Taste of Chaos
Ok, it's kind of late, but under the cut is my concert report for Taste of Chaos.
I recently spent a weekend on a Taste of Chaos concert adventure. As usual, it was a crazy adventure involving friends, music, and...lots of driving. Alice was going to come, but she had to back out fairly last minute, so we poked around, and Elysia joined us. Which means I got a chance to get to know her, and she's really cool.
We left around 6:30 Friday night, to set off for San Antonio. We originally planned to leave closer to 5, but that didn't quite happen. It actually worked out though, it gave me time to talk over JShock stuff with Reiko, which was indeed important. So, I guess it kind of goes to show, if things go wrong, maybe there's a reason.
On our way, we stopped in Albuquerque to grab Elysia, and then...my car was full and we set off! Well, actually, we paused at a gas station convenience store, where we got asked if we were in a band. That was pretty funny. The drive itself was pretty much uneventful. We hit the same Border Patrol stop that we had on the way to Blood, but they didn't search my car, so that's a plus.
We arrived in San Antonio somewhere between 10 and 11, I think. Cara and I got in line, while everyone else went to find somewhere to change, and then we traded off, so Cara and I could change as well. Once we were all changed, the wait started. I sat with my jacket draped over my shoulders, so my tattoo wouldn't get sun. It was hot, but...
Since I was working for JShock, I got to go in at around 2:10. Where I met up with people from the other labels and...bagged things! The people from the other labels were actually pretty cool, we talked a lot while we worked. Altogether, we put together something like 500 bags, most of them had a sampler CD, two postcards (X JAPAN and D'espairsRay/The Underneath), and a poster (I don't remember who, honestly, I think it might have been HIM?), but we ran out of the posters part way through, so some of the bags didn't have those. We got done with the bagging fairly early, and were told we could wander around as long as we didn't go onto the floor/backstage, for liability reasons. So Sara, who got there towards the end of the bagging and I wandered for a while. In the process, we discovered that all three JRock bands were doing signings at that show, at various booths, so that was pretty freaking cool.
Doors were at 4:30, so a bit before we got ourselves set back up again by the doors to hand them out. At first, all of us were handing out bags (There were six total, from three different labels, counting JShock), but later two people peeled off to ferry bags from the booth to the rest of us. Bags went FAST, so while the crowd was still pouring in, Sara and I made our way to the pit.
We found ourselves second row, stage right, which put us right in front of the bass mainstage, and in a really good spot for the bands on the side stage. So, actually, we did pretty well for ourselves.
First band up was a local band. They weren't bad...but they were a little too screamo for me. Now, don't get me wrong, I love some good screaming, and, actually, I enjoyed them. Just not quite my cup of tea. That said, they had amusing song titles.
And then, the show really got started. At least for me. First band up was D'espairsRay. Obviously, I'd seen them before, at JRock Revolution, so I knew that they put on a good show. They didn't disappoint. The opening song was Damned, the same as at JRR, and it remains a phenomenal opening song. The only song I really wanted to hear that wasn't played was Hollow, but that was more than made up for with the performance of Garnet. Let me just note, when I heard Hizumi say, "Next song...Garnet!" I almost didn't believe it until the song itself started, then I almost lost it.
Where we were, Sara and I were the only D'espairsRay fans. So we're over there in a sea of pretty quiet people, rocking out. Since we were right in front of him, let me note that Zero is a really good performer, energetic and a lot of fun to watch, so my focus was heavily on him, and I can't speak much about the other band members. Not to mention that I have a strange fondness for Zero. I also spent a fair amount of time just watching his hands as he played, particularly during Screen, when he was finger picking. I guess this is a side effect of being a bassist. I never watched hands so intently before I started playing. Now I find it fascinating.
Idiot Pilot was next, on the side stage. I don't really have much to say about them. They were, again, not really my cup of tea. During their set, Yukke and I think other members of MUCC were out setting up their equipment. Yukke was totally hiding behind his monitor.
Obviously, since they were setting up, MUCC came next. I can't tell you much about the songs they played, I believe they were pretty much from Shion, which I don't have. The only songs I recognized were FUZZ and Libra. I'm still amused by Tatsuro's giant shirt...actually, while I did spend time watching Yukke in front of me (mostly his hands, again, I do believe I'm turning into a bassist), most of my focus on this set was on Tatsuro, singing and dancing around. I have to say, FUZZ is so much fun live. I was surprised to find that Tatsuro does, in fact, play the harmonica for the opening, and Yukke's electric stand up bass? Love. Seriously. But, yeah, FUZZ was great fun to dance and sing along with. Also, I was very happy to see MUCC again, when I wasn't totally exhausted and in pain, unlike JRR, where I couldn't focus as well.
The last JRock band was The Underneath, who, for those of you don't know, was previously Transtic Nerve. Everyone, by the way, should buy their new album, Moon Flower (and Mirror, from D'espairsRay) cause it's avaliable from JShock, and REALLY reasonably priced. Anyway! Sound wasn't great for this set, Taka's vocal level was too low, but the set itself was still excellent, and dude, we were right there in front of the side stage. And they played Marie! That made me happy. Lots of fun to watch, overall. Taka's a really good performer, and the band definitly knows how to play a crowd. Even cramped onto the side stage, they still commanded the crowd beautifully.
After The Underneath, we made our way out of the crowd and headed for the signings. I spent most of the line time getting people to sign guest books and sign up for the JShock mailing list. Which was actually pretty interesting, as long as I managed to get the people doing the signing/signing up to, you know, do it quickly. Several times, despite starting way at the back of the line, I ended up right near the front with the book/sign up sheets, and the line control guy told me to start further back. I, of course, politely apologized and...moved back. Actually, the D'espairsRay line was the only one where I had that problem. I learned really quickly how to move quickly and get others to do the same. So that actually worked out, and it only happened a couple of times before I figured out how to politely prod people to sign more quickly. After getting sign ups and passing around guest books, I inserted myself in the back of each of the autograph lines to get my own signatures and present the bands with their guest books. The responses from the band members when I handed them the books were really sweet, so that was nice. Honestly, all of the bands were really friendly during their autograph sessions, sometimes more so than the line control staff. I know several fans who, when line control was saying one thing only signed, asked politely for D'espairsRay to sign a second item, which they quickly agreed to with smiles.
Also, when we were in line for MUCC, and D'espairsRay had finished their signing, they all rode past on scooters. Hizumi basically darted by, Zero paused right by us for awhile, and almost no one noticed him, and...Tsukasa gave us all high fives. Karyu just sort of went, as I recall. It was amusing.
After the last signing, it was time to go. So my group piled back into my car to take Cara, Sacha, and Carol to the airport, before Elysia and I hit the road for El Paso.
One overnight drive later, the pair of us arrived in El Paso, and promptly took a nap in my car. We then got food, got changed and once again headed to the venue to get in line. This line...well, it was weird from the beginning. But it stayed pretty tame while I was there. We did have random free t-shirts handed out. Amusingly, one of the guys with free shirts came right to Elysia and I, handed them to us, got mobbed moments later, and was being very picky about who took them. Also, at one point, I was looking over the bass tab to Scars, picking it out on my leg cause I was bored, and this one guy started talking to me. I made a sort of non-commital response, and one of his friends went "I don't think she likes you dude." I just sort of blinked at them and went "I'm just trying to learn this..." I mean, really, I didn't care one way or another about that guy, I was focused on my music.
One again, a little after 2, Janeatha came out. This time, I recognized her, so I headed right over as soon as she appeared, and we waited over by the side entrance until the guys from the other labels joined us. She seemed pretty pleased to have someone from a previous show working. I mean, the bag stuffing isn't rocket science, but it meant she had less to explain.
Once the three guys, who never actually told me their names, joined us, we got our wristbands and were led in. This time, because of how the venue was laid out, we actually went through backstage. I'm so not used to being backstage with techies running around and...not running around working with them, so that was a bit bizarre. Also, some of the instruments were just sitting there on racks. Including Zero's bass. Because, yes, I recognized it. You have no idea how much I wanted to play it, it's such a pretty bass. But I exercised self control and just followed Janeatha. Though I did tell my bass teacher about it when I got back, and he was amused, and apparantly knew the feeling. Good to know I'm not alone in wanting to play nice basses when I run into them.
Anyway! I randomly, still without their names, ended up in charge of the three boys from the other labels. Because Janeatha basically said "Bag thing! She knows what she's doing!" and headed off. So I instructed, and answered questions. Cause...my boys were kinda clueless. It was cute, really. This time, we bagged until we ran out of sampler CDs, as all we had were the two post cards and the CDs. Several people from the other booths came by to ask for the left over bags when we were finished and...once again the boys looked at me like "Can they have them?" It was special.
When we were done, wandering once again occured. Which led to some amusement. At one point, I came across the guys being bugged by one of the crew members because he assumed they'd snuck in early. This was funny, because the same crew guy had walked past me multiple times, and didn't say a word, or even look at me strangely. So, I had to go up, and explain that they were sponsor, and allowed to be there. And he instantly went "Oh! Ok!" After giving the boys a hard time.
Also, when I was done wandering and just hanging out by the table, Masato from The Underneath came up to the door right there and was trying to get in, but he had his hands full of equipment. No one was helping the poor man, so when I saw, I hopped up. Now, he'd managed to get the door open, and was trying to hold it with his foot and slip in, but it wasn't working, so I grabbed the door and held it for him. He was really sweet, and said "Thank you Sooooooo much!" And yes, the so was drawn out like that. To which, given that I've been studying Japanese, I responded "Do itashimashite." He got this really funny surprised look on his face when I said that. It was amusing. In any case, it's good to be helpful, and seriously, no one should have to be balancing stuff AND opening doors. That's just not cool.
At about 3:30 I got a text message from Elysia, saying that the crowd outside was crazy. They were apparantly crowd surfing and throwing things. About five or ten minutes later, Janeatha came over and let me know that the crowd outside was nuts, and we'd probably open early, because of that. We talked for a bit while we waited for that, about the crazy crowd and such. And then we did indeed open early, by almost thirty minutes, at 4:00ish.
Once again, bags went crazy fast. When Elysia got in, she was actually wet from having a water bottle dumped on her, and she waited for me to finish up. When all the bags were gone, we made our way into the pit, and found ourselves in almost the exact same spot I'd been in San Antonio, which was pretty amusing. There were a couple of pretty big guys in front of us, but luckily, we positioned ourselves where we could see around them really well. And they were actually protecting some girls in front of them, so that was cool.
The show started with a band from Las Cruces, New Mexico. So we cheered for New Mexico. Actually, they were pretty good. Their lead guitarist was impressive. I enjoyed them more than the opener from San Antonio.
The band order was the same from San Antonio. So D'espairsRay was first. The crowd...umm...yeah. They were amazing about getting into the music. But! I honestly thought I was going to die a couple of times in that pit. D'espairsRay played the same set as the night before, oddly enough, including Garnet. Which was once again amazing. There was this huge crazy guy next to me, who kept bashing into me dancing the entire show, so I didn't get to watch as much as I did the night before. But I watched when I could, and shielded myself when I could.
Idiot Pilot was actually better tonight, still not my cup of tea, but they're clearly a band that does much better to a responsive audience. That said? This is where I really thought I was going to die. I actually went DOWN during Idiot Pilot. I was trying to shield myself and these really small girls near me from the big guy, and he banged into me hard, and the crowd moved hard left, and my legs just went. Luckily, a girl behind me and Elysia grabbed me, and together pulled me up before I got crushed. But god, that was a scary moment. I think it was also during Idiot Pilot (though it might have been MUCC), that, in trying to shield myself from the crazy guy, I accidentally elbowed him. He gave me a look of death, like "I'm going to kill you!" Enough of one that it prompted Elysia to wrap her arm around me and pull me to her, and this random metal head guy I didn't know to glare back at him, thereby saving me from death, because the crazy guy backed down.
MUCC, again, I don't really know their set. It was songs I didn't know, except for FUZZ and Libra, but unlike D'espairsRay, it was a differant set from San Antonio. By this time, Elysia wasn't feeling to well. So I was trying to keep an eye on her. Mostly she just used me for support though, so it was alright. I felt a bit bad for the guys in front of us, as we kept getting seriously slammed into them by the crowd, but after the first few times, they realized that it wasn't our fault, and they gave enough to keep us from getting hurt, while still protecting the girls in front of them, so they were awesome.
And last, again, was The Underneath. Now, this was the other truly scary moment of the concert. Part way through the set. This girl shoved her way up behind Elysia. She started...clawing at the guy in front of us, and actually got Elysia a few times to. At first, I thought she was grabbing him for support. But then she started banging into me, and I noticed that he kept removing her hands, and she would grab back on...and then I noticed the scratches. My right arm was kind of stuck in the air, so with my left arm, and Elysia and the guy's help, we pried her off of us and managed to push her back. Shortly before we got her off, security noticed and made their way in front of us. I think if we hadn't succeeded, she was about to be pulled out of the crowd. In any case, on a rather amusing note, the security guy, rather than asking the guy in front of us, who was closer and more involved, came right to me to ask what had happened, and where the girl was now. Later, we reached the conclusion that it was because I had the more official wristband, cause my arm, with wristband, was literally stuck in the air the whole time. And because it was clear that he didn't think I was negatively involved. But still, it was odd. After all of this, I looked behind me, and there was another guy there, holding the girl off of us, and he nodded to me. So, I guess, the moral of the story is, there are some really awesome metal head dudes out there.
After The Underneath, we instantly made our way out. There was no way we were staying for the American bands if the pit was that crazy for the bands that most of the audience clearly didn't know. That said, despite how scary the crowd was, the audience response DID mean that the bands put on amazing sets. Even if a couple times I caught concerned looks on some of the band member's faces when they looked out at the crowd.
Once we made it out, water was the first order of business. As was retrieving my purse. Long story, that, but the end of the story is that one of the guys who regularly worked one of the booths was holding onto it for me. Because he was awesome.
All three bands again did signings. Now, I didn't have guest books tonight, so all I was doing was JShock sign ups. Which was probably a good thing, since I was the only person working the show from JShock, and trying to juggle both would have been really difficult. This time, I was well able to keep back in the line with the list, so life was good on that front. Also, a lot more people seemed excited to sign up than in San Antonio. For this show, I got D'espairsRay and The Underneath to sign my belt purse/hip pouch, whatever you want to call it, as I'd had them sign shirts in San Antonio, and I got MUCC to sign a shirt. Amusingly, when Miya signed my shirt, he accidentally dropped the sharpie. He got so appologetic, even as I was saying it was alright. And he turned the random line into "MUCC" written vertically down the shirt. I also managed to tell Taka at The Underneath's signing that I'd known them as Transtic Nerve. I think he enjoyed knowing that there were fans who knew them before, everyone I've heard who'd mentioned Transtic Nerve to them got really happy responses, and that time was no exception.
After all the signings, it was once again time to hit the road. Though first, due to sheer dehydration and hunger, we went by Sonic for food. Luckily, this was the shortest drive of the trip, and we got Elysia to Albuquerque and me to Santa Fe totally without incident. And, when I got to Santa Fe? I passed out.
So, all told, it was a really fun trip, I made some new friends, got to spend more time with some older ones, and got to see two amazing concerts. I had a lot of fun talking to people, even just talking to the general fans about JShock and JRR. And I'd totally do it again...though next time? I'm coming prepared with a clip board or something for them to write on. XD
I recently spent a weekend on a Taste of Chaos concert adventure. As usual, it was a crazy adventure involving friends, music, and...lots of driving. Alice was going to come, but she had to back out fairly last minute, so we poked around, and Elysia joined us. Which means I got a chance to get to know her, and she's really cool.
We left around 6:30 Friday night, to set off for San Antonio. We originally planned to leave closer to 5, but that didn't quite happen. It actually worked out though, it gave me time to talk over JShock stuff with Reiko, which was indeed important. So, I guess it kind of goes to show, if things go wrong, maybe there's a reason.
On our way, we stopped in Albuquerque to grab Elysia, and then...my car was full and we set off! Well, actually, we paused at a gas station convenience store, where we got asked if we were in a band. That was pretty funny. The drive itself was pretty much uneventful. We hit the same Border Patrol stop that we had on the way to Blood, but they didn't search my car, so that's a plus.
We arrived in San Antonio somewhere between 10 and 11, I think. Cara and I got in line, while everyone else went to find somewhere to change, and then we traded off, so Cara and I could change as well. Once we were all changed, the wait started. I sat with my jacket draped over my shoulders, so my tattoo wouldn't get sun. It was hot, but...
Since I was working for JShock, I got to go in at around 2:10. Where I met up with people from the other labels and...bagged things! The people from the other labels were actually pretty cool, we talked a lot while we worked. Altogether, we put together something like 500 bags, most of them had a sampler CD, two postcards (X JAPAN and D'espairsRay/The Underneath), and a poster (I don't remember who, honestly, I think it might have been HIM?), but we ran out of the posters part way through, so some of the bags didn't have those. We got done with the bagging fairly early, and were told we could wander around as long as we didn't go onto the floor/backstage, for liability reasons. So Sara, who got there towards the end of the bagging and I wandered for a while. In the process, we discovered that all three JRock bands were doing signings at that show, at various booths, so that was pretty freaking cool.
Doors were at 4:30, so a bit before we got ourselves set back up again by the doors to hand them out. At first, all of us were handing out bags (There were six total, from three different labels, counting JShock), but later two people peeled off to ferry bags from the booth to the rest of us. Bags went FAST, so while the crowd was still pouring in, Sara and I made our way to the pit.
We found ourselves second row, stage right, which put us right in front of the bass mainstage, and in a really good spot for the bands on the side stage. So, actually, we did pretty well for ourselves.
First band up was a local band. They weren't bad...but they were a little too screamo for me. Now, don't get me wrong, I love some good screaming, and, actually, I enjoyed them. Just not quite my cup of tea. That said, they had amusing song titles.
And then, the show really got started. At least for me. First band up was D'espairsRay. Obviously, I'd seen them before, at JRock Revolution, so I knew that they put on a good show. They didn't disappoint. The opening song was Damned, the same as at JRR, and it remains a phenomenal opening song. The only song I really wanted to hear that wasn't played was Hollow, but that was more than made up for with the performance of Garnet. Let me just note, when I heard Hizumi say, "Next song...Garnet!" I almost didn't believe it until the song itself started, then I almost lost it.
Where we were, Sara and I were the only D'espairsRay fans. So we're over there in a sea of pretty quiet people, rocking out. Since we were right in front of him, let me note that Zero is a really good performer, energetic and a lot of fun to watch, so my focus was heavily on him, and I can't speak much about the other band members. Not to mention that I have a strange fondness for Zero. I also spent a fair amount of time just watching his hands as he played, particularly during Screen, when he was finger picking. I guess this is a side effect of being a bassist. I never watched hands so intently before I started playing. Now I find it fascinating.
Idiot Pilot was next, on the side stage. I don't really have much to say about them. They were, again, not really my cup of tea. During their set, Yukke and I think other members of MUCC were out setting up their equipment. Yukke was totally hiding behind his monitor.
Obviously, since they were setting up, MUCC came next. I can't tell you much about the songs they played, I believe they were pretty much from Shion, which I don't have. The only songs I recognized were FUZZ and Libra. I'm still amused by Tatsuro's giant shirt...actually, while I did spend time watching Yukke in front of me (mostly his hands, again, I do believe I'm turning into a bassist), most of my focus on this set was on Tatsuro, singing and dancing around. I have to say, FUZZ is so much fun live. I was surprised to find that Tatsuro does, in fact, play the harmonica for the opening, and Yukke's electric stand up bass? Love. Seriously. But, yeah, FUZZ was great fun to dance and sing along with. Also, I was very happy to see MUCC again, when I wasn't totally exhausted and in pain, unlike JRR, where I couldn't focus as well.
The last JRock band was The Underneath, who, for those of you don't know, was previously Transtic Nerve. Everyone, by the way, should buy their new album, Moon Flower (and Mirror, from D'espairsRay) cause it's avaliable from JShock, and REALLY reasonably priced. Anyway! Sound wasn't great for this set, Taka's vocal level was too low, but the set itself was still excellent, and dude, we were right there in front of the side stage. And they played Marie! That made me happy. Lots of fun to watch, overall. Taka's a really good performer, and the band definitly knows how to play a crowd. Even cramped onto the side stage, they still commanded the crowd beautifully.
After The Underneath, we made our way out of the crowd and headed for the signings. I spent most of the line time getting people to sign guest books and sign up for the JShock mailing list. Which was actually pretty interesting, as long as I managed to get the people doing the signing/signing up to, you know, do it quickly. Several times, despite starting way at the back of the line, I ended up right near the front with the book/sign up sheets, and the line control guy told me to start further back. I, of course, politely apologized and...moved back. Actually, the D'espairsRay line was the only one where I had that problem. I learned really quickly how to move quickly and get others to do the same. So that actually worked out, and it only happened a couple of times before I figured out how to politely prod people to sign more quickly. After getting sign ups and passing around guest books, I inserted myself in the back of each of the autograph lines to get my own signatures and present the bands with their guest books. The responses from the band members when I handed them the books were really sweet, so that was nice. Honestly, all of the bands were really friendly during their autograph sessions, sometimes more so than the line control staff. I know several fans who, when line control was saying one thing only signed, asked politely for D'espairsRay to sign a second item, which they quickly agreed to with smiles.
Also, when we were in line for MUCC, and D'espairsRay had finished their signing, they all rode past on scooters. Hizumi basically darted by, Zero paused right by us for awhile, and almost no one noticed him, and...Tsukasa gave us all high fives. Karyu just sort of went, as I recall. It was amusing.
After the last signing, it was time to go. So my group piled back into my car to take Cara, Sacha, and Carol to the airport, before Elysia and I hit the road for El Paso.
One overnight drive later, the pair of us arrived in El Paso, and promptly took a nap in my car. We then got food, got changed and once again headed to the venue to get in line. This line...well, it was weird from the beginning. But it stayed pretty tame while I was there. We did have random free t-shirts handed out. Amusingly, one of the guys with free shirts came right to Elysia and I, handed them to us, got mobbed moments later, and was being very picky about who took them. Also, at one point, I was looking over the bass tab to Scars, picking it out on my leg cause I was bored, and this one guy started talking to me. I made a sort of non-commital response, and one of his friends went "I don't think she likes you dude." I just sort of blinked at them and went "I'm just trying to learn this..." I mean, really, I didn't care one way or another about that guy, I was focused on my music.
One again, a little after 2, Janeatha came out. This time, I recognized her, so I headed right over as soon as she appeared, and we waited over by the side entrance until the guys from the other labels joined us. She seemed pretty pleased to have someone from a previous show working. I mean, the bag stuffing isn't rocket science, but it meant she had less to explain.
Once the three guys, who never actually told me their names, joined us, we got our wristbands and were led in. This time, because of how the venue was laid out, we actually went through backstage. I'm so not used to being backstage with techies running around and...not running around working with them, so that was a bit bizarre. Also, some of the instruments were just sitting there on racks. Including Zero's bass. Because, yes, I recognized it. You have no idea how much I wanted to play it, it's such a pretty bass. But I exercised self control and just followed Janeatha. Though I did tell my bass teacher about it when I got back, and he was amused, and apparantly knew the feeling. Good to know I'm not alone in wanting to play nice basses when I run into them.
Anyway! I randomly, still without their names, ended up in charge of the three boys from the other labels. Because Janeatha basically said "Bag thing! She knows what she's doing!" and headed off. So I instructed, and answered questions. Cause...my boys were kinda clueless. It was cute, really. This time, we bagged until we ran out of sampler CDs, as all we had were the two post cards and the CDs. Several people from the other booths came by to ask for the left over bags when we were finished and...once again the boys looked at me like "Can they have them?" It was special.
When we were done, wandering once again occured. Which led to some amusement. At one point, I came across the guys being bugged by one of the crew members because he assumed they'd snuck in early. This was funny, because the same crew guy had walked past me multiple times, and didn't say a word, or even look at me strangely. So, I had to go up, and explain that they were sponsor, and allowed to be there. And he instantly went "Oh! Ok!" After giving the boys a hard time.
Also, when I was done wandering and just hanging out by the table, Masato from The Underneath came up to the door right there and was trying to get in, but he had his hands full of equipment. No one was helping the poor man, so when I saw, I hopped up. Now, he'd managed to get the door open, and was trying to hold it with his foot and slip in, but it wasn't working, so I grabbed the door and held it for him. He was really sweet, and said "Thank you Sooooooo much!" And yes, the so was drawn out like that. To which, given that I've been studying Japanese, I responded "Do itashimashite." He got this really funny surprised look on his face when I said that. It was amusing. In any case, it's good to be helpful, and seriously, no one should have to be balancing stuff AND opening doors. That's just not cool.
At about 3:30 I got a text message from Elysia, saying that the crowd outside was crazy. They were apparantly crowd surfing and throwing things. About five or ten minutes later, Janeatha came over and let me know that the crowd outside was nuts, and we'd probably open early, because of that. We talked for a bit while we waited for that, about the crazy crowd and such. And then we did indeed open early, by almost thirty minutes, at 4:00ish.
Once again, bags went crazy fast. When Elysia got in, she was actually wet from having a water bottle dumped on her, and she waited for me to finish up. When all the bags were gone, we made our way into the pit, and found ourselves in almost the exact same spot I'd been in San Antonio, which was pretty amusing. There were a couple of pretty big guys in front of us, but luckily, we positioned ourselves where we could see around them really well. And they were actually protecting some girls in front of them, so that was cool.
The show started with a band from Las Cruces, New Mexico. So we cheered for New Mexico. Actually, they were pretty good. Their lead guitarist was impressive. I enjoyed them more than the opener from San Antonio.
The band order was the same from San Antonio. So D'espairsRay was first. The crowd...umm...yeah. They were amazing about getting into the music. But! I honestly thought I was going to die a couple of times in that pit. D'espairsRay played the same set as the night before, oddly enough, including Garnet. Which was once again amazing. There was this huge crazy guy next to me, who kept bashing into me dancing the entire show, so I didn't get to watch as much as I did the night before. But I watched when I could, and shielded myself when I could.
Idiot Pilot was actually better tonight, still not my cup of tea, but they're clearly a band that does much better to a responsive audience. That said? This is where I really thought I was going to die. I actually went DOWN during Idiot Pilot. I was trying to shield myself and these really small girls near me from the big guy, and he banged into me hard, and the crowd moved hard left, and my legs just went. Luckily, a girl behind me and Elysia grabbed me, and together pulled me up before I got crushed. But god, that was a scary moment. I think it was also during Idiot Pilot (though it might have been MUCC), that, in trying to shield myself from the crazy guy, I accidentally elbowed him. He gave me a look of death, like "I'm going to kill you!" Enough of one that it prompted Elysia to wrap her arm around me and pull me to her, and this random metal head guy I didn't know to glare back at him, thereby saving me from death, because the crazy guy backed down.
MUCC, again, I don't really know their set. It was songs I didn't know, except for FUZZ and Libra, but unlike D'espairsRay, it was a differant set from San Antonio. By this time, Elysia wasn't feeling to well. So I was trying to keep an eye on her. Mostly she just used me for support though, so it was alright. I felt a bit bad for the guys in front of us, as we kept getting seriously slammed into them by the crowd, but after the first few times, they realized that it wasn't our fault, and they gave enough to keep us from getting hurt, while still protecting the girls in front of them, so they were awesome.
And last, again, was The Underneath. Now, this was the other truly scary moment of the concert. Part way through the set. This girl shoved her way up behind Elysia. She started...clawing at the guy in front of us, and actually got Elysia a few times to. At first, I thought she was grabbing him for support. But then she started banging into me, and I noticed that he kept removing her hands, and she would grab back on...and then I noticed the scratches. My right arm was kind of stuck in the air, so with my left arm, and Elysia and the guy's help, we pried her off of us and managed to push her back. Shortly before we got her off, security noticed and made their way in front of us. I think if we hadn't succeeded, she was about to be pulled out of the crowd. In any case, on a rather amusing note, the security guy, rather than asking the guy in front of us, who was closer and more involved, came right to me to ask what had happened, and where the girl was now. Later, we reached the conclusion that it was because I had the more official wristband, cause my arm, with wristband, was literally stuck in the air the whole time. And because it was clear that he didn't think I was negatively involved. But still, it was odd. After all of this, I looked behind me, and there was another guy there, holding the girl off of us, and he nodded to me. So, I guess, the moral of the story is, there are some really awesome metal head dudes out there.
After The Underneath, we instantly made our way out. There was no way we were staying for the American bands if the pit was that crazy for the bands that most of the audience clearly didn't know. That said, despite how scary the crowd was, the audience response DID mean that the bands put on amazing sets. Even if a couple times I caught concerned looks on some of the band member's faces when they looked out at the crowd.
Once we made it out, water was the first order of business. As was retrieving my purse. Long story, that, but the end of the story is that one of the guys who regularly worked one of the booths was holding onto it for me. Because he was awesome.
All three bands again did signings. Now, I didn't have guest books tonight, so all I was doing was JShock sign ups. Which was probably a good thing, since I was the only person working the show from JShock, and trying to juggle both would have been really difficult. This time, I was well able to keep back in the line with the list, so life was good on that front. Also, a lot more people seemed excited to sign up than in San Antonio. For this show, I got D'espairsRay and The Underneath to sign my belt purse/hip pouch, whatever you want to call it, as I'd had them sign shirts in San Antonio, and I got MUCC to sign a shirt. Amusingly, when Miya signed my shirt, he accidentally dropped the sharpie. He got so appologetic, even as I was saying it was alright. And he turned the random line into "MUCC" written vertically down the shirt. I also managed to tell Taka at The Underneath's signing that I'd known them as Transtic Nerve. I think he enjoyed knowing that there were fans who knew them before, everyone I've heard who'd mentioned Transtic Nerve to them got really happy responses, and that time was no exception.
After all the signings, it was once again time to hit the road. Though first, due to sheer dehydration and hunger, we went by Sonic for food. Luckily, this was the shortest drive of the trip, and we got Elysia to Albuquerque and me to Santa Fe totally without incident. And, when I got to Santa Fe? I passed out.
So, all told, it was a really fun trip, I made some new friends, got to spend more time with some older ones, and got to see two amazing concerts. I had a lot of fun talking to people, even just talking to the general fans about JShock and JRR. And I'd totally do it again...though next time? I'm coming prepared with a clip board or something for them to write on. XD