As much as the moshing lowered my enjoyment, I half expected it. I went in knowing that the concert could get a tad crazy. My girlfriend went in knowing that too. I'm a fairly slim Asian guy and my girlfriend is a small Asian girl. We both had fun.

People shouldn't get crazy upset at the rowdy people. It's only going to make them mosh harder. I just tried to enjoy the concert as much as I could instead of some people I saw around me who were dogging the moshers for a good amount of the show. Stuff like that happens at a concert with young kids.

Yeah, the entire process of fighting to be close is half the reason why I'll be plenty content to settle near the rear of the bulk of the crowd. Hell, since most of the concerts I typically go to are at arenas/etc, it's still infinitely closer to the band than I am most of the time.

Speaking of being in front, how early are you guys showing up, Seattle peepz?
Edit: I love moshing! But not to the pillows...

[quote="[Mr. Lostman]"]Speaking of being in front, how early are you guys showing up, Seattle peepz?
Edit: I love moshing! But not to the pillows...[/quote]
I don't get off work till around 5, and I work over on the Eastside, so depending on traffic, I probably won't be getting to El Corazon until about 6:30 or 7. Right now, my plan is to just find GR and the rest of you guys in line.

Also, having been to a metal concert at El Corazon (which wasn't horrible, as long as you avoided the moshers up front and center), I'd be really surprised if the crowd for [i]the pillows[/i] gets anywhere near as rowdy.

[quote="Orochi"][quote="[Mr. Lostman]"]Speaking of being in front, how early are you guys showing up, Seattle peepz?
Edit: I love moshing! But not to the pillows...[/quote]
I don't get off work till around 5, and I work over on the Eastside, so depending on traffic, I probably won't be getting to El Corazon until about 6:30 or 7. Right now, my plan is to just find GR and the rest of you guys in line.[/quote]

I'm driving down from Vancouver that day, but my class ends at noon. So, I should be in town no later than 4. I'll probably meet up with disco and BDMonster before the show sometime, and we'll definitely hook up with Orochi and meet up with you, Lostman. I plan on finding parking way early, and maybe just hanging around that area.

Well, I'll probably be there around the same time as Orochi, seeing as we (my dad, my sister and myself) will probably leave Portland around 3 to 4.
I'll probably be wearing my black Engrish.com "dangle" shirt and skinny jeans or shorts... Would it be out of line to ask for someone to save a space for me in line?

I'm getting in town tomorrow, and as far as I know my Friday schedule is completely open, so if you guys want to get a bite to eat or something beforehand I'm down. But I do want to be near the front so getting to the venue earlier than later would be ideal.

[quote="discovolante"]I'm getting in town tomorrow, and as far as I know my Friday schedule is completely open, so if you guys want to get a bite to eat or something beforehand I'm down. But I do want to be near the front so getting to the venue earlier than later would be ideal.[/quote]

Definitely, all of that. I'll find a place to park well before the show, so we should definitely grab something to eat. And I'm one of those people who gets pretty anxious around concerts (especially the pillows) - about having eaten, being hydrated, getting there early, having a good spot in line...so yeah. All good stuff. I may be with BD Monster and the two ladies he's bringing - so us five, plus Orochi, then Lostman later. I don't think there would be a problem holding Lostman's spot in line. I really have no idea what the turn out's gonna be like. Just checked, the show is not sold out yet...

[quote="GoldenRhino"]And I'm one of those people who gets pretty anxious around concerts [b](especially the pillows)[/b][/quote]

We're in the same boat.

I'm gonna try to convince my dad to let me just skip school on Friday, so if that happens I'd be down to meet up with you guys before the concert as well.

Out of curiosity, about what time did each band start their set at on Monday?

[quote="[Mr. Lostman]"]Why is everybody complaining so god damn much? FLCL-era is their best stuff.
AND IT'S THE PILLOWS LIVE CMON[/quote]

This. TL;DR thread, much?

Also, the Monokuro bassist should have been fucking told to learn Swanky Street. They got it requested at multiple shows last time, but they couldn't take the thought to throw it into the mix? Seriously, it's not that he wouldn't have been able to learn it in time, it's that Sawao doesn't fucking get it.

It's about time I did an El Rey writeup.


Alright, so after driving up to OC to get my sister and picking up my brother in Santa Monica we headed to the venue around 7:30 and saw that the line was already wrapped around the building.

[img]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y142/Riegn777/IMG_0185.jpg[/img]

The line moved pretty quickly though, so we got in within ten minutes. As soon as we got inside, I went and stood in the merchandise line. Much to my disappointment, there was virtually no pillows merchandise this time around aside from one shirt and a busterkun pen. Which is funny, because there was an entire table dedicated to All Ages merch.

[img]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y142/Riegn777/IMG_0186.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y142/Riegn777/IMG_0187.jpg[/img]

After that, I went outside to put the shirts I bought in the car, and noticed I was standing right next to Shin and Noodle's bassist as they were having a smoke. I guess nobody recognized Shin, because he was all alone out there looking at the posters on the wall. I wanted to talk to him, and I was infuriated that I don't speak Japanese, but I decided to let him smoke in peace without having an awkward conversation with a fan in broken english.

I did snap this picture though.

[img]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y142/Riegn777/IMG_0188.jpg[/img]


After that, I met up with Raiden, TJW15, and I believe SaturnSurfer [the other guy in a Pixies shirt] and we chatted it up before the show started. It was a strange experience meeting IMer's in real life, and I felt a little nerdy talking about an internet forum face to face. Still, it was awesome getting to talk to some pillows fans in person.

All Ages was a thoroughly painful experience, as soon as they opened people were disrespecting them, but I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. They started playing and I tried to like them, I really did, but I could not get into it at all. I still bobbed and cheered them on, but I felt myself getting bored and waiting for them to stop. One thing I should note though, their bassist was fucking fantastic, and he really made them tolerable. The first thing I noticed about him was his crazy mohawk with a pick hanging down the lock in front of his face. During their entire set he brought constant energy making crazy faces and dancing on the floor, taking his shirt off and jumping into the audience to let us play his bass, shoving the mic into the crowd, making jokes behind the vocalist, etc. In one song, he even did the vocals and it turned out he could sing, much better than their vocalist in fact. IMO he should be the frontman and vocalist of All Ages. While I could tell the other guy was trying, and I do respect him for that, he just wasn't good at all.

After All Ages set, I noticed a girl next to me who I knew I recognized, but wasn't sure from where.
Still unsure of who she was, I asked her and I found out it was Terra!
We all were surprised to have met her there, and thanked her for the website.


Noodles was pretty decent, but I couldn't help but notice that Yoko was lacking any real energy, and their bassist seemed disinterested for the most part. They were a little stale, but good nonetheless and I enjoyed their set, despite being unfamiliar with most of their stuff.


When the Pillows came on, everyone went crazy as expected, and they immediately brought the energy back into the room. I was directly beneath Sawao and Manabe, and it was an amazing experience being able to watch Sawao sing and Manabe solo right in front of me [think "close-enough-to-have their-sweat-hit-you" close]. At one point Manabe leaned over us in the front row and I touched the headstock of his Sago in a moment of sublimation. He also threw out picks as usual, and Raiden/TJW15/Saturn Surfer all got one, but I wasn't quick enough.

I think their setlist has already been posted, but as expected it was a decent mashup of new stuff and FLCL songs. During a few breaks, some of us called out for Swanky Street and Strange Chameleon, but Sawao didn't seem to take notice. Manabe, however, seemed to light up a bit at hearing us call them out, and I though I was a head taller than most everyone around me and was front and center, I'm pretty sure he looked directly at me when I said Strange Chameleon. I've got a feeling Sawao told them that they wouldn't take any requests on account of Jun not being there, but it really seemed like Manabe wanted to take the request, haha.

The crowd was pretty damn insane, tons of flcl tards made it hard to enjoy the set, especially three or so fat guys behind Terra and I who were pushing/humping me and the rest of us for most of the night. Two kids tried to get on stage, one crowd surfed like a retard and ended up getting dropped to the ground, and another jumped on stage and hugged Sawao [who took it like a throwback joke and wasn't upset].

tl;dr: Despite all the negative, it was a great show and I loved every minute of it.

This video I took should get you guys in SF excited for tonight-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7-pcx9y9vk

[quote="Marekenshin"][quote="[Mr. Lostman]"]Why is everybody complaining so god damn much? FLCL-era is their best stuff.
AND IT'S THE PILLOWS LIVE CMON[/quote]

This. TL;DR thread, much?

Also, the Monokuro bassist should have been fucking told to learn Swanky Street. They got it requested at multiple shows last time, but they couldn't take the thought to throw it into the mix? Seriously, it's not that he wouldn't have been able to learn it in time, it's that Sawao doesn't fucking get it.[/quote]


Yeah, IIRC it's not like Swanky Street's bassline involves any complex tapping, speed arpeggios or slappen of de baiyse (mon). He should be able to learn it quickly.

also: cool write up Utsu! Can't wait for the Seattle show. Although I'm TOTALLY not hyped to see All Ages, it's shitty that people were disrespecting them (openly). That's not cool.

Thanks for the write up Utsu. It's always cool hearing anecdotes from the shows. I am curious what the noodles played. Was it about the same set list as last year, except with songs from Explorer on it?

[quote="Son Goshin"]Thanks for the write up Utsu. It's always cool hearing anecdotes from the shows. I am curious what the noodles played. Was it about the same set list as last year, except with songs from Explorer on it?[/quote]

I can't say, the only Noodles stuff I even have is God Cable and their songs on Electric Rays.