(no subject)
So yesterday was the Girugamesh live in Fukuoka...
This was a lot of firsts for me: first time seeing Girugamesh, first time going to a live in Japan, and first time going to Fukuoka.
I went with my friend Ren so that things wouldn't be as scary and a lot more fun.
We left Oita-ken where we're going to school at 1pm. It took about 2 and a half hours by bus to get to Fukuoka. Thankfully, Ren had picked up a map of Fukuoka at the Co-op and the venue was even on the map, so it didn't take us long at all to find the venue. Merch was being sold outside, so I picked up the mirror I was buying for someone and a towel for myself (1500yen). Ren bought a shirt (3000yen). The guys working the venue told us we could come back at 5:25pm to start lining up. However, in Japan, you get a number on your ticket and you line up according to that. Ren and I hadn't bought our tickets until last Monday, so we were numbers 219 and 220.
Anyway, we went and got some food and hung around for the next hour or so, then went back to the venue and watched the fans show up. There was an interesting mix of people - girls dressed punk, girls dressed gyaru, girls dressed normally...you would've fit in wearing anything, really.
At 5:25, the venue guy started calling off groups of numbers: "up to 10 can line up!" and a few minutes later, "up to 20 can line up!" etc. until he reached 200, when he said "anyone with a ticket already can line up" so Ren and I got in line. There were two European girls there, so we weren't the only non-Japanese...I wasn't sure where they were from, but they were speaking some Nordic language (Swedish maybe?).
Anyway, we started going inside the venue, paid our 500yen drink fee (required at shows in Japan, even if you don't get your drink - which I didn't bother), then got inside the concert hall. There were steps, or levels if you will, so that people in the back could see better. We were at the very front of the third "level" in the center, so we had a pretty good view. Also, in Japan, there's none of this pushing crap that happens in American shows. People are really orderly about things and leave space in between each other. There was room on the bottom "level", but we wouldn't have been able to see as well and it would have been kind of rude to squeeze in there.
The show started at around 6:40pm with no opening band. As those of you who have read my live reviews in the past know, I'm TERRIBLE at set-lists, so don't ask me for one haha.
The main portion of the show was maybe 15 songs, mostly from Go and Now, one or two from Music. They played pray, their support for Japan song, and I think their new single. Nothing older (slightly disappointing). Then they went backstage and we called for an encore for about 10 minutes. They came back out and played 3 more songs, including shining and Break Down, both of which made me almost cry because 1- shining is my favorite song of theirs and I was CONVINCED they wouldn't play it...I had even told Ren on the bus "this is my favorite song, but I'm sure they won't play it." I got to yell out "I WANNA EAT YOU WHILE YOU SLEEP", so I was happy :'D and 2- I've always wanted to hear Break Down live and I was just waiting for it, because I knew they'd play it. Then they went backstage one more time and again, we called for an encore. They came out, played one more song, a ballad, then the show was over. I thought it was kind of strange they ended on a somber note like that, to be honest...
Nonetheless, I had TONS of fun. Crowds in Japan have such energy that American crowds don't even begin to rival. It's just a different kind of energy, really. One I much more prefer.
Anyway, now that I've experienced my first live in Japan, I've got the concert bug again...unfortunately, nothing happens here, it's all in Fukuoka, and it costs 4000yen to get to Fukuoka and back :'< that added on to approx. 4500yen for a concert ticket, and it's much too expensive to do very often, so I don't think I'll be able to go to any more lives in Japan this summer.