I cant say anything that hasnt already been said.
Best concert I've ever been to. Period. The crowd werent perfect. The pushing was BS. I was about 15 rows back so I had a bit of breathing room. I have to admit, I did have tears in my eyes (tears of joy) during the intro when I saw Yoshiki standing on the drum kit and the band coming out. Sai, I was one of the british guys you spoke to when you were seeing how big the line was. I dont know how good your memory is, I was the white guy, my friend was the taller guy with a british flag wrapped around him.
I've wanted to post up a blog about my entire trip and the X concert but I came back home to a sick girlfriend, sick child and a lot of shit to sort out. I've been back a week and I've literally only just taken my clothes out of the suitcase to wash them. Its been a shit week with sickness and work.. will try and post up a full blog sometime soon. Here's the X highlights (as most probably dont care about what else I did).
Friday, 11.30am. Walked to the ballroom to scope out the area, see where the local food/drink/toilet places where and stuff. Met up with a couple of people I chat to online, they were awesome. Sat around with them for 30 mins before heading off to comic-con.
Saturday: comic con all day
sunday: comic con until around 1pm then went to get food and walk up to the ballroom. Weirdly, we walked a block too far and ended up walking past all the tour buses and accidentally found the back of the line
we went to the front box office to collect our tickets then made our way to the back. There was only about 150-200 people in front of us (I think). We were right next to the truck that was recording the show. Stood around talking and waiting. A girl I was speaking to on facebook who flew from Japan saw me when they arrived (around 5pm) and the queue was huge.. so I let her jump the queue in front of me because i'm nice (or I'm an asshole, depending on where in the queue you were!
). We waited.. and waited.. then we heard them rehearsing.. that was awesome.. and people kept walking in and out of the media truck so we kept seeing them on the screens.. that got us pumped.. then we waited.. then we got free pizza from Yoshiki
then a bit more waiting and we started moving. We got in, I spent $300 on merchandise straight away as I didnt want to try after the gig to find out they sold out, then we moved into the main area. Support band started, they were shit. waste of space and time.
Then came what felt like the longest 30-45 mins of my life. The wait between the support band getting their shit off stage and X coming on. It was mind blowing. You all know the setlist, you all know the birthday wishes. I wont bother with any of that. However, I must apologie to the Japanese couple who were standing next to me. They probably wont read this, but I'm sorry. They'd clearly never met a 6 foot tall white guy from britain who LOVES X JAPAN. When I started screaming and jumping up and down, they looked horrified! I didnt hit them or bump into them, I think they were just shocked at how excited I was LOL. So I apologise for scaring you. I'm a nice guy, I just got a bit hyper, thats all
When Yoshiki gave his speech about knowing Toshi since they were kids.. and going through all the shit they've been through and wanting to be here.. there were more tears in my eyes. It was emotional. You could feel his emotions in his voice.. especially when he said "WE ARE GOING TO KEEP GOING. WE WILL KEEP FUCKING GOING!!!! WE ARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE ARE!!!!!!!!!". I went a bit crazy during X and Art Of Life.. but thats all part of the fun. Then came the inevitable. The concert ended. It was amazing, but also sad. I've been waiting for this moment for about 9 years.. and I didnt want it to end. But I guess it had to at some point! We let everyone else pour out the roseland before we moved as we knew it would be crowded. On the way out, I saw a Japanese girl crying hysterically like someone had just died. It was emotional, but Japanese girls are a bit dramatic! We then proceeded to walk back to the hotel.. which was 14 blocks down and 5 blocks across.. after standing all day and walking all day.. that was silly. We got back to the hotel and pretty much passed out when we hit the beds. Slept for 12 hours and could barely walk when I woke up.. but you know what? I'd do it again in a fucking heartbeat. And it was worth every penny.. even if I am paying this trip off for the next 5 months!
edit: and they arent the best pics but here are the pics me and my mate took:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=565654&l=584a71ccd4&id=589370633
