Letters from the JaME Editors #7

Now that it’s December, everyone’s starting to gear up for Christmas lives and New Year’s Eve countdown lives. For those of us overseas, this can be an agonizing time. Either we’re spending a ton of money getting to those concerts – and possibly getting upset that we can’t make it to see every band we love because they ALL have to hold lives at the same time in different cities, oh the sacrifices – or we’re wishing we could go. All my bands are playing at stylish wave COUNTDOWN '11-'12, noooooo…

As for me, let me regale you with a tale about the time I gave myself GACKT for Christmas. Though this was three years ago during GACKT’s RRII tour, it’s still a holiday season I look back on fondly.

So GACKT’s concert was the day after Christmas, and I had purchased my ticket through an online vendor. I’d been promised my ticket would be sent to my hotel in Tokyo, and of course, on the day of the show, I still didn’t have my ticket in hand. I spent most of that morning and afternoon stressing out, cursing the Japanese post, and somehow managed to get my ticket at the last possible minute. Then I flew to the nearest JR station and made it to the venue in record time.

For those of you who have been to GACKT concerts, you know that he rarely starts on time. So when I got to the venue, my next concern was that the show would start late – meaning it would end late and I’d miss the last train and be stuck two hours from my hotel. Luckily, the concert began just five minutes late.

For the next two and a half hours, I was in heaven. I noticed that the girls around me had the same pose I did: hands clasped over the heart, as if in worship. I also realized that the “yeah yeah” call-and-response during Mirror, while looking totally ridiculous on DVD, was super fun live. Nothing says love like screaming!

This GACKT live was my first concert in Japan, and it was just a great experience other than the whole it-might-not-happen portion. It eased me into the process of concert-going – in Tokyo, at least – and made it one of the best Christmases I’ve ever had. And it cemented GACKT’s place in my heart as one of the most awesome people ever.

So now it’s your turn! Let me know what plans you have for Christmas or countdown lives, or if you have fond memories of a holiday show you’ll never forget.

And above all, enjoy your holidays and best wishes for the year to come!