October 18 - Bark at the Moon

I will never forget the first heavy metal concert I went to. It was Ozzy Osbourne. Do you know him? Although many people consider he is to be past one's prime, but he is my favorite singer because he is so crazy. Many heavy metal singers pretend crazy, but I think he is maybe don't pretend. It is said that he once bit the head from a bat. And of course he took many drugs and alcohol over the years, so now he is not control his faculties.
But I still like him so much because his music is so powerful. Especially I love Black Sabbath. Paranoid is so cool! Most of the other girls in my school listen to Arashi or Exile. In fact, most of my classmates don't know Ozzy or his music but I don't care. He is my favorite. So when my older sister Ayako told me she can maybe get tickets to see him if I want to, of course I said: "Yes!!!"
The concert was held at Tokyo Dome, which is more than two hours by train from my hometown. Unfortunately, if my parents know we are going to a heavy metal concert, they will absolutely not allow that. Therefore, my older sister told them she will go to Tokyo to take the test to study for a year in an America university and she will take me to go shopping with her after that. She could even get ticket money from our parents because she told them that the test is so expensive. What I mean to say is that our parents paid for the tickets even though they don't intend.
We went to there with my sister's co-worker Rick who is from America. At that time, I don't understand their relationship. Maybe they are friends. Maybe it is more than that. I don't know. She was laughing at his jokes and they often touched one another's arms, but she never talked about him before so who knows. To be honest, I think he was not so interesting. Especially he didn't seem to know Ozzy very much. Although Ayako was laughing at all his jokes, but I don't respond to them. Probably he thought I don't speak English but in fact my English is better than my sister's.
At any rate, we arrived at Tokyo Dome and it was so exciting for me. EVERYBODY was wearing the black heavy metal t-shirts: Slayer, Cannibal Corpse, Megadeth, and so on. And of course Ozzy and Black Sabbath. Unfortunately, I had only a Linkin Park t-shirt. I used to like them before I knew about Ozzy so I bought their t-shirt. Now everybody in my high school loves Linkin Park, but I think they are boring. They are like children, but Ozzy is like their father. What I mean to say is if there is no Ozzy there is no . . . anybody, but absolutely no Linkin Park.
After arrival, we walked around the concourse and ate some fried chicken. And Rick and Ayako drank beer. I was very surprising about that because I never saw Ayako drink beer. Rick asked me how old are you and I told him 16 and he looked at Ayako and they both raised their shoulders like "I don't know." At last, Ayako offered me some of her beer and I drank a little bit but I didn't like it so much so I got a Coca Cola instead.
Rick and Ayako talked more and I walked ahead of them and looked at all the people. It was so exciting! Everybody is a metal head like me! In my school everybody enjoys J-pop or maybe Linkin Park. But here, it was all metal. So awesome! It was like I was in heaven.
Later on, Ayako went to the toilet and told me wait with Rick. At that moment, I could know he is uncomfortable because he was just looking the floor. At last he asked me why is my hair so short. He said it makes me look like a boy, and if I have longer hair like my sister I will be pretty. I pretended not understanding him and he repeated and I continued pretending not understanding him and at last he gave up. After my sister returned from the toilet I told her his saying (in Japanese, of course) and she to roll one's eyes and said she was not surprising at that. Then she encouraged me don't worry about that because we are here to see Ozzy.
Of course, Ozzy! Although I have seen his concert DVDs, but this was the first time in person. So I was very excited about that but pretending don't care. Actually, Rick was very chatty with Ayako before the show and I was very nervous about that. Will he keep talking once the show has started? I wish he doesn't because in Japan is considered bad form to talk during the perform. (Yes, even at the heavy metal concert. Ha ha.) I also wish he doesn't talk because he is so annoying. But maybe Ayako likes him, so I don't say something.
Fortunately, he stopped talking after the lights turned off. Suddenly everything was black and everybody was so exciting. Ozzy began screaming before he entered the stage and the atmosphere was very high. At last he ran onto the stage and let everyone go crazy with excitement. At that time I decided pretending I don't care is stupid and I screamed with all my might.
Of course that is my best live show ever. Although Ozzy only played his best hits (no minor songs), but I don't mind because it let the audience be so high. He played Bark at the Moon, Suicide Solution, Crazy Train, and so on. And he also played many Sabbath, such as Iron Man, Paranoid, War Pigs, and Fairies Wear Boots.
Ayako and Rick stood in the back, but I squeezed to the front near the stage. Everybody was crashing into each other and throwing the devil's horns. And it was so hot and sweat but I love it. Sometimes, Ozzy would pick up buckets of water and throw the water out of the bucket to the audience. We became so wet. One time he looked at me and made a crazy, scary face and I threw the devil's horns at him and I think he approved. I don't ever forget that time.
After the concert is finished, I was absolutely wet with sweat and the next week I had bruises on my arms and legs. But they are like trophies and they let me remember the concert.
On that night, Ayako told Rick we must catch the train in a hurry so they say goodbye so fast.
And on the way home, Ayako told me two happy news: One is that she does not like Rick so much. I felt relief because I think he is not so interesting. Other news is that Rick paid for her ticket. Therefore, we had many extra money so we can go eat anything we want. So we went to Coco's restaurant after return to hometown and ordered a lot of food and talked about the concert. It was so fun way to end the night.
The next week in school I told my classmates about Ozzy. I think maybe some of my friends are jealous and maybe many of them to be indifferent, but I don't care. The important thing is I enjoyed an incredible time.
I want to do it again soon.
OZZY LIVES!