(no subject)
Guess what, guys! I'm back home~
That's basically how I feel right about now. My neck, and my back, and my shoulders are all in serious pain.
But let's start from the beginning, shall we?
The Line
Saturday was completely boring, and it took fucking forever for the day to go by. Alyx got off work at one in the morning, so we went out to go buy drinks and snacks for the long wait in our line. I asked my brother-in-law earlier in the day to wake me up at seven-thirty so I could shower and get ready. Of course, this ended up sucking a bit becuase we didn't fall asleep until sometime between three and four. (Probably closer to four, but I like to pretend I got an extra hour of sleep.)
I get up in the morning, take a shower, and make breakfast. We hurry to get ready, and then we're out the door at nine. Surprisingly, we get there at nine-thirty. I expected it to take longer. There's already a line of about ten or twelve people in front of us, which kind of surprises us considering how dangerous the area is. We don't really, truly mind, cuddling up in the cold to try and keep warm. We play some cards, but Alyx happened to have a Jolt, which contains red dye, which seems to have a drug-like effect on her, so she was unable to focus. She was too hyper and all over the place. It made for an...interesting experience.
Some of the people I knew from the Deftones show and online started showing up, and it soon became a party. After us, the groups kind of merged and there really wasn't much of set line until later when they lined us up. We learned that it was alright to use the bathroom inside, which surprised us, so a couple of us would take turns going in. (It smelled distinctly of pot.) Jessica went in once, and came up looking a little freaked out. She informed us that she went in, and right next to the bathroom, Die was playing a bowling video game. We all got excited, but I was really nervous to go in. I didn't want to freak them out or anything, but they managed to convince me because I really did have to go at that time. I go in with Alyx and Jessica's mom, and I spot Shinya now watching Die. I quickly warned Alyx behind me, who has been a fan of Shinya for five years. She freaked out and hurried into the bathroom, where she proceeded to collapse on the floor. (At the Deftones show, we were unable to see him, so to suddenly have him quite literally five feet from her was a little overwhelming.) She completely forgot to go to the bathroom though.
Around three I started getting tired, and I tried to sleep in the car, but I was unable to so I jumped back in line. (I was worried about the way some of the people were hanging around, and some of our friends had just left their bags sitting out.) The sun was quickly going down and it was getting colder. Blankets were put away though, as we all got ready. By about five there were only forty to fifty people in line, which kind of worried me because that wasn't much. I guess people didn't expect there to be a lot of fans in the St. Louis area though, because the number doubled before six, and was well over one hundred by the time the doors opened at seven.
The Concert
When the doors were open, I rushed to the stage, and was happy when I saw railing right in front of Kaoru. I jumped on it, and Alyx had to tell a guy to move because she stands behind me for protection. Another guy, who I really didn't like because he seriously line jumped to right behind us, squeezed into the non-existant space between me and the guy to my right. He pissed me off a lot during the concert by sticking his hand in my face, trying to shove Alyx's hand off of the railing, pushing against me, jumping on top of the railing to block my view, and texting during the concert. I do not get people sometimes. They are just stupid.
The Human Abstract came on around eight. The keyboardist woke me up when I hit something, because I was actually falling asleep on the railing. The only caffiene I'd had all day was a Quik-Trip French Vanilla cappuchino. It had definitely worn off by then. But I digress. I was surprised that I kind of liked them. The only song I can remember that was enjoyable was Polaris, I believe it was called. I could have done without the strobe lights, but that was mainly because one was shining right in my face. The singer didn't stage dive, but there was a pretty big gap between the stage and the rail, so that was probably a good thing. We didn't get spit on either. They were pretty tame I guess this time around. Alyx and I were pretty hypnotized by the guitarist's dreads too, and it was trippy when he headbanged in front of the strobe lights. It went in really slow motion and hurt my eyes, but I couldn't really look away.
I was excited when they stepped offstage, because then I knew we only had to wait at most, another half an hour for Dir en grey to show up. I'd spent all day in the cold for this, and it was finally getting ready to take place. We bounced around as they played some music. (They played hide's Doubt. o.o) Then Sa Bir started and the lights dimmed. The entire crowd roared with excitement when Shinya came on stage, followed by Die, then Toshiya, and I probably screamed louder than I ever had in my life when Kaoru stepped out. (I'll admit I kind of forgot about Kyo for a second.)
The setlist, kindly snatched from fourscrewsloose
SE SA BIR
01 HYDRA 666
02 Agitated Screams of Maggots
03 REPETITION OF HATRED
04 DISABLED COMPLEXES
05 Spilled Milk
06 Toguro
07 Ryoujoku no Ame
08 Agitated Screams of Maggots -unplugged-
09 CONCEIVED SORROW
10 GLASS SKIN
11 THE FINAL
-a capella-
12 OBSCURE
13 DOZING GREEN
14 auidence KILLER LOOP
15 GRIEF
16 saku
EN
01 Kodou
02 Gaika
03 Merciless Cult
04 CLEVER SLEAZOID
05 THE IIID EMPIRE.
Anyway, my opinion of all the guys.
Shinya: Amazing drumming skills, and I actually got to see it this time! His drum set totally trumped the guy's little one from the Human Abstract. I've seen plenty of lives with so many different angles of him playing, but it doesn't compare to actually seeing him beat the crap out of that set. He moves so well and he was so into it, it was amazing.
Die: Didn't see him very well, until the end when he came over during the IID Empire. By that point Alyx wasn't feeling too good due to the heat and our exhaustion from being up, but she said that he had this huge grin and she instantly felt better because you just can't feel bad when he flashes that smile of his. It's contagious. He was so happy, and he looked amazing from the small bit I did get to see him.
Kyo: Holy fucking shit, man! That boy amazed me the last time, but he blew me the fuck away last night! He has one of the most amazing vocal ranges I've ever heard come from anyone's mouth. I think the security guard was kinda scared though, when he heard his screaming-growling part. He turned and gave him a what the fuck look, and I just laughed.
Toshiya: This man KNOWS how to entertain a crowd. He was into it from the very beginning. The second he stepped on stage he was just full of energy. I think most of the time he was just amused by us, but I was amused by him, so it's okay. He put on a great performance, and after seeing him live, I can finally say that I love his hair. It actually fit him well. He also gave us a little shower at the end of the concert. He leaned against the speaker, took a sip of his water, and then splashed us with this little smirk on his face. I was actually happy for the water because I was fucking hot and thirsty. It felt ridiculously good.
Kaoru: OKAY, TIME FOR BEAUTY TO PROVE HOW MUCH OF A KAODORK SHE IS~ :D Out of the 115 pictures I managed to take, 46 of them had Kaoru in it. Being in front of him might have something to do with that, but maybe not. I have idolized this man for far too long, and while I saw him last year at the Deftones show, it was amazing to see him this year. He played so well, and he was so into it. Several times it looked like he was his younger self again. With the Deftones, he was pretty stationary, but last night was just wow. He gave it his all, and he got the crowd so pumped up. I was really happy to see that. I wanted to catch one of his picks, but I was unable to. This makes me sad, but I was still really happy to see him and can live without it.
Afterward, I was ridiculously sore and I couldn't hear a thing, but I really, really didn't care. It had to have been the best night of my life. We got home sometime around midnight and fell asleep, and were out for twelve hours. I woke up cramped and sore, but I suppose I am still riding out my Dir-high, because I have been so fucking giddy and happy all day. It finally feels real that I've seen them, since last time still doesn't seem more than a dream. I want to see them again and again, and next time, I better have enough money to travel at least a few dates when they come back to tour again.