10th August 2013, Saturday.
Was the first day of Summer Sonic 2013. Little sis and I got up soooo early, 6am+. Mind you, I haven't woken up at 6am since I was in high school... I read online that it would take more than an hour from Tokyo to get to QVC Marine Filed and Makuhari Messe since they were located in Chiba. Both of us got up so early to make it for the 7am breakfast buffet at the hotel we were staying at.
After breakfast, we left the hotel and got on the train. Doors open at 9am and the bands only started playing at 11am but I wanted to be there early to get GazettE merch. So we arrived Makuhari Station at about 10am, I loved how they even put up posters at the station that said "Welcome to Summer Sonic 2013." It only fuelled my excitement. There were also people holding up signs that said they needed tickets. :/ First time I've ever seen anything like this since, in Melbourne, people don't do this.
It was quite a long walk to Messe and even a longer walk to QVC. and as I remember, it was super super hot that day.
The entrance to QVC Marine Field, it was jam packed and so freaking crowded already when we arrived and we just went through the gates into the big stadium. I was actually quite amazed how well everything was decorated and there were not that much of queues at the food stalls. First thing both of us did was go into the stadium just to check out the Marine Stage.
There were so many people decked out in Metallica shirts. Mostly guys and older men, haha. I have this thing where I hate to wear the band I'm seeing. I don't know, it just is... just me. I just don't like it. First up was Volbeat, since neither of us listen to them, we decided to walk back to Makuhari Messe to check out the other stages and I didn't expect it to get even hotter when we were walking back to Messe T_T It was just so fucking hot that day. I could feel the soles of my shoes gaining heat and almost on fire.
So at Messe, thank god it was sheltered and air conditioned!!! We went to check out the Mountain, Sonic and Rainbow Stages and also all the food stalls, I was amazed at the number of food stalls they had. They even had dessert stalls and Alcohol stalls, and a lot of stalls. It's freakin way more efficient than Melbourne and the best thing is that the food isn't ridiculously overpriced, I think. It's overpriced but not too much. In Melbourne, everything is fucking overpriced, like triple or even four times the normal price at festivals.
Rainbow Stage!
I also went to check out the merch stands and guess what, the only band that have their merch sold out is none other than, THE GAZETTE. I was kinda pissed off because this will probably be the only time I get to see them and I can't even get merch. -___- I really wanted the bag Ruki posted on twitter the day before, with the band logo on it. Oh well.
We were thinking of going back to QVC for One Ok Rock but the sun was scorching that day, so we gave up on that idea and went to the Sonic Stage to see androp!
They were pretty good live. After their set, little sis and I waited around and got some food and desserts until about 1ish and walked back to QVC for Bullet For My Valentine. When we reached back at QVC, it was even hotter and even more crowded then before. It was so difficult to walk through the crowd to get the the entrance of Marine Stage.
The time was also going by so quickly, I was getting agitated so I just fucking pushed my way through the crowd. I even shouted at some guys to get the fuck out of my way since it was almost time for BFMV. When I finally got to the entrance, there was a long queue to get into the stadium. T_T And BFMV started playing when both of us were still outside queuing to get in.
Once we got in, we basically ran to the stage and was singing along to Breaking Point. After missing them twice, I was so happy I finally got to see them. Third time's the charm. They opened to Breaking Point which both of us were singing so bloody loudly, after that, they played The Last Fight and omg they were soooooo goooodd. I had fun singing along with little sis since she is as crazy about them as I am. After that, it was Scream Aim Fire. Little sis went fucking psycho and we were just headbanging the whole time. Also, there were hardly any girls at BFMV's set D: I saw a guy wearing Soundwave shirt though! I was like omg ma homie! I'm so lame. After Scream Aim Fire, we basically rushed off because it was already 2.45pm and the GazettE was playing at 3pm all the way back at Makuhari Messe and it takes about half an hour to get there by foot. T____T
oh.. and I was disappointed Matt Tuck didn't grow out his hair ):
After Scream Aim Fire, BFMV played a slow song, so that was when we decided to move. We were actually walking really fast out of QVC, but it wasn't fast enough so we started running (since we saw other GazettE fans running too), but halfway down the road, it was so hot that I started getting dizzy and the sun was really unforgiving that day. It was so bright too on top of it. So, I started slowing down and eventually walking. I saw someone alighting from a cab on the way, so the both of us just decided to get on the cab to get to Makuhari Messe.
Thank god we did, once we got out of the cab, we started running again to the Rainbow Stage. Right when I was just about to turn into the Stage, the Opening SE for GazettE started playing and I think I just ran even faster, one moment I was behind little sis and the next I was in front of her. She said she was shocked that I could still run that fast after getting dizzy.
We reached the Stage area just in time. I ran to the right side of the Stage, which was Uruha's side.. since erm, I like Uruha too? Right when we found a good spot to see them, they opened with VORTEX. Omg, I totally lost it and headbanged with little sis and we basically sang through it shouting "I don't wanna become the fucking garbage like you" back at Ruki.
After VORTEX, they played LEECH and I went even more crazy because that song is from my favorite album by them, DIM. Seriously, I was singing so loud and headbanging so hard I didn't even fucking care. T_T God knows how happy I was to finally see the GazettE. After LEECH, Ruki MC-ed for a little bit, and continued with VENOMOUS SPIDER'S WEB. The visual effects on the screen behind them had the first few words to the song - PAIN - GRUDGE - SORROW - FURY- DELETE - HEADACHE - HANG UP - DIZZY - It only made the crowd even more crazy I guess? I just knew I was enjoying myself so much.
Next was DERANGEMENT, again, another fast paced = even more headbanging. I don't know how I even did it the whole time since I wasn't even feeling that good right before their set? But I could see that little sis was enjoying herself too, singing and dancing along to their music. It just made me happy that I wasn't the only one out of both of us enjoying it. :) We were both laughing at Ruki, his moves were exactly same as their PV.
REQUIRED MALFUNCTION was next, it was fun too. Another fast paced, headbanging song. After that was ATTITUDE which was also fun. The most fun part was shouting "THE IMAGE IS EMBODIED UNTIL DIE". Little sis didn't know these two songs since she doesn't listen to them often so she was asking me what the fuck am I even singing. lol Hi, Ruki and his broken english.
And last of all, they played none other than FILTH IN THE MOTHERFUCKING BEAUTY. I was most anticipated for this song since it was a typical GazettE "tradition" to have play song. I've always watched live videos of them online performing to this song, and was waiting for the best part - the headbanging with all the band and the fans. OMG, IT WAS SO GOOD. Right after Ruki said "SEXUAL DISGRACE" everyone went psycho. Seriously made my entire day, year, whatever. It was so nice to be a part of something. They ended with that, and Ruki just talking about FADELESS coming out soon and that was it.
All in all, they were pretty good live. They were so fun since I knew all of their songs. The visual effects for them were really good. I mean duh.. since they are a Visual Kei band but I've not been to many vk shows since erm, my favorite bands are not VK?
Initially, both of us planned to run back to QVC for Fall Out Boy, but since it was insanely hot, we decided to forget about it and we just watched them on the big screen at Makuhari. Luckily we didn't, because their setlist wasn't that great, most of the songs were the ones we've seen them play before, so we didn't miss much. We both still sang along to our fave songs though, haha.
When it was about 4pm, we walked back to the Rainbow Stage to see coldrain. I was surprised that the crowd was bigger than GazettE's. With that being said and all, and me not knowing ANY coldrain songs, they were fucking amazing live. Both of us just stood there in awe of how good Masato's voice is live.
I only know they ended with The Revelation since he announced it. There were a lot of guys at their set too and moshing!!!! They were too good so I took a video of the whole song. >_< Honestly, I am still not that big of a fan of their music but I wanna see them again. Their energy is so great on stage and gave me goosebumps so many times. They would have easily killed off some english bands in the same genre, and I've seen a lot, trust me.
After coldrain, both little sis and I promised each other if we had the chance, we would definitely definitely see them again. We took a break after them, and sat around Makuhari and got some desserts. Seriously, on days like these, shaved ice really saves you.
When it was almost 6, we decided to move our asses back to QVC since we wanted to see Linkin Park for a bit. Little did we know, they actually have a damn shuttle bus to and fro from QVC and Makuhari Messe and vice versa. We just took our time to QVC via shuttle.
It didn't take that long to get back into the Marine Stage. Linkin Park was already playing when we arrived. It was even even even more crowded than before. I had a hard time getting into the crowd, and to the stage area, and since it was packed, we couldn't find a good spot to see them, we just didn't care and tried to make out way out. We've seen them before and they are alright. Chester's voice is still good live though. They were playing most of their new stuff, which I don't really like. I think their first two albums were the best.
I still remember being 13 and I was obsessed with Papercut and Crawling. They were so good back then. When we were making our way out, they played numb, so I was kinda happy and singing along while having a harder time getting out. I took about 15 minutes to get into the crowd and half an hour to get out of it. T_T There were just so many people.
When we finally got out of the stadium, we both decided to get something to eat. Little sis bought yaki soba and I didn't like anything they had, so I waited till I got back to Makuhari to have dinner.
Since there was still so much time to waste before Metallica, we decided to just explore the place, and we went to the Beach Stage and just sat there for a good half an hour enjoying the breeze and also, it was much more quieter and less crowded at this part. It was interesting too since there were people painting and also skateboarding!
I still wanted to walk around, and get to the Garden Stage but little sis insisted we get back into the Marine Stage to find a good spot for Metallica. So that was what we did, we didn't want to stand in the crowd again, so we both went to look for seats which was already so difficult to find. There was still about 40 minutes till Metallica get on stage and the place was already so packed. Finally, we managed to get seats and just waited when it really hit me on how big QVC Marine Field really is.
I sent pictures of the stadium and crowd to my dad via Whatsapp and he said, quote "you girls are crazy to go to this concert!"
So, we slowly watched the sun set over here at QVC, not much of a view really. Haha. Night finally came and Metallica finally took the stage at about 7.30pm. I was amazed by the Japanese fans, they knew all the lyrics to the songs. They were singing so loudly in their horrible thick- Japanese engrish but they just didn't give a fuck. Two thumbs up, literally. With that being said, even though I'm not a fan of Metallica, I repeat, NOT a fan (I never liked their music, I'm a Iron Maiden/Judas Priest/Motley Crue fangirl), they were amazingly good. The drummer and the guitarist are insanely good and James Helfiled who is fucking 50 years old still has a damn good voice. Props to them too, after all these years, they're still kicking ass!
After about half an hour of seeing them, I didn't really bother honestly... we both decided to head back to Makuhari again. I wanted dinner and I still wanted to see Crossfaith and little sis wanted to see Steve Aoki. There were rides at the other side of QVC, I didn't get on any, I think I might have puked but the lights were so pretty. *__*
Once we got back to Makuhari, I got my dinner and little sis went to get desserts... again. We just sat on the ground and waited around. Some people were already sleeping. I don't blame them, the sun really does tire out your eyes. We were just lazing around Rainbow Stage.
It was already coming to 10, so we once again, tried to get good spots to see Crossfaith. Honestly, when they started playing. I think my ears died. I'm still not a fan of them but I think the guitarist? Bassist? The one with the long hair in the band, is really cute. I really hate guys with long hair, they will be the death of me. T_T But yes, little sis was so annoyed with me for not wanting to leave because of my shallow reasons, lol. But yeah, I left after only 5 minutes in and we went over to the Sonic Stage since she wanted to see Steve Aoki.
I thought he was pretty good but I really hate clubbing/dance/whatever you idiots dance to genre, music. No matter how good the DJ is, I will never fail to get a headache. So now was my turn to be annoyed and asking her to leave. Haha. We left after 10 minutes, and finally left Makuhari Messe and made our way, really slowly to Makuhrai Station.
Yes, the train was packed too, and it took really long to get back to Hamamatsucho. Probably because we were so tired and couldn't wait to take a bath. I know I was so tired from Summer Sonic, after my bath, I immediately fell asleep, didn't give a fuck if my hair was still wet or whatever. I just sinked into my bed.
Going to Summer Sonic was definitely an experience. Little sis and I used to joke about going to Summer Sonic years ago, way back when I still wasn't into J-Rock. I'm happy we finally made it out alive! And to think how much I enjoy Japanese bands more now. It's amazing where life takes you. I don't know if I'll be back in 2014 for another round of Summer Sonic, we'll have to see the lineup first. :3
