Haha. I'm trying not to let this report die like the one for Fanime — that's, uh, in the works (cough) — and while the whole experience is fresh in my memory. 8D Sorry this is kinda messy.

GETTING THERE

Okay, so I was planning to go pick up KA by 8:20AM at the latest and then together, we'd take Caltrain and BART to San Francisco again. But before I could leave, my mom and I got into a huge spat again over my choice of clothing in regards to the weather. (long exhale) I was going to wear shorts to the concert but my mom was being really forceful about wearing long pants/jeans 'cause "San Francisco's so cold" and how I was "being dumb by being ignorant of the weather" and other stuff like that. FFFF like I would really go to San Francisco in shorts without consideration!! I've already checked the weather online and I'm perfectly aware of what I'm getting into. I would've complied until she started saying some really mean statements me and started making threats — that ended pretty much all my intentions of compromising. We eventually went to pick up KA after I ended up in tears. -_____-; Can't even let me do what I want for a single day especially after I finished a six-week course, what the heck.

Well, after picking up KA with my parents and a tense fifteen-minute car ride, we went to the Caltrain station and my mom paid for our tickets. I guess we kinda made up then but whatever, the subject's dropped now. I'm not going to go on anymore about it.

We were kinda waiting for the 8:54AM and we were really surprised how there was nobody at the station… my dad proceeded to shout across the tracks that I must've read the weekday schedule, not the weekend one. Oops! OTL;; Yeah, I'm not exactly a stickler for detail. Well, the train would be coming at 9:14AM instead, so we wished my parents goodbye and KA and I had a nice talk about visual-kei in general and how VAMPS is so insanely successful. (laughs)

Eventually, more people started arriving at the station and the train whistle blew and the bells rang and we hopped aboard the train. 8D
For the most part, it was pretty uneventful until these two "valley girls" (I say that very loosely) sat right behind us and started talking a lot… and very loudly. Very obnoxious.  OTL;

So we rode that for a while, and then we got off at Milbrae to transfer to BART. We thought we'd be all cool and stuff 'cause we already went through this once already but BART won again and we kinda just failed and panicked again sometime when we were using our tickets. BART 2, sad j-rock concert-goers 0.
The cart we were on was actually pretty empty, probably 'cause it's the weekend, and the weather became noticeably gloomier once past Daly City. :/ When we were exiting the station, I was stopped by this Asian guy who didn't really speak any English carrying a suitcase, who asked me if I lived here (in SF). I was like, "Um, no, sorry… we're just here for a concert…" I felt so bad for him! He spoke in such a timid voice and way too. :( Well, wherever he is, hope he's doing okay.

Okay okay, so we started our semi-long walk to The Regency Center, passing some music festival (sounded Middle Eastern… ?) and Little Saigon on the way. :3 The closer we got to venue, the more we were starting to freak out because we were really worried that the line would be longer than we expected. D:

And oh goodness, we finally got there… and we turned around the corner… !!
Nobody. o____o!
And then we walked down the long side… and we turned around the corner… !!
FFFF they were all lining up in the shade, on the back street/shady side of The Regency Center where it smelled kinda bad and was used for loading and unloading stuff. :/

But whatever, so it was a little after 11:30AM by now and KA went off to find stuff and I just kinda sat there, seeing if there was anything interesting…

THE WAIT.

Waiting was going p-r-e-t-t-y slow for the first, second hours. Made me a little sad face. I don't know what we did, just kinda ate lunch and had sporadic chats while playing with our cell phones. An observation made by the both of us was that the people lined up so far looked like they'd be really tough when it came time for concert. |D

The same really nice pink-haired girl from the An Café live numbered our hands again, citing that people from the venue had plans for us to move to the sunny/nice side of The Regency Center so to allow the staff and band convenience for unloading and set-up. We were number 68 and 69~ yeah~

There were two people with a banner for VAMPS, saying "Welcome back" and stuff. I thought that was really cool. 8D Haha, some people were writing down phone numbers and "Call me" next to them. :D

The real fun started around 1:30PM~2:30PM, I think. kekeke

Well, see, first this giant white vanmobile (or as I like to call it, the KIDNAPPINGMOBILE, lol no I'm just kidding) carrying a small U-haul pulled up into the street, just two cars down from where we were waiting, and people were kinda in semi-freaking-out-mode.
We were (or I was all) like, "Hey hey, there's some guys with Asian haircuts in there~! Do you think…?" and some people from the beginning of the line started running down to see.

They turned out to be the staff and roadies, about eight of them in all? |D
But interesting nonetheless, gosh, they were all so… good-looking? Not really, but like they all had this "rock" presence, like "we are awesome and you know it" kinda thing going on. XD
Like, a few guys were the typical Asian cuties with glasses and nice hair, but the majority were like in their thirties or forties, with some pretty awesome spiked up hair and really fit, too.
…
I'll stop talking about that now.
So yeah, they just kinda got out of the van and stood around for a while, holding this impromptu meeting thing with the tour coordinator for the American tour, this tall Caucasian/Irish guy with two really long skinny braids going down his back. So cool~ *-*

They talked and talked and they ran away and came back and seemed busy. Yeah. XD

And then, about 25 minutes later, this other van pulled up, but it wasn't the typical van used for bringing stuff, it was a like a miniature grey bus. o____o
This time, people were more freaked-out and lots of people started crowding around the car.
And then…!
Well, it turned out to be the Japanese manager of the American tour, this lovely lady who was really sweet, waved and said hi to everybody before going off to talk with the staff and roadies.
There were, like, two other staff with her, I think but yeah, so they were just kinda busy.

Occasionally, the staff went to get Starbucks or something, or they all got in the van and drove away, or they went into the building and stuff like that.

Well, once it's been established that they were just there helping, we just left them alone and stuff.
Some people in front of us invited us to a game of UNO, so we started the game and just kinda talked about more Japanese bands and stuff like that. There was one girl who won a few minutes into the game. I'm in awe — haha I'm not very good at Uno. :'D

Some twenty or so minutes later, KA was just about to leave to go to Starbucks, but then quickly ran back to me and said something like, "Sophie! Sophie! I think it's Hyde!!" Apparently, another kind of vanmobile/bus pulled up, also with tinted windows and it pulled down farther down the street than the other two vehicles.

Oh my gosh we just ran holding our Uno cards in one hand but by the time I got there, Hyde was just about to enter the door and disappeared. He's short!! XDD Okay, well, I'm still shorter than him but he couldn't have been more than a few inches taller than me. I heard from KA that he waved "hi" as he exited the car with the rest of guy. :)

This is when all wanking was released.

So, there was this formidable looking girl wearing this Inuyasha blanket thing some ten-something people after us. After Hyde and his crew went into the building and the vehicle drove away, she immediately made a phone call to her friend or something, and she was so overwhelmed by this whole thing that, I think, she was actually crying when she was talking really loudly/shouting on the phone. Now, I can understand this, but she was causing a scene which is bad. Back where we were waiting, we were just exchanging looks.

Then a minute later, her (hysterical) friend is running from Starbucks, shouting loudly to the world, "YADAAAAAA!  HAIDO-SAMA GA DAISUKI DESUUUUU! HAIIIIIDO-SAMAAAAA~!" and proceeded to flail around while being comforted by the Inuyasha-blanket wearing friend and others. Somebody needed to call the whaaaaambulance. It was really crazy.

In fact, the staff probably lol'd themselves to death before they proceeded to feel so sorry for her that they dropped this VAMPS uchiha down through the slotted balcony right above where they were waiting. It just kind drifted down, and the look on the girl's face was like this myriad of disbelief and sadness/happiness. Right after she grabbed it, she was yelling, "I LOVE YOU, HYDE-SAMA! THANK YOU! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU!"

By then, it must've been 3:15 or so?…
I actually managed to get rid of my cards in Uno, haha. Yay~! The game was going on for a really long time, pretty unbelievable. XDD But it was really fun. ^^

Staff people came out three or four times through the door of said-balcony to take footage of us. Two people had professional equipment, a camera and a video camera and were taking footage of everybody in the line on the street, telling us to wave hi and whatever. There was also another guy carrying a personal camera (like, what "typical" people use) who took a picture of them… Hopefully, whatever that guy blogged didn't extend to all of us. Sigh.

KA and I left for Japantown at 4:00 'cause we couldn't stand sitting there any longer (yeah, I know I'm pathetic |D), and the walk was really pleasant. Maybe a ten-minute long walk from the venue? We headed directly over to Kinokuniya so we could look at the various music magazines and browse around. Over at the music section, they had this huge promotional poster for Dim!! And some other artists which I can't recall, ahaha… Remember seeing one Vamps CD though (ugh, wish I could've made the signing) but yeah. They also had this display of SUPER AWESOME products from ARANZI ARONZO. I don't think I've ever seen something combine cute and clever and cool so well via drawings/cartoons/whatever. My reaction to pretty much everything was "must have!! D:" The little bios/descriptions are so direct and charming and sometimes snide too. XD Alas, we didn't want to/couldn't buy anything 'cause we were saving money for merch and we would have no place to put them, etc. nyoro~n

KA ate a delicious-looking crepe from the eatery right by the bookstore (she swears it's the best place to have them – I'll have to try out that place the next time I go to SF) and we started heading back. We made a stop at Walgreens to get some last-minute snacks/dinner.

By the time we got back, it was around 5.
Half an hour late began the second round of wanking, though it was more anger this time than actual fandom-related wanking.

So the girl in front of me turned out to be a Chinese girl who spoke very little English (she was really quiet most of the time when waiting) but like, out of nowhere, four of her friends came and lined up along with her. KA and I were like, "…what the," but decided we'd wait before saying anything. The girl said she was saving a spot for only one person, hence our initial surprise. The group soon left to go get dinner, and then soon after, another person arrived to line up with her…

Yeah, so you can see where this is leading. Eventually, at least six people came to wait with her and the group behind us, the really incensed one, was really angry. They went to complain with the pink-haired girl, who, oh gosh I felt so sorry for, was just trying to moderate things. But the people that came to wait were being obnoxious which didn't help their case at all. It wasn't great how some were lying their way through it. One of the girls from the group waiting after us, having been there for a quarter of day and angry, was pulling out some pretty great insults, haha. "…but when you bring all of Asia with you!…"

The sun was already gone by now because of the clouds that were moving really fast. Wind was really strong too. It was really cold. You could even see the fog, that had formed by then, moving. >< But AW came and she brought a lot of food, haha, so we just ate and talked and tried to avoid the drama that was unfolding.

The tall guy with long braids walked around and was collecting gifts, ah-ha. Also, there was crew guys from Vamps who were interviewing some people waiting in line? Pretty neat.

Also, sometime around 7:45-ish, a guy from The Regency Center was walking around checking everybody's tickets and also ID'ing?! We were panicking, a) because we don't have ID and b) 'cause we're still underage and the guy was spouting something about it being an 18+ show 'cause they were serving alchohol and stuff. Ah well, when he checked our tickets, he just marked our hands with an "X" to indicate no alchohol. XD

To make a long story short, the line started moving and we just kinda shuffled in front of the group. D: Sorry but it's really too much…

INSIDE THE VENUE.

KA, AW and I quickly rushed inside to try and see how close we could get in, and we stayed on the left side (Ju-ken's!). KA made it to second row, and AW and I were right behind her, third row but not on the small elevated platform thing. Ugh the people in front of me were so tall, made me sad.

They had this smoke machine going on, so in little time, the whole venue was really hazy, especially with the kinda dim and yellow-ish lighting on. Some people were talking really really loudly in Cantonese behind us, blaaah. :| Time passed really slowly. We would check our cell phones and be shocked to find only three minutes passed. OTL;

The roadies opened to mild fanfare. The same guys we saw outside were the ones testing and walking around on stage. It was really really loud.

Uh, lemme just say that I'm not so familiar with Vamps's song/setlist so I'm just gonna write my observations and feelings…

THE CONCERT + AN ENCORE. OH BABEH.

When the lights dimmed and the electrifying BITE started, everybody started screaming and cramming.

The drummer came on first as usual (Arimatsu or something…?) and pretty much everyone followed quickly. From left to right up front was Ju-ken, Hyde and K.A.Z. Cue massive pushing especially from the left side.

For the first ten minutes, I practically couldn't see anything. Tall rough people completely blocked my view of Hyde and only Ju-ken's head stuck out. :'D Pretty bad for me…
And for the thirty minutes after, it was just constant constant pushing, not really pushing, just outright shoving. Especially where I was!! Near the center-left, there was like a whole bunch of people around my height packed in, really weird. *-* It wasn't a "pleasant" kind of rough either — usually people will try to get by you but if it's obvious that it's not going to happen, they should just stop shoving. Some people in the crowd were being really way too persistent.
I kinda gave up around this point and made my way back to where I began, back to AW who was being super nice. I can't thank her enough! m(_ _)m So we just kinda basked in all of Ju-ken's glory and the occasional appearance from Hyde and K.A.Z. :)

Now, the band members~!

Hyde was rocking some kind of wavy hair, typically associated with the "old" j-rock bands but he pulled it off really well. I don't really remember what he was wearing… He had this mature look to him, I don't think that's the right way to say it, but he seemed more serious and focused?… Ah, well, he's one of those things that "get better with age," harhar.
However, I think that for Vamps, it really is better live than on recording. All their songs are perfect for a concert and Hyde did a really great job. He was just having fun with us all, singing, crooning, whatever. He's really good at changing the mood of the concert to fit the song, which is fantastic. Hyde also gave the occasional sexy face, which comprised of a wry smile with some tongue action, along with that oh-so-casual-but-it's-not-really-casual moving away arm movement from the mic. Oh babeh. ;D
During the emcees, he was just fucking amazing. During the main one, he was talking about going to Fisherman's Wharf at Pier 39 and how clam chowder was his favorite. Also, he talked about how cold it is in SF (wasn't a summer's day at all XDD).
"I go to clothes… I go to, I go to clothes a lot… because San Francisco is so cold, yeah?"
"*lots of yells of agreement and cheering*"
But during the ones where he announced the song or just some typical rock-concerty-things to say, he was drop-dead sexy with his words. Does that make any sense? XD
Like, Hyde would change the tone of the voice from a whisper to normal to this really high-pitched voice, bringing on lots of cheering and amiable laughter. 8D
"Are you fucking readyyyyy?"
And stuff like that. He is really good.

Ju-ken, oh ho, Ju-ken, that wild bassist.
From the beginning, he was just this amazing ball of energy. He was seriously on fire. 8D
He's a lot more outgoing and fun (well, in terms of concert persona?) than Hyde — I really think he's the person riling everybody up the most. From sticking his tongue out at us (… a lot) and making the "I-can't-hear-you" gesture and doing the clapping and making the "rock-on" gesture at the end of almost every song… to think I didn't even know who he was before this concert. (laughs) Yeah, I'm not being a really good fan here.
But seriously, I wish I could have a recording of everything he did at the concert 'cause he is just outrageous. He was wearing the Vamps tank top (so his dragon tattoos were really obvious) and some cool jeans, I think, some boots too. Just crazy, his stage presence… I've never seen anyone quite like that. He looked like he was having the most fun. During the encore, he was teasing us all by bending low so we could almost touch his bass, then he'd steal it away right out of our grasps. XDD But he was nice and allowed us to afterwards.
During SWEET DREAMS, I remember one of the roadies brought out this instrument that resembled a double bass but only had two strings, and Ju-ken was really enjoying the attention he got, haha. He was singing along too~ That song was really sweet.
One of my most vivid memories: during SEX BLOOD ROCK N' ROLL, Ju-ken was totally bringing on that crazy hip-swinging movement while jamming away at the bass (right out of a certain fanservice loaded performance from his past ♥) and then he started humping his bass and oh goodness, I swear I could've died right then and there. *O* So much fun! He was totally eyefucking people in the audience too, HAHA. That sexy bastard.

K.A.Z. didn't come over to the left a whole lot but when he did, the left side was really intent on giving him a lot of attention. He didn't seem to resemble the promo photo of him…? Maybe I'm going crazy. But yeah, he had this spiked up hair and I have no idea what he was wearing.
The coolest thing that I remember watching him do was when both him and Ju-ken were at our end, and they were playing during one of the songs of the solo. At the end of the chorus and it was almost time for K.A.Z. to return to the right, he flung his guitar around his neck and the whole of his body. Unbelievably cool!! Damn! XD He didn't seem to smile much the times when he was on the left side…? Ehh.

As for the drummer…
Well, the only thing for Arimatsu was during the encore, in the middle of VAMPIRE DEPRESSION, my eyes wandered from Ju-ken over to him and I was all like, "…oh! He's shirtless! *O*" …yeah.

So that's that.
Only a few songs before the encore did the crowd start to calm down, though I was stuck behind this big sweaty guy. ><; But near the end, that was definitely my ideal setting for concert – it makes me furious when I think about how some people were in the beginning. D:

Our encore calling was okay. We first started by shouting, "VAMPS! VAMPS! VAMPS! VAMPS!" but that's kinda hard to say and it became incoherent after a while and died. Then some guy got the idea of clapping, which turned fast too fast and died. We must've done the clapping thing at least four or five times… XDD Then the roadies came out and we watched them, and then the clapping thing began again.

The band came out shortly after wearing the special tour t-shirts they have.

At the end, Hyde threw a water bottle at us (haha), and K.A.Z. and Ju-ken threw a whole handful of picks at the audience. I don't think the drummer threw his sticks…?

But when it was over, I was half-deaf and kinda dazed. I was going to the merch stand, but stayed with AW a bit to wait for KA. This female fan from out of nowhere says roughly to us, "Excuse me" and we kinda leapt up and away 'cause we were nice, respectful people and she immediately bends down and grabs a pick from right underneath my shoe. WTFFFFF I was like "oh my god are you serious." Could've at least been nice about it. ): I swear I'll get a pick at a concert someday!! It's only (?) been four total so far…

WOO MERCH

So at the merch stand, I was one of the first few there but I just kinda became a doormat and let everybody go ahead of me. Then the black t-shirt ran out. |D But ah, that turned out to be for the better as I got the neon green one instead which looks really cool. :D I didn't bring enough money for what I wanted… they were also selling wristbands, the tour book, bottle openers (lol), their album and tote bags. The merch was cheaper than the other j-rock concerts I've been to though— made me happy. ^-^

WHOO KICKED OUT

The security guys forced everybody outside the theater so they could clean up and close for the night. Ah. But they also had more security outside, making sure the minors would have someone to get them if they were waiting. Outside was an amazing sight. The fog was still rolling in and out, so it looked like something out of The Twilight Zone or something, especially with the yellow streetlights and everything looking so misty.

KA, AW and I just sat where the line used to be, by the entrance and kinda babbled on about the concert. Some security guy came and talked to us about the concert and asked us if it was nice. We said yeah, it was really crazy and he's like, I can tell (laughs).
He left and then another person went up to us and was asking if we could spare some money for him. When we kept silent, he immediately turned from this "nice, respectful" guy into the stereotypical angry street person and cursed us off as he went to ask the next group of people. He lied to us in order to get the topic at hand… /shudder/ It was really scary.

Then we heard screaming from the corner, where the back door was! And we quickly rushed over there and it turns out that we were just in time to see the band members wave bye and slam the doors and leave in their fantastic vanmobile. There were a lot of fans mobbing there, with security trying to keep people off the road
(and following the vehicle, I bet, hahaha).

KA's dad came to pick us up soon after and we had a peaceful ride back.

FINAL THOUGHTS.

Good concert? Yes, a FANTASTIC one, Vamps is so so great. I wish the audience could've been nicer but I guess it's alright… sorry the report's kinda scrambled 'cause I don't remember anything in the beginning…

Oh yeah! And I can say that after two weeks, Hyde's still in my mind. Like when I listen to the Vamps songs or even the more hard L'arc~en~ciel songs, I immediately think of him crooning or rocking the song at the mic in the setting of that night's concert. I haven't had that happen before with any artist…  can't get him out (laughs) >/////<