I am not afraid to keep on living
BEST. CONCERT. EVER.
even if it came with a really scary part...
So we [Raul and I] got to the Aragon Ballroom around 4:30, found parking and walked to the venue. The line was already what I considered to be long when we got there, but i was proven wrong a few minutes after. We stood there until 6pm, my legs were already really starting to hurt, my ankles were crying. Once the line actually DID start movning, we were separated into men and women, and for some reason all of the guys got to go in first - naturally I was pretty pissed about that, and distressed since I was now alone. Once I found Raul again, I was five people away from the front rail - fuckin sweet. Red Jumpsuit Apparatus was up first, and they were pretty good, but I couldn't really listen to them I was too busy trying not to die.
What do I mean? Oh, I'm sure people know about moshing and crowdsurfing... but do they know how much pushing and shoving goes on? MY GOD, if I did, I would have sat on the stairs the entire time. People are constantly pushing forward, backward, left, and right, to the point you have absolutely no control over your body, and you're being touched literally from every angle: shoved on every side, and cracked in the head by fists...pleasant. I lasted through RJA, and the set change, but as soon as Rise Against started, I couldn't breathe. I was being squeezed on every side and felt like I was going to pass out. I found myself praying to God to let me live, that dying in a Concert would be one way to be remembered, but not for the right reasons at all. Anyways, I started crying, I couldn't help it. No air, too much pressure, I started screaming "LET ME OUT LET ME OUT!!!!" and only a the few people who could hear me would let me, I was just collapsing into people until I got to the stairs to the balcony and just laid there. Some security person came by really fast and asked if I needed a medic, I couldn't breathe. I was literally sprawled across the steps heaving and shaking. The guy grabbed my hand, Raul was right behind me, and he set me up right next to the stage, which was in some sort of little alcove, behind police lines. I just sat there and caught my breath. I was overheating, there was no where for me to put my jacket, so I had been wearing it that entire time, but I peeled it off and breathed. I couln't believe how shaky and unstable I was. I couldn't feel my limbs at all. I was sitting right next to a door though. It was slightly ajar, but I was kind of behind it so I could see the inside just by the crack of the hinge. BUT.... GUESS WHO I SAW!!!!!!
FRANK IERO!!!! He's the "rhythm guitarist" for the one and only, My Chemical Romance. I had a mild heartattack then, and had a whole new reason for irregular breathing. I seriously jumped out of my skin. So, I lost sight of him, doing interviews with who knows... and I decided I could reenter the crowd. JUST as we get past the police lines, and are standing pretty close to the balcony stairs, Ray Toro and Mikey Way (both of MCR) come down the stairs.
I could have touched them!!! If I hadn't gotten up, if I had waited just one more minute, they would have been face-to-face with me, and I probably wouldn't be writing this because I would have passed out for real and be in the hospital. Anways, Rise Against finished their set, I wasnt all that impressed, but I wasn't listening because I was waiting for MCR. That's all I wanted.
Not long after, and by not long, I mean I zoned out, MCR finally was setting up. But we didn't get to see them. They had something kind of elaborate. There was a huge curtain, with "The Black Parade" on it, held taught in front of the stage, so you couldnt' see anything going on behind it. It was kind of a tease, but I got over it as soon as I heard the first song, the opener to the album "The End." The curtain dropped and there they were, in all their glory, just as I had seen them in every music video or anything on YouTube, but it was so different, so amazing to see them on stage. Itseriously was, I was all googly eyed for the entire first half. They played all of the following, not necessarily in that order, I dont remember perfectly the order, just what they played:
The End.
Dead!
This is How I Disappear
I'm Not Okay (I Promise)
I Don't Love You
The Black Parade
Mama
Teenagers
Famous Last Words
You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison
Thank You For The Venom
Cemetary Drive
Cancer
Helena
It was essentially the most amazing thing I've seen in forever. I am ridiculously sore to the point where I am immobile. I was able to get into bed, but tomorrow morning someone is going to have to pry my sorry butt out of bed. I hope Im not forgetting anything, I dont think I am. Just that it was so fucking amazing. Gerard was just as hot, and everyone was just so... AWESOME.
My Chemical Romance = <3