said. "We don't stand in line."

From her vantage point above the crowd, she sees several Steelers officials and players making their way to the microphones in front. They carry with them a shiny silver trophy that is the star of the show.

Outside on the field the band "Yards" is playing. But here in the Great Hall all eyes are focused on the new hardware.

"The only question I have," said Kevin Colbert, director of football operations for the Steelers, "is where are we going to put No. 6?"

The throngs of Steelers fans packed around them point in unison to the neighboring column.

Then quarterback Charlie Batch and kicker Jeff Reed and Steelers owners Dan Rooney and Art Rooney II make a few remarks. They get lost in the cheers, applause and occasional chants of "Here we go Steelers."

Finally, the Steelers' newest trophy case is unlocked and opened, and the newest trophy is put in place.

Farther down the hall, where Steelers uniforms, footballs and memorabilia are exhibited in locker-like displays, there is also a new addition. The last locker has been cleared out and now contains framed photographs of the 2005 season. Fans in the hall stop to take pictures of the pictures.

Bob Leonhardt, 37, of New Castle, and his wife, Joanne, were looking forward to the Jon Bon Jovi show, but the Steelers event made it all the more appealing.

"Besides, it's a nice night out. We've been tailgating and having a great time. It's been a really special year," he said -- especially for the Leonhardts, whose daughter, Lauren, was born during the Steelers fabled playoff run.

"I even had tickets with my buddies to all the playoff games," Mr. Leonhardt said. "Even the Super Bowl. But I had to be there when my Super Bowl baby was born."

Mr. Leonhardt made a point of having his wife take his picture with his cell phone in front of the Steelers' new Super Bowl trophy case. "It's so I can e-mail it to my friends who are Bills fans and Browns fans," he said.

In the walkways of the stadium, Steelers merchandise is not available because of marketing issues. But there's no shortage of Bon Jovi merchandise. You can even get a Bon Jovi football jersey -- it's not black and gold but it has a big No. 3 -- for $175.

Danielle Greene, 32, of Hermitage, Mercer County, paid extra -- $200 -- for her jersey. It's autographed by all four Bon Jovi band members.

"I'm here for the concert," she said. She skipped the introduction of the Steelers players taking place on the field to explore the stadium. She has seen the band ten times.

"I couldn't care less about the Steelers part. I hope the fans like it, but I hope it doesn't take away from the concert," she said.

At 6:30 p.m., while Nickelback was performing on stage, the line outside the stadium still stretched to the parking lot. Inside, the stage was set up in front of the Heinz Field scoreboard, with massive rows of speakers flanking the stage, hanging under the belly of the stadium.

More than a hundred boats were massed within listening distance on the rivers, as can be expected for a warm weather event on the North Shore. But inside the stadium, it wasn't a typical Heinz Field operation, with some souvenir and concession stands closed, some seating areas and ramps roped off, and way too many bathrooms locked.

Stadium workers even had to improvise by declaring at least one men's restroom a women's restroom. This was accomplished by hanging up a hastily written sign and posting a guard by the door.

Melissa Malachow, 31, of Ross, was one of many who voiced complaints about bathroom availability, Heinz Field apparently having been designed with a male-intense Steeler audience in mind, rather than a female-heavy Bon Jovi crowd. Ms. Malachow, her sister Amy Fuchs, 35, of Cleveland, and their mother, Sue McGahan, 58, of Crafton, agreed that despite the inconvenience it was a wonderful event.

"It's still good to be here," Ms. McGahan said. "We wouldn't want to be anywhere elese. We're Steelers fans and we're Bon Jovi fans. Thsi is the best of two worlds in one place." The event reached its peak as Jon Bon Jovi and his bandmates took the stage with their song "Last Man Standing."

Gary Kamil, 50, and Terri Villant, 51, both of Matawan, New Jersey, were in town this weekend for a body-building competition at Station Square. Ms. Villant, who used to be a cafeteria worker at Jon Bon Jovi's high school, said they could not miss this event.

"Of course we're Giants fans," Mr. Kamil said. "But nowadays, the whole world's Steelers fans."