D'espairsRay, MUCC, and The Underneath live @ The Patriot Center [Taste of Chaos] - 3/17/08
I had some issues with the concert. First of all, I lost my tickets. I don't know what happened! I had the tickets. I know I did because I made an entry about them. When time came days before the concert, they were gone. I asked for a refund and they said no, but they could give me more tickets. Well, as I said before, I wasn't crazy about going but there was no way that I was wasting that money. So, I was already at work and when I found out that I basically had to go to the concert, I texted Jon to make sure that he could get off work and I left. He really, really wanted to go. It was so apparent. The Patriot Center is so frickin' far away, so we had to leave ASAP. Metro ride long as hell. It's funny that once you get past certain points, you see less and less minorities. Anyway, after cussing out VA drivers for driving like asses in the cab, Jon and I finally got there and picked up our tickets from Will Call. By the time we got there, the doors had opened, so virtually no waiting which is a big difference from my usual concert experiences of sitting out for two forevers. I saw some of the usual suspects from Cons and concerts. Jon and I grabbed a cup of Rockstar and checked out the tour gear for awhile. Then, we made our way to our seats. Yes, seats. I didn't need the pain of the pit. Count your Blessings or whatever the local band was called was playing on the second stage part. Not too bad, but I was waiting for the J-bands, of course.
D'espairsRay came on next. OMG, I haven't seen them in so long! I was instantly happy CRUNK. I screamed like a mad woman. Of course, I don't remember the set list. I believe that I heard stuff from Mirror. I remembered that they played Infection though. I only know that because it's the great beginning of Coll:set. Anyway, they were good. Really good. Zero's hair reminded me of Nao of Kagrra, fame. It was the same light brown color and slightly wavy, but not as wavy as Nao's is. It's a good look for his pretty ass. Hizumi's English has improved greatly. Of course, they got the crowd excited and I don't think it was just people in the fandom. I was proud of them. I don't even know what else to say about them because they were just so damn good.
Idiot Pilot were after them. Ok. There were parts of their songs that weren't bad. The vocalist was pretty good surprisingly. He sounded like Brandon Boyd at times. But, the other parts...badness, just pure ick. It's like they mixed and matched different songs. Record scratches and music were added in certain parts and they just sounded awkward. One of the songs just seemed spliced together. Then, the dancing...let the music move you, I suppose. I have no rhythm either, so I cannot cast stones. But, I was 'WTF'-ing the entire time. It was weird and their set seemed entirely too long. DRay got the people ready to see a good live. A lot of people just looked at Idiot Pilot quizzically. During their set, I got up to see what was going on outside a couple of times.
When they finished, I wanted to scream "Thank you, God!", but that's rude. I try to be polite to all bands. Like I said, they weren't horrible. But, I was just really ready to see MUCC again. While Idiot Pilot was playing on the stepchild stage, I saw MUCC get their instruments ready. I was like SATOchi? And was squinting to see if that was really him. But, it was and it was just cute to see all of them set their stuff up. They wore relaxing clothes. Like garb except for SATOchi. He was wearing a black t-shirt and it looked like some purple jogging pants, but I'm not sure about the pants, lol. Wonderful. Tatsurou was simply wonderful. I love Yukke's bass playing and he filled the Center with his sound. Jon even had to comment on it. I was just at ease seeing Tatsurou jump around in his baggy attire. Jon kept making quips that he would probably die if Tatsu stepped on his foot saying that they probably feel like bricks. Since I wasn't sure if I was going to the concert, I didn't really look at previous live reports or set lists. When they played Shadan I was elated! I LOVE that song and I had listened to it earlier at work. FUZZ made me want to get up and dance. It's just something about that song that makes me want to move. Tatsu made me laugh with his engrish. Some people seemed mad that he was obviously reading from a piece of paper. I like it, especially when he lost his place and said, "...wait", lol. Just adorable. Ok, Tatsurou, I'll go fucking crazy, just because you asked me to. I think they played Libra too. My mind is going all fuzzy. But, anyway, they were great to say the least. I know they impressed the guys sitting behind us who were there for another band. Good job, guys! I wished that I was in the pit to get some picks and stuff, but Jon reminded me that even when a rocker specifically throws their stuff at me, I don't catch it. :( SATOchi kept his sticks and we laughed.
After their set, The Underneath played. They were the most Visual looking. Not bad. I had heard them as Transitic Nerve before. I have a few mp3s from them that I enjoy. They are reminiscent of older DRay which is cool. They were on the stepchild stage and further away from me, so I didn't get into them as much as I liked. Plus, I wanted to see about the line for the MUCC autograph signings, so I left out. I found the signing place really fast and was behind the band Geist. I was looking like "hmm...those people look familiar" and not just because I've seen them at Otakon. And then one of the members looked at me like she recognized me. Although it could've been a "WTF you looking at?" kinda stare. But, it clicked and it's like "oh, yeah. We're myspace friends. Cool." I didn't say anything though. Jon came out eventually and got some food. He thought that I was standing in line to go to the bathroom. @@ I overheard some chick talk about a D'espairsRay autograph signing at 7:30 and the MUCC signing was at 8. I got Jon to hold my spot and I went to find the DRay signing. It was easy and I quickly got in line. I asked a couple behind me to hold my spot while I went to go tell Jon where I was. He wasn't picking up his phone and I didn't want him to just walk away since I know that he wanted to see some of the American bands too. I came back and started talking to the girl who's really into Jrock. I think her name was Alana or something like that. She was cool and she fawned over Hizumi. We saw some dude with a DRay poster from their white outfit days and even though we had 10 minutes to sign time, I went to go find us one. I didn't see the booth, but I got back in time. All of a sudden we heard whoops and little screams. D'espairsRay was walking up the way behind me. I turned to the side and stuck out my hand and one by one Zero, Tsukasa, Karyu, and Hizumi slapped my hand. HIGH FIVE, ALRIGHT! Ok, I must say their hands - every last one of them - were SOFT. I mean, like they have never done a day of work in their lives. My hands aren't hard worker hands. I'm an Office Lady after all, but I felt ashamed, lol. Anyway, I was excited.
So, we finally got by their table and I was pretty close to Zero, I must admit. I thought the lady was saying, "back, back!" and I was like "oh, sorry!" But no, she was complimenting me on my BAG. I wear a little side purse to concerts and it has the Japan war flag on it and ribbons and shit. So, I was like, "OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" and she, Zero, and I laughed. He nodded and said that it was cute in a low, quiet voice. So I gave him my program to sign and he gave me that little serene smile of his. *fangirls* He is so beautiful!!! So, he shook my hand and said "Thank you" and I went on to Tsukasa. He signed and shook my hand. I guess he was nervous because it was so sweaty, lol. Also, it was kinda awkward. You could tell that he wasn't used to doing it. Awww, so cute! I smiled and went on to Karyu. He looked at me like "What's up" and signed all in The Underneath's spot. I guess he needed room, lol. I shook his hand too. He was just all cool with it. I finally got to Hizumi and he was all happy and cheesing. All I could do was laugh and he shook my hand with a big smile and said "Thank you". I waited for Alana and she was speaking to Hizumi in Japanese. I think he gave her a compliment. I tried to take a few pics but they came out like ass. Then, I rushed back to my spot for the MUCC signing. Here's a few:
I took Alana with me in line since I knew that Jon wasn't going to stay. Bullet for my Valentine was still on so he chilled until blessthefall came on. I was excited again. I mean, I've had MUCC sign my cd before. But, I was just so happy to be close to them again. They came walking up the way like D'espairsRay did. I heard the shrieks and whoops again. Yukke lead the way and each band member slapped my hand. I let Alana go first to get her stuff signed and I picked up a poster and went to Yukke. He was all smiles. I don't know if he remembered me from two years ago. I know it's a fat chance, but he was smiling and saying something that I couldn't hear. I was like, "huh?" and gave the little 'i-don't-understand-the-words-that-are-coming-out-of-your-mouth' look. So, then he started drawing hearts on my poster and looked up smiling and laughing goofily every time he drew a heart. I squee'd and laughed and he laughed some more. We looked like a couple of dorks, lol. We had so much time together because Alana was talking with Tatsu. I could just hear him with his "ok, okaaay, ok." So, we just kept on until they were finished. I told him "Thanks", shook his soft hand and went on to Tatsurou. He looked at me and said "Hi, how are you?" I said, "Hey what's up. I'm fine. How are you?" He said, "Ok. I'm ok!", with a smile. Alana was asked him if he liked America in Japanese and he and Yukke were like 'yeah'. Tatsu said something else in English that I forgot but I was surprised and said, "Your English has gotten so good now!" I said it fast and he looked at me like "Wha? Say it again?" with his head closer to me and his mouth open. So, I got closer to him and said that he has learned English so well. He grinned and said "Thank you, thank you!" He shook my hand too. He's such a cutie!!! I lurve him. But, man! His hands are rough, lol. His hands are the type that you don't want them to touch your pantyhose, but it's all good. I love him, rough hands and all. So, then I went to Miya. Man, I can never act silly around Miya. He's just so cool and sexy. At least I didn't hurt myself like I did last time, but I got the lopsided smile/smirk again and a soft spoken "Thank you", eye contact, and a handshake. *drools* Alana was trying to get SATOchi to sign her shirt. He wanted to write her name in English. She was ok with katakana, but he still tried. She said her name and he got the A right and then he was stuck. Miya and I looked bemused at him. The translator tried to help and Alana was just like write it in katakana and she repeated it. He did and Miya and I just smiled at each other. I went on to SATOchi and he was as goofy as always. He just makes me laugh. I could so hang out with him. So, I lunched with him for a second, got a handshake and then stood back to take some pics. More crappy pics. The security was trying to make us move. I eventually went back in with Jon and fangirled. Well, Jon's band was playing so he cared even less about my usual fangirling, lol. I came back out and met up with Alana and her boyfriend. I got a bag for my MUCC poster and I might frame this one for my new living room. Dang, too bad I sold those Kagrra, posters. Anyway, I sat back with Jon until I got bored again. The band was really loud and people were being launched in the air in the pit. Very entertaining.
I decided to go get some tour stuff since I had nothing else to do. I stood there for a minute and this Japanese little guy came up next to me. I checked him out and noticed that he had an All Access pass. He walked away and I wondered who he was. Well, shortly later I found out that he was one of The Underneath guys and I ended up taking a picture with him. He was nice and quickly became overwhelmed by everyone. I stayed around to get some more time with MUCC. I didn't want to just get in line and get something else signed. They started to look so sleepy. I just wanted to give them a hug. Finally, the people were done and we got to see MUCC again. We chilled. I asked for a hug from Tatsurou first. He was sitting on the table and his red and blue shorts were showing to the delight to people behind me. Next I asked Miya for a hug. Mmm, Miya. *squee* Yukke was further away from everybody and since we were playing with each other earlier, I felt comfortable with playing with him. I was like "comeherecomeherecomeherecomehere..." with my arms extended and beckoning him to come closer to my bosom, lol. They all burst out laughing, even ol' Miya gave a big smile. Yukke quickly came closer and hugged me tightly. So, I looked at SATOchi and he did the same thing that I did to Yukke and made me go closer to him. He gave me a great big hug. He's a clown! But, we all laughed even harder. I asked the translator to take a picture of us. He took a picture and NOBODY was ready. So, I told him to take another one. We looked a bit better that time. I told them "bye" shortly later as I was getting texts and I was done. I didn't want to see Atreyu with Jon. Their set was forever! We both knew that we didn't want to see Avenged Sevenfold and the fact that it takes 5,000 years to get to our side of town on Metro we left. Oh, yeah. I ran into Rachel and Jessica. I think that's their names. I'm horrible with female's names. :( I see them all of the time at MUCC related events so it was nice to see them again and talk to them. I didn't know that they live in Maryland too, so that's also cool.
All in all, it was a pretty good live. The bands sounded great. The crowd wasn't rude to them. I just wish that the J-bands could've had a longer set, but I guess that's obvious. I want to go to another live now, but I'm losing my concert buddy. I need to find one soon.
EDIT:
A picture of my autographed poster. I don't know what was up with the hearts, but it's cool, lol.
