Bored at work, so I'll write up a longer summary of my trip as well. That and Hikaru's blog post confirmed their set list as my memory was a little foggy about the middle sections.
The only negative experience I had on the trip was due to me being noncommittal about arranging for a badge to Anime Central until the last minute to see Kalafina, but everything worked out in the end. I had only purchased my badge and the Kalafina concert ticket on the Saturday that concert tickets became available. Quickly arranged for a flight and hotel (stayed at the Sheraton O'Hare for a reasonable rate, away from the convention area, which was probably a good idea due to the crowds).
Thursday:
I took a 6 am flight from SFO on Thursday hoping to have plenty of time to deal with picking up my ACen badge, and more importantly, the Kalafina concert ticket. Landed at noon, checked into my hotel, then made my way over to the convention center. Unfortunately, after the line for badge will call didn't move much for three hours, I decided to give up and head into Chicago to meet a friend for dinner at The Publican and then beers around De Paul University where my friend lives. It happened to be Chicago Craft Beer Week starting last Thursday, so I could not have planned this trip any better as I'm a big beer geek! At around 10 pm or so, I went back to the Hyatt to try to pick up my badge once again, and finally received it around 12:30. I was tired of the lines, but happy to get that completed.
Friday (non concert):
I was a little nervous since I didn't have a Kalafina ticket in hand and had planned to do a lot of touristy things in Chicago this morning and afternoon. Winged it, took blue line into the city, ate pastries at a couple of places I had picked out before hand for breakfast, then headed to Millenium and Grant park for a stroll. Walked the magnificent mile, grabbed a quick torta lunch at Xoco, then took the red line to Wrigley Field to catch the Mets/Cubs game (I'm also a big baseball fan). Left the game slightly early to grab a couple of beers from the Goose Island brewpub nearby with some folks I met at the game who turned out to be beer geeks as well, but I ended up leaving the area later than I wanted to.
Rushed back to the hotel to drop off my dslr and pick up the Kalafina cd's I wanted to get autographed, then made my way over the Rosemont Theatre at around 6:30 pm. Line wasn't too long at this point, I happen to pick a line on the side of the theatre closest to the tables where you pick up tickets if you did not pick them up already, so I was in the theatre quickly.
Rosemont Theatre was a very nice venue. The blog pics from Keiko did it some just with that very spacious and grand entry way, sweeping stairway around that large chandelier leading to the balcony, and richly appointed decorations. As someone else said, the theatre was a great setting for the type of atmosphere Kalafina conveys with their music.
I sat in section 108, row 4 on the aisle seat on the side closest to the center so I had a good viewpoint without anyone blocking my view (though I'm 5'10" so I don't usually have issues getting blocked)
Took only one random photo with my phone of the empty stage with two ushers in the shot so it's not worth posting.
Concert impressions:
Overture: Goosebumps when this started playing, getting excited like I normally get for the start of a concert.
Oblivious: Since I discovered Kalafina through Kara no Kyoukai, I was pretty happy that they lead with this song. The guitar and drums levels were a bit loud on this, but Wakana's voice managed to get through it.
Consolation: Started to fix the loudness issues with this song. Definitely great that Kalafina included their new tracks! Enjoyed this song more than I though I would, mainly because Hikaru seemed to use a deeper voice than in the album.
Kagayaku Sora no Shijima ni wa: One of my favorite songs, and the quieter nature of the songs allowed the everyone's vocals to really shine with the theatre acoustics. Entranced by this song, and only would have been bested if Konno was able to play the violin parts in person.
Red moon: Surprised they included this in the set list, but it was great with how they flooded the stage in red lighting. As epic as I would hope a live version of this would sound.
Magia: The sides of the theatre got up on their feet for this one, but the middle section in the front didn't stand for some reason... Hikaru and Keiko sang their parts really well and everyone rocked out on this song, but there was a bit of distortion to the Kore-san's guitar solo.
Hikari no Senritsu: Everyone, and especially Keiko, were playful with the audience during this song so I think their nerves about performing overseas may have worn off by this point.
Door: Another Consolation song, so I was holding out hope for more from the album. Everyone's vocals were great for this song, beautiful and flawless.
Mirai: Beautiful as well, similar to the one live studio video I've seen for this song. Everyone was being more engaging with each other and the crowd at parts
Aria: Another classic that I've always enjoyed. The song had a nice flow to it when performed live, tranquil at the start with Hikaru using her softer vocals then slowly adding more power to it as the song progresses. Probably Hikaru's best of the night for me.
Signal: More new album songs. Really energetic song when played live, Keiko was awesome in this performance. Somewhat agree that Hikaru's parts on this were a little weak, probably because her sections are a little too much like spoken words instead of singing like Keiko's sections, but still very good.
Obbligatto: My favorite song from Consolation! Kore-san's guitar was on point for this song, and it worked well with how his guitar sound levels were a little high. Great harmonies in the chorus as well, Wakana nailed her solo, loved this performance.
Ongaku: One of my favorite songs. I think everyone in Kalafina loves to sing this song, since they are always so playful and happy in videos of their performance for this song and they were the same for this performance. Everyone stood up for this song and fed off of Kalafina's enthusiasm for this song. Kore-san was great again.
Manten: This was pretty good, though with how violin heavy it gets, I think I missed having a violinist the most with this song.
To the Beginning: Great performance, and probably the loudest cheer at the start of the song from the crowd when the opening sequence started. I always liked how evenly each of the members transition into the lead for this song.
Hikari Furu: Wakana was stunning in this song, hitting every note precisely. Beautiful harmonies in the latter half.
Yume no Daichi: Really sad when Keiko said this was the last song, but it was a nice song to end the concert.
The audience gave each member of the band a nice standing ovation, especially loud for Kore-san, of course. Then a nice long ovation for Kalafina, and they seemed genuinely taken aback by the cheers and applause at the end.
I stuck around for the audience picture, but probably should have left for the autograph session. Ended up getting lost and being very far back in the line that night. Stayed in line and chatted with a bit with the guy in front of me in a cosplay outfit of a female character I didn't recognize or ask about (poor guy was in 2" heels since the morning). We chatted about our travelling experiences, especially of his trip to Japan as a foreigner, and cultural things. Unfortunately they cut the line when we were about 40 people back from the front so I got my ticket marked and walked by the ballroom entrance to see Kalafina waving goodbye to us.
Saturday:
I was undecided about attending the autograph session but decided to try to make it. I had already bought tickets for an architecture boat tour of Chicago so I knew I would be skipping the panel. It was a beautiful and clear day so the boat tour was a great way to see Chicago. Grabbed a couple of beers by the river (they were taster size so I can sample a few of the unique ones the bar had one for beer week), then some lunch at Portillo's for classic Chicago dog and Italian beef that I shared with a friend.
Took the train back to the convention and it was past 3 pm before I made it through the line to get into the main vendor hall and then locate the autograph area. Thankfully the line was pretty short by that point, maybe 30-40 people and moved quickly due to the one item limit. Wakana, Keiko and Hikaru are as beautiful in person as expected, though Keiko was a bit shy in person. Her singing always seems to project a stronger personality.
Ended my trip to Chicago with an afternoon and evening of more food and beer, dinner at Longman & Eagle (which was excellent), before my 7 am flight back home Sunday.
Really enjoyed my trip to see Kalafina and Chicago, and I'm already thinking about how to visit Japan to see them perform again, though I'm out of vacation days at the moment
What did they ask u? Plz do tell us more 
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