SLASH

My dream has finally come true. Not the dream where I get to see Michael jackson perform live, because let's face it, that dream will never happen. But this dream is almost as good as Michael Jackson, especially since one of my favorite MJ songs has this person in it. Have you guessed who it is yet? Slash! (and the song with MJ and Slash is called "Give In To Me." Download it. It's amazing).
It all started at Yellow Taxi, which is where everything goes down because it's the most popular foreigner bar in Daejeon. Nadia, Lee Ann and I were going to Yellow Taxi because it was Mardi Gras and our friend Marisol was celebrating her birthday. We were all dolled up with masks and fake lashes, so it was looking to be a good night. If only I knew how much fun it was going to be!
The night was amazing, not only because it's always fun to dance to live music, but because that's when I found out that Slash was coming to Korea. I follow Slash on Facebook, so after seeing all his updates about all the cities he's been to, I was admittedly bummed. And then I saw that he went to Houston and for the first time since I've come to Korea, I actually regretted coming here. So after Ken told me that Slash was coming to Korea on March 20th (so CLOSE to my birthday!) I went crazy. I actually felt a little bad for Ken because I turned into a Slash-crazed nutbag, but, come on. It's Slash.
Even though Slash wasn't really their style, I asked Lee Ann and Nadia if they wanted to go to the concert with me for my birthday present. Nadia, more of a Backstreet Boys kind of gal, said that she really wouldn't have fun (which is true) but Lee Ann said she was game, especially after I said that I'd buy her ticket for her. I was so desperate for someone to go with me to the concert that I actually BOUGHT her ticket for her. They weren't cheap either! I need a concert buddy STAT.
Fast forward to March 19th. We were again at Yellow Taxi, I think because The Man Wons (Ken's band) were playing, and we stayed out a little later than expected...so we missed our 11:30 train to Seoul on Sunday. Thankfully the concert didn't start until 6 that night, so I wasn't too stressed about it. Long story short, we made it to Seoul and after quite a bit of stress about the location of the venue, we finally made it to the concert with time to spare.
We walked into the venue and it was really hot. I mean, sauna hot. I don't know what they were thinking, but it felt like they purposely cranked up the heat because they wanted people to pass out and get trampled on. Luckily I wore layers, so I promptly took them all off until I was just wearing a shirt dress. Even that felt like too much. Lee Ann and I were standing in the crowd waiting for the concert to start for about 30 minutes. I was absolutely determined to make my way to the front, so I was prepared when the crowd rushed the stage. I wasn't exactly prepared for all the swaying and jumping, but I went with it. I was literally smashed on all sides, so when they jumped, I jumped. When they stumbled, I stumbled. Since Lee Ann was a couple rows back, I was a little concerned for my (and her) general safety, but once Slash started playing, I basically didn't care anymore.
Here's the set list:

1. Ghost
2. Mean Bone
3. Back From Cali
4. Nightrain
5. Rocket Queen
6. Civil War
7. Nothing To Say
8. Starlight
9. Beautiful Dangerous
10. Fall To Pieces (Velvet Revolver)
11. Doctor Alibi 
12. Jizz Da Pit
13. Patience 
14. My Michelle
15. Guitar Solo / Godfather Theme
16. Sweet Child O' Mine
17. Rise Today (Alter Bridge)
18. Slither

Encore:

1. By The Sword
2. Mr. Brownstone
3. Paradise City

It was a pretty amazing set list. Paradise City was the song the crowd went crazy for. Once they started playing the beginning riff of the song, people started going nuts. At that point, I had no idea where Lee Ann was and I couldn't really focus on it because I was scared I was going to pass out. The crowd kept pushing forward even though there was no where to go, so I was slammed up against a bunch of hot, sweaty Korean dudes. It was actually impossible to fall because there was no where for me to go, but I figured that if I died, a Slash concert was a good place to check out. 

Most pits formed around me periodically, which always seems to happen to me, so I was bashed in the ribs repeatedly, but seriously, I didn't mind. When you go to a concert, you expect the beer in the face, the sweat all over your body, your feet to be trampled on and people to not respect personal space. It's why I go to concerts. I love it. I wouldn't have it any other way. Give me sweat. Give me beer. Step on my feet, by all means. Just don't punch me in the face. (Thankfully, no one did). 

At some point, I lost my phone and dropped my sweatshirt about three different times. But because it's Korea, some nice Korean guy found my phone and called Lee Ann so I was able to recover that. To top off the night? A liter of water and Taco Bell. 

Slash definitely made it the top five, which is pretty incredible.

Top 5:
1. Metallica
2. Slash
3. Slipknot
4. Shinedown
5. Killswitch Engage
(this list is more for me than for you :D)