Friday
I was extremely excited to see the guys! Otakon was MUCCon as far as I’m concerned. Everything revolved around them. I had already seen them at Roger’s interview thing from the front row. I had already seen them from the fifth row at the panel and now it was show time. Jon and I had not eaten so we hit the BK and I took the trek to the Ram’s Head alone around 3:40. I knew that I wouldn’t be first because as always, I’m NEVER first. When I got to the venue, I didn’t see anyone. It was like a ghost town, but I went inside and walked down the hall, I saw that a line had already formed. I sat down beside someone’s mother and made sure that she was the end of the line. She told me that she was and when they first got there the venue was closed, but when they came back they were the end of a line. There were about 20-30 people in front of me give or take. Not bad. So, I listened to my mp3 player which was loaded with MUCC songs. Shortly a kid named Ian sat next to me. He was cool. He had recently started listening to MUCC because he heard they were going to be at Otakon. Not a problem. Since I’m not new to the fandom, I tried to tell him about a few songs he should listen to. Other people started showing up and soon the line was outside the door. We listened to MUCC warm up and I heard them practice Zetsubou. Man, I love that song so I was getting excited. When they finished a song, people who were closer to the door cheered. I told Jon to leave the game room at 6 so he could get in line with me. Sometimes funny things happen right before doors are supposed to open. This time was no exception. Jon got there and remarked how long the line was. Soon, we were asked to shift the line in order to move some of the people outside in. We started talking and somehow I ended up entertaining people in line with the Hizumi (D’espairsRay) and electric tape story. Anyway, the Ram’s Head staff started taking the people who was NOT the front of the line in. We didn’t know that until an Otakon staffer told us that. We took off running to the open door to reclaim our spots. Some people got in, but the rest of us were told to go back to where we came from. After a few minutes a door by us was opened and we entered the venue. I was pretty pissed that I was not as close as I expected, but I wasn’t that far back and I was precisely where I wanted to be: in between Tatsurou and Miya. From there I had a good view of Satoち and I could see Yukke when I wanted to. I guess maybe four or five rows from the front. I met
nikkineko who was behind me. I think I’ve seen her at other places before, but this is the first time we spoke. It was nice to have some allies because people were starting to maneuver their way to the front early (chick with the blue-green tank).
Anyway, after an hour of cheering for the roadies and fog, Nana Kitade came out. I didn’t come for Nana but, when I heard that she was opening I did listen to some of her music. She’s not bad, but I usually listen to harder stuff. When she came out, I realized that she’s so adorable, but the weave she had was atrocious! It kept getting caught into the strings of the guitar she was “playing”. Jon and I exchanged so many glances. From the time she announced that she was a “Japanese princess” to when she got her “hair” caught in the guitar, Jon and I were WTF-ing. Poor girl. :( She looked so nervous. She gave the crowd a funky look when she was jumping and we were all o_o. Jon, Nikki, and I burst out laughing. She finally got off a few minutes later. Again, she’s not bad, but I wanted to see MUCC. I think the “I’m a Japanese Princess” will be the new “Do you like crap?” for Otakon.
MUCC was amazing. The live was one of the best lives I’ve ever been to and I’ve been to a few in my lifetime. The guys didn’t care if they were in Tokyo, Baltimore, or Timbuktu; they were on top of their game. I’ve never seen them live in Japan so if they perform better than that, then they are flawless. They came out in the heavy black around their eyes and mouths. Unfortunately, I can’t remember what they had on, but the fashion isn’t important right now. They were barefooted. Well, I don't think Satoち was. *fangirl moment* Miya has pretty feet :3*/fangirl moment* Also, I don’t remember the set list. I never do because I’m so bad with song titles, but I loved that they played their two newest albums peppered with some of their older songs that older fans have enjoyed throughout the years. I think they opened with Kagayaku Sekai. I could be mixing my days up. Whenever they played it, I loved it. It’s such a great song. Also, I enjoyed Zetsubou so much. I LOVED Kuukyo na heya. Oh man, it sounded just like my cd. Miya was singing so sweetly. I also enjoyed Ame no Orchestra and Saishuu Ressha. Oh, oh, and Haruka! Beautiful. It got a little crazy in my section on some of the harder songs. I got my foot crushed really badly by someone in platforms. She took me out of my element for a minute, but when I looked on stage, I was alright. There were about 2 songs that I was unfamiliar with. It’s like I’ve heard them before, but not enough to know the words or know what cd they’re from. But, otherwise they played most of my favorites. They looked so happy that I wanted to cry. Miya who usually looks so mean actually cracked a few smiles. When he wasn’t doing a guitar solo or dancing while playing, he was checking out the crowd. He sang the background vocals beautifully. Of course, I was grinning at him like a Cheshire cat the entire time. He’s my favorite obviously. Satoち who is normally a complete ham, was so business-like on the drums. He looked wonderful. He was hitting the drums with such force I saw his sticks crack a little. I was just in awe. Lil’ Yukke was doing his little dance that he does when playing the bass and smiling. I loved when he and Miya switched sides so I could see him close up. He just smiled and did his little jig. I love his bass playing. I didn’t see everything he was doing but when I did glance over, he looked pleased with everything that was going on. Tatsurou…I don’t know what to say about Tatsurou. He was just…golden. He said in interviews that he was not nervous, but just excited to perform. Everything about his demeanor validated that fact. Oh, yeah, he played his harmonica, lol. Only he can make a harmonica a tight instrument to play. Anyway, his MCs were in English for the most part and his pronunciation was very good. Man, he sounded so sexy. His “Are you excited? I’m excited” made me even MORE excited than I actually was at the time. He looked so happy and that made me happy. Anyway, no one else spoke, only Tatsurou. I kept looking at Miya like “Your turn!” all I got was a half-hearted grin like "Yeah, right". (- _ -); When Tatsu said last song, my heart sunk. Ok, it’s usually a given that J-bands give encores. I thought that the crowd was crunk enough to warrant an encore, but I didn’t know if they were too tired. They played so strong with the dancing and the playing. I didn’t want to assume they were going to come out and instead be greeted by house lights coming on. Anyway, we started our “AN-KO-RE”s and “MUCC!”s coupled with clapping and after a few minutes, Satoち came back on stage, then Miya, then Yukke, finally Tatsurou with his translator. They were all dressed in their Devilish Year(s) Muck tour concert t-shirts. He said, “Hi”, “How are you doing?”, something else and “Can I get a beer?”, LOL. We all laughed (including the band) and we got our encore. When they finished, I and just about everyone else ran to the swag table to buy stuff. I got a t-shirt…like everyone else, lol. Oh, yeah. Some threw this huge ass bra on the stage on Miya's side. I don't think anyone even paid attention to it, LMAO.
Saturday
After the Autograph session, we rushed to the Dealer’s room since they were supposed to do an interview with Tofu records. Since the concert was earlier, I should’ve rushed to line then. Instead, I bullshitted and ended up having to get my food and eat it walking down the street like a fat ass. :( When I got to the venue, the line was out the door and I didn’t know how I was going to find Nikki. Soon, she came out and I met her in line. Later, everyone else came and I got to meet Robin. A few minutes later, the line began progressing pretty fast. The ticket guy remembered me from the previous day because I argued with his fellow ticket taker. We shared a laugh and all I’m going to say is that he may have won the battle, but I won the war.
We ended up in the third row from the stage between Tatsurou and Miya, like I was yesterday. Sorry, Yukke. Anyway, three little sweet Lolita asked if they could get in front of us because they just wanted to see Nana. We consented as long as they promised they were going to leave. We had a dandy time talking to neighboring people and Robin was educating the masses on certain Japanese Fashion and told me what happened in the Yoshiki panel. Soon, Nana came out. I told Robin about how she was an “unbe-weave-able Japanese princess”, but it’s not the same as seeing it for yourself. I felt bad because again everyone was just looking at her. Robin started copying the furi the 3 sweet Lolita were doing and Nikki and I joined in. Soon, others joined us and Nana looked so happy. She didn’t have as many mishaps and it seemed shorter than Friday.
Finally, it was time. This time they wore no make up. Tatsurou had on a white jumpsuit and wore white sneakers. Yukke and Miya were still barefooted though. The set list was a bit different, but they played some of the same songs. I really liked the fact that they switched it up. They love us, man! Ok, I almost cried when I heard the intro to Roji Ura Boku to Kimi e. It was fantastic to hear it/see it live. It was one of the first songs that I had ever heard from them so happy I was. They played Zetsubou and Saishuu Ressha again and I was ecstatic. I won’t say that the crowd wasn’t into it because they definitely were. There were not as many people trying to mosh on my side. I’m not complaining at all, but just an observation. I looked at Satoち’s sticks again. This time they were fully splintered. Again after awhile of awesome music, Tatsurou said last song. After it concluded, and the guys went backstage we started our chants and clapping. People were chanting, “One more song!” beside me. No, that doesn’t cut it, lol. I wanted another 3 song encore like the day before. I’m the greedy, I know. I saw the stage guy give the thumbs up for an encore. Yey!!! They took a lot less time coming back out and again Tatsurou had his translator thingie. He asked if we were excited, and asked if we liked baseball, he also said that "It is hot and humid outside(?) (or it could've been today instead of outside), he said something about that he likes to ski (O_o) [I think he was lying because he was laughing], then someone screamed out “SATOCHI!” and he said “No Satochi.”, LMAO. He was so funny. I love his dopey little grin. He put it away and told us to “Go fucking crazy” again. I thought to myself, “It depends on what you play”. I heard the intro for Daikirai and screamed. Oh, man, oh, man, oh, man. I don’t know what it is about that song, but it is instant crunk. I listen to the 2006 version almost every day either going to or from work. I can never be still on the train when I hear it. Anyway, he performed it as usual with shooting “fuck you”s all over the place. He covered the whole venue from the balcony down to the people in the back. Miya spoke in English too. He said the “Go fucking crazy” thing. And I went fucking crazy like he asked me too. My neck and shoulders are so sore.
So, that’s all I remember at the moment. It was simply awesome and I’m so glad that I got to attend both lives. Oh, Tatsurou did the mic to his heart thing. I hated that most of the time people were screaming so loud that you couldn’t hear it, but one of the times that I did hear it on Friday, his heart was beating as loud as the bass drum. He did more mic to the head banging on Saturday. All in all, it was classic Tatsurou. Oh, I forgot what song it was but, when Yukke and Miya traded places, Yukke blew a kiss so I blew a kiss back. He licked his lips and I laughed. What a funny little guy! One more thing, at the end of the set on Saturday, Miya threw his pick on the other side of crowd. Automatically, I opened my mouth in shock, like how could you do that to me (LMAO, I’m so dramatic). Again, I got the smirk. (- _ -); Then to add insult to injury, after the encore he threw the rest out. Guess who didn't get one. (-_-) Anyway, I hope the people who took the set lists post them up somewhere soon.