Ayabie live @ The 8x10 - 6/16/08
I am in pain. I think I'm getting too old for this, lol. My thighs scream with the pain of a thousand tortured souls. With that said...Dang! I had fun! ^_^
I was wondering if transportation was going to be an issue because I'd never been to The 8x10 before, but I knew that it wasn't that far from the Inner Harbor. So, I looked and got off at the Hamburg Street light rail stop. It was raining a bit and while I didn't know where I was going exactly, I just walked to where I thought it was from the map I looked at and found the place pretty easily in the pouring rain. I walked past the line because I needed to pick up my ticket from Will Call, but it was closed, so I settled in line. I saw many of the same characters as usual. It was more people than I thought, so that was cool. It started to storm and I complained on the phone as I was getting drenched. I didn't know that you had to pay extra if you were under 21. It was an extra $5 if you were under 18 and an extra $3 if you were under 21. Of course, no problem for me, but I was like "daaaaaaamn". The wait was annoying, but at least I didn't get there two hours earlier or anything. The club dude said that the show wasn't going to start until everyone was in there, so there was no hurry. They opened the doors a little before 6, so that was very nice on their part. The space was pretty small and intimate. I LOVED it! I love going to small venues because you can really vibe with the band. So, I was like on the "third" row from the stage on the floor on Yumehito's side. Mostly everyone was short and young, so I was able to see everything. It just sucked that I was soaked. I didn't feel like buying anything so I didn't go to the merch table upstairs. Yeah, me not getting autographs by any means necessary is a rarity, but I didn't feel like paying the $30 for stuff that was just going to float around in my room. And I knew that I had to walk in the dark to make it back in time to catch a ride with Ike and I didn't know how long the autograph session was going to be.
The club was pretty cool in that it had the a/c on and they put on an Ayabie cd for us to listen to while we waited. I wouldn't mind if more J-bands came to The 8x10, even though I have to go to Baltimore. It's so worth it. So, we waited for about an hour for Ayabie to come out. The techs came and tuned up Intetsu's bass first, then Takepi's guitar, Yumehito's guitar, and Kenzo's drums. This girl behind me was like "Isn't the BAND supposed to do that?!" I just stayed quiet and rolled my eyes. I was greatful that this was a One man. I don't think that I could've stood to hear another band or two. Ayabie came out pretty quickly and I was star-struck. I mean, DAMN! They are some pretty dudes! I've never seen them in person and so close too. I could see the little bumps on Yumehito's nose, lol. Even Aoi with his teal skinny jeans and neon yellow hightops is adorable. I go back and forth with favorites in Ayabie. You know how you usually have a favorite band member for whatever reason, either cuz he's hot, can play his ass off, is funny as hell, etc. I used to adore Takepi hands down. He has those bunny teeth that make me drool and just made me laugh with his antics. But, Kenzo is just...smexy as hell. Intetsu is wonderfully awkward. I just wanna hug 'em! I didn't know much about Yumehito because I hated the band Soroban, I just thought he was kinda cute in pics and PVs. No. He's not cute. He is unbelievably H.O.T! But, all of them were actually in their own little way. I don't usually gush this much over the looks of a band. I mean, I'm keeping it simple, I could go on and on, lol. But, all of them could've gotten it. Even ol' awkward Intetsu. He's one of my favorite bassists, so that's why he can. So, I've been out of the loop with Jrock in general and I can never remember set lists, but they rocked it. Sometimes the music was a little too loud, but still, they rocked the joint.
They just seemed so excited and that made me laugh. Takepi was staring like crazy and smiled a lot. He really seemed to enjoy himself. Intetsu was all shy in the beginning of the live. His hair was all in his face and you couldn't see the face of his lanky self that good, but he really got into it at the end. His hair parted like a drawn curtain and you could see his face. He was smiling and bobbing along with everyone else. Kenzo was into the drums for the most part, but he did take the time out to size up the crowd a few times that I saw. By the way, I loved that I could see Kenzo perfectly well. Usually drummers are hidden behind their kits so seeing him was a real treat. Aoi was adorable with his little facial expressions. He would make his little duck lips face and smirk and roll his eyes. He was like a little doll. A little furi-dancing, singing doll. I did some of the furi and did little rock horns with Yume. Yumehito is wild. I don't know if it's an act or if he just knows that he's cute. He was making these faces and I was laughing at him like crazy. He gave little winks and just was having a great time in my opinion. Yume seemed to be battling with Takepi for attention at some points. People would cheer for Takepi and then he'd do something cute and bring the attention back on him. I loved the way that everyone was mouthing the words as Aoi sang along. I don't know why, but I love that!
Aoi did about 3 little MCs in Japanese and of course it was fast, mumbly Japanese. I caught like a little bit of it, very little, but some. Aoi allowed Takehito to introduce himself first, yay! It was cute. He said his name and that he was happy to be there or something to that effect in English. Intetsu went next and OMG the cuteness factor multiplied by 10 with him saying his name and like thank you for coming or something like Takepi said in English. Aoi said that it was Kenzo's turn next and Mr. Smexy's voice was all deep and raspy when he introduced himself. In his English line, he cussed at us. I laughed hard. He's so cool. Yumehito was next and he said "HI!" like 50-11 times so we would keep saying hi to him, lol. He's such an attention whore! Aoi was last and then they went back to playing music.
Aoi had gotten pretty close to the stage and I was so happy that no one had groped the band members. There were no boundaries or regulations that said we had to be like 5 feet away from the stage. Like I said, it was pretty small. At one song, Aoi reached his hand out. Not for touching, but to accent the part in the song. Well, the people in front of him took it as an invitation and they mauled his hand and started pulling him. When he got his arm free, there was a little dot of blood on his porcelain white hand. That pissed me off. Maybe it was there the whole time, but I don't think so and I heard some girls next to me whisper that he was bleeding too. He didn't seem hurt, so I didn't waste my energy in being mad, but I still wish that it didn't happen. So eventually, everyone had stuck their hands towards us and I got to touch all of them, even Kenzo, as they left the stage. Unfortunately, my finger got caught in Intetsu's arm band (it was holey), but I quickly got it out. I didn't want him to fall because of me. At the end of the set before leaving, Yumehito threw his pick at me. Uh huh, at me, lol. So, it bounced off of my chest and hit the floor. Ayabie left the stage and I started looking for the pick. No one wanted to move because they wanted it for themselves. I used my phone as light and I found the pinkish-purplish pick. As I moved to pick it up, this short, young girl picked it up. I reached out to get my pick and she looked at me with tears in her eyes. I asked her if she was going to cry. She just looked at me gripping the pick, whimpering, and looking like she was gonna bawl at any second. Ugh. So, I let her have the pick. *eye roll* It happens to me every time! One day, I'm going to actually get a pick that a jrocker throws. So, we chanted for them to come out for an encore. They did. Aoi changed his shirt to a Baltimore Orioles shirt. He is so tiny, I bet that shirt was a kid's size Medium. Intetsu put the Ayabie tour shirt on. I can't remember if he took off his long white shirt or if he put it on over it. Either way, he was fully into everybody and was grinning. Yumehito got on the mic and imitated our chant for them. Cute little mockingbird! The rest of the band smiled and laughed at him. Ayabie played an encore and they came back to the crowd again. Yumehito threw his picks again, there was one that was kind of close to me, but this dude got it for his girl. I wasn't mad at that since it wasn't thrown at me and I'd want my man to do the same. Takepi didn't really come to my side and throw picks unfortunately. Kenzo threw his sticks and the top to his water. The friend of the girl who got my pick picked up his top. The manager guy gave the "no go" sign when we were chanting for another encore. I started to look on the floor for stuff and I found Takepi's pick! So, I started to pick it up and lost another battle. ;_; So, by this time I was pissed. The club folks asked people not staying for the autograph signing to leave and I saw that it was still some daylight so I left. I was mad at missing out on those two picks and I heard that you couldn't get pictures or anything with the band, so I left.
I vented to Ike via text the experience as I walked to the light rail station. I told Jon my live experience over the phone and he wished that he was here to go. He doesn't even really like Ayabie, but he just misses going to a live. But, to reiterate, I had a lot of fun and hope they come back. I'd definitely go see them again because they seem like a great bunch of guys. It wasn't even bad going by myself because they were so interactive.
If I remember anything else, I'll edit this.
I was wondering if transportation was going to be an issue because I'd never been to The 8x10 before, but I knew that it wasn't that far from the Inner Harbor. So, I looked and got off at the Hamburg Street light rail stop. It was raining a bit and while I didn't know where I was going exactly, I just walked to where I thought it was from the map I looked at and found the place pretty easily in the pouring rain. I walked past the line because I needed to pick up my ticket from Will Call, but it was closed, so I settled in line. I saw many of the same characters as usual. It was more people than I thought, so that was cool. It started to storm and I complained on the phone as I was getting drenched. I didn't know that you had to pay extra if you were under 21. It was an extra $5 if you were under 18 and an extra $3 if you were under 21. Of course, no problem for me, but I was like "daaaaaaamn". The wait was annoying, but at least I didn't get there two hours earlier or anything. The club dude said that the show wasn't going to start until everyone was in there, so there was no hurry. They opened the doors a little before 6, so that was very nice on their part. The space was pretty small and intimate. I LOVED it! I love going to small venues because you can really vibe with the band. So, I was like on the "third" row from the stage on the floor on Yumehito's side. Mostly everyone was short and young, so I was able to see everything. It just sucked that I was soaked. I didn't feel like buying anything so I didn't go to the merch table upstairs. Yeah, me not getting autographs by any means necessary is a rarity, but I didn't feel like paying the $30 for stuff that was just going to float around in my room. And I knew that I had to walk in the dark to make it back in time to catch a ride with Ike and I didn't know how long the autograph session was going to be.
The club was pretty cool in that it had the a/c on and they put on an Ayabie cd for us to listen to while we waited. I wouldn't mind if more J-bands came to The 8x10, even though I have to go to Baltimore. It's so worth it. So, we waited for about an hour for Ayabie to come out. The techs came and tuned up Intetsu's bass first, then Takepi's guitar, Yumehito's guitar, and Kenzo's drums. This girl behind me was like "Isn't the BAND supposed to do that?!" I just stayed quiet and rolled my eyes. I was greatful that this was a One man. I don't think that I could've stood to hear another band or two. Ayabie came out pretty quickly and I was star-struck. I mean, DAMN! They are some pretty dudes! I've never seen them in person and so close too. I could see the little bumps on Yumehito's nose, lol. Even Aoi with his teal skinny jeans and neon yellow hightops is adorable. I go back and forth with favorites in Ayabie. You know how you usually have a favorite band member for whatever reason, either cuz he's hot, can play his ass off, is funny as hell, etc. I used to adore Takepi hands down. He has those bunny teeth that make me drool and just made me laugh with his antics. But, Kenzo is just...smexy as hell. Intetsu is wonderfully awkward. I just wanna hug 'em! I didn't know much about Yumehito because I hated the band Soroban, I just thought he was kinda cute in pics and PVs. No. He's not cute. He is unbelievably H.O.T! But, all of them were actually in their own little way. I don't usually gush this much over the looks of a band. I mean, I'm keeping it simple, I could go on and on, lol. But, all of them could've gotten it. Even ol' awkward Intetsu. He's one of my favorite bassists, so that's why he can. So, I've been out of the loop with Jrock in general and I can never remember set lists, but they rocked it. Sometimes the music was a little too loud, but still, they rocked the joint.
They just seemed so excited and that made me laugh. Takepi was staring like crazy and smiled a lot. He really seemed to enjoy himself. Intetsu was all shy in the beginning of the live. His hair was all in his face and you couldn't see the face of his lanky self that good, but he really got into it at the end. His hair parted like a drawn curtain and you could see his face. He was smiling and bobbing along with everyone else. Kenzo was into the drums for the most part, but he did take the time out to size up the crowd a few times that I saw. By the way, I loved that I could see Kenzo perfectly well. Usually drummers are hidden behind their kits so seeing him was a real treat. Aoi was adorable with his little facial expressions. He would make his little duck lips face and smirk and roll his eyes. He was like a little doll. A little furi-dancing, singing doll. I did some of the furi and did little rock horns with Yume. Yumehito is wild. I don't know if it's an act or if he just knows that he's cute. He was making these faces and I was laughing at him like crazy. He gave little winks and just was having a great time in my opinion. Yume seemed to be battling with Takepi for attention at some points. People would cheer for Takepi and then he'd do something cute and bring the attention back on him. I loved the way that everyone was mouthing the words as Aoi sang along. I don't know why, but I love that!
Aoi did about 3 little MCs in Japanese and of course it was fast, mumbly Japanese. I caught like a little bit of it, very little, but some. Aoi allowed Takehito to introduce himself first, yay! It was cute. He said his name and that he was happy to be there or something to that effect in English. Intetsu went next and OMG the cuteness factor multiplied by 10 with him saying his name and like thank you for coming or something like Takepi said in English. Aoi said that it was Kenzo's turn next and Mr. Smexy's voice was all deep and raspy when he introduced himself. In his English line, he cussed at us. I laughed hard. He's so cool. Yumehito was next and he said "HI!" like 50-11 times so we would keep saying hi to him, lol. He's such an attention whore! Aoi was last and then they went back to playing music.
Aoi had gotten pretty close to the stage and I was so happy that no one had groped the band members. There were no boundaries or regulations that said we had to be like 5 feet away from the stage. Like I said, it was pretty small. At one song, Aoi reached his hand out. Not for touching, but to accent the part in the song. Well, the people in front of him took it as an invitation and they mauled his hand and started pulling him. When he got his arm free, there was a little dot of blood on his porcelain white hand. That pissed me off. Maybe it was there the whole time, but I don't think so and I heard some girls next to me whisper that he was bleeding too. He didn't seem hurt, so I didn't waste my energy in being mad, but I still wish that it didn't happen. So eventually, everyone had stuck their hands towards us and I got to touch all of them, even Kenzo, as they left the stage. Unfortunately, my finger got caught in Intetsu's arm band (it was holey), but I quickly got it out. I didn't want him to fall because of me. At the end of the set before leaving, Yumehito threw his pick at me. Uh huh, at me, lol. So, it bounced off of my chest and hit the floor. Ayabie left the stage and I started looking for the pick. No one wanted to move because they wanted it for themselves. I used my phone as light and I found the pinkish-purplish pick. As I moved to pick it up, this short, young girl picked it up. I reached out to get my pick and she looked at me with tears in her eyes. I asked her if she was going to cry. She just looked at me gripping the pick, whimpering, and looking like she was gonna bawl at any second. Ugh. So, I let her have the pick. *eye roll* It happens to me every time! One day, I'm going to actually get a pick that a jrocker throws. So, we chanted for them to come out for an encore. They did. Aoi changed his shirt to a Baltimore Orioles shirt. He is so tiny, I bet that shirt was a kid's size Medium. Intetsu put the Ayabie tour shirt on. I can't remember if he took off his long white shirt or if he put it on over it. Either way, he was fully into everybody and was grinning. Yumehito got on the mic and imitated our chant for them. Cute little mockingbird! The rest of the band smiled and laughed at him. Ayabie played an encore and they came back to the crowd again. Yumehito threw his picks again, there was one that was kind of close to me, but this dude got it for his girl. I wasn't mad at that since it wasn't thrown at me and I'd want my man to do the same. Takepi didn't really come to my side and throw picks unfortunately. Kenzo threw his sticks and the top to his water. The friend of the girl who got my pick picked up his top. The manager guy gave the "no go" sign when we were chanting for another encore. I started to look on the floor for stuff and I found Takepi's pick! So, I started to pick it up and lost another battle. ;_; So, by this time I was pissed. The club folks asked people not staying for the autograph signing to leave and I saw that it was still some daylight so I left. I was mad at missing out on those two picks and I heard that you couldn't get pictures or anything with the band, so I left.
I vented to Ike via text the experience as I walked to the light rail station. I told Jon my live experience over the phone and he wished that he was here to go. He doesn't even really like Ayabie, but he just misses going to a live. But, to reiterate, I had a lot of fun and hope they come back. I'd definitely go see them again because they seem like a great bunch of guys. It wasn't even bad going by myself because they were so interactive.
If I remember anything else, I'll edit this.