My ears are DEAD, but I'm happy.
Mar. 18th, 2008 02:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pacificpikachuTHE PILLOWS CONCERT WAS FILLED WITH EPIC AND AMAZING
OMFG I'm sore from my stomach rubbing against the stage, I have a scraped elbow, and my ears are still ringing like crazy (I should have worn earplugs), but it was fully and completely worth it.
This, along with the other Pillows concert I went to, was the best night of my life.
On Sunday, Nicole and I got together and worked on shirts...for about five hours. It takes much longer than you'd think to paint a presentable-looking shirt, but it was worth it in the end. We used glow-in-the-dark paint, and we were both happy with our shirts when we finished them. I swear, I think working on these shirts became some form of good karma or something, because...OMG, THE LUCK I HAD AT THIS CONCERT. *A* Anyway, I'll definitely be posting a picture of this shirt for reasons I'll get into later.
Nicole spent the night at my house. I actually had some breathing problems in the middle of the night, so I didn't get a ton of sleep (I was up for about an hour taking a bunch of medicines in hopes of being able to breathe better. They did work, after a while.), but I felt fine all day anyway.
We left at around 11 AM. Originally Nolan, Aubrey, and Ellary were going to follow us, but due to their mom locking the keys in her car, they had to leave about an hour behind us. The drive went by quickly, and (of course) we listened to The Pillows the whole time. (As a random note, I know their name is not actually capitalized. However, my inner editor screams when I don't capitalize it, so I just capitalize it to appease said inner editor.) Miraculously, we didn't get lost on the way to Japantown this time, too!
At Japantown, Nicole and I wandered in and out of stores looking at various otaku-y things for a while and waited for Nolan, Aubrey, and Ellary to show up. They did while we were in Kinokuniya, so we met up there. Ellary had never been to Japantown, and she was smitten by the long row of yaoi manga they had. Poor Nicole, Nolan, and Aubrey were waiting outside of Kinokuniya for quite a while as Ellary debated about which yaoi manga to buy and I was sort of trying to hurry Ellary along and sort of still looking around at things myself.
We went to a crepe shop after that, and I spoiled myself by getting a blueberry cheesecake ice cream crepe and a peach milkshake with those gelatin bubble things in it. Delicious~ ♥ Lots of ice cream, but...uh, whatever. I also went in and bought a little Buizel plush I don't have and a little Mew figure.
We went out to early dinner at the Miyako restaurant after that, and I ate a big bowl of ramen. It was also delicious! Everyone had a good meal, and Ellary was freaking out the whole time about how she was eating "real" ramen. It was so funny. XD She kept taking pictures of the food and such.
Then it was off to Slim's! We left a little later than I wanted to, but it was no big deal. We also got very slightly lost on the way there, but not badly. We got there and there was already a big line, so we got in the Will Call line and stood around taking silly pictures for a while. Just as we were wondering where they were,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
xel_ko and astrokittie showed up (followed by toggy a little later), so we were hanging out with them and talking and eating Nilla Wafers for the duration of the line time.
Before they arrived, there was a random bum rasping on about how he was an alcoholic and needed money for drinks, but we all refused to give him money. Then he said he'd light his beard on fire for $5, and then he proceeded to do so despite no one offering to give him $5. O_o; The smell of burning hair was rather unpleasant. He left after that, though, and we didn't see him again.
Anyway, all of us got our tickets and we moved into the "People who have their tickets" line. The line was around the corner again, but we didn't have to wait as long this time. There was, for some reason, a random, reasonably large pile of socks up against the building. Being the strange people we are, we all started taking pictures of the socks. We mostly talked about /a/ and cosplay-related stuff while we waited.
We filed on into Slim's, and while I thought about going to the merchandise booth and getting something, instead I went straight into the crowd and started trying to get up front. I was about three rows back for most of the opening bands (who were okay, but not amazing or anything), but I got stuck in front of these two girls who would not budge. Even if I was just trying to adjust my bag on my shoulder and not making any moves at trying to press through to the front, one of the girls would start elbowing me and it was really irritating. In front of them was another couple--a guy who was braced against the stage with his girlfriend in front of him.
Nicole was getting farther up than I was, so despite being packed like sardines, I scooted my way through the crowd to Nicole. SOMEHOW, even though the pushing and squishing reached an insane level at this point, just as The Pillows started playing Nicole and I ended up DIRECTLY UP FRONT IN THE MIDDLE. LITERALLY AS CLOSE AS WE COULD POSSIBLY GET. *___* We were seriously so close that Sawao kept putting his foot up on the amp, and we'd just put our hands on his knee and lower leg--we did this at least twenty or so times during the concert. I even took pictures on my hand on his leg, hahaha. He didn't seem to mind one bit, otherwise he obviously would have just moved away.
Manabe kept coming close enough to touch, too, so I touched him at least around ten times. I touched his guitar as he was playing it, too. Again, he obviously didn't mind because he could have easily just moved away if he didn't like it.
I was squished up against the stage for the whole concert, and sometimes people were pressing against me pretty hard (my stomach is pretty tender now from being pressed against the stage) but overall I was surprisingly comfortable. Because we were at the very front, we had 180 degrees of air around us, which made it not nearly as hot and squished as everyone behind us was. Now I realize I apparently scraped my elbow, but I was so hopped up on adrenaline that I didn't feel any pain during the concert.
They opened with I Think I Can, and then went into...um, in no particular order: Carnival, My Foot, Funny Bunny, Blues Drive Monster, New Animal, Ride on Shooting Star, Little Busters, Last Dinosaur, Hybrid Rainbow, and a few new songs (two or three). I may have left a song or two out--it's hard to remember everything. It was funny, because I could see their playlist as they were playing--it was taped to one of the amps between Sawao and Jun. I sang along with all of the songs I knew, which was all of the listed ones except New Animal.
When they stopped playing and left the stage, everyone started chanting "ONE MORE SONG, ONE MORE SONG, ONE MORE SONG!", and after a while they came back on and played Crazy Sunshine and Sleepy Head. :D
Mom and Nicole insist that the concert was shorter this time, and it might have been. I'm not entirely sure. I think they played around sixteen songs. Of course, I wished there could have been more, but it was a GREAT CONCERT as is. Hybrid Rainbow was particularly stunning. I think the speakers were more distorted than last time, and it was LOUD, but...yeah, it was amazing. Completely and totally amazing. The Pillows have this special energy and passion in their concerts that is unlike anything I've ever seen. They really are stunning.
At one point during the concert, Sawao jumped into the audience...exactly where I was. ♥_♥ So, um, I hugged him around his torso for a good fifteen or twenty seconds before he returned back to the stage. I had my arms all the way around him. UM. WOW. I EVEN SMELLED LIKE HIM FOR A FEW MINUTES. *Swoons* It was a ridiculously fangirly, OMFG ARE YOU SERIOUS? IS THIS HONESTLY HAPPENING?! moment.
After the concert, Manabe came over and threw a custom guitar pick right next to me, and the guy next to me was totally swiping for it. He gave up, so I thought he had gotten it, but I lifted my bag up and--voila!--there it was! :DDD
We stayed a while after the concert, and Jun came over and started signing autographs. I didn't have anything with me to get signed, but it struck me that I could get my custom t-shirt signed so I waited in the mob in hopes that he would sign my shirt. Unfortunately, he took off before I got a chance to get up there, but then Sawao came back on stage and we started yelling "Yamanaka!" and "SAWAO!" so he came over and started signing things. This time I was a little closer, so I went "Shatsu?" right after he signed Nicole's ARM (LOL, Nicole should've had him sign something more permanant) and so he signed my shirt right above the image I made (while I had it on). Sooo happy. He left a few minutes after that.
We tried to get Manabe to come over and sign things, but he just smiled and waved instead. Darn it.
Once all of The Pillows were officially off the stage and Slim's announced that they were closing, we went over to the merchandise booth--but they were sold out of nearly everything. ;__; So mom owes me a Pillows shirt and CD.
Uh, yeah. From there we basically just said goodbye to everyone and left. I was all deaf (and still am) and sopping wet and the ride home was...hm, pretty uneventful other than getting stuck in construction traffic by the Bay Bridge. I slept a lot of way home in the car, though for some reason the drive home was still agonizingly slow. Probably because I just wanted to get home and sleep.
SO, IN SUMMARY:
+ AMAZING CONCERT. They played all of my favorite songs and were completely awesome.
+ Touched Sawao and Manabe many times.
+ Semi-hugged Sawao. *__*
+ Got Manabe's guitar pick.
+ Got Sawao's autograph.
+ Best night of my life along with the other Pillows concert we went to in 2006.
The ONLY thing I would have changed is that I should have worn earplugs, because this persistent buzzing in my ears is kind of scaring me. .__.; My hearing is utterly terrible right now. My dad said it should go away within two or three days, though. I trust that he's right, seeing as he's been to hundreds and hundreds of rock concerts (and been right under the speakers) and he has yet to go deaf.
Today I've basically been lying in bed all day because I'm a bit sore and my lack of hearing is throwing me off. Plus, you guys post too much and I'm trying to catch up on my f-list, which is taking an insane amount of time.
It was awesome seeing you all at the concert, those who were there! ♥ And I'll be posting pictures and possibly video in a week or so.
Also, Biida Ho-oh died on Sunday. :( I was kind of expecting it because she had been sick for a long time and recently went downhill, but it's still sad... She was one of my favorite chickens, and I'll miss her and her funny little noises and her one white feather and spirited nature. RIP, Ho-oh. She was around eight years old, which isn't that old for a bantam.
OMFG I'm sore from my stomach rubbing against the stage, I have a scraped elbow, and my ears are still ringing like crazy (I should have worn earplugs), but it was fully and completely worth it.
This, along with the other Pillows concert I went to, was the best night of my life.
On Sunday, Nicole and I got together and worked on shirts...for about five hours. It takes much longer than you'd think to paint a presentable-looking shirt, but it was worth it in the end. We used glow-in-the-dark paint, and we were both happy with our shirts when we finished them. I swear, I think working on these shirts became some form of good karma or something, because...OMG, THE LUCK I HAD AT THIS CONCERT. *A* Anyway, I'll definitely be posting a picture of this shirt for reasons I'll get into later.
Nicole spent the night at my house. I actually had some breathing problems in the middle of the night, so I didn't get a ton of sleep (I was up for about an hour taking a bunch of medicines in hopes of being able to breathe better. They did work, after a while.), but I felt fine all day anyway.
We left at around 11 AM. Originally Nolan, Aubrey, and Ellary were going to follow us, but due to their mom locking the keys in her car, they had to leave about an hour behind us. The drive went by quickly, and (of course) we listened to The Pillows the whole time. (As a random note, I know their name is not actually capitalized. However, my inner editor screams when I don't capitalize it, so I just capitalize it to appease said inner editor.) Miraculously, we didn't get lost on the way to Japantown this time, too!
At Japantown, Nicole and I wandered in and out of stores looking at various otaku-y things for a while and waited for Nolan, Aubrey, and Ellary to show up. They did while we were in Kinokuniya, so we met up there. Ellary had never been to Japantown, and she was smitten by the long row of yaoi manga they had. Poor Nicole, Nolan, and Aubrey were waiting outside of Kinokuniya for quite a while as Ellary debated about which yaoi manga to buy and I was sort of trying to hurry Ellary along and sort of still looking around at things myself.
We went to a crepe shop after that, and I spoiled myself by getting a blueberry cheesecake ice cream crepe and a peach milkshake with those gelatin bubble things in it. Delicious~ ♥ Lots of ice cream, but...uh, whatever. I also went in and bought a little Buizel plush I don't have and a little Mew figure.
We went out to early dinner at the Miyako restaurant after that, and I ate a big bowl of ramen. It was also delicious! Everyone had a good meal, and Ellary was freaking out the whole time about how she was eating "real" ramen. It was so funny. XD She kept taking pictures of the food and such.
Then it was off to Slim's! We left a little later than I wanted to, but it was no big deal. We also got very slightly lost on the way there, but not badly. We got there and there was already a big line, so we got in the Will Call line and stood around taking silly pictures for a while. Just as we were wondering where they were,
xel_ko and astrokittie showed up (followed by toggy a little later), so we were hanging out with them and talking and eating Nilla Wafers for the duration of the line time.Before they arrived, there was a random bum rasping on about how he was an alcoholic and needed money for drinks, but we all refused to give him money. Then he said he'd light his beard on fire for $5, and then he proceeded to do so despite no one offering to give him $5. O_o; The smell of burning hair was rather unpleasant. He left after that, though, and we didn't see him again.
Anyway, all of us got our tickets and we moved into the "People who have their tickets" line. The line was around the corner again, but we didn't have to wait as long this time. There was, for some reason, a random, reasonably large pile of socks up against the building. Being the strange people we are, we all started taking pictures of the socks. We mostly talked about /a/ and cosplay-related stuff while we waited.
We filed on into Slim's, and while I thought about going to the merchandise booth and getting something, instead I went straight into the crowd and started trying to get up front. I was about three rows back for most of the opening bands (who were okay, but not amazing or anything), but I got stuck in front of these two girls who would not budge. Even if I was just trying to adjust my bag on my shoulder and not making any moves at trying to press through to the front, one of the girls would start elbowing me and it was really irritating. In front of them was another couple--a guy who was braced against the stage with his girlfriend in front of him.
Nicole was getting farther up than I was, so despite being packed like sardines, I scooted my way through the crowd to Nicole. SOMEHOW, even though the pushing and squishing reached an insane level at this point, just as The Pillows started playing Nicole and I ended up DIRECTLY UP FRONT IN THE MIDDLE. LITERALLY AS CLOSE AS WE COULD POSSIBLY GET. *___* We were seriously so close that Sawao kept putting his foot up on the amp, and we'd just put our hands on his knee and lower leg--we did this at least twenty or so times during the concert. I even took pictures on my hand on his leg, hahaha. He didn't seem to mind one bit, otherwise he obviously would have just moved away.
Manabe kept coming close enough to touch, too, so I touched him at least around ten times. I touched his guitar as he was playing it, too. Again, he obviously didn't mind because he could have easily just moved away if he didn't like it.
I was squished up against the stage for the whole concert, and sometimes people were pressing against me pretty hard (my stomach is pretty tender now from being pressed against the stage) but overall I was surprisingly comfortable. Because we were at the very front, we had 180 degrees of air around us, which made it not nearly as hot and squished as everyone behind us was. Now I realize I apparently scraped my elbow, but I was so hopped up on adrenaline that I didn't feel any pain during the concert.
They opened with I Think I Can, and then went into...um, in no particular order: Carnival, My Foot, Funny Bunny, Blues Drive Monster, New Animal, Ride on Shooting Star, Little Busters, Last Dinosaur, Hybrid Rainbow, and a few new songs (two or three). I may have left a song or two out--it's hard to remember everything. It was funny, because I could see their playlist as they were playing--it was taped to one of the amps between Sawao and Jun. I sang along with all of the songs I knew, which was all of the listed ones except New Animal.
When they stopped playing and left the stage, everyone started chanting "ONE MORE SONG, ONE MORE SONG, ONE MORE SONG!", and after a while they came back on and played Crazy Sunshine and Sleepy Head. :D
Mom and Nicole insist that the concert was shorter this time, and it might have been. I'm not entirely sure. I think they played around sixteen songs. Of course, I wished there could have been more, but it was a GREAT CONCERT as is. Hybrid Rainbow was particularly stunning. I think the speakers were more distorted than last time, and it was LOUD, but...yeah, it was amazing. Completely and totally amazing. The Pillows have this special energy and passion in their concerts that is unlike anything I've ever seen. They really are stunning.
At one point during the concert, Sawao jumped into the audience...exactly where I was. ♥_♥ So, um, I hugged him around his torso for a good fifteen or twenty seconds before he returned back to the stage. I had my arms all the way around him. UM. WOW. I EVEN SMELLED LIKE HIM FOR A FEW MINUTES. *Swoons* It was a ridiculously fangirly, OMFG ARE YOU SERIOUS? IS THIS HONESTLY HAPPENING?! moment.
After the concert, Manabe came over and threw a custom guitar pick right next to me, and the guy next to me was totally swiping for it. He gave up, so I thought he had gotten it, but I lifted my bag up and--voila!--there it was! :DDD
We stayed a while after the concert, and Jun came over and started signing autographs. I didn't have anything with me to get signed, but it struck me that I could get my custom t-shirt signed so I waited in the mob in hopes that he would sign my shirt. Unfortunately, he took off before I got a chance to get up there, but then Sawao came back on stage and we started yelling "Yamanaka!" and "SAWAO!" so he came over and started signing things. This time I was a little closer, so I went "Shatsu?" right after he signed Nicole's ARM (LOL, Nicole should've had him sign something more permanant) and so he signed my shirt right above the image I made (while I had it on). Sooo happy. He left a few minutes after that.
We tried to get Manabe to come over and sign things, but he just smiled and waved instead. Darn it.
Once all of The Pillows were officially off the stage and Slim's announced that they were closing, we went over to the merchandise booth--but they were sold out of nearly everything. ;__; So mom owes me a Pillows shirt and CD.
Uh, yeah. From there we basically just said goodbye to everyone and left. I was all deaf (and still am) and sopping wet and the ride home was...hm, pretty uneventful other than getting stuck in construction traffic by the Bay Bridge. I slept a lot of way home in the car, though for some reason the drive home was still agonizingly slow. Probably because I just wanted to get home and sleep.
SO, IN SUMMARY:
+ AMAZING CONCERT. They played all of my favorite songs and were completely awesome.
+ Touched Sawao and Manabe many times.
+ Semi-hugged Sawao. *__*
+ Got Manabe's guitar pick.
+ Got Sawao's autograph.
+ Best night of my life along with the other Pillows concert we went to in 2006.
The ONLY thing I would have changed is that I should have worn earplugs, because this persistent buzzing in my ears is kind of scaring me. .__.; My hearing is utterly terrible right now. My dad said it should go away within two or three days, though. I trust that he's right, seeing as he's been to hundreds and hundreds of rock concerts (and been right under the speakers) and he has yet to go deaf.
Today I've basically been lying in bed all day because I'm a bit sore and my lack of hearing is throwing me off. Plus, you guys post too much and I'm trying to catch up on my f-list, which is taking an insane amount of time.
It was awesome seeing you all at the concert, those who were there! ♥ And I'll be posting pictures and possibly video in a week or so.
Also, Biida Ho-oh died on Sunday. :( I was kind of expecting it because she had been sick for a long time and recently went downhill, but it's still sad... She was one of my favorite chickens, and I'll miss her and her funny little noises and her one white feather and spirited nature. RIP, Ho-oh. She was around eight years old, which isn't that old for a bantam.
