X Japan concert report- NYC 10/10/10 (or X/X/X lol)
Oh man, what a weekend.
Ok, so me and my friends got in line on Thursday afternoon. While I was gone a lot during the days to work on my gift drawings for the band, I still slept on the sidewalk each night. XD" However, I also had the unfortunate tendency to take accidental naps in my dorm while going there to work on my drawings. Which in the end nearly cost me the spot I'd been camping out for in the first place. I suck. D=
You may be wondering why I didn't just work on the drawings in line. Well, they were 100% digital, done on Photoshop with my tablet. I'd already finished most of them ahead of time, and figured it would be best to finish the whole set rather than start over in line or something. XD"
At least I was still there when Yoshiki's staff delivered hot chocolate "courtesy of Yoshiki". =3 But I found out later that I missed the pizza from them that was delivered before the show (because of the naps thing I mentioned earlier). ;^; Still, how awesome of Yoshiki to think of us like that. <3
Also should mention that there were these four Japanese girls who got there after me and my friends who were trying to police the whole line and basically directly caused most of the line drama. At first they wanted to split the line up between Japanese fans and American fans. What. The. Fuck. >_> Then they backpedaled on that and decided the line should be split between X Japan and VAMPS concertgoers, with the option for people to go to both. The plan was that the people going to both would turn their stuff horizontal, and the ones going to one or the other would be vertical.
However, after I saw VAMPS (who were awesome btw), the main chick from the Japanese girls group (from here on I'll call her Head Bitch) was like "Oh you shouldn't be here cause it's not fair that you went to VAMPS while you were in the X Japan line". So then I kinda snapped at her. XD" I was like "Look, my stuff is sideways. I was going to go to both concerts. Also I've been here since Thursday and I got here before you so you have NO right to tell me what to do. If you're going to have that kind of attitude then you should go to the back!". Other girls who were in the line with us complimented me later for standing up to them. XD"
Also I found out later that a) even the friggin POLICE had yelled at the Japanese girls while I was at the VAMPS show because they were causing a scene, and b) Head Bitch, who came up with the plan in the first place for letting people go to both shows, was like "Oh I never said that". Wtf. =A=
One bit of good news from all of this? I found out later that apparently Head Bitch was walking (or running? I forget) to get into the venue before the show, when she stepped on a metal sign, which sprang up and smacked her in the face. Then she fell down on top of the sign. ROFLMAO karmic justice for the WIN. >D I knew she'd get what was coming to her. =P
Anyway, despite getting back late, I still managed to get about second row-ish in front of Sugizo, since someone I was talking to in line was up there and saved that spot for me, so that was good. =3 However, I did get pushed around a lot, so there were points where I was farther back. Not to mention there were lots of freakishly tall people there; I would get in front of one only to end up behind another. So I couldn't see well for like maybe 1/3 of the show. D= What I was able to see made up for that though. =3
Vampires Everywhere were better than I expected, because at least they can't use autotune when they play live. XD" The band were actually decent, just not the vocalist. He kept his left arm in basically the same spot every time he started screaming, which looked awkward. Plus all his screams sounded the same. Except one point where he and the guitarist on the other side of the stage screamed together, which sounded so bad I actually cringed. XD" But other than that they were at least listenable under the circumstances. Also lol wtf at them saying their third song would be the last song, then playing like 3 more songs? O_o Liars.
Anyway, this probably goes without saying but X Japan were friggin amazing as always. Not to mention uber adorable. =3 Since it was Toshi's birthday, there was a surprise set up for Toshi. After Kurenai, Yoshiki disappeared for a bit, and Toshi was like "...Where did Yoshiki go?". XD And then Yoshiki came back with a MASSIVE cake (Yoshiki was like "This is like a fucking 100 pound cake" rofl. XD) and we all sang happy birthday to Toshi and threw confetti. =3 I didn't have any confetti so I assumed only the people in the front row got it, but then I found out that was given out in line too. XD" Yeah I fail hardcore. D= But I still sang to Toshi. <3 Also the cake looked delish and I wish I could have had some. XD And after the crowd sang Happy Birthday, Yoshiki played it on the piano and Sugizo played it on guitar. =3
And then they played Born to be Free, which sounded famazing live. *A* I'd heard all the other songs live before, lol, so for me it goes without saying that those are also awesome live. XD But yeah, in a way it felt like I hadn't heard some of them before since a lot of the songs had new English lyrics. I think X was still completely in Japanese though. Also Sugizo's violin solos were famazing (and lol at him playing the National Anthem. XD So much love. =3), and so were Yoshiki's drum and piano solos, and of course the piano/violin duet.
Speaking of X, during the "We are...!" part, Yoshiki stage dived and was about 1-2 feet away from me. =O He was like the perfect distance away too because he didn't land -on- me but was still close enough to touch. XD I gently touched his shoulder for a moment because I couldn't pass this chance up -completely-, but I didn't want to be overly fangirly past that. XD" However, this one chick with pink hair and glasses had latched onto his neck and was practically strangling him. D= Not to mention the security guards were already trying to pull him back onstage so it was obvious she needed to let go already.
I managed to pry her off of Yoshiki, but as soon as I did, she grabbed his neck AGAIN. Stupid. Bitch. =A= Unfortunately this time I couldn't reach them, so I had to wait until some other girl pried the fangirl off of him, and then the guards were able to pull Yoshiki back up. Btw, did I mention that the fangirl had like the creepiest smile EVER on her face the whole time? D=
And then during the encore, there was Yoshiki's really sweet MC before Endless Rain. He talked about how he and Toshi were childhood friends who met in kindergarten, and had dreamed of becoming rock stars, and how this was their dream come true. Then he said that hide was there with them, and his voice was breaking, and then he started shouting to the sky "WE ARE...!". I shouted "X!" in response each time with everything I had; for X, and most of all for hide. <3 And then Yoshiki basically threw himself at Toshi and they hugged and I was all "Awww ;^;". It was all really bittersweet.
I think it was also during Endless Rain that Sugizo smiled and blew a kiss at meeee~! =3 And then he threw a waterbottle to me, but the people in front of me were fighting over it before I could even try to catch it. D= But hey, I'm just glad he tried to give me something. XD I think he also smiled at me a few other times during the show. =D
Oh, should also mention that the crowd was pushing and shoving like crazy the whole show. D= At times I felt like the WHOLE audience was pushing me. @_@ I had to push with my whole body just to stand up straight, and pretty much had to fight to keep my spot in front of Sugizo. XD"
Also I got splashed with water throughout the show by all the members. =D Well except Pata cause I don't think he splashed anyone with water. XD But yeah, got splashed by Toshi, Yoshiki, Sugizo, and Heath. Especially Heath, who practically threw the whole contents of the bottle on my head. XD And the water was really cold too, so that was very refreshing. =3
I didn't want the show to be over, but alas all good things must come to an end. XD" But after the show I headed outside and went around to the back of the venue, hoping maybe I could meet the band and give them my gift drawings. I was one of the first ones there, so I figured great, maybe this will work out after all. I also met this nice girl next to me that I ended up chatting with, who it turns out I'd also chatted with briefly at Otakon (but she was cosplaying then so I didn't recognize her at first without the wig). XD
A lot more people showed up to wait for the band, more than I'd ever seen for this sort of thing really. When the barricades were being set up, I noticed the one next to me wasn't attached to the one me and the other girl were behind. I was a bit concerned, and tried to point it out to the guards but I don't think they heard me. I figured hopefully it would end up not being an issue.
Boy was I wrong.
So after about two hours of waiting, the band finally walks through the backstage door and fucking MASS CHAOS ensues. That loose barrier? The dumbfuck fans behind it knocked it over IMMEDIATELY and started rushing towards the band. It was literally a mobscene. All I could do was yell "You IDIOTS!" at them before trying to see if there was any way I could still get my drawings to the band (which in retrospect was kind of silly of me to make that attempt given the situation @_@). Of course at this point they were already in their van, and I don't blame them at all. XD"
But I was still so pissed off at the so-called "fans", not just because I wasn't able to give my gifts to X Japan but, more importantly, these stupid fucks jeopardized the band's SAFETY. I hate to say it, but after the band drove away, I pretty much completely snapped at the "fans". D= Stomping my feet, yelling "FUCK YOU ALL", the works. Couldn't formulate a more coherent response due to blind, seething RAGE at them for their being utterly disrespectful to the band. I don't think I've ever been more angry at people in my life.
Luckily, there were some staff members still there who worked directly for X Japan, so I handed my gift drawings to one of them and asked if he could give it to the band, which he said he would. Would have been nice to hand-deliver them though. ;^;
Also, after the barricade fiasco, I went to McDonalds to meet up with my friends, and we also happened to run into that girl I'd been chatting to, and some of her friends. XD So we sat and talked for a while and ate food, and then finally headed back to my dorm at like 3:30 AM. XD"
Btw, sorry if I sound like a bitch in this report. I don't normally get pissy with people like this, I swear. XD" X Japan's fanbase are just special like that, or at least the vast majority of them. D=
But I should emphasize that despite craziness from the "fans", X Japan more than made up for it by being their awesome, amazing selves and putting on yet another great show. =3
Ok, so me and my friends got in line on Thursday afternoon. While I was gone a lot during the days to work on my gift drawings for the band, I still slept on the sidewalk each night. XD" However, I also had the unfortunate tendency to take accidental naps in my dorm while going there to work on my drawings. Which in the end nearly cost me the spot I'd been camping out for in the first place. I suck. D=
You may be wondering why I didn't just work on the drawings in line. Well, they were 100% digital, done on Photoshop with my tablet. I'd already finished most of them ahead of time, and figured it would be best to finish the whole set rather than start over in line or something. XD"
At least I was still there when Yoshiki's staff delivered hot chocolate "courtesy of Yoshiki". =3 But I found out later that I missed the pizza from them that was delivered before the show (because of the naps thing I mentioned earlier). ;^; Still, how awesome of Yoshiki to think of us like that. <3
Also should mention that there were these four Japanese girls who got there after me and my friends who were trying to police the whole line and basically directly caused most of the line drama. At first they wanted to split the line up between Japanese fans and American fans. What. The. Fuck. >_> Then they backpedaled on that and decided the line should be split between X Japan and VAMPS concertgoers, with the option for people to go to both. The plan was that the people going to both would turn their stuff horizontal, and the ones going to one or the other would be vertical.
However, after I saw VAMPS (who were awesome btw), the main chick from the Japanese girls group (from here on I'll call her Head Bitch) was like "Oh you shouldn't be here cause it's not fair that you went to VAMPS while you were in the X Japan line". So then I kinda snapped at her. XD" I was like "Look, my stuff is sideways. I was going to go to both concerts. Also I've been here since Thursday and I got here before you so you have NO right to tell me what to do. If you're going to have that kind of attitude then you should go to the back!". Other girls who were in the line with us complimented me later for standing up to them. XD"
Also I found out later that a) even the friggin POLICE had yelled at the Japanese girls while I was at the VAMPS show because they were causing a scene, and b) Head Bitch, who came up with the plan in the first place for letting people go to both shows, was like "Oh I never said that". Wtf. =A=
One bit of good news from all of this? I found out later that apparently Head Bitch was walking (or running? I forget) to get into the venue before the show, when she stepped on a metal sign, which sprang up and smacked her in the face. Then she fell down on top of the sign. ROFLMAO karmic justice for the WIN. >D I knew she'd get what was coming to her. =P
Anyway, despite getting back late, I still managed to get about second row-ish in front of Sugizo, since someone I was talking to in line was up there and saved that spot for me, so that was good. =3 However, I did get pushed around a lot, so there were points where I was farther back. Not to mention there were lots of freakishly tall people there; I would get in front of one only to end up behind another. So I couldn't see well for like maybe 1/3 of the show. D= What I was able to see made up for that though. =3
Vampires Everywhere were better than I expected, because at least they can't use autotune when they play live. XD" The band were actually decent, just not the vocalist. He kept his left arm in basically the same spot every time he started screaming, which looked awkward. Plus all his screams sounded the same. Except one point where he and the guitarist on the other side of the stage screamed together, which sounded so bad I actually cringed. XD" But other than that they were at least listenable under the circumstances. Also lol wtf at them saying their third song would be the last song, then playing like 3 more songs? O_o Liars.
Anyway, this probably goes without saying but X Japan were friggin amazing as always. Not to mention uber adorable. =3 Since it was Toshi's birthday, there was a surprise set up for Toshi. After Kurenai, Yoshiki disappeared for a bit, and Toshi was like "...Where did Yoshiki go?". XD And then Yoshiki came back with a MASSIVE cake (Yoshiki was like "This is like a fucking 100 pound cake" rofl. XD) and we all sang happy birthday to Toshi and threw confetti. =3 I didn't have any confetti so I assumed only the people in the front row got it, but then I found out that was given out in line too. XD" Yeah I fail hardcore. D= But I still sang to Toshi. <3 Also the cake looked delish and I wish I could have had some. XD And after the crowd sang Happy Birthday, Yoshiki played it on the piano and Sugizo played it on guitar. =3
And then they played Born to be Free, which sounded famazing live. *A* I'd heard all the other songs live before, lol, so for me it goes without saying that those are also awesome live. XD But yeah, in a way it felt like I hadn't heard some of them before since a lot of the songs had new English lyrics. I think X was still completely in Japanese though. Also Sugizo's violin solos were famazing (and lol at him playing the National Anthem. XD So much love. =3), and so were Yoshiki's drum and piano solos, and of course the piano/violin duet.
Speaking of X, during the "We are...!" part, Yoshiki stage dived and was about 1-2 feet away from me. =O He was like the perfect distance away too because he didn't land -on- me but was still close enough to touch. XD I gently touched his shoulder for a moment because I couldn't pass this chance up -completely-, but I didn't want to be overly fangirly past that. XD" However, this one chick with pink hair and glasses had latched onto his neck and was practically strangling him. D= Not to mention the security guards were already trying to pull him back onstage so it was obvious she needed to let go already.
I managed to pry her off of Yoshiki, but as soon as I did, she grabbed his neck AGAIN. Stupid. Bitch. =A= Unfortunately this time I couldn't reach them, so I had to wait until some other girl pried the fangirl off of him, and then the guards were able to pull Yoshiki back up. Btw, did I mention that the fangirl had like the creepiest smile EVER on her face the whole time? D=
And then during the encore, there was Yoshiki's really sweet MC before Endless Rain. He talked about how he and Toshi were childhood friends who met in kindergarten, and had dreamed of becoming rock stars, and how this was their dream come true. Then he said that hide was there with them, and his voice was breaking, and then he started shouting to the sky "WE ARE...!". I shouted "X!" in response each time with everything I had; for X, and most of all for hide. <3 And then Yoshiki basically threw himself at Toshi and they hugged and I was all "Awww ;^;". It was all really bittersweet.
I think it was also during Endless Rain that Sugizo smiled and blew a kiss at meeee~! =3 And then he threw a waterbottle to me, but the people in front of me were fighting over it before I could even try to catch it. D= But hey, I'm just glad he tried to give me something. XD I think he also smiled at me a few other times during the show. =D
Oh, should also mention that the crowd was pushing and shoving like crazy the whole show. D= At times I felt like the WHOLE audience was pushing me. @_@ I had to push with my whole body just to stand up straight, and pretty much had to fight to keep my spot in front of Sugizo. XD"
Also I got splashed with water throughout the show by all the members. =D Well except Pata cause I don't think he splashed anyone with water. XD But yeah, got splashed by Toshi, Yoshiki, Sugizo, and Heath. Especially Heath, who practically threw the whole contents of the bottle on my head. XD And the water was really cold too, so that was very refreshing. =3
I didn't want the show to be over, but alas all good things must come to an end. XD" But after the show I headed outside and went around to the back of the venue, hoping maybe I could meet the band and give them my gift drawings. I was one of the first ones there, so I figured great, maybe this will work out after all. I also met this nice girl next to me that I ended up chatting with, who it turns out I'd also chatted with briefly at Otakon (but she was cosplaying then so I didn't recognize her at first without the wig). XD
A lot more people showed up to wait for the band, more than I'd ever seen for this sort of thing really. When the barricades were being set up, I noticed the one next to me wasn't attached to the one me and the other girl were behind. I was a bit concerned, and tried to point it out to the guards but I don't think they heard me. I figured hopefully it would end up not being an issue.
Boy was I wrong.
So after about two hours of waiting, the band finally walks through the backstage door and fucking MASS CHAOS ensues. That loose barrier? The dumbfuck fans behind it knocked it over IMMEDIATELY and started rushing towards the band. It was literally a mobscene. All I could do was yell "You IDIOTS!" at them before trying to see if there was any way I could still get my drawings to the band (which in retrospect was kind of silly of me to make that attempt given the situation @_@). Of course at this point they were already in their van, and I don't blame them at all. XD"
But I was still so pissed off at the so-called "fans", not just because I wasn't able to give my gifts to X Japan but, more importantly, these stupid fucks jeopardized the band's SAFETY. I hate to say it, but after the band drove away, I pretty much completely snapped at the "fans". D= Stomping my feet, yelling "FUCK YOU ALL", the works. Couldn't formulate a more coherent response due to blind, seething RAGE at them for their being utterly disrespectful to the band. I don't think I've ever been more angry at people in my life.
Luckily, there were some staff members still there who worked directly for X Japan, so I handed my gift drawings to one of them and asked if he could give it to the band, which he said he would. Would have been nice to hand-deliver them though. ;^;
Also, after the barricade fiasco, I went to McDonalds to meet up with my friends, and we also happened to run into that girl I'd been chatting to, and some of her friends. XD So we sat and talked for a while and ate food, and then finally headed back to my dorm at like 3:30 AM. XD"
Btw, sorry if I sound like a bitch in this report. I don't normally get pissy with people like this, I swear. XD" X Japan's fanbase are just special like that, or at least the vast majority of them. D=
But I should emphasize that despite craziness from the "fans", X Japan more than made up for it by being their awesome, amazing selves and putting on yet another great show. =3