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¤ I discovered HIM in Feb of 2004 via The Next Big Thing on Fuse and my life was changed forever. I missed their first tour stupidly waiting for a date in Texas to pop up and, of course, there weren't any dates played in Texas so by time I realized that all the accessible venues were sold out. I vowed that that would not happen to me again and so this tour I bought not only a ticket to a Massachusetts show (I have a relative living in Delaware and figured that was pretty close) but when I saw Arizona pop up I bought one of those, too. I ended up keeping my Massachusetts ticket as a souvenir and attended the Tempe AZ show since it was the closest to Austin, TX. By close I mean only 16!! hours drive one way but anything for Ville!

¤ Saturday, the day of THE concert...we (my daughter and I) must have driven by the Marquee three different times throughout the day trying to decide when we should get in line but finally decided to just park it at 3:00 and got in line with about 20 others by that point and waited for about 5 1/2 hours. It was a beautiful night with a full moon and in the distance fireworks were going off across the river. It was all very surreal.

¤ There were no spottings of Ville or the rest of the band as we waited but Jonna and a crew of about 5 people were going around interviewing fans for the upcoming HIM documentary. She was asking how people discovered HIM and what made HIM so special. I couldn't believe that no one recognized Jonna..but I did :-) When she was through interviewing I asked if she would mind having her picture taken with me and she was genuinely surprised that I knew who she was and was gracious enough to oblige. I asked if she knew if Ville would ever be coming to Texas and she said that they all loved Dallas and had hoped to play there...but it wasn't to be this time. Hopefully next year!

¤ The doors opened late because apparently equipment had to be replaced and the new equipment was the wrong stuff so they had to bring another shipment in. Later we could hear HIM practicing inside and heard Ville sing bits of Solitary Man.

¤ Now for the show. I was fortunate that a new found friend saved a spot in front for me (Thank you!) and where I was able to plant myself throughout the night.Program The Dead opened up, then Monster Magnet. I thought both bands were good but just could not wait for Ville to come out!! At one point we spotted Ville hanging out backstage during Monster Magnet. More thrills to come.

¤ And then it finally happened. HIM came out on stage and I thought I was going to die!!! My hands shook as I took picture after picture of Ville and I think I had used up all my film by the time the 3rd song had ended! Unfortunately I had only brought one camera :-( They opened up with Buried Alive by Love and rocked the house! The set list as I remember....It's All Tears, Sacrament, Wicked Game, Solitary Man, Join Me, This Fortress of Tears, Poison Girl, Soul on Fire, Razorblade Kiss, Right Here in my Arms, and Your Sweet 666. Every song was performed perfectly and the sound of this band live is just as good as playing the cd. Ville's voice is the same live as well. Some bands/singers have to be doctored up on their recordings but when you hear them live you find out just what is real. Ville and band are the real deal and Ville stands out as a true star!!

¤ About midway through the concert Ville was lighting a cigarette and said "Now I feel more comfortable". At one point in between songs he said that we have to realize that they're from the small country of Finland and are used to playing small clubs. That they're not used to this yet. (not verbatim but from my recollection). Another time Ville mentioned that Mige wasn't feeling well (as Mige stood there rubbing ice over his face) and some funny guy next to me yelled out "but Mige's a caveman!". lol

¤ My personal highlight from the evening was when I sacrificed my old Jack Skellington doll. About the middle of the concert I found a good time to throw it to Ville......and it went straight towards his crotch!! It must have missed his dick by a centimeter. ha ha. Ville made a comical face just like this :-0 and put his hand over his crotch. LOL. Later in the night I spotted my Jack doll propped up in front of the mike stand but I didn't see who did it. I don't think it was Ville. At the end of the night when all things thrown on stage were thrown back out to the audience my Jack doll was placed by the drumset and I'm hoping that Ville kept it.

¤ Another highlight was when I yelled out "I love you VILLE!!!" and he said "Thank you". *sigh*

¤ Ville did not appear drunk or stoned (as I've seen written on some other websites). He seemed perfectly sober to me and I only remember seeing him drink parts of 1 or 2 beers throughout the evening. Although there were problems with the mic cutting out and Ville had to have the music turned up several times throughout the evening it was an outstanding concert. Everyone seemed to know the words to every song and during Poison Girl our side yelled out POISON GIRL so loud that he backed up from the response.

¤ I'll never forget my adventure in Tempe nor all the cool people that I got to meet at the concert (you know who you are!). A full moon, perfect weather, wonderful fans...and Ville. Can life get any better than this?