Mar 06, 2008 15:51
Okay, so now that I'm calm and collected and put back together, and since I'm back in Columbia, oh joy...I have time to type up my review of the Taste of Chaos concert last night. Very lengthy, so it's under a cut.
Before
So, this time, it was only my girlfriend Nicole and I. My best friend didn't go. We got up around ten and went to Ihop for breakfast. Best place to eat really. Then we headed out to the mall to do a bit of shopping because I hadn't really thought much about clothes when I packed to leave school, so I only had one shirt...I found something good and she bought some shoes, and then we headed back to her house, got ready, and then took off. Stopped to eat at Long John Silver's for lunch before going to the Family Arena.
We got to the arena at three and jumped in line. We just kind of stood around for about ten or fifteen minutes, trying to find people we saw at the Dir en grey concert last June. We managed to spot them up at the front, because they had jump the line wristbands. Well, we were just standing around cuddling for warmth, because neither of us wanted to bring out jackets inside, when these two girls approached us asking if we were eighteen. We said yes, and they asked if we were interested in getting in half an hour earlier if we wanted to sign up for a bone marrow list. They would just have us fill something out, swab our cheeks, and we'd be done. So we decided to go for it. We filled the stuff out and stood up at the front of the line. Got to speak to Aurora and them, and when four-twenty rolled around, about eighteen of us were led upstairs and they did the whole swab thing before we were left to wander the venue for the next half hour or so. We walked around as far as we were allowed, peeked inside as we heard a soundcheck going on, and we tried to figure out if it was a J-rock band, or one of the American bands. We noticed the drummer was Asian, so we knew it was one of the two, since the Underneath we had heard would be on the smaller stage. We managed to go around to the side and closer to the stage, and we saw that it was D'espairs Ray. So we stood there for a few minutes watching them work with a couple other people. Hizumi walked around the stage mostly, looking bored. He saw us and watched us for a couple minutes before going to work on something.
Deciding we needed to do something, we headed back downstairs and managed to sneak inside the venue with a couple other people to watch them finish up their soundcheck. They played Trickster, and it was cool to watch, even if we weren't actually that close. Then we got told to leave, so we did, and we looked at the entrance to see if they had started letting people in. They hadn't, but I could see that they were really confused because they could hear them playing. They closed the doors, at least to allow them to finish their soundcheck, and Nicole and I were bouncing all over the place. We got a small taste before everyone else, so we were really excited. When they finally let us back in, we went immediately to the front of the main stage. A few minutes later they opened the doors for everyone. The others headed over to the right side of the stage, but I wasn't planning on moving. I'd come mainly to see Hizumi, and I'd be damned if I thought of giving up my spot.
The Bands
Okay, to the music. First up was a local band that won some contest to be able to play, but they really, really, really sucked. No one liked them at all. So they were gone and everyone was happy. I was getting giddy because they put up D'espairs Ray's banner, and the girls next to us were asking who they were. I told them they were one of the Japanese bands, and they were all okay, interesting, let's see what they're like. To our left, we had a group of Avenged Sevenfold fangirls. It was kinda bad I think. (They were betting on what one of the members was going to be wearing. Who cares...?) Anyway...
D'espairs Ray: They were the reason why I went, and so I was a little disappointed that they would have to end so soon. But they got up there and I was pretty sure I was going to go blind. The lights were flashing so much, but I couldn't take my eyes off the stage. Hizumi had a sparkly belt, and his pants were kinda sparkly too, but not as much so. I loved his shirt. It looked good on him. Karyu's hair was a gorgeous, almost auburn color I think, and Zero looked like Zero. Even with the fact that I was in the front, I could barely make out Tsukasa. But he as well looked good. They played five songs, but the only ones I could remember were Sixty-Nine, Trickster, and Reddish. Hizumi's English was quite fluent, and it was cute to hear him speak. He said St. Louis so adorably. Overall, I probably could have skipped the rest of the concert and said the thity dollars I'd spent had been well worth it.
MUCC: Before last night, I wasn't a fan of MUCC. But when they went onstage, and they started playing, I didn't even think about that. Watching Tatsuro jumping around like a little kid made me happy. They all came out barefoot, and he was all over the stage. He kept looking out over the crowd, amazed at the sheer size of it. The crowd was so into them, even if they had no idea who they were or what they were saying. I still can't get over how excited Tasturo was. He was crazy happy last night. I became a fan of them and their music when I saw them, and I'm glad I got to experience them in the front row. They played five songs as well, but I only recognized FUZZ, and Libra.
The Underneath: Unfortunately, this account won't be as long because, one, they played on the smaller stage off to the side, and two, I just...couldn't get into them. They were good, and they did have a relatively decent crowd going, but most people's attention was drawn away when the banner for Bullet for my Valentine went up. Nicole and I got smashed horribly, and one guy was practically raping her behind me. I shoved her back to push him away several times, and I got sick of it. We decided to leave half-way through their set, and I gave my spot against the railing to one of the two girls next to us, who had been great the entire time the J-rock bands were up. They thought they were both really awesome, much better than the American bands who had been up there before. They were really big Bullet fans, and there was another guy who had been pushing his way up to the front. The two girls had been there since seven in the morning, so we were more than welcome to let them have our spot. We managed to shove out to the side of the crowd and escape, but I feel really bad for not being able to get into The Underneath. They just didn't really attract our attention.
Aftermath
With the bands coming to an end, Nicole and I headed back upstairs to the Jhouse booth, where we went digging through things and admiring all that we wanted but knew we couldn't splurge on. Aurora and them showed up a few minutes later and they joined in the looking before we headed downstairs for the MUCC signing. Nicole ran off to go buy one of their t-shirts, before we all headed up toward the table. Seeing as it was the first time officially meeting a J-rock band, we were pretty calm. Nicole could only remember 'hi' and 'thank you' since that's all they were saying, and I was just happy to be in their presence. They were great performers, and I wished they could have had more time to play. When the line was gone, a few of the others asked to take pictures, and I wished I had brought my own camera. For a moment, I had actually forgotten what a camera even was. I just stumbled over the words picture-taker thingy. I felt a little stupid. They left, the crowd cheered for them as they did, and then we headed back to the booth to hang out. We spoke to Harry some, I bought an old D'espairs Ray shirt, ran downstairs again to buy one of their tour shirts after I bought something for Jamie with my credit card and she gave me the cash for it since the booth downstairs didn't take cards. We watched videos, joked around, took pictures of Harry, and then Nicole and I decided it was time to go eat dinner and crash, since I had to get back to school the next morning. So we left, and that was the end of my evening, but damn was it a good evening, and I can't wait for the next J-rock concert, which will be Versailles at A-Kon. I just hope that D'espairs Ray and MUCC come back to St. Louis again.