omigoshomigoshyay!
I am so sore right now, it's freaking awesome. This Friday was my very first concert ever, and I went to see NIGHTWISH! [dance dance dance] It was a pretty small venue, and gas cost us $150 while the tickets for four costed $80(that's so crazy), but stiiiilll...
My awesome Uncle J-san took Moony, MTM, and I. Mom was talking about going with us(I think she was being a bit paranoid about the whole parent going to a rock concert thing. I honestly don't think you should stand around for hours listening to music you don't like, but I'm not sure if I got my true nonchalance across *shrug* She probably thinks I'm embarrassed by her or some silly thing like that.), but she ended up trying to go to a movie while we were in there. That didn't work out, through a terrible series of unfortunate events, but she was glad we had fun.
I think it was a two and a half hour drive, approximately. It was enough time for us to start getting really pumped, then to slump down into a small nap in preparation. When we actually got into the right city, Uncle J asked if we knew how to get to the right building, etc. I said to just look for the wanna-be punk rockers. He laughed, and I don't think he believed me, but I ended up right. Around the block was a bunch of mostly teenagers(everyone had some black on) standing around trying to look cooler than they were. Haha. I dared my peeps to try and count the black t-shirts and they just looked and me and laughed as though I was crazy. *shifty eyes*
The line moved surprisingly fast, only taking us about an hour to get inside. The building was freaking tiny. I mean, I was looking at it for a few minutes, then I turned to Moony and said, "Weird...I seriously think my house is about the same size..."
I still think it was. We were praying at this point that it was bigger inside than it looked. Well, my Uncle wasn't praying, but...yeah.
To the left of the building was the trailers, and the security was so low(and the feel of the whole thing so casual) that I'm sure I could have just walked back there and said hello to the band. We could see them plain as day milling around back there. Uncle J-san joked that he was, "shocked we weren't screaming and being fangirls". Keep in mind he hasn't seen us for about a year or so. Haha...
Once we entered the door, we each had the pleasure of someone rubbing a stamp across our right hands, leaving what was allegedly a star. All of ours were smeared from the moment ink touched our skin. By the way, it is freaking HUMID around here. I hate it, and I wanna move somewhere cool and constantly rainy.
Like Seattle. *wink wink*
Uncle J-san has been to some concerts in California, so he kept commenting that the crowd was lame and terrible, energy-wise. Even I, the inexperienced one, could tell that something was wrong with the nearly-zombied look. It was a CONCERT, people! Almost every face could be pasted into Borders, listening solemnly to some new music in those little test-music headphones. I'll give them one thing - they were okay with following directions. *coughsheepcough* If a bandmember started clapping their hands, trying to get the crowd to show some spirit, they'd clap. For a few minutes. Then they all sort of died off and went back to looking slightly interested. One guy in front of us actually sat down.
My Uncle moved us forward and 'accidentally' stepped on the guy. At this point, we could have casually walked to the front, with very little pushing or dodging involved. I decided to compensate for the maybe-dehydrated crowd and have as much fun as possible. The opening band was pretty awesome, with a good stage presence and some very cool hardcore music. Whiskii probably wouldn't like it, for the screamo and all, but I'm sure they have four new fans now. ;) Uncle J-san has some of their stuff now, and he's going to share. I was astounded(in a good way) at the feeling that arose once the drums started. Seriously, you feel this vibration in your legs and around your vocal chords, like an earthquake is going on. It was fantastic. Mom kept saying that I would be shocked at the loud volume, and she said it almost in a way as though I would be complaining. But I absolutely loved it. :D It could have been a little louder, actually.
The opening band played for an hour, and then there was another hour in between where we basically stood around doing nothing. Sound check people came out, and J-san said they had a good team, he could tell. I'll trust his judgement. The silly crowd called out screaming about a dozen times as though something had actually happened, even if the stage was absolutely empty. Yeah...don't get that. That's a cruel kind of false alarm.
Once the band actually got out, we were all screaming and hollering about the awesomeness. It sounds weird the way I say it, but when you looked up at the band on stage, they looked larger than life. Like some talented giants come to visit. <33 Tuomas was to the left as usual, and Annette was really great vocally. Drums in center, Marco and Emppu milling about the stage. They started out with Bye Bye Beautiful, I know. The rest of the song orders really mixes up in my mind. I know Moony and I went right in with the 'rock on!' hand sign and head-banging like you wouldn't believe. I just kept striving for that constant energy all the way to the end. From the beginning, I kept saying, "this is going to take some stamina, but we can dooooo it!"
I know they played Amaranth, For The Heart I Once Had, Islander(a fave of my Uncle's-he's a huge Marco fan), Whoever Brings The Night, Ever Dream(one of my faves), Cadence Of Her Last Breath, Sahara, Nemo, Siren(Annette did different vocalizing than Tarja did, but it was good), Wish I Had An Angel(awesome!), and Nemo. Their encore included Creek Mary's Blood, which was pure nostalgia. Oh! And they did the ENTIRE Poet And The Pendulum, too! That's fourteen minutes of awesomity, there, people. Marco was hilarious between the bits, keeping the crowd happy with little honesties. Like once he choked and said, "Excuse me...I think some sweat just went down my throat" which they found funny. They also kidded that we might not have noticed that it was a little warm. Ha! Before the fifth song was finished everyone was dripping wet. Tuomas was headbanging and water was spraying everywhere! It was freaking humid, but worth it. And way worth twenty bucks. Though the gas made up for the price, let me tell you. I'm gonna owe mom bigtime after this one.
What was really amazing about the live concert was the chemistry between the band members. They were all amazing, and you could see the closeness between them, you could sense how much they love what they do. Tuomas was grinning like an idiot for most of the show, though it makes me smile how shy he so apparently is. Whenever Marco or Annette would talk about him, he'd turn around and face the back of the stage, all bashfulness. LOL.
By the time we left the building, we were high off the awesomeness. *sigh* Our necks and shoulders are aching and stiff, because we were seriously head-banging. I was almost constantly. Harhar...
My awesome Uncle J-san took Moony, MTM, and I. Mom was talking about going with us(I think she was being a bit paranoid about the whole parent going to a rock concert thing. I honestly don't think you should stand around for hours listening to music you don't like, but I'm not sure if I got my true nonchalance across *shrug* She probably thinks I'm embarrassed by her or some silly thing like that.), but she ended up trying to go to a movie while we were in there. That didn't work out, through a terrible series of unfortunate events, but she was glad we had fun.
I think it was a two and a half hour drive, approximately. It was enough time for us to start getting really pumped, then to slump down into a small nap in preparation. When we actually got into the right city, Uncle J asked if we knew how to get to the right building, etc. I said to just look for the wanna-be punk rockers. He laughed, and I don't think he believed me, but I ended up right. Around the block was a bunch of mostly teenagers(everyone had some black on) standing around trying to look cooler than they were. Haha. I dared my peeps to try and count the black t-shirts and they just looked and me and laughed as though I was crazy. *shifty eyes*
The line moved surprisingly fast, only taking us about an hour to get inside. The building was freaking tiny. I mean, I was looking at it for a few minutes, then I turned to Moony and said, "Weird...I seriously think my house is about the same size..."
I still think it was. We were praying at this point that it was bigger inside than it looked. Well, my Uncle wasn't praying, but...yeah.
To the left of the building was the trailers, and the security was so low(and the feel of the whole thing so casual) that I'm sure I could have just walked back there and said hello to the band. We could see them plain as day milling around back there. Uncle J-san joked that he was, "shocked we weren't screaming and being fangirls". Keep in mind he hasn't seen us for about a year or so. Haha...
Once we entered the door, we each had the pleasure of someone rubbing a stamp across our right hands, leaving what was allegedly a star. All of ours were smeared from the moment ink touched our skin. By the way, it is freaking HUMID around here. I hate it, and I wanna move somewhere cool and constantly rainy.
Like Seattle. *wink wink*
Uncle J-san has been to some concerts in California, so he kept commenting that the crowd was lame and terrible, energy-wise. Even I, the inexperienced one, could tell that something was wrong with the nearly-zombied look. It was a CONCERT, people! Almost every face could be pasted into Borders, listening solemnly to some new music in those little test-music headphones. I'll give them one thing - they were okay with following directions. *coughsheepcough* If a bandmember started clapping their hands, trying to get the crowd to show some spirit, they'd clap. For a few minutes. Then they all sort of died off and went back to looking slightly interested. One guy in front of us actually sat down.
My Uncle moved us forward and 'accidentally' stepped on the guy. At this point, we could have casually walked to the front, with very little pushing or dodging involved. I decided to compensate for the maybe-dehydrated crowd and have as much fun as possible. The opening band was pretty awesome, with a good stage presence and some very cool hardcore music. Whiskii probably wouldn't like it, for the screamo and all, but I'm sure they have four new fans now. ;) Uncle J-san has some of their stuff now, and he's going to share. I was astounded(in a good way) at the feeling that arose once the drums started. Seriously, you feel this vibration in your legs and around your vocal chords, like an earthquake is going on. It was fantastic. Mom kept saying that I would be shocked at the loud volume, and she said it almost in a way as though I would be complaining. But I absolutely loved it. :D It could have been a little louder, actually.
The opening band played for an hour, and then there was another hour in between where we basically stood around doing nothing. Sound check people came out, and J-san said they had a good team, he could tell. I'll trust his judgement. The silly crowd called out screaming about a dozen times as though something had actually happened, even if the stage was absolutely empty. Yeah...don't get that. That's a cruel kind of false alarm.
Once the band actually got out, we were all screaming and hollering about the awesomeness. It sounds weird the way I say it, but when you looked up at the band on stage, they looked larger than life. Like some talented giants come to visit. <33 Tuomas was to the left as usual, and Annette was really great vocally. Drums in center, Marco and Emppu milling about the stage. They started out with Bye Bye Beautiful, I know. The rest of the song orders really mixes up in my mind. I know Moony and I went right in with the 'rock on!' hand sign and head-banging like you wouldn't believe. I just kept striving for that constant energy all the way to the end. From the beginning, I kept saying, "this is going to take some stamina, but we can dooooo it!"
I know they played Amaranth, For The Heart I Once Had, Islander(a fave of my Uncle's-he's a huge Marco fan), Whoever Brings The Night, Ever Dream(one of my faves), Cadence Of Her Last Breath, Sahara, Nemo, Siren(Annette did different vocalizing than Tarja did, but it was good), Wish I Had An Angel(awesome!), and Nemo. Their encore included Creek Mary's Blood, which was pure nostalgia. Oh! And they did the ENTIRE Poet And The Pendulum, too! That's fourteen minutes of awesomity, there, people. Marco was hilarious between the bits, keeping the crowd happy with little honesties. Like once he choked and said, "Excuse me...I think some sweat just went down my throat" which they found funny. They also kidded that we might not have noticed that it was a little warm. Ha! Before the fifth song was finished everyone was dripping wet. Tuomas was headbanging and water was spraying everywhere! It was freaking humid, but worth it. And way worth twenty bucks. Though the gas made up for the price, let me tell you. I'm gonna owe mom bigtime after this one.
What was really amazing about the live concert was the chemistry between the band members. They were all amazing, and you could see the closeness between them, you could sense how much they love what they do. Tuomas was grinning like an idiot for most of the show, though it makes me smile how shy he so apparently is. Whenever Marco or Annette would talk about him, he'd turn around and face the back of the stage, all bashfulness. LOL.
By the time we left the building, we were high off the awesomeness. *sigh* Our necks and shoulders are aching and stiff, because we were seriously head-banging. I was almost constantly. Harhar...