Three years ago around this time, I was set to go to my first ever concert; a Japanese rock band at that. I was ecstatic, thrilled, and even a little overwhelmed. My heart had pounded in my ears all day to the beat of the group’s songs. Have you ever seen a teenager so alive? ONE OK ROCK, my idols, an edgy kid’s everything at the time. That day, one thing led to another, and another, and another; so comically cliche it hurt. We arrived at the venue an hour late, enough to see them walk off the stage, as they were the opening performers. I was shattered. Have you ever seen a teenager so defeated?
"That day, one thing led to another, and another, and another; so comically cliche it hurt."
|
That was three years ago. And when three months ago I found out they were coming back for another world tour, this time their own, I hesitantly gathered the courage to try again. The day came and though my friend was coming with me, I was more nervous than ever. For the entire week before I had whole memory reruns of what happened before. It was more paranoia than anything, but my mind had already accepted defeat.
When my friend picked me up, I practically held my breath and had my fingers crossed up until we arrived to the Hollywood Palladium, fearing we would get stuck in traffic for an hour and that would be the end of me. Again. It’s safe to admit it was paranoia and a looming fear of repeated history. |
Image from ONE OK ROCK Official Facebook
|
|
Everything smoothed out upon arrival. The line was long, but it moved pretty quickly and within half an hour we were inside. I’m sure I stopped breathing altogether when it came time for the security to scan my tickets. One, two beeps of approval and my lungs filled with air again in a sigh of relief. Inside, there was a tempting bar, but I opted to keep sober despite my nerves.
The merchandise was another temptation which I regrettably also didn’t buy. The experience this time was enough memoranda. The building, though small on the outside, was much more grand on the inside with dazzling chandeliers and moody lowlights. |
|
The subtle blue lights calmed my nerves as I anxiously waited for the lights to go off and the concert to begin. In the pitch black, "Take me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver began playing, throwing many off but causing a widespread chorus of concert-goers to scream the lyrics with all they had. The song transitioned into the opening song and so the madness began. Though I didn’t recognize Stand Atlantic and Waterparks, they certainly had music I enjoyed and soon I was singing along with broken lyrics. Throughout the first group’s performance I noticed the girl standing next to my friend was significantly drunk.
Whatever was in her hand, the “concert special” I’d assume, reeked heavily of alcohol and she was no different as she swayed side to side and really felt the music. |
|
She was clearly tipsy and at various points was so drunk she would try to look at my phone screen as I showed my friend something, clearly a little too aloof to know what she was doing. It earned her a few strange looks from my friend and me but laughed it off more than anything. As with most rock concerts there’s always the risk of moshing but the audience was on a low burner for the first two bands.
|
When Waterparks announced their next song was their last, the audience lunged forward, trying to squeeze as close to the front as they could. All concert-goers tried desperately to get impossibly close to the stage for ONE OK ROCK, the final act. There was a widespread panic in me momentarily and the color drained from my face. I don’t do well in crowds from a past experience and the way people pushed and shoved drove my anxiety through the roof. The girl next to us had sobered up by this time and was also clearly panicked whereas my friend was so accustomed to pit culture she wasn’t even phased.
"As soon as ONE OK ROCK came up to the stage, the crowd lunged forward once more, making it impossible to move around and manifesting into a claustrophobic nightmare." |
As soon as ONE OK ROCK came up to the stage, the crowd lunged forward once more, making it impossible to move around and manifesting into a claustrophobic nightmare. The people behind me started moshing and throwing themselves around like fish out of water. They were yelling the lyrics and you couldn’t tell if they were drunk or just troublemakers. I was starting to get tunnel vision with the situation at hand and could barely concentrate on the music. The girl on my left looked no better than me and so I spent the next song trying to block any hits from the troublemakers since they kept violently flinging themselves into my friend and now sober girl. She noticed this and looked thankful when I asked if she was okay after the troublemakers shoved their way to the front.
|
|
The end of the concert mellowed out and the girl, who seemed to be there alone, hung around with us for the rest of the concert. We were all screaming and jumping to “Change” and getting emotional over “Stand Out Fit In” from their latest album, Eye of the Storm. The crowd broke into an uproar of excitement when they played an old popular song that seemed to move every old fan’s hearts, “The Beginning” from their 2013 album Jinsei Kakete Boku Wa. There were some people who would pick up others on their shoulders and a couple of people crowd surfing. I was a little less panicked and sung along to the throwbacks they played, jumping and feeling alive along with the crowd. Once the concert ended, I couldn’t help but smile so wide it hurt. It took a redo and a half, but I was finally able to see ONE OK ROCK perform for the first time
<< Prev
|
Next>>
|
|
Links |
7500 |
|