K, better late than never. The Knitting Factory is a pretty small place, so regardless of where you're standing, you're still "close". But I needed to be -touching- the stage, so I got there early and got a nice spot on the left of the stage (where the bass amp was.....which totally did a number on my crotch x_x).
Asakusa Jinta: Great band to open the show with. High energy, lots of jumping around. Kewlest band ever that has someone on an accordion.



I actually got hit a couple of times by the cord from the mic on this girl's alt sax.
50Kaitenz: These guys were nucking futs. Bowl haircuts, frilly shirts, and pants so tight, you could see bulge (I think they may of been stuffing). They are -very- Ramones influenced, and they totally rocked the place~~
Pistol Valve: 10 girls, 8 on brass, 1 on violin, and one DJ. These girls were hawt o-o. Short skirts, fishnets, kewl hats....hawt. Although the whole brass band + hip hop + rock thing is interesting, not really my type of music.



I had to keep dodging the violinist's bow. She would bring it down whenever she had to sing, at which I would have to move my head back to avoid getting sliced in the eye with it.~~

(ohyeah, did I mention they were HAWT!?)
The Emeralds: Pretty kewl band. I could do without the bishie-ness and the colorful shirts, though. x_x
HY: HY fangirls are fucking dangerous. As soon as The Emeralds finished their set, a ton of HY fangirls rushed to the front of the stage. I sure as hell wasn't going to lose my spot like everyone else was, so I soon found myself being crushed by a mess of tiny, Japanese HY fangirls. I've never been so alright with having my personal space completely and utterly violated in every way. o-o Ohyeah, HY weren't bad. They even had Dougie Fresh come out at the end and beat-box to one of their songs.


Why? Why not!?
Well, HY were good, but I'll mostly remember them for that time when I was fondled by a bunch of little, crazy Japanese girls.
GO!GO!7188: gogo........ If someone told me a couple years ago "one day...you will watch GO!GO!7188 play live, at arm's length." I would of said "hey, who are you...and how did you get into my apartment!?!" but later....I would of been like "NO FUCKING WAY!

"
It was beautiful. It was everything I would imagine it would be....and more. To be part of their first American audience was truly a dream come true.
GO!GO!7188 pic spam!!!!
















Yuu-chan~~ <33
Overall, great show.
After the show, everyone made a mad dash to the merch counter. It was at that time where harlock & co. decided to stick around, with hopes of what we thought would be the small chance of getting a glance of someone from gogo. After a while, just before the staff was going to kick us out....Turkey walked right past us! I was like "ohshi-". I turned to Ping and said "would it be messed up to ask Turkey where Yumi and Akko were? kekeke". Not knowing how Turkey would react to us bomb barding him while he packed his gear, we quietly approached him. He as actually very nice and seemed quite adamant towards giving us his autograph.

Afterwards, we continued to loiter about, still hoping to catch a glimpse of Yuu-chan and/or Akko. As we walked through the bar in the front, my eye came across a few people talking. Sure enough, one of them was Yuu-chan. In my head, I was like "ARARAAHHHGOWDJO:NMROVROJLNLSD OMG YUU!!!" but I knew I had to keep calm, and avoid fainting. I then violently gestured to my sister to get her ass back into the bar!! Trying not be rude and interrupting her conversation, we crept up slowly. After less than a minute, she stopped and turned to us, obviously noticing that there were three people floating around her, one of which was desperately holding back a massive nervous breakdown. She stood up as we asked for an autograph, which she more than happily did. We then got pictures taken with her~.
I noticed that when you finally meet someone of whom you've idolized (and been in love with), you can't help but put a stupid face on. At least, that was the case for me. This was the least stupid face I could possibly of made at this moment. Honestly, I'm glad I managed to keep my eyes from going bugeyed and foaming at the mouth.

Note: omg, yuu-chan is smiling! x_x

Note: I try to crouch down to yuu's level, while my sister is notably shorter than her! bwahahaah *gets slapped by sister* @_o
Afterward, we went outside to get some air (and because I was about to either faint, or throw up.) As soon as we composed ourselves, Akko comes outside! X_X We then scurried along to where Akko had planted herself to smoke a cig. We then got autographs and pics~. While she was signing mine, she (in japanese) said it was cold and I (in japanese) agreed. (zomg, actual conversation with Akko!!!)
This time, it was Akko that made the silly face:

The spoils:



(Turkey wrote his on the back)
and now for the Pièce de Résistance!
As a testament to how close I was (even after toughing it through crazy HY fangirls) ->

GO!GO!7188's set list, which I shamelessly jacked from the stage as soon as they got off. (which was not much of a physical feat, as I was within arm's length of it to begin with).
So there you have it, greatest night of my life!.
(Also, I've made my photobucket public in case anyone wants to see the rest of the pics)
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v469/harlock3333/GOGO7188/