Friday 23 April 2010

20110411 變形DNA San Jose演唱會 San Jose D.N.A Unlimited concert

★Date:11/4/2010
★Time:7.00PM
★Venue:San Jose State University Event Center
★Event:五月天變形DNA無限放大版世界巡迴演唱會/Mayday World Tour [2010 Unlimited Edition]

Awoke after LA D.N.A Unlimited concert to a rainy morning in LA. It was a gloomy and chilly morning as I made my way to LAX to catch my late morning flight to San Jose. Mayday had left the night before, about 2 hours after the LA concert had ended, only to find their flight to San Jose delayed for hours. Why did they have to get to San Jose so early - it's only a 45 minute flight!

When I landed in San Jose I was hoping to see some sunshine cos it gets pretty depressing on a cold wet day but I was greeted with more rain as I stepped out of the airport! Elly's friend had come to pick me up and we spent the afternoon in Santa Clara and Cupertino, enjoying bubble tea and korean BBQ. We even had time to go to the mall for shopping.

The rain did not stop. Even when we arrived at San Jose State University Event Center that Sunday evening. Because it was cold and wet, I didn't get to stop to take many photos outside. There wasn't much to see though, just an ordinary university campus. All I could see surrounding the venue were student dorms.

wet day in San Jose
So off we went inside the State Center to seek shelter from the rain and cold. When we got pass security check, I saw a crowd at the merchandise booth. They were selling D.N.A merchandise there. In LA merchandise were sold as well. At escalated American prices of course. I didn't bother looking and headed straight for the concert hall.

the organiser took the opportunity to promote the Khalil Fong & Fiona Sit concert o.O
My first impression when I saw the concert hall was - this is a converted basketball court. Next thing I noticed was the gap between each row of the floor seats - they were huge gaps! At Gibson Amphitheatre the seats were arranged very close to one another and there was little room between each row (well that was in the VIP area where I sat)


We went down and found our seats, met some friends, took some more photos before the concert began about half an hour into 7:00pm, the scheduled showtime.

The San Jose concert was the ONLY concert where they didn't have that huge white canvas hanging in the front of the stage (I only just realise I forgot to take a photo if it >.<) It was strange to see the band making an entrance minus the white canvas - they'd usually cue behind the white canvas before it drops at the end of the first DNA video.



I was in the front row with Elly and there was no barricade between the first row and the stage, though the gap was much wider than at Gibson Amphitheatre.

bear bear Masa


Guan You had mentioned that San Jose was the smallest stop of their American D.N.A concert but the crowd was the most high. haha. Probably cos most of the audience were students of the university. However there were a lot of empty seats towards the back of the venue it was almost like Mohegan Sun 2:00pm show again with empty seats towards the back and around the tier seats.

The empty seats could be cos of another major concert in town. When we had checked in the hotel that afternoon, the friendly hotel chap had asked "What brings you to San Jose?" Elly had replied "Concert". Dude thought we were in town to watch Taylor Swift, who was performing that night in HP Pavilion. I reckon half of the folks in San Jose were in HP Pavilion that night LOL

what's with Masa?
Masa explained that the band's flight from LA to San Jose was delayed due to the rain. I later found out that the organiser had *ALMOST* cancelled the concert cos Mayday had arrived very late. Had they arrived after 6:30pm, it would've been a no-show. That must have been a long delay cos they had left LA the night before @.@ Next time they should just rent a tour bus to avoid flight delays.

what a poser!

The last time Mayday performed in San Jose was 5 years ago during their Final Home tour. The band were happy to be back again though the not-so-full house venue is a cause of concern. Ashin asked fans not to watch any other concerts in their absence hahaha.


You could see how fatigue has taken its toll on the band. They look so weary and tired =.= The L-O-V-E game during 戀愛ing was dropped from the setlist (after playing it for the 3 consecutive American D.N.A concerts) and instead Ashin sang a jazzy acoustic rendition. I've heard him sing that version several times, but the rendition he sang at San Jose that night was by far the best ever. I only wished someone had caught it on video.

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