Past concerts (Epica)

Me second metal concert. My first concert with a friend who can truly understand the epicness of metal. It was in February...on a Monday. I went over to Tatiana's apartment and from there we caught the bus into Denver. 

We got lost, sort of. We got off way too early and had to walk like twenty or so blocks...I was wearing a mini skirt too. 

We walked long and fast enough that just using that much energy kept me warm. There was black ice all over the place and I kept slipping but thankfully I never actually fell. It was about 32 degrees outside (I remember because I saw this sign that said the temp in C and Tatiana said it was about 32 in F). When we finally got close to the club my mom called to thank me for the birthday card I sent her earlier that week. I was only half paying attention because we were so close to the club. 

Once inside I bought a shirt for myself and a sweater for Tatiana. Then we hurried down to the ground floor in front of the stage. We were about fifth "row". As the first and second act finished we had moved up to second "row" and as Epica started Tatiana was leaning against the stage and I was right behind her. 

The only word to describe the show is epic (which fits considering they are EPICA). Even though we were so close there wasn't the feeling of vibrations from being so close (like at the Apo concert). None the less it was amazing! Issac was closest to us so I watched him the most (and got the most pictures of him). 

At one point during "Cry for the Moon" Simone asked the crowd to sing with her. She looked right at me (and Tatiana) and held the mic right at us. Omg! I've probably never shouted so loud in my life. I love when bands interact with the crowd and that was like the epitome of it for me (that I've experienced anyhow). 

For pictures I got a really good shot of Issac, one of Mark and a few of Simone. Airen too once he was out from behind the drum set and bending down to shake hands with the crowd. EPICA said that they were going to retour the cities that were successful. Denver among them! We'll be seeing them later this year! 

Past concerts (Nightwish)

My very first real concert. All the other concerts before were family friendly at the Houston Rodeo.
Nightwish was supposed to be in Houston around September (2008) but we got hit pretty hard by Hurricane Ike and the show was cancelled due to damages to the club.

Fortunately, later that year Nightwish returned to Houston. It was around finals, so May...ish I suppose.
I went with my older sister and our uncle drove us to the club. He sure took his time though, I could have got there in time for the meet and greet but he wanted to eat and talk (and he talks a lot). We just ate a few pieces of garlic bread. Luckily I did have gum so I didn't go the concert with garlic breath.

When we got there Volbeat was just starting. I liked them. They were described as a mix between metal and Johnny Cash and I think they did remake one of Cash's songs. I can't remember if it was after or before the opening act started but some guy wanted to take a picture of the set list (I guess to show that he was in Houston...idk) and asked me to hold up the paper for him. Then he let me keep the set list!

We were pretty close to the stage by the time Nightwish came on. Not as close as I'd have liked to been but it was still close. They started with "7 days to the wolves" and I started the crowd singing the chorus opening "howl!". I had been pretty devastated when Nightwish announced that they weren't going to be in Houston the first time so I kinda stopped listening to their music because it made me sad, so the words to the songs weren't fresh in my mind.

They interacted with the crowd enough but unfortunately I wasn't that close or noticeable. Before the last song Marco taught the crowd how to say something in Finnish. I forgot what he said by the time they started playing the last song ("Wish I had an angel"). I remember Ariel screaming out for him to teach the crowd how to say something dirty in Finnish. Heh, by then we were too far to hear all the way upstage (we moved back to buy a tee shirt).

Before we got in the club though we heard one of the guards telling this guy that he might be able to catch the band by the tour bus (he was asking to get an autograph) so after the show we ran towards the back of the club where the tour bus was parked. We got there before security so when they set the barricade we were inside it. A few minutes later Toumas came out and he waved to Ariel (I was too busy squealing like a fan girl at seeing him so close).

Ariel wanted to smoke but they took her lighter at the doors so she asked some random guy for a light and we started talking. His name was Alcatraz, a pretty cool guy. He got in the club for free because he was so late for the show. Anyways, so when Toumas finally came back out (maybe an hour or so later) we got his autograph and Alcatraz took a picture of me and Toumas with his camera for me.

Jukka came out a little later and that's when I started freaking out. I started hyperventilating and I swear I almost fainted. Alcatraz asked Jukka if he could take a picture of me kissing him on the cheek (said I was too shy to ask myself. It was also something he'd done with the singer of some other band) and Jukka agreed. So I was standing in Jukka's arms for like five minutes before the picture was taken. He actually took more than one picture. And I'll never forget the feeling of Jukka's skin. Or the feeling of Jukka playing with my hair!

Oh! What I got them to sign was the set list the man from earlier let me keep! We waited outside the club for a bit longer before we decided to call a cab and leave. Unfortunately if we had stayed longer we would have met Marco. Oh well, I'll just have to meet him next time. When I got home I was so excited. I framed the set list (and still have it framed and hanging on my wall). Like a day later Alcatraz e-mailed me the pictures he took of me and a few of the show. He even got a video of the show!

I can never forget this night! It was the highlight of my life up to then. One of the best nights of my life for sure. It is also one of the things that led to my meeting with my best friend. A year later at CU I met a huge fan of Nightwish and those autographs were something we bonded over with in an instant. It was kind of like that scene in Step Brothers, "Did we just become best friends?" And yes we did.

Apocalyptica/Dir en Grey

Concert location: Denver
Concert date: 9/4/10 (Sat)

I was so much more excited for Dir en Grey than Apocalyptica.
The opening band, Evaline...or something, was alright. I didn't like them too much but whatever. Actually, at first I thought they were going to have a female lead singer. Instead it was just some guy with emo like hair and skinny pants.

There were some people who wanted to start a mosh pit right next to us. Two of them stank...like they forgot to put on deodorant or something. So I asked some guy who seemed open to the idea of a mosh pit to trade spots, didn't help much. Tatiana stood back against the railing during the Dir en Grey show, out of the mosh pit. I stood with my legs and arms braced for impact for half of it. More than a few times I would totally forget that there was a mosh pit and just concentrate on the show. Oops, those were the times I got tossed around like a rag doll. I'm not even a small person. This couple next to me, the girl like Nightwish (commented on the shirt that I was wearing), they helped me out occasionally. The girl, she went and elbowed some guy in the back after her boyfriend pulled me out. Hee hee, totally cool people.

There was another guy who helped me. He pulled me out a couple of times and stood next to me to block the...erm pitters? Whatever those who partake in mosh pits are called. I held out all the way to the last Dir en Grey song when someone elbowed me in the rib, then my right boob, and finally my chest. After the hit to my chest I dove out and almost collapsed on Tatiana. I couldn't raise my right arm without hurting or even take a deep breath so I just half cheered.

The music however was great! Although I can't repeat the lyrics, I did know the parts when Kyo screams so I got really into it during those parts (screaming with him and all). The only one I was able to get a good picture of was Kyo, only because he was standing on the platform.

After Dir en Grey, while things were being set up for Apocalyptica, we went to buy things. Tatiana wanted a shirt, I wanted water. On the way up I saw Sarah and Hanah T. from high school. When we got back we tried to get closer to the stage but the closest was next to the guys who wanted to start a mosh pit so we moved. One of the other mosh pit instigators was standing right in front of me. He was a tall mofo so he was blocking my view of the stage. I tried to ignore him and when Apocalyptica came out and I screamed (having leaned forward, which placed me right next to his ear). I have a really high pitch scream. Really high pitched. I noticed him give me a dirty look so I did it again, and again and again each time going higher than the last until he left. Haha, I may not have been able to push him out of the way but I sure did scream him out of the way.

The Apocalyptica show was much calmer than the Dir en Grey one. There were still a few mosh pit moments but we were far enough that it didn't affect us too much. I got really into it when the show got on. They started with a Metallica song, Master of Puppets I think, and I was head banging and fist thrusting like crazy. "End of Me" was amazing, like half the people already knew all the words even though the album was just released. I was one of them. It was during that song that I noticed that Paavo interacted with the crowd very much. I'm thinking especially the girls. Gosh, he is such a flirt. He was winking, wiggling his eye brows, licking his lips, flicking his tongue out, frinkin' gyrating his hips. Oh God I swear that man made me appreciate how incredibly sexy a cello really is. Is it wrong that I am now totally hot for a man who is older than my parents?

Eventually, I got Paavo's attention. My really high pitched loud scream will do that. I was all smiley, had the horns up, and was dancing to the music. Paavo nodded, winked at me, and we held eye contact for a few seconds. I swear it felt like it was five minutes but the song is somewhere around five minutes and so its probably not possible.

The music was incredible too. I could literally feel the vibrations from the speakers. I screamed and my scream vibrated. It made my knees all weak whenever a solo or slow part came because that's when you could really feel it.

I really wanted to shake hands with them. But there was a barrier in front of the stage so we didn't get to. So sad. Hopefully next time that won't be the case. Because the next time I get to see them live, I'm definitely going to see them live. And I want a spot right up close to Paavo. I think he stole a piece of my heart.

Oh, and the next morning when I woke up I discovered a couple of bruises. One on the inside of my upper arm (I think it might be from when that guy kept pulling me out of the mosh pit). One of my foot (people did keep stepping on my feet) and one on my back. The last one might have come from when I was pushed into someone or when someone pushed me.