J - 2008/12/31 渋谷 O-East; Tokyo, JP (FC countdown live)
Got up semi-late today, messed around on the computer for a bit, & then headed over to baba to a ramen place that we'd just seen on TV on a "top 30 ramen places" show (I think it was #3 or #5 or something, and may have been the #1 つけ麺, but I don't remember)... their normal serving size is, as it says on the menu, 350g of noodles ("twice that of normal stores"), and they also offered a 中盛 for ¥100 (650g) and an 大盛 for ¥300 (1000g of noodles! (that's 2.2lbs for you non-metric types :P")). Under the 大盛 it said 初めての方はご遠慮ください (first-timers please refrain)... no shit! 'Twas quite good, though:
After that, headed to karaoke, which was shockingly empty.. I guess people have better things to do during the day on New Year's Eve.. ended up going through all of 天使のリボルバー & a couple other B-T & Luna Sea songs, while Girl stuck mostly to ふしぎ遊戯, Sailor Moon & Utena. :P" Grabbed some kebabs at the usual Shinjuku South exit place, & headed over to O-East. Stood in line for ID check, & then hit the goods line- pretty much the same stuff as last night, only they also had a pin badge (which they also had at last year's countdown), and a teddy bear- which was 13800 fucking yen (over $150 at the current exchange rate). Most of the other 限定 shit was already sold out, but there were tons of the bears lined up on display- we figured they wouldn't sell out since they were so freakin' expensive (and not even all that cool-looking). Had to run back right afterwards & get the exact same things we'd just gotten (towel & calendar) for Lillian, since they stopped letting people in (she called Girl right as we were heading down the stairs). Which is odd, since they opened it back up again later for ID check... (?) Oh well.
Went down & met up w/ Lillian, headed off to the Mos Burger bathroom to change & get ready, went back up & waited for the show. Since we were the first batch in (F-118 & 124 (the letters went FCPYRO tonight)), we stood right near the front- of course the front barrier was already completely taken, so we ended up about 2 people back, directly in front of the mic stand. I got landed on a couple times right away & some chicks weaseled their way in front of me while I was pushed down & back from the stupid crowd surfer, & then eventually I got pushed about 3-4 people to the left, but managed to stay more or less in the 3rd-4th row back (of solid back-to-chest people). Ended up basically switching places with one guy who was on my left... He must've fallen back a bit & then snuck back in, 'cause he sure as hell wasn't gonna wedge his way in front of me! :P" Girl somehow managed to stay in the same place the whole time- she claims it's from being wedged in place, but I call bullshit, since there are always people pushing sideways & trying to weasel their way in front of you...
Got my glasses knocked off several times (my head is higher than pretty much everyone around me, so everyone lands on ME), although fortunately never to the floor (they got wedged between bodies), so eventually I started just holding them, folded up, in one hand while pushing the crowd surfers off w/ the other, & then later clipping it in my shirt when a surf-heavy song started. I'm sure there'll be a few clips in the DVD of my glasses in the air, or w/ me without them, if they have any crowd shots from the front... They're a bit bent now, though, so I need to go get 'em straightened somewhere. Should probably get some new ones anyway, and an extra plastic pair especially for shows. At least Ito-san (the main security guy) sorta acted like a crowd surfer alert, 'cause he'd always stand up on something, & point to people coming up so the other security guys could grab them, so I could usually tell when they were coming- the rest of the time I just held my arms up over my head & glanced backwards every so often. Man, were my arms tired... >_<
After the countdown, they shot out silver ribbons (of course)- I apparently managed to grab two at once in my first grab, & then another in a second reach (since I wasn't sure if Girl would've gotten one (she did))... Then they rolled out a big sake barrel, & J & Scott hit it w/ wooden mallets to break the seal open, & then used the wooden dipper cups on long stick handles to pour them into the wooden box cups... everyone drank a cup, & then J passed one down to Ito-san.. then he tossed one into the crowd- I held my mouth open & managed to catch a single drop of it.. lol. After the band intro, J threw out his t-shirt, & Masa came out w/ a Santa hat & threw that out, too. Apparently Scott threw out his masu (wooden sake box), but I didn't see.
Also, J threw a bunch of picks just to the left & behind me, apparently to one guy who kept missing them, 'cause he'd toss one, shake his head, toss another, shake his head, & finally tossed one & nodded & smiled... pretty sure it was the guy about 2' to my back/left. BUT- Girl managed to get one off the floor (by noticing something slidy under her foot & keeping it there until she could reach for it), and then while I was searching around after that (w/ the help of my iPhone flashlight ^^;) she came up & kept trying to grab my hand, & then finally got it & stuck a pick in it, & I was like "What, you're giving me this one, 'cause you already have one at home from before?" & then she held up her other one! Apparently she saw the second one on the floor after J came out again & said 'bye', dove for it & actually managed to get it. So yay, I now have a J pick!
Oh, and apparently we're getting popular- that or people are getting more friendly... before the show, some random girl was staring at me & I looked & she waved & said "Hi!"... then after the show, while waiting in the drink line for water, some other girl came up & was like "I know your name is Eric!" & I'm like "WTF?"- apparently she knows the guy I sold my extra ticket to at the August O-East show, whom I keep seeing (actually saw him last night, too, but I think he was going to the Ino show instead), & who keeps waving hi. And then while I was changing & washing my face after the show, some other random guy said hi to Girl.
After the show we checked the goods area again just to look, & the bears had a freakin' sold out sign! But there were still about 3 sitting out.... hm. Left the venue, got another water at a conbini (was damn thirsty), & then ended up stopping at the Shibuya Starbucks "because it's open!"... got home around 3. >_<
Anyway, it's well after 5 by now... should probably go to bed soon. >_<
ZOMG- my next 2 shows are GACKT next week! (o_O); That's gonna be... different...
After that, headed to karaoke, which was shockingly empty.. I guess people have better things to do during the day on New Year's Eve.. ended up going through all of 天使のリボルバー & a couple other B-T & Luna Sea songs, while Girl stuck mostly to ふしぎ遊戯, Sailor Moon & Utena. :P" Grabbed some kebabs at the usual Shinjuku South exit place, & headed over to O-East. Stood in line for ID check, & then hit the goods line- pretty much the same stuff as last night, only they also had a pin badge (which they also had at last year's countdown), and a teddy bear- which was 13800 fucking yen (over $150 at the current exchange rate). Most of the other 限定 shit was already sold out, but there were tons of the bears lined up on display- we figured they wouldn't sell out since they were so freakin' expensive (and not even all that cool-looking). Had to run back right afterwards & get the exact same things we'd just gotten (towel & calendar) for Lillian, since they stopped letting people in (she called Girl right as we were heading down the stairs). Which is odd, since they opened it back up again later for ID check... (?) Oh well.
Went down & met up w/ Lillian, headed off to the Mos Burger bathroom to change & get ready, went back up & waited for the show. Since we were the first batch in (F-118 & 124 (the letters went FCPYRO tonight)), we stood right near the front- of course the front barrier was already completely taken, so we ended up about 2 people back, directly in front of the mic stand. I got landed on a couple times right away & some chicks weaseled their way in front of me while I was pushed down & back from the stupid crowd surfer, & then eventually I got pushed about 3-4 people to the left, but managed to stay more or less in the 3rd-4th row back (of solid back-to-chest people). Ended up basically switching places with one guy who was on my left... He must've fallen back a bit & then snuck back in, 'cause he sure as hell wasn't gonna wedge his way in front of me! :P" Girl somehow managed to stay in the same place the whole time- she claims it's from being wedged in place, but I call bullshit, since there are always people pushing sideways & trying to weasel their way in front of you...
- I Feel You
- Final Call
- break
- Never Ever
- Ray of Light
- Flames
- Speed of Love
- Snake Beat
- drum solo
- But You Said I'm Useless...
- Go Charge
New Year's Countdown - Pyromania
- addiction
- Reckless
- Across the Night
- Feel Your Blaze
Got my glasses knocked off several times (my head is higher than pretty much everyone around me, so everyone lands on ME), although fortunately never to the floor (they got wedged between bodies), so eventually I started just holding them, folded up, in one hand while pushing the crowd surfers off w/ the other, & then later clipping it in my shirt when a surf-heavy song started. I'm sure there'll be a few clips in the DVD of my glasses in the air, or w/ me without them, if they have any crowd shots from the front... They're a bit bent now, though, so I need to go get 'em straightened somewhere. Should probably get some new ones anyway, and an extra plastic pair especially for shows. At least Ito-san (the main security guy) sorta acted like a crowd surfer alert, 'cause he'd always stand up on something, & point to people coming up so the other security guys could grab them, so I could usually tell when they were coming- the rest of the time I just held my arms up over my head & glanced backwards every so often. Man, were my arms tired... >_<
After the countdown, they shot out silver ribbons (of course)- I apparently managed to grab two at once in my first grab, & then another in a second reach (since I wasn't sure if Girl would've gotten one (she did))... Then they rolled out a big sake barrel, & J & Scott hit it w/ wooden mallets to break the seal open, & then used the wooden dipper cups on long stick handles to pour them into the wooden box cups... everyone drank a cup, & then J passed one down to Ito-san.. then he tossed one into the crowd- I held my mouth open & managed to catch a single drop of it.. lol. After the band intro, J threw out his t-shirt, & Masa came out w/ a Santa hat & threw that out, too. Apparently Scott threw out his masu (wooden sake box), but I didn't see.
Also, J threw a bunch of picks just to the left & behind me, apparently to one guy who kept missing them, 'cause he'd toss one, shake his head, toss another, shake his head, & finally tossed one & nodded & smiled... pretty sure it was the guy about 2' to my back/left. BUT- Girl managed to get one off the floor (by noticing something slidy under her foot & keeping it there until she could reach for it), and then while I was searching around after that (w/ the help of my iPhone flashlight ^^;) she came up & kept trying to grab my hand, & then finally got it & stuck a pick in it, & I was like "What, you're giving me this one, 'cause you already have one at home from before?" & then she held up her other one! Apparently she saw the second one on the floor after J came out again & said 'bye', dove for it & actually managed to get it. So yay, I now have a J pick!
Oh, and apparently we're getting popular- that or people are getting more friendly... before the show, some random girl was staring at me & I looked & she waved & said "Hi!"... then after the show, while waiting in the drink line for water, some other girl came up & was like "I know your name is Eric!" & I'm like "WTF?"- apparently she knows the guy I sold my extra ticket to at the August O-East show, whom I keep seeing (actually saw him last night, too, but I think he was going to the Ino show instead), & who keeps waving hi. And then while I was changing & washing my face after the show, some other random guy said hi to Girl.
After the show we checked the goods area again just to look, & the bears had a freakin' sold out sign! But there were still about 3 sitting out.... hm. Left the venue, got another water at a conbini (was damn thirsty), & then ended up stopping at the Shibuya Starbucks "because it's open!"... got home around 3. >_<
Anyway, it's well after 5 by now... should probably go to bed soon. >_<
ZOMG- my next 2 shows are GACKT next week! (o_O); That's gonna be... different...