KOALA'S CRAPTASTIC ESSAY

Oh gawd ... this essay sucks major A S S
Since it's supposed a personal narrative I didn't really ellaborate on the concert itself but more of ... I don't even understand wtf I wrote LOL
Oh well here you gooooooo hope your eyes don't bleed and don't bitch at me if they do cause I warned youuuu~

I removed the title I gave the essay cause it's even more crappy than the essay itself HAHA
If you bribe me I may tell you what the title was ... >P



It is six o'clock on a Friday night in late February, it's winter and it’s cold. During this time most people would be in the comfort and warmth of their homes, but not I. On February 23 I was a block away from the Wiltern Theatre, in downtown Los Angeles, waiting in line for Tour07 Inward Scream by Dir en Grey.

My friend, Alix, and I had arrived at the Wiltern around 2:00 PM, four hours before the doors would open and five hours before the start of the concert. We had gotten there early in hopes of being able to get into the pit. The first 200 people in the venue were guaranteed access to the closest possible section to the band. After waiting in line for an hour our hopes of being in the pit were crushed. Someone had counted how many people were in line, we had missed the cut off by approximately 50 people.

I had thought our arriving early was in vain; since we basically wasted four hours to just sit in our assigned seats. During those four hours my friend and I talked to the people around us in line. It wasn’t entirely a waste because we had made new friends and acquaintances. It has been a little more than two months since the event and I still talk to two of the people we had met, Clara and Jo.

At 6:00 PM we all started getting very anxious, this was the time they were going to start letting people in! The time was gradually approaching seven o’clock and we weren’t even half way down the block. We were starting to worry about Dir en Grey playing before we even got into the theatre. Then we remembered that there was going to be two opening bands, Bleed the Dream and Fair to Midland, before Dir en Grey played. Comforted by this fact, we all were able to relax a bit.

As we started getting closer and closer to the entrance I had forgotten about the wind and the cold. Once I got to the door I pulled my ticket out to get scanned. I held my breath while it was being scanned. I was worried that a problem may happen while it was being scanned because the ticket was printed out from a PC. Then I looked ahead and saw Alix waiting for me and I became relieved. It was my first time using any form of ticketed that offered a print-out option from your PC.

When Alix and I made it inside we headed upstairs to the mezzanine level. Before we went to go find our seats we purchased some merchandise and the band’s latest album. Music could be heard playing outside in the halls but we knew it wasn’t Dir en Grey. After finding our seats we sat down and attempted conversation but the bands that played were simply too loud. The wait inside was tedious because the other bands held no interest to me.

After an hour and a half wait inside the theatre the last opening band finally left the stage. Roadies soon appeared on stage to tune the band’s instruments. Even though it wasn’t the band everyone started to cheer because the show was about to start soon. There was fabric over Shinya’s drums, which was lowered after the drums were done being adjusted. This had caused more cheers and screams of joy from all the fans.

The lights darkened and everyone became quiet, waiting with bated breath for the band to appear on stage. Shortly after the theatre darkened the screen on stage turned on with the words, “Dir en Grey Tour07 Inward Scream.” The whole theatre erupted into more cheers and screams and music started playing and lights were flashing. While I was looking at the screen the band had suddenly appeared on stage. I didn’t notice the exact moment they came on but it was as if they had magically appeared.

I had been listening to this band for nearly five years. I didn’t think I would ever get a chance to see Dir en Grey. A year before they had a concert, which I was unable to attend because the tickets had sold out on the pre-sale dates. I never thought that I would be able to see this band so soon after they had previous performances in the United States.

After the concert I couldn’t believe that I had just seen Dir en Grey. The whole performance was a myriad of sights and sounds. It was an amazing experience to see how much passion the fans and the band members had. The music was so loud you could feel in every inch of your body. Much of the performance was a blur to me though, but it was amazing nonetheless. It all seemed to go by a bit too fast, but the band had played for two hours.

Music is able to transcend the barriers of language. You don’t even need words in music to feel and understand what is trying to be conveyed. But the feelings won’t get across if the music is played without passion. All the members, Kaoru, Die, Toshiya, Shinya, and Kyo, all had the passion and skill to mesmerize and dazzle the audience. That day, February 23 2007, will never be forgotten by me.