HAHA LONG POST OF BAND GEEKERY
Right, so...
Just a word of warning: PHILADELPHIA IS MOTHERFUCKING COLD. MIND-NUMBINGLY, ASS-FREEZINGLY, UNABLE-TO-FEEL-TOES COLD. Fortunately, the line was not like NYC, and even though it had already started forming by the time I got there around 4:30, I was't THAT far back, and only had to endure two hours of mind-numbing, ass-freezing, unable-to-feel-toes cold, as opposed to fourteen hours. XD So that was an improvement right off the bat.
I was also very proud because I found the theatre ALL BY MYSELF (with some help the night before from Google maps). I WIN AT NAVIGATION WHEEEEEEE. And so_low successfully found me in line, along with her friends, so that was excellent because I have not met the Lan in person since - like - the first Otakon I went to. XD The theatre itself was pretty nice - as promised after NYC, I did not even bother with the floor, but went straight for the balcony. This turned out to be a fantastic idea, because not only was there a section of balcony vaguely close to the stage with stools to sit on and a FUCKING GREAT VIEW (I could see EVERYONE really well, not that I could concentrate on anyone but Kyo - AGAIN - DAMN THE MAN AND HIS BEING MADE OF EYE-MAGNETS), but it was ALSO the bar, and thus 21 and up only. So NO TEENAGERS CROWDING ME WHEEEEEE. Oh it was great, I tell you. (Other than the headbanger next to Lan hitting her in the face - stupid careless headbangers.)
The opening bands - yeah, there were two, it was a bit trying - were an interesting lot. The first band had only okay music, but the lead singer was really cute, so I can forgive them. He had such adorable bangs! And TEENY SKINNY LEGS. I liked them, even if I cannot remember their name, but one of them had a shirt with TCB on it, so I'm just going to think of it as standing for The Cute Band and leave it at that. The second group - um. Their music was also all right, so far as I could tell, but the lead singer was - just - Lan and I kept cracking up at him because he appeared to be very special. NO SERIOUSLY. He drooled, we could see it, and he spazzed and flopped around on stage like he was having seizures (I had to tell Lan that it was much hotter when Kyo does it - which is inexplicable yet true - Kyo DOES make stage-seizures look sexy), and he had HORRIBLE HAIR. Really, there were TWO big bald patches in it, one on top and one on the side, and it looked so unbelievably hideous. Lan and I came up with various explanations, including that he really is crazy and pulled it out himself, or his bandmates did it as a prank, and I just really hope he didn't do it to himself on purpose, because oh gods it looked horrible. HORRIBLE!
Anyway, they FINALLY finished, and then... DIR EN GREY TIME OMG OMG OMG. AND THEY WERE AMAZING AND GORGEOUS AND HOT AND I ACTUALLY KNEW A BUNCH OF THE SONGS THIS TIME OH GODS I GOT TO SCREAM ALONG WITH "Merciless Cult" AND "C" AND "audience KILLER LOOP" AND IT WAS SO FUCKING FANTASTIC OH MY GOD YOU HAVE NO IDEA. Unless you were Lan sitting next to me and having to put up with me screaming and bouncing and leaning over the balcony rail a lot flailing like a freak. XD XD XD AND MAYBE KAORU LOOKED IN MY DIRECTION A COUPLE OF TIMES I DON'T KNOW IT WAS HARD TO TELL BUT OMG OMG OMG THEY WERE JUST INCREDIBLE. They seemed a lot less tense than NYC, and they looked like they were just having a really good time and enjoying things and that made me so happy, oh man, I really wanted them to be having like - at least half as amazing a time as I was having. My gods, they're just incredible.
And KYO. OH GOD. UNF BABY. I will spend the rest of my life marvelling at how he can be so tiny, yet so deliciously built and ABS and GIANT INCREDIBLE FREAKY VOICE OF DOOM. *gnaws on hands in longing* I tried to be better at looking at everyone else this time, which was good because I got to see Die being a bit silly by the drums and Kaoru being HOT AND SILLY and Toshiya being ADORABLE AND HOT AND ROCKIN' OUT and I LOVE THEM ALL THEY ARE FANTASTIC BUT KYO IS STILL MADE OF EYE-MAGNETS. :LKDSJ;aflk;mflzdkDFAA!! MEMORY OF ABS FOREVEREVER ENGRAVED UPON EYES. ALSO THE SEXY STOMACH-RUBBING DANCE. UNNNNNNNF. STUPID MOTHER, MAKING ME PROMISE NOT TO SLEEP WITH THE BAND (not that there was a chance of it anyway, but you know... a girl's gotta dream).
Didn't get any swag, per se, but did pick up an FYE pre-order for Marrow of a Bone - because I am cheap when it comes to music, but damned if I'm not going to own every Dir en grey album*. XD This just leaves Vulgar... *plots*
When the concert tearfully ended, Lan and I caught a cab to her house, where we ended up sitting around talking about old art and characters and many wonderful random things till 3 a.m., which is always one of the best parts of visiting people. ♥ I also got to meet the house cat, Burble Mingren, who is a SWEETHEART and friendly and beautiful. I love meeting cats. We did sleep eventually, then got up in the morning and watched The Sopranos (first four episodes), because I have wanted to watch that show for FOREVER. Surprise surprise - I loved it. XD MUST FIND MORE RARRRR!
Then it was a mostly uneventful trip back home via trains and planes, and may I say that NC feels practically BALMY after Philly? XD
So now I am home, made out of aches and soreness and lizard hands and most of all GLEE. Worked today (only till eleven - helped Marguerite with paperwork and stuff rather than cooking), will work tomorrow, and in the meantime, I BASK IN THE GLORY.
Also, for the interested - set list yoinked from murasaki!
Songs with a * next to them = songs I knew, or at least realized that I knew the tune/chorus even if I forgot the title. XD
1. THE FATAL BELIEVER
2. Merciless Cult*
3. AGITATED SCREAMS OF MAGGOTS
4. The Final*
5. GRIEF
6. Saku*
7. Itoshisa wa Fuhai Nitsuki
8. Kodoku Shisu, Yue ni Kodoku*
9. Ryoujoku no Ame
10. DISABLED COMPLEXES
11. audience KILLER LOOP*
12. OBSCURE*
13. dead tree*
14. Kodou*
15. C*
16. Spilled Milk*
17. Beautiful Dirt*
18. THE IID EMPIRE
As you may be able to tell - I'm not so great with the Vulgar songs, or the new ones, but at least I know Withering to Death pretty well! n.n;; (I could've sworn they played "Machiavellism," though... and I don't remember "Itoshisa," but then, I'm not entirely certain I remember "Kodou" either, and Murasaki has it listed as being played under a new melody. *flails in confusion*)
*And by "album" I mean "actual full CD." I bother not with singles, nor am I particularly worried about getting my hands on Missa or Six Ugly. Man, I don't even know what was ON Six Ugly - that was a mini-album, right, not just a single?
Just a word of warning: PHILADELPHIA IS MOTHERFUCKING COLD. MIND-NUMBINGLY, ASS-FREEZINGLY, UNABLE-TO-FEEL-TOES COLD. Fortunately, the line was not like NYC, and even though it had already started forming by the time I got there around 4:30, I was't THAT far back, and only had to endure two hours of mind-numbing, ass-freezing, unable-to-feel-toes cold, as opposed to fourteen hours. XD So that was an improvement right off the bat.
I was also very proud because I found the theatre ALL BY MYSELF (with some help the night before from Google maps). I WIN AT NAVIGATION WHEEEEEEE. And so_low successfully found me in line, along with her friends, so that was excellent because I have not met the Lan in person since - like - the first Otakon I went to. XD The theatre itself was pretty nice - as promised after NYC, I did not even bother with the floor, but went straight for the balcony. This turned out to be a fantastic idea, because not only was there a section of balcony vaguely close to the stage with stools to sit on and a FUCKING GREAT VIEW (I could see EVERYONE really well, not that I could concentrate on anyone but Kyo - AGAIN - DAMN THE MAN AND HIS BEING MADE OF EYE-MAGNETS), but it was ALSO the bar, and thus 21 and up only. So NO TEENAGERS CROWDING ME WHEEEEEE. Oh it was great, I tell you. (Other than the headbanger next to Lan hitting her in the face - stupid careless headbangers.)
The opening bands - yeah, there were two, it was a bit trying - were an interesting lot. The first band had only okay music, but the lead singer was really cute, so I can forgive them. He had such adorable bangs! And TEENY SKINNY LEGS. I liked them, even if I cannot remember their name, but one of them had a shirt with TCB on it, so I'm just going to think of it as standing for The Cute Band and leave it at that. The second group - um. Their music was also all right, so far as I could tell, but the lead singer was - just - Lan and I kept cracking up at him because he appeared to be very special. NO SERIOUSLY. He drooled, we could see it, and he spazzed and flopped around on stage like he was having seizures (I had to tell Lan that it was much hotter when Kyo does it - which is inexplicable yet true - Kyo DOES make stage-seizures look sexy), and he had HORRIBLE HAIR. Really, there were TWO big bald patches in it, one on top and one on the side, and it looked so unbelievably hideous. Lan and I came up with various explanations, including that he really is crazy and pulled it out himself, or his bandmates did it as a prank, and I just really hope he didn't do it to himself on purpose, because oh gods it looked horrible. HORRIBLE!
Anyway, they FINALLY finished, and then... DIR EN GREY TIME OMG OMG OMG. AND THEY WERE AMAZING AND GORGEOUS AND HOT AND I ACTUALLY KNEW A BUNCH OF THE SONGS THIS TIME OH GODS I GOT TO SCREAM ALONG WITH "Merciless Cult" AND "C" AND "audience KILLER LOOP" AND IT WAS SO FUCKING FANTASTIC OH MY GOD YOU HAVE NO IDEA. Unless you were Lan sitting next to me and having to put up with me screaming and bouncing and leaning over the balcony rail a lot flailing like a freak. XD XD XD AND MAYBE KAORU LOOKED IN MY DIRECTION A COUPLE OF TIMES I DON'T KNOW IT WAS HARD TO TELL BUT OMG OMG OMG THEY WERE JUST INCREDIBLE. They seemed a lot less tense than NYC, and they looked like they were just having a really good time and enjoying things and that made me so happy, oh man, I really wanted them to be having like - at least half as amazing a time as I was having. My gods, they're just incredible.
And KYO. OH GOD. UNF BABY. I will spend the rest of my life marvelling at how he can be so tiny, yet so deliciously built and ABS and GIANT INCREDIBLE FREAKY VOICE OF DOOM. *gnaws on hands in longing* I tried to be better at looking at everyone else this time, which was good because I got to see Die being a bit silly by the drums and Kaoru being HOT AND SILLY and Toshiya being ADORABLE AND HOT AND ROCKIN' OUT and I LOVE THEM ALL THEY ARE FANTASTIC BUT KYO IS STILL MADE OF EYE-MAGNETS. :LKDSJ;aflk;mflzdkDFAA!! MEMORY OF ABS FOREVEREVER ENGRAVED UPON EYES. ALSO THE SEXY STOMACH-RUBBING DANCE. UNNNNNNNF. STUPID MOTHER, MAKING ME PROMISE NOT TO SLEEP WITH THE BAND (not that there was a chance of it anyway, but you know... a girl's gotta dream).
Didn't get any swag, per se, but did pick up an FYE pre-order for Marrow of a Bone - because I am cheap when it comes to music, but damned if I'm not going to own every Dir en grey album*. XD This just leaves Vulgar... *plots*
When the concert tearfully ended, Lan and I caught a cab to her house, where we ended up sitting around talking about old art and characters and many wonderful random things till 3 a.m., which is always one of the best parts of visiting people. ♥ I also got to meet the house cat, Burble Mingren, who is a SWEETHEART and friendly and beautiful. I love meeting cats. We did sleep eventually, then got up in the morning and watched The Sopranos (first four episodes), because I have wanted to watch that show for FOREVER. Surprise surprise - I loved it. XD MUST FIND MORE RARRRR!
Then it was a mostly uneventful trip back home via trains and planes, and may I say that NC feels practically BALMY after Philly? XD
So now I am home, made out of aches and soreness and lizard hands and most of all GLEE. Worked today (only till eleven - helped Marguerite with paperwork and stuff rather than cooking), will work tomorrow, and in the meantime, I BASK IN THE GLORY.
Also, for the interested - set list yoinked from murasaki!
Songs with a * next to them = songs I knew, or at least realized that I knew the tune/chorus even if I forgot the title. XD
1. THE FATAL BELIEVER
2. Merciless Cult*
3. AGITATED SCREAMS OF MAGGOTS
4. The Final*
5. GRIEF
6. Saku*
7. Itoshisa wa Fuhai Nitsuki
8. Kodoku Shisu, Yue ni Kodoku*
9. Ryoujoku no Ame
10. DISABLED COMPLEXES
11. audience KILLER LOOP*
12. OBSCURE*
13. dead tree*
14. Kodou*
15. C*
16. Spilled Milk*
17. Beautiful Dirt*
18. THE IID EMPIRE
As you may be able to tell - I'm not so great with the Vulgar songs, or the new ones, but at least I know Withering to Death pretty well! n.n;; (I could've sworn they played "Machiavellism," though... and I don't remember "Itoshisa," but then, I'm not entirely certain I remember "Kodou" either, and Murasaki has it listed as being played under a new melody. *flails in confusion*)
*And by "album" I mean "actual full CD." I bother not with singles, nor am I particularly worried about getting my hands on Missa or Six Ugly. Man, I don't even know what was ON Six Ugly - that was a mini-album, right, not just a single?