When I arrived at De Montfort Hall, there was a line of 15 fans. A staff member came out shortly after I got in line and wrote numbers on the back of our hands. She gave me the number 16, which is why I recall the actual number of fans. Most of them came alone, so we chatted in line.

Everyone was surprised to learn that I had traveled from Japan to see the band. I told them this might be my last chance to see them. Then a young girl named Josh encouraged me by knocking on the wood of the bench where we were seated. She explained that it was some sort of magic spell and assured me that I would be able to see them again in the future. That warmed my heart.

There were a lot of young fans. Maybe that was because Leicester is a college town. This Danish boy wore a birthday cake hat. He mentioned that it was his birthday. He kept it on for the whole concert. There were no fans like him in London. Leicester has a different kind of diversity than London, in my opinion.

While I was looking through my photos to pick one for this post, I saw him in this one, at the end of the line. That made me smile.