Midnight at the Michael Jackson Memorial

Fans gather outside the Staples Center to pay tribute to Michael Jackson and take photos of a wall with messages from other fans. Photo by Adam Rose for LAist.

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A lot of people wouldn't be caught dead in downtown LA around midnight. But to catch a glimpse of the dead? That's a whole different story.

One of several dozen fans standing on the corner of Olympic and Figueroa checked her iPhone and squealed when TMZ reported that Michael Jackson's body may be brought to the Staples Center for today's memorial service, even though she didn't have tickets.

Oswald Rios didn't have tickets, either, but flew down from Edmonton, Canada, hoping to "have a great time, say a nice last goodbye to Michael -- inside or outside of the venue, it doesn't matter." He scored a free flight from a friend working at an airline company, but said he would have paid anyway. The trip still cost him around $500, well worth it according to Rios. "He was part of all the major events of my life -- marriage, breakups, graduation -- his music was always there for me. So it means a lot to me.

How much did Michael mean to others who made the trip? For $35, fans could buy a fancy embroidered t-shirt. $8 covered cheaper shirts, and $5 could land a bedazzled glove, button, pair of posters, hot dog, or even an air horn. The midnight merchandise sales were all across the street from LA Live, where LAPD was clearing away stragglers and hunkering down for a long Tuesday.

Fortunately for the boys in blue, none of the early crowd was seeing red. The consistent themes among Jackson's fans were love and celebration.

"His music is going to live forever," said Malik, who was selling buttons to raise money for his mosque. "Mainly people get down and out when people pass away. But we try and get everybody in the spirit ... buttons are $5, but if the spirit is right ..." He smiled and offered one for free.

With such a positive atmosphere (not to mention 1400 LAPD officers scheduled to work throughout the day), one mother felt comfortable driving down from Lancaster and spending the night on a nearby street corner with her three young children. She wasn't the only one without a place to stay. A loyal fan named Shantelle flew in from Delaware at 9:30 p.m. on Monday and was scheduled to fly out Wednesday at noon. Joined by a friend who is part of mjfanclub.net, neither had tickets and both were still hoping to find a bed to sleep in.

"The goal was to be close to the event, to try and pay respect to him, and feel some kind of closure," explained Shantelle. "But I don't think 'closure' would be the appropriate word. I think it will be a long time until we find that, if ever."

Daniela Versari was lucky enough to find a place to stay, though was considering staying up all night when she heard an unverified rumor that unclaimed tickets might be given away at 5:30 a.m. at the Wiltern Theater. She drove up from San Diego with her sister and mom, missing a day of work and spending about $150 on a hotel room. "I don't think there's been such an event that has happened in my lifetime, so far," said the 31-year-old. "This is a monumental moment that we wanted to be a part of."