Average Dream

The weekend before Thanksgiving I had the incredible pleasure to attend two Dir en grey shows at the House of Blues in Hollywood, California. This was quite possibly the best weekend of my life.

Friday night was the very first time I had ever been on the barricade in front of the stage at ANY concert. What a rush. Standing right in front of Kaoru, feeling the music numb my body from the relentless assault by the hundreds of fans behind me. My chest was battered and my legs covered in bruises, but I could not have been happier. I live for these moments. Moving to your own rhythm will only result in being crushed, your only choice is to move with the crowd. Everyone together becoming a slave to the music. To top it all off, I never thought in a million years I would be able to see my idols perform on stage so close up (and to see them play "Kigan" right in front of my eyes). It was a dream come true (I even caught one of Toshiya's picks, talk about awesome). After the show was over and we were able to catch our breath for the first time in nearly two hours, my friends and I gathered in line to meet Kaoru and Shinya. My friend bought Average Blasphemy for me as a gift, which I was delighted to get autographed. I've watched this DVD over and over again, it definitely ranks on my top five music DVDs.

Saturday was spent recovering and wandering around Little Tokyo. Later that night I was swept away to Disneyland by my friends. Let us keep in mind, I have never been to Disneyland when their holiday decorations are up. That castle blew me away, it was so beautiful. And to see the Haunted Mansion done entirely in Nightmare Before Christmas... that entire night was just too much fun. I can't thank my friends enough for letting me tag along.

Sunday night brought the second Dir en grey show, and despite my desire to be in the pit again... my body just kept telling me no. We took a spot behind the sound control where we could see the entire stage very clearly. Again, the show was amazing. It was like the lives I had seen numerous times on DVD, only this time I was right in the middle of it. Die walked out on stage for the encore with that acoustic guitar and my heart skipped a beat. I heard my friend say "Akura no Oka" and we then lost ourselves. The song started up and I felt myself want to cry. I've never seen this song performed live, and I've watched the video a million times. To have those images playing in my head as I watched the "new" Dir en grey play it on stage with the same heart and passion, it was surreal. As if that wasn't enough my mind could barely process the start of Bottom of the Death Valley, but once it hit me I couldn't help but cry just a bit. This was just too much. To see these songs being played which I never thought I would ever get to see live... even thinking about it now makes me smile.

As the encore ended and the goodies were being tossed out my friends and I grabbed a prime spot in the line to get more swag autographed. Though tonight was special, we looked to the upper level where the meet and greet was taking place and there sat all five members of the band. A flurry of emotions ravaged my mind and body as we drew closer to that table. Die, Shinya, Toshiya, Kaoru... and Kyo. He was really there. I got my copy of Uroboros signed by all five members of Dir en grey at once (which is now being displayed right in front of my TV). As I left the venue my friend and I lost our composure and cried out of happiness.

This was truly the only way to start off the holiday season.