Euphoria
Before reading about this year’s Vamps show, you may want to take a look at my write-up on last year’s:
http://japanesedream.livejournal.com/310947.html
Vamps - 11 July 2009 at the Fillmore/Irving Plaza, NYC
Flash forward now to 2010...
Our adventure actually begins on Friday (I had off work both Fri. & Mon.). Johnathan had to work, so I spent the day with my mom. We were on a mission, of sorts. Well, I was. See, last year, my mom had gotten some really cool candy, I guess it was a post-Halloween sale or something. It was called Fright Bites, individually-wrapped fudge candies, lip-shaped, with white chocolate fangs. The wrappers were red lips with white fangs, some dripping blood. I took a photo of them, let’s see if I can dig it up.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v415/japanesedream/vamps-candy.jpg
She'd gotten the candy at Dollar Tree, in a nice-sized bag (not sure how many came in it) for, like, 50 cents. I thought that would have been the perfect gift for Vamps, if only I'd had them when I went to last year's show (never mind the show was in July & the candy didn't come out 'til October), since there had been a box for presents for the band, which I knew nothing about prior to the show; thus, sadly, I had nothing to give them. This year's show being in October, I thought I had a shot at good timing.
Very little in my life ever turns out to be easy, & this was no exception. Dollar Tree didn't have them! We looked up & down the candy aisle & in all the boxes in the Halloween section, but nothing. Fortunately, I didn't leave without stimulating the local economy - after snagging the last pair of Vamps socks!! They're not official, but dang, are they appropriate!!
Wal-Mart was nearby, & we had a look there, too, with no success. However, we did get to take some snazzy photos.
My mom shows off her Devil Side. ^_~
Gothic-Lolita witch hats!
One last possibility lay on the other side of the shopping centre, in the form of Party City. Lots of awesome stuff... & would you believe it, that included Vamps candy!!! Not in a bag, tho' - you had to buy them individually. But at that point, I didn't care!! I figured there are 5 guys in Vamps, & then myself & my brother, so I got 30 pieces, & a pack of resealable Halloween treat bags. I couldn't find a little gift bag with handles, but I thought I might be able to pick one up on the way home, since there's a Dollar Tree not too far from me.
Divvied up the candy when I got back to my mom's - 4 pieces each for the band members, 5 each for Johnathan & me. Hung out & chatted & watched some tv & whatnot, until Mattie & Johnathan got home from work (they work in the same place). I was able to show everyone that clip of us at the Boondock Saints Q&A in MD (filmed it with my camera off the computer), which they got a kick out of.
After a little bit, Johnathan gathered up his stuff & we set out. Sadly, the Fri. night traffic was HORRIBLE!! It was Cherry Hill all over again!! Took a lot longer than we'd anticipated to get back, but we finally made it. Actually, we didn't go straight home; I'd had the idea Johnathan might've wanted to try Fuji, the Japanese buffet (I took our other brother, Mark, there when he visited a couple weeks ago). I've kinda corrupted the poor kid, getting him into sushi & other Asian goodies, but it's not so readily available where he lives - I mean, here, we can buy it in the grocery store. :P
Had a nice dinner at Fuji, despite the absence of a some of my personal favourites (two squid-related items, seaweed & crab salads, & a couple of types of sushi - I have the feeling some of these may be lunch-only items), then made our way back to my place. Of course, it was after I got home that I realised I’d forgotten to stop someplace to try & find an appropriate gift bag. Figured I could scrounge up something at home, which I did. (You’ll see the result later.) Called my mom (we'd talked to her on the way, but said we'd call when we got to the house), watched a little Nip/Tuck (I'd already seen the ones they were airing) & a little Larry King (my mom told us about the John Lennon tribute), then I showed him the new Vamps pv's (I’ll put the links below, in case you’re interested), & we watched a whole mess of other junk (mostly J-rock, but some other stuff, too) on YouTube. ^_^
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ram_f9QBwWo
Devil Side
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A83IEoKO_eA
Angel Trip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwsI5UrX5lo
Revolution
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bM75g7Y7MSA
My First Last
I was up at 5 am, contending with the various issues that so often plague me when I have somewhere important to go, as well as a few new ones. :P Let Johnathan sleep a bit, but not too late - I wanted to get into the City early! Soon enough, we were posing for the customary I’m-not-bringing-my-camera-but-we-need-to-take-a-pic-before-we-leave pics. XD
He was gonna do the heavy metal devil horns, but I suggested we take one doing the V for Vamps. The shot was nice, but a tad reminiscent of the one we took before the Dir en grey concert last year - http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v415/japanesedream/diru-mejohnathan.jpg
For the second pic, I said, “Okay, now let’s do Japanese metal,” but I don’t think he got that I was talking about the devil horns. So he Vamped & I horned. XD Still a great shot, tho’!
In case you can’t tell, I’m wearing my Zombie Vampires From Hell t-shirt, which my mom & brothers got me last year for Xmas:
http://pics.livejournal.com/japanesedream/pic/00008w91
I just wish someone would’ve told me I’d drawn my eyebrows on crooked!! There was a girl who came down to our part of the line late in the day, & asked if she could take a couple pics of me for “an art project”, which I let her do; after I loaded my photos onto my computer, I was, like, “OMG, she has pictures of me with crooked eyebrows!!!!” It’s prob’ly an art project on idiotic faces or something. :P
But I’m ahead of myself.
Grabbed our stuff & set off for the bus station. Got our tickets & then some breakfast. I'd promised to take him to the Dunkin Donuts next to the bus station, since he told me he'd never been to one before. After eating, it wasn't a tremendously long wait for the bus, which was good. Dozed a bit on the way, woke up in time to point out the Weehawken public library, which looks a bit like a castle. ^_^
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v415/japanesedream/nyc72410/weehawken.jpg
Made it pretty easily out of Port Authority & down to the subway, which was also good. Unfortunately, I didn't realise we'd taken an express train instead of the local, so I missed the stop, which was not so good. But I did see the COOLEST t-shirt on a girl sitting across from us - it was all movie spoilers!! Really groovy, & I told her how awesome I thought it was.
http://technabob.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/spoiler_tshirt.gif
We ended up having to walk 7 blocks back instead of 2 up, but it was a nice morning, & I figured we might not get that much exercise being in line, so we could use the walk. Luckily, despite the extra time spent, there wasn't very much of a line. Much like my Dir en grey show in August, we got there around 10, & were a little way past the turn around the first corner.
We were lined up on the side of Savoy Bank. The girl directly in front of us was sitting on some newspaper, which I thought was kinda sad, considering it wasn't THAT warm, & the concrete was not only cold but hard. I had my chair & my 3 concert-sitting blankets, & offered her one of the blankets. She kindly accepted, & we got to talking. Turns out she's on LJ, too! This would be my new friend wagashi. She was actually waiting for the X-Japan show the following night, as I found out several people were. (Others were waiting, like us, for Vamps. Some were going to both shows. But all of us were in the same line, at that point.) She'd spent a number of years living & working in Japan, & had many interesting stories to share!
She was also the one who solved the mystery of what I had dubbed ‘the Hide problem’. I’d been wondering what X was going to do for this tour, in terms of their late guitarist, Hide (that’s HEE-day, for those of you who don’t know). She’d said they were doing shows (I guess in Japan) using a hologram of Hide (with, I assume, his guitar parts recorded?), which would’ve been pretty cool to see...but for the tour, their pal, Sugizo (ex-Luna Sea), would be filling in. Which is pretty cool, too. (Incidentally, if Miss B. Lily Rose is reading this, I wanna hear the pizza story!! ^_^)
As with every J-rock show I've attended in NYC, lots & lots (& lots!) of people came up to us, asking what we were there for. At least 3/4 of them asked Johnathan! He was, apparently, the go-to guy for answers. XD (He started what became a running joke throughout the day that we - but especially he - should've charged people to get that question answered. XD) One person asked if we were protesting something. XD We all told the truth this time around, & spread the Vamps love. Actually, most of the time we just said we were waiting for a Japanese rock band. Sometimes we told them which band. One person asked, 'cuz they said they listened to Japanese rock! We thought about lying & telling people we were there for something else. Justin Bieber's name came up. XD The Rolling Stones (would've explained all the lip logos, LOL). Tony Bennett. XD One of the plays at the nearby theatres...
You get the idea.
Anywho, just on the off-chance that there was a signing, I'd brought the Rock & Read issue I'd gotten on my Roseland dry-run (http://japanesedream.livejournal.com/383714.html). At one point, I was holding it up for people when they asked about the line, to give them a visual aid as to the band we were waiting for. It was around this time that I made my second new friend, a very, very (very!) nice girl named Naoko, who is from Tokyo but is currently studying English in Toronto, Canada. She was lucky enough to have seen some Vamps shows in Japan! She kindly showed me her Hyde/L'Arc-en-Ciel/Vamps-related tattoos (there were a couple people with tattoos of that nature, as well as jewelry - where do people get this stuff??), & let me listen to some Ken (L'Arc guitarist) solo tunes on her iPod. By the end of the day, she said to let her know when I get back to Tokyo (she may return next year - I hope I will be back there by then!), & we hope to someday get to see a Hyde-related live show there together. ^_^
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7TCjRGC4Gc
S by Ken - awesome!
The 3 of us chatted quite a bit, but there was lots more going on, besides us. A guy came by passing out religious flyers. The Times Square patrol (were they actual police or simply guards of some sort?) were trying to figure out what to do with us. XD We saw a group of girls doing a weird group photo. Kind of Sex & the City meets America's Next Top Model. People-watching is always fun...especially when there's been an anime convention nearby during the same weekend! (Vamps had made an appearance there, incidentally.) There were various people in cosplay strolling by (we had seen a couple on our way down to the line, as well). The Edward Scissorhands/Mad Hatter pairing was a particular highlight. Some Loli girls, too! One guy further up in line was dressed in a kangaroo suit, complete with joey. XD And, of course, it was also John Lennon's birthday, so there were a great many people in Beatles-related gear who walked past.
There was a sushi & sake bar called something like Flash Dancer’s (technically, I think it's a 'gentlemen's club'), two doors down from the sushi place where we were getting our food & drinks. We mused on the possibility of the band going there after the show (I think this was because Naoko said she might try & wait for the band afterward), & resumed the joke that started at Monster-Mania 16 in MD, that if you want to see the stars, “To the bar!”
When one has friends in line, things are a little easier. You can have someone hold down the fort (y'know, watch your stuff) & leave for a bit to do your thing. Stretch your legs. Check out the other end of the line. Get some food. Find a lavatory. Whatever. So we would take little excursions. Johnathan took a few (including a couple sushi runs across the street - he was awesome & shared some with me). wagashi & Naoko did, too. Later, the girls & I took one together.
I'd mentioned to Naoko how I'd gotten my Rock & Read at Kinokuniya a few blocks away, & she'd wanted to take a walk down. So around 1:30, we, along with wagashi, went to do it, while Johnathan guarded camp. We got to see ourselves (tiny, of course) on the big screen thing they have over the Forever 21 store that replaced the old Virgin Megastore. Hit Kinokuniya soon after, where we perused the 'zines & such, followed by the requisite trip upstairs for music, movies, & books. One of the first things I spotted was a NEW Rock & Read with ANOTHER Vamps cover article! Naoko & I both got that. I also picked up the new Vamps singles, Devil Side & Angel Trip. For the b-sides, of course - Kyuuketsu & a cover of Motley Crue's Live Wire. I'd showed Johnathan those on YouTube on Friday, & said next time I went to Kinokuniya, I'd pick them up. I still want the 2009 tour video, but it's $80!! A $20 book (which I can't yet read) & two $12 singles are about all I can afford. Especially when I still have to buy official tour merch! XD
They had free flyer cards for both Vamps & X-Japan, & we snagged some of those (I got some for Johnathan, too). Shared more Japan-related tales on the way back. And in case my friend, styxonline, is reading this, I hope it doesn't spoil Raccoon storytelling, but I got a heads-up on the beef between Gatsu & Griffith - wagashi bought an issue of the Berserk manga. ^_^ Turns out we both dig DBZ's Vegeta, too. :D
Stopped at the sushi place to get some liquid refreshment. Met a couple gals in there with awesome Loli dresses. I guess they'd gone to the convention. One of them had a maid-like dress, & wore a cupcake-shaped hat. She introduced herself, but I can't for the life of me remember what her name was. :P She had Vamps-style socks like mine! (But hers were black & had more than 2 sets of fang-lips; it was a repeating motif.) She also told us about the omamori; I think she said hers came from the San Francisco show (I believe Vamps only did 3 shows in the US this year, as part of a world tour). These are charms of a sort, & she had 2 of them (different patterns) attached to her bodice. Reminded me a little of the prayer thing I'd gotten my mom at the Meiji Shrine, in that it is reportedly bad luck to open it. Same with these; but, rather than a prayer, the omamori contain a guitar string from the band!
Slightly disappointing return to the line, however, 'cuz we found out Vamps had arrived about half an hour after we left!! They'd pulled up in a stretch-Hummer, got out, & were promptly mobbed. They were shaking people's hands & such, or so we heard (my brother had seen the limo pull up, but hadn't seen them get out, only heard the screams), & some of their staff were passing out flyers (larger versions of the cards we picked up in the bookstore). I hadn't brought my camera, but another girl we were talking to (I never did get her name, but we chatted quite a bit, esp. toward the latter part of the day) got it on video, & was kind enough to show it to us.
This isn’t her footage, but it’s the best clip of the arrival that I could find.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCavK_YLZ9I
Look for the guy in the black jacket cordoning Hyde off from the fans around the 16-second mark. See him? You’ll hear more about him later. Okay, now continue looking at Hyde. XD
The girl had gone to the convention, too, & showed me some pictures from that, as well. I believe she was the one who said she’d heard the band (or was it their management?) were kinda ticked off at the tickets having “The Vamps” as the band’s name, as opposed to their actual name, which is simply “Vamps”. (The marquee got it right, tho’.) She was also the one who broke the unfortunate news to me that Hyde & his wife, Megumi, had divorced. Apparently, being apart for extended amounts of time due to their careers had taken a toll on the marriage. The same fate had befallen T.M. Revolution & his wife (one of the girls from Puffy Ami Yumi, if I'm not mistaken), she said. And I finally got the story on the long-ago hush-hush Gackt marriage. That, too, sadly, came to an end.
What did not come to an end, tho’, was the generous nature of wagashi - she shared cookies & candy with us (& with the possibly homeless guy who came around later & gave us local newspapers), introduced us to some of the other friends she occasionally popped off to see further up in the line (like that sweet girl, Aika), &, nicest of all, she offered to watch our coats & bags (& Naoko's) while we were inside! (Saved us money on coat-check, too.) It was getting chilly & dark by the time they split the line up, separating the X people from the Vamps crowd, so I let her wrap up in one of our blankets (I think that was Johnathan's suggestion). I also gave her & Naoko each a piece of Vamps candy. :)
Speaking of candy, I was just hoping for a gift box once we got inside. I didn't have anything in terms of a card or even my/our name(s) or anything in there. I'm not sure of the etiquette of these sort of things, & I didn't want to risk writing something INCREDIBLY stupid (I've written one fan-letter in my life, not J-rock, but it ended up being exactly that: STUPID) - so it was this completely anonymous gift in the world's goofiest-looking bag (the only one I had available to give), that had been across 2 states over 2 days, & had sat 9 hours in various spots in the line, with me moving it about every time the sun made a minute progression across the sky, hoping like hell it wouldn't be melted by the time the band got it. :P
We put up with a lot of things in lines. Weather. Shifting sunlight. Passersby looking at us, talking about us, asking us the proverbial, ‘What are you here for?’, taking pictures of us. But one thing we cannot tolerate is bird poo! The pigeons seemed to like Savoy Bank. A lot. Thus, midway through the day, a number of us shifted our belongings slightly further out into the sidewalk. Careful not to block pedestrian pathways, of course.
We saw lots of Vamps-associated people floating about. Naoko pointed out the guy who writes their English Myspace page, the guy who heads up Vamprose (their label), & Hyde's manager! There was also a film crew who seemed to be going down the line, talking to fans...until they got close to us, & then they skipped over us, opting instead to follow the older gentleman rocking the Linkin Park sweatshirt. XD We guessed he was related to the guy in the orange sweater (behind us, a bit further down), who they were also filming, along with a bunch of other fans.
There were some VIP-looking people, too, including one who could've been a shorter version of X-Japan's Yoshiki. XD And later, a girl I dubbed 'the lost member of X', who looked like the band in their VK/hair-metal heyday! After they split up the line & moved us up, we saw people coming down with signed goodies. Turns out there'd been some kind of contest on Myspace, & they must've had a certain number of winners, who were allowed to go in early & get signed merch (Naoko & I went up to find security & ask). I heard the VIP's were by invitation, possibly randomly-generated during ticket sales, I dunno.
Point is, none of our little contingent were among the fortunate. Ah well.
After standing around for another hour or so, & watching those who thought they might like a drink do the I.D. thing with the venue staff member who was going down the line, we just counted ourselves lucky that, at long last, they were starting to let people in! They did it in groups. Technically, the line hadn't gone all the way up to the venue. I'd been told they weren't letting the people at the front camp out directly in front of the box office, instead pushing them back a bit. Some of them had been there for a couple days. In any case, we bid good-bye to wagashi for the time being, & made our way inside when they called for the next group.
They checked bags & did pat-downs (this time, the girls got patted, too!), & tore off a piece of our tickets, leaving us the remainder as yet another souvenir of the evening. Speaking of souvenirs, I'd vowed to get merch beforehand, but got out-voted. I gave in, but I told my brother I'd kick his butt all the way back to Pennsylvania if they didn't have any shirts left after the show!! I'd missed out last year 'cuz I'd waited 'til afterward to hit the merch table, & I was darned if it were gonna happen again.
Needed to hit the ladies' room before the performance, but first, I had to contend with the problem of there being NO GIFT BOX!! Thought I'd gotten ditched, since everybody seemed to be running off to the floor/pit area, but I couldn't let my gift go ungiven. Spotted a couple of the staffers we'd seen outside conversing not far from the merch table. One left, but I cornered the other one. Yep, you guessed it, the guy from the 16-second mark in the arrival video.
As my Japanese is way below par, I tried English, going as slowly as I could given - pardon the pun - how vamped up I was. :P I mentioned there being a box last year for gifts for the band, & said I didn't see one, asking if there were anywhere to leave a gift for the band. I think he got the idea that I wanted to give them something, He said I could give it to him, & he took it.
I have no idea if it ever got to the band. But if you ever read anything about them getting candy in NY, that was from me.
Simple, nice lavatory. Purple, if memory serves. A couple of us couldn’t get the paper towel things to work after we washed our hands, tho’, so...anywho, Johnathan was sweet & waited for me. Next, it was off to the pit!
In went the earplugs, but even with those, the music was already loud. They were playing Linkin Park's The Catalyst as we walked in. Didn't recognise anything else they played, other than Marilyn Manson's This Is The New Sh*t.
A huge Vamps lip-logo banner was hung as a backdrop, & lots of people tried taking pictures of it. The microphones, synthesisers, & drums were all there & ready, as well as a box/platform for Hyde (like Dir en grey’s Kyo, Hyde is one of the Short People), as well as his signature mic-stand with the roses on it. A guy (I guess from the venue) came out - twice - before the band took the stage, to tell us they weren't allowing any recording or photography. Of course, the audience pretty much laughed this off. What were they gonna do - jump in & drag everybody out that had a camera? It wasn't long before the place started to fill up behind us, & the empty space that had been there when they let us in was becoming less & less visible. It was getting hot & my back hurt. We were pretty close, tho’ - & determined to stay that way, LOL!
Every once in a while, we'd look up at the balcony areas to our left, & see people. We couldn't tell who they were, but people shouted & cheered, obviously thinking they were members of the band. For all I know, they could've been. I do know they had camera people there, filming everything.
My brother said he saw an older lady at the edge of the pit. Did he say she had a cane? I hope she made it out of there in one piece! Because chants of, “Vamps! Vamps! Vamps!” began, & soon enough (actually, it was after 8 by this point - 10 hours from our initial arrival), the instrumental Plug In began to play, the boys came out, the crush commenced (technically, I think it started before the band emerged), & we all went nuts!!
Arimatsu hasn't changed very much. I think his hair might be a little longer, but aside from that, he looks the same as last year. He was wearing 2 tank tops - a black one & a white one (so yes, the tattoos were visible) - &, I guess, jeans. I got some good looks at him pounding away on his drums. You can see the power he puts into it. His kit had the Beast (new album) logo/cover shot on the bass drum.
Jin, I got to see for the first time live! I'd seen him on video clips. He does all the synth stuff, & those little percussive bits that start out Sex Blood Rock & Roll. He’s got dark hair, which he had pulled back (I think there are some shaved bits on the sides), & a goatee. He was wearing a grey suit, I think. I noticed the jacket (it may have had a Chinese-style collar). He’s kinda tucked away behind Ju-ken (more like Ju-ken’s amp), so he’s difficult to see during most of the show. But I got a pretty decent view of him when the guys came out on-stage.
Ju-ken hasn't changed much, either. Still has that long, banded goatee. With the lights, it was a little difficult to tell exactly what colour his hair is these days, but I can tell you it was streaked, like the colours were layered a bit. (K.A.Z has something similar to this - it seems to be a trend with Japanese artists.) He wore a black button-down shirt with a Kiss tie (made me smile), & dark pants or jeans, as well as his trademark top hat with a V for Vamps on it. ^_^ He was the only one in full make-up, esp. around his eyes. Not just liner, there were designs under/around them. He’s a crazy man on-stage! He helped encourage the crowd to sing & clap along with various numbers, & puts a lot of (positive) energy into his performance. It's funny & joyous to watch him do things like spin around in circles with his bass, or drop to his knees & bop along with a number while playing (nowhere was this more evident than during Trouble!). During one or two other songs, he spit mouthfuls of rose petals into the crowd! I think he also pulled a Kyo & played water fountain, spitting water on the audience. I don't know how many bass guitars he may have played, but I know he had a red one, & used the upright bass-fiddle thing on Sweet Dreams, like last year.
K.A.Z looked a little thinner than in recent photos, but a good, in-shape kind of thinner. He wore a no-sleeve black & white striped shirt with a vest. I think it had the words "harder rubber" on it. Nice view of the tattoo on his right arm (I forget if it’s a snake or a dragon - my brother & I were talking about it on the way home). I'm guessing he wore jeans. His hair was a layered blonde & dark, & defied gravity. XD (I watched a clip of Vamps' Comic-Con appearance, & someone asked him about that at the Q&A; he said he keeps it up via "static electricity". XD) At times, it looked a little wind-blown, too. Maybe Dir en grey's Die lent K.A.Z his fan, LOL. XD I could see a few guitars that K.A.Z used, including at least one flying-V (maybe 2?). He did a lot more throwing his guitar back & letting it spin around his body than last year! He threw water into the audience toward the end of the show, too, as well as his water bottles & some picks. He & Ju-ken did perfectly fine with their respective backing vocals, & for the first time, K.A.Z talked to us! More on that later.
Hyde. What can one say about Hyde? The man is beautiful - maybe even moreso this time than last time. He seemed to be working his sexy a lot more this year (last year, he seemed more playful), & his eyes were SOOO intense!! He still (as I noted at last year’s show) rides the high of the music, closing his eyes at intervals & letting the emotion flow through him, communing with it. I only saw him play one guitar, a really nice black one. His hair is blonde now, & was tousled a bit, & while he'd worn a top hat when they arrived, he wasn't wearing it during the show. He had a great outfit on, with an open black ruffled shirt (which he further opened at various points during the show, in a supreme display of smexiness) & ripped black jeans with, I think, black shoes, maybe boots. He talked to us quite a bit, & threw water (hit me!) & picks into the crowd. He knows how to work his body really well (that side-to-side shimmy-dance he does is as intoxicating as it is cute!), & how to work a crowd!! His voice was spot-on, his face tremendously expressive, his stage presence thoroughly engaging.
As far as the setlist (in no particular order)...
New Vamps:
Plug In
Devil Side
Angel Trip
Euphoria
Vamp Addiction
Revolution
The Past
Samsara
My First Last
Old Vamps:
Love Addict
Secret In My Heart
Redrum
Sweet Dreams
Hunting
Sex Blood Rock & Roll
Hyde solo:
Dolly
It's Sad
Midnight Celebration
Covers:
Life On Mars
Trouble
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/vamps/2010/roseland-ballroom-new-york-ny-2bd5206e.html
Setlist (in order)
NOTE: It says on there that Vampire Depression was played, but I am 99.9999999% sure they didn’t actually play it. It’s one of my favourite Vamps songs, I would’ve remembered it.
There was a very tall gal up front (I swear, fans ought to be lined up by size at these things!! I had some tiny folks around me but all the Tall People seemed to be in front of us a lot of the time!!), holding up a sign that said something like, “I want to touch you, Ju-ken!” It was cute at first, but after a couple of songs, people were screaming at her to put it down! Nobody could see Hyde. :P Thankfully, she relented.
Gonna do something a little different this time around. What follows are some of the amazing clips of the show I’ve come across on YouTube, & I’ll throw in comments/anecdotes accordingly. I hope the folks who took them won’t mind if I post them here, but it really will give you a taste of what it was like (only not as sweaty, LOL). Plus, I’m too lazy to put them all on my YouTube playlist, & this way, I can go back to them whenever I want. ^_^
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z57eTUPk6dA
Devil Side / beginning of Redrum
Devil Side immediately follows Plug In to open the new album, so I figured they’d start off with it. I don’t know if you can hear it on this clip (or many of the others), but we were singing along with the lyrics A LOT during the show. Hyde didn’t seem to mind. :)
Before launching into Euphoria: “Hello NY! We’re back! Are you f**kin’ ready? Let’s make love…”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX66q6lQM48
Euphoria
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAvgGeAQYOg
Vamp Addiction
Hyde, K.A.Z, & Ju-ken switched up their positions A LOT, sometimes singing out of each other’s microphones. ^_^
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxKTL6afnAM
It’s Sad
They had these little spinning disc things above stage; they threw some out to audience members. I don’t think they threw out as many picks this year, tho’ - but we found out after the show that Naoko got one of K.A.Z’s! :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcFDN0ES7GU
The Past
During Sweet Dreams, the crowd didn’t crush (like last year), but swayed. Once again, the audience sang along, particularly with the “Good-night to you” chorus. It was nice. Somebody on YouTube wrote that Hyde was crying after they performed that song. I wonder if it’s true.
Before - was it Samsara (such a beautiful Zen moment!), or My First Last (which immediately followed)...? I can’t remember. But he said, “Let’s go to Heaven.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cr4Otqrh_KI
My First Last
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe46jwj9NzA
Life On Mars
Hunting was sooo cute!! He said, “We’re Vamps! Ah, fucking great! But...I’m so hungry.” And licked his lips! “Hungry...I’m hungry very much.” Of course, he meant this vampirically, but since he always talks about the local food whenever he addresses crowds, there were mutterings about pizza, since he’d mentioned, during last year’s show, that he’d had pizza. There were scattered call-outs of “what” - or, in some cases, “who” - “do you want to eat?” which he must’ve heard, ‘cuz next he said, “I wanna eat...the greatest Americans!” (Some sites are translating it as “crazy Americans”, but I stand by my own half-deaf ears ^_^). We scream, he says it again. We scream again. “Where are you? Where are you? Come on!” Then he launches into, “Where’s my lamb?” which, being a line from Hunting, means we already know a shout of, “Let’s hunting!” will be next, which it is (right after, “Come on, New York!”), followed by a rousing, extended version of the song. And every time the “Where’s my lamb?” line comes up, he does this cute searching thing, with his hand over his eyes, peering out into the screaming audience. Pretty enthralling stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQeuaXPuzL4
Hunting - intro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iZyvs9Pffg
Hunting / beginning of Angel Trip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIxgIriKiq0
Angel Trip (note Hyde’s approach: play a bit, throw the pick, play a bit, throw another pick - LOL; & watch that cute, sexy shimmy!)
OMG, Trouble was hilarious! “Are you feeling it?” asks Hyde. “Are you feeling it? I can’t hear you. Let me hear you scream!” We scream. He screams. We scream. He tells us to scream. We scream. He screams. This went on for a while. Unless you really are feeling it, you may want to smack Hyde in a shut-up-&-sing-already kind of way. XD
Me, I was feeling it. XD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCp2PY-Uo2A
Trouble (the sound quality’s not great, but watch Hyde work the crowd!! Ju-ken is pretty funny here, too.)
There was a moment, I think somewhere in this area, where I was getting light-headed from being crushed & howling so damn much, & I almost lost my footing. Johnathan & I got a bit separated; he started going a little more toward K.A.Z’s side & I was drifting a little toward Ju-ken’s. So, unlike Diru last year, he wasn’t able to help me out. But there was a very nice young man who did, & I thanked him for it. He had glasses & a bit of a beard. He smiled at me quite a bit when we’d catch sight of each other during the next couple of numbers.
I absolutely loved the fact that they chose to cover a Beatles song in honour of John Lennon’s birthday! They didn’t announce it or anything, so it came as a really pleasant surprise. And they totally rocked it!! The guitar had a sort of psychedelic fuzz going on at the beginning, & Hyde did the verses nice & slow, but the chorus (& the last verse) got speeded way up!! In the midst of the song, Hyde addressed the crowd: “I feel you. I feel you. I feel your hearts.”
Mr. Lennon would have been proud.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buKe_PzB-t0
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds / Sex Blood Rock & Roll
I found it amusing that they’d started with Sex Blood Rock & Roll last time, & finished with it this time. Of course, as with last year, we sang along with the whole thing.
Hyde addressed us briefly once they were finished, & the band took their leave. Ah, but our show is not over just yet.
We figured they’d HAVE to play Revolution, since it was one of the 4 pv’s (promotional videos) released with the new album. Plus, it’s a pretty exuberant number, sure to get the live crowds going. But they didn’t play it as part of the regular set. Itching for an encore anyway, the requisite shouts of “Vamps! Vamps! Vamps!” & “Encore! Encore!” (in English, if memory serves - at Diru, we usually do it in Japanese) were ultimately taken over by repeated sing-shouts of Revolution’s first line, “Bang on, stomp everybody”, often in successive rounds by different parts of the crowd. My brother had mentioned Revolution more than once throughout the day, wondering what kind of outcome might befall us with a song that has that as a first line. XD In any case, there was an Asian girl standing next to me who commented on the way I enthusiastically joined in the singing. “I like your spirit,” she said with a smile. I thanked her, but I think my brain had been deprived of oxygen just a bit too long, since I added, “I could be a cheerleader. It’s the Vamps pep squad!” :P
Finally, they came back out. Before launching into Love Addict, Hyde asked if Vamps came back again, would we come & see them again? We all screamed. Then he said, “We’ll be back.” I think he used a little Japanese around this point, for all the native-speaking fans. ^_^
Hyde & K.A.Z standing back-to-back during the opening of Love Addict. Squee!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OlZzMImK7A
Love Addict
When they played Revolution, it was SOOO worth the wait! Hyde, being exceptionally sexy (sorry, fangirl attack - I really think he was more intentionally sexy this time around), let us sing the back parts of the chorus, & Ju-ken was putting the mic into the crowd to catch people singing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isSBgJoFKVc
Revolution
I forget exactly where it fell in the set, but K.A.Z talked to us!! He didn’t do that last year. He was kind of hard to hear, tho’. He’s very soft-spoken. I know he said they were having a great time with us, that they loved us, & that they hoped to see us again in the future.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5OGzFgZ_Yw
Midnight Celebration
They'd thrown some stuff out, & Johnathan nearly caught 2 water bottles & one of Arimatsu's drum sticks, but they just missed him. :P
As a band, I’d classify Vamps as “fun rock”. Kind of alternative, a little classic, sometimes heavy, sometimes light, often sexy. Their songs can be angry, thoughtful, beautiful, &/or sad, too - all the things I usually love in music - tho’ I think, at heart, Hyde is a romantic who tries to have a positive outlook. This band is largely about energy & fun, & you can clearly see they put that into their shows. It may not be out-&-out metal like, say, Dir en grey (tho’ you’ll see the devil horns at Vamps shows, too ^_^), but these guys are no less dedicated to their art.
A little extra:
http://kimi-ni-hana.blogspot.com/2010/10/ny.html
This site has translated blog entries & photos from the band members, with regard to the NY show & their appearance at Comic-Con.
We were sad to see them go, but it was a great show. Ah, but our adventure does not end there.
Johnathan & I found each other after the show, & he waited for me while I went to get the tour goods. I must say, the crush of the pit hadn’t been as bad as last year’s Vamps show, or last year’s Dir en grey show, which we were both glad of. Unfortunately, the merchandise stall was so mobbed (between people trying to get stuff & people who bought things trying to get out), it was very nearly worse than being in the pit at any of those shows!
They had a lot of awesome stuff, tho’, & the prices were good. No tour books this year, but they had posters. Nice ones. Only $5!! They were selling both albums, but I already have those. They had a tote bag this year, which looked better than last year’s - sturdier - but it was smaller. Those were $10. The wrist-bands were the small, rubber kind this year, instead of the sweat-band kind from last year, & just said Vamps (last year’s has the lip-logo - in our photos, you can see me wearing mine). The price was decent, tho’ - 2 for $5; they come in a set, 1 black & 1 orange. Shirts were $20 - they had white ones & black ones. I’ll talk about those in a moment, but first, they also had decorative fans for $25, & omamori for $15.
I’d brought my own little decorative fan, which is collapsible, & used it a bit during this time. I helped out a few air-deprived folks around me by fanning them, too, which they appreciated. A couple of people behind me lamented that the band didn’t play Kyuuketsu, which I’d also wanted to hear (as did Johnathan - it’s prob’ly the heaviest number they have). It actually surprised me a bit that they chose to do last year’s b-sides (Trouble & Life On Mars) instead of this year’s (Kyuuketsu & Live Wire).
The way the shirts were hung on the display board made it look like there were 2 different designs, but it was just to show both sides. Unfortunately, they were out of my brother’s size, so he couldn’t get a shirt (this is why I say to get merch first, but no one listens to me). But I did get him a set of wristbands. For myself, I got a shirt, an omamori - I picked the one with the Vamps lips & purple roses - & a poster.
I was VERY happy that they rolled the posters & wrapped them in plastic before handing them out (Diru’s people could take a hint here). In fact, I had to wait a little bit to get the poster that I wanted, ‘cuz they had to roll some more up. :)
The little half-moon shapes say Vamps on one side, Beast on the other. Can anyone help me with the Kanji in the middle?
At the bottom is - I’m not sure what it’s called - one of those little red “seals” you often see on Asian art or websites. Not sure about the left side of the square, but I’m almost positive the right side has the Kanji for ‘blood’.
The shirt is nice, but I wish they’d also had some other styles available, like lip-logo ones (that was last year’s design). I liked the fact that they gave it to you rolled up, with elastic bands on each end. My only problem is with the sizes. If what I got was a medium (actually, it says LADIES medium), I’d hate to see what a small must be like!! I will have to hand-wash this shirt (I do that with my t-shirts anyway), ‘cuz if it shrinks, I’ll never be able to wear it! It just fits me, but I found it extremely odd that the shirt I wore to the show was also a medium, & it’s quite a bit roomier than the one I bought. So their people could take a lesson - be careful with the sizing!!
(I wore my shirt to my mom’s the next day.)
We convened outside to chat briefly with Naoko & wagashi. I was sad to hear that the X folks got yelled at by some random person (I think it was a woman?), criticising them for...I’m not even 100% sure, tho’ someone in the line explained it to me. Watching our stuff was part of it, so I felt bad. But wagashi was really sweet & awesome about it. Hugs all around (Naoko hugged my brother, too, which he wasn’t expecting! ^_^), & bids of safe trips home, & we said a reluctant good-bye to our new friends (but, happily, I am still keeping in touch with them on-line!). As my brother said, “It sucks going back to real life.”
Across the street to the sushi place for snacks & tea. Walked back to the bus station - nice night, but chilly! I was still hot, so I didn’t even wear my jacket. :P What made me think we should walk 10 blocks with so many people about, after being on our feet in the pit all that time, I have no idea. But my brother is a trooper, bless him! We actually saw a Hummer-style limo driving down a side street, but we weren’t sure if the band was in it or not. We’d seen something similar pull away from the club after the show, but we didn’t see anyone come out of the place (we were up by the front with the X crowd) or hear any screams from fans.
We got back to the bus station & found our way to the gate pretty quickly. Called my mom, talked until the bus came. Texted diru915 from the bus to tell her we were on our way home from an awesome show.
Talked about the show most of the way back. By the time we got to our stop, we were the only ones on the bus! On the way home from the station...well, driving in the dark is hard for me, being night-blind, so I missed a turn & took us a little bit out of our way. But I figured out where I was, turned around, & found my way back. We were soooo tired when we got to my house!! One of the cable channels had been running Stephen King stories all day, & we were able to catch a bit of Pet Sematary. But we didn’t make it to the end, we were so sleepy.
We got up not too early (I let Johnathan sleep in while I got ready), got our stuff together, & I took him to the Dunkin Donuts near my house for breakfast. It didn’t seem to be my morning, tho’, as I encountered a few mishaps (I lost a hubcap somewhere, accidentally drove over one of those concrete islands where they plant trees in parking lots, & missed a turn on the way to my mom’s ’cuz I think they took the sign down due to construction or something, & I didn’t hear the GPS say to turn), we got back to my mom’s a bit later than expected. But we still had a nice enough time, watching videos (I recently bought the first Boondock Saints movie, so my mom was happy she could finally see it! Also brought Return of the Living Dead 3, & watched REC [the original Quarantine] from her on-demand menu), & telling her all about the Vamps show.
Both Johnathan & Mattie had to work Monday, but I was up early enough that I could say good-bye to them. Did a bit of browsing around the shops with my mom (took a couple more Halloween-related photos), chatted, watched tv, had some lunch, & set off a little early to try & beat the work traffic.
I’ve been working on this report ever since. XD But now it’s done!
Thanks for reading!
http://japanesedream.livejournal.com/310947.html
Vamps - 11 July 2009 at the Fillmore/Irving Plaza, NYC
Flash forward now to 2010...
Our adventure actually begins on Friday (I had off work both Fri. & Mon.). Johnathan had to work, so I spent the day with my mom. We were on a mission, of sorts. Well, I was. See, last year, my mom had gotten some really cool candy, I guess it was a post-Halloween sale or something. It was called Fright Bites, individually-wrapped fudge candies, lip-shaped, with white chocolate fangs. The wrappers were red lips with white fangs, some dripping blood. I took a photo of them, let’s see if I can dig it up.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v415/japanesedream/vamps-candy.jpg
She'd gotten the candy at Dollar Tree, in a nice-sized bag (not sure how many came in it) for, like, 50 cents. I thought that would have been the perfect gift for Vamps, if only I'd had them when I went to last year's show (never mind the show was in July & the candy didn't come out 'til October), since there had been a box for presents for the band, which I knew nothing about prior to the show; thus, sadly, I had nothing to give them. This year's show being in October, I thought I had a shot at good timing.
Very little in my life ever turns out to be easy, & this was no exception. Dollar Tree didn't have them! We looked up & down the candy aisle & in all the boxes in the Halloween section, but nothing. Fortunately, I didn't leave without stimulating the local economy - after snagging the last pair of Vamps socks!! They're not official, but dang, are they appropriate!!
Wal-Mart was nearby, & we had a look there, too, with no success. However, we did get to take some snazzy photos.
My mom shows off her Devil Side. ^_~
Gothic-Lolita witch hats!
One last possibility lay on the other side of the shopping centre, in the form of Party City. Lots of awesome stuff... & would you believe it, that included Vamps candy!!! Not in a bag, tho' - you had to buy them individually. But at that point, I didn't care!! I figured there are 5 guys in Vamps, & then myself & my brother, so I got 30 pieces, & a pack of resealable Halloween treat bags. I couldn't find a little gift bag with handles, but I thought I might be able to pick one up on the way home, since there's a Dollar Tree not too far from me.
Divvied up the candy when I got back to my mom's - 4 pieces each for the band members, 5 each for Johnathan & me. Hung out & chatted & watched some tv & whatnot, until Mattie & Johnathan got home from work (they work in the same place). I was able to show everyone that clip of us at the Boondock Saints Q&A in MD (filmed it with my camera off the computer), which they got a kick out of.
After a little bit, Johnathan gathered up his stuff & we set out. Sadly, the Fri. night traffic was HORRIBLE!! It was Cherry Hill all over again!! Took a lot longer than we'd anticipated to get back, but we finally made it. Actually, we didn't go straight home; I'd had the idea Johnathan might've wanted to try Fuji, the Japanese buffet (I took our other brother, Mark, there when he visited a couple weeks ago). I've kinda corrupted the poor kid, getting him into sushi & other Asian goodies, but it's not so readily available where he lives - I mean, here, we can buy it in the grocery store. :P
Had a nice dinner at Fuji, despite the absence of a some of my personal favourites (two squid-related items, seaweed & crab salads, & a couple of types of sushi - I have the feeling some of these may be lunch-only items), then made our way back to my place. Of course, it was after I got home that I realised I’d forgotten to stop someplace to try & find an appropriate gift bag. Figured I could scrounge up something at home, which I did. (You’ll see the result later.) Called my mom (we'd talked to her on the way, but said we'd call when we got to the house), watched a little Nip/Tuck (I'd already seen the ones they were airing) & a little Larry King (my mom told us about the John Lennon tribute), then I showed him the new Vamps pv's (I’ll put the links below, in case you’re interested), & we watched a whole mess of other junk (mostly J-rock, but some other stuff, too) on YouTube. ^_^
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ram_f9QBwWo
Devil Side
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A83IEoKO_eA
Angel Trip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwsI5UrX5lo
Revolution
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bM75g7Y7MSA
My First Last
I was up at 5 am, contending with the various issues that so often plague me when I have somewhere important to go, as well as a few new ones. :P Let Johnathan sleep a bit, but not too late - I wanted to get into the City early! Soon enough, we were posing for the customary I’m-not-bringing-my-camera-but-we-need-to-take-a-pic-before-we-leave pics. XD
He was gonna do the heavy metal devil horns, but I suggested we take one doing the V for Vamps. The shot was nice, but a tad reminiscent of the one we took before the Dir en grey concert last year - http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v415/japanesedream/diru-mejohnathan.jpg
For the second pic, I said, “Okay, now let’s do Japanese metal,” but I don’t think he got that I was talking about the devil horns. So he Vamped & I horned. XD Still a great shot, tho’!
In case you can’t tell, I’m wearing my Zombie Vampires From Hell t-shirt, which my mom & brothers got me last year for Xmas:
http://pics.livejournal.com/japanesedream/pic/00008w91
I just wish someone would’ve told me I’d drawn my eyebrows on crooked!! There was a girl who came down to our part of the line late in the day, & asked if she could take a couple pics of me for “an art project”, which I let her do; after I loaded my photos onto my computer, I was, like, “OMG, she has pictures of me with crooked eyebrows!!!!” It’s prob’ly an art project on idiotic faces or something. :P
But I’m ahead of myself.
Grabbed our stuff & set off for the bus station. Got our tickets & then some breakfast. I'd promised to take him to the Dunkin Donuts next to the bus station, since he told me he'd never been to one before. After eating, it wasn't a tremendously long wait for the bus, which was good. Dozed a bit on the way, woke up in time to point out the Weehawken public library, which looks a bit like a castle. ^_^
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v415/japanesedream/nyc72410/weehawken.jpg
Made it pretty easily out of Port Authority & down to the subway, which was also good. Unfortunately, I didn't realise we'd taken an express train instead of the local, so I missed the stop, which was not so good. But I did see the COOLEST t-shirt on a girl sitting across from us - it was all movie spoilers!! Really groovy, & I told her how awesome I thought it was.
http://technabob.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/spoiler_tshirt.gif
We ended up having to walk 7 blocks back instead of 2 up, but it was a nice morning, & I figured we might not get that much exercise being in line, so we could use the walk. Luckily, despite the extra time spent, there wasn't very much of a line. Much like my Dir en grey show in August, we got there around 10, & were a little way past the turn around the first corner.
We were lined up on the side of Savoy Bank. The girl directly in front of us was sitting on some newspaper, which I thought was kinda sad, considering it wasn't THAT warm, & the concrete was not only cold but hard. I had my chair & my 3 concert-sitting blankets, & offered her one of the blankets. She kindly accepted, & we got to talking. Turns out she's on LJ, too! This would be my new friend wagashi. She was actually waiting for the X-Japan show the following night, as I found out several people were. (Others were waiting, like us, for Vamps. Some were going to both shows. But all of us were in the same line, at that point.) She'd spent a number of years living & working in Japan, & had many interesting stories to share!
She was also the one who solved the mystery of what I had dubbed ‘the Hide problem’. I’d been wondering what X was going to do for this tour, in terms of their late guitarist, Hide (that’s HEE-day, for those of you who don’t know). She’d said they were doing shows (I guess in Japan) using a hologram of Hide (with, I assume, his guitar parts recorded?), which would’ve been pretty cool to see...but for the tour, their pal, Sugizo (ex-Luna Sea), would be filling in. Which is pretty cool, too. (Incidentally, if Miss B. Lily Rose is reading this, I wanna hear the pizza story!! ^_^)
As with every J-rock show I've attended in NYC, lots & lots (& lots!) of people came up to us, asking what we were there for. At least 3/4 of them asked Johnathan! He was, apparently, the go-to guy for answers. XD (He started what became a running joke throughout the day that we - but especially he - should've charged people to get that question answered. XD) One person asked if we were protesting something. XD We all told the truth this time around, & spread the Vamps love. Actually, most of the time we just said we were waiting for a Japanese rock band. Sometimes we told them which band. One person asked, 'cuz they said they listened to Japanese rock! We thought about lying & telling people we were there for something else. Justin Bieber's name came up. XD The Rolling Stones (would've explained all the lip logos, LOL). Tony Bennett. XD One of the plays at the nearby theatres...
You get the idea.
Anywho, just on the off-chance that there was a signing, I'd brought the Rock & Read issue I'd gotten on my Roseland dry-run (http://japanesedream.livejournal.com/383714.html). At one point, I was holding it up for people when they asked about the line, to give them a visual aid as to the band we were waiting for. It was around this time that I made my second new friend, a very, very (very!) nice girl named Naoko, who is from Tokyo but is currently studying English in Toronto, Canada. She was lucky enough to have seen some Vamps shows in Japan! She kindly showed me her Hyde/L'Arc-en-Ciel/Vamps-related tattoos (there were a couple people with tattoos of that nature, as well as jewelry - where do people get this stuff??), & let me listen to some Ken (L'Arc guitarist) solo tunes on her iPod. By the end of the day, she said to let her know when I get back to Tokyo (she may return next year - I hope I will be back there by then!), & we hope to someday get to see a Hyde-related live show there together. ^_^
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7TCjRGC4Gc
S by Ken - awesome!
The 3 of us chatted quite a bit, but there was lots more going on, besides us. A guy came by passing out religious flyers. The Times Square patrol (were they actual police or simply guards of some sort?) were trying to figure out what to do with us. XD We saw a group of girls doing a weird group photo. Kind of Sex & the City meets America's Next Top Model. People-watching is always fun...especially when there's been an anime convention nearby during the same weekend! (Vamps had made an appearance there, incidentally.) There were various people in cosplay strolling by (we had seen a couple on our way down to the line, as well). The Edward Scissorhands/Mad Hatter pairing was a particular highlight. Some Loli girls, too! One guy further up in line was dressed in a kangaroo suit, complete with joey. XD And, of course, it was also John Lennon's birthday, so there were a great many people in Beatles-related gear who walked past.
There was a sushi & sake bar called something like Flash Dancer’s (technically, I think it's a 'gentlemen's club'), two doors down from the sushi place where we were getting our food & drinks. We mused on the possibility of the band going there after the show (I think this was because Naoko said she might try & wait for the band afterward), & resumed the joke that started at Monster-Mania 16 in MD, that if you want to see the stars, “To the bar!”
When one has friends in line, things are a little easier. You can have someone hold down the fort (y'know, watch your stuff) & leave for a bit to do your thing. Stretch your legs. Check out the other end of the line. Get some food. Find a lavatory. Whatever. So we would take little excursions. Johnathan took a few (including a couple sushi runs across the street - he was awesome & shared some with me). wagashi & Naoko did, too. Later, the girls & I took one together.
I'd mentioned to Naoko how I'd gotten my Rock & Read at Kinokuniya a few blocks away, & she'd wanted to take a walk down. So around 1:30, we, along with wagashi, went to do it, while Johnathan guarded camp. We got to see ourselves (tiny, of course) on the big screen thing they have over the Forever 21 store that replaced the old Virgin Megastore. Hit Kinokuniya soon after, where we perused the 'zines & such, followed by the requisite trip upstairs for music, movies, & books. One of the first things I spotted was a NEW Rock & Read with ANOTHER Vamps cover article! Naoko & I both got that. I also picked up the new Vamps singles, Devil Side & Angel Trip. For the b-sides, of course - Kyuuketsu & a cover of Motley Crue's Live Wire. I'd showed Johnathan those on YouTube on Friday, & said next time I went to Kinokuniya, I'd pick them up. I still want the 2009 tour video, but it's $80!! A $20 book (which I can't yet read) & two $12 singles are about all I can afford. Especially when I still have to buy official tour merch! XD
They had free flyer cards for both Vamps & X-Japan, & we snagged some of those (I got some for Johnathan, too). Shared more Japan-related tales on the way back. And in case my friend, styxonline, is reading this, I hope it doesn't spoil Raccoon storytelling, but I got a heads-up on the beef between Gatsu & Griffith - wagashi bought an issue of the Berserk manga. ^_^ Turns out we both dig DBZ's Vegeta, too. :D
Stopped at the sushi place to get some liquid refreshment. Met a couple gals in there with awesome Loli dresses. I guess they'd gone to the convention. One of them had a maid-like dress, & wore a cupcake-shaped hat. She introduced herself, but I can't for the life of me remember what her name was. :P She had Vamps-style socks like mine! (But hers were black & had more than 2 sets of fang-lips; it was a repeating motif.) She also told us about the omamori; I think she said hers came from the San Francisco show (I believe Vamps only did 3 shows in the US this year, as part of a world tour). These are charms of a sort, & she had 2 of them (different patterns) attached to her bodice. Reminded me a little of the prayer thing I'd gotten my mom at the Meiji Shrine, in that it is reportedly bad luck to open it. Same with these; but, rather than a prayer, the omamori contain a guitar string from the band!
Slightly disappointing return to the line, however, 'cuz we found out Vamps had arrived about half an hour after we left!! They'd pulled up in a stretch-Hummer, got out, & were promptly mobbed. They were shaking people's hands & such, or so we heard (my brother had seen the limo pull up, but hadn't seen them get out, only heard the screams), & some of their staff were passing out flyers (larger versions of the cards we picked up in the bookstore). I hadn't brought my camera, but another girl we were talking to (I never did get her name, but we chatted quite a bit, esp. toward the latter part of the day) got it on video, & was kind enough to show it to us.
This isn’t her footage, but it’s the best clip of the arrival that I could find.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCavK_YLZ9I
Look for the guy in the black jacket cordoning Hyde off from the fans around the 16-second mark. See him? You’ll hear more about him later. Okay, now continue looking at Hyde. XD
The girl had gone to the convention, too, & showed me some pictures from that, as well. I believe she was the one who said she’d heard the band (or was it their management?) were kinda ticked off at the tickets having “The Vamps” as the band’s name, as opposed to their actual name, which is simply “Vamps”. (The marquee got it right, tho’.) She was also the one who broke the unfortunate news to me that Hyde & his wife, Megumi, had divorced. Apparently, being apart for extended amounts of time due to their careers had taken a toll on the marriage. The same fate had befallen T.M. Revolution & his wife (one of the girls from Puffy Ami Yumi, if I'm not mistaken), she said. And I finally got the story on the long-ago hush-hush Gackt marriage. That, too, sadly, came to an end.
What did not come to an end, tho’, was the generous nature of wagashi - she shared cookies & candy with us (& with the possibly homeless guy who came around later & gave us local newspapers), introduced us to some of the other friends she occasionally popped off to see further up in the line (like that sweet girl, Aika), &, nicest of all, she offered to watch our coats & bags (& Naoko's) while we were inside! (Saved us money on coat-check, too.) It was getting chilly & dark by the time they split the line up, separating the X people from the Vamps crowd, so I let her wrap up in one of our blankets (I think that was Johnathan's suggestion). I also gave her & Naoko each a piece of Vamps candy. :)
Speaking of candy, I was just hoping for a gift box once we got inside. I didn't have anything in terms of a card or even my/our name(s) or anything in there. I'm not sure of the etiquette of these sort of things, & I didn't want to risk writing something INCREDIBLY stupid (I've written one fan-letter in my life, not J-rock, but it ended up being exactly that: STUPID) - so it was this completely anonymous gift in the world's goofiest-looking bag (the only one I had available to give), that had been across 2 states over 2 days, & had sat 9 hours in various spots in the line, with me moving it about every time the sun made a minute progression across the sky, hoping like hell it wouldn't be melted by the time the band got it. :P
We put up with a lot of things in lines. Weather. Shifting sunlight. Passersby looking at us, talking about us, asking us the proverbial, ‘What are you here for?’, taking pictures of us. But one thing we cannot tolerate is bird poo! The pigeons seemed to like Savoy Bank. A lot. Thus, midway through the day, a number of us shifted our belongings slightly further out into the sidewalk. Careful not to block pedestrian pathways, of course.
We saw lots of Vamps-associated people floating about. Naoko pointed out the guy who writes their English Myspace page, the guy who heads up Vamprose (their label), & Hyde's manager! There was also a film crew who seemed to be going down the line, talking to fans...until they got close to us, & then they skipped over us, opting instead to follow the older gentleman rocking the Linkin Park sweatshirt. XD We guessed he was related to the guy in the orange sweater (behind us, a bit further down), who they were also filming, along with a bunch of other fans.
There were some VIP-looking people, too, including one who could've been a shorter version of X-Japan's Yoshiki. XD And later, a girl I dubbed 'the lost member of X', who looked like the band in their VK/hair-metal heyday! After they split up the line & moved us up, we saw people coming down with signed goodies. Turns out there'd been some kind of contest on Myspace, & they must've had a certain number of winners, who were allowed to go in early & get signed merch (Naoko & I went up to find security & ask). I heard the VIP's were by invitation, possibly randomly-generated during ticket sales, I dunno.
Point is, none of our little contingent were among the fortunate. Ah well.
After standing around for another hour or so, & watching those who thought they might like a drink do the I.D. thing with the venue staff member who was going down the line, we just counted ourselves lucky that, at long last, they were starting to let people in! They did it in groups. Technically, the line hadn't gone all the way up to the venue. I'd been told they weren't letting the people at the front camp out directly in front of the box office, instead pushing them back a bit. Some of them had been there for a couple days. In any case, we bid good-bye to wagashi for the time being, & made our way inside when they called for the next group.
They checked bags & did pat-downs (this time, the girls got patted, too!), & tore off a piece of our tickets, leaving us the remainder as yet another souvenir of the evening. Speaking of souvenirs, I'd vowed to get merch beforehand, but got out-voted. I gave in, but I told my brother I'd kick his butt all the way back to Pennsylvania if they didn't have any shirts left after the show!! I'd missed out last year 'cuz I'd waited 'til afterward to hit the merch table, & I was darned if it were gonna happen again.
Needed to hit the ladies' room before the performance, but first, I had to contend with the problem of there being NO GIFT BOX!! Thought I'd gotten ditched, since everybody seemed to be running off to the floor/pit area, but I couldn't let my gift go ungiven. Spotted a couple of the staffers we'd seen outside conversing not far from the merch table. One left, but I cornered the other one. Yep, you guessed it, the guy from the 16-second mark in the arrival video.
As my Japanese is way below par, I tried English, going as slowly as I could given - pardon the pun - how vamped up I was. :P I mentioned there being a box last year for gifts for the band, & said I didn't see one, asking if there were anywhere to leave a gift for the band. I think he got the idea that I wanted to give them something, He said I could give it to him, & he took it.
I have no idea if it ever got to the band. But if you ever read anything about them getting candy in NY, that was from me.
Simple, nice lavatory. Purple, if memory serves. A couple of us couldn’t get the paper towel things to work after we washed our hands, tho’, so...anywho, Johnathan was sweet & waited for me. Next, it was off to the pit!
In went the earplugs, but even with those, the music was already loud. They were playing Linkin Park's The Catalyst as we walked in. Didn't recognise anything else they played, other than Marilyn Manson's This Is The New Sh*t.
A huge Vamps lip-logo banner was hung as a backdrop, & lots of people tried taking pictures of it. The microphones, synthesisers, & drums were all there & ready, as well as a box/platform for Hyde (like Dir en grey’s Kyo, Hyde is one of the Short People), as well as his signature mic-stand with the roses on it. A guy (I guess from the venue) came out - twice - before the band took the stage, to tell us they weren't allowing any recording or photography. Of course, the audience pretty much laughed this off. What were they gonna do - jump in & drag everybody out that had a camera? It wasn't long before the place started to fill up behind us, & the empty space that had been there when they let us in was becoming less & less visible. It was getting hot & my back hurt. We were pretty close, tho’ - & determined to stay that way, LOL!
Every once in a while, we'd look up at the balcony areas to our left, & see people. We couldn't tell who they were, but people shouted & cheered, obviously thinking they were members of the band. For all I know, they could've been. I do know they had camera people there, filming everything.
My brother said he saw an older lady at the edge of the pit. Did he say she had a cane? I hope she made it out of there in one piece! Because chants of, “Vamps! Vamps! Vamps!” began, & soon enough (actually, it was after 8 by this point - 10 hours from our initial arrival), the instrumental Plug In began to play, the boys came out, the crush commenced (technically, I think it started before the band emerged), & we all went nuts!!
Arimatsu hasn't changed very much. I think his hair might be a little longer, but aside from that, he looks the same as last year. He was wearing 2 tank tops - a black one & a white one (so yes, the tattoos were visible) - &, I guess, jeans. I got some good looks at him pounding away on his drums. You can see the power he puts into it. His kit had the Beast (new album) logo/cover shot on the bass drum.
Jin, I got to see for the first time live! I'd seen him on video clips. He does all the synth stuff, & those little percussive bits that start out Sex Blood Rock & Roll. He’s got dark hair, which he had pulled back (I think there are some shaved bits on the sides), & a goatee. He was wearing a grey suit, I think. I noticed the jacket (it may have had a Chinese-style collar). He’s kinda tucked away behind Ju-ken (more like Ju-ken’s amp), so he’s difficult to see during most of the show. But I got a pretty decent view of him when the guys came out on-stage.
Ju-ken hasn't changed much, either. Still has that long, banded goatee. With the lights, it was a little difficult to tell exactly what colour his hair is these days, but I can tell you it was streaked, like the colours were layered a bit. (K.A.Z has something similar to this - it seems to be a trend with Japanese artists.) He wore a black button-down shirt with a Kiss tie (made me smile), & dark pants or jeans, as well as his trademark top hat with a V for Vamps on it. ^_^ He was the only one in full make-up, esp. around his eyes. Not just liner, there were designs under/around them. He’s a crazy man on-stage! He helped encourage the crowd to sing & clap along with various numbers, & puts a lot of (positive) energy into his performance. It's funny & joyous to watch him do things like spin around in circles with his bass, or drop to his knees & bop along with a number while playing (nowhere was this more evident than during Trouble!). During one or two other songs, he spit mouthfuls of rose petals into the crowd! I think he also pulled a Kyo & played water fountain, spitting water on the audience. I don't know how many bass guitars he may have played, but I know he had a red one, & used the upright bass-fiddle thing on Sweet Dreams, like last year.
K.A.Z looked a little thinner than in recent photos, but a good, in-shape kind of thinner. He wore a no-sleeve black & white striped shirt with a vest. I think it had the words "harder rubber" on it. Nice view of the tattoo on his right arm (I forget if it’s a snake or a dragon - my brother & I were talking about it on the way home). I'm guessing he wore jeans. His hair was a layered blonde & dark, & defied gravity. XD (I watched a clip of Vamps' Comic-Con appearance, & someone asked him about that at the Q&A; he said he keeps it up via "static electricity". XD) At times, it looked a little wind-blown, too. Maybe Dir en grey's Die lent K.A.Z his fan, LOL. XD I could see a few guitars that K.A.Z used, including at least one flying-V (maybe 2?). He did a lot more throwing his guitar back & letting it spin around his body than last year! He threw water into the audience toward the end of the show, too, as well as his water bottles & some picks. He & Ju-ken did perfectly fine with their respective backing vocals, & for the first time, K.A.Z talked to us! More on that later.
Hyde. What can one say about Hyde? The man is beautiful - maybe even moreso this time than last time. He seemed to be working his sexy a lot more this year (last year, he seemed more playful), & his eyes were SOOO intense!! He still (as I noted at last year’s show) rides the high of the music, closing his eyes at intervals & letting the emotion flow through him, communing with it. I only saw him play one guitar, a really nice black one. His hair is blonde now, & was tousled a bit, & while he'd worn a top hat when they arrived, he wasn't wearing it during the show. He had a great outfit on, with an open black ruffled shirt (which he further opened at various points during the show, in a supreme display of smexiness) & ripped black jeans with, I think, black shoes, maybe boots. He talked to us quite a bit, & threw water (hit me!) & picks into the crowd. He knows how to work his body really well (that side-to-side shimmy-dance he does is as intoxicating as it is cute!), & how to work a crowd!! His voice was spot-on, his face tremendously expressive, his stage presence thoroughly engaging.
As far as the setlist (in no particular order)...
New Vamps:
Plug In
Devil Side
Angel Trip
Euphoria
Vamp Addiction
Revolution
The Past
Samsara
My First Last
Old Vamps:
Love Addict
Secret In My Heart
Redrum
Sweet Dreams
Hunting
Sex Blood Rock & Roll
Hyde solo:
Dolly
It's Sad
Midnight Celebration
Covers:
Life On Mars
Trouble
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/vamps/2010/roseland-ballroom-new-york-ny-2bd5206e.html
Setlist (in order)
NOTE: It says on there that Vampire Depression was played, but I am 99.9999999% sure they didn’t actually play it. It’s one of my favourite Vamps songs, I would’ve remembered it.
There was a very tall gal up front (I swear, fans ought to be lined up by size at these things!! I had some tiny folks around me but all the Tall People seemed to be in front of us a lot of the time!!), holding up a sign that said something like, “I want to touch you, Ju-ken!” It was cute at first, but after a couple of songs, people were screaming at her to put it down! Nobody could see Hyde. :P Thankfully, she relented.
Gonna do something a little different this time around. What follows are some of the amazing clips of the show I’ve come across on YouTube, & I’ll throw in comments/anecdotes accordingly. I hope the folks who took them won’t mind if I post them here, but it really will give you a taste of what it was like (only not as sweaty, LOL). Plus, I’m too lazy to put them all on my YouTube playlist, & this way, I can go back to them whenever I want. ^_^
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z57eTUPk6dA
Devil Side / beginning of Redrum
Devil Side immediately follows Plug In to open the new album, so I figured they’d start off with it. I don’t know if you can hear it on this clip (or many of the others), but we were singing along with the lyrics A LOT during the show. Hyde didn’t seem to mind. :)
Before launching into Euphoria: “Hello NY! We’re back! Are you f**kin’ ready? Let’s make love…”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX66q6lQM48
Euphoria
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAvgGeAQYOg
Vamp Addiction
Hyde, K.A.Z, & Ju-ken switched up their positions A LOT, sometimes singing out of each other’s microphones. ^_^
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxKTL6afnAM
It’s Sad
They had these little spinning disc things above stage; they threw some out to audience members. I don’t think they threw out as many picks this year, tho’ - but we found out after the show that Naoko got one of K.A.Z’s! :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcFDN0ES7GU
The Past
During Sweet Dreams, the crowd didn’t crush (like last year), but swayed. Once again, the audience sang along, particularly with the “Good-night to you” chorus. It was nice. Somebody on YouTube wrote that Hyde was crying after they performed that song. I wonder if it’s true.
Before - was it Samsara (such a beautiful Zen moment!), or My First Last (which immediately followed)...? I can’t remember. But he said, “Let’s go to Heaven.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cr4Otqrh_KI
My First Last
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe46jwj9NzA
Life On Mars
Hunting was sooo cute!! He said, “We’re Vamps! Ah, fucking great! But...I’m so hungry.” And licked his lips! “Hungry...I’m hungry very much.” Of course, he meant this vampirically, but since he always talks about the local food whenever he addresses crowds, there were mutterings about pizza, since he’d mentioned, during last year’s show, that he’d had pizza. There were scattered call-outs of “what” - or, in some cases, “who” - “do you want to eat?” which he must’ve heard, ‘cuz next he said, “I wanna eat...the greatest Americans!” (Some sites are translating it as “crazy Americans”, but I stand by my own half-deaf ears ^_^). We scream, he says it again. We scream again. “Where are you? Where are you? Come on!” Then he launches into, “Where’s my lamb?” which, being a line from Hunting, means we already know a shout of, “Let’s hunting!” will be next, which it is (right after, “Come on, New York!”), followed by a rousing, extended version of the song. And every time the “Where’s my lamb?” line comes up, he does this cute searching thing, with his hand over his eyes, peering out into the screaming audience. Pretty enthralling stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQeuaXPuzL4
Hunting - intro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iZyvs9Pffg
Hunting / beginning of Angel Trip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIxgIriKiq0
Angel Trip (note Hyde’s approach: play a bit, throw the pick, play a bit, throw another pick - LOL; & watch that cute, sexy shimmy!)
OMG, Trouble was hilarious! “Are you feeling it?” asks Hyde. “Are you feeling it? I can’t hear you. Let me hear you scream!” We scream. He screams. We scream. He tells us to scream. We scream. He screams. This went on for a while. Unless you really are feeling it, you may want to smack Hyde in a shut-up-&-sing-already kind of way. XD
Me, I was feeling it. XD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCp2PY-Uo2A
Trouble (the sound quality’s not great, but watch Hyde work the crowd!! Ju-ken is pretty funny here, too.)
There was a moment, I think somewhere in this area, where I was getting light-headed from being crushed & howling so damn much, & I almost lost my footing. Johnathan & I got a bit separated; he started going a little more toward K.A.Z’s side & I was drifting a little toward Ju-ken’s. So, unlike Diru last year, he wasn’t able to help me out. But there was a very nice young man who did, & I thanked him for it. He had glasses & a bit of a beard. He smiled at me quite a bit when we’d catch sight of each other during the next couple of numbers.
I absolutely loved the fact that they chose to cover a Beatles song in honour of John Lennon’s birthday! They didn’t announce it or anything, so it came as a really pleasant surprise. And they totally rocked it!! The guitar had a sort of psychedelic fuzz going on at the beginning, & Hyde did the verses nice & slow, but the chorus (& the last verse) got speeded way up!! In the midst of the song, Hyde addressed the crowd: “I feel you. I feel you. I feel your hearts.”
Mr. Lennon would have been proud.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buKe_PzB-t0
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds / Sex Blood Rock & Roll
I found it amusing that they’d started with Sex Blood Rock & Roll last time, & finished with it this time. Of course, as with last year, we sang along with the whole thing.
Hyde addressed us briefly once they were finished, & the band took their leave. Ah, but our show is not over just yet.
We figured they’d HAVE to play Revolution, since it was one of the 4 pv’s (promotional videos) released with the new album. Plus, it’s a pretty exuberant number, sure to get the live crowds going. But they didn’t play it as part of the regular set. Itching for an encore anyway, the requisite shouts of “Vamps! Vamps! Vamps!” & “Encore! Encore!” (in English, if memory serves - at Diru, we usually do it in Japanese) were ultimately taken over by repeated sing-shouts of Revolution’s first line, “Bang on, stomp everybody”, often in successive rounds by different parts of the crowd. My brother had mentioned Revolution more than once throughout the day, wondering what kind of outcome might befall us with a song that has that as a first line. XD In any case, there was an Asian girl standing next to me who commented on the way I enthusiastically joined in the singing. “I like your spirit,” she said with a smile. I thanked her, but I think my brain had been deprived of oxygen just a bit too long, since I added, “I could be a cheerleader. It’s the Vamps pep squad!” :P
Finally, they came back out. Before launching into Love Addict, Hyde asked if Vamps came back again, would we come & see them again? We all screamed. Then he said, “We’ll be back.” I think he used a little Japanese around this point, for all the native-speaking fans. ^_^
Hyde & K.A.Z standing back-to-back during the opening of Love Addict. Squee!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OlZzMImK7A
Love Addict
When they played Revolution, it was SOOO worth the wait! Hyde, being exceptionally sexy (sorry, fangirl attack - I really think he was more intentionally sexy this time around), let us sing the back parts of the chorus, & Ju-ken was putting the mic into the crowd to catch people singing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isSBgJoFKVc
Revolution
I forget exactly where it fell in the set, but K.A.Z talked to us!! He didn’t do that last year. He was kind of hard to hear, tho’. He’s very soft-spoken. I know he said they were having a great time with us, that they loved us, & that they hoped to see us again in the future.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5OGzFgZ_Yw
Midnight Celebration
They'd thrown some stuff out, & Johnathan nearly caught 2 water bottles & one of Arimatsu's drum sticks, but they just missed him. :P
As a band, I’d classify Vamps as “fun rock”. Kind of alternative, a little classic, sometimes heavy, sometimes light, often sexy. Their songs can be angry, thoughtful, beautiful, &/or sad, too - all the things I usually love in music - tho’ I think, at heart, Hyde is a romantic who tries to have a positive outlook. This band is largely about energy & fun, & you can clearly see they put that into their shows. It may not be out-&-out metal like, say, Dir en grey (tho’ you’ll see the devil horns at Vamps shows, too ^_^), but these guys are no less dedicated to their art.
A little extra:
http://kimi-ni-hana.blogspot.com/2010/10/ny.html
This site has translated blog entries & photos from the band members, with regard to the NY show & their appearance at Comic-Con.
We were sad to see them go, but it was a great show. Ah, but our adventure does not end there.
Johnathan & I found each other after the show, & he waited for me while I went to get the tour goods. I must say, the crush of the pit hadn’t been as bad as last year’s Vamps show, or last year’s Dir en grey show, which we were both glad of. Unfortunately, the merchandise stall was so mobbed (between people trying to get stuff & people who bought things trying to get out), it was very nearly worse than being in the pit at any of those shows!
They had a lot of awesome stuff, tho’, & the prices were good. No tour books this year, but they had posters. Nice ones. Only $5!! They were selling both albums, but I already have those. They had a tote bag this year, which looked better than last year’s - sturdier - but it was smaller. Those were $10. The wrist-bands were the small, rubber kind this year, instead of the sweat-band kind from last year, & just said Vamps (last year’s has the lip-logo - in our photos, you can see me wearing mine). The price was decent, tho’ - 2 for $5; they come in a set, 1 black & 1 orange. Shirts were $20 - they had white ones & black ones. I’ll talk about those in a moment, but first, they also had decorative fans for $25, & omamori for $15.
I’d brought my own little decorative fan, which is collapsible, & used it a bit during this time. I helped out a few air-deprived folks around me by fanning them, too, which they appreciated. A couple of people behind me lamented that the band didn’t play Kyuuketsu, which I’d also wanted to hear (as did Johnathan - it’s prob’ly the heaviest number they have). It actually surprised me a bit that they chose to do last year’s b-sides (Trouble & Life On Mars) instead of this year’s (Kyuuketsu & Live Wire).
The way the shirts were hung on the display board made it look like there were 2 different designs, but it was just to show both sides. Unfortunately, they were out of my brother’s size, so he couldn’t get a shirt (this is why I say to get merch first, but no one listens to me). But I did get him a set of wristbands. For myself, I got a shirt, an omamori - I picked the one with the Vamps lips & purple roses - & a poster.
I was VERY happy that they rolled the posters & wrapped them in plastic before handing them out (Diru’s people could take a hint here). In fact, I had to wait a little bit to get the poster that I wanted, ‘cuz they had to roll some more up. :)
The little half-moon shapes say Vamps on one side, Beast on the other. Can anyone help me with the Kanji in the middle?
At the bottom is - I’m not sure what it’s called - one of those little red “seals” you often see on Asian art or websites. Not sure about the left side of the square, but I’m almost positive the right side has the Kanji for ‘blood’.
The shirt is nice, but I wish they’d also had some other styles available, like lip-logo ones (that was last year’s design). I liked the fact that they gave it to you rolled up, with elastic bands on each end. My only problem is with the sizes. If what I got was a medium (actually, it says LADIES medium), I’d hate to see what a small must be like!! I will have to hand-wash this shirt (I do that with my t-shirts anyway), ‘cuz if it shrinks, I’ll never be able to wear it! It just fits me, but I found it extremely odd that the shirt I wore to the show was also a medium, & it’s quite a bit roomier than the one I bought. So their people could take a lesson - be careful with the sizing!!
(I wore my shirt to my mom’s the next day.)
We convened outside to chat briefly with Naoko & wagashi. I was sad to hear that the X folks got yelled at by some random person (I think it was a woman?), criticising them for...I’m not even 100% sure, tho’ someone in the line explained it to me. Watching our stuff was part of it, so I felt bad. But wagashi was really sweet & awesome about it. Hugs all around (Naoko hugged my brother, too, which he wasn’t expecting! ^_^), & bids of safe trips home, & we said a reluctant good-bye to our new friends (but, happily, I am still keeping in touch with them on-line!). As my brother said, “It sucks going back to real life.”
Across the street to the sushi place for snacks & tea. Walked back to the bus station - nice night, but chilly! I was still hot, so I didn’t even wear my jacket. :P What made me think we should walk 10 blocks with so many people about, after being on our feet in the pit all that time, I have no idea. But my brother is a trooper, bless him! We actually saw a Hummer-style limo driving down a side street, but we weren’t sure if the band was in it or not. We’d seen something similar pull away from the club after the show, but we didn’t see anyone come out of the place (we were up by the front with the X crowd) or hear any screams from fans.
We got back to the bus station & found our way to the gate pretty quickly. Called my mom, talked until the bus came. Texted diru915 from the bus to tell her we were on our way home from an awesome show.
Talked about the show most of the way back. By the time we got to our stop, we were the only ones on the bus! On the way home from the station...well, driving in the dark is hard for me, being night-blind, so I missed a turn & took us a little bit out of our way. But I figured out where I was, turned around, & found my way back. We were soooo tired when we got to my house!! One of the cable channels had been running Stephen King stories all day, & we were able to catch a bit of Pet Sematary. But we didn’t make it to the end, we were so sleepy.
We got up not too early (I let Johnathan sleep in while I got ready), got our stuff together, & I took him to the Dunkin Donuts near my house for breakfast. It didn’t seem to be my morning, tho’, as I encountered a few mishaps (I lost a hubcap somewhere, accidentally drove over one of those concrete islands where they plant trees in parking lots, & missed a turn on the way to my mom’s ’cuz I think they took the sign down due to construction or something, & I didn’t hear the GPS say to turn), we got back to my mom’s a bit later than expected. But we still had a nice enough time, watching videos (I recently bought the first Boondock Saints movie, so my mom was happy she could finally see it! Also brought Return of the Living Dead 3, & watched REC [the original Quarantine] from her on-demand menu), & telling her all about the Vamps show.
Both Johnathan & Mattie had to work Monday, but I was up early enough that I could say good-bye to them. Did a bit of browsing around the shops with my mom (took a couple more Halloween-related photos), chatted, watched tv, had some lunch, & set off a little early to try & beat the work traffic.
I’ve been working on this report ever since. XD But now it’s done!
Thanks for reading!