Shall we...

She sat nude in the dark.

She was so beautiful.

She was so beautiful.

She was so beautiful there in the dark, on

the edge of the bed, alone and unaware of how

her life was about to change.

Demon Seed - Dean Koontz

================================

Remains ::Denver::

============

Side note: http://www.nullco.com/TSN/ On repeat, at full volume.

============

Friday was pretty busy. Had to stop at work to handle some issue that had risen during my absence. Found out some co-workers and friends had taken ill. Not good. Went to the bank, washed some undies and whatnot. Uh, I think that's it.

Grabbed Mark and made our way to the airport.

From Dir en grey: Denver

Being Friday, the place wasn't banging. Well, it never really is. Saw this guy and his wife that was sitting in front of us in the lobby move, to get away from my line of sight, and drop his keys. He didn't notice. I immediately picked them up and returned his keys to him. What a fucking nightmare it would be to lose your keys at the airport, especially if you were returning home.

The flight was pretty entertaining. We were in the back with this group of about eight dudes on their way to some bachelor party getaway. When we landed, the groom was suppose to crawl all the way to the front in order to get his "wings". I didn't stay around for that. The stewardess's were even getting on the intercom announcing all this shit and just having a blast with them. Out of all the airlines I've flown on, Southwest seems to the most laid back.

=========================================

Arrive

From Dir en grey: Denver

BLURRY BECAUSE ALICIA LIKES TO DO 90 IN A 70

Now this airport was banging. Wish I got in touch with A. before I left so I could have gone to the Starbucks she worked at and if someone there gave her shit, give them shit or a thumbs up. Fuck coffee.

So we stopped traffic and got in Alicia's caddy and made our way to Parker. Every time I visit, the town seems to be getting bigger. Buffalo Meat on the Street

She's moved since the last time I've seen her. Haha, when I would talk to her on the phone I would laugh at her because she always sounded like she was dying walking to her apartment from the parking lot. Oh man, my out of shape ass about passed out huffing and puffing my way to her third floor. Sorry Alicia, I now understand. ;-)

Meet up with the man of the house, Big Matt, then headed out to a late dinner.

Wow. I don't think I've been here since I was 16. Very surreal when the waiters would jump on tables then start dancing and singing. Alicia said I should tell them it was birthday. Fuck that, I had had enough.

From Dir en grey: Denver

:-(

===========================

From Dir en grey: Denver

Gorgeous Saturday

We sat on our asses nearly all of the day. Tried to decide whether to go to the Taste of Colorado or The Smokin Brew BBQ.

From Dir en grey: Denver

Looks like it was pulled pork to the head!!

From Dir en grey: Denver

Laying down some funk on the harmonica.

Had a bunch of samples and one humongous funnel cake. I was a mess.

==========================================

We dropped Matt off and made our way downtown. The Taste was messing up the traffic flow, luckily Cha knew the route ;-)

Found a comfy spot to park and made our way to the will call line. Ho smoke. It was a big turn out. Got our tickets and gave Cha and Mark the VIP passes. I wanted to share the experience.

Crazy, they were taking the VIP's in right when I got the passes. Close. Made my way to the end of the line.

From Dir en grey: Denver

Ah man, I'm waaaay back....wait!? Is that a Blockbuster? lol.

I think I ended up in front of the chick who drove all the way from Canada. The internet is unforgiving. I KNOW THINGS I SHOULDN'T

Do you remember the first thing you looked for when you got internet access??

I know it's all getting away and it comes to me as no surprise     

I know what's coming to me is never going to arrive     

Fresh blood through tired skin     New sweat to drown me in     

Dress up this rotten carcass just to make it look alive

====================================

VIP

Eh, heard it was good(the same).

--------------------------

Finally made it inside and found my way to the rail.....balcony rail!!

I had a secure spot with Alicia and Mark had himself a comfy spot in front of Die's rig. Cha got us water. Only $2!! HOB, with their $4 water. Wankers!

Sitting down on a barstool felt extremely weird and lame.

Evaline

I had been hyping up Evaline to both Mark and Alicia the whole time. "Oh they'll blow you mind with their energy." Don't think I ever found out what they thought of them. Well, I think Alicia was sick of the catcalls the drummer got after he took off his shirt. I'll admit, that was a nice looking chest and stomach.




Pretty much the same. Short and sweet.

Dir en grey

I had to get my ass off that stool. It was very difficult for me to concentrate on the onslaught that was going on onstage at first. Crowd was very distracting but in a good way. Finally got to spy on the shit happening in the back of the crowd. Some good shit.



Started off with Hageshisa to...

I thought, yeah this shit's going in a slightly different direction tonight.

A little later we got ROTTING ROOT. O_o

and closed that shit with Saku. Eat your heart out, city that got INCONVENIENT IDEAL.

lol....so anyways, Die seemed to be having some trouble that night. Really don't think they'll be using that roadie ever again.

THE GOODS

|ROTTING ROOT| GROWL!

|WATCHING THE SLAMMING| GODLIKE

|DIE WATER SLASH| AGAIN, QUENCHING

|STARING AT SHINYA WORK HIS SKILLS| A FIRST

|FINALLY TAKING ALICIA TO A DIR EN GREY CONCERT| Priceless and cheesy ;)

From Dir en grey: Denver

Lick around divine debris

    Taste the wealth of hate in me

    Shedding skin succumb defeat

    This machine is obsolete

Soon as I took this photo it hit me, my ride was over.

=========================================

Apocalyptica

How does my sister know some of these songs. I'm out of the mainstream. The show was better then I remembered in Chicago. Stayed upstairs for about half, then made my way to buy some merch. Met up with Mark who said he had to get away from Paavo for some strange reason. He had managed to catch a Die pick.

At the booth some Mexican dude who was a little wasted was trying to speak Spanish to me. Que vas? That's all your getting out of me. Anyways headed back to the crowd. Man, shit's electric watching people enjoy a show. Loved it.

Over

Wendy's

----------------------------------------------

From Dir en grey: Denver

Lazy Sunday.

Alicia made everyone a hearty breakfast. My grandmother also made an appearance with a casserole.

NO AUNTS!

----------------------------------------------------------

From Dir en grey: Denver

Doing 90 again on a highway no one uses because it cost $2.50 to drive on it.

I thought this was America!

From Dir en grey: Denver

MURDEROUS BEAST

From Dir en grey: Denver

UNTIL THANKSGIVING :-)
(boy, do we look excited)

SPECIAL THANKS TO ALICIA AND MATT

ALSO

BERNIE, MAXWELL & _________

fin

Remains ::Chicago::

The drive up to Chicago was simple to accomplish in those midnight hours. We stop at the same rest stop I had done so on a previous trip to catch some Zzzzzz's. Arrived at the hotel uh, around 5:00AM. Had to drive by the venue first and I saw those familiar cocoons of people huddled in their sleeping bags and blankets. :-)

The real cool thing about this Best Western was they didn't charge for parking. BIG selling point. I think I saw one hotel when I was trying to find one to stay at asked for $55. What gives people? Anyways I was ready to pay for another night because I wanted the feel of a bed but the clerk said if I waited till 7, I wouldn't be charged. Cool, came back at 7 but the room wasn't ready. I got to know that car real well that day. Finally at 9 i was able to check in.

Oh man the room was pretty damn spacious.

From Dir en grey : Chicago

In Chicago, it is mandatory you have a pizza.

From Dir en grey : Chicago

Wham-mo. Kinda soggy but better than that shit I had about a month earlier.

Showered and slept till about 3. The concert was at 6 so the M&G was scheduled for 4:15.

From Dir en grey : Chicago

Stumbled across the Hampton Inn I stayed at back in 07

From Dir en grey : Chicago

Snowed like a bitch that day. Like to look back at my old xanga entries once in a while. Good times...

--------------------------------

Ok, got to the HOB and gathered my gear and was told for the second day in a row the wrong place to stand. Ha, confusion. Kinda surreal because there was rehearsal going on. Back in 07 when the band was rehearsing The Final everyone was singing along and the head security guy came out and told us the band needed everyone to shut up or they couldn't do the show. That same security guy was still there. He was much nicer this time around. :P

Hid my wallet chain in case I wasn't allowed to have one on. Chains hurt, fists don't. Stood patiently until it was time to head back.

VIP

When I got my VIP garb in St. Louis, Nora said to me, "Hey, I know you.". Like an idiot I tensed up and said, "Yes, I like to follow you." Christ! So that night she said, "Ah, it's you. Here you go again." Think I said something like, "Sorry" as a response. She seems to really have a good time with the crowds. Very upbeat and on top of her shit. Credit given.

Right, so we did the back and forth and got pictures. Once again Kyo was sincere with his handshake. Maybe it's because he wasn't wearing sunglasses like everyone else and I could make the eye connection.

Apocalyptica was still going on for quite sometime after DEG finished theirs. They were taking some pretty radical pictures with the fans. :-)

Evaline

During the drive up I listened to their CD's Orlando bought at the St. Louis show. Man it sounded so weak but that shit live was so much better. Some music is just like that. They were something to watch. Richard jumped down multiple times that night. Early one when he got in my face, I had my elbows on the rail and my arm was at his ass and I sorta grabbed it. That was the end of him stopping by my side.

One thing I found hilarious was during the set, vendors would walk by offering $10 beer or $4 water. GET OUT OF MY WAY! THIS AINT NO FUCKING BASEBALL GAME!!

House of Blues is so corporate. I also liked the PSA on crowd surfing.

Dir en grey

Come on now. Shit was beautiful. Sound was on par. Everything was just fucking correct this time around. They cut an Inward Scream and switched Obscure and 'Hageshsa to,' around. Other than that it was the same, shit just seemed heavier.

|Kyo in front of riser| WTF?! :D

|Kyo's mini bunny hop| HEHE

|Security's stretch yawn| LOL

Man, this was an amazing show. Band and crowd was just fucking giving it!

Edit this setlist | More DIR EN GREY setlists

Apocalyptica

Ok, yeah, I did leave the venue after DEG in St. Louis. So yeah, I fucked up because oh my Jesus, is Apocalyptica something to experience. I was honestly moved by the performance. The singer just had that good ass rock n roll voice. Very loud and clear. I wish I didn't have to catch my flight to Denver that Friday or I would have drove to Omaha to see a full set. No bullshit.

---------------------------------------------

After the show we went to the huge McDonald's with an escalator. It was off when we got there. Little bummed by that. McFlurry time!!

Nothing beats the after concert feeling. Sore as hell, ears ringing, voice is jacked, weather doesn't effect you. Kinda want to cry. God bless concerts.

==========================================

The drive back went by quick. Listened to a ton of Howard Stern.

Man thinks he's god. Miss his show on E!

============================================

From Dir en grey : Chicago

Kansas City was beautiful that Thursday night.

Next

To see a sister and finish my round of dates in Denver.

Remains ::St. Louis::

I've been wanting to pop this review(one-liners) shit off since Friday. What happened? Think under my yearbook picture I was labeled 'The Procrastinator'. Eh....whatever.

Deja Vu

Another round of American dates for Dir en grey finishes tonight. Hope A. has a good time ;)

=============================================================

Everything was almost put on super delay because when I went to Budget to get the car my limited credit card was declined because there was some hidden(or I didn't bother to realize) deposit of a $100 extra dollars that went over my available credit and I couldn't use my debit card because "since you live nearby, you must provide two bills in your name at the address the card was issued to" Huh?! So I had to drop my insurance I had on the rental(I had never before purchased insurance, even on my crazy 08 trip) and no fucking lie, came within $1 of my available credit on my credit card. I need to drop this baby ass credit card and get some real fucking credit. Need some real debt!!

Here's the G -Ride I was issued to fly down I-70 to The Pageant. I think we left around 5-6ish in the morning. Sun was still down when we departed.

From Dir en grey: St. Louis

Got there around 9-10ish and no one was there. I mean there was about 10-15 kids but that's insignificant. Little thrown off by that.

From Dir en grey: St. Louis

Decided to walk down Delmar Blvd. The not so pretty half of Delmar Blvd. to Family Dollar for an activity book to pass the time. "WELCOME TO FAMILY DOLLAR. YOU ARE BEING RECORDED FOR YOUR PROTECTION. ENJOY YOUR SHOPPING EXPERIENCE!!" Did only three sudoku puzzles the entire time.

Killer Vintage. I think this place was a record store the last time I was here. Remember they had this GG Allin poster hanging on the wall I was all excited about. Anyways I went in to see if they had any Mesa/Boogie amps. Mine needs some repairs and thought about buying another. This place's prices were ridiculously high. Opted for this fucking awesome shirt instead.

Later that day, while waiting in line, some chick was jumping up and down saying she ran into Toshiya and got a picture with him at Killer Vintage. Yay?

From Dir en grey: St. Louis

My finger loves to be the center of attention.

After we saw the line situation, we said fuck it, lets go sit in the car and enjoy some AC. Maybe we'll see something amazing.

From Dir en grey: St. Louis

Apocalyptica wants to hang. Denied.

From Dir en grey: St. Louis

Good morning.

-------------------------------------------

From Dir en grey: St. Louis

The Pageant has a juice bar for the underage clientele to get in slightly earlier than the posted DOORS OPEN@TIME. Had a horrific strawberry-banana smoothie. Felt bad because it seemed to take some time for the gal to whip it up. Anyways, got to scope out my attack on the merchandise.

============================

There's something awesome about not having to subject myself to everyone's fucking delight while waiting in line. These adults(?) are always so HAPPY/CHILDLIKE it makes me miserable.

VIP

Just like I'd imagined. Awkward. Gave me chills when people would hand the band items.

Very grateful, it just was a little weird meeting them pre-show: Pre-sweat, pre-adrenaline.

Kyo's little handshake seemed so sincere though. Damn, it did.

Evaline

Ok, this shit was unexpected. I thought it was pretty damn good. Sue me!

Dir en grey

Setlist had been pretty much set in stone like the 10 Commandments at previous gigs so I wasn't expecting anything fancy. One thing I hate about the Pageant is the height of their stage. Good Christ, I thought Richard from Evaline would break his neck when jumping from he stage. Dir's sound was fucking lame for the first half of their set. Who was controlling that shit? They got their shit in gear towards the end. Crowd seemed asleep much of the time. Though something did happen near the finish line. I actually started to get pushed. HARD! YES! Seconds before, I thought I was alone in the front. When I see videos of the show now, it seemed pretty good. At the time though, it appeared kinda half ass'd ;(

Felt bad for both sides of this situation. FUCK!!

The Goods:

|Back Tat Dance| AMAZING

|Kyo water spit| QUENCHING

Setlist The Pageant, St. Louis, MO, USA 2010, The Unwavering Fact Of Tomorrow (North American Leg) " style="border: 0;">

Apocalyptica

N/A

-------------------------------------------------------

Got out, bought my shit, saluted Evaline at the table , and got in the car to make the five hour drive to Chicago.

---------------

CORRECTING VISION WITH FISTS

Remains ::History:: KYO!!

Haha, Maria woke my ass up like 10 minutes ago to see this amaze-balls shit!!....hope they keep it up!

Remains ::Prelude::

Returned from work. Apparently it's Labor Day and I received the day off. Go figure.




I'm starting a new ongoing blog topic:
Drunk People, Come On.

This No Left Turn sign has been destroyed soooo many times, it's getting kinda ridiculous.

I love feedback from the customers.

=============================================

Pictures, videos and one-liners later.