112110: How I lost my vir-JIN-ity
It was just me, Jin, and hundreds of screaming fangirls. He didn't actually know I was there, but that doesn't really matter.
The following is in no particular order and may not make any sense.
I got to Times Square around 2.30 pm after an intense morning making a curry for my family as penance for not having been well enough to cook for them all week and then fucking off to fangirl as soon as I felt better. After the curry was done, I dressed up in my con outfit (sparkly vintage sweater, jeans, black boots, the only big gold earrings I own) put on some eye makeup (I never wear makeup so you know this was a special occasion. I had bought it all at Target the day before, lol). I had attempted to paint my nails "yellow gold" the previous evening but only got as far as one coat. In other words, I was your usual insane fangirl in preparation.
I walked down the line looking for Mec in her purple bobble hat. I saw a cluster of purple bobble hats but none had Mec under them. So as I reached the end of the line at 45th St without spotting her, I was most perplexed. I then got a text directing me to the phone booths in the middle of the block where I had spotted the hats at first. and there was Mec (though not wearing a hat). From then we waited, and waited, and sat in the phone booths (there were no phones, so the shelves made convenient seats and sheltered us from the wind), and took breaks from the line to go to the bathroom, get cash (I walked all the way up to 53rd St to find a Chase ATM when there was one 2 blocks away on 42nd TOTAL NYER FAIL), get warm, get Starbucks, etc. The rest of the time was spent hugging the underdressed girls of the group to provide some body heat, telling tales of LJ, singing Jin songs (I don't really know any by heart and was impressed by others' memorization abilities) and hearing about the previous cons. I was the only one who had never seen Jin before (I think) hence the title of this entry. You know Our Boy loves puns, so I had to do it.
Mec
Spoon & Sapphy & Becs
Becs & Moni (in a bobble hat) & Kamisha's hands
Kamisha clutches her hot chocolate
A close up of Scarf Love. It was cold!
I couldn't have asked for a better random group of fangirls to queue with. Love you all.
People kept stopping to ask us what we were lined up for and then would say "Wow, really neat!" or something equally uncomprehending and then scurry away. My favorite was when a woman passed and exclaimed "Oh my gosh, they're all waiting for a bus!" which caused all of us to laugh as there was NO WAY we'd all fit on a bus.
Time passed and we got colder and my feet started to go numb (note to self--next time, wear shoes with a little more arch support). The waiting was interrupted by the appearance of the dancers to check out the line (someone--Moni or Spoon--got to high-five either Dominic or Juice). I snapped this pic:
Note how random guy in background is superhappy to have his picture taken ;-)
Just after they passed us I heard one of them (probably Juice) say "We gotta go back inside, this line is too long."
that awkward "AkaKame" sign in the queue.
And then it was time to go in and everyone hurried forward, almost running. The guards yelled at everyone alternately to slow down and that that we couldn't take photos inside. I went through the bag check and was belatedly grateful that I had forgotten to bring my water bottle. And then we were inside and hurrying into the standing area, where I was to be uncomfortably smushed for the next 3 or so hours. Seriously, if I had fainted, I wouldn't have fallen--the press of bodies would have kept me upright. Early on, I put a hand up to fist pump and then I couldn't get it back down. It was insane. But everyone was very polite and there wasn't much shoving (but plenty of insidious creeping). We were clustered on the left side of the stage close to the middle--my group was ahead and to the left, on the right were a bunch of Quebecoise girls (who had fun chatting with Kamisha in French) and behind us were a bunch of Japanese fans, including one in full dolly-kei gear just behind me. I think I was about 4-5 yards from the stage, in the end, but my view wasn't great--though that was my own fault. I was freaked out by how tightly we were squeezed so I ended up retreating to the pocket of space behind Kamisha (nobody wanted to stand there because she is so tall). I felt better not being so crowded but then of course I had to crane wildly around so I could see. But actually I had a good view of most of the stage, just not the exact middle. And I could NOT see anyone's feet--so much for enjoying the dancing. I think if Jin wants a "club atmosphere" again, he is going to have to rethink it (what was that email address for feedback again?)
Me, my lipgloss, and the stunning Kamisha courtesy of our Quebecoise neighbors.
And then Juice and the other guy (John?) came on and did an abbreviated version of the intro, and we heard Dominic sing and saw the top half of Joey T dance. Why did nobody mention that he is supercute? And then the drumset appeared and I knew that Jin would be there soon. And stage right (directly ahead of me) I saw a Japanese guy with bangs in his face and a white hoody pushing one of the robots on stage and pretending to fondle its non-existent chest. And I suddenly realized it was Jin. And my first thought was, no lie, "I had no idea his hair is so FLUFFY." I didn't really get to appreciate much more of him than his hair right then though because he was wearing his shades. But I can assure you from my experience later on that he is as beautiful irl as he seems in pictures. Possibly even MORE so.
He wore what seems to have been standard throughout the tour--first a white hoody over a black v-neck tee, then a sparkly varsity-style jacket (he kept turning to show us the back but I couldn't really make out what was on it--it looked like a world map) and the same tee, then the black tee, a silver tie (well loosened) and a jacket till the end. I couldn't really see his bottom half, so idk what was on there.
During "Hey Girl," Shunpei (I got the name from becroberts , I had no idea who he was/is at the time) attacked Jin's collarbones and he just collapsed to the floor. It was hilarious. And Jin proved the absorbency and moppiness of his hair when a dancer dumped a bottle of water his head and you couldn't tell. I mean, if you dumped a bottle of water on MY head, I would have an obviously sopping wet head. And then he got a towel and wore it over his head for a while.
During the world dance portion, I got a little bored. I mean, there were fans, and yukata, and masks and kanji--it was like, OK, dude, we know you're Japanese. No need to be a cultural ambassador. Also, I was SQUASHED and my feet were really starting to hurt.
Then it was time for "Tipsy Love." which was, literally, sweet, as Shunpei came out with a giant container of Twizzlers and was throwing them into the crowd and giving them out to the dancers. I saw when Jin gave a bitten one to Joey and Joey reversed it before putting it in his own mouth. Jin drew out the last chorus, and then everybody in the crew got to dance across the stage while the crowd and everyone on stage chanted their name (it was like one of those early KT moments when the MC would sing their names--I think it might be from the Real Face dvd? Or Kaizokuban? I warned you, I am a bad fangirl). Jin hugged them when they got over to him (he was stage right, so I could see him clearly) and said something to almost all of them. When it was Juice's turn, Jin started clapping and changed the chant from "Juice" to "Jin and Juice" and I thought how cute, he really likes him! and then I thought ... no, he really likes the pun.
And it was the end and the stage emptied and we were all standing there and I was like, so, is now when we are supposed to sing Eternal? But my lyric sheet was in my backpack which was on the floor somewhere in front of me. And nobody was singing, they were screaming or chanting "Jin Jin Jin." The dolly-kei girl a little bit behind was saying his name so intensely it seemed like a prayer. So everyone kept screaming and yelling Jin JIN JIN. And finally he came out and said something about the song "Eternal" and how he was going to release it as a single in Japan. I think he had come out again because he had been told that the fans were going to do something involving Eternal. But then one of the fans closest to the stage tossed him the lyric sheet and he was like "Oh, it's the lyrics." And then he said something hesitant about how were we sure we wanted him to sing it because "it's a really Japanese song." And I was all like, c'mon, Jin, a little Japanese isn't going to KILL us. Over to stage left all the dancer crew were standing by the production table and they were all giving him thumbs up in encouragement.
So, yeah, he sang Eternal (with a backing track--hey, where'd THAT come from?) and he totally sang the shit out of it and everybody sang along (you've seen the fancam, right?) and it was just a great moment. ANd when it was over he stood and stared into the crowd for several long moments, almost as though he was trying to absorb the scene so completely into his memory that he would not be able to forget it.
And after THAT, I went home. I was going to stand in the goods line, but I just didn't have the strength. I'm sorry I ran out, everybody, I wanted to say goodbye and how great it was to see the concert with you, but I couldn't find anyone and my feet were killing me, so it was back to Brooklyn on the subway.
Yes, I would do it again. But I would wear better shoes, and not be too timid to get my camera out for the good bits ;-)
The following is in no particular order and may not make any sense.
I got to Times Square around 2.30 pm after an intense morning making a curry for my family as penance for not having been well enough to cook for them all week and then fucking off to fangirl as soon as I felt better. After the curry was done, I dressed up in my con outfit (sparkly vintage sweater, jeans, black boots, the only big gold earrings I own) put on some eye makeup (I never wear makeup so you know this was a special occasion. I had bought it all at Target the day before, lol). I had attempted to paint my nails "yellow gold" the previous evening but only got as far as one coat. In other words, I was your usual insane fangirl in preparation.
I walked down the line looking for Mec in her purple bobble hat. I saw a cluster of purple bobble hats but none had Mec under them. So as I reached the end of the line at 45th St without spotting her, I was most perplexed. I then got a text directing me to the phone booths in the middle of the block where I had spotted the hats at first. and there was Mec (though not wearing a hat). From then we waited, and waited, and sat in the phone booths (there were no phones, so the shelves made convenient seats and sheltered us from the wind), and took breaks from the line to go to the bathroom, get cash (I walked all the way up to 53rd St to find a Chase ATM when there was one 2 blocks away on 42nd TOTAL NYER FAIL), get warm, get Starbucks, etc. The rest of the time was spent hugging the underdressed girls of the group to provide some body heat, telling tales of LJ, singing Jin songs (I don't really know any by heart and was impressed by others' memorization abilities) and hearing about the previous cons. I was the only one who had never seen Jin before (I think) hence the title of this entry. You know Our Boy loves puns, so I had to do it.
Mec
Spoon & Sapphy & Becs
Becs & Moni (in a bobble hat) & Kamisha's hands
Kamisha clutches her hot chocolate
A close up of Scarf Love. It was cold!
I couldn't have asked for a better random group of fangirls to queue with. Love you all.
People kept stopping to ask us what we were lined up for and then would say "Wow, really neat!" or something equally uncomprehending and then scurry away. My favorite was when a woman passed and exclaimed "Oh my gosh, they're all waiting for a bus!" which caused all of us to laugh as there was NO WAY we'd all fit on a bus.
Time passed and we got colder and my feet started to go numb (note to self--next time, wear shoes with a little more arch support). The waiting was interrupted by the appearance of the dancers to check out the line (someone--Moni or Spoon--got to high-five either Dominic or Juice). I snapped this pic:
Note how random guy in background is superhappy to have his picture taken ;-)
Just after they passed us I heard one of them (probably Juice) say "We gotta go back inside, this line is too long."
that awkward "AkaKame" sign in the queue.
And then it was time to go in and everyone hurried forward, almost running. The guards yelled at everyone alternately to slow down and that that we couldn't take photos inside. I went through the bag check and was belatedly grateful that I had forgotten to bring my water bottle. And then we were inside and hurrying into the standing area, where I was to be uncomfortably smushed for the next 3 or so hours. Seriously, if I had fainted, I wouldn't have fallen--the press of bodies would have kept me upright. Early on, I put a hand up to fist pump and then I couldn't get it back down. It was insane. But everyone was very polite and there wasn't much shoving (but plenty of insidious creeping). We were clustered on the left side of the stage close to the middle--my group was ahead and to the left, on the right were a bunch of Quebecoise girls (who had fun chatting with Kamisha in French) and behind us were a bunch of Japanese fans, including one in full dolly-kei gear just behind me. I think I was about 4-5 yards from the stage, in the end, but my view wasn't great--though that was my own fault. I was freaked out by how tightly we were squeezed so I ended up retreating to the pocket of space behind Kamisha (nobody wanted to stand there because she is so tall). I felt better not being so crowded but then of course I had to crane wildly around so I could see. But actually I had a good view of most of the stage, just not the exact middle. And I could NOT see anyone's feet--so much for enjoying the dancing. I think if Jin wants a "club atmosphere" again, he is going to have to rethink it (what was that email address for feedback again?)
Me, my lipgloss, and the stunning Kamisha courtesy of our Quebecoise neighbors.
And then Juice and the other guy (John?) came on and did an abbreviated version of the intro, and we heard Dominic sing and saw the top half of Joey T dance. Why did nobody mention that he is supercute? And then the drumset appeared and I knew that Jin would be there soon. And stage right (directly ahead of me) I saw a Japanese guy with bangs in his face and a white hoody pushing one of the robots on stage and pretending to fondle its non-existent chest. And I suddenly realized it was Jin. And my first thought was, no lie, "I had no idea his hair is so FLUFFY." I didn't really get to appreciate much more of him than his hair right then though because he was wearing his shades. But I can assure you from my experience later on that he is as beautiful irl as he seems in pictures. Possibly even MORE so.
He wore what seems to have been standard throughout the tour--first a white hoody over a black v-neck tee, then a sparkly varsity-style jacket (he kept turning to show us the back but I couldn't really make out what was on it--it looked like a world map) and the same tee, then the black tee, a silver tie (well loosened) and a jacket till the end. I couldn't really see his bottom half, so idk what was on there.
During "Hey Girl," Shunpei (I got the name from becroberts , I had no idea who he was/is at the time) attacked Jin's collarbones and he just collapsed to the floor. It was hilarious. And Jin proved the absorbency and moppiness of his hair when a dancer dumped a bottle of water his head and you couldn't tell. I mean, if you dumped a bottle of water on MY head, I would have an obviously sopping wet head. And then he got a towel and wore it over his head for a while.
During the world dance portion, I got a little bored. I mean, there were fans, and yukata, and masks and kanji--it was like, OK, dude, we know you're Japanese. No need to be a cultural ambassador. Also, I was SQUASHED and my feet were really starting to hurt.
Then it was time for "Tipsy Love." which was, literally, sweet, as Shunpei came out with a giant container of Twizzlers and was throwing them into the crowd and giving them out to the dancers. I saw when Jin gave a bitten one to Joey and Joey reversed it before putting it in his own mouth. Jin drew out the last chorus, and then everybody in the crew got to dance across the stage while the crowd and everyone on stage chanted their name (it was like one of those early KT moments when the MC would sing their names--I think it might be from the Real Face dvd? Or Kaizokuban? I warned you, I am a bad fangirl). Jin hugged them when they got over to him (he was stage right, so I could see him clearly) and said something to almost all of them. When it was Juice's turn, Jin started clapping and changed the chant from "Juice" to "Jin and Juice" and I thought how cute, he really likes him! and then I thought ... no, he really likes the pun.
And it was the end and the stage emptied and we were all standing there and I was like, so, is now when we are supposed to sing Eternal? But my lyric sheet was in my backpack which was on the floor somewhere in front of me. And nobody was singing, they were screaming or chanting "Jin Jin Jin." The dolly-kei girl a little bit behind was saying his name so intensely it seemed like a prayer. So everyone kept screaming and yelling Jin JIN JIN. And finally he came out and said something about the song "Eternal" and how he was going to release it as a single in Japan. I think he had come out again because he had been told that the fans were going to do something involving Eternal. But then one of the fans closest to the stage tossed him the lyric sheet and he was like "Oh, it's the lyrics." And then he said something hesitant about how were we sure we wanted him to sing it because "it's a really Japanese song." And I was all like, c'mon, Jin, a little Japanese isn't going to KILL us. Over to stage left all the dancer crew were standing by the production table and they were all giving him thumbs up in encouragement.
So, yeah, he sang Eternal (with a backing track--hey, where'd THAT come from?) and he totally sang the shit out of it and everybody sang along (you've seen the fancam, right?) and it was just a great moment. ANd when it was over he stood and stared into the crowd for several long moments, almost as though he was trying to absorb the scene so completely into his memory that he would not be able to forget it.
And after THAT, I went home. I was going to stand in the goods line, but I just didn't have the strength. I'm sorry I ran out, everybody, I wanted to say goodbye and how great it was to see the concert with you, but I couldn't find anyone and my feet were killing me, so it was back to Brooklyn on the subway.
Yes, I would do it again. But I would wear better shoes, and not be too timid to get my camera out for the good bits ;-)