My ticket number was 843. I was worried. The line was long. I was at the very end.

I was relieved to find that the place wasn't completely filled when I got in. And I had forgotten that I was above Japan's average headline so I could see the stage clearly.

When the lights dimmed, the crowd went absolutely crazy...

The Show

The show was great. I must say that they are awesome live. You could tell that the band has been playing together for a long time because they are extremely tight. The way they started and ended each song was almost flawless. The band opened with "Through With You". They played almost all the songs off of their album. "Not Coming Home" sounded great (A live track on special editions of Songs About Jane). Of course the house came down when they played "This Love", the entire place was singing. They rocked the house with "Harder To Breathe" and brought the mood down with "She Will Be Loved" and "Sweetest Goodbye".

I have to say that I was extremely pleased with the show. The main reason is that on their records, Maroon 5 is borderline a boy band. Their songs are sweet and light and extremely radio friendly. But when they performed their songs live, it kicked ass. The distortion of the guitars came out, and they literally ROCKED. I couldn't contain myself during "Harder to Breathe" and I was jumping up and down to the beat. Even their sweeter tunes had a certain "Umph" to it.

There were a couple of surprises during the show.

1. The introduction to the song "Shiver" was "I Want You (Shes So Heavy)" By The Beatles. This was such a great surprise for me, being raised on The Beatles.

2. The Lead vocalist got on the drum set and the drummer took up a guitar and sang "Highway To Hell" by AC/DC. They played this song at the end of their Encore. This song brought the house down more than any other song they performed. It just goes to show that classic rock is, classic.

The show overall was very statisfying. No 5 hour solos, no long talks, just one tight song after the other, with a couple of surprises. They deserve to be one of the most succesful bands of recent history.

Today I will be going to Osaka to watch Maroon 5 at Big Cat in Shinsaibashi. I enjoy their music quite a lot (Although a lot of their songs sounds the same). I kind of feel it's a shame that they are so over played now. I was actually first introduced to them before they got so big. I guess it's good for the band. But I think a lot of bands lose credibility (and not to mention fans) when they become mainstream. Oh well, nevertheless I will enjoy tonight's show!

Concert review to be posted...

Enjoy the side bar updates.

Check out the flash in particular.

Burger King...

This is a recent picture of friends I've had since Kindergarten.

As many of you know, Jon and Gen are at CA with me. The Third one, Sage, is studying in Tazmania of all places. These guys have been literally more like brothers than friends (I know that's extremely corny). My father kindly calls us the usual suspects. I can literally talk to them about anything, but I usually don't have to because they usually already know what I'm thinking.

On Friday night I went out with some friends. Over a udon dinner we had a very long conversation about our so far, "Life expreriences" (mostly concerning relationships).

Afterwords I met up with Jon to start our long journey back to Kyoto. We spoke about each other's evenings. As I nodded off to sleep I had a thought...

I compared my relatively "New" friends, to "The Guys" who I've known for more than 10 years. The scary part was that I didn't notice much of a difference in how close I was to either of them.

What is it that makes people close? Is it time? Well, if that were the case why do I feel the same closeness to both groups of friends? One of who I've only known for a little over 2 years and another who I've known for the majority of my life. If it was time, what about those people who you have known for ages that you are just not close with?

What is it? I guess its silly to try and pinpoint it to one factor. There are a lot of variables.

But nevertheless, here is my own silly little theory.

Sharing.

I don't mean sharing as in, "You can have some of my jello Cindy!" What I mean is sharing of experiences, emotions, memories, secrets, thoughts and so on and so forth. The more two people share the more connections they make. And the more connections they make, the closer they become.

So I guess time can effect how much you share with someone, as would many of the variables I've tried to pinpoint.

I've shared many things with the usual suspects as I have with the friends I have made at CA these past two years.

Share. Connect. Enjoy.

Sounds like a internet add.