Ah man sorry to hear about that Psyence, you should have come to talk to me, I'm really open minded especially from fellow Québecois (comme dirais Charlebois, ça a été un Ostidshow). I was kind of shy in the beginning since there were mostly ontarian people and felt kind of alone, but once I got my flag out people started taking pictures and being very talkative. I even got interviewed by the X's camera team, I did sound like an ass, since my english isn't very good when I talk (and I was so fckin excited and nervous), so... we'll see if they publish it on any future dvd...
And nope sukisyo, security didn't say anything about the flag, but they were very strict about people getting in front of the stage, which is kinda of a bummer since I was second row and wanted to clap Toshi's hand or give Yoshiki my flag (more on this later...
).
So for the little review of my adventure... (My pictures are posted on my Facebook, feel free to take a look at them, my name is Alexandre Leduc), I'll try to post the most important ones here if possible):
I got into Toronto by bus (Megabus), after a 7h drive and sore ass due to the overlong seating, I got the the side of Massey Hall where everybody was waiting for the band to come in. Talked to some people and got to see the band come rushing in from their limo. It was funny to see everybody anxious to see Yoshiki and see the door get closed and see the limo drive away, everybody was a little bummed out about that. I got to talk with Dilbot and take some pictures.
Then, in true Yoshiki fashion, the star came in with his private car right to the back of the venue and I only got to catch a glimpse of his hair...Then we got in line to enter the venue and continued to talk with Dilbot (who happens to not like Versailles... much to my disapointment...
haha). We saw people get interviewed by the camera crew, especially those who were dressed up or brought hide dolls. That's when I met ashtrayxx and her friends and we hung out a bit (they laughed at me during the interview... adding to the feeling of nervousness I was already having).
When we got into the venue I got to buy one of the X Hoodies. Then we got to the bar and took a shot of Jack Daniels in honor of Pata.
We then got seated and listened to Vampires Everywhere. I suppose they're good at what they're doing, but they were not my cup of tea. And then... Then... THEN... It was time for X JAPAN JAPAN JAPAN JAPAN JAPAN JAPAN JAPAN JAPAN JAPAN JAPAN JAPAN!!!!!!! The feeling of hearing that was undescribable. Then it started... While I do think Jade is as good as Rusty Nail for the opener, the chorus was "grandiose" ("epic").
I was happy they played Drain, but it seemed like the crowd energy went down one rank... But for Kurenai... The crowd went crazy and so did I. I even happened to film it...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAiczGduBHc[/youtube]
You can hear me yelling in the background... A lot... a whole lot... Haha.
For X... I never imagined I would ever sweat that much in a theater... I was lucky to be right next to alley so I could jump all I want. Definitely my highlight of the show. The singing in I.V. and of course Endless Rain was awesome, I do think we where a pretty good crowd.
They did made us wait and yell a whole lot before the encore... I screamed my lungs out during the WE ARE X!!! chants, I was one of the people yelling the "WE ARE" part in the front.
Yoshiki's speech was very moving.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Slp5GEJrvM[/youtube]
"We've been waiting for this moment so fucking long time!!!!"
but mostly
"Also we brought hide here as well"
Who didn't shiver or held up a tear at that moment?
and finally
"WE ARE! X! WE ARE! X! WE ARE! X! WE ARE! X! WE ARE! X! WE ARE! X... I love you..." Awesomely funny.
Singing Endless Rain along with the crowd was a dream coming true... It was so beautiful... I wish we could have made a 17 min. version like on one of the live albums...
And then suddenly... ART OF LIFE!!!
The piano solo was incredible, Yoshiki was so into it... At both time when he let himself fall from his bench and hit all those piano keys... my heart sank and was filled with so much emotion... Even though they didn't play the song in its whole they did a good job starting from the piano solo. What a great way to finish the show...
After the show, we got to the same place the band entered the venue. After a while, we saw Yoshiki's private car get on the sidewalk up to the door to get him out as fast as possible. When he did get out, he got jumped on by a wave of fan, it was crazy! I managed to get to the other side of his window and he waved at me
He then opened his window and I gave him my flag!!! The car then drove away.
The other bandmembers got out in similar rockstar fashion and we only got to see some hair surrounded by guards pass us by (Heath did grab the hand of some fan though...).
After, ashtrayxx, her friends and myself went to a bar called Les 3 Brasseurs (The 3 Brewers, a resto-bar franchise coming from Québec
) where we talked about the show and recalled the best moments.
After walking the girls to their hotel, me and the other guy, Samuel, walked around Toronto for about 3 hours since our bus was only in the morning and we didn't get any hotel room. And finally, around 5am, I got back to Toronto Coach Terminal to wait for my bus (which was departing at 7h30). Got home around 14h25 and went to work... Haha...
That's about it for my "short" review... Thanks guys!
And now, like everybody, I'm roaming around Youtube collecting all the videos I can find from the show. Thanks a lot Ulquiorra for all the magnificent videos. How did you manage to catch the whole show? Did you keep your camera in your hands the whole time?
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Héhé, but thanks for the great bootleg!