It began Wednesday, December 8, 2010. I was diligently working on my Film Studies final (snort, yeah right) when I received a text message from my friend Emily Bunner and it was as simple a text message as you can get: it asked "Do I like Rammstein?" Now, I was no stranger to Rammstein. I was first introduced to them when I saw them playing in the beginning of that Vin Diesel movie (the one where he does all those stunts and stuff). Anyways, I'm pretty sure everyone knows their song "Feuer Frei (bang, bang)." I mean, how can you not? At the same time, I had only heard two of their songs, the one I mentioned before and their song "Du Hast." So, this is what I told her (more or less).
She then proceeded to tell me that they were playing a concert and I was invited to go. So I said fine, without even thinking. It's been a while since I've been to a metal concert and I've been aching to go to one (well, Blind Guardian is playing next week so I guess that counts but still). So I say yes and she begins to explain the situation.
Apparently, a friend of hers was a huge fan of Rammstein and needed someone to go with her because her friend who was supposed to go apparently bailed. And since she knew I loved heavy metal, she thought of me and texted me. Now, to be on someone's mind immediately brightened my day and I listened intently for the details. She continued by saying that I wouldn't need to buy a ticket, it'd be on Saturday night and her mother would be driving them from Harrisonburg to New York City and back and...
Wait, what? The concert was all the way in New York City? Seriously? I immediately checked when they'll be back because I had a final on Monday that I needed to go to BWHAAHAHAHAHA I'm joking that final doesn't count for sh!t. But still! I had a final due on Wednesday that I needed to both study for and work on. Emily answered by saying that they would leave on Sunday morning back to Harrisonburg. Suffice it to say, I was in a bit of a pickle. Should I go to a Rammstein concert all the way in New York City or not? .52 seconds later, I said yes. It wasn't really that big of a decision.
So now the problem was this: I was going to a heavy metal concert with a girl I had never met before in my life. So, Emily gave me the girl's name and number and I did the next sensible thing: I texted a random girl instead of call her. Yeah, I'm manly like that (rolls eyes). She texted me back and I was pleasantly surprised to learn she was a pretty nice girl. Through text, I mean. Anyways, I proceeded with the next phase of Operation: Rammstein Concert and friended this girl named Eden Parks on FaceBook. My first thought was that she had lovely, curly hair that looked like they could spring if I pulled on them. Looking back, I forgot to do that.
Anyways, we started making plans to meet up so it wouldn't be a awkward first meeting when she rolls up to my apartment to pick me up at 8:00 in the morning on Saturday. We thought about meeting up to see The Warrior's Way on Friday night (because I appear to be one of two people in the United States that liked that movie). That fell through however, so we decided to just meet at the Barnes 'n' Nobles Friday night around 5. First of all, I had no idea that people still used Barnes 'n' Nobles as a meeting point. That was another pleasant surprise. I guess this entire adventure was just full of pleasant surprises.
Anyways, Thursday night, I was working my @ss off on my Film Studies final. Eventually, I was up till 5:30 am working on it and then I had class at 10:05 so I got little sleep. As soon as I got home on Friday, I went straight to sleep, keeping in mind that I had to meet Emily and Eden at BnN at 5pm. When I woke up, my music on my laptop was still blaring, my cell phone was rining and it was 5:40. F**************CK!!!!!!!!!
So, I rushed down that street to BnN, still bleary eyed from sleep. Not exactly a good first impression on a girl when you're late (giggity). Still, I got there and I finally met Eden., who was with Emily. We said two words and we moved on like it wasn't that big a deal. After we exchanged pleasantries, we moved around the BnN, looking at books, manga and graphic novels. That entire time was basically just the two of us getting to know each other, I guess, since she was going to take me to the concert. Still, I learned she liked manga as well, though we never really talked about it.
Anyways, we went to a nearby pizza shop and we talked about god knows what, I forget. Just small talk as we got to know each other. Made her laugh so that was a good sign. Overall, I was feeling good about the entire affair. She was nice, I was trying my darndest to be nice so it all worked out. Emily and I went back to her place and we hung out for a little longer, just talking, looking at YouTube videos, watching Emily hit on Eden a little and overall, it was a nice experience (totally jk-ing).
Anyways, I went back to my aparment, packed up some and went straight to sleep, but I was still a little too excited to sleep. Not only was I going to New York City, the Big Apple to see Rammstein, I was going to it with a girl and her mom who I had never met before (I should say this: the reason her mom was going with us is because Eden's car was too "sketchy" to drive. Her words, not mine).
So, I woke up the next morning promptly at 6:30. Thinking I was awake, I turned off the alarm clock and sat in my bed. Next thing I know, I open my eyes and it's 7:40. Don't know how that happened. Anyways, I'm cursing and yelling as I'm shooting for the shower. I'm taking a shower and fighting off my dozing-off-in-the-shower tendencies that I'm infamous for (just ask my family). I shoot out at 8:00 precisely and get changed, throw some clothes in my backpack, my laptop, throw my charger for both my laptop and my cellphone, and finally my mix cds for the ride. By this time, she has texted me that she's on her way over and my phone just died. Great.
She arrives and I grab my bag, my pillow for sleeping in the car and I head down to the car. It's a small, silver jeep that I can't remember what make and model. It looked like a jeep though so there. I hop in and I greet her mother with that devilish charm I'm known for. She seemed like a nice, lovable lady and we head off into the rising sun, heading north on I-81. That's when the mother realized that she had left a book she had wanted to read at home and was debating whether or not she would get it. Eden said one thing very simply:
"If you choose to go get it, you'll have to speed the rest of the way." This girl was into her Rammstein. So anyways, we make a U-turn and head back to her house, which takes about 10 minutes or so. Her mother runs back into the house and comes back with her beloved book in about 2 minutes and we were off again!
Now, it is at this point that I reveal my mix CDs to her, which Eden looked through to see if there was anything the car might like. Since she started my "Sexy Females Mix" CD the night before, she put that one in first and we listened to the soft songs of Epica, Within Temptation and Nightwish. It's at this point that I realize, surprisingly, that her mother was a metalhead just like her. Or at least, she listened to metal a lot with her daughter. That was yet another pleasant surprise on this journey.
As we listen to our CDs, I'm just dozing off on my pillow, sleeping to the wonderful sound of heavy metal. When I woke up again, we were in Pennsylvania and I was in for yet another pleasant surprise. The trip to New York City would only take a grand total of 5 hours...that's right, only 5 hours from Harrisonburg to New York City. I dont' know about you guys, but that surprised me. NYC just seems like this big, humongous place that just seems so far away from where we were. To learn that it's only 5 hours away was a surprise to me.
The rest of the ride was uneventful really. We just listened to some Rammstein (I didn't realize it was Rammstein until the ride was over). So, we arrived in Newark, New Jersey where we would check into a hotel. The hotel was literally right down the street from Penn Station New Jersey, which we would get on to get to Penn Station New York so we could go to Madison Square Garden. Oh! Another pleasant surprise! We would be going to Madison Square Garden to see them perform! That was awesome! Here's another surprise! Eden only got her hands on tickets for the disabled. Yup, she got handicap tickets. She had brought her grandfather's cane along to go along with the act. So, for two hours before we left, she practiced her limp while I sat in the corner, laughing my @ss off and her mother was shouting tips.
Anyways, we decided to head over to Penn Station early for two reasons: so we could purchase our tickets early and so Eden's mother knew where it was so she could pick us up later. So, she drops us off and we head into the station to get information on the train we need to go on to get to Penn Station New York. After we learned what we needed to, we proceeded to go to the ticket booth and purchase our tickets. To get from where we were to where we needed to go was around 5 dollars, and since I only had a 20, I used that to pay the train ticket. And then it did something really strange. Instead of giving me a 10 and a 5 as change, it instead gave me 15 Sacajawea dollars. You know, those golden coins? I was so confused because I now had 15 Sacajawea dollars and I honestly didn't know if anyone still took them! Like, could I use these in a vending machine or something?
After this, we went back to the hotel to have a quick dinner and to get ready. I got changed into a t-shirt with red marking and I left my stuff behind, except for my cell-phone and my 15 dollars/coins. We returned to the train station and we were off to see Rammstein! Yay! She with her cane and pretending to be handicapped and me with my smexy long black hair. Yeah, it was pretty epic.
Anyways, we waited for the train, and I danced around with the cane, much to her amusement. The train came and we went aboard to go to the Penn Station in New York City. Along the way, I found myself wondering what the heck was up with the train tickets? Nowhere from when we got the tickets to when we got onto the train did we stick them in some kind of slot or whatever. Maybe you could for anything else but for where we were going, we didn't come across any of that. For the most part, the only person who even seemed to care was the conductor who went down the aisle for the tickets (that was pretty awesome, I have to say). And even then, I could have just gotten by just fine without even giving it to him. So I'm just wondering what the point of the train tickets were? I mean, I could have gotten on that ride for free and still have 20 dollars instead of 15 Sacajaweas.
The train stopped and we departed and I was soon greeted to the air of New York City. I was unimpressed (at the time. Don't worry, I'll get impressed later). We were pretty close to Madison Square Garden, which was pretty convenient. When we arrived, there was a huge line for god knows what. I assumed it was for the Rammstein concert so I was pretty disheartened that I had to wait in that line for so long. But, Eden wanted to know if she could exchange the tickets for better seats (an email said she could). So, she acting like the hobbly legged cripple, and me acting like her caretaker, we slowly made our way past the guards who opened the way for us and to the ticket counter, bypassing the long ass line. It was pretty sweet.
After finding out we couldn't get better seats, we waited by the handicap elevator for the doors to open so we could get inside. In the meantime, Eden had perfected her limp to the point that no one suspected a thing! I felt a little bad when we walked by some people who were really disabled but by this time, Eden had become a hardcore fan of Rammstein so she didn't care. In the meantime, we waited in line and Eden bought some Rammstein shirts. It was at this time that I learned that this was the first time that Rammstein had played on American soil in over 10 years. Eden explained that many thought they were banned from the United States (for their firey shows or for being possible Nazi's, we didn't know). But, she said it was most likely because they couldn't get the permits for their shows. It had to have fire.
The doors opened, our tickets were scanned and we hobbled into the elevator. The woman who operated the elevator kept giving us the evil eye until we got the 7th floor. She then told us that we had to go all the way to Tower C and walk up those steps to get to the top floor. We were puzzled by this but we didn't argue. We half walked, half hobbled over to Tower C and asked a worker here where we were supposed to go. He was just as confused as we were and he told us that we were on the other side of where we were supposed to be. So, he directed us to some stairs and we walked up the escalators to the top floor. Thinking back, I think the elevator operator knew we were faking it and she sent us in the wrong direction on purpose. But whatever we got there.
We waited a good hour for the place to fill up when we found our seats. We were situated in the very back row of the very top floor. So we were pretty far back but we could still see the stage perfectly. It was then that I truly realized just how popular the band was. Truly remarkable how fast those seats filled up. Come 8:00 and it was time for the opening act, a small band called Combichrist. I had never heard of them before, but they had a drum set, a pair of keyboards, a percussion section that seemed to have japanese taiko drums, a guitarist and a singer. What came out of it was a very well put together beat that you could bang your head to easily enough. Still, the one thing I didn't like was the singer. He just kept on swearing and screaming and I didn't understand a word he said. So, Combichrist was a good band but I won't be listening to their lyrics anytime soon.
So, after the screamfest that was Combichrist, we waited a half an hour for the next band to get ready. And boy, did the seats fill up fast after that! And for good reason, too. You see, the stage appeared to be cut in half by a giant black wall. And the first thing that the band did was club their way through this wall with their instruments and the lead singer blew it open with fire. Then the concert really took off. I won't waste time trying to remember every single detail, but man there was such much power and energy in these guys were nearing the age of 50! I mean, they were head banging, they were slamming their fists into their legs, they were blowing dolls up on stage. Yeah! They had baby dolls with glowing green eyes and they were just blowing them up! They had flame throwers, they had fire just erupting from the stage itself! In one song, a guy ran on stage and the lead singer (Till Linderman) lit him on fire! He's running around screaming on the stage while these two roadies are trying to put him out! Now, I'm sure that that was part of the act but still! That was pretty freaking awesome! I mean we could feel the heat of the flames from all the way in the back row! I can't even begin to imagine how it must have felt all the way in the pit! And the last song of the last encore they played, Till came out with these giant metal wings strapped to his back and while he sang, fire was spewing out the tips! I swear, you can't make stuff like this up! This was by far one of the best concerts I've ever been to (next to Paganfest). And they were so humble about it to! When they finished, they bowed by getting on one knee, head bowed to the ground. And the only word that Till Linderman ever spoke throughout the entire concert was the words "Thank You." How cool is that?!?!?!?!?!
Man, it was such an awesome show, even as far back as we were. I was almost sad that it was over. But it had to end eventually. So, we all shuffled out of the Garden and back to the cold air. By then, it was 10:00 (aroundish) so we decided to go see Times Square while we were at it. After a few minutes trying to get our bearings (and a hot dog), we walked to Times Square, experiencing the random people along the way. There was one guy trying to get us to go to a comedy show. He was very persuasive and I almost wanted to go. But then again, I was annoyed at how insistent he wanted to talk to us, even though we tried to leave on multiple occasions. So we told him we had no money and we left. Then there were the (I assumed) Muslim sympathizers who preached about how we were all going to hell and what not. We avoided them without trouble.
And we finally found Times Square. And I swear, it was one of the biggest places I had ever seen in my life. So many lights, so much activity that when I stood in the middle, I didn't even know where the hell to begin! But alas, we had to leave as the train was leaving and we had to make it. But we did manage to get both our pictures taken and Eden got hers with a random man dressed as Spider-Man. That dude was awesome. Just gonna say.
Anyways, on the way back, some random guy came to us and gave us a CD he had made with his friend. He asked me if I was handicapped, noticing that I had a cane. I said no and he asked why I had a cane. I told him why not. And he signed my CD with my new nickname, T-Boogie. Then he asked for money and I couldn't say no to the guy. He had given me a new nickname after all. So I gave him six Sacajawea dollars and was on my way. Honestly, I know it was a waste of money, but what the hell was I going to do with 15 Sacajawea dollars?!?!?!?!? (I threw away the CD afterwards. It was just a bunch of freestyling anyways that I didn't care for really. And no. I didn't feel bad).
Still, I had to buy a train ticket and I decided to use my Sacajawea dollars. But the fucking machine would take it! Some of them it took but some of them it just rolled back out! I was furious. Until a strange thing happened. A man nearby (I assumed he was homeless) gave me a dollar. And I felt like shit after that. I told him repeatedly that I couldn't take it, I made every hand gesture possible when I figured out he couldn't speak English, but still, he continued to put the dollar in my hand. So, to my partial shame, I used it to buy a train ticket. And I gave him the rest of my Sacajawea dollars, making him 5 dollars richer, I guess (wait: 15-6-4=...5, yeah that's right). He just gave me a grin and was on his way. Nice people are buried underneath all the crap after all.
So, we made it on the train, realized I didn't even need the ticket since no one came for them, we got back to the hotel, slept off our adrenaline, ate breakfast the next morning, got in the car and drove back to JMU. The next morning was another boring day with rather interesting people (talking about ENG 393 in particular ;) You should know you guys were awesome!). But as long as I live, I will never forget the two days I spent going to Rammstein and back. Mainly because it was by far the most spontaneous thing I've ever done. And the next day, no one knew (and no one cared, to be honest) to ask about it. They were busy worrying about finals. But I think if more people did the spontaneous, people would smile more.
Well good night. Tomorrow I'm going skiing ;)
