It’s still hard for me to believe I saw ONE OK ROCK in concert. It’s like a fever dream that I’ve been orchestrating and planning for months. Earlier this year, I wrote about my 30 under 30 list. At the time, I was thinking of ONE OK ROCK when I wrote: see my favourite band in concert.
I know that every year or so, my favourite musician tends to change. My infatuation with musicians and artists rarely lasts more than 1-2 years. But, my current fixation is ONE OK ROCK.
So, it was the start of summer in June and a terrible day at that. On that same day, ONE OK ROCK announced their Luxury Disease Tour on their social media.
At first, I shrugged, but then I saw they had a stop for their Luxury Disease Tour in Toronto! When I tell you I jumped up and down for a solid minute and screamed the roof down, I did precisely that.
People in the house thought I was screaming for bloody murder, not tears of joy.
I didn’t waste a single second and added it to my calendar to ensure I wouldn’t miss the presale. And I had the presale passcode ready to enter on my Ticketmaster account.
Buying Tickets: How it Went Down
As soon as the presale began, I opened my Ticketmaster account and was so excited to buy regular floor tickets, but paused my cursor on the VIP package. I wasn’t expecting a meet and greet in this VIP package, but I knew it was possible. So I bought the VIP package when I saw it was around $180 with tax. While I was buying tickets, I asked my friend who mentioned she enjoyed the band if she wanted to attend, and she agreed, and like that, 4 months in advance, we were ready to see ONE OK ROCK for the first time live.
My outfit for the concert was already planned a few weeks later. It went through two iterations before I landed on this look, which was one of my old plaid dresses, with black and red hair, and this beautiful brocade coat from Dracula Clothing.
Waiting 5 Months for the Concert
I looked forward to their concert every week and listened to their music on my daily commute. Since I’ve been desperate to read a romance book about a famous musician in a rock band and a resident doctor training to become a neurologist, I’m simply gonna just have to write it! Hopefully, I’ll get an agent and publish it so you can read it one day at your local bookstore. This band inspired a lot of the concert scenes and music for my novel, and I’ve been listening to them on repeat for that reason.
Attending the Luxury Disease Tour in Toronto was not only going to fulfill a bucket list goal of mine but also be writing fodder for my book! And boy was I studying a lot of things, from how bands like Fame on Fire and ONE OK ROCK get the audience to be hyped. They all use the same tricks at concerts, like getting you to take out your phone, turn on the flashlight, and wave it. Asking you to bend down and then jump up on command in a sweaty, crowded mob of people. This past October, I saw 4 bands do this, so I’m convinced this is a common method for exciting crowds.
Concert Day
Before heading to my car around 2 PM, I spent most of my morning and afternoon getting dressed.
I got lost driving to the venue because I was so excited. Being unfocused cost me 30 minutes of travel time. But, I got back on track and headed 35 kilometres south to Lakeshore, where the Rebel concert venue is located.
For cheaper parking, I was gonna park about 20 minutes away from the venue. However, I bit the bullet and paid $20 for parking directly across from the venue. Since the concert ended up running 1.5 hours over and we didn’t leave the concert until 11 PM, I don’t regret it.
Around 4:40 PM, I parked after waiting in a huge line for the parking lot to open.
I swapped my gray UGG boots for buckled combat boots and ran across the street to join the VIP line at 4:30 PM. As I joined the line, I noticed a second line for regular admission extending down the street that was growing alarmingly long.
V.I.P Line Up
It wasn’t until around 5 PM that VIP ticket holders entered the venue to wait in line to meet Taka, Toru, Tomoya and Ryota! I made a beeline for the bathroom, which was surprisingly clean (probably because I was the first to use it). And then joined the end of the VIP line. The bandmates entered the room a few minutes after I got back, and everyone started screaming.
Then after that, the line was moving fast. I’ve been to VIP meet and greets before, so I know you get 15-30 seconds with the artist before they tell you to move along. I think VIP tickets were maxed for this one, so it was much smaller. The VIP line looked like it had only 60 people.
The line moved fast, some people just got a high-five and a photo. A lot of people waved, made eye contact, high-fived, took photos, and left. It was an organized meet and greet.
Someone tried to speak with the band after the photo but they were told to cut it short. So, I wanted to be respectful of the band, and not engage in conversation with them when it was my turn…
But, I was last in line, so did it really matter?
Meeting the Band
As soon as my turn came around, I was nervous. Usually, I don’t get starstruck. However, I was starstruck seeing them in person. My friend who was outside in the regular admission line encouraged me to say something. So I gave it a shot.
I waved at the members (who smiled very warmly), gave them high-fives, turned to them, and spoke to them. It was so sweet how they all leaned to hear me, especially Taka. I was like, omg, way too close, way too close. Haha!
But I can’t even remember what I said. It was something about me playing their music every single day for a year and how much Broken Heart of Gold meant to me. I wanted to say more, but just their reactions alone were enough for me, and I didn’t want to take up too much of their time.
It would have been cool if this was filmed, but VIPs weren’t allowed to film. I remember the band members being like “Really, really, that’s your favourite song?” in reference to Broken Heart of Gold, and they acted so shocked that I listened to their music every day.
I may have mentioned I was a new fan, but I can’t remember. However, speaking to them made things more relaxed and the photo-op turned out pretty well. I can be awkward about these things, but Taka was so cool and bro, when his head touched mine, I was like what?! An iconic moment. I’m still cheesing about it.
You can only be a fangirl about a boy band so many times, and this was one of them. For ONE OK ROCK, I will fangirl any day (although Tokio Hotel would have ruined me back in 2010).
Getting Early-Access to Merchandise
Then I got early access to the merchandise booth. I purchased their new album, Luxury Disease, for that HD sound, a tour t-shirt, and a tote bag.
Wait Times
Then, it was time to wait. It took about an hour for non-VIP ticket holders to get into the venue after the VIPs finished around 5:30.
We waited another hour before Fame on Fire came on stage to perform for 30 minutes. After that, we waited until about 8:30 PM for You Me at Six to perform (too long in my opinion – Fame on Fire was definitely better).
The Concert
By the time the sound check for ONE OK ROCK started, it was 9:30 PM.
But shortly after the sound check, the boys (lol, they’re grown men who are all married except for Taka, but whatever) came on stage.
It was art in real life. Bass, drums, guitar, vocals – everything sounded polished, yet it was a live performance. If they made a mistake, I 100% didn’t notice.
Time seemed to go REALLY fast after that. It felt like they were on for 15 minutes, but it was an hour-long show. They covered most of their album, including fan favourites like The Beginning and Stand Out Fit In. Although I would have liked Broken Heart of Gold to be played, since it’s my favourite song, period (thanks to Rurouni Kenshin for putting me on it), I get why they didn’t. It’s quite a dark song, despite having a stunning melody and riff that is addicting to listen to.
They wanted to make the concert a positive experience and make people want to come to future shows, and I can say they did just that. I wish I’d bought more tickets to see them in at least two more cities (I’m definitely gonna do New York or Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto next time). Considering this was my first time seeing ONE OK ROCK, I lucked out on meeting them and I look forward to meeting them again when they come back.
Concert Downsides
I think one downside of the concert was how disrespectful some of the fans were. It was so dangerous standing on the floor at times, because people kept pushing, to the point where people were falling. One girl even got sick and had to leave early.
Normally, people are shoulder to shoulder at concerts. But at this concert, people were chest to back – yes, THAT close. I felt like I got way too acquainted with people in Toronto that night, haha.
Concert Highlights
One of the highlights was Tomoya saying he loved Toronto and then saying he loved the Blue Jays and Raptors. It was so random that it made everyone laugh.
One of the advantages of being surrounded by so many enthusiastic fans is that most people know every lyric, so I wasn’t the only one screaming lyrics at Taka. Everyone else was too.
So when the band said North American fans were louder than Japanese fans on MTV Live, I was like yeah. Toronto definitely plays a role in why they think that.
Even though we were screaming, Taka’s microphone never faltered once during the concert, so I think the Rebel production team did a pretty good job on the sound. In all my video footage, his voice came through loudest (and his voice is no joke live – video distorts it).
Oh, and the lighting was amazing. The hot pink and magenta strobes and fill lighting for Neon felt like a dream.
Aftermath
When the show ended, my friend and I headed to my car, thinking we could get out quickly and go home. But we ended up getting stuck in the parking lot for an hour until a hot dog stand guy decided to be an angel and direct cars out.
On the 35 km back home, we played the album on a loop, and I was in bed by 2 AM Wednesday morning. Exhausted, done.
What surprised me most about this experience was just how hardcore and intense the fandom for ONE OK ROCK is. I know they’re a big band, but I do. They’re not as big as BTS or Lady Gaga, but they’ve been around for almost two decades and have a large fan base.
There aren’t many bands that have been around that long, and now they’re signed with the record label, Fueled by Ramen, to break into the American market. They’re collaborating with major singer-songwriters like Ed Sheeran and Brendon Urie to write songs, so they’re only going to get more popular and successful.
As a result, they are producing more music in English as well as Japanese, and when they make an album, it is not just 6 songs (no offence to BlackPink), but a full album of at least 12 songs.
All in all, I would do VIP again, and I’d visit them in multiple cities (also a valid excuse to travel), and I’d avoid floor tickets again and go to the mezzanine since my back can’t handle floor mosh pits.
Have you seen your favourite band in concert? Describe the experience in the comments below! And if you haven’t, what band or artist would you love to see live?
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