I ♥切人
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-Becaus
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. :)
At one point, RA was talking on the phone with Marcie and I was looking around and I saw this guy standing on the corner smoking a cigarette. He looked really familiar and then a noticed the over abundance of tattoos and the crazy hair and realized it was Toruxxx. I grabbed RA and told her to look in his direction. As he disappeared behind the building, we decided to take a walk. So we walked around the corner, still talking to Marcie so as to not seem so obvious. He was talking to some other staffer in the parking lot behind the venue but paid us no attention that I noticed. ::shrug::
So we went back to our spot and continued to wait. A while later, this car came rolling up and parked in front of the venue. While this was not the first car to park there during the day, for some reason I really took note of this one. I stared at the driver and then realized that it was totally Kirito in the driver seat. XDDD He totally drove some of his staff in a black Ford Mustang (from LA Car Rentals, CA Licence Plate 5ZSM387. 83;;;; ...don't ask. I'm not a stalker, I swear). They came cruising in with the top down looking all hip. Kirito managed to take a picture before he got out and went inside. Just so you know, Ame-san (his bodyguard) is sitting behind him and, I think, one of the female staffers is sitting next to him. Random: I also think that Ame-san decided to not use the door but to stand up and hop over the side of the car when he exited the vehicle. (^^); Oh Ame-san, you bad-ass.
During the time we were waiting in line, one of the other staff members (who's name we found out was Shouji) was going around putting CHAOTIC BELL promo posters up around the venue.
Someone asked him about taking posters and he said that after the live was done, they were all ours; and we know he said this because he spoke perfect English.... like, unaccented English. ...awesome... So he asked us (as in the 20 people in line) where else he should put them because the walls weren't good for holding tape. I don't know if someone suggested to him or if he did it himself but he went over and put a bunch on a traffic light pole.
Then he disappeared and later came back with duct tape. So he taped more to the other wall space including a spot next to RA and I, underneath the "Music Hall of Fame" plate next to the entrance. RA asked him if he wanted any help but he said no, he had it. :)
After the posters, he came back with stickers! Lots and lots of stickers! And he stuck them everywhere...
As he was putting some on the trash bin, he dropped a package of them. RA noticed them on the ground and was eying them, waiting for him to walk away so she could grab them but he noticed the package and also saw her eying them. He grabbed them and when he finished with his trash bin, he walked over to us and handed the package to RA saying, "I'm not supposed to give these out, but here anyway." RA gave him an 'aawwwwww, thanks' face and then gave them to me. Fifteen minutes later he came back and gave them out to everyone so since he handed me a package this time, RA ended up with one anyway.
We went back to waiting. Some time after that though, Kirito came strolling around the corner in front of us. He was just looking at everything, and I guess Shouji-san's poster and sticker job. We saw him taking pictures of the billboard and of the one pole with the posters on it...
I totally stole this from his blog. Shhhhhhhh~~ X)
...and here's what he looks like taking said picture...
Sorry, RA's phone doesn't take great pictures. m(_ _)m
The back of his shirt totally says, "Hey! Good Looking." XD
After blogging about the pictures, he proceeded around the corner to the front door... right by us. He slowly made his way over toward us with one or two of his staff. Anybody who actually noticed what was going on just stood (or sat) there in anticipation as to what he was doing or where he was going. As he approached, he was obviously eying the line as much as we were eying him. As he got up to the door, a mere 4 or 5 feet from us, I waved at him. He looked at me, made that face where he presses his lips together and nodded back in acknowledgment. O_________________O HE FUCKING LOOKED RIGHT AT ME AND NODDED!!!!!! (T-T) HE ACKNOWLEDGED MY EXISTENCE!!!!!♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ kljsdguhgef;kjboifgjdfhfgl;rfb!!!!!! XDDDDD!
After that, nothing really interesting happened for a while. RA gave herself 'poster duty': pressing the tape back on the walls so the posters wouldn't fall, Shouji-san catching her one time and giving her an appreciative look. Shortly after that, he came back around with "I♥Kirito" stickers for everyone. We also watched some of the photographers take pictures of everything and everyone...
...and watched Ame-san come out for a cigarette every half hour.
Shouji-san eventually came out and marked off the VIP section, which is where the fan club was going to stand when they got there. He set a pole on the sidewalk marking the beginning of the line and he then came over and told us that, 'That section is for special guests. The fan club will be arriving soon; there are about 200 people coming form Japan and they will be entering first.' The front of the line were like, 'Yeah, we figured. Yeah, we know. No big deal.' Shouji-san smiled and seemed relived like he expected us to jump down his throat about it. He said something about us being good fans... (?) ...and that we were going to get something from the band when we got inside.
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) ........................................
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 Go
Like Shouji-san said, as soon as we walked in the door, we were handed a present. It was a signed photograph of the band.
They were all hand signed. (T-T) It's the first thing I have signed by any of them. Too bad I couldn't get it myself. Le sigh...
Setlist:
REBORN
SISTER
SIGN
Hakuchuumu
DANCE
EASTER AGAIN
Danmatsuma ni Mimi Sumashite
-- Kohta & Takeo Duet --
HALLUCINATION
SEE YOU AGAIN
EDEN
WINTER MOON
CEREMONY
Destruction impulse
ULTIMATE WORLD
SCRAP
SQUALL
HE IS A MONKEY
Encore:
Kesshou
NEO HADES
CHAOTIC BELL
Holocaust
So we made our way in and found a spot in front of Kohta but with a clear view of Kirito. We started at about the 6th row or so, which is much closer than when I saw them the first time.
I don't think the show actually started at 7pm since we weren't let in until 6:30, but as with the typical shows they do, the lights went down and the -SE- music played. The "backstage area" wasn't backstage but up a flight of steps to the side of the stage to a second floor that overlooked the stage and floor area so we could see when they were coming out of their dressing room.
Takeo was the first to come out, closely followed by Toruxxx. They made their way down the steps and Kohta followed behind them. The three of them took their places on the stage before Kirito came out. Takeo looked gorgeous. He didn't have the hair that he has in his current profile picture. It looked more fitting for his head and face. And he didn't have an over abundance of makeup like he did for the "Easter For Treason" tour. Kohta looked so good too: just the right amount of makeup, the right amount of hairspray, the right amount of attitude. X3 Then there's Kirito. Oh, don't get me wrong... In my opinion, pictures don't do him justice. He is so attractive in photos but in person, he is utterly beautiful. But the outfit that he has for the SISTER PV... I really don't like that outfit, and he wore it for the live. Now that I have seen it in person from head to toe, the ensemble looks like a set of mismatched pajamas.
I honestly didn't mind being in a crowd of mostly Japanese girls. It felt like I was back in a Japanese live house; where everyone was used to giving personal space and mostly everyone did the hand motions (because I like doing that stuff). Though, when Kirito finally made it onto the stage, the entire crowd suddenly took two steps forward so we ended up 2 feet closer than where we started. X) It was nice not having people bump into me or having to fight to remain in my spot... though how the hell did I end up with the tallest Japanese girl in front of me? I'm supposed to be taller than all of you people. DX You blocked my view of my vocalist! I'm glad she eventually moved elsewhere.
The MC's. DDDDDDDDDDD8 I only caught a word here and a word there but not enough to put a full coherent thought together. I think he asked how everyone was and how LA was; if everyone was enjoying themselves. Then he said something about since they're in America, he was going to say something in English. So he "introduced" himself, "How is everyone? I am Barack Obama."
(¬__________________¬) Seriously? Well, I'll give him this, his pronunciation was excellent, highly unaccented. Good boy.
There was one MC where all I caught was, "blahblahblah America blahblahblah kichigai blahblahblahblah kichigai blahblah America blahblahblah kichigai... " ..wha~?" He started talking about Pearl Harbor, saying to the crowd, "Remember Pearl Harbor." ::shrug:: He said something about D'espairsRay at one point though I have no idea what, but it was apparently funny. Actually most of what he said was humorous, though the jokes were obviously lost to me. (-_-);;
Later in the concert when he made the introductions for the band members, Kohta said some English in his MC: "Nice to meet you." ...though with him it came out more like, "Naisu chu miit yuu." :) That was the only thing I caught out of the intro MC's because I was watching Kirito make sleepy time next to the drum set. Though, I think when he got to Toruxxx he said something about him never having been in the States before... but don't quote me on that.
To introduce each member, starting with Takeo, he'd say, "Angelo no duramusu..." and the crowd would yell, "Takeo!" This would happen a few times and then Takeo would have his MC. He did this with Kohta too. Though, I noticed when he got to Toruxxx, he didn't say, "Angelo no gitaa," he just said, "Gitaa." Interesting... When he got to himself though, I think he went through the actions but when he actually said his name, I swear he said, "Blah blah blah Marty Friedman desu." phhhhfffftttt~~~ X) ...you dork... The only other thing I can remember... that was not really something said but something he did, was before they performed HE IS A MONKEY, he was talking and said something about a monkey and then did a little impression of a monkey: scratching his chin with one hand and the top of his head with the other going, "OooOooOoo," in the process. :3 I guess it was one of those 'you had to be there' kind of things.
RA got to experience the 'Kirito Pee Dance' first hand. She was utterly mesmerized by his movements. Though one thing he did a lot of that I don't remember from last time was that he kept smacking his butt all the time! X3 (RA said that he'd do something amusing and she'd look over to me to see if I'd seen it but apparently every time she did, I was, " 8D ," at him and wasn't paying attention to her.) While he has such charisma and a dominant presence in his performing, you have to laugh at his 'dancing'.
This is the first time I have heard SISTER and ULTIMATE WORLD in there entirety, since at this point in time the single has not been released yet. SISTER is mad catchy. ULTIMATE WORLD on the other hand is... interesting. I can't think of another way to describe it. I can't wait to get the single so I can see the lyrics. There was a line or two of English that I caught in there but couldn't completely understand. Kirito's English always intrigues and amuses me. Though the song itself, in my opinion, seems like it's going to sound better live than it is recorded. But we shall see. Though, I can honestly say that I have now heard all of their songs at this point live. When I saw them last year, they only played maybe 4 songs from "THE FREAK SHOW" album:CHRIST HE IS A MONKEY being the only one announced by name.
In the middle of the main set, Kirito and Toruxxx left the stage. Kohta moved up to front and center and began strumming the first chords for the duet between him and Takeo.
It was the same song they played during the "THE FRENZIED EMPIRE" final. It's a catchy little tune. I wish I knew if it had a name. Nothing was said on the "TFE" DVD. ::shrug::
Sorry, RA failed and didn't get any pictures of Kirito. (-___-);
Kirito & Toruxxx came back (Kirito having done a slight costume change). The new shirt that Kirito had on showed off his tattoos on his left arm. :D~ ...and looked much better with the plaid pants he had on.
At the end of the show, the band threw stuff into the audience. Kirito threw a handful of towels right at me but with everyone else grabbing at them, I grabbed them oddly (breaking my one nail in the process) and knocked them to the ground, but one of the other American girls reached in and grabbed one and the Japanese girl next to me got them. (¬_______¬);; Whatever, it's not like he used them. I did manage to grab one of the CHAOTIC BELL promo posters from the wall in the venue since I didn't get one with my single. I think RA said she snatched one from the ladies room. :)
I still had my present to give to Kirito. I decided to give him a T-shirt from the Harley Davidson store right by me so it says specifically "Trenton World Class HD" on it. ..I still think the shirt I got him was too small though. :( Too late now. Anyways, while RA was in the bathroom, I stood around looking for a staff member who looked like they'd be able to give the gift to Kirito. Lo and behold, Shouji-san made an appearance on the ground floor of the venue. I ran over to him and asked him if he'd be able to make sure Kirito would get the gift. He said he'd would make certain he'd get it. He asked what it was and I told him and he seemed happy that it wasn't anything weird. Then he handed me a piece of merchandise in a white box. I was really excited about this because A) it was from that 'Mad Fascist' line of stuff they have and B) there was no merch table so I couldn't buy anything even if I wanted. As I was thanking him for the box, RA came walking to my side and upon seeing the merchandise in my hand, made a pouty face at Shouji-san. He smiled and handed her one of the black boxes in his hand saying to her, "Here, you deserve it!" RA made googly eyes and thanked him. We ran off to the side to see what we had received and to watch the stage being disassembled. RA opened her black plastic box to reveal the chopsticks. I opened the one end of my white cardboard box and got super excited. It was the fan that I had been eying on their site for the longest. 8DDDDDDD
As we were playing with our stuff off to the side, a lady came up (it might have been the same lady from JATV, I don't remember) and asked us how the show was. RA said it was great and stuff. I think I just agreed with RA and said I'd like to see them back here soon. We played with out stuff some more and eventually went over to get a drink. (I got free bottled water. Oh snap~) Then we left to go see who was leaving through the back door. When we got out there, Toruxxx was getting into a van with other people. Two of the people looked like Kirito and Kohta, but then they didn't so we honestly didn't know. But Shouji-san jumped into the driver's seat. So we at least waved at him as the van drove away. =)
After that we walked back to the hotel and went to bed since we had a 9:00 flight the next morning. :0 Ugh, the flight to Phoenix, we were stuck behind a guy that smelled like day 3 of a con and the lady next to me didn't smell like roses either and thought my ribs were part of her elbow's space. )X But the 5 hour flight back to Newark was spent stretched out over two seats, so I guess I can't complain too much.
~~ FIN ~~
*____________________________*
...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-Becaus
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. :)
At one point, RA was talking on the phone with Marcie and I was looking around and I saw this guy standing on the corner smoking a cigarette. He looked really familiar and then a noticed the over abundance of tattoos and the crazy hair and realized it was Toruxxx. I grabbed RA and told her to look in his direction. As he disappeared behind the building, we decided to take a walk. So we walked around the corner, still talking to Marcie so as to not seem so obvious. He was talking to some other staffer in the parking lot behind the venue but paid us no attention that I noticed. ::shrug::
So we went back to our spot and continued to wait. A while later, this car came rolling up and parked in front of the venue. While this was not the first car to park there during the day, for some reason I really took note of this one. I stared at the driver and then realized that it was totally Kirito in the driver seat. XDDD He totally drove some of his staff in a black Ford Mustang (from LA Car Rentals, CA Licence Plate 5ZSM387. 83;;;; ...don't ask. I'm not a stalker, I swear). They came cruising in with the top down looking all hip. Kirito managed to take a picture before he got out and went inside. Just so you know, Ame-san (his bodyguard) is sitting behind him and, I think, one of the female staffers is sitting next to him. Random: I also think that Ame-san decided to not use the door but to stand up and hop over the side of the car when he exited the vehicle. (^^); Oh Ame-san, you bad-ass.
During the time we were waiting in line, one of the other staff members (who's name we found out was Shouji) was going around putting CHAOTIC BELL promo posters up around the venue.
Someone asked him about taking posters and he said that after the live was done, they were all ours; and we know he said this because he spoke perfect English.... like, unaccented English. ...awesome... So he asked us (as in the 20 people in line) where else he should put them because the walls weren't good for holding tape. I don't know if someone suggested to him or if he did it himself but he went over and put a bunch on a traffic light pole.
Then he disappeared and later came back with duct tape. So he taped more to the other wall space including a spot next to RA and I, underneath the "Music Hall of Fame" plate next to the entrance. RA asked him if he wanted any help but he said no, he had it. :)
After the posters, he came back with stickers! Lots and lots of stickers! And he stuck them everywhere...
As he was putting some on the trash bin, he dropped a package of them. RA noticed them on the ground and was eying them, waiting for him to walk away so she could grab them but he noticed the package and also saw her eying them. He grabbed them and when he finished with his trash bin, he walked over to us and handed the package to RA saying, "I'm not supposed to give these out, but here anyway." RA gave him an 'aawwwwww, thanks' face and then gave them to me. Fifteen minutes later he came back and gave them out to everyone so since he handed me a package this time, RA ended up with one anyway.
We went back to waiting. Some time after that though, Kirito came strolling around the corner in front of us. He was just looking at everything, and I guess Shouji-san's poster and sticker job. We saw him taking pictures of the billboard and of the one pole with the posters on it...
I totally stole this from his blog. Shhhhhhhh~~ X)
...and here's what he looks like taking said picture...
Sorry, RA's phone doesn't take great pictures. m(_ _)m
The back of his shirt totally says, "Hey! Good Looking." XD
After blogging about the pictures, he proceeded around the corner to the front door... right by us. He slowly made his way over toward us with one or two of his staff. Anybody who actually noticed what was going on just stood (or sat) there in anticipation as to what he was doing or where he was going. As he approached, he was obviously eying the line as much as we were eying him. As he got up to the door, a mere 4 or 5 feet from us, I waved at him. He looked at me, made that face where he presses his lips together and nodded back in acknowledgment. O_________________O HE FUCKING LOOKED RIGHT AT ME AND NODDED!!!!!! (T-T) HE ACKNOWLEDGED MY EXISTENCE!!!!!♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ kljsdguhgef;kjboifgjdfhfgl;rfb!!!!!! XDDDDD!
After that, nothing really interesting happened for a while. RA gave herself 'poster duty': pressing the tape back on the walls so the posters wouldn't fall, Shouji-san catching her one time and giving her an appreciative look. Shortly after that, he came back around with "I♥Kirito" stickers for everyone. We also watched some of the photographers take pictures of everything and everyone...
...and watched Ame-san come out for a cigarette every half hour.
Shouji-san eventually came out and marked off the VIP section, which is where the fan club was going to stand when they got there. He set a pole on the sidewalk marking the beginning of the line and he then came over and told us that, 'That section is for special guests. The fan club will be arriving soon; there are about 200 people coming form Japan and they will be entering first.' The front of the line were like, 'Yeah, we figured. Yeah, we know. No big deal.' Shouji-san smiled and seemed relived like he expected us to jump down his throat about it. He said something about us being good fans... (?) ...and that we were going to get something from the band when we got inside.
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) ........................................
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.
Like Shouji-san said, as soon as we walked in the door, we were handed a present. It was a signed photograph of the band.
They were all hand signed. (T-T) It's the first thing I have signed by any of them. Too bad I couldn't get it myself. Le sigh...
Setlist:
REBORN
SISTER
SIGN
Hakuchuumu
DANCE
EASTER AGAIN
Danmatsuma ni Mimi Sumashite
-- Kohta & Takeo Duet --
HALLUCINATION
SEE YOU AGAIN
EDEN
WINTER MOON
CEREMONY
Destruction impulse
ULTIMATE WORLD
SCRAP
SQUALL
HE IS A MONKEY
Encore:
Kesshou
NEO HADES
CHAOTIC BELL
Holocaust
So we made our way in and found a spot in front of Kohta but with a clear view of Kirito. We started at about the 6th row or so, which is much closer than when I saw them the first time.
I don't think the show actually started at 7pm since we weren't let in until 6:30, but as with the typical shows they do, the lights went down and the -SE- music played. The "backstage area" wasn't backstage but up a flight of steps to the side of the stage to a second floor that overlooked the stage and floor area so we could see when they were coming out of their dressing room.
Takeo was the first to come out, closely followed by Toruxxx. They made their way down the steps and Kohta followed behind them. The three of them took their places on the stage before Kirito came out. Takeo looked gorgeous. He didn't have the hair that he has in his current profile picture. It looked more fitting for his head and face. And he didn't have an over abundance of makeup like he did for the "Easter For Treason" tour. Kohta looked so good too: just the right amount of makeup, the right amount of hairspray, the right amount of attitude. X3 Then there's Kirito. Oh, don't get me wrong... In my opinion, pictures don't do him justice. He is so attractive in photos but in person, he is utterly beautiful. But the outfit that he has for the SISTER PV... I really don't like that outfit, and he wore it for the live. Now that I have seen it in person from head to toe, the ensemble looks like a set of mismatched pajamas.
I honestly didn't mind being in a crowd of mostly Japanese girls. It felt like I was back in a Japanese live house; where everyone was used to giving personal space and mostly everyone did the hand motions (because I like doing that stuff). Though, when Kirito finally made it onto the stage, the entire crowd suddenly took two steps forward so we ended up 2 feet closer than where we started. X) It was nice not having people bump into me or having to fight to remain in my spot... though how the hell did I end up with the tallest Japanese girl in front of me? I'm supposed to be taller than all of you people. DX You blocked my view of my vocalist! I'm glad she eventually moved elsewhere.
The MC's. DDDDDDDDDDD8 I only caught a word here and a word there but not enough to put a full coherent thought together. I think he asked how everyone was and how LA was; if everyone was enjoying themselves. Then he said something about since they're in America, he was going to say something in English. So he "introduced" himself, "How is everyone? I am Barack Obama."
(¬__________________¬) Seriously? Well, I'll give him this, his pronunciation was excellent, highly unaccented. Good boy.
There was one MC where all I caught was, "blahblahblah America blahblahblah kichigai blahblahblahblah kichigai blahblah America blahblahblah kichigai... " ..wha~?" He started talking about Pearl Harbor, saying to the crowd, "Remember Pearl Harbor." ::shrug:: He said something about D'espairsRay at one point though I have no idea what, but it was apparently funny. Actually most of what he said was humorous, though the jokes were obviously lost to me. (-_-);;
Later in the concert when he made the introductions for the band members, Kohta said some English in his MC: "Nice to meet you." ...though with him it came out more like, "Naisu chu miit yuu." :) That was the only thing I caught out of the intro MC's because I was watching Kirito make sleepy time next to the drum set. Though, I think when he got to Toruxxx he said something about him never having been in the States before... but don't quote me on that.
To introduce each member, starting with Takeo, he'd say, "Angelo no duramusu..." and the crowd would yell, "Takeo!" This would happen a few times and then Takeo would have his MC. He did this with Kohta too. Though, I noticed when he got to Toruxxx, he didn't say, "Angelo no gitaa," he just said, "Gitaa." Interesting... When he got to himself though, I think he went through the actions but when he actually said his name, I swear he said, "Blah blah blah Marty Friedman desu." phhhhfffftttt~~~ X) ...you dork... The only other thing I can remember... that was not really something said but something he did, was before they performed HE IS A MONKEY, he was talking and said something about a monkey and then did a little impression of a monkey: scratching his chin with one hand and the top of his head with the other going, "OooOooOoo," in the process. :3 I guess it was one of those 'you had to be there' kind of things.
RA got to experience the 'Kirito Pee Dance' first hand. She was utterly mesmerized by his movements. Though one thing he did a lot of that I don't remember from last time was that he kept smacking his butt all the time! X3 (RA said that he'd do something amusing and she'd look over to me to see if I'd seen it but apparently every time she did, I was, " 8D ," at him and wasn't paying attention to her.) While he has such charisma and a dominant presence in his performing, you have to laugh at his 'dancing'.
This is the first time I have heard SISTER and ULTIMATE WORLD in there entirety, since at this point in time the single has not been released yet. SISTER is mad catchy. ULTIMATE WORLD on the other hand is... interesting. I can't think of another way to describe it. I can't wait to get the single so I can see the lyrics. There was a line or two of English that I caught in there but couldn't completely understand. Kirito's English always intrigues and amuses me. Though the song itself, in my opinion, seems like it's going to sound better live than it is recorded. But we shall see. Though, I can honestly say that I have now heard all of their songs at this point live. When I saw them last year, they only played maybe 4 songs from "THE FREAK SHOW" album:
In the middle of the main set, Kirito and Toruxxx left the stage. Kohta moved up to front and center and began strumming the first chords for the duet between him and Takeo.
It was the same song they played during the "THE FRENZIED EMPIRE" final. It's a catchy little tune. I wish I knew if it had a name. Nothing was said on the "TFE" DVD. ::shrug::
Sorry, RA failed and didn't get any pictures of Kirito. (-___-);
Kirito & Toruxxx came back (Kirito having done a slight costume change). The new shirt that Kirito had on showed off his tattoos on his left arm. :D~ ...and looked much better with the plaid pants he had on.
At the end of the show, the band threw stuff into the audience. Kirito threw a handful of towels right at me but with everyone else grabbing at them, I grabbed them oddly (breaking my one nail in the process) and knocked them to the ground, but one of the other American girls reached in and grabbed one and the Japanese girl next to me got them. (¬_______¬);; Whatever, it's not like he used them. I did manage to grab one of the CHAOTIC BELL promo posters from the wall in the venue since I didn't get one with my single. I think RA said she snatched one from the ladies room. :)
I still had my present to give to Kirito. I decided to give him a T-shirt from the Harley Davidson store right by me so it says specifically "Trenton World Class HD" on it. ..I still think the shirt I got him was too small though. :( Too late now. Anyways, while RA was in the bathroom, I stood around looking for a staff member who looked like they'd be able to give the gift to Kirito. Lo and behold, Shouji-san made an appearance on the ground floor of the venue. I ran over to him and asked him if he'd be able to make sure Kirito would get the gift. He said he'd would make certain he'd get it. He asked what it was and I told him and he seemed happy that it wasn't anything weird. Then he handed me a piece of merchandise in a white box. I was really excited about this because A) it was from that 'Mad Fascist' line of stuff they have and B) there was no merch table so I couldn't buy anything even if I wanted. As I was thanking him for the box, RA came walking to my side and upon seeing the merchandise in my hand, made a pouty face at Shouji-san. He smiled and handed her one of the black boxes in his hand saying to her, "Here, you deserve it!" RA made googly eyes and thanked him. We ran off to the side to see what we had received and to watch the stage being disassembled. RA opened her black plastic box to reveal the chopsticks. I opened the one end of my white cardboard box and got super excited. It was the fan that I had been eying on their site for the longest. 8DDDDDDD
As we were playing with our stuff off to the side, a lady came up (it might have been the same lady from JATV, I don't remember) and asked us how the show was. RA said it was great and stuff. I think I just agreed with RA and said I'd like to see them back here soon. We played with out stuff some more and eventually went over to get a drink. (I got free bottled water. Oh snap~) Then we left to go see who was leaving through the back door. When we got out there, Toruxxx was getting into a van with other people. Two of the people looked like Kirito and Kohta, but then they didn't so we honestly didn't know. But Shouji-san jumped into the driver's seat. So we at least waved at him as the van drove away. =)
After that we walked back to the hotel and went to bed since we had a 9:00 flight the next morning. :0 Ugh, the flight to Phoenix, we were stuck behind a guy that smelled like day 3 of a con and the lady next to me didn't smell like roses either and thought my ribs were part of her elbow's space. )X But the 5 hour flight back to Newark was spent stretched out over two seats, so I guess I can't complain too much.
~~ FIN ~~