D'espairsRayCon report
HAHAHA MARA FTW! She just came over randomly to tell me that D'espairsRay were promoting and clubbing over at a place called Albion (not Avalon! though that would have been funny) on 30th and 7th on Saturday night! And that they were shy as hell. XD WTF I could have molested them even more. >:D So she brought us all free posters (the same ones that JHR was selling for $12!). Mara wins at life.
So now I am actually motivated to talk about my weekend.
Friday was the day I was there with Kathy, and the only day I was really "working." Within the first half hour of arriving at the Meadowlands, I saw like, Kelly, Isa, Ranma, Ling, Mimi, Ivory, Alice, Bri, and probably more people I know that I tend to only see at cons. XD I was wearing a black lace and corset sleeveless dress, with the corset ribbon going up to the bust and neck the skirt going below the knees, and fishnets on my arms. I'm not exactly into Gothic Lolita, but it looked nice. I don't remember if I have pictures of it. We spent the early afternoon doing press things (mostly me pimping out purple SKY's postcards to everyone I saw wearing something j-rock related). We putzed around the dealer's room some, handing out a few business cards, and in the later afternoon I met up with Matt, Chrissy and Lain before I went to line up for the concert.
I hadn't bought the "premium admission," thinking it was not really worth the money, since I'd already seen them up-close twice. But, I was sad to not be able to go with my friends when I finally got to the general admission line (after having no idea that it was outside since 7:00, and being lucky enough to ask a staff person, but still getting there late). On top of that, I was waiting in line from 7:30 to 10 (it was scheduled to start at 9), but luckily I brought my hiragana book with me, and had more postcards to pimp out, so I wasn't too terribly bored. Fortunately, when I got in, I could easily get to the front of the general admission area. Unfortunately, we had to sit through two openers. I was forced to listen to Still Life Decay again. >.> And believe me, I tried to get into it, but after seeing them twice I've thoroughly established that they suck. When Suicide City came on, it was already 11:00, and I was starting to get rather angry and impatient. I stopped regretting not buying the premium tickets. Fortunately, Suicide City was rather good and played longer than last time I saw them, and they put me in a better mood.
So at 12:00, when the concert was scheduled to -end-, D'espa came on. White outfits like last time, 'cept for Hizumi who had on a long black coat. The coat only lasted about 1/2 of the show, before he threw it off. I totally cannot remember the set list, but I think they played the new b-sides near the beginning, and Kogoeru Yoru ni Saita Hana near the middle. I enjoyed those, and Dears, and in vain. To D'espa's fault, their songs are mostly too similar for me to remember the titles specifically, so I've always had trouble remembering their set lists. Still, I was in a very good mood for their show, and even without being in the pit, gave them all the energy I could from where I was. Plus, not being up close, I could actually see all the members from the front, and could concentrate more on the music than surviving the crowd. The show lacked surprises, but one can't expect many of those from a con show, and the performance was solid as ever.
At the end, I wasn't close enough to get hit with Zero's water, but one of his picks reached the floor next to me, and no one went for it. I don't know whether it was because I was in the non-hardcore section or because it was too dark, but I scooped it up easily. :D Lain got a bass pick too, and Matt got a water bottle. We got out at 1:30, and luckily Kathy had stayed around and was able to drive me to the city, as the buses had stopped running. I got home at 3ish and passed the fuck out.
Saturday, I had on my seek shirt along with my other PLC pins, and a short black skirt with fishnet knee-highs. I think I arrived back at Meadowlands at like 12:45, but didn't have any real plans, since none of the panels looked interesting. I dealer's roomed some more. The bootleg j-rock booth had had a Child Prey wallscroll on Friday, but apparently didn't have any more. >.> None of JHR's stuff was really a good enough value. I really, really wanted one of the D'espa butterfly shirts with last year's tour dates, but they were sold out of everything but large and long-sleeved. =\ I wish I'd bought one back then. My only spending was on a ticket for the photo session, and a D'espa t-shirt from another booth with the butterfly and fence on the front, but no tour dates, and in medium (I usually wear a small if it's a men's shirt). The same booth had the Dir en grey member's legs shirt, but also only medium and only in white. I'm still holding out for the black baby doll from FWA's site. Once again, I oogled the Dir en grey photobooks at Sasuga, and once again didn't have $50 for Dragonfly. ;.;
The j-rock shoot at 4 was rather small, but I still pimped out the rest of my postcards. By this time, my enthusiasm had been replaced with shyness and embarassment. There were a few people I ended up approaching twice, so I was beginning to find myself annoying. Oh well, I'll only be doing the same goddamn thing at Otakon. XD at 4:30, it was time for me, Matt, Lain, & Chrissy to head over to Manhattan. Somehow the whole trip only got us downtown at like 6, but at that time we still thought no one would be allowed to line up, so we went browsing along St. Mark's (I left a few postcards in Trash and Vaudeville XD) until about 6:30, when Ryou called me to say that there was in fact a line. XP So we ran down Bowery to find that in fact, there was one, but it wasn't all that long, maybe 60 people. Still, we found Orfik in line about 20th in and snuck in with her. :D So our group grew to include me, Matt, Chrissy, Lain, Orfik, Nikki, Ryou, Aki, Waru, and Kay (sorry guys, I'm too lazy to put in LJ names :D). Doors opened at maybe 7:40, and we ran in to get a spot.
At first we were all about 4th row, mostly on the left. But DAYUM CBGB has the smallest stage EVER. Like 20ft across, and the stage at waist level. Hella intimate. I wasn't too worried about getting closer up eventually, but the fact that I still had my shoulder bag and the plastic bag from the con was rather worrying. I settled for putting in by my feet, and trying to hold it still between my legs.
The pushing began in full before the show started, but luckily this crowd wasn't big enough to sway and put anyone off balance. So when they came on, dressed in cut-up black rags, it was all about the moshing. And I mean all about the moshing. Small crowds have the best pits. Muscially it was all a blur, and I still had to keep one hand down to hold on to the plastic bag, which was dampening the mood a bit. But this time, I could concentrate on contributing to the crowd's amazing energy, and the thrill of being that close to them. I was close enough to Zero to touch his leg and his bass multiple times, and though I wasn't that close to Hizumi, at one point I grabbed his hand for a full five seconds. Once he had taken off his jacket again, one girl who was more in the center touched his abdomen, and then touched my hand. XD Whoo, second hand Hizumi sweat! If you get to read this, thank you~!
The set list was only six songs, but honestly, I preferred that. I couldn't enjoy the songs as much as I had the previous night, but the intimacy and the energy was even stronger than Don Hill's, and made a great compliment to the con show. I had no more regrets about not buying the premium tickets; this was all the closeness I needed. I also had a better view of Tsukasa than I'd had at any of the other shows, so it was great to be able to watch him. Though Zero got the most molestation by far, I touched all the rest of them at least once, even Tsukasa. <3 I loved his smile when he came up front to greet us. I hope he does that more often. ;.;
The crowd was quick to break up afterwards, emphasizing just how quick and intense the experience had been. I wanted to check on Waru, who was to the right of me, and saw what I thought might have been one of her necklaces sticking to her chest. Turned out it was Karyu's pick, stuck on with sweat. XD And Nikki also got one of his picks! Matt had to split the drumstick he'd caught with four others. But still, between my friends we have acquired at least 7 pieces of D'espa treasure! Though I was tired, I wanted to see if I could watch some more bands, so after hanging out and fangirling, I asked Ryou to take the others back on the subway, and sat for one more band, who were pretty good. I made it a point to use the bathroom at least once, and daaaaayum was it ghetto. The doors don't close, the TP is hung from a railing, and the only soap is in a wet tin bowl. But, it's fitting for a punk club. The place is decorated with thousands and thousands of stickers on every free surface, very fitting for a club with such a history. CBGB, yet another club I should have been to already, but can only drag myself to see a j-rock band. XD One of the reasons I wanted to stay: I need to learn to appreciate live rock in general, and absorb more of the experience, while finding new bands to see live. But by 10, I was too tired, and headed home.
Sunday, I arrived at Port Authority around 11:30, still thoroughly tired and hoarse. My voice still isn't fully recovered, so I wonder if Zero's spit-water gave me a cold. That's what happened to Karly at Avalon. XD Zero AIDS is love. <3 Orfik and Nikki were on the same bus, so we all arrived and got on line together. Once again, j-rock fans prove their insanity by lining up insanely early even for an event where there is no benefit to going first! I was wearing a black PVC vest with a small red tie and a fake collar (and an undershirt, because I was sweating buckets), pinstriped skirt adorned with belts, and regular black knee highs. It looked rather good, but was not really fitting to waiting outside in the heat. ;.; Still, the wait was not that long, and I found D'espa dressed casually but stylishly, without a lot of makeup. I put myself in the middle and greeted them all. I asked Karyu if they were tired, and I guess he must have understood, because he responded, "No." Not that I believe him after hearing about the clubbing. XD
I haven't scanned the picture, but I'm doing my usual rock sign and leaning back a little. Karyu's about the same height as me. XD Still, they were all rather stiff, and Hizumi seemed to be doing his best not to show any facial expressions. One girl did get them all to do the "rock" sign, so I guess next time I'll just have to be more forward about that. After that, I proceeded to line up again for autographs. I had with me my t-shirt, along with Ryou's shirt and Aki's panties that I said I would try to get signed, but I decided to stick with having them sign my polaroid. They sat lined up at a table, and signed the photo one at a time, then shook my hand. I said "Thank you" to all of them, but by the time I got to Karyu, who was at the end, I had the confidence to say "I really enjoyed your show last night," to which he responded something like "Ossu!" XD Hizumi's greeting was disappointingly stiff, but Tsukasa's was rather enthusiastic. :D Zero's was quiet, but not unfriendly. I would have liked to say something to him, poor shy boy he is. XD
That was the last I saw of them, since I was too shy to go up for another autograph. ;.; Luckily, Lain brought up Ryou's shirt and another girl, I think Tiffany, brought up Aki's panties for me. It seemed like everyone got all the photos and autographs they needed, which was nice, since AYA & seek's photos+autographs were so rushed. -_- I was not feeling staying around for the auction, so I called a few people who I hadn't hung out with all con, but no one responded, so I just went to the Holiday Inn gift shop for a snack. Lain, Chrissy & Matt came back at like 4, and had to catch a bus out at 4:30, so I figured I'd leave with them, since I knew how many things I had to do once I got home. Everyone got dropped off at their appropriate travel destinations. I went home, thoroghly sick of looking at D'espairsRay, but still quite satisfied with the experience. I've now seen this band four times, and while my feelings about them have fluctuated, I still consider my experiences with them memorable ones, and I encourage them to continue to come here and rock our socks off.
So now I am actually motivated to talk about my weekend.
Friday was the day I was there with Kathy, and the only day I was really "working." Within the first half hour of arriving at the Meadowlands, I saw like, Kelly, Isa, Ranma, Ling, Mimi, Ivory, Alice, Bri, and probably more people I know that I tend to only see at cons. XD I was wearing a black lace and corset sleeveless dress, with the corset ribbon going up to the bust and neck the skirt going below the knees, and fishnets on my arms. I'm not exactly into Gothic Lolita, but it looked nice. I don't remember if I have pictures of it. We spent the early afternoon doing press things (mostly me pimping out purple SKY's postcards to everyone I saw wearing something j-rock related). We putzed around the dealer's room some, handing out a few business cards, and in the later afternoon I met up with Matt, Chrissy and Lain before I went to line up for the concert.
I hadn't bought the "premium admission," thinking it was not really worth the money, since I'd already seen them up-close twice. But, I was sad to not be able to go with my friends when I finally got to the general admission line (after having no idea that it was outside since 7:00, and being lucky enough to ask a staff person, but still getting there late). On top of that, I was waiting in line from 7:30 to 10 (it was scheduled to start at 9), but luckily I brought my hiragana book with me, and had more postcards to pimp out, so I wasn't too terribly bored. Fortunately, when I got in, I could easily get to the front of the general admission area. Unfortunately, we had to sit through two openers. I was forced to listen to Still Life Decay again. >.> And believe me, I tried to get into it, but after seeing them twice I've thoroughly established that they suck. When Suicide City came on, it was already 11:00, and I was starting to get rather angry and impatient. I stopped regretting not buying the premium tickets. Fortunately, Suicide City was rather good and played longer than last time I saw them, and they put me in a better mood.
So at 12:00, when the concert was scheduled to -end-, D'espa came on. White outfits like last time, 'cept for Hizumi who had on a long black coat. The coat only lasted about 1/2 of the show, before he threw it off. I totally cannot remember the set list, but I think they played the new b-sides near the beginning, and Kogoeru Yoru ni Saita Hana near the middle. I enjoyed those, and Dears, and in vain. To D'espa's fault, their songs are mostly too similar for me to remember the titles specifically, so I've always had trouble remembering their set lists. Still, I was in a very good mood for their show, and even without being in the pit, gave them all the energy I could from where I was. Plus, not being up close, I could actually see all the members from the front, and could concentrate more on the music than surviving the crowd. The show lacked surprises, but one can't expect many of those from a con show, and the performance was solid as ever.
At the end, I wasn't close enough to get hit with Zero's water, but one of his picks reached the floor next to me, and no one went for it. I don't know whether it was because I was in the non-hardcore section or because it was too dark, but I scooped it up easily. :D Lain got a bass pick too, and Matt got a water bottle. We got out at 1:30, and luckily Kathy had stayed around and was able to drive me to the city, as the buses had stopped running. I got home at 3ish and passed the fuck out.
Saturday, I had on my seek shirt along with my other PLC pins, and a short black skirt with fishnet knee-highs. I think I arrived back at Meadowlands at like 12:45, but didn't have any real plans, since none of the panels looked interesting. I dealer's roomed some more. The bootleg j-rock booth had had a Child Prey wallscroll on Friday, but apparently didn't have any more. >.> None of JHR's stuff was really a good enough value. I really, really wanted one of the D'espa butterfly shirts with last year's tour dates, but they were sold out of everything but large and long-sleeved. =\ I wish I'd bought one back then. My only spending was on a ticket for the photo session, and a D'espa t-shirt from another booth with the butterfly and fence on the front, but no tour dates, and in medium (I usually wear a small if it's a men's shirt). The same booth had the Dir en grey member's legs shirt, but also only medium and only in white. I'm still holding out for the black baby doll from FWA's site. Once again, I oogled the Dir en grey photobooks at Sasuga, and once again didn't have $50 for Dragonfly. ;.;
The j-rock shoot at 4 was rather small, but I still pimped out the rest of my postcards. By this time, my enthusiasm had been replaced with shyness and embarassment. There were a few people I ended up approaching twice, so I was beginning to find myself annoying. Oh well, I'll only be doing the same goddamn thing at Otakon. XD at 4:30, it was time for me, Matt, Lain, & Chrissy to head over to Manhattan. Somehow the whole trip only got us downtown at like 6, but at that time we still thought no one would be allowed to line up, so we went browsing along St. Mark's (I left a few postcards in Trash and Vaudeville XD) until about 6:30, when Ryou called me to say that there was in fact a line. XP So we ran down Bowery to find that in fact, there was one, but it wasn't all that long, maybe 60 people. Still, we found Orfik in line about 20th in and snuck in with her. :D So our group grew to include me, Matt, Chrissy, Lain, Orfik, Nikki, Ryou, Aki, Waru, and Kay (sorry guys, I'm too lazy to put in LJ names :D). Doors opened at maybe 7:40, and we ran in to get a spot.
At first we were all about 4th row, mostly on the left. But DAYUM CBGB has the smallest stage EVER. Like 20ft across, and the stage at waist level. Hella intimate. I wasn't too worried about getting closer up eventually, but the fact that I still had my shoulder bag and the plastic bag from the con was rather worrying. I settled for putting in by my feet, and trying to hold it still between my legs.
The pushing began in full before the show started, but luckily this crowd wasn't big enough to sway and put anyone off balance. So when they came on, dressed in cut-up black rags, it was all about the moshing. And I mean all about the moshing. Small crowds have the best pits. Muscially it was all a blur, and I still had to keep one hand down to hold on to the plastic bag, which was dampening the mood a bit. But this time, I could concentrate on contributing to the crowd's amazing energy, and the thrill of being that close to them. I was close enough to Zero to touch his leg and his bass multiple times, and though I wasn't that close to Hizumi, at one point I grabbed his hand for a full five seconds. Once he had taken off his jacket again, one girl who was more in the center touched his abdomen, and then touched my hand. XD Whoo, second hand Hizumi sweat! If you get to read this, thank you~!
The set list was only six songs, but honestly, I preferred that. I couldn't enjoy the songs as much as I had the previous night, but the intimacy and the energy was even stronger than Don Hill's, and made a great compliment to the con show. I had no more regrets about not buying the premium tickets; this was all the closeness I needed. I also had a better view of Tsukasa than I'd had at any of the other shows, so it was great to be able to watch him. Though Zero got the most molestation by far, I touched all the rest of them at least once, even Tsukasa. <3 I loved his smile when he came up front to greet us. I hope he does that more often. ;.;
The crowd was quick to break up afterwards, emphasizing just how quick and intense the experience had been. I wanted to check on Waru, who was to the right of me, and saw what I thought might have been one of her necklaces sticking to her chest. Turned out it was Karyu's pick, stuck on with sweat. XD And Nikki also got one of his picks! Matt had to split the drumstick he'd caught with four others. But still, between my friends we have acquired at least 7 pieces of D'espa treasure! Though I was tired, I wanted to see if I could watch some more bands, so after hanging out and fangirling, I asked Ryou to take the others back on the subway, and sat for one more band, who were pretty good. I made it a point to use the bathroom at least once, and daaaaayum was it ghetto. The doors don't close, the TP is hung from a railing, and the only soap is in a wet tin bowl. But, it's fitting for a punk club. The place is decorated with thousands and thousands of stickers on every free surface, very fitting for a club with such a history. CBGB, yet another club I should have been to already, but can only drag myself to see a j-rock band. XD One of the reasons I wanted to stay: I need to learn to appreciate live rock in general, and absorb more of the experience, while finding new bands to see live. But by 10, I was too tired, and headed home.
Sunday, I arrived at Port Authority around 11:30, still thoroughly tired and hoarse. My voice still isn't fully recovered, so I wonder if Zero's spit-water gave me a cold. That's what happened to Karly at Avalon. XD Zero AIDS is love. <3 Orfik and Nikki were on the same bus, so we all arrived and got on line together. Once again, j-rock fans prove their insanity by lining up insanely early even for an event where there is no benefit to going first! I was wearing a black PVC vest with a small red tie and a fake collar (and an undershirt, because I was sweating buckets), pinstriped skirt adorned with belts, and regular black knee highs. It looked rather good, but was not really fitting to waiting outside in the heat. ;.; Still, the wait was not that long, and I found D'espa dressed casually but stylishly, without a lot of makeup. I put myself in the middle and greeted them all. I asked Karyu if they were tired, and I guess he must have understood, because he responded, "No." Not that I believe him after hearing about the clubbing. XD
I haven't scanned the picture, but I'm doing my usual rock sign and leaning back a little. Karyu's about the same height as me. XD Still, they were all rather stiff, and Hizumi seemed to be doing his best not to show any facial expressions. One girl did get them all to do the "rock" sign, so I guess next time I'll just have to be more forward about that. After that, I proceeded to line up again for autographs. I had with me my t-shirt, along with Ryou's shirt and Aki's panties that I said I would try to get signed, but I decided to stick with having them sign my polaroid. They sat lined up at a table, and signed the photo one at a time, then shook my hand. I said "Thank you" to all of them, but by the time I got to Karyu, who was at the end, I had the confidence to say "I really enjoyed your show last night," to which he responded something like "Ossu!" XD Hizumi's greeting was disappointingly stiff, but Tsukasa's was rather enthusiastic. :D Zero's was quiet, but not unfriendly. I would have liked to say something to him, poor shy boy he is. XD
That was the last I saw of them, since I was too shy to go up for another autograph. ;.; Luckily, Lain brought up Ryou's shirt and another girl, I think Tiffany, brought up Aki's panties for me. It seemed like everyone got all the photos and autographs they needed, which was nice, since AYA & seek's photos+autographs were so rushed. -_- I was not feeling staying around for the auction, so I called a few people who I hadn't hung out with all con, but no one responded, so I just went to the Holiday Inn gift shop for a snack. Lain, Chrissy & Matt came back at like 4, and had to catch a bus out at 4:30, so I figured I'd leave with them, since I knew how many things I had to do once I got home. Everyone got dropped off at their appropriate travel destinations. I went home, thoroghly sick of looking at D'espairsRay, but still quite satisfied with the experience. I've now seen this band four times, and while my feelings about them have fluctuated, I still consider my experiences with them memorable ones, and I encourage them to continue to come here and rock our socks off.