breaking the modern society

Blah

I really want to change my LJ layout & update my icons.

I must be bored today; I'm posting on LJ. ...aaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnd I think I want more cornbread.

Okay, so I'm going a little out of order with my reports. Oh well. -_-; I'm also slacking... well partially because it's hard to get onto the computer at my house and partially because I keep forgetting a lot of stuff. But continuing on...



The route to Zepp Tokyo is really scenic. You have to take a monorail onto the island in Tokyo Bay that it`s located on. You pass by Tokyo Tower and the Rainbow Bridge... actually you go over the Bridge. Now I know why they call it such... There are lights that make it rainbow-y. It is rather pretty... for a bridge. Zepp is just right off the station platform so it`s really easy to get to.

We got in line and the 3 of us: RA, Sana & I, were totally last in line. ...but were not the last to enter... ::shrug:: As we were standing and waiting for our numbers to be called, we saw from across the crowd this really awesome looking Kirito cosplayer! I have no idea if it was a guy or a girl but they were really good looking! After we got into the venue we stopped at the merch booths (because there were more than one) and bought stuff... Lots of stuff. The pictures for the Lotto Pamphlets, at least the ones that I got, are really pretty. Anyways, so the 3 of us stuffed our stuff in a locker and went in. We tried to get somewhere in the middle of the crowd but that was not happening so we went to the back. We found a small spot on the left but decided it was too small so we moved over to the right side and ended up about 3rd row from the back. But we could see the whole stage for the most part and the really good-looking Kirito cosplayer was caddy corner behind us, so it was fine. ^^;



The show started on time. The announcement of the tour was given, the lights went down and the opening SE began.

( Angelo: Tour 08-09 ｢NATURAL BORN ULTIMATE CHILD｣ Jan 2 -fri- Zepp TokyoCollapse )

Hmmm.... let's see what I can remember...

We got over to the Budokan sometime after 1pm. We got into the merch line which extended down from the Budokan into this little courtyard outside of its gates where the line zig-zagged a bunch of times and then made its way out of the outside gate and down the long hill to the street below. I didn't keep track but everyone else said we were in the line for about 4 hours.


This is near the top of the long hill outside the courtyard area.

While in line we saw lots and lots of cosplayers. I didn't bring my camera so I didn't get any pictures but I did see a Kagrra, group that made me go, "Woooooooooooooowwwww. *______*" The Isshi was so pretty. There were a bunch of Miyavis running around and lots of Gazette cosplayers. Reita, of course, was the most popular. AND ALMOST ALL OF THEM LOOKED LIKE BECKY! :O The few COCKROACH Ruki cosplayers that I saw made me go, "Tsk, your hat is wrong. Mine is better." Am I being pretentious by saying that? Probably. But I digress... While standing in line, we also got accosted by musicjapan+ people asking about fashion checks or something. I didn't participate.

So eventually, we got up into the actual Budokan area and could actually see the merchandise booths when Jazz finally found us. We still had to go get our tickets so Jess gave Jazz her card and stuff and I gave RA my money for merch (all I wanted was the tour book) and made my way out of line (as we were then in a gated off area) to go with Jazz and get the tickets. After finding the spot we needed to be at, the guy told Jazz that Jess had to be the one to pick up the tickets as she needed to present her passport which I had a feeling was going to happen since that's what they did at X Japan. We also found out that they were issuing the tickets on a first-come-first-serve basis. So since I was able to get tickets then, the guy had me look at the chart to find a spot for all eight of us. There was a large area on the map that looked like it was near what was supposed to be the front. He said he could stick 6 people in the one row and 2 behind. I said it was fine since two of the people in our group were girls that, I guess, Jess knows and weren't really with our group per se... So the guy said he'd hold Jess' tickets until she got there so we'd be able to all sit together. That was really awesome of him. ^^

After Jess got there & got her tickets, we made our way back to the main pathway so everyone else could find us once they got out of the merchandise line. Once we all found each other, we stood around and people-watched for a little while. While standing about, we saw this one guy (and it was a guy) who looked like Uruha. From a distance, he was dead on. We all just gawked at him for awhile. He just kind of looked like Uruha came out and was trying to blend in with the other cosplayers. I know Sana went over and got a picture of him. Not me, sorry.



At one point, miyavi decided to come out onto the second balcony and cause a ruckus for little while. All we heard were fans screaming for 10 minutes. Also, outside the one enterance, there were flowers for the bands set up. Gackt sent Miyavi flowers, GLAY sent Gazette flowers and SUGIZO & Yoshiki / X Japan sent some too. I think MUCC sent some as well and I think I also saw SID as a sender but someone else's flowers were in the way so I couldn't make out the first character properly. Eventually we decided it was time to make our way into the arena. We found the line and went in. On our way in, somehow Sana got her camera confiscated. Seriously? Anyways, we found where we had to go and followed the crowd down through the hallways and out onto the ground floor. We were really close. We were in the second row of the second section back from the stage between the far left and the center. So I was able to actually make out faces on the musicians on the stage! Actually, the set-up was a full 360 degree view of the stage which was pretty cool. So we got ourselves situated and waited for the concert to start.

( PS COMPANY: The 10th anniversary commemorative performance ｢Peace&Smile Carnival｣ Jan 3rd -sat- Nippon BudokanCollapse )

Cocklobin/9GOATS BLACK OUT/Sugar - Jan 9th -fri- Takadanobaba AREA

Yesterday it rained. I don't mind the rain, but I don't like being out in it for an extended period of time which we weren't supposed to be. But whoever wrote the directions up that Jess got failed hard. When we got up to Takadanobaba it apparently decided to start raining a little harder. Our written directions said to go right out of the station, and we did until we walked for probably 15 minutes which was incorrect. So we turned around and walked back and when we went the right direction, the venue was seriously 2 short blocks from the station. DDDX

We were all soaked, me especially. I didn't even have a hood nor a thick coat. We came in on the last song for the first band Cocklobin. I don't remember what that sounded like.

9GOATS BLACK OUT was next. If I wasn't cold and wet and have every single tall Japanese person standing in front of me so I could see, maybe I might have enjoyed their performance more. They played 2 or 3 songs that I recognized, but overall, I was dissapointed. It was actully kind of boring. I just leaned against the side wall and tried not fall asleep.

Sugar, you DO bore the piss out of me. As Sugar was setting up, I was able to move up so I could see most of the band for them. The singer, Loki? looks like a cross between Dracula and Trent Reznor. I think I did fall asleep during their set, so I left and sat out in the hallway while the concert finished. The final encore song had the vocalist from the 3 bands come out and do some song.

Over all, I wouldn't go see any of these bands ever again. ._.

After the live, we went back to the hotel, got something hot to eat and I took a really hot shower. Then RA and I watched Death Note on TV. Ooooo and the guy who played Light is going to be in another movie, Kaiji (at least I think that's what it was called...) He is so cute. ...and that 'L' movie looks kind of dumb, but whatever.

Angelo...

*____________________________*

...ho~ly crap!

So, I'll start from the beginning. RA & I got into LA at about 9/9:30pm on Wednesday. We got into our We-Look-Good-But-Are-Still-Ghetto-Because-We're-In-LA hotel, got settled and then took a walk down to the venue to find it and to see what else was going on. Our original intention was to hang and see if the band showed up for practice like GLAY did, in San Fran at least, but when we got down there we realized that we were both really tired and decided to go back to the hotel to sleep.

The next day, we didn't even set an alarm. We just woke up at about 10/11am or so and took our time getting dressed and moseyed on down to the venue to find 4 people in line. So RA and I took our places, though the two people in front of us, Omen and her brother, went to the back of the line to talk with people and didn't end up coming back so when we were finally let in, we were 3 & 4. Cool beans. In the end, only about 20 people made it; which I expected and didn't expect. I figured not a lot of people were going to be able to make it but I guess I expected more than 20. Oh well. This was the shortest line I have been in for a concert.

My 'waiting in line' report is totally longer and more detailed than my concert report, so if you don't care about waiting in line, please skip down to the second 'cut' link. :)
( So the remainder of the line wait was like this:Collapse )

The doors were supposed to open at 6:00 but the fan club didn't start arriving until a little before 6pm. Finally a tour bus pulled up and a bus full of Japanese girls got off and started to line up. I was surprised as to how many older people there were on the trip. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I would assume that only someone older with a job could afford to come. Their younger fans would be in school. Many of the girls (or I should say women) looked like they were in their late-late teens to mid-twenties, the older ones looked to be in their mid-thirties to forties. And then there was the one guy. Yes, a male was on the trip. ...draw your own conclusions. So the 4 buses made their way to the venue to drop off the fan club and they all lined up as final preparations were being made inside, I guess.

As everybody was waiting and the photographers/press were taking pictures of the fan club and stuff, this one interviewer (I think her microphone said JATV?) came over to interview us. I was the first one she approached. o.o She probably would have gone to RA who was standing in front of me, but she was in a heated discussion with Jess on the phone... so I got interviewed.

At first I didn't understand what she had asked me because the traffic made it hard to hear, but she first asked where I came from. I told her that I flew from New Jersey and she was really impressed. "You flew all the way here for this?!?" "Yes. (...and if you knew how often I fly out here for freaking concerts, you probably wouldn't be as impressed...)" Then she asked me who I came here to see. "Ummm.. o.O Do you mean specific member?" "Yes." "Oh, um... Kirito." "What do you like about him?"

My answer was something like, "(insert 30 seconds of) ........................................(o.o)............................................................................. I....................like..................." ...anyways, I think I said something about his voice, charisma, messages, I don't know if I can really put it into words. She also asked me how I found out about Angelo and what do I like about the band.

Since we had actual tickets, we had to have them checked at the box office and get a stamp saying that we could enter. I'm happy the lady at the window let us keep our "ticket stubs", because I like keeping stuff like that. ^^;;; The fan club finally all made it in, we got our smiley face stamps and bags checked at the door (and we were allowed to take pictures, just not video. Really!?!?!!? o.O) and we went in.



( Angelo - Oct 2nd -thurs- Whiskey a Go GoCollapse )

A concert.
-Who's playing?
Glay.
-Clay?
No, Glay.
-Can you spell that?

The other most frequently asked question was, "Why is there a line for the post office?" I'll get to that later.

RA & I woke up at about 5:30/6:00am to go down to the venue. We could actually see the venue from our hotel room so we could keep an eye on it... but we couldn't tell if we saw people or not, but we didn't see a line so that was good. We went down and got in line at about 7am. There were two girls in front of us, Isabelle and... crap I can't remember her name, but she was from LA. The two of them had been in line since midnight. About 5 minutes after we got in line another two people showed up (coincidently, the girl that got in line after RA and I was the same girl from Oregon that got in line right behind Jess and I at the Anaheim hyde show; small world eh?). I think another group showed up not too long after them. Isabelle (who is from New York, yeah, go east coast!) said that a guard from last night said that the line was going to move down to the post office so the sidewalk wasn't being blocked. So since there were about 8 or 10 people there now, we decided to go ahead and move the line down to the post office. And there we were for 12 more hours.

We had a little angst with the line but nothing the people in the front couldn't handle and at a bit past 7pm, we were let in. I got up in the center of the stage in front of Teru which is where I wanted to be. So everyone came in and at 8:16pm, the show started.

( GLAY: ｢VERB TOUR 2008 IN U.S.｣ Aug 12th -tues- The FillmoreCollapse )

[random]
The day before the concert, Jess picked up an L.A. newspaper to see if the venue had advertised LM.C and sure enough, there was a little blurb in there for the show:

Crash Mansion L.A.
Sat. -- LM.C. A dose of "lovely mocochang" electropop from the Japanese twosome.
-- LA Weekly --

Hahahaha ...... what? In addition, there was a tiny picture for them on another page. Ooooo... and the House of Blues was advertising GLAY for next month too! (^-^)
[/random]

So Jess & I got in line some time between 8 & 9 am... I think. Most of the people in front of us had been there since 6:30am. We were somewhere between 20-30th in line. It remained shady until... well I don't remember really but it was until Jess left to go to her other engagements. It was so hot and dirty outside. Not as bad as the D'espairsRay CBGB's concert, but close.

But I digress. As they were getting ready to let us in, security decided to move the line around, which in turn confused everyone and a bunch of people who were behind me for most of the day were suddenly in front of me. What the hell...! Anyway, we were let into the barely air conditioned venue and I went over to Aiji's side. While I wanted to be on his side to begin with, it happened to have the least amount of people there. The only people in front of me were a few of the Japanese girls that were in the line. I figured that if I was going to be behind anyone, let it be behind people who's movements are predictable. Jess joined me not too long after that and we waited... and waited for the concert to start. I think they started about 15 minutes late.

As we were watching the stage be set up, I noticed that Aiji has two flame guitars. It's never dawned on me that he'd have two of the same guitar. ::shrug::

The crowd started chanting, "Rock, rock the LM.C," prior to their start and finally the stage hands in the ski masks came out and waved their hands for everyone to cheer. NO.9 started playing and Jay Kay (keyboard) came out, followed by KAEDE (drums), HIKO (bassist) and then DENKI-MAN. Aiji came out and waved to the crowd and then maya.

( LM.C - July 5th -sat- Crash Mansion L.A.Collapse )

Before I begin my account of the weekend, I would just like to say that my opinion of the band has slightly shifted. I don't view maya as the retard I had previously thought him to be. While he still has a tart~ish sense of humor, I have come to find that he also has a sense of sarcasm about him but is also really kind hearted. And while I still find Aiji to be a complete dill-weed, he does seem genuinely sincere when it comes to the fans. He appears to be happy where he is and compliments maya, as maya also compliments him... kind of like an old married couple. Though I must admit, if you had asked me prior to seeing them who my favorite member was, I probably would have said that I was conflicted between Aiji because of where he came from and maya because Aiji is an ass-hat. But if you ask me now, I would say without a doubt that their session keyboardist Jay Kay is love♥♥♥ He is so freaking cute and hawt to boot. (*__*) I want him to become an official member. That would just make my day.

( But all of that aside... Thursday night was LM.C's first performance.Collapse )

So the next day was the Q&A. Jess ran into the GaaGalinG panel since that was right before hand and I went to get in line for LM.C. I was waiting for about an hour or two before they started to let us in. At the start of the panel was a video showing clips of all their PV's and a little message from the two of them. After that, maya and Aiji entered and everyone cheered and clapped for them. Maya said, "Nice to meet you!" Then Aiji said, "Hello! LM.C. My name is Aiji. よろしく!" (Nope, that's a direct quote. I didn't leave words out, he did.) Then maya came back with, "たのしい blah-blah..." (I missed the rest of that... ^^;;) The panel started off a little weird. First we were told to go to the center aisle. So some girl got to ask the first question, "What is your favorite American band?" Then the panel people decided to change that and have some guy run around with the microphone to poeple and then also finally stated, "No inappropriate questions," though they didn't specify what was inappropriate. Needless to say, the girls question never got answered.

So here are the questions from the panel. They might not be direct quotes because I wrote these down in sloppy broken short hand. (-___-);; I have some commentary to add to some of these too. Also, "M" is maya and "A" is Aiji and "LM.C" means I don't remember who said it. ( But onto the questions!Collapse )