Me, Maria, and trusty but sometimes creepy Orlando left for New York at 5:15 AM Saturday morning and were headed down the traffic-way when we saw the flashing lights of two cop cars before the on-ramp to I-35N. Had to maneuver around the scene and go through the west side to get to Broadway....what the fuck ever, anyways I remember seeing the motorcycle on its side and the guy like 30 feet from it on his back lying in the grass. He had a helmet on and I saw one cop standing above him. I thought he was talking to the rider but I guess that wasn't the case because I finally search for an article about the incident and found out he had died in that accident. Fucking horrible feeling as I now recall hearing the ambulance sirens racing to the scene in vain.
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...so seeing exist trace had been my first plan when I heard they were appearing at Tekkoshocon back in December but that got all derailed when Dir en grey announced they were coming back to the states soon after.
Once that situation went where it went, the exist trace road trip was green-lit again. By the way, I'm outta $40 from a wasted ticket. *shakes fist*
TOLL TROLLS
Everything was fine and dandy driving until we hit Pennsylvania. Then it was a TOLLS TOLLS TOLLS TOLLS.
The money allocated to tolls and parking were astronomical.
I pussed out around Harrisburg PA and used a coupon for a Red Roof Inn outta a catalog from a State Welcome Center. Bam, $49.99! Stayed next to a caravan of motocross enthusiasts getting hammered.
o.O
Recharged, we continued the three hour journey left to reach NY.
Awesome police escort.
Calvary Cemetery across from the hotel.
This place had Jacuzzi tubs in each room. I didn't care about germs, I used the fuck out of that amenity.
Yeah, I could have saved some serious coin if I used the subway but I wanted to see what all the fuss was about driving in NYC. And yes, it's a bitch getting in but once you're in Manhattan it's pretty much easy sailing. Just don't stop in a crosswalk and make sure you hit the gas as soon as your light turns green. Pretty fucking simple.
Headed to the show. Found someone waiting in front of the lobby. Thought it was the line but we had to walk around the block. The Hiro Ballroom has a pretty neat sliding door that you'd totally walk by never knowing it was actually the entrance to a club.
THOSE SHOES
Yep, I'm in the right place.
Had a couple of hours to kill so decided to find a thrift store to rummage through. The Salvation Army was fucking closed. Go figure...on a Sunday.
On the way to the GOODWILL me and Maria happen upon a flea market thing in a warehouse. Pretty-awesome junk that was 3x the price it should have been.
So yeah, that GOODWILL was not your typical GOODWILL in Lamesville USA. This place had been tricked out (I hate to use this word)hipster-style. There was this guy in there wearing slacks and a dress shirt. All professional and shit but I swear he had Tourettes or something. He'd be browsing the pants and he'd start blurting these FUCKS/FUCKING/FUCKERS/MOTHERFUCKERS with a nervous twitch. We hurried the hell outta there.
Back in line.
Door opens
The two openers fly by quick.
The COUNTDOWN
I kicked myself for missing their Sakura-Con appearance last year but I would have kicked myself much harder if I was in another state missing this shit.
Craving this performance since 2008 and the wait was.............
TOTALLY FUCKING WORTH IT.
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Balls tired.
More later.
