Dir en grey/Apocalyptica Tour Report! Part 3
Baltimore
Trip to Baltimore from Boston was looooong. XD" Our bus schedule actually took us from Boston to Philly, then Philly to Baltimore. I got kinda sick when we got to Philly and ended up puking (eww), but I think it was just something I ate, especially since I'd been living off junk food for a few days at this point. XD" Also my glasses broke when I fell asleep on the bus, and there were no glasses stores nearby. D= Luckily I could still see okay for the most part, even though sometimes things were blurry. XD"
The area where the venue was in Baltimore turned out to be very close to where I'd seen Yoshiki and Sugizo at Otakon the month before, so that brought back good memories. =3 Also the venue has this awesome policy where if you pay an extra $10 you get to skip ahead of the regular line, so it was kinda like VIP lite. XD We also got to hang out in a special room until they called us in. We could hear sound check from there, and we definitely heard Toguro and Zan! Made me wonder if they were going to play some new songs that night. XD
I managed to find a spot in the second row in front of Die, and went to tell my friends in the balcony that I'd be staying there, but then I decided to stay up in the balcony with them. XD" The view was awesome from up there. Part of me does wonder what the show would have been like from second row though, especially since center stage had this platform in front where the band members could get like right next to the audience. =O And they definitely took advantage of that during the show. Even Kyo! Lucky people in the front and center, srsly.
Once again, show was awesome. They didn't play Toguro but they did add Zan as an encore! And I totally went crazy for that, lol. At the very end, Die smiled up at me and shinyas_pet and threw a water bottle to us! =O Both of us managed to touch it, but then it fell back down into the pit. D= I can't help wondering if that was my fault (or maybe the girl next to me who also tried to catch it but who knows). @_@ But again, I'm just flattered that Die noticed us, especially since we were all the way up in the balcony, lol. Also I got a few photos during the show but then my camera ran out of batteries. XD"
Unfortunately we couldn't stick around for Apocalyptica at all this time, because the venue was pretty far from the bus stop so my friends were especially worried about getting there on time. XD" Though we ended up getting there so early that we probably could have spent that time watching Apo anyway. Darnit. D= But at least I knew I would definitely be seeing them in Philly. =3
Philadelphia
So now pinkspider, shinyas_pet, Areji and I were going back to Philly after having passed through there to get to Baltimore, lol. We had a bit of trouble finding the venue at first, because it turned out to be surrounded by a big gate and mostly hidden by another building in front of it and a big parking lot next to it. XD" A few other people were there already when we got there, and while I was taking a nap, one of them gave me a blanket, which was really nice. =3
When I woke up, pinkspider, shinyas_pet, and Areji were gone. I figured they went to eat or something, but they ended up being gone for like six hours. @_@ My phone was dead so I couldn't contact them and when I asked around, nobody had any idea where they were, or if they'd tried to contact them they weren't able to reach them. D= So needless to say I was really worried. It turned out they'd just gone somewhere to find a place for shinyas_pet to rest because she'd gotten sick, and wanted to spend some time with Areji since they hadn't seen him much. Which was fine, I just wish they'd left me a note or something. XD"
About an hour after I woke up, I went to a nearby diner to get some lunch. The waitress asked if I was going to the concerts tonight and I said yes. Then she was like "Well, some members from one of the bands are right over there", and she pointed out a nearby table. I turned around and saw Mikko (the drummer)! =O From where I was sitting, all I could see of the other guy at the table was long blonde hair so at first I thought maybe it was Eicca, but it turned out to be their guest vocalist (whose name I still don't know yet, sorry XD"). Either way, awesooome. =3 I didn't want to bother them while they were eating, so I waited until they were about the get their check before working up the courage to go over and talk to them. XD
I basically told them I was a huge Apocalyptica fan and I was so happy to finally be seeing them live. Mikko asked if tonight would be my first Apo concert, and I told him I actually was also at the shows in NYC, Boston, and Baltimore. He said "Whoa!". XD I mentioned I was also a Dir en grey fan and that I was happy they were touring together because both bands are amazing. =3 Mikko wanted to know if I liked the opening band and I said yeah, they're great. =D Then for some reason I felt like asking how long they'd been around even though I kind of figured they were pretty new, and they were. XD After this the details get a bit fuzzy but I remember him saying something else to me and me thanking him, and I may or may not have wished him good luck at the show (I hope I did though, since I wanted to). XD"
For some reason, the people at the venue were telling us to stand up and get in a single-file line at like 4 PM, even though doors didn't open until 7. O_o Also it was now blazing hot out and there was no shade where we were supposed to be standing. D= Luckily my friends had sunscreen so they let me borrow some. XD I still got a bit burnt on my face though. @_@
One thing that was awesome was that shortly before we were let in, we were given free water and PIZZA! =O Idk if it was staff or someone in line, but somebody bought a box of pizza and said they got an extra box since it was delivered really late or something. XD" The pizza was good too. =D
We had to wait behind a curtain before they let us in to where the stage was. We had no idea how long it would be before the curtain opened and I had to go to the bathroom so I left briefly, and of course everyone was let in right then. Curse you, bladder. D= But I still got second row in front of Kaoru and Toshiya. =3 I was worried at first because there were two people in front of me who were really tall, but things ended up shifting around a bit somehow so I wasn't directly behind them anymore, yay. XD
Diru were famazing as always. =D Since my camera was dead and the venue had a no-camera policy anyways, I just focused on rocking out. XD Once again the audience was actually pretty tame, but not like statues or anything. XD
Everyone around me was really excited when they started playing The Final. It's funny, because that was my very first Dir en grey song and they've played it at every show of theirs that I've gone to (except one last year, where they played Kodou instead). I sang along to the second verse and bridge like I always do, but it felt different this time somehow, almost like I was literally pouring my heart out through my voice. I even got a bit teary-eyed, which is odd because in all the times I've heard The Final that's never happened to me. XD" I'm glad I was able to connect to the music like that though.
Nobody threw stuff at me at the end this time, but Toshiya splashed water on us at one point and like half my head was soaked. XD It was so refreshing since it had gotten really hot in that venue. Plus it was from Toshiya so that made it even better. =3
I decided that this time I was definitely going to stay up front for Apocalyptica since it was my last chance to. Since some people left, space opened up on the rail so I moved up there. =3 Also, a girl I'd met and talked to in line, Shadou, ended up finding me there. XD Which was great because I had wanted to get her contact info before but we got separated when they made us all line up before the show. XD" She was actually mostly there for Apocalyptica but also liked Dir en grey. We exchanged numbers and such and chatted for a bit before Apocalyptica's show finally started. =3
They were absolutely mindblowing. They'd already been amazing, but idk they just seemed especially awesome up close somehow. XD Also they had some different songs in their setlist. The song they played right before the encore was just...WOW. I felt like I was literally blown away by the music. XD And then they came back for an encore and did their awesome metal version of Hall of the Mountain King. Which also happens to be the first song I ever heard from them. XD And it was even more awesome live. *_*
So yeah, Philly's show was definitely the perfect way to end the tour. I headed back to the bus station after the show and then it was time to go back to New York (well, actually it was like 3 hours before the bus was supposed to get there, lol, so I spent time doodling Dir en grey chibis and then taking a nap). hotarubi and a few other people from the show turned out to be taking the same bus. XD I chatted with them for a bit while we waited for the bus to arrive, but the bus was so crowded we all had to split up once we were on there. Then I took another nap. XD"
When I got back to my dorm I realized my ankles were swollen liek whoa. D= I did some research to try to figure out wtf was up with that, and came to the conclusion that it was caused by standing up for the better part of several hours in Philly, combined with eating lots of junk food all week. XD" Luckily they're better now, and it was worth it getting to see Diru and Apocalyptica in any case, lol.
Edit: Whoops, forgot to mention that after the show when I went to buy merch (I got a Diru shirt, Apocalyptica's new album, and one of Evaline's CDs), I saw the guitarist from Evaline that I'd met before realizing he was in the band. XD So I went up to him and told him about how I was the girl asking him where coat check was at the NYC show. Idk if he remembered or not, but he signed my CD with his name and then "The guy from coat check =)". Really sweet. =3 And then the drummer also signed my CD. =D
Trip to Baltimore from Boston was looooong. XD" Our bus schedule actually took us from Boston to Philly, then Philly to Baltimore. I got kinda sick when we got to Philly and ended up puking (eww), but I think it was just something I ate, especially since I'd been living off junk food for a few days at this point. XD" Also my glasses broke when I fell asleep on the bus, and there were no glasses stores nearby. D= Luckily I could still see okay for the most part, even though sometimes things were blurry. XD"
The area where the venue was in Baltimore turned out to be very close to where I'd seen Yoshiki and Sugizo at Otakon the month before, so that brought back good memories. =3 Also the venue has this awesome policy where if you pay an extra $10 you get to skip ahead of the regular line, so it was kinda like VIP lite. XD We also got to hang out in a special room until they called us in. We could hear sound check from there, and we definitely heard Toguro and Zan! Made me wonder if they were going to play some new songs that night. XD
I managed to find a spot in the second row in front of Die, and went to tell my friends in the balcony that I'd be staying there, but then I decided to stay up in the balcony with them. XD" The view was awesome from up there. Part of me does wonder what the show would have been like from second row though, especially since center stage had this platform in front where the band members could get like right next to the audience. =O And they definitely took advantage of that during the show. Even Kyo! Lucky people in the front and center, srsly.
Once again, show was awesome. They didn't play Toguro but they did add Zan as an encore! And I totally went crazy for that, lol. At the very end, Die smiled up at me and shinyas_pet and threw a water bottle to us! =O Both of us managed to touch it, but then it fell back down into the pit. D= I can't help wondering if that was my fault (or maybe the girl next to me who also tried to catch it but who knows). @_@ But again, I'm just flattered that Die noticed us, especially since we were all the way up in the balcony, lol. Also I got a few photos during the show but then my camera ran out of batteries. XD"
Unfortunately we couldn't stick around for Apocalyptica at all this time, because the venue was pretty far from the bus stop so my friends were especially worried about getting there on time. XD" Though we ended up getting there so early that we probably could have spent that time watching Apo anyway. Darnit. D= But at least I knew I would definitely be seeing them in Philly. =3
Philadelphia
So now pinkspider, shinyas_pet, Areji and I were going back to Philly after having passed through there to get to Baltimore, lol. We had a bit of trouble finding the venue at first, because it turned out to be surrounded by a big gate and mostly hidden by another building in front of it and a big parking lot next to it. XD" A few other people were there already when we got there, and while I was taking a nap, one of them gave me a blanket, which was really nice. =3
When I woke up, pinkspider, shinyas_pet, and Areji were gone. I figured they went to eat or something, but they ended up being gone for like six hours. @_@ My phone was dead so I couldn't contact them and when I asked around, nobody had any idea where they were, or if they'd tried to contact them they weren't able to reach them. D= So needless to say I was really worried. It turned out they'd just gone somewhere to find a place for shinyas_pet to rest because she'd gotten sick, and wanted to spend some time with Areji since they hadn't seen him much. Which was fine, I just wish they'd left me a note or something. XD"
About an hour after I woke up, I went to a nearby diner to get some lunch. The waitress asked if I was going to the concerts tonight and I said yes. Then she was like "Well, some members from one of the bands are right over there", and she pointed out a nearby table. I turned around and saw Mikko (the drummer)! =O From where I was sitting, all I could see of the other guy at the table was long blonde hair so at first I thought maybe it was Eicca, but it turned out to be their guest vocalist (whose name I still don't know yet, sorry XD"). Either way, awesooome. =3 I didn't want to bother them while they were eating, so I waited until they were about the get their check before working up the courage to go over and talk to them. XD
I basically told them I was a huge Apocalyptica fan and I was so happy to finally be seeing them live. Mikko asked if tonight would be my first Apo concert, and I told him I actually was also at the shows in NYC, Boston, and Baltimore. He said "Whoa!". XD I mentioned I was also a Dir en grey fan and that I was happy they were touring together because both bands are amazing. =3 Mikko wanted to know if I liked the opening band and I said yeah, they're great. =D Then for some reason I felt like asking how long they'd been around even though I kind of figured they were pretty new, and they were. XD After this the details get a bit fuzzy but I remember him saying something else to me and me thanking him, and I may or may not have wished him good luck at the show (I hope I did though, since I wanted to). XD"
For some reason, the people at the venue were telling us to stand up and get in a single-file line at like 4 PM, even though doors didn't open until 7. O_o Also it was now blazing hot out and there was no shade where we were supposed to be standing. D= Luckily my friends had sunscreen so they let me borrow some. XD I still got a bit burnt on my face though. @_@
One thing that was awesome was that shortly before we were let in, we were given free water and PIZZA! =O Idk if it was staff or someone in line, but somebody bought a box of pizza and said they got an extra box since it was delivered really late or something. XD" The pizza was good too. =D
We had to wait behind a curtain before they let us in to where the stage was. We had no idea how long it would be before the curtain opened and I had to go to the bathroom so I left briefly, and of course everyone was let in right then. Curse you, bladder. D= But I still got second row in front of Kaoru and Toshiya. =3 I was worried at first because there were two people in front of me who were really tall, but things ended up shifting around a bit somehow so I wasn't directly behind them anymore, yay. XD
Diru were famazing as always. =D Since my camera was dead and the venue had a no-camera policy anyways, I just focused on rocking out. XD Once again the audience was actually pretty tame, but not like statues or anything. XD
Everyone around me was really excited when they started playing The Final. It's funny, because that was my very first Dir en grey song and they've played it at every show of theirs that I've gone to (except one last year, where they played Kodou instead). I sang along to the second verse and bridge like I always do, but it felt different this time somehow, almost like I was literally pouring my heart out through my voice. I even got a bit teary-eyed, which is odd because in all the times I've heard The Final that's never happened to me. XD" I'm glad I was able to connect to the music like that though.
Nobody threw stuff at me at the end this time, but Toshiya splashed water on us at one point and like half my head was soaked. XD It was so refreshing since it had gotten really hot in that venue. Plus it was from Toshiya so that made it even better. =3
I decided that this time I was definitely going to stay up front for Apocalyptica since it was my last chance to. Since some people left, space opened up on the rail so I moved up there. =3 Also, a girl I'd met and talked to in line, Shadou, ended up finding me there. XD Which was great because I had wanted to get her contact info before but we got separated when they made us all line up before the show. XD" She was actually mostly there for Apocalyptica but also liked Dir en grey. We exchanged numbers and such and chatted for a bit before Apocalyptica's show finally started. =3
They were absolutely mindblowing. They'd already been amazing, but idk they just seemed especially awesome up close somehow. XD Also they had some different songs in their setlist. The song they played right before the encore was just...WOW. I felt like I was literally blown away by the music. XD And then they came back for an encore and did their awesome metal version of Hall of the Mountain King. Which also happens to be the first song I ever heard from them. XD And it was even more awesome live. *_*
So yeah, Philly's show was definitely the perfect way to end the tour. I headed back to the bus station after the show and then it was time to go back to New York (well, actually it was like 3 hours before the bus was supposed to get there, lol, so I spent time doodling Dir en grey chibis and then taking a nap). hotarubi and a few other people from the show turned out to be taking the same bus. XD I chatted with them for a bit while we waited for the bus to arrive, but the bus was so crowded we all had to split up once we were on there. Then I took another nap. XD"
When I got back to my dorm I realized my ankles were swollen liek whoa. D= I did some research to try to figure out wtf was up with that, and came to the conclusion that it was caused by standing up for the better part of several hours in Philly, combined with eating lots of junk food all week. XD" Luckily they're better now, and it was worth it getting to see Diru and Apocalyptica in any case, lol.
Edit: Whoops, forgot to mention that after the show when I went to buy merch (I got a Diru shirt, Apocalyptica's new album, and one of Evaline's CDs), I saw the guitarist from Evaline that I'd met before realizing he was in the band. XD So I went up to him and told him about how I was the girl asking him where coat check was at the NYC show. Idk if he remembered or not, but he signed my CD with his name and then "The guy from coat check =)". Really sweet. =3 And then the drummer also signed my CD. =D