Reflective Essay; Dir en Grey in Colorado

It was freezing outside, no joke. When we arrived at the Gothic Theatre, about 3 pm on Friday, February 16, it was nice and sunny out, but that didn’t last. By the time it actually started snowing, the line was still fairly small, only about 50 people, but there were a lot of people (girls mostly) running around in tank tops and wanna-be gothic Lolita clothing. Last time Dir en Grey was here, it was so hot, probably about 80 degrees if not more, and now it was snowing. I had Jimmy’s coat and my hoodie, and I was shivering. After about an hour of standing around shivering, I begged my friend Jimmy to go buy us a blanket. Jimmy returned, and as Katie and I mused, he bought a huge comforter. All I could think about was how cold I was, but anticipation rushed through me as well.



They finally let us in at 7 pm. They searched us, which I didn’t get at first. As soon as we got in, Katie and I plopped down in some chairs behind the pit. Jimmy wasn’t happy with that, he looked up and noticed a balcony, where he dragged us up, and found stools that were about 10 feet away from the left side of the stage. Once everyone was let in, the anticipation rushed across the crowd again, we were going to get to see Dir en Grey. After sitting for what seemed like hours, the opening band Bleed the Dream came out. Their performance was actually pretty good, but it was weird that an American band was opening for a Japanese one. Then another band Fair to Midland came out, and I didn’t like them, the vocalist weirded me out because he kept drooling and making seizure like motions.

That band finished around 8:30, and more anticipation rushed across the small venue. My stomach started to churn, just like it did the last time I saw this band perform, and I felt like I was about to be sick. Thankfully that didn’t happen, and when the two main techs for Dir en Grey came out, the whole venue erupted with screams once again. They messed with the guitars and the bass, and it seemed like it took them hours. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one feeling this way. The song “G.D.S.” started to play, the opening song of every concert since the song was made, and the fans started to go wild again. The song chants “KILL, KILL, KILL” numerous times throughout it and some people chanted it too many times. After G.D.S. was over, they really started.

This particular day of the event was the vocalist’s, Kyo’s birthday. Between the songs “Mr. Newsman” and “Agitated Screams of Maggots,” the whole venue started to sing happy birthday to him. As soon as we started, Shinya slowed his drumming and Kyo just stood on the stage. As soon as people started to repeat it, starting over the song, the band started to go into “Agitated Screams of Maggots” which is so much better performed live. Kyo leaned over the audience and got a snarl on his face and flipped them off while the highly disturbing video played in the back round. Also, jumping back a little bit, I noticed during the song “The Final” that Kyo stopped singing his parts of the chorus and let us scream the song along with him. That song is the most amazing by far.



After Obscure ended, they left the stage, and I was downcast, thinking “That’s all they’re going to do?” Everyone else in the venue was going crazy, chanting “Dir en Grey” over and over again. It was only about five or six minutes later that Shinya reappeared, along with everyone else, and Kyo came last, a bit after the rest. During this last part of the show, I really wished that I had the guts to shove myself to the front of the mosh pit, because Toshiya, Die and Kaoru all got really close to the edge of the stage and started interacting with the audience. Kaoru did his trademark of putting his arms in the air and mouthing what looked like “WHAT?” and Toshiya spit water on the people underneath me a few times.

During “IllD Empire,” everyone screamed “Spark and Spark” along with Kyo, and then right before they started “Clever Sleazoid,” Kyo put one finger in the air and said “last song” into the microphone. After they finished, Kyo took a bucket of water and dumped it on his head, the buckets only word was “Rape.” During all this it was chaotic; all the fans were going nuts, again screaming “Dir en Grey” over and over again. It was really disappointing for me, because Die threw one of his guitar picks right at Jimmy, and he caught it, but then it fell. He and another guy behind me started to look for it on the floor and gave up. This was when I took my chance, and I found it. The guy who was looking earlier saw me looking and grabbed it right before I could get it. I wanted to kick him.



After that Katie and I headed to the merchandise booth, which was hell all over again. People were shoving and elbowing, not at all like how kind they were before the show started. Every time I told the lady what I would like, she told me the price right away and expected me to be done. That made me sad because I took a large amount of money out of my checking account for this concert, and all got was the shirt I wanted and a wrist band as well, but man, did I want to get my hands on a couple of those cds.

It was still snowing when we got out, about 10:30, and Jimmy found Katie and me when we came out of the hot theatre. Outside, I saw an ambulance and wondered if that was what all the chaos and screaming was about. We were all screaming because we couldn’t hear, being so close to the stage made our ears ring like crazy so I’m sure we got a lot of weird looks walking down Broadway back to Jimmy’s car. Then Jimmy asked the question, “That bassist, what’s his name?” Toshiya, I replied without missing a beat. “He’s really hot, even I’d do him.” That got Katie going as well, because during the performance she told me she’d fallen in love with the drummer. She said something similar, and I just kept walking, excited to have gotten to see them again. All those songs are so much more amazing performed live, but Dir en Grey is an amazing band to see. Shinya’s drumming and Toshiya’s bass mesh so well together and then they’re also nothing without Kaoru and Die’s guitars, and they’re nothing without Kyo’s vocals. I would probably drop dead at the chance to meet them (again, because I got to meet Kaoru and Toshiya at the last concert.) This time, though, I wasn’t that lucky.

Freewrite; My Fat Cat

My cat, his name is Adam and he has got to be one of the puffiest cats I have ever seen in my life. He weighs about 20 pounds, on a good day, and sometimes he can be more annoying than my little brother.

We got him when he was a year old, about three years ago, from Petsmart. Now, instead of cowering away from people like he used to, he trots up to the front door any time it’s opened. He loves to go outside, but as part of our contract with Petsmart we couldn’t let him be an outdoor cat… so instead he has a harness and a leash. It’s really odd to see a cat being walked on a leash and I really wish that I had some pictures of it.

All of my friends say that he’s an adorable cat, and one of my friends from high school told off another kid because he was saying things about how fat he is. She said “Shut up! Her cat’s adorable!” Oh if only she knew how bad things can get. I’m in the process of learning how to construct clothing and I have a whole table in the back of my family room devoted to it. This is where I keep my sewing machine, my pins, scissors, thread, and everything else that I might need. This is also where Adam has a field day, because of all the thread that’s on rolls. Once he gets wired up on catnip, he jumps up onto my table, scattering thread, knocking over the pin cushions, and generally making a mess of everything that I have laid out. Just last night, he knocked over my newest project, the top part of a dress (which I failed at making my own pattern to) and ripped some of the older patterns I had sitting out. This morning, as I was looking at the dress shirt patterns I have, he came and pounced on the thin paper, which wrinkled and tore some of it.

Cute. Okay, if you say so.

Another tendency that everyone thinks odd of Adam is cleaning up. Let’s face it; he throws up, a lot. It’s quite an annoyance, because guess who has to clean it up most of the time? Yet, he makes it easier, because after he vomits, he paws at it, pulling it all into a little pile. While this experience is still revolting, he makes it a little easier by doing that, and it’s also something that’s very odd. No one else I have talked to has told me their cats do that. So, yeah he is interesting, and he is cute. But he is also annoying, and a little brat.