I went to the YFC live again tonight (8/14).
But I'll come back to that later.
lefcadio and I met up with
khysmet this morning and we had coffee, ice cream and a nice long chat. We also visited the Darts stand here in Sendai again, which makes it the third visit for Jessica and me this week. That poor guy who works the stand never gets time to finish the solitaire game he has open on his laptop because we keep interrupting him. They've managed to sell a lot of goods this week though!
Ashleigh had tickets to the live and was meeting up with a Japanese friend of hers so we parted ways after a couple of hours and Jessica and I went for a wander around Sendai and ended up right next to the Zepp again. We were stood there, sheltering from the heavy rain (a typhoon is blowing past and we've been getting caught in the very edges of it) and staring at people starting to queue for the tour goods and it was really depressing.
To be *that* close to another live, but to not have tickets...
So, we decided that we'd try and get tickets. We dropped really lucky as we immediately found a Japanese woman selling a ticket. We then made a sign, stood in everyone's way, and waited for someone with a spare ticket to come along.
And they did.
WE GOT TICKETS!!!
As neither of us had expected to go to the show today, we needed to pop back to the hotel to change and grab things. While there, I checked my emails and a few things online... including the DEARS Staff Blog. I don't think I need to say too much about that other than that I nearly cried when I saw it. I'm not an overly sentimental person and really don't cry too often but knowing that GACKT saw it, and it made him smile... It nearly got me. All of that hard work - that fortnight of not getting to bed before 3AM any night because my bed time clashed with the rest of the worlds awake time.. It was all worth it.
We went back to the venue and I stopped off in a shop nearby to get some cute stationary (it had BUNNIES!) and I wrote a little message to GACKT, just acknowledging the blog and saying how happy I was that it made him smile. I put it in his present box again ^_^
My ticket was on the balcony and it was surprisingly close. I had a good view of the stage (I was actually able to see You for more than 30 seconds this time!) and didn't have to worry about my bruise getting bashed around. It's a great way to see the whole live properly and everyone around me was just as enthusiastic about the show as the people in the pit, other than these two American girls who either sat down or stood still throughout the whole thing. They really let the foreigner side down :-(
Despite the good view and the enthusiasm of those around, I didn't feel as connected to the band as when I was down the front. I really missed being in that crushed sea of people and being able to catch the eye of the band.
The live itself wasn't much different. GACKT's fake tattoos were still on his chest although they were lower today, just above his nipple, and You had one on his arm too. Again, GACKT sounded great and was very bouncy although he seemed to struggle at the end of Flower slightly. To be honest, I'm starting to think that's part of the routine as it's the same every damn night...
As I was leaving the venue I caught up with Ashleigh and we went outside. We walked past that member of staff who had previously interviewed us and despite the fact that he was filming someone else, when he saw me he waved and said "hi" before I did.
Is being so easily recognised by staff members a good thing or a bad thing?
Jessica caught up with us and had another fan with her, a girl originally from Greenland of all places. Our staff member friend with the camera showed up again with an older, more serious business type looking Japanese man and Ashleigh and the girl from Greenland were interviewed while Jessica and I stood and watched.
After that, we decided to try and watch the band leaving again. We made our way to the back of the venue in the pouring rain and joined the other fans there. We were getting drenched but then a really, really,
really cute Zepp staff member gave us an umbrella! How cute is that?
After about 20-30 minutes of waiting, we saw JOB walk out of the stage door and get in their van. They drove past and Chacha was sat by the open window, all smiles and waves as normal. Chirolyn was behind him and he waved at us but Junji and You were sat on the other side so we didn't see them.
Last time it took a further 30-40 minutes for GACKT to appear. This time, it took about five minutes before he was heading out of the stage door and was waving to us all from underneath his white fedora and shades. His van drove past and he FINALLY, opened his damn window and waved at us all. He didn't look as tired tonight which is probably why he was quicker and happy to open his window.
Jessica found the cute staff member to hand the umbrella back but he told her to keep it. WHOO!! FREE UMBRELLA!
The three of us then decided that we needed food and karaoke so we found a karaoke place, ordered some food (including the chewiest pizza ever created and a cafe au lait without the cafe) and sang GACKT songs for two hours.
What a way to spend a Saturday night!
Tomorrow Jessica and I fly to Sapporo for, er, two more YFC shows. Jeez, by the time the Swimsuit Festival is finished on 8/29 I'll have been to 7 YFC shows. That's kinda insane. Damn you GACKT for scheduling so much of your tour during my holiday!!!!
Top of the to do list in Sapporo is to find out the name of that staff member. I wanna be on first name terms with one of GACKT's staff, haha!
Now, I need to go pack my cases again.