kyuuketsukirui

Wow, I just checked and it was four and a half years ago that we saw the Decemberists before. That time was way off in Pomona. Thankfully last night it was just up at UCLA, which is much, much closer (and with our Santa Monica College IDs, the bus ride is totally free).

We decided to head up there quite early so that we would have time to buy something to eat and then to walk around the campus for a while. I think the last time I was up there was six or seven years ago. A lot had changed then since I'd been a student, and even more has now, but a lot was still the same. It was fun to walk around, and I'm glad we planned time for that.

Although I had a couple classes in Royce Hall, I'd never been in the actual concert hall itself. The building is often used as the "face" of UCLA (though I like Powell Library, which faces it, a little better) and the hall itself is just as beautiful, especially the ceiling. (There's some pics of it on google, as well as more pics of the building.) Unfortunately the seats are narrow and really close together, which wasn't that fun. I hate feeling squished. We had seats in the balcony, near the center, which was a pretty good spot.

The show started off with a performance of The Hazards of Love in its entirety. According to iTunes, that's just about an hour long. The performance was accompanied by animation (abstract rather than literal), which was neat. Shara Worden as the Queen and Becky Stark as Margaret both gave amazing performances, too. While Colin mostly just stood there and played the guitar while he sang, Becky danced and swayed ethereally and Shara jumped and strutted about.

There was a ten or fifteen minute intermission after that and then they played the second set. During Hazards of Love, everyone sat in their seats just watching, and the band didn't interact with the audience at all, but the second set was very interactive and many people (including me) were on their feet the whole time.

They only played nine songs (ten if you count The Crane Wife 1 & 2 separately), and was heavy on stuff from the Crane Wife (not surprising, since it's their most recent album before Hazards of Love), but it was really fun. The band was obviously having fun, too, and was very playful. I loved when, after a fairly long interlude of silliness and no music, Colin asked, "At what point do you ask for your money back?"

Set list:

The Hazards of Love
01. Prelude
02. The Hazards of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won't Wrestle the Thistles Undone)
03. A Bower Scene
04. Won't Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga)
05. The Hazards of Love 2 (Wager All)
06. The Queen's Approach
07. Isn't It a Lovely Night?
08. The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid
09. An Interlude
10. The Rake's Song
11. The Abduction of Margaret
12. The Queen's Rebuke/The Crossing
13. Annan Water
14. Margaret in Captivity
15. The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!)
16. The Wanting Comes in Waves (Reprise)
17. The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)

Second set
18. The Sporting Life
19. Billy Liar
20. Whatever I Try to Do, Nothing Seems to Turn Out Right
21. The Crane Wife 1 & 2
22. The Chimbley Sweep
23. O Valencia
24. Crazy on You (Heart cover)

Encore
25. Unknown Colin solo
26. Sons and Daughters

I wish they'd played more from Picaresque, as that's my favorite album (with Her Majesty second), but I take comfort in the fact that when we saw them before, it was right when Picaresque came out, so they did almost every song on the album.

Whatever I Try to Do, Nothing Seems to Turn Out Right is apparently on the Billy Liar single and I don't have a copy of it (and had, in fact, never heard it before). The other unknown was the first encore, which was a new song Colin sang on his own with nothing but his own guitar accompaniment.

Shara and Becky performed Crazy on You and were both pretty amazing.

Overall it was just a really awesome show and I'm so glad we had a chance to see them do this. It definitely makes up for the disappointment of them cancelling the show we were supposed to see a couple years ago (The Long and the Short of It, a two-night show).

I was somewhat iffy about seeing a show at the Bowl considering the size and price. After Ticketbastard fees and the park-and-ride tickets (+ more Ticketbastard fees for those), the $49.50 tickets ended up being $72 total. BUT. It was actually totally worth it. I definitely wouldn't go there to see a band I was at all ambivalent about, but for a band I really love, I would totally do it again. They had large screens, so even though the stage was teensy from where we were, we could see everything just fine on the screens. And I really liked the park-and-ride experience, plus the Santa Monica stop is very close, so I could totally walk there and back if going by myself.

Anyway, so last night. :) alejandromagno and I got to the park-and-ride just as the first bus was filling up, but another one pulled up immediately, so we weren't waiting long there. Someone gave the driver a copy of Hot Fuss to play, so we got to listen to that the whole way there. I guess the ride was a little under an hour, since the album did loop a bit, but not by too much. Since we got on the bus a little after six, there was still plenty of time before the show started at eight when we got there.

The bus was freezing because of the air conditioning and I was regretting not bringing a jacket or something because we were going to be sitting outside on top of a hill for hours, but as it turned out, the weather was really nice and not only did I not get cold, because I ended up standing (at least during the main event; everyone else was, so sitting meant not seeing anything) and thus bouncing around, I was quite warm and even sweaty.

I had no idea who the opening act was going to be beforehand. I'd tried to look it up, but couldn't find any info. They didn't introduce themselves and I didn't recognise the music, but Alexander did. He asked asked someone and it turned out it was the Psychedelic Furs. I can't say I was that excited about them, though the music was pleasant enough, but I felt like I got a bonus to see a famous band as the opening act rather than some nobodies.

They played for about forty minutes and then there was about half an hour before the Killers came on. The place was pretty packed out once things really got going. I would guess it was sold out or nearly so. There were also a ton of people smoking pot. I was smelling it throughout the show.

And I have to say, the sound was awesome, probably the best of any show I've ever been to. I could actually hear things clearly instead of the instruments all just sounding like a bunch of noise. XD And afterwards my ears weren't ringing.

When they came out for the encore, they sang one song and then someone (whom I later found out was Jimmy Kimmel) came out on stage and did the Kanye West thing. I don't remember exactly what he said, but something about Beyonce and then maybe that the Psychedelic Furs were the best band ever. Then the Furs came back out and the singer did a duet with Brandon of Pretty in Pink.

Setlist minus Pretty in Pink:

Human
Somebody Told Me
For Reasons Unknown
Bones
Joy Ride
Bling (Confessions of a King)
Shadowplay
Jenny Was a Friend of Mine
Sweet Talk
Smile Like You Mean It
Spaceman
A Dustland Fairytale
Read My Mind
Mr. Brightside
All These Things I've Done

ENCORE:
This Is Your Life
When You Were Young

Zipfile on megaupload.

So they did five songs each from Hot Fuss, Sam's Town, and Day & Age, and two from Sawdust. The only song I really wish they hadn't done was Shadowplay (Joy Division cover), since I actively dislike that song. I wish they would have played Sam's Town instead! Or Neon Tiger. But overall I was really happy with the lineup. I'm especially glad they did Read My Mind and Spaceman.

I didn't think I would be going to any more shows this year, but I just got an email today saying the Decemberists are playing next month at UCLA... >_>

Just a little over a year since I saw GLAY the last time and almost twelve years to the day since I saw them for the first time, I got a chance to see them again, and this time for only $10! Which is almost more amazing than the fact that I got to see them in LA again. XD I would go to a hell of a lot more concerts if they were priced like that!

I didn't think I would be able to go at first, because I didn't have money for a ticket or a way to get there. But then the tickets went on sale for $10 with no fees, and the only thing holding me back was having no way to get there, but hakuen offered me a ride, so there was no way I could not go. :D

Doors were at eight and she picked me up a little around 6.45. Traffic wasn't bad, so we got up to Hollywood around 7.30 and then had to look for parking. We drove around and around for about twenty minutes trying to find someplace cheaper than $10-15 and finally found a parking structure on Kings and Santa Monica that was $4! They are open til 2.30 on weekends and midnight on weekdays, so it's definitely somewhere to remember. It meant about a half mile walk uphill, but for that cheap it was worth it. We got there a few minutes before doors and hakuen had to pick up her ticket at will-call, so we didn't even bother getting in line, just waited til everyone went in.

Some of her friends were there, so we hung out with them upstairs for a while. I've never been in the dining area. Apparently you have to buy stuff in order to stay up there, which is not surprising. The only table left was kind of set back and so the view was horrible, so hakuen and I decided to go watch the show on the floor once it got started.

But! I'm glad I went upstairs for a bit because omg. At the special reserved table right in front of us? Tak Matsumoto from B'z! O_O And Yoshiki from X Japan had been there the night before.

Anyway, the show itself was really awesome. Even though hakuen and I were at the back of the main floor area, that's still within like twenty feet of the stage, tops. And there were a couple tall people directly in front of me, but I managed to move over a little and get a good view for most of the time.

Teru talked a lot. Not between every song, but a little bit between every couple of songs, and there were maybe four longer periods. He spoke mostly English, very broken and accented, but he was obviously trying really hard and I was impressed with how much he did say, more than any other Japanese acts, I've seen, I think. It was obvious that he was really thrilled to be here and really moved by having so many fans outside of Japan. I actually think he was kind of tearful at the end, and he promised they would be back again (I was worried since these shows hadn't sold that well). I will definitely try to see them next time and any time they come to LA, because it's obvious they really appreciate their fans here.

I was a little disappointed by the setlist. It had a lot of good songs (I have almost all of them favorited in iTunes), but was not a lot of my very favorites. I can't say I'm too surprised, since a lot of my top faves are older songs and even worse, album songs rather than singles, so the chances of them being on the list were pretty low to begin with.

There were a couple songs I hadn't heard before, including Run, which is now one of my all-time favorites. It's really, really good!

And Jiro got to do Shutter Speeds, yay. :) I love Jiro and like that song a lot. :D :D :D Even though I don't know the lyrics too well. I could sing along with about half the songs easily, and do choruses/partial singing for a bunch more.

They ended with I'm in Love, which was a huge thrill. That's such a great sing-along song. At the end, the "I'm just in love, I'm just in love oh sing my life" part must have gone on for about five minutes. Though I had a hard time keeping a straight face for the part that goes "we will rock you words from heaven", because it always sounds like "we will rock your ass from heaven", and last year when Carla and I were driving across country and listening to a GLAY mix with that on it, we would sing "we will rock your ass now, Kevin". XD

I kind of want to go through and do a music post with their entire discography and ramble about each song, but for now, here's mp3s of the songs they played last night.

Great Vacation
Yuuwaku
Ikiteku Tsuyosa
Glorious
Cynical
Starless Night
Run
However
Be with You
Verb
Synchronicity
I Am XXX
High Communications
More Than Love
Shutter Speeds no Theme
Acid Head

ENCORE
Kanojo no "Modern..."
Peak Hateshinaku Soul Kagirinaku
I'm in Love

And here's a zip of all 19 songs on megaupload, since I'll delete the tracks on my server eventually.

I will definitely be looking for more shows at the Wiltern. Not only is it a nice venue (which I knew from seeing Travis there a couple years ago), but it is soooo easy to get there by bus. It was nice not having to worry about parking, and of course we don't have a car now anyway, so I would have had to rent one if I were going to do that. But really I just walked up to Wilshire and hopped on the (jam-fucking-packed) 720 and zipped right up to the Wiltern. The bus runs until midnight on weekdays and one am on weekends, so no worries about getting out too late. I wish there were an easier way to get to the House of Blues and all those places in Hollywood (well, actually I wish more people would play at the Santa Monica Civic Center, because then I could walk!), but getting to and from the Wiltern is no problem.

So yeah, the bus was super crowded. I was one of the last people who had to pay. After a while, she would just let people get on through the back doors because there was no room at the front. D: I managed to stay close to one of the doors, though, so I didn't have to fight my way out. The bus on the way back was nice and empty, though.

The show started at eight, but doors opened at seven, so I was aiming to get there sometime between seven and eight (it was assigned seating, so no need to get there early). I got there at 7.05 and the doors weren't open yet and there was a line all the way down the block, around the corner, and then all the way down to the other corner. D: I had my book with me, though, which I had not been able to read on the bus, so I just stood in line and read. I got in about 7.45. Got my seat...well, a seat. The top level was just as uncrowded as it was when I saw Travis, so since my seat was squished between two people, I just grabbed an empty aisle seat and figured I'd move if someone came for it (which they did, so I just moved to another empty aisle seat and was fine, had a nice view). I read for a bit more before the lights went down and the opening act came on.

I had researched them last night, the Exies, and liked the few songs I heard. They played a couple I remembered listening to last night and I enjoyed their set a lot. They were done by 8.30 and Vamps were on by nine (and the lights went on in between, so I could read some more), which was nice. I like when everything's on time. I've been at some concerts where we sat/stood around for hours waiting for the band to come on.

I enjoyed Vamps a lot, though I need to learn not to go to concerts where I just don't know the songs well enough to sing along. I need to be able to sing along to at least most of the concert or I start getting bored (and in this case sleepy, since I hadn't got enough sleep this morning). They played for an hour and a half, which is good considering they only have one album out. I recognised Ride on Time, I Gotta Kick Start Now, Sex Blood Rock 'n' Roll, Evanescent, Sweet Dreams, and Hunting, and Hyde announced Vampire Depression (probably wouldn't have been able to recognise it otherwise). They also did Bowie's Life on Mars? and Shampoo's Trouble, both of which I was expecting, since they were couplings to two of their singles. And I was very pleasantly surprised that they played some of Hyde's solo stuff, including two of my favorites, Dolly and Hideaway (the third was Celebration). They also did the Beatles' Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, which was the coupling to one of Hyde's singles.

So in conclusion:

Wiltern = go there more
Bands whose songs I don't know well enough to sing along to = don't see live
Dolly = best Hyde song ever
Life on Mars? = stuck in my head

The show was so awesome!

I didn't want to pay for parking, so I had Bruce drop me off. Or I would have, except of course yesterday was the day he was temping at his old office. Yay for work, but why did it have to be the same day as my concert? Argh. The office is in Century City, so I didn't want him to come all the way home then drive back to Hollywood, though in hindsight it would have been fine as the show was an hour late getting started. So anyway, I took him to work in the morning, then came home and tried to get some sleep. Ended up getting about five hours' sleep before having to go pick him up. I did remember not to go La Cienega because of the horrible evil hill of doom at Sunset and La Cienega which I usually forget about until I'm there. Traffic actually wasn't too terrible and we ended up getting there around 6.30. There was a loading/unloading spot right in front of the place, so we were able to swap places (or rather he took the driver's seat and I got out of the car altogether).

There wasn't much of a line yet. I don't think I've ever been that close to the front. There were probably still a hundred or so people in front of me, but usually by the time I get there I'm all the way around the corner. I kind of wish I had been, since standing on the hill for an hour and a half was not fun. I had a book, but didn't feel like reading, so it was a long wait. I did get to hear them rehearsing while waiting, though, so that was cool.

It was supposed to be doors at eight, show at 8.15, but they didn't even start letting people in until after 8.15. The reason I had been so worried about getting there early and not cutting it close to eight was not because I necessarily wanted to be close, but because I was afraid that if they really did start on time (which apparently they did at the Fillmore), I would still be outside (I mean, seriously, fifteen minutes between doors opening and starting the show? They can not get people in that fast). But as it turned out I needn't have worried. They didn't get started until a few minutes after nine.

I was pretty close to the stage, about ten to fifteen feet or so, and just a bit right of the middle. There were a couple tallish guys (taller than the general crowd, which was mostly my height or shorter) in front of me, but I managed to find a spot between them so they weren't blocking anything. I had actually had a slightly better spot before (maybe a row or two of people closer), but then I decided to go to the bathroom (where I saw hakuen, who said "I think you're on my LJ friends list!" and we talked for two seconds and then I never saw her again XD) and so when I came back there were more people.

When the band finally came out, Teru apologized in English for making us wait. :) He talked quite a lot during the show, really trying hard with English, but ending up doing mostly Japanese. Towards the end (I think when they came out for the encore), he said something about being at House of Blues, and then was like "atteru?" ("did I get that right?") re: his pronunciation. He then said it was katakoto (English pronounced as if written in katakana) and said next time he'll know English better. :) Several times he promised they would come back again (including once holding up his pinky for a pinky swear, hee), and before they did Beautiful Dreamer he said it was their dream to come back here again. So I'm pretty excited about that.

I had a really good view, as it turned out. They were so close! I think this may be the closest I've been to the stage at any show except Puffy (where we were right in front of the stage, though to the side a bit). Teru came out wearing a suit jacket and was dripping sweat after the first song. After half an hour or so he took it off and his shirt was all sweaty and sticking to him. XD (Also is that tattoo on his chest real?) I was pretty sweaty, too, so I don't blame him. :p It must be horribly hot up there.

Jiro was awesome, bouncing around a lot and almost always smiling. I can't believe how young he still looks. He looks about fifteen! But I know he's a few years older than me. (Well, I got called Bruce's son by three people last week, so I guess I can't talk about looking young. XD) And I was sooooo thrilled they did Shutter Speeds no Theme, because of his solo at the beginning. Eeeeeeeee! He came up to the front for it and he is just so awesome and aaaaaah! *_* Then when it was time to switch, Teru came really close to take the mic from him.

The set list was slightly different from the San Francisco show. Some songs that were played there weren't played here at all, and a few were in a different order. The songs they didn't play were Soul Love and a cover of David Bowie's Suffragette City. That's not a favorite Bowie song of mine, but I would have liked to hear it! But they played Mermaid and Winter, Again instead, so that was cool. I'm so glad they played a lot of older stuff. I could sing along with about half the songs (though even thought I know Giant Faust and Shutter Speeds really well, I don't know the lyrics, so I couldn't really sing with those).

While we were waiting for them to come back for the encore, a group of people in the front (for the encore I walked to the back so I could lean against a rail) started singing the chorus of I'm in Love (I'm just in love, I'm just in love, I'm just in love, oh singin' my life), and then when the band came back out Teru sang with them. :D It would have been cool if they'd played the whole song, as that's one of my favorites, but still, that was a neat bonus.

Full set list (I may have got the order wrong on a couple songs as I didn't write it down):

1. Verb
2. Yuuwaku
3. Glorious
4. Ikiteku Tsuyosa
5. Giant Strong Faust Super Star
6. Starless Night
7. American Innovation
8. Lock on You
9. Sorry Love
10. Hower
11. Mermaid
12. Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
13. Shutter Speeds no Theme
14. Peak Hateshinaku Soul Kagirinaku
15. Beautiful Dreamer

Encores:
16. Winter, Again
17. Kuchibiru
18. Kanojo no "Modern..."
19. Acid Head

This has kind of revived my GLAY love. Not that I ever stopped liking them, but they'd slid a little in my favorites and I haven't really been listening to their new stuff for years. But I love their new single and some of the newer songs they played tonight as well (especially Sorry Love). And Jiro! OMG you guys. I give the sparkly eyes again: *_* I should make icons.

The concert was at eight, so we left the house at seven, because while driving to Koreatown in rush hour traffic is not as bad as driving to Hollywood in rush hour traffic, it's no picnic, either. But the streets were clear and we just zoomed down Olympic and I was like "...?" until I suddenly realised, duh, tomorrow is Thanksgiving! Of course people probably got off early today, so by seven there was hardly any traffic at all.

Once we turned on Western, though, it got bad for a bit. Very crowded and the street is kind of narrow. So Bruce ended up dropping me off about a block from the Wiltern, but I was still there about half an hour early. Luckily I had brought a book. (I wanted something small that could easily fit in my pocket, so I chose a Japanese book, and I happened to have Murakami Haruki's Kaze no Uta wo Kike, which is only like 150 pages, so that was perfect.)

I've never been to the Wiltern before, but it's really cool. It's an old art deco theatre built in the '30s. They took out the seats on the ground floor so it was standing room only down there. I didn't want to stand the whole time, so I went upstairs, whereupon I found that some people actually had assigned seats, or something, but they did let me in, saying I could have a seat as long as it was row F or higher. The rows behind me were practically deserted the entire show so they definitely had room up there. The seats were narrow and I could barely fit. Waah. But it was better than standing, which would have made my back hurt. Anyway, I still had a good view of the stage, probably better than I would have if I was crammed up with everyone on the floor, and I don't really care about being close, so it worked out fine. I think this was the biggest...I want to say "live house", but I don't think that's actually the English word? Just one of those Japanese words made up from English... Um. Anyway, the largest venue that wasn't a stadium, yeah?

Anyway, I'd looked up the opening act before the show. It was Maxïmo Park, which was a name that sounded vaguely familiar, but I'd never heard any of their songs. I watched a video on youtube and quite enjoyed it, so I was actually looking forward to them. And they didn't disappoint. I think this is the first show I've been to where I actually really liked the opening act. Howling Bells, who opened for The Killers, were okay, but after listening to their album, I only saved one song. Pretty much everyone else I've heard I didn't like at all.

So I asked Bruce to download these guys' album when I got home and I have that to listen to now. They were fun to watch, too. The vocalist was dressed in black pants, black jacket, black hat, black tie, red shirt, and red shoes, and he was dancing and bouncing all over the stage.

The set change was pretty quick. Less than half an hour. Yay. I did have my book, though, so I wasn't completely bored, but still. I hate when everything's all finished and then the band takes like five years to finally come out on stage.

When they came out, I wished I was down on the floor, though. Instead of just coming out from backstage, the theme from Rocky* started playing and the spotlights focused on something down on the floor. I couldn't see until they were nearly at the stage, but it was all the band members dressed in those shiny robes boxers wear before a fight. They came all the way through the crowd and then got up on stage and threw their robes off. Actually the best view would have been from the very front of the balcony looking down. Alas. Still! It was very cool.

Right away they started into Selfish Jean. I was expecting this to be mostly promoting the new album, so I was surprised when I counted up the songs at the end and found they only did four from it. They did six from The Man Who, five from The Invisible Band, three from 12 Memories, and 2 from Good Feeling. In all there were only four songs I didn't know (the ones from Good Feeling and some from The Man Who, neither of which I have).

They did a few fun things. First was when they played Good Feeling, Fran talked first about how they had a Swedish keyboardist with them called Claus and that Claus would be doing a piano solo and we were to point to Claus and chant "Claus! Claus! Claus!" during it. It was quite amusing, and then after the solo, they stoped the song and Fran talked a bit more, then when they started up again, instead of singing "I've got a good feeling/like I know how I'm feeling", he sang "I've got a Claus feeling/like I'm from Sweden". XD

The other was for the first encore, just Fran came back out, and he talked about how old theatres like this had good acoustics and he wanted to try playing unplugged. So with just an acoustic guitar, not plugged in, and no mic, he sang 20 (which I'd never heard before, but really liked). Everyone had to be very quiet, but I could hear him just fine way back where I was. Then he plugged the guitar back in and the other guys came up and they did Flowers in the Window with just the guitar and them all standing around Fran. Rather like this pic on Wikipedia, actually.

I was so, so, so glad they sang that as it's pretty much my favorite Travis song. Other favorites I was hoping for them to sing that they did are Turn, Driftwood, Love Will Come Through, and My Eyes. I was hoping they'd do Big Chair, which is my other favorite from the new album, but alas. I was also hoping for Quicksand and Peace the Fuck Out from 12 Memories. Still. Flowers in the Window! Turn! Driftwood! Those three are the must haves, really.

( Full set list )

I can't believe I've been to three concerts this year (The Killers, Mika, and Travis) and I would have had five this year if those two Decemberists shows hadn't been cancelled. O_o I know three is nothing for a lot of people I know, but I'm not a big concert-goer really. I like it, but it's expensive and exhausting. I think most years I've seen one or two. Let's see...GLAY in 1997, Puffy AmiYumi and B'z in 2002, Placebo and B'z in 2003, The Decemberists in 2005, and Hyde and Panic! At the Disco in 2006. That's all the concerts I've ever been to in my life.

Anyway, I had a great time and I'm so glad I got to go. :) I definitely wouldn't mind seeing them live again.

*I have never seen Rocky. Not even part of it. Well, now I have seen part of this youtube clip, to confirm that was what I wanted to link, but that's it. How did I know this is what they were playing!? I have no idea.

So much love! ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Doors opened at seven with the show starting at eight. I didn't know if that meant Mika at eight or opening act at eight, but I figured either way, I'd aim for that rather than when the doors opened. I got there at eight on the dot, thanks to horrible traffic the closer I got to Hollywood. Coming home I just zipped down Vine to Wilshire, avoiding Hollywood altogether, which is what I should have done to begin with (though Beverly Hills would have been bad at that hour).

Also I don't know why this happens, but for some reason I always go up La Cienega. My mind sees that and goes, oh, La Cienega, and makes some association. Except it forgets that the association is NEVER GO THAT WAY. I hate Sunset/La Cienega with a passion. Stupid, stupid hill with a dead end and like two cars get through each signal and I hate, hate, hate stop/start traffic on steep hills. AAAAAAARGH. Yet I guarantee you, next time I see a show in Hollywood? Same thing will happen. Also I will at some point turn too soon to go up from Sunset to Hollywood Blvd. forgetting that it is a dinky two-lane street at that point and get stuck behind a bus and a long row of cars. Just you watch. Happens every time.

Anyway. I really wish Bruce had been home, so he could have driven me. $25 for parking! How can they live with themselves!? I was hoping $15, but it's a good job I brought plenty extra. What a rip off! They've got you over a barrel, though.

I got in, went to the bathroom, and when I came out, the opening act was just starting. I wandered out on the floor for a bit, but there was already quite a crowd, so I decided to go up to the balcony and see what kind of view I could get from there. As it turned out, there was a nice spot right near the centre where I could lean against the railing. I had a better view of the stage than I would have on the floor, and I was able to lean the whole time, so standing up wasn't such a pain. (Oh, and I remembered I had been here before after all, one time when I came with Bruce to see King's X like a year or two after he moved out here.)

Opening act was a girl called Sara Bareilles. She was okay, but not really my thing. She only sang for about half an hour, but Mika didn't come on until after nine, maybe like 9.15/9.20. The set was ready long before then, so I don't know what he was waiting for. I really hate when people take so long to come out. Same thing happened when we saw the Decemberists. It was aaaaaaages between the opening act and when they finally came out.

The waiting around was well worth the wait, though. He opened up with a bang with Relax (Take It Easy), bouncing around on stage, and the audience was totally into it.

I'm kicking myself for forgetting a piece of paper, so I wasn't able to write down the exact order of songs, but I'm pretty sure he played everything on the album except for Erase (which was disappointing, as I think it's my favorite slow song of his). He also sang a new song, Holy Johnny, which was pretty catchy, and covered The Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) and The Jackson 5's I Want You Back, both of which were really, really fun. Everything remotely upbeat had him bouncing all over the place and dancing. He's so adorable.

Grace Kelly was the final song, then the band all came back on stage dressed in costumes, with Mika as a giant chicken and other members as bears and a bunny, while Teddy Bear's Picnic played. They wore the costumes for the encore, Lollipop, which was amazing, with balloons released from the ceiling and tossed into the audience from onstage, and confetti bursting from both sides over the front half of the floor. A bunch of people came up on stage, including two girls who had danced during Big Girl (You Are Beautiful) and some Alice-in-Wonderland-looking girls who had passed out lollipops to the audience before the show.

It was a really great show all around. I wish I'd brought a camera, because they actually seemed to be allowed. I took a few with my phone, but it sucks ass. :-/

( I uploaded some crappy pics anyway. )

In the spirit of procrastinating, I'm finally writing up my concert report!

( Loooong )

Fiiinally getting this written up, over a week later. >_<

So. Chances I will ever see anything at Long Beach Arena again? Low. Very low. Oh, City of Long Beach, how I loathe you. Also the entire Los Angeles County.

Six hours. SIX HOURS. Only one of which actually contained any Panic! At the Disco (though there was an hour of panic in the car as well). And after my ticket ($44), parking ($8), and a $3 bottle of water, it was $55 (plus however much gas). But. It was totally worth it. Seriously. A++ would go again.

( LONG )

By the way, while we were waiting during the set change, they played some videos, one of which was a Disturbed cover of Land of Confusion. Does anyone have an mp3 of this? It was pretty awesome and I love the song to begin with.

Disturbed vid and original Genesis vid on youtube.

Okay, concert review time! First off, it was awesome. I'm so glad I was able to go. Hyde completely rocked and even the opening act was good.

( Now, rambling! )

So last night was the Decemberists. We left here around 4pm as the show was starting at 7 and we wanted to have dinner first. Traffic getting there was not horrible, but not great either. Took about an hour to get to Pomona.

Once off the freeway, we drove down Garey looking for somewhere to eat, but didn't find anything. Eventually headed back to 2nd, which is where the Glass House is, and figured we'd see if there was anywhere right around there. There was: Joey's BBQ, which turned out to be really good. It's right across the street from the Glass House, and there was tons of free parking in back, too. I had the Cajun catfish and Bruce had ribs and sausage.

Before we ate, we'd taken a look over at the Glass House and seen about ten people camped out in front. By the time we finished, there were maybe thirty people in line, tops, and it was about 6.30 or so. We got there just in time, because soon there was a long line after us. They didn't let us in until maybe 7.15 or so.

The place is really small (I think there were maybe 300-400 people tops), and so rather than try and get up by the stage, we went up on the balcony, which had a row of chairs. We had a great view and could still see everything really clearly since the place was so small. The chairs weren't all that comfortable, but it was better than standing the whole time, especially since Bruce's knee has been bothering him a lot lately.

Oh! The hugely sucky thing is that Bruce had said, "Oh, we should take the (new digital) camera!" and I said, "Nah, they'll just confiscate it." Every other show I've ever been to has searched bags and pockets and confiscated cameras. But this show? Didn't. That's right, everyone and their mother was snapping shots the entire time. Argh! So unfair!

Anyway, we sat for just about an hour or so before the opening act finally came on. They were called Okkervil River and were just bad. I liked two songs they played all right, but each song seemed to go on forever and they played nine songs, so by the time they finally got off stage, I was so completely ill-disposed towards them that any liking I had originally has disappeared.

By the time they finished, we were both bored to tears and dead tired from just sitting around doing nothing. Bruce was complaining and wanting to go home, but I have been through this with other opening acts and knew that once the main act got on and I was actually interested in it, I'd perk up.

Which was exactly what happened. We did have to wait a bit as they took down the set and moved stuff around. Then once that was done we sat for another 15-20 minutes or so while the Decemberists apparently faffed around backstage. But finally they came on. Yay!

( setlist with mp3s )

They played all but one song from Picaresque, which had apparently been released just the week before. We've had it on mp3 for a month, at least, so I'd had no idea it was such a new album. Two songs from Cutouts and Castaways, and four songs from Her Majesty rounded out the setlist.

There was also a solo by Petra Haden, who was playing violin and singing harmony with them. I quite liked her song, but have no idea what it was as I only scribbled down "girl solo" on my notes. Doh. There are clips from her albums on Amazon, but I don't feel like listening to all of them to see if any sounds familiar. I loved her harmonising on the other songs, too.

ETA: Thanks to darthhellokitty and telesilla, I've confirmed it's not one of her songs at all, but rather a cover of Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights.

Colin was a lot more active than I would have expected from just listening to the music, especially on the more uptempo songs. He seemed pretty cool and funny, too. On Los Angeles, I'm Yours, they asked the audience to stomp along in time, and on the Mariner's Revenge song, they had the audience scream when it came to the bit about being swallowed by the whale.

There were only two encores, and we went out to the front during I Was Meant for the Stage (which was a great one to end on) and bought a couple albums: Her Majesty, which we both love, and Cutouts and Castaways, which neither of us have really heard since we don't have it on mp3. We do have Picaresque, but hadn't listened to it much. I am listening to it a lot now, and like it almost as much as Her Majesty. We would have bought it, too, but had run out of cash, and of course they don't take credit cards. The CDs were only $13 each, no tax, which is a pretty decent price.

Despite the fact that they played 17 songs (and not short ones, either!) and had a lot of talking and stuff, too, the Decemberists' part of the show really zipped by. The difference between that and Okkervil River, who seemed to go on all night, was really amazing and just goes to show how time really does fly when you're having fun.

Traffic getting back was non-existent, so it only took about half an hour, though it still meant we were out for about 8.5 hours altogether, so I was wiped today.

Just got back from the B'z concert a little bit ago. Very fun. I'd never been to the House of Blues before, but it was pretty small. I wasn't up front this time, but sort of in the middle and up a couple stairs, so I had a really good view.

I didn't stand in line all day and I'm just as glad I didn't bother. I left the house at a little before five and just took Sunset straight up. Got there around 5.30 or so, which was much better time than I'd expected in rush hour traffic. Paid $10 parking at the hotel across the street. Blah. At least it was cheaper than the $15 parking at the Palace.

I brought a book with me in case I didn't spot Ayumi in line, and sure enough I didn't. So I got quite a bit of Sharpe's Eagle read during the two hour wait before we got inside. Once inside I was starving, and the floor in front of the stage was already full, so I figured might as well get something to eat. A chicken wrap (very tasty) and Coke was $7, which is not bad at all considering the prices these places usually charge.

I guess there was seating upstairs in the restaurant, but downstairs was standing only. I did find a place near a pillar, so I was at least able to lean on that. And like I said above, I actually had quite a good view. Yay!

Inaba was wearing some sort of odd baggy pants, kind of looked like cargo pants or something maybe, and a little red and white shirt. Came out for the encores in a white tank top. Yum.

I have no other thoughts right now. It was a good show, though, and seeing as they're doing seven shows this year up from last year's two, I can only hope they'll play here again next year with even more venues.

( Set list through here. )

I don't know what track six was, and I can't for the life of me remember any of the words now either. Blah. I listened through to Big Machine when I got home, and it wasn't any of the tracks on there. Might be from Eleven or Brotherhood, as I've hardly ever listened to those albums at all, so I'm not really familiar with the songs.

I didn't know Wake Up, Right Now, Hakanai Diamond, or F.E.A.R either, but was able to look them up easily as I remembered key phrases.

Was very cool that they played Love Is Dead. They don't play enough old stuff besides a few standards. I wish they'd do Koigokoro, though, as after Zero, that's probably my favorite.

OK, so I left the house around 4.45, took me about an hour to get there due to the fact that there's no freeway that goes from the West Side to Hollywood, so I had to go mostly surface streets, and of course there was Friday afternoon traffic. Bleh.

I had hoped to get an earlier start, but I had to go down to the Marina first and pick up the car, which took a while (for a while it looked like I might have to rent a car after all as they first told me it wouldn't be ready until 5, but they got it ready by around 3.30 after all, which was a relief).

Anyway, so I got there a little before 6. Parking? $15. Fifteen fucking dollars! Argh! Of course as the show was at 7 there was already quite a line, but I think there were not even 100 people in line ahead of me so not too bad.

They let us in at 6.30 and I had to pee first, otherwise I probably would have gotten a better spot. As it was, I was maybe 15 feet from the stage, so again, not too bad.

Everyone was sitting down, which was nice. Then it got to be around 7, when the first act was supposed to play, and the roadies came out and put the guitars down and everyone stood up and pressed forward. ...Only then the band didn't end up coming out for another 45 minutes and we were just standing there listening to the music piped in, which wasn't *bad* music, but nothing I knew.

Finally the opening act came on. A group of very unwashed and greasy looking guys called Ambulance. They were all right. Just rock, I guess. Played until about 8.30. We all just sort of stood there, with a small amount of swaying and bouncing, but not too much enthusiasm.

Then we waited for them to change up for Placebo and this time I knew two songs that were played while we waited: The White Stripes "Seven Nation Army" and Prince "1999". But anyway, the standing was still boring as hell, and most of the stuff was already set up, such as the drums, but still they dragged it out until 9.

And yay! At 9 they finally came out, lots of flashy strobes and colored lights and dry ice. Brian was wearing tight (possibly leather) pants and a tight black tank top.

They opened up with Bulletproof Cupid. The rest of the set list is ( here. )

Although that's not in order, except that Allergic (to Thoughts of Mother Earth) was definitely second, and they did in fact end with the Pixies cover.

So mostly Sleeping with Ghosts songs, which is totally not surprising. In fact Something Rotten and Second Sight are the only two songs from that album they *didn't* do, which is kinda disappoing, because Second Sight is one of my favorites.

Anyway, the whole show was very, very cool, although sadly Brian did not kiss Stefan. Grr. Stefan did do a cool little dance when they came out for the first encore, though.

We were pressed together like sardines the whole time, lots of shoving and pushing to get closer to the stage. After they went off stage after the first encore, I made my way back to the bar and got a bottle of water ($4!!) and then watched the second encore from back there. Good view, too. I could actually see better than when I'd been close as the bar was on a raised platform. Plus by then I was just so exhausted it was good to be able to lean against the bar. There were seats in the balcony, so I could have sat if I wanted to, but I wanted to be down on the floor.

Wish I'd had someone to go with, but I don't know anyone here who's into them. :( Still, it was really cool and I'm glad I went. They were absolutely brilliant, really.

I also wish I'd thought to bring money for a shirt, but I didn't even think of it until I saw the table when I got in. *sigh* Oh well. Shouldn't be spending money anyway.

(Reposting this in this journal so I can have it in my tags here...)

( San Diego. Sunday, September 22, 2002. B'z first American live!! )

(Reposting this in this journal so I can have it in my tags here...)

( That was soooo cool! )