Endgame: Dir en grey - Inward Scream Tour 2007
How to start... I guess a rundown of the day leading up to the festivities is a good place, huh?
We had to leave the hotel about noon and we ended up leaving at 11:30. Piling in the car, we started on our quest for comic book stores and book stores. The first on our list was a place called Lonestar Comics. They didn't have many comics, but they were more of a collectable shop. I walked out of there with some animated Hellboy stationary and a World of Warcraft CCG starter deck... no tresure in it though. :/
From there, the next stop was going to be Titan Comics, where they had a half off back issue sale, but we didn't go far enough and ended up at a huge used book store called Half Priced Books. It was a lot like Gardners Used Books in Tulsa... only a lot bigger. o_o We ended up killing like two hours in there and I walked out with some Gold Digger back issues. I couldn't find anything else I really wanted, though trolling their very small comic book section brought back a lot of great memories of my youth... when Kathi and I would go to flea markets and bargin book stores in search of comics. We could stand there for HOURS and just sift though random back issues. We honestly don't know how we ever did it as kids... but such is youth, huh?
Then we continued on to Titan, where... we found it was in basically Little Mexico... and some of the 'projects'. When we finally found it, it was a realitivly clean shop and family owned. It was like going into the Comic Empire only it was twice the size of the shop in town. It was here that I went apeshit and dropped over $50 on Poison Elves back issues. Why so much? I've been out of the scene for over two years... and Poison Elves is the only one I care to catch up on... that and maybe Gold Digger, but at this point, I don't know. I don't even remember where I stopped collecting that book. *sigh*
Kathi got the Anita Blake comics, we couldn't find number one. I may go on a quest on her behalf later this week since I'm off. Maybe I'll go see Ghost Rider too... anyway... I degress...
From there, we went to B&N, couldn't find anything I couldn't live with out. We grabbed some snacky stuff and headed for Gillie's Dallas aka The Pallidum Ballroom. We ended up driving right past it and into more 'projects' and industrial area. We were looking for something to eat and we drove past this place called Chicken N' Things. Didn't think to much of it the first time we passed it, but the second... we found out it was a Chinese place... which blew our minds as we were figuring that it was like... a fried chicken place.
Turning around, we found the place, drove past it into downtown Dallas for some McDonalds, then headed back out. We pulled in, and the line had already formed. It was insane... so we paid to park... which was $10 >/
By this time, it was I think 4:30, maybe even almost 5. And in line in front of us were idiot fangirls. Who were screaming and carrying on and doing the Electric Slide. I'm like, "Kathi, aren't they a little YOUNG to be doing that dance?" But the highlight of the line standing was when I went to go get my phone and was hyper and told Kathi to stay where she was and not let anyone get our spot... I was overly dramatic about it on purpose. When I got back, one of the fantards had popped off and Kathi made a snide remark and scared the fanbitch. She shut up and they actually didn't say too much more, however the terps behind us were screaming about Diru and "Kiyo" and playing with their psp and generally hitting me every chance the got cos it was close quarters. The bitch's boyfriend about got elbowed in the kidneys... however it didn't happen. Thank goodness.
At last, the doors open at 6:30!
It was at that moment that I stepped into what was probably the most famous bar in all of Dallas...
Stopped to get a t-shirt and a cd and then we got drinks and went to find a place to stand. The bar itself was rather large. I was suprised, I was expecting it to be smaller, but that wasn't the case. The stage was set up in the front of the room with the dance floor, where most of the people gathered and then there were rails with built in tables where you could stand and hold your drinks. We picked a spot to the right of the stage. We would soon have a great view of the ProfitProphet and Die. They were only using like half the room. They had a few booths in the back but it was all sectioned off and most of it would've put people behind the sound box. Four or five bars lined the walls... this so calls for a diagram, which I'll draw and upload soon. I have lots of time! :D
The show started a little after 7:30... either that or right on time.
Bleed the Dream
They took the stage first. They weren't bad, but they weren't great either. The lead singer had some great "gara" moments which included, tripping over the mic cord and trying to pull it and it getting hung on something... he nearly fell, climbing on top of the speakers and saying fuck a lot. lol. He did a few MCs to try and get us pumped up for the headlining act, but he didn't succeed.
Some choice quotes:
"C'mon all you Dallas bitches! Make some motherfucking noise!"
"Who was at the show last night? Tell these other guys just how much ass Dir en grey kicks!"
"C'mon, don't tell me you're all tired yet? Let me rephrase that. C'mon all you Dir en grey fans, don't tell me you're tired yet!?"
But sadly it was in vain, the crowd kind of stood there. At the end of their set, the lead climbed up on the speakers and sang his last song. They were from LA and they weren't awful and they seemed nice enough, all in all a good group of guys.
Fair to Midland
That was a fucking train wreck. Not to mention painful to watch.
What do I mean you ask? First their guitarist was so skinny that I could see his bones poking though his skin. I wished that he had left his shirt on. They had Jesus for a drummer... and the lead singer did nothing but have seisures on stage, yell like an animal and had PATCHES OF HAIR SHAVED OUT OF HIS HEAD.
The only good thing about this shitty band was the fact their bassist was wearing a Diru tour shirt... and he wasn't that bad looking. :)
The other good thing was the fact the jackass' mic went out. It was wonderful when that happened. He kept grabbing mics in hopes they worked. First from another stand, it was dead, second from the keyboardist(yes they had one wtf?), it was dead. He got mad and tossed it into the crowd and then a roadie came up and gave him one that worked... by this point my legs were hurting and I had to pee. So I took my leave and got another shirt for Kathi and then sat down while she went out and smoked.
I texted Julia and people watched until it was time for Diru to take the stage.
Before I go on, I want to say something, I have never seen so many freaks, lolita wannabes and instaGoths. There were to gay guys behind us and I told Kathi I wasn't moving that gay and gayer couldn't have our spot. (pardon me, they were ugly and so flaming it wasn't even funny, I almost wish I had a camera... lol) The 'chick' of the pair was wearing sunglasses inside when it was already dark as hell and his 'man' had short hair and a girls headband on and a pink and white tshirt... *shudders* LEARN TO DRESS YOURSELF IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE A QUEEN! I thought gay men had style... o_o
Dir en grey
(I'd like to thank Julia for helping me with some of this... like the songs... haha)
Shinya's drum kit was covered by a big black tarp and when the roadies came out and uncovered it they started cheering... hell they started cheering when the 'inward scream tour' logo came up on the screen behind the bands. I'm like, quit yelling at the roadies. x_x
They came out to GDS. Shinya took his spot at the drums, wearing a tank top and jeans. Die, next jeans, tshirt and a jean jacket. Toshiya, black tshirt and jeans. Kaoru, black tshirt and jeans. And lastly Kyo, who came out and just stared at us. He was wearing a black suit jacket and tshirt and tight jeans, which were worn in the thighs... cos they were made that way.
And now here comes the bad part... I can't remember the names of the songs to save my life... so bear that in mind as I go...
By the time the second song started, Kyo had removed the jacket and at some point he lifted up his shirt and beat himself in the chest a few times with the mic.
I giggled.
Tshirt came off next song and the Little Man proceeded to beat himself in the head with his hands and I did see him start to scratch at himself. He got up on his little podium and in what I would call a flurry of hand motions, cut open his mouth, there was a little bit of blood on his chest but that's it... mind you he started out slow doing this and then just went all spazzy.
I giggled. (yes I'm a bad fan)
When they played Adgitated Screams of Maggots, they showed the PV behind them and it was unedited... I wasn't expecting it so I couldn't warn Kathi in time... but when the old man shit on the table with the little girl... she giggled.
Ah... Diru how I love you for your toilet humor! (I kid! I kid!)
At one point he ripped up his podium and and threw it around. Kyo fell down and as he did he spewed water in Die's general direction and for a minute I thought he wasn't going to get back up.
During I think Dead Tree, he made elegant and beautiful hand motions as he sang. He moved around more, they played The Final, Saku, Merciless Cult and a few others.
Toshiya, at one point, picked up his mic and left it on the stand and held it upside down over his head and sang into the mic and then put it down. He did a lot of getting on the edge and holding up his guitar. I remember Die doing the same thing but not as much.
Kaoru was, well Kaoru and stayed in one place most of the night.
We were treated to Kyo staring at his hand like "What is this? Is it my hand??" which was amusing.
Best part of the night was getting an encore and they played Jesus Christ R n' R. I was a HAPPY girl. Granted it was no [KR]Cube but still, I liked it and I got treated to the 'wa wa wawa' which he did like twice and per his usual he changed up the lyrics. That song is awesome live.
I'm not sure what the last song was, but I at least understood Kyo's engrish well enough to make out him saying "Last song!"
The band finished up. Kyo made a beeline for backstage, he was the first one off. Kaoru, Toshiya and Die saw fit to throw picks and water bottles into the audience. Shinya got out from behind his drum kit (which yes Andi, it's even bigger than my bathroom) and tossed his drumsticks and made his way off. House lights went up, time to clear out and head for home.
So the verdict? Great show, even if Kyo wasn't feeling it. The opening acts just didn't do their jobs as they were well mediocher. While we didn't get the infamous bucket or a lot of blood and scratching, we did get Jesus Christ Rn'R for an encore! So they get an A in my book, even if I couldn't find the right time to yell, "Kyo no kawaii desu, yo!"
Was it fun? Hell yes. Would I do it again? Hell yes, even if the fans are still retarded and sound like dummies yelling 'encore' in japanese or would that be 'wapanese!'
EDIT:Possibly more to come, incase I forget something and remember it later. I'm very tired right now, I didn't get in til 4:30 this morning. Dog's back home, and I'm not unpacked and half my crap's still in the car. Ah. Life is grand... and thanks to earplugs I'm not deaf. :D
We had to leave the hotel about noon and we ended up leaving at 11:30. Piling in the car, we started on our quest for comic book stores and book stores. The first on our list was a place called Lonestar Comics. They didn't have many comics, but they were more of a collectable shop. I walked out of there with some animated Hellboy stationary and a World of Warcraft CCG starter deck... no tresure in it though. :/
From there, the next stop was going to be Titan Comics, where they had a half off back issue sale, but we didn't go far enough and ended up at a huge used book store called Half Priced Books. It was a lot like Gardners Used Books in Tulsa... only a lot bigger. o_o We ended up killing like two hours in there and I walked out with some Gold Digger back issues. I couldn't find anything else I really wanted, though trolling their very small comic book section brought back a lot of great memories of my youth... when Kathi and I would go to flea markets and bargin book stores in search of comics. We could stand there for HOURS and just sift though random back issues. We honestly don't know how we ever did it as kids... but such is youth, huh?
Then we continued on to Titan, where... we found it was in basically Little Mexico... and some of the 'projects'. When we finally found it, it was a realitivly clean shop and family owned. It was like going into the Comic Empire only it was twice the size of the shop in town. It was here that I went apeshit and dropped over $50 on Poison Elves back issues. Why so much? I've been out of the scene for over two years... and Poison Elves is the only one I care to catch up on... that and maybe Gold Digger, but at this point, I don't know. I don't even remember where I stopped collecting that book. *sigh*
Kathi got the Anita Blake comics, we couldn't find number one. I may go on a quest on her behalf later this week since I'm off. Maybe I'll go see Ghost Rider too... anyway... I degress...
From there, we went to B&N, couldn't find anything I couldn't live with out. We grabbed some snacky stuff and headed for Gillie's Dallas aka The Pallidum Ballroom. We ended up driving right past it and into more 'projects' and industrial area. We were looking for something to eat and we drove past this place called Chicken N' Things. Didn't think to much of it the first time we passed it, but the second... we found out it was a Chinese place... which blew our minds as we were figuring that it was like... a fried chicken place.
Turning around, we found the place, drove past it into downtown Dallas for some McDonalds, then headed back out. We pulled in, and the line had already formed. It was insane... so we paid to park... which was $10 >/
By this time, it was I think 4:30, maybe even almost 5. And in line in front of us were idiot fangirls. Who were screaming and carrying on and doing the Electric Slide. I'm like, "Kathi, aren't they a little YOUNG to be doing that dance?" But the highlight of the line standing was when I went to go get my phone and was hyper and told Kathi to stay where she was and not let anyone get our spot... I was overly dramatic about it on purpose. When I got back, one of the fantards had popped off and Kathi made a snide remark and scared the fanbitch. She shut up and they actually didn't say too much more, however the terps behind us were screaming about Diru and "Kiyo" and playing with their psp and generally hitting me every chance the got cos it was close quarters. The bitch's boyfriend about got elbowed in the kidneys... however it didn't happen. Thank goodness.
At last, the doors open at 6:30!
It was at that moment that I stepped into what was probably the most famous bar in all of Dallas...
Stopped to get a t-shirt and a cd and then we got drinks and went to find a place to stand. The bar itself was rather large. I was suprised, I was expecting it to be smaller, but that wasn't the case. The stage was set up in the front of the room with the dance floor, where most of the people gathered and then there were rails with built in tables where you could stand and hold your drinks. We picked a spot to the right of the stage. We would soon have a great view of the ProfitProphet and Die. They were only using like half the room. They had a few booths in the back but it was all sectioned off and most of it would've put people behind the sound box. Four or five bars lined the walls... this so calls for a diagram, which I'll draw and upload soon. I have lots of time! :D
The show started a little after 7:30... either that or right on time.
Bleed the Dream
They took the stage first. They weren't bad, but they weren't great either. The lead singer had some great "gara" moments which included, tripping over the mic cord and trying to pull it and it getting hung on something... he nearly fell, climbing on top of the speakers and saying fuck a lot. lol. He did a few MCs to try and get us pumped up for the headlining act, but he didn't succeed.
Some choice quotes:
"C'mon all you Dallas bitches! Make some motherfucking noise!"
"Who was at the show last night? Tell these other guys just how much ass Dir en grey kicks!"
"C'mon, don't tell me you're all tired yet? Let me rephrase that. C'mon all you Dir en grey fans, don't tell me you're tired yet!?"
But sadly it was in vain, the crowd kind of stood there. At the end of their set, the lead climbed up on the speakers and sang his last song. They were from LA and they weren't awful and they seemed nice enough, all in all a good group of guys.
Fair to Midland
That was a fucking train wreck. Not to mention painful to watch.
What do I mean you ask? First their guitarist was so skinny that I could see his bones poking though his skin. I wished that he had left his shirt on. They had Jesus for a drummer... and the lead singer did nothing but have seisures on stage, yell like an animal and had PATCHES OF HAIR SHAVED OUT OF HIS HEAD.
The only good thing about this shitty band was the fact their bassist was wearing a Diru tour shirt... and he wasn't that bad looking. :)
The other good thing was the fact the jackass' mic went out. It was wonderful when that happened. He kept grabbing mics in hopes they worked. First from another stand, it was dead, second from the keyboardist(yes they had one wtf?), it was dead. He got mad and tossed it into the crowd and then a roadie came up and gave him one that worked... by this point my legs were hurting and I had to pee. So I took my leave and got another shirt for Kathi and then sat down while she went out and smoked.
I texted Julia and people watched until it was time for Diru to take the stage.
Before I go on, I want to say something, I have never seen so many freaks, lolita wannabes and instaGoths. There were to gay guys behind us and I told Kathi I wasn't moving that gay and gayer couldn't have our spot. (pardon me, they were ugly and so flaming it wasn't even funny, I almost wish I had a camera... lol) The 'chick' of the pair was wearing sunglasses inside when it was already dark as hell and his 'man' had short hair and a girls headband on and a pink and white tshirt... *shudders* LEARN TO DRESS YOURSELF IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE A QUEEN! I thought gay men had style... o_o
Dir en grey
(I'd like to thank Julia for helping me with some of this... like the songs... haha)
Shinya's drum kit was covered by a big black tarp and when the roadies came out and uncovered it they started cheering... hell they started cheering when the 'inward scream tour' logo came up on the screen behind the bands. I'm like, quit yelling at the roadies. x_x
They came out to GDS. Shinya took his spot at the drums, wearing a tank top and jeans. Die, next jeans, tshirt and a jean jacket. Toshiya, black tshirt and jeans. Kaoru, black tshirt and jeans. And lastly Kyo, who came out and just stared at us. He was wearing a black suit jacket and tshirt and tight jeans, which were worn in the thighs... cos they were made that way.
And now here comes the bad part... I can't remember the names of the songs to save my life... so bear that in mind as I go...
By the time the second song started, Kyo had removed the jacket and at some point he lifted up his shirt and beat himself in the chest a few times with the mic.
I giggled.
Tshirt came off next song and the Little Man proceeded to beat himself in the head with his hands and I did see him start to scratch at himself. He got up on his little podium and in what I would call a flurry of hand motions, cut open his mouth, there was a little bit of blood on his chest but that's it... mind you he started out slow doing this and then just went all spazzy.
I giggled. (yes I'm a bad fan)
When they played Adgitated Screams of Maggots, they showed the PV behind them and it was unedited... I wasn't expecting it so I couldn't warn Kathi in time... but when the old man shit on the table with the little girl... she giggled.
Ah... Diru how I love you for your toilet humor! (I kid! I kid!)
At one point he ripped up his podium and and threw it around. Kyo fell down and as he did he spewed water in Die's general direction and for a minute I thought he wasn't going to get back up.
During I think Dead Tree, he made elegant and beautiful hand motions as he sang. He moved around more, they played The Final, Saku, Merciless Cult and a few others.
Toshiya, at one point, picked up his mic and left it on the stand and held it upside down over his head and sang into the mic and then put it down. He did a lot of getting on the edge and holding up his guitar. I remember Die doing the same thing but not as much.
Kaoru was, well Kaoru and stayed in one place most of the night.
We were treated to Kyo staring at his hand like "What is this? Is it my hand??" which was amusing.
Best part of the night was getting an encore and they played Jesus Christ R n' R. I was a HAPPY girl. Granted it was no [KR]Cube but still, I liked it and I got treated to the 'wa wa wawa' which he did like twice and per his usual he changed up the lyrics. That song is awesome live.
I'm not sure what the last song was, but I at least understood Kyo's engrish well enough to make out him saying "Last song!"
The band finished up. Kyo made a beeline for backstage, he was the first one off. Kaoru, Toshiya and Die saw fit to throw picks and water bottles into the audience. Shinya got out from behind his drum kit (which yes Andi, it's even bigger than my bathroom) and tossed his drumsticks and made his way off. House lights went up, time to clear out and head for home.
So the verdict? Great show, even if Kyo wasn't feeling it. The opening acts just didn't do their jobs as they were well mediocher. While we didn't get the infamous bucket or a lot of blood and scratching, we did get Jesus Christ Rn'R for an encore! So they get an A in my book, even if I couldn't find the right time to yell, "Kyo no kawaii desu, yo!"
Was it fun? Hell yes. Would I do it again? Hell yes, even if the fans are still retarded and sound like dummies yelling 'encore' in japanese or would that be 'wapanese!'
EDIT:Possibly more to come, incase I forget something and remember it later. I'm very tired right now, I didn't get in til 4:30 this morning. Dog's back home, and I'm not unpacked and half my crap's still in the car. Ah. Life is grand... and thanks to earplugs I'm not deaf. :D