Amaranthe & Kobra and the Lotus in Salt Lake City 2013

Hi world!

I am still so sore and tired after this amazing concert!! I'm so happy I got to go and meet most of the band members!!



First in line!!

 

 

Amaranthe & Kobra and the Lotus Salt Lake City July 26th 2013

 

Like always I was first in line! Yay! I noticed that the Utah "crowd" is a little boring and slow, we got to "In the Venue" around 11:00 and before getting there I was a little freaking out thinking that maybe there were some other people already there, but no, we were the first ones!

 

I went with my boyfriend and his best friend aka the brother in law "BiL". (and if you are wondering they both are Asians *nods*)



Family in line!

 

We were fine for the first two hours since there was lots of shade but then the evil sun started to reach us!

Ok so these are the bad things about waiting in line:

• Utah is a desert
• It's in the middle of summer
• No near restrooms around
• No near stores around to get water
• It felt like an oven
• We were starting to talk nonsense since we were so dehydrated
• Sunburn (I applied sunscreen SPF 80 though)

It was really hard to be there but we really want to support the bands and show them that we appreaciate them and go there early.

 

Sun was so strong and no clouds around, we tried to stay in the shadows as much as we could but BiL just stayed under the sun O.o the whole day!!! Bf and I drank some natural/organic energy drinks that don't make you crush and we offered one to BiL but he didn't want o.O

 

We saw Kobra Paige (Kobra and the Lotus' vocalist) and she was so sweet!! asking us if we were ok under this evil sun! we saw the other members from Kobra and the Lotus but we honestly didn't want to bother them asking for pictures because you can see they are getting ready for the show so yeah it's better not bother them. Everytime Kobra passed by us she asked us if we were fine and that was so sweet of her! Seriously a beautiful girl inside and out!

 

Elize Ryd (Amaranthe's Vocalist) came and asked us if we were fine as well! I guess we were looking like death by that time haha but that was sweet ot her!

 

I got to talk with Charlie Parra del Riego! He's big in the metal industry as well and it was nice to talk with him in Spanish since he is Peruvian, he's such a down to earth person!

 

Around 5 people started to come so I guess we arrived 6 hours earlier lol anyways by that time I was way too hot and getting a little scared to get a heat stroke!! Elize came and asked me if I needed something like sneakers, skittles fruit or water, of course I didn't want to ask for anything but I thanked her for being so thoughtful!

 

The guys of "In the Venue" were kind enough to give us some free headphones :) I guess being dedicated pays off :) it felt good that they noticed that we were there all excited and we were able to wait under the evil sun just to see our bands!

 

Honestly this felt like VIP talking and interacting with the members throughout the day!!

 

Around 6:30 we went inside the venue and it was a little small (my first time at "In the Venue") we got our place right in the front and they were still doing the soundcheck and man my ears were killing me! fortunately I had tissue so I made my own earplugs, I love concerts but I don't want to be deaf! my bf used his earphones as earplugs and he was fine, we gave the BiL some tissued so he can make some earplugs but he didn't want >.>

 

Bf went to Kobra and the Lotus booth and bought us a copy of their album and it kick ass! great music! I feel blessed we got to interact with them!!

 

Kobra and the Lotus 2013 Summer Tour

 

Kobra and the Lotus Salt Lake City Setlist

1. Nayana
2. No rest for the Wicked
3. Welcome to my Funeral
4. Forever
5. Heaven's Veins
6. Sanctuary
7. My life
8. Dark Passenger
9. 50 Shades of Evil

Their show was strong and raw! Kobra has a powerful voice and the other members are sooo talented! they really did an amazing job!

 



Kobra Paige



Kobra and Charlie



Charlie Parra del Riego



Charlie Parra del Riego



Kobra Paige

 



Jasio Kulakowski and Charlie Parra del Riego

Too bad I couldn't get pics of the other members :( it sucks!! but it was very difficult from where I was! :(



In the break within bands we got to rest a little and I noticed that BiL was so out! he was really tired and I don't think he got to enjoy either concerts too much :/ poor guy!


Amaranthe "The Nexux" 2013 US Tour

Amaranthe Salt Lake City Setlist

1. Invisible
2. Leave Everything Behind
3. 1.000.000 Lightyears
4. Serendipity
5. Afterlife
6. Infinity
7. Burn With Me
8. Mechanical Illusion
9. Rain
10. The Nexus
11. Amaranthine
12. Electroheart
13. Callout my name
14. Automatic
15. Hunger

Great show! It was sooo nice to actually see them performing! one of my goals in life! Elize did great! Andy didn't come but Henric came in his place and I think he did awesome!! Jake broke his elbow but my respects to him for playing in that condition!




Jake



Elize Ryd



Henric and Elize



Master Olof!!



Jake! Best Picture ever!!



Jake and Elize Ryd



Olof!! Master!!



Jake looking great!!



Henric is such a great person!!



Elize Ryd



Henric and Jake



Olof and Elize



Too blurry :(



Jake



Olof



Olof and Elize



Olof and Elize

It was a great show of both bands and I feel really honored with the fact I saw them that close!!
The aftershow was the best though! we took lots of pics with both bands but those are in my boyfriend's phone :(

Things I learned from this concert:

• Avoid sun as much as I can and use sunscreen.
• Have a natural energy drink to keep me going the whole day.
• Earplugs.

I'm sure I would have been dead if I didn't do those things! Too bad BiL was under the sun the whole day, didn't want the energy drink and earplugs ... he was totally dead :(

I love concerts so much! and I can't wait to see these two bands in the future! and I'm sure that will happen in a bigger venue! They do have all the potential to conquer the world!

Now I'm looking forward to Kamelot's concert in September!! :D

Well it's time to keep sleeping now lol ... My neck is so sore!!  >_<

Have a metal day!!

T.

Rain Officially Discharged from the Military

So I was waiting for this day!!



Rain Military Photo

On the morning of July 10th Rain (real name Jung Ji-Hoon, 31 years old) got officially discharged form his 24 month military service. Rain had been served in the service support troop, part of the Defense Ministry, since he was transferred to the troop last March after he was enlisted into the army on October 2011.



Rain getting discharged from the military

At his discharged were around 800 fans (lucky!!!) and around 100 reporters from all over asia.

Rain's Fans from all around the world

Rain didn't have a long discharge event, he only said "I thank all of you for coming out to see me. I am always thankful and I will continue to do my best", I guess this is also because all the ups and downs of his service, his military service had a lot of controversy like going to see Kim Tae Hee, his confirmed girlfriend, and taking way too many days off and getting punished or like the latest one (unlike Hyun Bin who was discharged from the Navy with the highest honors)



Rains getting discharged



Rain saluting

 

Rain getting discharged from the military

 

Right after his release Rain went straight to see his mom's grave, He also went to see her a day before his enlistment 2011 :). His mom had diabetes but didn't get the adequate treatment since they were too poor and she died in 2000.



Rain visits his mom's grave after his release

Rain signed with Cube Entertainment, so I guess the rumors about him with Jay-Z weren't true, we will have to wait a little more though ...

I'm excited for his new projects either in his music career or acting one. I can't really wait to see what he will do next!



I can't wait for new projects!!

I can't write a Song of the Week entry without any music so here is one of my favorite songs

Bi Rain - With U



I love this song so much and look how adorable he is!!
He was also featured in another "Song of the Week" entry here in my blog, check it out HERE !!!

Have a Rainy day!!

T.

Bi Rain - I do

Rain is hands down my favorite Korean singer <3

UPDATE: don't forget to read Bi Rain officially discharged from the military HERE !! :)

Rain looking so handsome <3

Rain - I do: I don't know why I listened to this song non-stop this past week. It's soooo old school lol but it's still really nice and relaxing.




My Last.fm shows that I only listened to Rain this past week (and no other singer or band o__O) and it's quite shocking lol I can't complain though I love the boy!

He'll be discharge from his military service on July 10th so I'm quite excited to see what his new projects will be like in the future! There are rumors that Jay-Z wants to work with Rain but we will see if that's really true in the coming weeks.

Do you like Rain? :D

Have a Rainy day!

T.

Psy - Gentleman Explained

So this is Psy latest music video and it is filled with lots of Korean culture. Thanks to kdramas ( I know I know lol ) I learned a lot about Korean culture and I decided to explain some of the things that we see in throughout the video.





The main point in the video is that Psy is a rich guy who is a total jerk and you can see the irony in the tittle because he's not a gentleman at all.

The dance that Psy does is called the "Arrogant Dance" which first was introduced by Brown Eyed Girls



Arrogant Dance

Who are the celebrities we see in Gentleman?

Just like Gangnam Style we see a lot of celebrities in this video.

The main girl is Ga-in and she is from Brown Eyed Girls and as I mentioned before that is the group that first introduced the Arrogant Dance.



Ga-in and Psy

This guy is Haha who is a singer and a comedian.



Haha and Psy

The guy in yellow is Yoo Jae Suk (who also appeared in Gangnam Style) He is a popular TV host



Psy and Yoo Jae Suk

There are other five more guys  in the video and along with these two they are part of this TV show called Infinite Challenge



Infinite Challenge crew

What are the Korean foods we see in Gentleman?

If you had watched Korean dramas you may notice that the characters always go this kind of food trucks/tents which are called "Po Jang Ma Cha" where they usually buy Soju beer and street food :)



Food was great!!



You can see Soju (green) and Beer (brownish)

 

 

What is that big noodle that Psy is holding and eating? It's a rice cake called Garraetteok and it's used to make another dish called Tteokbokki which you can see in the table with a red/orange sauce

 

Psy eating Garraetteok

 



Ga-in eating Tteokbokki

 

 

Here Psy is eating Udong that is  simple hot noodle soup.

Psy eating Udong

 

 

Ga-in is eating Eomukbar which is a fish cake on a stick.

 

Ga-in eating fish cake

 

What are the places where Gentleman was shot?

These scenes are taking at the Seoul Metropolitan Library.

 

Fart Prank at the Seoul Metropolitan Library

This scene was filmed under the Mapo Bridge which is located in Yeouido



Psy Gentleman

Why "Wet Psy"?



Wet Psy

Gonna make you sweat. Gonna make you wet, You know who I am "Wet Psy" 

In the variety show "Infinite Challenge" Psy lifted his arms to reveal his sweaty armpits. And yeah Sweaty armpits = Wet Psy


I have a headache after writing all this haha but it was fun to recognize many things that I watched in Kdramas and personal research :)
I hope you can watch the video again and know some of the things I explained here :)
Would you like to add something that I miss? Please do so in the comments below! :)

Have a good day!

T.