Once again I found myself at the Trocadero in Philly's Chinatown, among the disgusting smell of fish that seemed to bother people more and more as the wind changed. I had just gotten out of work and met up with my friend Sarah, and we had to kill another four hours. Behind my scarf, which desperately failed to keep my face from freezing, I watched the kids with vampire teeth, kids who had murdered eyeliners on their faces for Cradle of Filth, kids comparing their shirts and sharing their experiences, all of them pissed off at the cold and dying to get inside.

A small chaos kicked off when it turned out that some people had "special tickets." They were the ones who paid a few extra bucks to "Meet & Greet" Cradle of Filth, which is what you do when you love a band and have the opportunity to. Of course, it pissed off the other fans who weren't so special.

Once the crowd was inside though, they seemed to forget all about it.

First up was 3 INCHES OF BLOOD. I just remember this one guy throwing himself to the front row, against the security bars, head banging and singing along throughout their set. I was covering my head with my hands so he wouldn't crush my skull, therefore here's all I remember: there were two men screaming into the microphones, the bass player was wearing a Kiss shirt, and one of their guitar players had a T-Rex shirt on even though the band sounded like neither of those bands. Their show ended with the crazy head banger throwing himself on the floor to the other side of the security bars after a set list.

And then… The 69 Eyes.

I swear I heard every single girl in the venue gasp when Jussi69 walked on stage with no shirt on. Once they started playing, it was all screams and cheers and hands up in the air. Honestly, I didn't think these Finnish vampires would be so energetic. Timo-Timo was walking and jumping all over the stage, Jyrki69 (a very tall person, I must add) was dancing with his microwave stand. Their setlist included Devils, Don't Turn Your Back On Fear, Chair, Brandon Lee, Hevioso and Lost Boys. I feel like Philly did show them the love they deserve, with a lot of people singing along and cheering, and they seemed content before they left the stage to Cradle of Filth.

Here's the tricky part: I've never sat down and listened to Cradle of Filth. To me, they were just a British band with a lead singer who wore the weird contacts all the time. Sarah had told me that even though I might not be crazy about the music, I would enjoy their show – and she was right.

Their performance was very theatrical, a live rock opera. The drum set was sitting on what were very realistic rocks, and there were pictures and videos projected behind it. They were very energetic as well, head banging along to the crowd as everyone sang along. Dani is a tiny guy with the depends voice and a scream that lasts for which feels like ever. Even though he looks kinda scary in pictures, he has the cutest scream face and the sweetest smile behind the makeup. Their set list included Dirge Inferno, Tonight in Flames, Dusk In Her Embrace, Her Ghost In The Fog and Nymphetanine.

When they started their last song, I saw someone's boot come at my face, and, before I could do anything it had hit me. When - after a security guard pulled the guy out of the crowd – I lifted my head back up, I realized my nose was bleeding, so I walked out of the venue.

Making my way through the moshpit that was going on in the back wasn't as easy, but the night was worth all the pain. It reminded me of the rock shows we "used to" go to, the times when it was impossible to get out without a black eye or a broken bone.

P.S. Thanks a lot to Sarah Ginn for giving me the song names. I would not have them if it wasn't for you.