Dying Ember

Wow. One word. Wow. The concert totally BLEW ME AWAY. I CAN DEFINITELY SAY THAT THIS SHOW CHANGED MY LIFE. I haven’t been this exicted/happy in ages. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! HYDE!! TETSU!! KEN!! YUKIHIRO!!! LARUKU!!!

Prior to the concert, I saw L’Arc~en~Ciel on TV the night before. Apparently, Ken got hurt by the fireworks that was set off during their show in Paris :( Then, I read the paper this morning and they wrote a bit about L’Arc~en~Ciel in the entertainment section. I read that a lot of fans went to see them arrive in the airport and some were so overwhelmed that they cried.

I went with Luki (my best friend - otaku buddy, yaoi buddy, everything buddy ;D), and we got there at the venue at 7:40. Cameras, drinks and bottles weren’t allowed to be brought inside the venue but we smuggled them in anyway xD. The concert was meant to start at 8pm, but it didn’t start until around 8:20. Ken kept on teasing us by playing guitar riffs before the show started, and we all screamed whenever he played xD

The concert started with a video projected no a screen in front of the stage, with the text ‘TOUR 2008 L’7 ~Trans ASIA via PARIS~’ and the names of the band members. Then, there was a short animation. The whole of the audience screamed like mad (and we continued to throughout the whole show :D). The screen went up and Hyde started the concert by greeting all of us: “Nei dei ho, ngo dei hai L’Arc~en~Ciel.” (Hi everyone, we are L’Arc~en~Ciel). He spoke to us entirely in Cantonese (in fact, they all did). It was funny when he forgot his lines and had to read from his sheet xD. “Sorry for making you all wait for so long, we were so slow that there was an earthquake in China. I know it’s very saddening that the earthquake happened [referring to the recent earthquake in Sichuan, China], but I hope we will all be able to have fun tonight. Here’s a new song of ours, DRINK IT DOWN.” Aww, Hyde! He was really cute. All I can say is that he’s a lot hotter in real life. He is totally sexy, stunning and HOT HOT HOT ;D

These are all the tracks that I remember that they played (roughly in order): DRINK IT DOWN, DAYBREAK’S BELL, Winter Fall, MY HEART DRAWS A DREAM, REVELATION, SEVENTH HEAVEN, Pretty girl, READY STEADY GO, Honey, Link, Anata.

After a few songs, they took and break and Ken talked about yesterday’s agenda of the band (pictures related to their agenda showed up on the large screens next to the stage xD). He fell asleep once he got on the aeroplane to Hong Kong, and he told us that he had 2 in-flight meals. Then, they arrived in Hong Kong, and they had their press conference. Afterwards, they had lunch. He had a thousand-year-old egg (a black sort of marinated egg eaten in Chinese cultures), which he says he will NEVER eat again (haha, they taste horrible xD). He also had some roasted chicken, but it was glaring at him. He also had some steamed fish, but the fish was glaring at him as well. xD

After a few songs, Tetsu spoke next, and he asked us if we were happy. Of course we were, and we all screamed. :D Then there were a few more songs, and another break. Yukihiro spoke, and he thanked all of us for being their fans :)

Afterwards, we did the whole Mexican wave thing. It went on for over 10 minutes. It was fricken AMAZING. I was totally OVERWHELMED.

Afterwards, there were a few more songs. Then, Hyde spoke to us all again, that they were going to sing the last song, and asked us to sing along if any of us knew the lyrics. The song was Anata, a track from their album Heart. Apparently, it’s the band’s custom for Anata to be the last song they play at their gigs.

We all sang along to the last song and that was it. They left the stage and it ended at 10:30ish. I was hoping that they’d have an encore ;_;. Then, we ran to the exit and outside the venue. They were selling Laruku merchandise outside and we ran as fast as we could to the merchandise counter. It was pretty overwhelming since everybody was running. xD I really regret it that didn’t bring much money. I only managed to get a t-shirt, but if I had brought more money I’d have bought their poster and their metallic pin set as well. T_T

Random tidbits from the concert: HYDE IS EXTREMELY HOT IN PERSON. Hyde mostly sang but there were times when Tetsu/Yukihiro sang and he played on the guitar. Hyde kept asking us to “Tiu!” (jump). Hyde went into the standing audience sometime during the concert (I was sitting). Tetsu played on his bass wtih a (fake plastic) banana for a bit and then thew it into the standing audience. When we were waiting for the train to come after the concert, I saw the girl standing in front of me holding the banana! Lucky thing D: They projected snow-flake like patterns onto the stage when they preformed Winter Fall. Ken teased us with his opening guitar riff in MY HEART DRAWS A DREAM (we were all screaming like mad xD). There were fireworks set off during the concert. Silver streamers with the text “L’Arc~en~Ciel x L’7 TOUR 2008 ~Trans ASIA via PARIS~ [etc.]” were shot into the standing audience during the concert. Sadly I couldn’t get my hands on any of them but I saw a bunch of people holding them outside the venue after the concert. :O Ken threw a bunch of guitar picks into the audience. There was minimal fanservice, but we saw Hyde and Tetsu nudging each other. xD It was overwhelming when the whole audience shouted “REVELATION!” and “HEY!” during REVELATION and sang along during READY STEADY GO! :)

I haven’t blogged in ages. And long post is long! D: But WHOO, last night was AMAZING. The last time they were in Hong Kong was 9 years ago, so I wonder how many years will it be until they come to Hong Kong again, if they ever do… T_T

Edit: I’ve heard on Last.fm that they will be having a world tour in 2011 for their 20th anniversary, and that they’ll be coming to Hong Kong. I hope this is true! AHHHHHHH! *ESTATIC FANGIRL* :DDD

I suck. I said I would blog more, but hey, look at me now. I’m virtually dead. So, over the easter holidays, I’ve went out, made notes/did revision on school stuff, played video/computer games like Wii Fit, Portal and Counter-Strike (not alone, of course, but with friends :P). Yeah, that’s right, I have no life. But you knew that. I’m back at school now, and I’m stuck in school until 12 weeks later (June 27) when my summer break starts. Meh.

I got my interim report card last week and I’ve got to say, my grades are pretty decent considering I didn’t even try hard at all this year (I mean, what’s the point in working hard if I’m not even taking half the subjects I’m currently doing next year?). Actually, they surprised me a bit too. I got As for all my subjects, one A* and two Bs and one C. I’ve got less A*s than last year, but I’ve also got more As, so my grades haven’t exactly gotten worse or better. But anyway, I’m not entirely crazy about getting high grades. I have high expectations of myself, but I’m not extreme about them. My parents aren’t obsessive with grades either, so yeah.

Now that the first season of Gundam 00 is over, I’m not occupied with anime anymore (well I’m actually halfway through a handful of anime shows, but I already forgot where I’m up to :/). I’m quite upset about what’s happened in Gundam 00, though. It’s so depressing ;_;. SPOILERS AHEAD, highlight the white text to read. LOCKON STRATOS IS DEAD!! AHHHHH!! I loved Lockon, he was the coolest guy out of the whole show! AHHHHHH!! I cried when he got blown up ;_;. Luckily his twin is still alive, so we might get to see him. But his twin will never be as cool as him… AND GRAHAM’S DEAD AS WELL! WHY??? I LOVED GRAHAM, he was my second favorite guy from the show. He was cool, angsty and proud, just what I like in a bishie… why, Graham, why? And your mobile suit was the coolest, too. ;_; AHHHHHHHH! For EXTREMELY accurate Gundam 00 plot/story predictions, go on the /m/echa board of 4chan. They were RIGHT ON about Lockon (haha, hey that rhymes), about Tieria, about what ‘Gundam 00′ means, and a lot of important stuff from the story. GAH ;_;

And wow, WordPress 2.5 is pretty cool :O Spiffy, nifty, awesome, nice. ;D

Edit 12/05: AHHH!!! L’Arc~en~Ciel TOUR 2008 L’7~Trans ASIA via PARIS~ LIVE IN HONG KONG!!! 8PM 24 MAY SATURDAY AT ASIAWORLD-ARENA!!! I AM SO GOING!!! I AM RUSHING TO BUY TICKETS TOMORROW *estatic fangirl mode*

Yup, people, I’m alive. Haven’t blogged in a week or two, but here’s some news about what’s happened to me lately to keep you updated :D

• I got a mild cold a few weeks ago on a Thursday, but it warded off by that Sunday night; I skipped school on Monday anyway.
• I took my first music theory lesson 2 weeks ago on Saturday night, and it went pretty well. I haven’t mentioned this, but I’ll be taking my ABRSM Grade 5 theory exam in October.
• LOCKON IS HALF-BLIND NOW!! It’s upsetting but it makes him cooler than he already is, so oh well ;D

Since I’m such a loser (and because I’ve been really busy), I haven’t been commenting or reading my blog buddies’ posts much. From now on I’ll try to read and comment you guys occasionally but I’ll be focusing more on just blogging about life, and animanga, yaoi, J-Rock, J-Pop and my other areas of interest :D.

I’ve got more commitments now that I’m taking practical piano lessons and music theory lessons, not to mention I already have MUN every Thursday. I’m going to start getting tutoring for Maths in the near future and also starting from this Wednesday, I’ll also have another commitment (after school activity) to attend, so I’ll be much more occupied than I was before. And in case you were wondering about why I need tutoring, no, I’m not stupid, haha. :P I used to be in the top set for Maths, and now I’m in the 2nd set. I’ve been falling behind a bit so I just want to get myself back on track. By the way, my parents doesn’t force me on stuff like my academics and my life out of school. I was the one who asked them if I could get tutoring, because I’m a perfectionist so I don’t like falling behind :/

BTW, if I know you IRL, hi. I know you’ve been here. I hope you appreciate what I write but um, please respect the fact that everybody has the right to their own privacy. Don’t visit here unless I’ve actually disclosed my blog to you in person and said that you’re allowed to. Yup, just keep that in mind, alright? Thanks.