Lilith (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
reflectedeve) wrote2011-05-06 07:38 pm
reflectedeve) wrote2011-05-06 07:38 pm
Entry tags:
let's blow a hole in this town
Right, so I don't usually write up my concerts because I really have no idea how to organize my thoughts about these things, but IDK. Last night was completely fabulous; have some rambling.
So on Wednesday, I went to this much-rec'd salon in Harvard Square and got my hair dyed blonde. This was partly because I'm desperately tired of looking office-respectable, but still can't get away with bright purple or red until I actually quit ... and partly because I (being a giant dork) wanted to dress up as a BLI agent for the show. (I even made a name badge, not shown here.)
Me and my blinding-white jeans hopped a bus down to the Fenway area around 2:30, well after the Red Sox game had already started, so as to miss the incoming crowd. I won't lie; I really enjoyed the contrast between the stadium (which does an impressive job of containing the fans' roaring, really, but I could hear it ... and smell the franks) and the line of MCR fans around the back. I stopped by long enough to greet the intrepid![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fuschia where she had staked out the very front of the line, but decided to stop in Kenmore and grab a snack before meeting tuesdaysgone, philosiraptors & company. Who I ran into right as I was heading back up towards the venue.
I mostly didn't know people, but oh man, everyone was completely lovely. I am super shy, and when I wind up in groups of fangirls I tend to stand around in the back all "o_____o oh hey you guys are real o_o" ... but nobody seemed bothered. It was the first time I've actually lined up during this tour, which makes my only other line experience MSG in the pouring rain three years ago (which was pretty epic in its own way, admittedly). There were Dewees (who is currently either blonde or very pale blue) and Pedicone sightings (the latter, of course, right when B-Rex had wandered off temporarily), a lot of perplexed and occasionally obnoxious Red Sox fans and drunken people in sombreros, and one really sweet grey-haired mother/teenage daughter team who chatted with us a bit. Twitter, weirdly, refused to work anywhere near the venue, promptingtuesdaysgone and I to wander off a few times in search of a signal, like the addicts we are. And it did actually rain twice, briefly, forcing eight or nine fangirls and a bag full of Panera sandwiches to huddle under two small umbrellas.
I had so much fun. ♥ I missed the various people who weren't able to make it to bits, though (you know who you are).
Inside the venue, we took up positions way over to the side in front of the opening bands' merch table. I've never been that close; I could see the whole band clearly, it was amazing! (Also, adorably, the group was careful to arrange itself with the shortest people in front.)
The opening bands were pretty good! I missed the Neon Trees, who I kind of adored in New York ... but on the other hand, I wound up liking the Architects much better this time around. I'm thinking I need to look into them further. Also, Thursday was kind of adorable? Geoff rambled about how they'd known MCR since they were "in test tubes" or "pancake batter" (IDEK).
MCR opened, as they've done every show this tour, with Dr. Death's intro; the crowd was chanting along with it. And damn, from the minute they got onstage, they were just on. I remember thinking that Gerard looked ridiculously happy (because I could see his face!) ... Ray was totally rocking out in spite of his leg, and Frank wasn't exactly thrashing around, but he kept climbing up on his amp and spitting enthusiastically into the crowd. (He was also wearing a plaid button-down and a jean jacket, and generally looking TINY and ADORABLE. I've particularly never gotten a good look at him onstage before - I've always been on Ray's side - and just. ♥____♥)
Gerard was ... oh man. He kept licking his hand, of course, but the second time he did it he sort of segued it into this slow reach towards the audience (almost like blowing a kiss, but well, dirtier). He went down on his knees several times (something he's been particularly fond of this tour, I've noticed), and at one point he sort of slowly pulled himself up his mic after. And someone threw a purple feather boa at him, which he proceeded to wear during "Mama."
The setlist was very similar to the one they played in New York, which meant that they progressed through "Only Hope," "Summertime," "I'm Not Okay" and "Famous Last Words" ... a particular combination that I've found makes me tear the fuck up. Gerard did his schpiel about "they're going to try and pretty you up" (prompting cries of "stay ugly!" from the crowd) to introduce SING. There wasn't much physical interaction between the guys (something else I've noticed every time I've seen them since coming back from their break), but at one point Gerard went to sing right next to Ray, who gave him the BIGGEST, sunniest grin imaginable.
Also, I just need to take a minute to stop and ponder how absurdly smoking hot Mikey is lately. I mean, I've always found him hot? (He was the first member of the band I ever found attractive, and I even really loved the glasses & bizarre hair back in the day.) But. He was very serious-faced, posing wide-legged and leaning back with his bass throughout the set, and just, the look of concentration, I don't know.
Yeah ... I don't know, this is where I just sort of break down. They did "Vampire Money" and it was badass! Gerard's sex noises during "DESTROYA" were particularly, um, affecting! Dewees' solo for "Cancer" was gorgeous (even though it does kind of invoke being IN SPACE). And "Bulletproof Heart" is pretty much the perfect final encore song.
It was amazing, and the fans I was with were just perfect, too. We were all flailing around, clutching each other, bouncing up and down during all of "Planetary" and screaming and singing along. Everyone was completely into it; it was fabulous, and I've rarely felt so completely unselfconscious about all of that. The rest of the crowd was pretty good too; there was this slightly obnoxious girl who kept wedging herself right up against me and B-Rex, but I just kept dancing (hey, if she was going to get that close, she was going to get wiggled against), and she wasn't too hard to ignore.
I'm sad that I can't chase the band around the coast for the next week, but if that has to be my last MCR show for awhile (and it pretty much does; I have tuition to think about, meep), it was absolutely the right one. I had the best damn night. (My ears & legs are still killing me.) Thank you to everyone who was part of it; it was amazing to meet a lot of you for the first time. ♥ This is why I love this fandom so damn much, three years in.
So on Wednesday, I went to this much-rec'd salon in Harvard Square and got my hair dyed blonde. This was partly because I'm desperately tired of looking office-respectable, but still can't get away with bright purple or red until I actually quit ... and partly because I (being a giant dork) wanted to dress up as a BLI agent for the show. (I even made a name badge, not shown here.)
Me and my blinding-white jeans hopped a bus down to the Fenway area around 2:30, well after the Red Sox game had already started, so as to miss the incoming crowd. I won't lie; I really enjoyed the contrast between the stadium (which does an impressive job of containing the fans' roaring, really, but I could hear it ... and smell the franks) and the line of MCR fans around the back. I stopped by long enough to greet the intrepid
fuschia where she had staked out the very front of the line, but decided to stop in Kenmore and grab a snack before meeting tuesdaysgone, philosiraptors & company. Who I ran into right as I was heading back up towards the venue.I mostly didn't know people, but oh man, everyone was completely lovely. I am super shy, and when I wind up in groups of fangirls I tend to stand around in the back all "o_____o oh hey you guys are real o_o" ... but nobody seemed bothered. It was the first time I've actually lined up during this tour, which makes my only other line experience MSG in the pouring rain three years ago (which was pretty epic in its own way, admittedly). There were Dewees (who is currently either blonde or very pale blue) and Pedicone sightings (the latter, of course, right when B-Rex had wandered off temporarily), a lot of perplexed and occasionally obnoxious Red Sox fans and drunken people in sombreros, and one really sweet grey-haired mother/teenage daughter team who chatted with us a bit. Twitter, weirdly, refused to work anywhere near the venue, prompting
tuesdaysgone and I to wander off a few times in search of a signal, like the addicts we are. And it did actually rain twice, briefly, forcing eight or nine fangirls and a bag full of Panera sandwiches to huddle under two small umbrellas.I had so much fun. ♥ I missed the various people who weren't able to make it to bits, though (you know who you are).
Inside the venue, we took up positions way over to the side in front of the opening bands' merch table. I've never been that close; I could see the whole band clearly, it was amazing! (Also, adorably, the group was careful to arrange itself with the shortest people in front.)
The opening bands were pretty good! I missed the Neon Trees, who I kind of adored in New York ... but on the other hand, I wound up liking the Architects much better this time around. I'm thinking I need to look into them further. Also, Thursday was kind of adorable? Geoff rambled about how they'd known MCR since they were "in test tubes" or "pancake batter" (IDEK).
MCR opened, as they've done every show this tour, with Dr. Death's intro; the crowd was chanting along with it. And damn, from the minute they got onstage, they were just on. I remember thinking that Gerard looked ridiculously happy (because I could see his face!) ... Ray was totally rocking out in spite of his leg, and Frank wasn't exactly thrashing around, but he kept climbing up on his amp and spitting enthusiastically into the crowd. (He was also wearing a plaid button-down and a jean jacket, and generally looking TINY and ADORABLE. I've particularly never gotten a good look at him onstage before - I've always been on Ray's side - and just. ♥____♥)
Gerard was ... oh man. He kept licking his hand, of course, but the second time he did it he sort of segued it into this slow reach towards the audience (almost like blowing a kiss, but well, dirtier). He went down on his knees several times (something he's been particularly fond of this tour, I've noticed), and at one point he sort of slowly pulled himself up his mic after. And someone threw a purple feather boa at him, which he proceeded to wear during "Mama."
The setlist was very similar to the one they played in New York, which meant that they progressed through "Only Hope," "Summertime," "I'm Not Okay" and "Famous Last Words" ... a particular combination that I've found makes me tear the fuck up. Gerard did his schpiel about "they're going to try and pretty you up" (prompting cries of "stay ugly!" from the crowd) to introduce SING. There wasn't much physical interaction between the guys (something else I've noticed every time I've seen them since coming back from their break), but at one point Gerard went to sing right next to Ray, who gave him the BIGGEST, sunniest grin imaginable.
Also, I just need to take a minute to stop and ponder how absurdly smoking hot Mikey is lately. I mean, I've always found him hot? (He was the first member of the band I ever found attractive, and I even really loved the glasses & bizarre hair back in the day.) But. He was very serious-faced, posing wide-legged and leaning back with his bass throughout the set, and just, the look of concentration, I don't know.
Yeah ... I don't know, this is where I just sort of break down. They did "Vampire Money" and it was badass! Gerard's sex noises during "DESTROYA" were particularly, um, affecting! Dewees' solo for "Cancer" was gorgeous (even though it does kind of invoke being IN SPACE). And "Bulletproof Heart" is pretty much the perfect final encore song.
It was amazing, and the fans I was with were just perfect, too. We were all flailing around, clutching each other, bouncing up and down during all of "Planetary" and screaming and singing along. Everyone was completely into it; it was fabulous, and I've rarely felt so completely unselfconscious about all of that. The rest of the crowd was pretty good too; there was this slightly obnoxious girl who kept wedging herself right up against me and B-Rex, but I just kept dancing (hey, if she was going to get that close, she was going to get wiggled against), and she wasn't too hard to ignore.
I'm sad that I can't chase the band around the coast for the next week, but if that has to be my last MCR show for awhile (and it pretty much does; I have tuition to think about, meep), it was absolutely the right one. I had the best damn night. (My ears & legs are still killing me.) Thank you to everyone who was part of it; it was amazing to meet a lot of you for the first time. ♥ This is why I love this fandom so damn much, three years in.