from http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/cielers/message/17747



So, anyways Saturday... My sister and I decided to go scope the arena at noon on Saturday. I talked to one of the security guards to find out what entrances would be opened, and he kindly pointed them all out to us. Then we asked him when we could start lining up, and he just said 'whenever.' And yah, it sounded like a big, fat lie, but we decided to take his word over that of Tofu Records (for the previously listed good reason), and there was already a small line forming, so we joined in. We met up with a couple of our friends who had been there since 10.30am. Everyone was forming a nice single-file line until some people who arrived about half an hr later decided that going up to the doors and harassing the Otakon/LArc staff was a good idea. Well naturally, they got the staff attention, and not 2 minutes later we were all being chased away in English and Japanese and told to go across the street. (Yah, that's a good idea. The second they said the line could start people woulda started darting across into incoming traffic, and then we'd all make the 6 o'clock news that night.) So my friends and I (about 8 of us total) decided to take the slick way out and park ourselves next to the Bus Stop. "Yah, we're just waiting for the bus...*really*...a heh heh..."

Yeah, I know. Not really a good cover, but it got the Arena Staff away from us for a bit.

After marking out our new waiting area, we took a short field trip to the back of the Arena from which we could hear sound emanating. We could hear some sound checks and lotsa piano music. There wasnt too much that was discipherable at the time, but we pretended we knew just not to feel silly with our ears pressed up against the Arena's rear doors. 20 mins was enough of that. We headed back to our Bus Stop.

We were all cool and calm til a cop showed up. (Crap...) We decided lying to a Baltimore Cop about waiting for the bus was just asking to spend the concert in jail and just prepared to be kicked offa the property (again). But all she did was talk to some people nearby us and then walk away. We were pretty surprised/relieved. After a moment though, we decided to (out of bravery or stupidity, I dont know) approach the cop ourselves, and ask her about the situation.

See, the location we're we'd been kicked out of repeatedly had (once again) been overtaken and filled with fans waiting for the concert.

So we asked the officer if that was okay that we lined up over there or what. Her exact words were, "You guys can do what you want. I cant control a thousand people. The Arena doesnt want you lining up, but Im not gonna enforce anything." We were just astounded.

However, in our astonishment, we still managed to meander over to a rather promising-looking pocket of people and hover. About 20 mins later though (at around 2.15pm), the Arena security and translators showed up again. Great. Prepare to be told to get lost for a forth time. But they just waved their hands in the air and called out, 'Okay, everyone. Line up!'

Bad idea. Everyone just went racing toward the doors. They started screaming, "NO RUNNING! No RUNNING!" But hey, *everyone* was *running,* so whatever.

There were three sets of double glass doors, and they said they were gonna open all three sets. Our group of 8 lined up behind the farthest-right glass door. It was a huge mob scene. Then after about 20 mins, security decided they would only open the glass doors on the right. And we were in the front of the line! The next hour and half consisted of security unsuccessfully attempting to move everyone away from the doors so they could open. But finally 4 pm came, and even though everyone in the freakin' line knew that we were all gonna make a made dash for the stage when those doors opened, the actual Otakon and Arena staff seemed completely oblivious to the situation. They were also apparently oblivious to the truly vicious nature of some Japanese fangirls...

They opened the doors, and (of course) everyone went barrelling inside. Security kept screaming 'NO RUNNING!!' but no one was listening, and it was especially futile since half the chicks who were careening toward the turnstiles only spoke Japanese. Someone ripped the bag offa my arm (which I was thankfully able to retrieve quickly), and a friend literally got clawed by a girl who wanted to get inside (She had to seek first aid after the concert). Course, it didnt matter anyways, cuz as soon as everyone began running inside and ignoring the arena security (you can see that blurry pic on the website of the redshirts being tossed aside), they slammed shut another set of doors and refused to let anyone into the stage area. >_<

About 10 minutes later of more screaming and more lecturing and threats to throw us all out, they finally opened the doors. And for whatever reason, Arena officials thought it'd be a good idea to put this one 50-lb chick at the front as crowd control when they finally decided to let everyone in. Yah. Not a good idea. When they said, "Okay, now Go. Go!" that lecture went out the window and was shortly followed by the 50-lb chick. (Literally, she was knocked down and went rolling.) We ran past this cameraman (I threw a peace symbol at him), and took off running toward the stage. My sis and I managed to get into the 4th row and saved a seat on either side of us. Two others from our group were at left in the 2nd/3rd row, and still two others were at the right in the first row (You can see them on the website in the picture titled 'The Front Row' (in kanji) - - the two non-Japanese dudes at the bottom left amidst a sea of Japanese fans.) We were right in front of the microphone -- right in front of where (we imagined) Hyde would be! XD

Anywho, to make a long story short, they punished us for 45 more minutes by showing ep 1 of Fullmetal Alchemist twice (LArc isnt even sposed ta play the OT on ep 1, but whatever). Several times roadies came on-stage and continued checking and tuning equipment. Anytime anyone (and I mean *anyone*) played a note of any kind on a instrument, the crowd cheered and clapped. A couple of guys shouted, "YEAH! ROADIE!" and the roadies just laughed. They seemed amused - either at the attention or just out of wonderment as to what the hell was wrong with American audiences. :] A couple of roadies even took center stage and made it a point to play a little extra riff just to solicit cheers from an overly eager crowd.

Finally though, the roadies cleared the stage, and this big guy (the 'Voice of Otakon' he called himself ^^U) came out and gave a short intro for the band.

"Welcome to Otakon presents L'Arc~en~Ciel: Live in USA!! They need no introduction, but as you may know, they just finished up a concert in Japan, and now have flown all the way here to Baltimore to play...for *you*...," he said is an overly melodramatic voice. We all screamed anyways.

"Here they are! Playing their first concert in America!

L'Arc~en~ciel!!" We all started standing and cheering. Everyone in the first two rows rushed the stage, so our group of four people climbed up a row to the 3rd row and kept on screaming. And then LArc just walked out onto the stage...Just walked out there amidst our screams and cheers and thunderous applause and took their positions on stage. It seemed kinda anti-climatic, but still...it was *so cool.* XD

Quick Rundown of the member's clothing:

Hyde was wearing a black mesh shirt with this red pleather overlay that these huge horizontal cuts in it. He was also wearing a small leather vest that couldnt have been very comfortable and didnt even extend past his chest. He had a very fancy-looking bracelet on maybe the same one he wore during Real Live?) and some tight snake-skin patterned leather pants. His hair was braided about 6 inches down on the right side. He was also sporting this cool black leather gauntlet/bracelet thing on his right wrist. Note: When Hyde first set foot on stage, he was ankle-length black coat that he discarded some time before the second song started up.

Tetsu was wearing long black pants and had a wrap-around skirt thingy that he wore over the pants. He was wearing a sleeveless shirt and was wearing a long black coat that he also discarded some time during the first few songs. He was wearing a white wristband.

Ken was wearing his trademark black wifebeater and some ugly jeans with these big white splotches all over them. Pretty much standard. Oh yah, one point of note. The PA guy had said before the concert that no smoking was allowed in the theater. So we were all like, "Well, what's Ken gonna do?" So when Ken strolled on stage, he was fiercely chewing a piece of gum. ^^ I wondered if that'd suffice for what was scheduled to be a 2-hr concert, but I guess he had little choice. (I know during the breaks Ken was prolly in the back sucking down three cigarettes at once to make up for it.)

Yukihiro was wearing a white mesh shirt over a long-sleeve black shirt. His hair was up in a pony tail on the side, and his head was wrapped in a (trademark) white and black bandana. He had about 4 or 5 platinum chains hanging from his neck that mustve been pretty heavy (they didnt seem to move at all while he played). I couldnt see what kind of pants he was wearing since he stayed quietly seated behind his kit the entire concert. ;_;

Everyone looked so young, even though they're pushing (or already pressed against) 35 by now.

The stage setup was pretty much standard - Tetsu on the left, Ken on the right, Hyde center-stage, and Yukihiro positioned right behind Hyde, nearly completely obscured (much to the dismay of his fans :/ ). There were several rows of stage lights suspended from a light array that extended along the entire length of the stage. The members all had backup 2-3 instruments in place behind the cabs and speakers, and Yuki even had an extra signature snare on-hand (I seriously considered how far I could get if I hopped on stage and took it as a souvenir). Tetsu and Ken's mic stands were lined with picks that would make nice (cheap) souvenirs for concert-goers lucky enough to catch them.

Anyhow, L'Arc appeared and immediately Ken started in with the familiar guitar riff for Seppun (or Kuchizuke or whatever). Hyde just stood there with his arms outstretched in typical Hyde fashion, wailing out of the first few lines and writhing in tandem. It was incredible. The lights began flashing white and then the whole light array began moving upward. Then just as the drums came in (*And to feel it, your desire, Show me Now~*), ::Pow!:: they set off the pyrotechnics along the front edge of the stage. Flames shot up about 10 feet into the air and burned for about 3 seconds. The heat was so intense, and everyone in the first few rows (myself included) took a step back. Everything was so loud, you could feel the bass and the bass drums pulsating through your body. Awesome. Yuki was playing like a madman, and Tetsu too; he didnt even sing his first chorus cue during the B section (you know, *Mayowazu~*). (I was worried for a second that he wouldnt do backup vocals at all during the song, but then he chimed in during the chorus, and all was well with the world.) Ken turned his back to the crowd for a few moments during the chorus. I couldn't tell whether he was tuning his guitar or just got *REALLY* into the music. With Ken, it could be either one...

***Anyhow, on to some extras ;>

Some time during the song, Ken caught sight of some girls in the rows right in front of him. He then spent the next few minutes whispering something to them, winking, and blowing kisses at them, completely neglecting the song itself (his hands werent even on the guitar for half the song). This one chick in particular that he was targetting was crying hysterically. I guess she was happy. *shrugs*

Before I continue, lemme give u guys a set list:

01. kuchizuke
02. Lover Boy
03. HEAVEN'S DRIVE
MC01 - Hyde
04. Spirit dreams inside
05. jiyuu e no shoutai
06. eien
07. kasou
08. hitomi no juunin
MC02 - Hyde
09. Driver's High
10. Feeling Fine
11. STAY AWAY
12. REVELATION
MC03 - Hyde
13. READY STEADY GO
-==break==-
MC04 - Ken
14. HONEY
15. Blurry Eyes
MC05 - Hyde
16. Pieces

(I think I got the MC's listed in the right places.)

Anyhow...Next song: Lover Boy. I, personally, think SMILE would have been 10 times better without this particular track, but it was still an incredible performance. During the end, Ken's guitar went on the fritz, and he walked over to a roadie who handed him another guitar that looked like a carbon copy of the first one.

After Lover Boy, the lights dimmed for a second and Hyde reappeared his trademark black Grestch guitar (God, that thing is *beautiful*), and immediately began their first non-SMILE track Heaven's Drive. A black curtain that shielded the back of the stage was retracted to reveal an enormous, bubbly-lettered "L'Arc~en~Ciel" banner featuring their mascot smiley in the middle (you know, the yellow smiley with the x-ed out eyes and the missing tooth). Right before they began playing, Hyde kinda looked a little unsure, like he wasnt certain that American audiences would know the song, but then the crowd was singing along, and everyone was jumping and screaming all at in an eerie unison, and the band really seemed to get into it, their fears alleviated, I guess.

When Heaven's Drive ended, Hyde finally piped up with his first MC. All in english! He took a deep breath and bellowed into the mic.

Hyde: Hello, America~!
crowd: *cheers*
Hyde: We are L'Arc~en~Ciel!
crowd: *cheers*
Hyde: Are you having fun?
crowd: *yes!*
Hyde: Are you having fun!?
crowd: *yes!!!*
Hyde: I'm having fun too.
crowd: *rabid cheers*
Hyde: Did you eat crabs?
crowd: ...[Silence]...Huh?
Hyde: Crabs!
crowd: *confused mumbling*
Hyde: [repeats] Crabs!

***More front row secrets!
At this point, Hyde looks down at the ground on his right. There are cheat sheets pasted all over the floor of the stage -- one had the set list, which Hyde consulted several times throughout the night, and the one to his right, I'm convinced, was his 'English MC Checklist'.

He very obviously consults it a couple more times, and glances briefly at Tetsu. Tetsu just laughs and shrugs, and Hyde lunges back in.

Hyde: Did-you-eat-KuRaBuSu? [He made sure to ennunciate every syllable this last time.]

crowd: [Kind of a mixed reaction. Some yes's some no's. I guess people didn't get the point that the answer didnt really matter (and none of us came to Baltimore to eat their stinky crabs anyways).] Hyde: I ate some too.

crowd: *cheers wildly*

Hyde: [disappears momentarily and then rematerializes with another guitar. It appears to be an acoustic-electric with a thin, smooth, wood-colored body. Kinda ugly actually.] Now is...

[glances over at Ken and then Yuki. (Did he forget the set order? I dont see how he could with that big guitar hangin' offa him.) Glances down at the set list cheat sheet] ...Spirit Dreams Inside.

They played the english version of SDI, and it went off without a hitch. During SDI, Ken started up with the flirting again, kissing and winking at anything that had (at least) two X chromosomes. The music didn't suffer from it though, I guess proving exactly how skilled Ken is as a guitar and a flirt. They finished up the song, leading immediately into Jiyuu e no Shoutai.

As soon as the intro riff for JenS started up, I was screaming so loud that I don't really remember if anything particularly interesting happened (I love that song). That, and I was watching Yukihiro during the entire performance (that drumline is insane! I must learn it!). The crowd was really pumping, and I think I (and several of my friends) all wore ourselves out during this performance.

The next song began with deep resonating tones and synth. The lights dimmed down so much that we could barely see the stage, much less any of the members on it. Everyone was looking around, trying to guess what was next. "Shinshoku?" "Loreley?" The thundering undertones seems vaguely reminiscent of what had preceded those songs in other concerts. But then, Yuki tapped the hi-hat twice to mark the tempo and signify the start of the song, and as the lights bathed everything in shades of green, everyone came in strong with 'Eien'. Awesome. The light show continued, and the scene was actually not unlike their Light My Fire performance of Loreley; Hyde moved his arms in lazy wave patterns while Ken wailed on his guitar with ample effects. (By the way, at the start of the solo, I think Ken was having more trouble with his guitar. The volume was really low and seemed to cut in and out indiscriminately.)

During Kasou, Tetsu finally woke up. Up until now, he had emmanated a rather conservative vibe. But during Kasou, he started his hop- scotch routine and migrated about the stage. He finally looked comfortable up there (not that Tetsu ever looks all that nervous). On a side note, I never realized how cool the bassline for that song is...Now that I have seen it live, I *must* learn it, and I don't even like the song all that much. Oh, and when Hyde did that off-key scream at the end, everyone in the audience screamed with him and then went nuts.

***Hitomi no Juunin. Tetsu got really hyped during this song, and then during the piano music just before Ken's solo, Tetsu stood solemnly with his right hand over his chest, his eyes shut, and his head down. I don't know if he was trying to calm himself, if he was really into the song, or if he just caught a glimpse of the American flag that was hanging in front of him. (He seriously looked to be deep in thought and emotion.)

Whatever. He had a *moment*. Then he leaned his head back, eyes still closed, and began playing. Weird, but so cool.

Oh, and Hyde hit EVERY SINGLE NOTE. I couldn't believe it. It was like the clock had been rolled back on years of smoking that were slowly eroding his vocal chords. He mustve drunk a gallon of olive oil or something. He sounded awesome during the entire concert. No regrets. When he hit those *really* high notes during the second chorus, everyone in the audience applauded and cheered. Damn. He can sing.

After that, the band disappeared for a quick break. When Hyde came back (eyes to cheat sheet), he began the next MC:

Hyde: I am...Evangelion!
crowd: *confused cheering*
Hyde: Evangelion!!
crowd: *more confused cheering*
Hyde: You know Evangelion?
crowd: *yeah!* (duh)
Hyde: You know...Going beserk!!
crowd: *cheering wildly*
Hyde: Beserk!!
Tetsu: *chuckling*
Yukihiro: *doing something boring* (Darn you, Yuki! At least LOOK at us. ;_;)
Hyde: Are you going beserk?!!
crowd: *yeah!!*
Hyde: [shaking his head] I am Evangelion!! Going BESERK!!!
Hyde: [pretends to shoot himself in the head with his finger] GOING BESERK!!!!
crowd: BESERK!!
Hyde: BESERK!!!!
crowd: BESERK!!!!! [thinking: Why are we screaming this?]
Hyde: (cheatsheet) Driver's High!

Best MC ever.

After the starting riff, Ken came in about half a second late with the intro melody (or maybe his guitar was screwing up again), but quickly caught up with himself. Tetsu was playing like crazy, and Yukihiro was a drumming fiend! I think it was during this song that Tetsu walked over to Yukihiro (his back to the crowd) and played along with him for a moment. Yuki's face erupted into an infectious smile. Hyde sang all the lyrics to the first chorus, but after he realized that the crowd knew the song, he turned the mic over to us for the "Clash!" and "Flash!" parts, and we all happily sang along. All the members were very active during the song, roaming all about the stage.

At some point (I actually think it was near the beginning of the song, and I think it was this song. Correct me, if Im wrong), Tetsu wound up on the right side of the stage. He was playing calmly when all of a sudden Hyde wandered up behind him and laid his head on Tetsu's left shoulder. Everybody cheered. Hyde then reached his non- mic hand up underneath Tetsu's frettin' arm and began rubbing Tetsu's chest. Tetsu showed absolutely no reaction during the event, and just looked at Hyde and laughed as Hyde retreated. Kinda freaky, right? Fan service for the American fans? Or maybe from behind Tetsu and Megumi look exactly alike. My sis and I just looked at each other like "Holy Crap, did Hyde just do what I think he did? o.0) Quite unexpected.

The song was nearly over, and all attentions turned to Ken, who had just attempted to start up the outro riff. Again, the volume of the guitar began to fluctuate, and as a roadie approached Ken to switch out guitars *again*, Ken slowly lifted the uncooperative instrument up, ducked his neck from underneath the strap, and then angrily slammed the guitar into the floor! o.O He then turned and unceremoniously kicked the newly wrecked guitar into the stage-side speakers! As the song ended (completely guitarless, at this point), the aforementioned roadie timidly handed Ken (another) identical guitar (again).

'Feeling Fine' was next, and the audience clapped along with Yuki's enthusiatic beats. Hyde once again lent us the mic during the choruses. "Are you feelin' fine?" we all screamed. Hyde must have been getting a little tired since he also directed the microphone our way during the "Loving you made me happy everyday" parts. In fact, we were singing so much of the song, that I guess Hyde got lost during the second chorus and forgot the words.
crowd: ~Are you feelin' fine?~
Hyde: ~Nemuri...la-la-laa...Laa-la la!
Hyde: ~Laa l-la l-la la la laaa... She said...~
crowd: ~Loving you made me happy everyday~
Heh.
I also think it was during this song that Hyde launched a couple of bottles of water into the audience. I don't know where they landed...all I know is that I got Hyde's backwash water all over my face, and it was pretty gross... >.< On a brighter note, I was burning up at the time, and the water *was* nicely chilled. Why couldnt he have tossed me a nice *unopened* bottle of water??

'Feeling Fine' led into 'Stay Away,' and Hyde left it to Tetsu sing most of the chorus, as usual. More pyrotechnic effects, and everyone tried to do the Hong Kong claps (you know, the one from Dive to Blue) during the choruses. It was an interesting addition, and it didn't quite match Yuki's rhythm, but after a moment, even Hyde tried out the clap (with varying success while he was singing and darting across stage). When the bridge before Ken's solo started up, all the band members were so lively. Tetsu was playing so hard and began leaping across the stage and head-banging; Hyde joined Tetsu in the head-banging and began spinning around so wildly I thought for sure he'd lose his balance. He kept it together though. Most awesome band ever. Ken's solo was all improv (I never seem to like what he does to the Stay Away solo in concert...oh well), and Tetsu's bass solo was textbook.

The drums roared during REVELATION (Yuki seems to play so much harder during his own songs). Hyde came up to the front of the stage and leaned out over the crowd, just out of reach of the people in the front row. If he'd leaned in even an inch closer, I'm sure one of the Japanese chicks would have dragged him into the crowd and spat out his bones. Hyde once again turned to us to fill in the shouts during the chorus. Everyone is the crowd jumped and pounded the air with cries of "Yuiga Dokuson!" and "REVELATION~!" And of course, we all yelled along with the band during the "YEAH!" parts.

I think it was after this song (or somewhere where-abouts) that Tetsu quietly approached the left front side of the stage and just broke out in some amazing bass riff. He hit this loud last tone, and the crowd erupted into thunderous roar. Without saying anything, Tetsu wandered front and center and then started up another quick solo. He popped the last string, and was met with another wave of adoration and applause. He finally found himself at the front right side of the stage, and cranked out one last improv before silently retreating back to the left back part of the stage and allowing Hyde to take over. There was no reason for it; it was just freakin' cool, and the whole time Tetsu had this "Ken-look" on his face like he was in another world. "In another world" looks so good on Tetsu though. XD

By the time Tetsu finished, everyone was successfully sweaty and hot, and I, for one, appreciated the all-to-brief break for another MC:

Hyde: Are you having fun?!
crowd: *cheers*
Hyde: I'm having fun too!!
crowd: *screams and cheers*
Hyde: Are you having fun??!
crowd: *continues cheering*
Hyde: We love you, America!!
crowd: *cheering wildly*
Hyde: Yeah! C'mon, baby! Are you ready??
crowd: *Yes!*
Hyde: Are you ready?!
crowd: *Yes!*
Hyde: Are you fucking READY??! (Did Hyde just curse? 0.o)
crowd: *YES!!!*
Hyde: Ready Steady Go!!

Immediately Yuki and Ken come in with the intro to Ready Steady Go! The two suspended screens that had hung dormant on either side of the stage since the start of the concert suddenly sprung to life as Funimation grasped yet another opportunity to advertise. Full Metal Alchemist clips played through the performance. It was a little annoying, but hey, whatever. I think everyone was a little glad to finally get RSG out of the way. Don't get me wrong, I love the song, but the way Tofu had been pimping it all weekend, you couldnt walk five feet without hearing the damned thing blasting from some oversized speaker setup somewhere. The performance was still cool of course, and Ken added about 300 extra notes to the solo, increasing its coolness at least a hundred fold. ;>

The song complete, Hyde returned the mic to its stand, and with a very clearly ennunciated "Thank you," he and the others fled backstage. The stage lights dropped to mood lighting again, and thunderous chants of "L'Arc~en~Ciel" began to fill the arena. The people in the second row stands all began stomping so hard that it sounded as though the building was about to collapse. My sis and I tried to get a chant of "P'unk~en~Ciel" started, but that was no good. Roadies periodically appeared and adjusted equipment, retuned instruments, and restocked picks. The crowd again cheered at every note that escaped. The roadies just laughed. This was probably more attention then they were used to getting.

About 20 minutes later, the stage lit up, and Ken appeared wearing a dolphin mouth mask on his face and a small, yellow duck-bill-shaped duck whistle around his neck. He grabbed the mic, put the whistle to his lips and blew as hard as he could. Everyone mysteriously cheered. Ken tooted out a few notes, and the crowd cheered again. He repeated the note rhythm (3 short toots), and then paused. I guess he wanted to the crowd to mirror his rhythm, but no one seemed to catch on, and they just began cheering randomly again. Ken readjusted his mask and announced "No!". He blew the same rhythm again. Again random cheering. He repeated, "NO!" At some point during this whole to-do, Hyde, Tetsu, and Yuki snuck back on-stage. Yuki planted himself behind his drumkit (big suprise), Tetsu draped himself over a stage amp (wearing a new Mukimpo shirt ^_^), and Hyde took a seat next to him. Ken played another rhythm. The crowd *again* ignored him and screamed indiscriminately. Tetsu looked up and started laughing. "Never!" he called. He then blew one long note, and the crowd, finally up to speed, cheering for about the same amount of time. Ken gave us the thumbs-up, and praised us with "YEAH~~!" He began walking about and stopped center-stage.
Ken: Who am I?
Crowd: Ken!
Ken: Who am I?
Crowd: *Ken!*
Ken: [wandering about] No!
Ken then went on this long rant in totally confident, albeit slightly unintellible, english about how he came from Baltimore Aquarium, and he was swimming, swimming, swimming, and something else. He then went back to his original question.
Ken: *Who am I?*
Crowd: [slightly unsure] Ken!?
Ken: No! [points at his mask] Dolphin~.
Crowd: [confused laughter]
Ken then stepped aside, removing his mask and whistle. (Everyone screamed when we could finally see his face again. Maybe we were just hoping he'd throw the mask and duck whistle, but he didn't...the punk..) He began again.

Ken: Welcome to Otakon!
[Note: Baltimore has this tour service called 'Duck Boat Tours' or something like that. If you've ever walked around the downtown area, you see the darn things chugging by, packed full of tourists.
Apparently, when you take the tour, you get this dumb little duck whistle for free, and all the tourists blow them at pedetrians as they whiz by. So...apparently, L'Arc (or at least Ken) went on this duck boat tour some time during their visit. Gah! I just think about how many of those boat-cars I saw go zooming by...Could L'Arc have been on one of them?? ;_;]

Ken: [continuing] Are you having fun?
Crowd: *YEAH!!*
Ken: We hope you enjoy!
Crowd: *more cheering*
Ken: Yeah! We're L'Arc~en~Ciel!! Best band IN THE WORLD!!! (<---
He actually said this. ^^U)

Crowd: *cheering in agreement*

Ken took his place on stage, as did Tetsu, and Hyde appeared with his black Gretsch again (I love that thing!). The first few lines of Honey were drowned out by the fangirlish cheering that erupted from the front rows when everyone realized what song was up. I guess the band was rejuvenated by their short intermission, and the performance was very energetic. Hyde sang the wrong lyrics to the last verse again. Heh. Guess they weren't too rejuvenated...

Next song: Blurry Eyes! Hyde traded out his guitar for a little black whistle, which he sounded right at the start of the song. He spun it overhead for a moment and then let it go flying into the crowd. Pretty moot, right? Here's where things got interesting...

***The whistle landed in the third row (my row) to my right. A couple of my guy friends actually caught it, and it seemed all was right with the world until 2 Japanese girls -- one who was in the second row and one who wearing a kimono and sitting next to them -- tried to snatch it from them. A fight ensued. The girl in the second row had a firm grip on the string, so firm that when the kimonoed girl began pulling at her length of cord, the entire row of seats in front of us began to collapse. My sister and I are desperately trying to hold the seats up and avoid being crushed beneath flying chairs and fighting fangirls. The girl in the front row finally released the whistle, so now just my two guy friends (the original owners) and the kimono-chick were squaring off. My other girl friend tried to help out to return the whistle to its rightful owners, but the Japanese girl began scratching and clawing at everyone. My sister and I, finally having stabilized the chairs, looked over to find that my friend had hooked her arm around the Japanese chick's neck and locked it underneath her chin, holding her opponent in a full-fledged headlock! I kinda just stood there dumbfounded at the whole thing (I didn't learn all of the details until after the concert), and watched the four of them thrashing around until the Japanese girl finally freed herself from the headlock and wrestled the whistle away from the guys. And then there were two.

The stranger yanked on the cord, dragging my friend over several feet, and then kept repeating "Let go! I have it! Let go!" My friend had an equally good grip on the whistle, so they were at a stalemate for several more mintues.
Let me just mention, by the way, that when the fight first broke out, Hyde glanced our direction and looked a little surprised, but then he meandered over to the other side of the stage and probably pretended he didn't see anything. Well, after a few more moments, my friend said that the girl was crazy, and she just gave up the whistle. "It wasn't worth it," she said. The girl in the kimono, claiming victory, bundled up the whistle in her hands, pressed the 50-cent souvenir against her chest, and stared at it FOR THE REST OF THE CONCERT. (That was 45 more minutes.) *Geez*
Incidentally, after the concert finished up, we had a brief conversation with the Japanese girl from row 2 who had possessed the whistle oh-so-briefly. She held up her arm to show us why she had relinquished her length of string. About six inches of skin had been peeled off her arm in a deep fingernail-shaped trench. The back side of her arm also had deep red whelps where someone's nails had just broken the skin. We asked her who how it had happened, and she indicated that the girl in the kimono had done it. So basically, that girl's gonna have a scar for the rest of her life. All that for a used whistle. Scary, ne?***
Anyhow, so the song went on, of course when they stopped in the middle, everyone began screaming. I think Hyde said a few words, but I really don't remember (I was still getting over the whistle incident). Tetsu mischeviously wandered over to a roadie, retrieved 2 pieces of fruits, and stood deviously at the edge of the stage. Tetsu: [taking a deep breath and raising the fruit slowly overhead. slowly but surely enunciating]...Do you want to eat my banana? (Tetsu's english is so cute.)
Crowd: *No, but throw the damn fruit anyways~!*
Tetsu repeated the sentence again and then launched the "mukimpos" into the crowd. One landed 2 rows behind me, and there was almost a repeat of the whistle finasco, but the girl who caught it ripped it away from any other grabby hands, drew back her lips into a snarl, and successfully fended off her attackers.
Hyde threw another whistle into the crowd. I couldnt really see where it landed, but I assumed things were a lot less vicious. The song started back up again, and came to an uneventful close. I hear that Hyde threw his tiny not-a-vest into the crowd too, but I missed it. :/

Hyde approached the mic for his final MC of the night:

Hyde: Are you having fun?
crowd: [thinking] Didn't we answer this question already??
Hyde: Are you having fun??
crowd: *mindless cheering*
Hyde: Thank you, America! Thank you, Baltimore!
Hyde: [looks around at Ken and Yuki again] Last song. Pieces.

A nice calming song like Pieces was a welcome close to the night's festivities. I glanced over at the whistle-thief, and she was *still* clutching that damned whistle to her chest and stroking it like it was a wedding gift or something. (Hyde's married, honey.)
The song ended. Before exiting, Ken took the opportunity to fling a four or five picks into the audience. He specifically targetted the girls he had been flirting with all night. Another one of my friends ended up with one; it was green and said "L'Arc~en~Ciel" on one side and had an SD picture of Ken doing a peace symbol on the other side. Tetsu tosses a couple more of his oversized picks too. Actually, Tetsu had been flinging picks all night, pretty much one after every song. Problem was he threw *every* pick in the *exact* *same* *place*. Darn you, Tetsu. ::shakes a clenched fist:: There's probably some lucky L'Arc fan walking around with a pocketful of oversized Tetsu picks.
Finally, the four retreated off-stage. Yukihiro gave a brief (almost forced) wave to the crowd, and then disappeared into the darkness. We all hung around for a moment, hoping that they would reappear and play an encore, but then some roadies materialized and started tearing down Yuki's drumkit, so we figured that was it.
We slowly made our way out of the arena. We were all exhausted, but it was definitely a good feeling. We all stumbled out (we jumped around so much we could barely walk), and then stood around outside talking about the concert for next half hour or so before we finally dispersed.

So, all-in-all, amazing concert. Seriously. Absolutely phenomenal. Hyde said he couldnt imagine there really being dedicated LArc fans in America. Well, there ya go, Hyde. We showed you there are 10,000+. XD The Tofu Records lady (the nice one) said that when she had dinner with LArc later that night (yah, I know...she got to have dinner with them!), Ken said he was very pleased with the concert. :D I hope that echoes the other members' views as well. It was so amazing. I would definitely go see them again, waste all that money, fight off fangirls, and stand in line for another 6 hours just to see them. No doubt. I might even go to Baltimore again (even if it is the absolute worst city I have ever visited). I just hope next time L'Arc is 'live in USA', they decide to be 'live in Orlando' as well. ^_~

-Tet,
aka SuperLove & Sonroh1