Okay, as you guys are all too aware, I ~love~ the all-girl indies
band Eyes=Mirrorge! And their last live of the year -- to be followed
by a band + fans aftershow party -- was scheduled for today at Meguro
Live Station.
A
few days ago, I emailed them and reserved my tickets.
This
morning, I downloaded a map to the place, and I double-checked the
train map for the best way to get there from my house (Odakyu line
to Shinjuku, then Yamanote line to Meguro, 29 minutes total.)
At
3:30pm I'm all dressed up and ready to go. The sun is shining. My
E=M armband is hanging off my sleeve perfectly. I'm even having a
good hair day. Everything's perfect!
I
get to the Live Station easily -- it's close to the train station,
and there's a clear, well-lit, black-and-white English sign that says
"The Live Station" right by the door. It's 4:30 -- I'm not
sure what time the show starts, I figure around 5pm at the earliest
-- so I go downstairs to check. "When's the show start?"
"It starts at 5:15" the guy says over the noise of a band
doing soundcheck beyond the door. I tingle with anticipation!
With
45 minutes to kill, I head to the Rock Maykan, another live house,
on the opposite side of the tracks. Fatima is doing a one-man there,
starting at 7pm. I file that in my memory, head to the nearby visual
shop Third Stage, and check out the used CDs and DVDs on hand. They
have a bunch of cool stuff, but all only 20% less than the original
selling price... and nothing I'm in desperate need of... so, pass,
for now. I also check out the Third Stage heavy metal annex, on the
second floor of an apartment building a couple doors over. Inside
it's dusty, cramped confines I find a whole lot o' nuthin'.
I
hit McDonalds, because it's cold outside and I need warmth for a few
minutes. I order a McPita. I am handed "Chicken Bits" (actual
name) instead, but they're more or less the same price, so I accept
them. I sit by the window and read four or five pages of John Le Carre's
Single & Single, my current paperback-for-train-rides (much
better than the first time I read it five years ago) as I munch on
the Chicken Bits (they're like popcorn shrimp, only not shrimp, and
crunchy). At 5:12, I head back to the club, a minute away.
One
band, in jeans, is setting up their merch table on the steps, but
otherwise, the place is kinda quiet. I pass them with an I-acknowledge-your-presence
type of nod and head towards the ticket stand, and say to the ticket
guy, "Hi, I'm on the Eyes=Mirrorge ticket list." And he's
like, "Huh?" Which is normal, because I have yet to reserve
tickets in advance and use them to get in the door smoothly. (When
you reserve in advance, you don't get an actual ticket, just your
name on a list, and you pay at the door. Which seems simple, but various
factors -- who has the list? who wrote the list? who has the tickets?
who gets the cash? -- complicate the matter. An inability to communciate
in the predominant language doesn't help either.
So
I point to the wads of tickets in separate envelopes and/or piles
and repeat, "Eyes=Mirrorge. Ticket." And add a smile, and
a cute head tilt for good measure. And he says something like, "They're
finished."
"Huh?"
I check my watch. It's 5:15, the right time. And the wall clock says
so too. So I'm like, "Eh?"
And
he explains: "They were here at 1pm. It was an afternoon show.
It's over now."
And
I am crushed.
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