Phen, stuck in Wonderland (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} phenphenny) wrote,@ 2008-05-27 10:43:00 |
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edit// sorry, my cut majorly died D: I don't ever use richtext except here, so no clue how to fix it '__'
An Cafe at Fanime 2008
Saturday
Basically?
Best weekend of my life, and I wish I could relive it again and again.
An Cafe at Fanime 2008
Saturday
We drove the many hours from LA and got to San Jose around 11 or so. We got our pre-reg badges quickly then got in line for concert tickets. After waiting for over three hours, we finally got to the ticket counter, where they handed my friend Bailie an autograph session ticket and said "congratulations~" - she had won one of the raffle tickets. Needless to say, I was kind of upset, but we decided we were going to do whatever it took for me to get one for myself the next morning.
We headed off to the dealer's room, snagged what merch was left - only L shirts, pins, and cell phone charms by then - then decided to ask if we could line up for tickets. They said we could, and we plopped down as the first in line around 3:30 PM. Yes, we were going to spend the night.
After a couple of hours, two guys showed up and joined us, one being Jordan who ended up helping immensely and becoming the hero of many Cafekko - more on that later. Turns out, his best friend, Pandy, was someone Bailie and I had become friends with online! So we got to meet her, and we all became fast friends.
By midnight, there were around 25 people waiting in line with us. Staff kept coming down, telling us to move, telling us we couldn't line up, saying different things and contradicting each other time and time again. Eventually, they said the line would officially start at 5 and our line couldn't be honoured, but we all decided together that the order we had would be the order we'd line up in at 5 - me being the very first in line. Jordan and Pandy and everyone else were insistent that I got my ticket.
5 finally rolled around, and we got ourselves in a tidy line and waited for staff. They came down and actually complimented how nice our line was, lol. Daytime staff is much different from night staff, we learned.
Then it was time to wait the four more hours for the ticket booth to actually open. We had been waiting 16 hours by this point already, with staff not letting us sleep, so we were dead tired, as you can imagine.
Up to this point, we had been told "30 tickets will be handed out". Jordan made a list of us first 30, dated it, and staff took it and said it was the official list. 9 came around, and suddenly, we were told only 10 tickets would be handed out. Me, Jordan, and Pandy would still get tickets, but we were irate. It wouldn't be fair to the other 20 Cafekko who had been waiting so long. Needless to say, Tony (MusicFest head) now had 30 very angry Cafekko on his hands. But Jordan was a lifesaver and ended up getting them to agree to 30! So, I got the first ticket that morning, after waiting roughly 20 hours.
Sunday
We rushed to the front. For some reason, they had put a platform against the bar, which made no sense at all. The others agreed that I deserved what little room was left on the platform, and I eventually got myself 2nd from the rail, with the others right behind me.
Let me tell you, this was the worst crowd of any concert I've ever been to in terms of rudeness, selfishness, pushing, and all around violence. It was filled with concert first-timers and people who for some reason decided they needed their parents in the pit. Pandy got severely injured at one point because a dad was stabbing her in the ribs and she couldn't breathe. I got pushed and shoved and my Nyappy bag suffered some major battle wounds from the rail, which I did manage to have at times.
The concert itself was amazing. The boys were incredible and were having so much fun. Kanon and Teruki were smiling like mad, Miku was all over the place, takuya was adorable, and Yuuki was hilarious.
Here's what they played as far as I can remember, in no particular order:
Unfortunately, it was a pretty short concert. I was disappointed by that.
They tried to speak English a lot, especially Miku, and it was really cute, haha. At the encore he was like, "Sankyu foh encore. I want see you happy. I want see you moh smile!" At the very end, he exclaimed, "I will be back to America soon!" (to which we were all like "lol, we want the whole band...")
We were completely beat and the next day was the autograph session and Q&A, so we headed back to sleep 8-9 hour before lining up once again.
We headed off to the dealer's room, snagged what merch was left - only L shirts, pins, and cell phone charms by then - then decided to ask if we could line up for tickets. They said we could, and we plopped down as the first in line around 3:30 PM. Yes, we were going to spend the night.
After a couple of hours, two guys showed up and joined us, one being Jordan who ended up helping immensely and becoming the hero of many Cafekko - more on that later. Turns out, his best friend, Pandy, was someone Bailie and I had become friends with online! So we got to meet her, and we all became fast friends.
By midnight, there were around 25 people waiting in line with us. Staff kept coming down, telling us to move, telling us we couldn't line up, saying different things and contradicting each other time and time again. Eventually, they said the line would officially start at 5 and our line couldn't be honoured, but we all decided together that the order we had would be the order we'd line up in at 5 - me being the very first in line. Jordan and Pandy and everyone else were insistent that I got my ticket.
5 finally rolled around, and we got ourselves in a tidy line and waited for staff. They came down and actually complimented how nice our line was, lol. Daytime staff is much different from night staff, we learned.
Then it was time to wait the four more hours for the ticket booth to actually open. We had been waiting 16 hours by this point already, with staff not letting us sleep, so we were dead tired, as you can imagine.
Up to this point, we had been told "30 tickets will be handed out". Jordan made a list of us first 30, dated it, and staff took it and said it was the official list. 9 came around, and suddenly, we were told only 10 tickets would be handed out. Me, Jordan, and Pandy would still get tickets, but we were irate. It wouldn't be fair to the other 20 Cafekko who had been waiting so long. Needless to say, Tony (MusicFest head) now had 30 very angry Cafekko on his hands. But Jordan was a lifesaver and ended up getting them to agree to 30! So, I got the first ticket that morning, after waiting roughly 20 hours.
Sunday
We then had around four hours until we could line up for the concert, and we desperately needed sleep and to change, so Bailie and I headed back to our hotel room, slept three hours, got ready, and got in line. As usual, Fanime staff was horribly disorganized, so we ended up around 1/5 back in the line. Then it was time to wait - again. This time it was for 5 hours. We were dead tired, but so excited. Pandy, Jordan, and some more friends from the ticket line joined us.
After more disorganization (but there were some nice staff members trying hard, thank you to them!), we finally arrived at 7, when the doors opened. It took a while, but we finally got inside.We rushed to the front. For some reason, they had put a platform against the bar, which made no sense at all. The others agreed that I deserved what little room was left on the platform, and I eventually got myself 2nd from the rail, with the others right behind me.
Let me tell you, this was the worst crowd of any concert I've ever been to in terms of rudeness, selfishness, pushing, and all around violence. It was filled with concert first-timers and people who for some reason decided they needed their parents in the pit. Pandy got severely injured at one point because a dad was stabbing her in the ribs and she couldn't breathe. I got pushed and shoved and my Nyappy bag suffered some major battle wounds from the rail, which I did manage to have at times.
The concert itself was amazing. The boys were incredible and were having so much fun. Kanon and Teruki were smiling like mad, Miku was all over the place, takuya was adorable, and Yuuki was hilarious.
Here's what they played as far as I can remember, in no particular order:
- Lock on the o new Sekai [opening]
- Koritsu Hospital
- Cherry Saku Yuuki
- Baby King
- Kakusei Heroism
- Tekesuta Kousen
- Wagamama Koshinkyouku
- Nanairo crayon de egaku hikari
- Smile ichiban ii onna [encore]
Unfortunately, it was a pretty short concert. I was disappointed by that.
They tried to speak English a lot, especially Miku, and it was really cute, haha. At the encore he was like, "Sankyu foh encore. I want see you happy. I want see you moh smile!" At the very end, he exclaimed, "I will be back to America soon!" (to which we were all like "lol, we want the whole band...")
We were completely beat and the next day was the autograph session and Q&A, so we headed back to sleep 8-9 hour before lining up once again.
Monday - Autograph Session
They took turns picking people to ask questions, and Yuuki picked me!!!
I asked Miku why he keeps piercing his lip and taking it out, haha. I've been really curious about that...he said it was because it's not really accepted in Japan, but it's part of his originality, who he is, so he tries to have it as much as possible.
Being in front, we got to catch a lot of the little things they didn't say into the mic, and we were cracking up so much. Yuuki and Miku's interactions are hilarious!
At one point, Miku said he liked Dir en grey, which is Bailie's obsession, so we all freaked out, and Teruki pointed at us and Miku gave us this look of satisfaction.
There ended up being this inside joke about Sailor Moon, after someone said they should cosplay them haha. Yuuki was comparing them and said "Teruki is Jupiter, Miku is..." and Miku got really excited and was like "CHIBI USA, CHIBI USA :DDDD" so Yuuki laughed and was like "Miku is Chibi Usa and Kanon is Mars." Bailie's knows everything about Sailor Moon, and she explained their personalities to me later, and it fit so well with them lol.
All in all, the Q&A was hilarious, and we loved every minute of it. Fangirling was mostly kept to a minimum, which we were happy about.
Here's the loot I snagged:
The autograph session was at 11, and we lined up about an hour before, because we knew those at the end would be a lot more rushed. I had their five gifts with me, which ended up having to go in a drop box, but I was ok with that, as long as the gifts got to the band.
Finally we were let in. After 15 minutes or so, they started letting ten go at a time. We were the second group. I started bawling a we walked to the curtains.
We went in and there they were...I had out my nyappy bag for them all to sign. I was crying so much.
Teruki was first and was smiling so much, then was Yuuki, then I got to Miku. I was sobbing. He looked so worried and said to me "no no, nyappy, nyappy! smile!" and with the help of the translator, I told him he was my inspiration and my hero. His eyes widened as he signed my bag for me, never taking his eyes off me. Then was takuya (so shy!) and Kanon, who took forever trying to choose a marker, haha.
They all were so attentive and caring. They took the time to say hello and shake our hands and listen to what we wanted to say. They truly care about their Cafekko, I could feel their love radiating so much.
I continued to cry for nearly an hour afterward, including on the way to the line to wait for the Q&A, the last time we would line up at Fanime.
Monday - Q&A
Finally we were let in. After 15 minutes or so, they started letting ten go at a time. We were the second group. I started bawling a we walked to the curtains.
We went in and there they were...I had out my nyappy bag for them all to sign. I was crying so much.
Teruki was first and was smiling so much, then was Yuuki, then I got to Miku. I was sobbing. He looked so worried and said to me "no no, nyappy, nyappy! smile!" and with the help of the translator, I told him he was my inspiration and my hero. His eyes widened as he signed my bag for me, never taking his eyes off me. Then was takuya (so shy!) and Kanon, who took forever trying to choose a marker, haha.
They all were so attentive and caring. They took the time to say hello and shake our hands and listen to what we wanted to say. They truly care about their Cafekko, I could feel their love radiating so much.
I continued to cry for nearly an hour afterward, including on the way to the line to wait for the Q&A, the last time we would line up at Fanime.
Monday - Q&A
For the last time at Fanime, we waited in line. We were all within the first 30, me being the 15th in line.
Finally, at 2, all our waiting in line came to an end. They let us in 15 at a time. I got front row, just to the left of where Yuuki would end up being.
Staff informed us that we were allowed cameras, just no flash photography. I snapped a few pictures, then ended up getting 16 minutes of video (which I'll post later) before my memory card filled up.
Finally, at 2, all our waiting in line came to an end. They let us in 15 at a time. I got front row, just to the left of where Yuuki would end up being.
Staff informed us that we were allowed cameras, just no flash photography. I snapped a few pictures, then ended up getting 16 minutes of video (which I'll post later) before my memory card filled up.
The Q&A itself was hilarious. Miku was so energetic the whole time, and Teruki kept flashing nyappy signs.
Miku actually kept looking over at us, he waved to us at one point. Teruki pointed at us, too. (I'm not delusional, I have video proof >D) They obviously remembered us from the autograph session.
They introduced themselves:
"I am takuya o wo;;;"
"I am Teruki, on duramu"
"I am Miku, on bocars :DDD"
"I am Kanon. ...I like sleeping." (no kidding, you were half asleep the whole session!)
"I am Yuuki, on keyboard."
Miku actually kept looking over at us, he waved to us at one point. Teruki pointed at us, too. (I'm not delusional, I have video proof >D) They obviously remembered us from the autograph session.
They introduced themselves:
"I am takuya o wo;;;"
"I am Teruki, on duramu"
"I am Miku, on bocars :DDD"
"I am Kanon. ...I like sleeping." (no kidding, you were half asleep the whole session!)
"I am Yuuki, on keyboard."
They took turns picking people to ask questions, and Yuuki picked me!!!
I asked Miku why he keeps piercing his lip and taking it out, haha. I've been really curious about that...he said it was because it's not really accepted in Japan, but it's part of his originality, who he is, so he tries to have it as much as possible.
Being in front, we got to catch a lot of the little things they didn't say into the mic, and we were cracking up so much. Yuuki and Miku's interactions are hilarious!
At one point, Miku said he liked Dir en grey, which is Bailie's obsession, so we all freaked out, and Teruki pointed at us and Miku gave us this look of satisfaction.
There ended up being this inside joke about Sailor Moon, after someone said they should cosplay them haha. Yuuki was comparing them and said "Teruki is Jupiter, Miku is..." and Miku got really excited and was like "CHIBI USA, CHIBI USA :DDDD" so Yuuki laughed and was like "Miku is Chibi Usa and Kanon is Mars." Bailie's knows everything about Sailor Moon, and she explained their personalities to me later, and it fit so well with them lol.
All in all, the Q&A was hilarious, and we loved every minute of it. Fangirling was mostly kept to a minimum, which we were happy about.
Here's the loot I snagged:
Basically?
Best weekend of my life, and I wish I could relive it again and again.
