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Yay for concert reports!


So 8am on Thanksgiving day found me packing last minute things and getting ready to head over to see my mom before we leave. She was nice enough to make sandwiches for us to take on the road and I promised to see her. (I mention this now because it will pop up again). Z (Kuroi's younger brother) was at our apartment when I came back after picking up the very last minute things of no-doze and energy drinks for the drivers and we were off to pick up Hotaru and Gachan.

Gachan, Hotaru and I sat in the back the entire way, mostly because 1) My direction skills suck and 2) i get carsick from reading in the car. We mostly yelled at hit each other as we normally do so nothing too outstanding on the trip there...except for the huge a** rainstorm and then The Spooky.

It had been raining all day in New Mexico. And in Arizona. With a planned huge a** rainstorm that would limit visibilty to less than 5 feet in front of you. We drove through that lol.

Because of all the rain, when it became dark, we went through a forest completely covered in fog. My horror-moving loving friends decided it would be wonderful to put on music from 28 Days/Weeks Later. I curled into a ball over a pillow with my jacket over my head.


We arrived in Tempe at about 8pm. And found the Marquee Theater SURPRISINGLY easy as the last time we were in Tempe, we passed the theater at least four times before we found it. Finding a bathroom, however, was a little more difficult. The first place we found, a Circle K convince store, did not have a bathroom and had apparently just been robbed as there were cops everywhere and were reviewing tapes. The second one we found worked out fine, other than the completely white trash family in the front. Turned out that the employee was from New Mexico and moved to Arizona because it was warmer. Couldn't argue there.

After relieving ourselves, we returned to the theater, dug out our sleeping bags and were preparing to go to sleep. We started taking bets about when the next person or group would arrive. All of our estimates were tomorrow, early morning. After we said it, a group of three came up to join us.


I woke up at about four because my lower back was hurting and I was sweating up a storm. Kuroi and I ended up sharing a sleeping bag because there were only four. And he is like a heater lol. So I sat up and ended up talking to Gachan before slipping out of the sleeping bag and going to talk to some of the new people that came during the night while I had been asleep. They had came from Georgia and were quite fun to talk to.

Around six, Kuroi, Hotaru and I went down to Starbucks for coffee and cocoa (and again, for bathroom break). Came back and I promptly grabbed a blanket and fell asleep again until nine.

When I woke up, there were more people in line, but things seemed to be pretty mellow. Kuroi, Gachan and Z went to the Starbucks to use the bathroom (after Gachan told us he relieved himself during the night in a bush at a local park.). Hotaru woke up right as Dir en grey's tour bus drove up. Happily, no one kicked us off the premise this time, to which we were all happy.

Hotaru and I changed in the car when the boys got back. I got scared because I thought my glasses had broke (the lens popped out and the frame had a gap in it). It turned out that a screw fell out and that it could be fixed. Hotaru ended up having to use one of the shirts Gachan brought and wearing jeans as she forgot to pack shirts.

During the course of the whole day, we kept being visited by a dog that the venue had found. She was a mixed chow and, I thought, Golden Retriever, and still growing but very sweet and had to have everyone love her.

Nothing exciting really happened during the wait other than finding a port-a-potty not too far away. Wendy ended up arriving at about 4 or 5 and we discussed where we were all going to be at the concert (Kuroi and I was aiming for the left to be in front of Kaoru and Toshiya; Z and Hotaru were going to the center to be in front of Kyo and Wendy and Gachan were heading to the right for Die). I had one of the sandwiches my mom made.

I was surprised when they didn't split the line like the did before. It ended up being two girls lines and four boys. The last time, it had been five girls lines and one boy line. We all were checked for weapons and let in. I ended up smashed between this really annoying elitist Kaoru fangirl (who spent the entire time I was there saying she had more right to be up front because she had been into the band since she was 8; she mentioned she was sixteen then) and her friends.

It was then that the worst of all luck had to strike.

I started to feel sick. I was sweating, it was killing me to stand and worst of all, my stomach was twisting up. Kuroi, who was standing behind me, ended up having to pull me out of the crowd as I felt vertigo, followed by concert personal helping me get outside where I vomited. I was so embarrassed and really really sad. Kuroi thinks it's one of the sandwiches I had that my mom made as they had been kept in a hot car. Kuroi promised that if I wanted to go back up front, he would get me there, but I just couldn't stand long enough to do it without feeling nauseated or dizzy.

So, I spent the concert in the back sitting on the floor. The Human Abstract were pretty good...I'm not quite sure if I would buy their CD but they interest me a little bit. I enjoyed watching the guy with the really long dreads swing his head around.

Finally, Sa Bir came on and the band walked out onto the stage. I really miss G.D.S. playing but the creepy feel they were going for worked well, especially when the launched immediately into Obscure. The entire set (which I'm sure I'll get the setlist soon), was filled with new songs from Uroboros and old favorites from Vulgar, Withering To Death and The Marrow of a Bone. I was thrilled that they ended up playing Hydra (666 version) as that was a b-side to a single and they aren't well known for playing their b-sides, much less their remakes and mixes.

Hotaru came up to me nearing the end of a concert, saying she had to be pulled out of the line as she had an asthma attack. She asked if I wanted to go get my copy of Uroboros so I could get it signed after the show. I had already bought my mandatory concert shirt so I decided why not? Just waiting in line made me exhausted and, after the encore, I ended up asking Hotaru if she could take my CD and try and get it signed for me. Kuroi ended up having to nearly carry me outside and put me in the car.

Kuroi went to find all the rest of our Amoeba group. Wendy arrived first and sat and talked with me; she managed not to get pushed around and enjoyed the concert. Gachan arrived next, saying Kuroi told him what happened and gave me a bottle of cold water to drink. I was surprised that he hadn't been in the fight that occurred over one of Shinya's drumsticks.

Hotaru was next. She had her copy of Uroboros but not mine. I was thinking that they didn't sign it or maybe confiscated it (don't ask me, I was not thinking right). Hotaru sat in the car and told me that they were limited one signing per person but she had dragged Z into the line and gave him my copy to get signed (as he had preordered the album along with many extra goodies). She then told me that the signers this time (as they normally do it in twos or threes; only the NYC show had all five members signing) were Toshiya and Kaoru. As in my two favorite members. I was so very very happy.

Z and Kuroi arrived a little later, Z giving me the CD, now opened with Kaoru's signature on the CD itself and Toshiya's on the cover booklet. Z and Hotaru were hungry so Kuroi pulled over to get them food before we headed over to Hotaru's uncle's house to sleep.


I apparently fell asleep on the ride over as I was woken up by Kuroi. I had taken my contacts out so I was blind as a bat and just followed directions when Hotaru pressed my pillow into my arms and I shuffled inside. We met her uncle, who was so incredibly nice and had a very fluffy, very tiny, very squirmy puppy in his hand. Enter Sarah, the cutest Pomeranian puppy you will ever see. Wendy had a screwdriver and glasses screws and I had Kuroi fix my glasses so I could see before I fell asleep.

I woke up and was feeling oh so much better. We changed and got ready to leave, chatting with Hotaru's uncle and aunt for a while more and thanking them up and down for letting us stay at their place. We said farewell and headed back out, stopping only at In and Out for food (as Hotaru loves it and was buying it for myself so hey, free food that's NOT contaminated). Drove home and arrived back at 6pm yesterday.

All things considering, this was one of the best concerts and best trips I have ever been on.


Kaoru and Toshiya's signatures on my copy of Uroboros