I met L'Arc~en~Ciel in person!
Oh my God, I can't believe it but I actually got to meet L'Arc~en~Ciel in person and I actually talked to hyde very briefly. I met them not long after the Otakon concert at a restaurant in Baltimore called McCormick-Schmick. My friends, Josephine Yun, Ying, Jamie, Vail (of the US Gackt fanclub, "Muse"), Kathy Chee (of Jrock Online) and Kay, and I were in the restaurant having dinner.
This is the story:
Not long after we got to the restaurant, I got up to use the restroom to wash up (I was feeling a little under the weather at that time). There, I passed by a private dining room that was closed off to a group of Japanese people. I made eye contact with a man sitting at the table (the room has glass windows so that's why you can see in) but as I wasn't feeling well, I didn't smile and passed on. While I was walking I thought to myself, "Wow, that guy is cute. Looks just like tetsu." I don't know WHY I didn't realize that the man actually WAS tetsu but it just felt so impossible at the time, you know? I mean, the whole idea of L'Arc~en~Ciel having dinner at the same restaurant at the exact same time just seemed too impossible to be true. Therefore, I headed back to my seat without any comment or incident believing that the guy I saw was just a very good tetsu look-alike.
It wasn't until all my friends and I finished dinner and began to leave that I realized that the man was actually tetsu. As we all leave, tetsu again made eye contact with each one of us as we passed by the private room. He then turned his head and actually watched us as we all filed past him. Once we had passed him, Kay turned to me and said, "Did you see that guy in there?" And me, being the complete IDIOT that I am, actually said, "Oh yah, he looks a lot like tetsu." Kay then gave me a look like she thought I was completely brain-dead (which I probably was) and said, "Uhh...Ritz, that IS tetsu." It was only then that I realized that the man I had looked at earlier was actually tetsu and that not only was tetsu in the room, but yukihiro was sitting right across from him!
Well then, as if being in the same restaurant as Laruku and seeing them up close (we were a couple of feet away from them so we got to see them close up) wasn't good enough, when we stepped out of the restaurant we actually found hyde smoking outside with his bodyguards and some of the Laruku staff. Again, I wasn't the one who made this discovery and it was Kay and Vail who, when they saw a group of men sitting with their backs to us, saw the wing tattoo on one of the men's back and realized that one of them was hyde. Ying actually went up and talked to hyde for a bit, telling him (with a lot of hand gestures because hyde didn't look like he was completely understanding him) that he plays guitar and such. While Ying was talking, I went up to them and stood behind Ying as I waited for Ying to finish. After Ying was finished and left, hyde turned to look at me. I looked back at hyde and said fairly calmly, "Hi. Um, I just wanted you to know that I really like your music and please keep up the good work." hyde, who had been listening to me with a slight smile on his face then broke out into a wider smile and and nodded in acknowledgement. I then, according to Kay who was watching our interaction, nodded and smiled back before bidding him goodbye and then returning to where Kay and the rest of them were.
And that was that.
I did think about asking hyde for an autograph but honestly I didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable. I mean, the guy is out enjoying a smoke with his friends, ne. He's not expecting fans to jump him or anything. Besides that, I really don't think he would be happy with me badgering him when he's just trying to relax after the concert. I only went up and talked to him because I wanted him to know that I completely support L'Arc~en~Ciel and that I'll always be a fan of their music.
Needless to say, there were tens of thousands of things that I wished I did differently later on. I wish I had smiled at tetsu or at least nodded in acknowledgement when I made eye contact with him those two times. I wish that I had told hyde that their concert at Otakon kicked some serious ass and that I hope they will consider another concert in North America... But ah well. I never like "What if's" and I'm already very satisfied with my enounter as it is. It will always remain a sweet memory to me.
Some impressions:
-hyde, tetsu, and yukihiro look the same as they do in their pictures. tetsu had some really deep bags under his eyes (he looked exhausted, truth be told) but he still was majorly cute. What really struck me with hyde is that he's a very small man. Though he was sitting and I was standing, you can immediately tell by looking at his arms and narrow back that the man doesn't have an ounce of fat on him. Plus, I'm fairly tall for an Asian girl (I'm close to 5'7") so I just about towered over him. But, he's VERY good looking. Looks exactly like his pictures actually.
-hyde's a very nice guy with quite a bit of patience - or at least he displayed patience while talking to us. Even though he didn't look like he totally understood Ying when Ying was talking to him, you can SEE hyde trying his best to listen to, and comprehend, Ying. tetsu unfortunately wasn't smiling when he made eye contact with us, but he didn't look pissed off. He simply looked tired and somewhat curious.
-though all of us went up to hyde and talked, he didn't say a word of English to us. He merely nodded and smiled an awful lot. Trust me, it was night of sign language. *laugh* I had a feeling hyde understood what we were trying to say for the most part though but perhaps he was just feeling too shy about his English to try conversing with us?
-L'Arc's management is very tight. They told us later that they didn't want us trying to get autographs or photos of Laruku. As they told us this after Ying, Vail, and I had met them, their warning came late (and was for naught as none of us three did ask for an autograph) but still...
-we all had no idea where Ken was. We didn't see him in the room with the others and he wasn't outside. Which is unfortunate because I would have loved to have met Ken. I mean, after being so goofy with us on stage, don't you think he would be even more fun offstage?
Anyway, that was that. To me, that was the perfect way to end the evening and meeting Laruku and being able to talk to hyde really just boosted my love for them even more. hyde was really such a nice guy to all of us. ^_^
Here's a track listing of the songs played at the concert. Please note that the order might be slightly wrong:
1. Kuchizuke
2. Heaven's Drive
3. Lover Boy
4. Spirit Dream's Inside
5. Jiyu he no Shotai
6. Forever
7. Kasou
8. Stay Away
9. Hitomi no Juunin
10. Driver's High
11. Feeling Fine
12. Honey
13. Revelation
14. Blurry Eyes
15. Ready Steady Go
16. Pieces
And oh god, the MC's! They were hilarious! tetsu and his "Would you like to eat my bananas?" and Ken and his "I'm a dolphin!" I will definitely give you more details on that on the next update. It just can't be ignored. Hahaha.
This is the story:
Not long after we got to the restaurant, I got up to use the restroom to wash up (I was feeling a little under the weather at that time). There, I passed by a private dining room that was closed off to a group of Japanese people. I made eye contact with a man sitting at the table (the room has glass windows so that's why you can see in) but as I wasn't feeling well, I didn't smile and passed on. While I was walking I thought to myself, "Wow, that guy is cute. Looks just like tetsu." I don't know WHY I didn't realize that the man actually WAS tetsu but it just felt so impossible at the time, you know? I mean, the whole idea of L'Arc~en~Ciel having dinner at the same restaurant at the exact same time just seemed too impossible to be true. Therefore, I headed back to my seat without any comment or incident believing that the guy I saw was just a very good tetsu look-alike.
It wasn't until all my friends and I finished dinner and began to leave that I realized that the man was actually tetsu. As we all leave, tetsu again made eye contact with each one of us as we passed by the private room. He then turned his head and actually watched us as we all filed past him. Once we had passed him, Kay turned to me and said, "Did you see that guy in there?" And me, being the complete IDIOT that I am, actually said, "Oh yah, he looks a lot like tetsu." Kay then gave me a look like she thought I was completely brain-dead (which I probably was) and said, "Uhh...Ritz, that IS tetsu." It was only then that I realized that the man I had looked at earlier was actually tetsu and that not only was tetsu in the room, but yukihiro was sitting right across from him!
Well then, as if being in the same restaurant as Laruku and seeing them up close (we were a couple of feet away from them so we got to see them close up) wasn't good enough, when we stepped out of the restaurant we actually found hyde smoking outside with his bodyguards and some of the Laruku staff. Again, I wasn't the one who made this discovery and it was Kay and Vail who, when they saw a group of men sitting with their backs to us, saw the wing tattoo on one of the men's back and realized that one of them was hyde. Ying actually went up and talked to hyde for a bit, telling him (with a lot of hand gestures because hyde didn't look like he was completely understanding him) that he plays guitar and such. While Ying was talking, I went up to them and stood behind Ying as I waited for Ying to finish. After Ying was finished and left, hyde turned to look at me. I looked back at hyde and said fairly calmly, "Hi. Um, I just wanted you to know that I really like your music and please keep up the good work." hyde, who had been listening to me with a slight smile on his face then broke out into a wider smile and and nodded in acknowledgement. I then, according to Kay who was watching our interaction, nodded and smiled back before bidding him goodbye and then returning to where Kay and the rest of them were.
And that was that.
I did think about asking hyde for an autograph but honestly I didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable. I mean, the guy is out enjoying a smoke with his friends, ne. He's not expecting fans to jump him or anything. Besides that, I really don't think he would be happy with me badgering him when he's just trying to relax after the concert. I only went up and talked to him because I wanted him to know that I completely support L'Arc~en~Ciel and that I'll always be a fan of their music.
Needless to say, there were tens of thousands of things that I wished I did differently later on. I wish I had smiled at tetsu or at least nodded in acknowledgement when I made eye contact with him those two times. I wish that I had told hyde that their concert at Otakon kicked some serious ass and that I hope they will consider another concert in North America... But ah well. I never like "What if's" and I'm already very satisfied with my enounter as it is. It will always remain a sweet memory to me.
Some impressions:
-hyde, tetsu, and yukihiro look the same as they do in their pictures. tetsu had some really deep bags under his eyes (he looked exhausted, truth be told) but he still was majorly cute. What really struck me with hyde is that he's a very small man. Though he was sitting and I was standing, you can immediately tell by looking at his arms and narrow back that the man doesn't have an ounce of fat on him. Plus, I'm fairly tall for an Asian girl (I'm close to 5'7") so I just about towered over him. But, he's VERY good looking. Looks exactly like his pictures actually.
-hyde's a very nice guy with quite a bit of patience - or at least he displayed patience while talking to us. Even though he didn't look like he totally understood Ying when Ying was talking to him, you can SEE hyde trying his best to listen to, and comprehend, Ying. tetsu unfortunately wasn't smiling when he made eye contact with us, but he didn't look pissed off. He simply looked tired and somewhat curious.
-though all of us went up to hyde and talked, he didn't say a word of English to us. He merely nodded and smiled an awful lot. Trust me, it was night of sign language. *laugh* I had a feeling hyde understood what we were trying to say for the most part though but perhaps he was just feeling too shy about his English to try conversing with us?
-L'Arc's management is very tight. They told us later that they didn't want us trying to get autographs or photos of Laruku. As they told us this after Ying, Vail, and I had met them, their warning came late (and was for naught as none of us three did ask for an autograph) but still...
-we all had no idea where Ken was. We didn't see him in the room with the others and he wasn't outside. Which is unfortunate because I would have loved to have met Ken. I mean, after being so goofy with us on stage, don't you think he would be even more fun offstage?
Anyway, that was that. To me, that was the perfect way to end the evening and meeting Laruku and being able to talk to hyde really just boosted my love for them even more. hyde was really such a nice guy to all of us. ^_^
Here's a track listing of the songs played at the concert. Please note that the order might be slightly wrong:
1. Kuchizuke
2. Heaven's Drive
3. Lover Boy
4. Spirit Dream's Inside
5. Jiyu he no Shotai
6. Forever
7. Kasou
8. Stay Away
9. Hitomi no Juunin
10. Driver's High
11. Feeling Fine
12. Honey
13. Revelation
14. Blurry Eyes
15. Ready Steady Go
16. Pieces
And oh god, the MC's! They were hilarious! tetsu and his "Would you like to eat my bananas?" and Ken and his "I'm a dolphin!" I will definitely give you more details on that on the next update. It just can't be ignored. Hahaha.