But I don't have that prezzie surprise of lameness I promised a while back. I fail.
Seattle was fun and what follows is what I wrote on LJ. I have been neglecting this blog lately, and for that I apologize. And after the bit about Opeth at the end, it's special stuff for those who read this blog's eyes only. And that sentence seems really fucked up grammatically.
My dad and I got to Seattle at like 2, went to the hotel and then decided to find the venue and stop somewhere to eat if we passed anywhere appetizing. So we walked and walked and came across a Showbox venue! But it wasn't the one we wanted. There we passed a guy in a Nightwish shirt, who I would get to know later.
So we walked and walked some more, stopping in this GIANT bookstore along the way, and then we walked some more, leaving downtown into an industrial-type, gritty area. And we passed the Showbox SoDo, identifiable only by the three big ol' buses outside. And this tiny little sign. But it was closed, so we kept walking and stopped at Starbucks. We headed back at like quarter after four and there were two guys there. Picked up the ticket and headed to the other entrance, where the under 21 year olds had to wait. There was a tear in the paper, so we watched Nightwish a bit as they did soundcheck. Had hoped they might come say hey, but they didn't.
We waited for four hours before doors were open. This goth guy came over to our little group and hung out with us (the guy I saw by the other Showbox earlier). He was from Vancouver. All the people I was talking to were really cool. Then the staff said everyone who was 21 and up could go into the bar, so Jeremy and Vancouver guy went to the bar, leaving me and the other guy in the line with like 200 people behind us. 8:30 rolls around and they open the doors, but security's sloppy and are getting told what to do as we watch everyone who was in the bar take the first two rows. So unfair that people who got there 15 minutes before the doors opened got into those rows when myself and my newfound friend had been waiting for four hours and weren't. But whatever.
We finally got in and ran to the front, got into what could be called the third row. Waited forever. Then Sonata Arctica came onstage. They were pretty good, never heard anything by them before, but unfortunately about halfway through, the volume on Tony's mic cut down significantly and it was pretty much impossible to hear him singing. They were awesome onstage though.
Waited another forty minutes and finally Nightwish came on. Pretty cool, I think it was during Whoever Brings the Night, Emppu stuck his tongue out at me, so I stuck my tongue out back at him and he laughed. That was the only time I was really acknowledged by any of them. But he was very fond of this one girl in the front row, he kept pointing to her and telling her to headbang more, even though she was already headbanging like crazy. And everytime someone crowdsurfed, he we make these funny faces that were all pretend-shocked. And during Dead to the World, Anette wrapped her arm around him for the "Heartfelt, lovelorn" line, and he did his usual shocked face, but then he reached up and pretended to grab her boob, which was all the funnier because Anette was completely oblivious.
What else, what else.
Well, TPATP. When it got to the "The Pacific" part of the song, there was so much bass going, I started to feel sick, probably because I was overheating, dehydrated and hadn't eaten anything but a peanut butter cookie. I remember thinking, "I'm going to barf." Then Anette left the stage and they started the pre-amble to "Dark Passion Play" and my vision started going dark and I thought, "Oh god, I'm going to pass out." Next thing I know, it's like I'm waking up from this deep sleep and there's a whole bunch of people helping me up and looking worried. I thought it was a dream until I remembered I was at a concert. There were at least ten people in the front rows shouting for security to help and they cleared a way for me to the front and lifted me over the barrier and sent me off to the side. I think Emppu may have seen this as it was happening, as well. How embarassing :S. So I sat down for a few minutes and then wandered over to get a bottle of water, but didn't have American money on me, so I asked if she'd take Canadian money and she told me just to take the water for free. Then I bought a shirt (they didn't take debit, I had to withdraw money from the ATM). And Nightwish started playing Sacrament of Wilderness, which I so desperately wanted to see live and rock out to, but unfortunately I spent most of the song pushing my way through the crowd until I was approximately where I was before. I caught the last chorus at least. The rest of the concert was a blur. I wasn't going as crazy as before because I didn't want to faint again. They didn't come down to shake hands after the show, but Tuomas stripped off his sweaty shirt and chucked it into the crowd (this will be relavant in just a moment). They did their final bow and we left on shaky legs. Myself and the guy I was hanging out with in line went to the back of the venue by the buses, where security had set up a barrier. There were forty of us there.
Just a few minutes passed and Emppu, Jukka and Marco headed out the door! They all stayed to sign autographs, and I kept asking them to please sign my ticket, but they didn't hear me and went into their van. Marco promised they'd come back after they went to the hotel for showers. So the van drove off and Tuomas came out maybe five minutes later with his arms full. He went to the bus and dropped the stuff off and came back out. He was so nice. He spent fifteen minutes signing autographs for everyone and taking pictures with us, answering someone who was grilling him as though it were a for realz interview. The guy who caught his shirt was like, "Tuomas, will you sign your sweaty shirt?" and Tuomas said, "What are you going to do with a sweaty shirt?" and sounded a little creeped out. The guy with the shirt's like, "Put it on my wall." O.o. But Tuomas signed it and continued down the line. He was so cute when I was taking our picture. He's like, "Okay, let's see if this will work." and I said, "Let's hope so!" I was having difficulty pressing the button. After the pic was taken, we looked at it and he said, "It's not SO bad." I replied, "Yeah, half my face is cut off and I look insane!" He just laughed and kept on going, taking pics and giving hugs (by the end, he looked annoyed with the hug-giving. I didn't ask for one though, because I can only imagine how weird that would be for him). He hung out for a bit at the other side and then headed back to the bus.
We waited some more and saw the van pulling up on the other side of the buses. The guys disappeared into the bus and Sonata Arctica came out of their bus and hung out by the door. I was gonna go over there and get a pic with them, but since I was right at the front of the barrier, I didn't want to lose my spot. And I also thought, "What if Anette comes out while I'm over there? Or the guys come back?" So I didn't. After SA had gone back into their bus, Marco came back with a cigarette and a beer and took time to sign autographs for everyone. Afterwards, he's like, "There I think I've done everyone." there was a pause and someone in the crowd said, "Dirty!" right as Marco made this funny face and said, "Wait, that sounds...funny." 'Twas amusing. He took a pic with the guy from Vancouver and then I asked him for one and he gives this look to this other guy in the back who had asked for a pic, and the other guy says, "It must be your good looks!" and I said, "Yeah, you're so handsome!" Marco laughed and one of the people I met in line took our pic. He went through everyone and then came back over to us and talked to us for like 10 minutes. I asked him if he knew Papa Roach, he said yes, I was like, "Cool!". Further conversation, someone was talking to him about his equipment and favourite songs to play, etc. I asked him how he liked the cross-Canada tour they did and he said it was fun. The venues were tiny, but he likes playing in clubs, apparently. I told him it was great seeing them at the Garrick and he got all awkward. He got awkward whenever someone complimented him or Nightwish; I guess it was that kinda thing where you just don't know what to say to a compliment. We talked about his "bass player juice" in his cup, and he said jokingly that he didn't know whether or not it was the beer that made him a good bass player since he started drinking it when he started playing :p. He was really cool.
After Marco left, we waited FOREVER. We just wanted to see Anette. Finally an NW crew member, I presume, went to their bus and came back to tell us that she wasn't coming out. Which was profoundly dissapointing since she was the one I wanted to meet the most. The Vancouver guy got pissed, and I was too, at the moment. It was like, "What, she can't spare ten minutes of her precious time just to say hey to 20 people? Does she think she's better than us?", but I know that wasn't it. It was just a brief thought that flashed through my mind. She was sick, you could hear it when she was talking to us during the concert, so I guess she just wasn't feeling great. Doesn't change that it was disappointing.
Through all this hour and a half past when the concert ended, my dad was waiting patiently on the other side of the parking lot. And as we were walking away, I told him that I didn't meet Anette, who I wanted to meet most. And then he tells me he said hi to her before the show and didn't even know who she was. GAH. But whatever. I'll try to catch her again in three or four years when they're back in North America.
Also, I totally didn't like what she wore onstage. It was way to lingerie-esque for my tastes. And I've decided that I really don't like her blonde hair. The black looked SO good, and the red was really cool too. But the blonde is just...not a colour I'm fond of, I guess. It reminds me of "the plastics", you know? Or popstars or something. Which is a retarded connection my brain randomly makes, though I know I'm never going to be fond of that hair colour on her, even though she's naturally blonde. But it'll be different in a few months probably anyway.And the day after, I was so down, and I don't know why. I think I was partly disappointed because I hoped seeing them in Seattle would be better than when I saw them here because I spent SO much more, but it wound up not being as great. And I was still disappointed by not meeting Anette, and pissed that I hadn't been in the front row even though I should have been. There's a bar at the Garrick, but 18 year olds wait in the same line and are allowed in at the same time as everyone else and if they want alcohol, then they can bloody well give up their spot in the front row. I thought it was so stupid that they let 21 year olds in before everyone else. I was also really disappointed that I fainted and so missed half of TPATP and most of Sacrament.
I don't think it was a waste of money and I don't regret going, by any means, I'm just disappointed that I spent so much only for it to be a good experience rather than a great one. I'm also sad that they aren't going to be back for another three or four years, but hopefully I'll still be this into them by then. Plus now I have nothing to look forward to. There's Opeth at the end of the month, but I barely know them at all, and I'm only going because I told Joe I'd buy him a Nachtmystium shirt and Jeanette really, really wants to go.
What I HATE though is that I can barely remember it. It pisses me off so much. I just remember bits and pieces from the half after I fainted, but some songs are just completely gone. I virtually DON'T remember Sacrament (WHY THAT SONG I HATE YOU SELF) and 7 Days. Or WIHAA. Seriously, it's depressing. I remember almost the entirety of the Winnipeg concert in crystal clear quality in my mind (though Shanel informed me today that I stuck my tongue out at Emppu here too, which I don't remember AT ALL. I think maybe it was outweighed by the whole Emppu winking at me thing). And I'm dying to see them again, so hopefully the next three years will go by fast. The only reason I'm dying to see them again, though, this time, is because I just want to REMEMBER it, and I want to be in the first fucking row so that Emppu will notice me more, heh. After the winnipeg concert, I was floating on happiness for at least a month after, after my initial post-concert depression. And this time, I just feel kinda empty. I'm better than the day after though. God, I was so weepy that day, haha. But whatever. Hopefully PRoach will bring themselves over to the northern States on their tour with Staind so I can go see them in MN or ND.
More to say, but since this post is an epic length already, I'll shut up.
EDIT: OH AND WHAT THE FUCK. I was reading someone's concert thingy about Cleveland and WHY WAS THERE SO MUCH MORE MERCH THERE?! NOT FAIR! All that was at Seattle were three Nightwish shirts, I swear to god! I didn't bother looking at the SA side, but WTF?! That made me sad. There was CDs and a shitload of shirts apparently and wtf man, it's so not fair. NOT FAIR NOT FAIR NOT FAIR.
And also, I forgot to mention that I got the NW Tourbook from Europe in the mail while I was gone. The pictures in there are just love. They make me so happy. It was good to see when I got back since I was still disappointed about the concert (I still am in fact). I couldn't stop smiling while I looked at those pics though.
Currently Listening: 4 A.M. by Our Lady Peace
And if I don't make it known that
I loved you all along...
Just like sunny days that we ignore because
We're all dumb and jaded.
And I hope to god I figure out what's wrong.
