| To read about how my day started, go here: Apocalyptica @ WIIL Studio East Kim and I were on the road to Chicago by 1pm. Since we were going to be at the House of Blues for quite a few hours, we thought it would be cheaper to park near a friend's house and take a cab to the HOB vs paying for many hours in valet parking. We arrived at the HOB around 2:45pm. We were walking to the front doors and I was looking off to my right to see how long the line was by the side door when Kim said to me in a low voice, "They're in front of us." I continued looking off to my right and replied, "Where?" Kim, again in a low voice said, "In...front...of...us." I then turned my head in the direction we were walking and saw Perttu, Eicca and Mikko walking towards us. As we got closer I said with a smile, "You look familiar." Mikko looked like he remembered us, but the other two not so much. I quickly followed with, "From the In Studio this morning." As we walked past them, Paavo was behind them. He smiled and also appeared to remember us. Once inside, Kim and I bought our "Crash the Barricade" tickets that would get us a food buffet and early entry. (Since we had to eat anyway, we figured for $15, we were getting food and a better chance at getting to the rail for the show.) I noticed a decent amount of people already in line waiting to get in early (you could also spend $15 in the HOB store) plus there were APO VIP ticket holders. What I didn't know yet were that there were also Dir En Gray VIP ticket holders. We had some time to waste so we went into the HOB store. I didn't see anything I needed. We then sat on a bench right outside the Back Porch restaurant and waited until a little after 3pm. We were told that the food wasn't going to be ready until about 3:30pm but we were able to sit at a table. Eventually Kim and I ate and then headed for the line at 4pm. There were now two lines of people. VIP and Early Entry. We had about 20-25 people in front of us, but man alive were there A LOT of VIP people. I could see my front row spot gone immediately. But hey, keep the faith, right? A girl behind us in line eventually started talking to us. She was there for Dir En Gray. She commented on those fans and how they would leave after the band played. OH REALLY!? At one point Kim texted me with "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I just looked at her and said, "No." Then it hit me! YES! We still may have a chance to be close! :) This girl also commented on how crazy the crowd got. I had read that recently too. I hoped it wouldn't be too bad where ever we ended up. Around 4:30 the VIP line and the Early Entry line were really on top of each other so they moved the VIP people onto the stairs heading up to the stage. Around 4:45 they moved the Early Entry line to the stairs and into two lines. We passed the time by talking to someone else behind us. She was from MI and came down to Chicago often. She and I also realized we were pretty much standing next to each other at the Volbeat show a couple weeks prior! Small world. A little after 5pm they officially let us in. Kim and I raced up the stairs and towards the left side of the stage. I immediately was let down. There were already people 4-5 rows deep from the stage. *sigh* So much for our Early Entry plan. The girl from MI ended up standing next to me. We talked off and on before the first band started. Bottom line though, we all HOPED that the Dir En Gray fans would leave so we could move forward! Evaline was the first band. I remembered during the In Studio that morning Eicca said they were from CA. They were pretty ok. The lead singer was quite entertaining. He kept getting off the stage, and standing on the ledge on the other side of the barricade. During one song, he held the hand of someone in the crowd and actually stood on the top rail. They played for 25 minutes. Not long after they ended, the crowd got a little tighter. Girls were squeezing into spaces not really big enough for them. At one point, a girl and her friend got in front of the girl from MI. However, one of the girl's boyfriend was behind us. She kept turning around saying she was "sorry" to him. Well, eventually I heard him say something about going to stand with her. I look at him and say, "Seriously?" The girl said something about how he went to throw a bottle away for her. I thought to myself, Ok whatever, you people were NO WHERE in front of me when he did that. The same group of people in front of me that entire time, were still there, and they were not with them. I told him, "Do not stand in front of me." (Yes, he was taller than me.) He stood between Kim and I and I could still see. Once the lights went down and the music started for Dir En Gray, all of a sudden we were all pushed forward. Guess who I ended up on top of? Yep, that guy. Oh sorry. not. Anyway, it got pretty tight, pretty fast. I think it was pretty much during the first song, if not the 2nd, that this younger guy next to Kim and I started his own one man mosh pit. Needless to say, we were getting bumped into. Then another guy started in with him and it was still just the two of them, but they were constantly bumping into us. I feared for Kim, so I had my arm around her so she wouldn't get sucked into their little pit. As the show went on, MORE guys were moshing and now the pit was in front of us and there were probably 6-8 guys going at it. Kim was now behind me. She commented, "You're so much better at this than me." I don't know about better, maybe more tolerable. Well, we were now also farther back on the floor. NOOO, I didn't want to be farther away from the stage! As the chaos continued, I just held my hands out in front of me to keep anyone from coming at me. I will admit, I did push a couple of them. It was just SO annoying. I could hear two girls behind me laughing when I would do that. Eventually a guy was standing in front of me. I had my left forearm on his back since he was standing that close to me. I laughed and told Kim, "He's my blocker." Eventually the song ended along with the moshing. I could hear him telling those same two girls he was trying to stay out of it. Well, after some more moshing, I told Kim I was moving. I just didn't want to deal with it anymore. It's not like I was on the rail. The spot I was in wasn't worth fighting for! As the crowd shifted, I slid over to my right. Now I was just right of center. It wasn't too long before I felt someone tugging on my shirt. OMG! It was my friend Rosa who showed up later that night. Funny how I ended up next to her. She said she spotted me when I was over by the most pit! As for Dir En Gray, I had watched some YouTube videos prior to the show. They reminded me a little of Marilyn Manson, except they sang in Japanese. The music was pretty good. Some of the vocals, eh. The singer had a range though. Anywhere from higher to that growling cookie monster vocal. "C" is for cookie. :D They were entertaining to watch. Clearly, there were more than a few fans there and they were totally into the show. Kim and I stayed in this spot for the rest of their set. There was a Mom and 4-5 teenage kids in front of us. Clearly they were there for APO. The Mom had a death grip on a younger girl's arm. I thought it was funny. Eventually she let go. This crowd overall was much tamer but still into the show. Someone behind me was not being obnoxious, but was moving. I literally just stood there but appeared to be moving. If you've been at the HOB, you know how the floor moves you. I think they played for an hour and 15 mins, but with about 1-2 songs to go, there was one guy that started crowd surfing. I saw that same Mom tell the younger girl, "Dont ever do that." When the band left the stage for their encore, I told Kim, "If the crowd moves, I'm going." She said she'd be right behind me. I then mentioned how I was worried about the family in front of me. I knew if the crowd moved, they would not. How would we get around them? She thought the same thing. Well, after Dir En Gray played their last song and their set was over, sure enough, people started to move/leave. I made a bee-line around the right of the family and ended up behind a guy also heading for the front. Well, Kim and I made it all the way up to 3rd from the rail. Then one by one, more people started to leave the rail. Must have been 5 total in our area. Needless to say, Kim and I ended up 2nd from the rail, with no super tall people in front of us, which was fine by me! WOOT! Although, there were two guys that smelled like they had been there for days! I told Kim, "Breathe thru your mouth." It was pretty bad, but I wasn't moving! Rosa also ended up behind us. A funny side note. When Kim and I have seen APO in the past, normally we stand on the left side, in front of Perttu. Well, at the In Studio that morning, when Kim was talking to Paavo, she made a comment about hopefully being up front for the show and he said, "On my side, right?" Well, she didn't want to tell him we stood on the left, so she told him, "We'll see." How funny that we ended up on the right side in front of where he would be. Interesting how things work out sometimes. While waiting for the band to start, Kim motioned for me to look to my left! It was the girl from MI! She had made it to the rail on the left side! SCORE FOR US ALL at getting closer! :) Thanks to all the Dir En Gray fans for leaving. I noticed a lot of them cleared out from the front in general. Either way, good deal for us. Prior to APO starting, a mic appeared on the outside of the curtain that had been pulled closed. I thought it was odd to be so close to the edge of the stage, but thought it was for a radio DJ to speak into. Well, then I noticed a pedal board. Humm... I had never been THIS close before, so I didnt realize what I was looking at. Well, sure enough, a local radio DJ did come out to talk to us. He also mentioned the After Party in the Foundation Room was open to anyone 21+ and it was first come first serve. I knew I was already on the guest list due to a friend, but I hoped the first come first serve thing wouldn't keep me from getting up there due to capacity. Time seemed to move slowly. Oh man, I could NOT wait for the show to start! Aside from seeing them at ROTR back in May in Columbus (and being pretty far away from the stage), I had not seen APO on tour since 2008! I just KNEW it was going to be awesome. Well, they did not let me down! The curtain opened and there they were. MOSTLY AT THE EDGE OF THE STAGE!! They were SO close and it was SO awesome! They all had those pedal boards set up near the edge of the stage. Eicca also had a wah pedal. Mikko was set up a little farther back behind them. His clear drums looked awesome! They started off with Metallica's "Wherever I May Roam" and the crowd sang along. They continued into Sepultura's Refuse/Resist, then into new songs, old songs, and a couple more Metallica covers. Every time I see these guys, I am amazed, in awe, and I can't help but smile. Not only is the music AMAZING, they are so much fun to watch on stage. Between the playing, the headbanging and drumming, it's for sure a fun show to see! SO AWESOME! A few songs into the night, Paavo did recognize Kim and I from the stage! For Kim it was during "I'm Not Jesus". There is the line "Do you remember me." He pointed at her and mouthed those words. She did it back. Then shortly after that, he was playing right in front of me and I could just tell by the way he was staring and smiling at me, that he also recognized me. Too cool! Needless to say, the time they played on stage felt both long and short. I never want it to end. When they come back next year, I hope they play for longer than an hour and 20 mins. Below are a ton of pics I took :) |
 Eicca |
 Perttu and Eicca |
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 Paavo |
 Crazy hair flyin' in this one! |
 Gotta love a headbangin' cello player...and that amazing backdrop! |
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 I just love hearing their Finnish accents! |
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 Perttu and Tipe |
 Pure attitude! |
