Dir en grey @ House of Blues - 2/2/07 (tenth anniversary live)
[mood|
loved ]
[music| Dir en grey - Grief ]
Well, I got back from Orlando late Saturday night, but haven't sat down to write my report until now. Shame on me. XD But let me just preface it by saying: Holy shit. It was so awesome. Though Dir en grey did not really act as though it was their ten-year anniversary, there was definitely a certain energy about this live that felt very special. I won't know for sure if this is just going to be a general Tour07 Inward Scream thing until after my second show (in NYC), but all I know is, I had a wonderful time.
Now. My story goes way beyond just the show, so I'll split this report into several different parts. Feel free to skip around for information that actually interests you, lol!
The journey
As most of you know, I live in NYC... so getting from here to Orlando poses a bit of a challenge. XD I began my day by attending the one class I needed to at school, then signed out and made my way over to the LIRR station. I thought ahead and bought my round-trip ticket a few days prior to this, so I didn't have that to worry about. At Jamaica Station, I got out and took the AirTrain to JFK. (Okay, WTF. Why does AirTrain charge $5 per ride? Even the subways and buses charge only $2. Ugh, expensive. -_-) I ended up at the airport at a little before 10am, giving me plenty of time to get ready for my flight.
JetBlue has this really cool thing where if you don't have luggage to check, you can just get your boarding passes from an automated kiosk and not even have to deal with people. It's perfect if you're, like, antisocial or something. XD So that's what I did - and I was actually able to get my boarding pass for the trip back too. Security wasn't too difficult to get through either, so all in all, by 10:15am I was on my way to my gate.
Now. Here's where things get... interesting, lol. I opted to go get coffee and a croissant from Dunkin' Donuts near the gate. There were a few seats in the immediate area near there, but not that many, and I kind of wanted to find my own table as opposed to snagging a seat from some other people, so I managed to find my own table and sat down to eat. All of a sudden... this guy comes over, and asks if he can sit at the table. I didn't really think anything of this, as, like I said, there really weren't that many seats available, so being a nice person, I agreed. He sat down and was having a bagel, I had my food and stuff, whatever.
Then he asks me something, and I couldn't really hear him because it was noisy, so I had to ask him to repeat what he said, like, three times, lol. Finally, I caught on that he was asking "Mind if I talk to you?" Again, I didn't really think much of it, so I was like fine, whatever. He asks me where I'm going, why I'm going there, etc etc.
And then the converation gets rapidly more personal. O_O He was like "So, are you seeing anyone?" And I was stupidly like "No" (I should have said I was. It would have been a lie, but whatevs. XD), so he responded by saying "Well, I'm looking to get into a relationship." SKEEVY. UGH. And then he was like "Can I have your number?" Um, what? And I really was all ready to give him a fake one, but then he said "And then I'll call you right now to make sure it works," so I figured it would, like, make him mad if it wasn't the right number, so I gave him my cell number. And he did end up calling it right then to make sure it worked, so I guess it was lucky I did that. Then when he was entering my information into his phone he fucking took a picture of me to put in with my number, ARGH.
Finally, he was like "I have to get back to work," but before he left he was all "So, when do I see you again?" and saying "I'll call you when you land" and other skeevy stuff. When he left it was like "Thank god," because ugh, that was nasty. And since Friday morning... he's called me ten times. Maybe even more than that. And left me no less than four messages, and two text messages. I entered his number into my phone's memory so I always know it's him, and I've never been stupid enough to pick up, but it's still annoying. -_- Someone save me? XD I need, like, some guy to pick up my phone once when he calls and be all out of breath and stuff, lol. And maybe be like "You messin' with my woman? Boy I will kick your ass," lol. (I don't even know if I have any guys on my friends list. XD Anyone up for putting on a manly voice then? ROFL)
After basically hiding out in the airport bathroom for half an hour (I figured he wouldn't dare follow me there XD), I was, as you can imagine, more than ready to board my plane and be out of there. I was pretty happy with my seat, it was a window seat and there was no one next to me, although there was a guy sitting in the aisle seat. Who thankfully was not skeevy, lol. There were only a few bad things that happened during the flight: JetBlue has little televisions at every seat, so I was flipping through the channels, and what do I see on all the news channels, but this breaking news report: "14 people dead after storms rip through central Florida - hundreds of homes flattened." O_O Pretty much everyone on the plane was like "Dear god no," lol. So that was a bit worrisome.
Then, due to the aformentioned storms, there were, like, twenty-thousand mile-per-hour winds. (Okay, maybe not 20,000 MPH winds exactly, but you get the damn idea. XD) So those were pushing the plane in the opposite direction it was flying in, thus slowing it down. We were supposed to land at 2:25pm... we were lucky to land at 2:50pm. Thus messing up my bus plans. ;_;
When we finally landed, I had to run across the friggin airport to find the buses. I actually did find the exact bus I needed right away, which surprised me, because it was supposed to have left a while ago. However, my happiness was short-lived - it was actually the bus that came half an hour later, just there really early, and because it had to be on schedule, the driver couldn't leave until 3:13pm. So we basically just sat there for about ten minutes, argh.
Finally, we pulled away, and after the bus naturally stopped at two thousand local stops to pick up and drop off people, I finally ended up at Lynx Central Station at around 4:05pm. Luckily I found the bus I needed to transfer to waiting there. As I boarded (wearing my "going to the Dir en grey live" jacket, which has "DIR EN GREY" painted on the back), all of a sudden I hear behind me "Hey, you're going to see Dir en grey too?!" Yup, someone also on their way to the live happened to be on the same public bus as me. XD
I was overjoyed to find a "travel buddy," lol! (And we also just happened to not only have the same exact cell phone, but the same exact MP3 player too. OMG FREAKY. XD) So the ride to the Magic Kingdom was rather pleasant -except for the fact that my cell phone decided not to make any calls, so I unfortunately couldn't contact
pinkspider, lol. Naturally, the bus passed right by the exit for Downtown Disney, but didn't make a stop there since the only stop was for the Magic Kingdom. My travel buddy and I stared at the exit wistfull as we passed it, lol. (And you know if we stopped there, it would have cut, like, half an hour out of our travel time. UGH.)
Anywhore. Finally we arrived at the Magic Kingdom's Transportation and Ticket Center, and prepared to catch a bus from there to Downtown Disney. Except for the fact that there are no buses to Downtown Disney that run from the WDW Transportation and Ticket Center. Because, you know, Downtown Disney isn't important enough of an area to warrant its own bus, as
pinkspider and I figured out. -_- So basically, what we ended up doing was attemtping to take a monorail to a resort, where we could then catch a bus to the area. Except that of course, the monorail we boarded happened to be an express monorail, which didn't stop until it arrived... back at the Magic Kingdom. WTF. XD So then we had to find another monorail, and at long last, we ended up at the Contemporary Resort, where we waited... and waited... until we finally found a bus to Downtown Disney.
Once the bus got there, it was a friggin long walk to the House of Blues. It occurred to me that we might have had a shorter walk if we waited for the Pleasure Island stop, but... that could have been a bit risky, so in the end, I'd rather walk to the venue than back to the venue from someplace else, lol.
And then, the venue loomed before us. I promptly headed over to wait in line, only to find out it was the wrong line, and the line for non-VIP people was wrapped pretty much around the venue in the opposite direction. And it was then that I unfortunately lost track of my cool travel buddy. ;_; Eeeeee! Travel buddy! I never got your name! If you're reading this and recognize... yourself XD, please comment and let me know!
The line
I finally arrived at the tail end of the huge line at around 6pm, and was greeted by the sight of... a slew of goth sluts. Seriously, I'd venture to bet that every goth slut in the southeast US turned out for this show. XD Thankfully, not everyone was a goth slut, and I ended up directly behind a bunch of cool people who made the wait overall very pleasant. (One girl had a Dir en grey "legs" t-shirt, another girl had a black shirt which had a very cute patch of Kyo saying "Foocha!" pinned onto it XD, and another of the girls had a shirt with a homemade "Tour07 Inward Scream" patch on the back - again, if you recognize yourself, please comment and let me know, because you are awesome!) Amongst other topics, our conversation revolved around:
- the funky dance break toward the end of "Jesus Christ Rn'R" (you know you hear it too)
- "I hear Gackt is planning to do a cover of 'Agitated Screams of Maggots'" (...okay, it was funnier at the time than it sounds now XD)
- freaky people you always run into at cons
- D'espairsRay being cute at Megacon
- "Really? We're going to have our icepicks confiscated? Darn, I knew I should have left my icepick at home!" (XD)
- etc etc etc
Now, according to my ticket, doors were supposed to be at 6:30pm. They didn't actually open until around 7pm. This wouldn't have been so bad, except for the fact that by this point, I really had to use the bathroom, and I didn't want to risk losing my place in line to run somewhere, lol! Finally, the doors opened, but we still had to get through security. It took them quite a while to completely look through my huge bag, during which time they confiscated my small bag of cookies I got on the plane (those cookies were going to be my dinner after the show, dammit -_-) and came thisclose to confiscating my Dir en grey pins I had so meticulously placed all along the collar of my jacket (thankfully, they decided those really didn't pose that much of a security risk and opted to let me keep them. Gee, thanks guys.). Once I got through security, I made a mad dash to the bathrooms and thus ended up losing those cool people I met in line. Once again, please comment if you were one of them!
Inside the House of Blues
After I got out of the bathroom, I made my way over to the merch table. Tokio and a few other people over on the FVT forums had wanted a list of all the merch and the prices, so since I went to the trouble of writing up everything I saw, I may as well post it here (so now you'll all have some idea of how much money you might want to bring to your shows):
Tour05 It Withers and Withers (DVD) - $45
Average Fury (DVD) - $45
Average Psycho (DVD) - $25
Gauze -62045- (DVD, I didn't see the VHS tape available) - $40
Vulgar (CD) - $30
Withering to death. (CD; American release) - $15
Agitated Screams of Maggots (CD single) - $11
THE FINAL ( CD single) - $12
FILTH (CD single) - $12
凌辱の雨 (CD single) - $12
"long" wristband - $10
Dog tag - $10
Official Inward Scream t-shirt (with the dates on the back, I think) - $25
Another Inward Scream t-shirt (this one featuring a design which looks to be a still from the ASoM PV, lol) - $25
Poster (the explosion one) - $10
Of course, The Marrow of a Bone was also available to pre-order, but I'm not sure what they were charging for it.
This was everything I saw out on the tables. There might have been some items I missed - for example, a few people have mentioned they found some sort of "Deadly Claris" manga being sold (this is something I'm really interested in, so if I see it at NY I will for sure snag it) and someone said they were able to buy 5 Ugly Kingdom, but I didn't actually see those. Although it's possible they were just sold out of those items by the time I got to the table, lol. But regardless, notice that this would be an excellent time to stock up on singles if you're missing any. Also keep an eye out for a hoodie - I did not see any hoodies available at Orlando, but I suppose they might appear later in the tour. We'll have to wait and see. I didn't actually buy anything in an effort to keep costs down and be able to actually get through airport security, but I'll pretty much be cleaning off tha tables at NY, so I can provide more information about the items after that. XD
Anywhore. After taking notes at the merch tables, I made my way over to the floor to claim a place. Unfortunately, there were many people there already, but I managed to wedge myself in a little closer than a quarter of the way from the stage, all the way over on the left side - and thankfully, I was behind several nice people who, noticing my freakish shortness, were gracious enough to let me in front of them. All told, by the time Dir en grey took the stage, I was just one person behind rail. The downside to this was that the one person who was ahead of me was this incredibly tall guy, wearing a hoodie whose hood made him even that much taller, who didn't move at all during anyone's set, not even Diru's. I get the idea he was just some guy who on a whim bought tickets, had no idea who Diru were, and was basically just standing around like an asshole, arms crossed, daring the band to impress him enough to pogo, headbang, or show any appreciation at all. God do I hate that. I have no problem with people who get rail instead of me, I would just hope that everyone lucky enough to get rail actually appreciates it. Because if you don't apreciate your place and intend to just stand around doing absolutely nothing... I'm sorry, but you really should get the fuck out of the way so those who would actually like to see the band can see them. Ugh. Still, though, considering how late I actually got there, I managed to end up with a pretty decent place, better than I had expected.
The opening bands
First to take the stage was Bleed the Dream. I had not bothered to acquaint myself with their material before the show, but I must say, they were pretty good. Not fantastic, but... pinkspider and I both agree that the vocalist had great showmanship and overall their music was decent. While they'll probably never be my favorite band, I might see if I can get to know their material better between now and the 10th - and if I get rail at NY, I will definitely show them some love. They deserve it.
After they left, it was a while until Fair to Midland took the stage. I'll be real honest, they totally weren't my cup of tea. Maybe it just wasn't a good night for them - I really want to give them the benefit of the doubt and hope they'll be better in NY, because I'd love to be able to cheer them on - but they were just plain boring. None of the music they played was particularly memorable, and after just about every song, they would completely stop playing and run samples of... I don't even know where they got these samples, but it was boring people talking about something or other. For no less than five minutes per "break." That was pretty lame in my opinion, lol. If your live show is already not that interesting, why make it even more boring by not playing at all and running samples on loop for half your set? XD So yeah, I took advantage of this time to just chill out, see if I could inch my way any closer to the stage, etc.
One thing I do want to address, though, was the audience's general reaction to the opening bands. Overall, it was fairly respectful - more so than I heard the reception was on the first night. Still though, I distinctly heard several people booing... which really, really was not cool. Okay, you don't like the openers, I get that. But that doesn't give you an excuse to be an asshole. Think about it: It takes a lot of balls to open for a band like Dir en grey. I'd bet that pretty much everyone in the opening bands knew damn well that there was pretty much no one there to see them, much less people who even knew who they were up until now, so to go on stage and play a set is something akin to venturing out into shark-infested waters without a cage: Even if you never get bitten, that distrust is there, and that tension is palpable. Why make it harder on the bands by biting? Plus, the fact that you're booing the openers is downright stupid, because you have to remember that Dir en grey DID pick them to be the openers - it's not like they just wandered into the venue from the street to play, there were chosen. Ultimately, it doesn't reflect well on anyone to boo the openers, so why even bother? If you don't like the band, just don't pay attention to the set. Talk to your friends, hit up the bar, buy some merch... whatever. Don't ruin it for everyone else. -_-
Anywhore. It was at this point that I considered putting up my banner (see above), but... I ultimately chose not to, for a few reasons: First of all, though I was close to the rail, I didn't have rail, so I couldn't just reach over and throw it over the rail. Second, the metal part of the rail was actually covered by some sort of rubbery material, so there was a good chance that the tape I brought along to tape up the banner with wouldn't have stuck to it, and the banner would have fallen down anyway. Plus, I also noticed that the rail was actually so low, and the stage so high, that there was no way the Diru boys could have possibly seen it anyway. Really, the ideal location for putting it up would have been to tape it to the rail of the balcony, and had I known this, and had I had contact with people planning to head to the balcony before doors opened, I would have handed the banner over to them. But you know, even though it's a week later, I guess I can always put it up in NY? Or at least find someone to hand it to... just so the band can see it. I know their ten-year anniversary isn't that huge of a deal to them, but still... I want them to know how honored we are that they chose to spend it with us, here in the States. Well, we'll see.
真っ赤な SHOW TIME
After Fair to Midland left the stage... the roadies started setting up for Dir en grey. And for those of you interested, I can confirm: Hawt Roadie is back. HOSHIT YES! I know a bunch of people have been wondering "Gee, I wonder why the fans are going apeshit... it's just the roadies..." Well, this is part of the reason why. XD From my place damn close to the rail I kept screaming out to Hawt Roadie... HE IGNORED ME. WTF. Why you do dees to me, Hawt Roadie-san. Why you reject me like this. ;_; Meh. If I get rail at NY, he cannot possibly ignore me, right? I mean... he'd just look dumb then. Or deaf, at the very least. And roadies cannot be deaf, because then they cannot properly test the equipment, right? XD XD XD
All during the opening bands, Shinya's drumset had been covered by this black blanket-y thing. Finally, after pretty much all the other instruments had been tested, his drumset was revealed... and my god, it was huge. Monstrously huge. O_O I don't think I've ever seen something quite so awesome, lol.
And then... Dir en grey took the stage. Unfortunately, I don't remember in what order they came out, because I could barely see them from behind the aforementioned asshole standing in front of me. -_- However, I did get a great view of Kaoru, as I was on his side of the stage yet again... and it didn't break my heart, because he is awesome. I seriously love him more and more every time I see him. He really knows how to work a crowd, too - he obviously doesn't use words, but just his awesome, "I am God, worship accordingly" gestures. You know what I'm talking about. XD And he seemed genuinely appreciative of the crowd too. Anywhore, what I can say with certainty was that Kyo came out last, wearing this awesome leather jacket. Meow. XD
Now, before I go any further, here's the set list (I do believe it's complete and in the right order, as I kept track of it during the show. Lol, I got so many strange looks, and at one point the people directly next to me were like "What the hell are you writing on your hand?" When I told them it was the set list, they actually offered me a piece of paper to write on, but I continued to use my hand, because I knew I would have managed to lose the paper somehow. It's harder to lose a hand, you know. XD):
G.D.S.
The Fatal Believer
Agitated Screams of Maggots
Mr.NEWSMAN
The Deeper Vileness
Grief
朔 -saku-
愛しさは腐敗につき (Itoshisa wa fuhai ni tsuki)
孤独に死す、故に孤独。(Kodoku ni shisu, yue ni kodoku.)
凌辱の雨
THE FINAL
蝕紅 (Shokubeni)
Merciless Cult
dead tree
Obscure
Encore-ish thing (they went offstage, some of them changed their outfits, then came back a while later)
C
The IIID Empire
Beautiful Dirt
Clever Sleazoid
Okay, so, the thing with G.D.S. is... no one seems to know when to stop. XD Let's get it straight, peeps: Only four "Kill!-s" per chorus. Not six, not eight... four. Stop after four, please. XD
Immediately after G.D.S., they launched into The Fatal Believer, and let me just say... I am so happy I listened to the leaked album before the show. Why? Because I was already well-acquainted with all the material, and had even gone so far as to pick favorite tracks, this being one of them. I still can't remember for sure whether they played this at Camden or not, but they definitely played it here, and just about everyone seemed to know it well enough to headbang, and even attempt to sing along.
Agitated Screams of Maggots was next, and everyone went nuts. There was a projector behind the band, and during this song it displayed images from the PV - uncensored, but of course.
I was shocked when they launched into Mr.NEWSMAN, absolutely shocked. We all went crazy, lol. The only six Ugly material that I would have liked to hear better would have been Umbrella... or Hades. OH GOD, if they played Hades... I would have just lost it right then and there. O_O
Then, they played The Deeper Vileness, one of my absolute favorite songs from The Marrow of a Bone - and right after that, Grief, another of my favorite tracks. I went absolutely crazy for these two, although not too many people did (I guess because they don't know the album leaked yet...? HAR HAR HAR PUNY MORTALS XD) During these two songs Kaoru came to the front of his side, relatively close to where I was, and was kind of looking around... and seemed appreciative of... something. I'd like to think it was of me and the few other people near me who were headbanging and screaming along to The Deeper Vileness and Grief, I can't, of course, be sure of this, but that would be rather cool if it was true. Guess I won't know for sure without asking him. XD
Naturally, everyone went crazy for 朔 -saku-, lol. I was glad they played 愛しさは腐敗につき right after that, it gave us all a chance to cool down a bit and catch out breath before they launched into 孤独に死す、故に孤独, during which Kyo did fishhook. 凌辱の雨 was powerful as always, as was THE FINAL, during which we dutifully screamed along, by ourselves at certain points. I'm very glad everyone knew the right words, lol.
Then, the second shocker of the night came in the form of 蝕紅... oh my god. I could not believe what I was hearing. And Kyo did his thing where he sang the chorus without the other guys playing the music toward the end, which is just as impressive live as it is recorded. I had barely recovered from that when they launched into Merciless Cult right after that.
Then along came dead tree. Kyo did not do his trademark shmexy dance like he normally does during dead tree, which confused me a little... until he did something ten times better: About halfway through the song, he started pulling down his pants. I swear. I thought he was fixing to take them off completely, but he stopped just before that point. Now, by this time his jeans were sitting precariously low on his hips, his hipbones were out for all the world to see and the underwear had also come out to say hello, lol. But this wasn't the end of the show, oh no. Because then, he turned around and engaged in what I can only describe as some sort of "ass play." I'm so serious. What he was doing was halfway between spanking himself and, like, picking a wedgie, which probably would have been slightly disgusting if anyone else were doing it, but because it was Kyo, it was like... jdhsuchcewsnygescbwce *creams panties* XD All I can imagine happened was, Kyo finally got the memo that he has the most amazing ass ever, and decided it was high time to utilize that somehow. XD Very good for all of us just about tripping over our own tongues there, lol.
Just when I thought the night couldn't get any better... they played Obscure. They played Obscure. I just about died. This is pretty much my favorite Dir en grey song, so to hear it live, for the first time, was nothing short of amazing. Behind them, the projector was showing uncensored images from the PV, but I barely even noticed, I was too busy going absolutely apeshit. It was one of the most powerful things I have ever experienced.
After this, they left the stage. We figured they'd do an encore, but just to be on the safe side, several chants of "DIR EN GREY! DIR EN GREY!" started up. Unfortunately, we were all so exhausted and our throats were all so sore from screaming that we kept running out of steam and having to stop for long periods of time. XD Thankfully, it was enough for the boys to come back out, some of them in different outfits (for example, Toshiya added his headband thinger to his ensemble. It was quite appropriate that he ultimately decided to do the Jack Sparrow look in Walt Disney World. XD XD XD), and launch into C, then into the IIID Empire, which always kills live. They finished their set with Beautiful Dirt (which I actually recognized this time, go me XD) and Clever Sleazoid, which pretty much everyone went crazy for.
And then it was over. They left the stage one by one, taking the time to throw out picks, sticks, and water bottles (I know Kaoru had been throwing out picks throughout the night, I didn't catch any though), and then we made out way out of there.
Overall, it was just about perfect. The only thing that would have made the live better would have been if the fangirls were more courteous. I'm glad they showed appreciation, but you have to know that there's a time to scream, and a time to keep quiet. After each song? Perfect time to scream. During each song? Not the time to scream. And while Kyo is doing something particularly striking, vocally or physically? Definitely not the time to scream. For example, at one point during the night there was a moment between songs when Kyo pretty much started... I don't know if he was actually crying, but he did a good job of making it sound like that. Just screaming and rubbing at his eyes and going crazy. And people would not stop screaming. And then there was the "sa" at the end of THE FINAL that he holds out forever and ever... it really is amazing, and I would have liked to have been able to hear it, but I really couldn't, above the screaming. And of course, the cutting and fishhooking. Now, to be honest, I'm not sure how you're supposed to react to that, I'm sure Kyo is looking for some sort of reaction, I doubt he'd want people to just act like nothing was happening. But I'm willing to bet that wild cheering is not the proper reaction to that, lol. And yet for some inexplicable reason, that's what people seem to like to do. Ugh. I kept yelling at people to "SHHHH" already, but naturally no one listened to me. -_-
And of course people went crazy when the band members came to the front of the stage. Now, this I could understand a little more, as it is very exciting. But still, it would have been nice if the people further back would have had some respect for the people in the front and not, like, crushed us. The crushing was relatively bad when Kaoru came to the front of the stage, but got even worse when Toshiya did, and was worst of all when Totchi decided to sit on top of a speaker and play his bass there. O_O Oh Totchi... what have you done... XD
But! Other than all that... it was absolutely breathtaking. All the shit I went through to get to Orlando was well worth it. I'd do it again if I could, and now I'm anticipating NY even more. It's going to be a blast.
The aftermath
I almost didn't have the heart to leave the House of Blues after the live ended, but I knew I had to, or else I never would have gotten home. XD I called
pinkspider from outside, and after wandering around like an asshole for a good ten minutes, I finally found her. OMFG LIEK FINALLY. XD Awwww, she's so nice! <3
So then we still had to get back to some resort, so we'd at least have an address where a cab could pick us up from. Why would buses run from Downtown Disney to any sort of resort? Pffft. It took forever until we finally found one. Although the wait could have been worse: We did run into some nice people who asked us about the show we had just been to, so we got to tell them all about Dir en grey, and hopefully we have some new Diru fans soon. ^_^ Then some other kids walked by and were like "DUDE! We just saw Dir en grey in WALT DISNEY WORLD!!!" They're right - come on, tell me that's not hardcore. XD XD XD
Once we finally got to the Polynesian Resort, I called for the cab. I was told that while they were more than willing to pick us up, they couldn't pick us up from the resort bus stop, and would it be okay if they picked us up from the resort lobby... which was no more than fifteen feet away. O_O But whatever, we walked to the lobby, the cab came pretty soon, and the ride did not take that long - we were back at MCO before 1am. There, I parted ways with
pinkspider (awwwwww! I'll hopefully see you on Friday, mmkay? <3), located my gate, somehow made it through security that early in the morning, and... waited. For hours and hours. XD The wait finally ended at around 6am, when the airport McDonald's finally decided to open and I was able to get twenty gallons of coffee and some hotcakes, lol.
The flight took off at 7:30am, right on time. Unfortunately, at this point (I'm just thankful it didn't happen during the live O_O), my nasal passages and sinuses decided to attack themselves and I had a really bad allergy attack. The woman sitting next to me on the plane felt all bad for me and was like "Awwwww, I'll pray for you!" and I was like "O_O Uh, okay..." I only wish her prayers had been Claritin-D. XD XD XD But I was able to have still more coffee on the plane, so that was nice. And we did have a super-ambitious pilot who decide to take the plane from 39,000 feet to 14,000 feet in, like, four minutes, so we actually landed ahead of schedule, lol.
And then I treked back home. And slept for, like, 15 hours. XD So ends my story. I hope I covered everything, but if for some reason you have any further questions... feel free to ask. See you fuckers in NY. ^_^