A visual kei gig a day keeps a doctor away

[zaa_zaa]

So I remembered there were threads from @CervaCannibale and @GreatNorthernVK about their extended visual kei concert runs, so I thought I’d share mine too. Just for fun. I’m no writer, so don’t expect me to take you on an in-depth dive into full details and emotions

I’m in Tokyo from early September to early October, which means concerts almost every single day. Festivals, three-mans, two-mans, one-mans – you name it.. As opposed to my last time in Japan, I am here alone for half of my trip without my partner, and then my family comes to visit me as well. And still no partner. Why? Kind of a funny story: I originally planned just two weeks – mid-September to early October – and got my blessing for some solo VK indulgence. Then I found out Maru from Bis would be on stage on September 10 for the first time in 17 years. Obviously, I had no choice. I extended the trip, got another blessing (this one came with a longer sigh), and here I am. They have stuff to do back at home, and I can’t miss Nega’s concert on 19.09, so I had to go to Japan anyways during my vacation.

As for tickets, I’m lucky to have an e+ account. But even if you don’t, it’s honestly fine most of the time. Sold-outs are pretty rare these days, so unless it’s clearly stated on e+ or the band’s Twitter that it’s a sold-out, you can usually just pay at the door. Of course, bigger bands can sell out faster, but hey, VK is also about supporting the underground, right?

One thing that’s different this time: since I know the evenings will be amazing, I try to plan some fun morning activities. If they’re great, perfect. If not, who cares? Still an experience, and the evening show makes up for it.

I’ll start this thread by catching you up on the past week, then keep updating as I go. Feel free to ask questions

[zaa_zaa]

First Day – 06.09

Merry – The Last Scene Tour @ Aoyama Rizm

I didn’t buy tickets in advance – you never know how long passport control will take, and it would suck to miss a band. Could’ve gone to Watashi wa Ukabinagara Shizumu at 19:00, but I’m not a fan, so it was either Merry at 17:00 or nothing.

Arrived at the hotel around 15:30, plenty of time to get to the venue. Lots of Merry shirts, mostly 30+ crowd, decent number of guys. Paid around ¥7500 at the door, headed straight to the back – I’m just under 6ft, so I can see fine given the average height of Japanese, plus there’s usually that 20cm step to stand on. I’m not into furitsuke anyway, so I’d rather not take someone’s spot.

Hoped for “Pink iro no Seishun” (my favorite), didn’t get it. Still a solid setlist: plenty from the last album, got to hear “finale”, “Fleeting prayer”, “Zetsubou”, and they closed with “Chiyoda-sen Democracy.” The crowd went absolutely nuts.

~100 people total. The biggest surprise? How clean Merry sounded. Usually I wear earplugs to cut harsh highs and noise, but this time I didn’t need them at all – just perfect mixing. Gara was as magnetic as ever, and the band looked like they were having fun.

After the show, I grabbed some food nearby, then wrestled with jetlag until 6 a.m. Classic.

[zaa_zaa]

Second Day – 07.09
sugar / Tsukishigure ni Hanataba wo / Deigan / Machina / DAMNED / Misui @ Ikebukuro Edge

Jetlag was brutal, so I forced myself up at 10 a.m. – the only way to have a chance of sleeping before midnight. Day plan: hit every VK store I could (Little Hearts, Like an Edison, Pure Sound, Tower Records) and hunt for rare stuff you can’t get online.

The problem? Everything opened at 12. So I killed time at the Japanese Sword Museum nearby. Honestly, I expected 500-year-old blades – instead, it was mostly modern work. Still beautiful, and cool to see guys from Sweden and the U.S. who moved to Japan to become swordsmiths. Some people move here for VK (looking at you, Glamscure and Xavak), some to forge katanas.

Then came the +32°C death march to Little Hearts – no hat, jetlagged, half-dead. Salvation: Ippuku&Matcha. Matcha umeshu, matcha latte, matcha pudding – highly recommended. Finally some energy.

Store hunting:

• Little Hearts: tiny, not much variety, but I snagged the 2024 Deshabillz release – a win.

• Tower Records: all mainstream (Gazette, Lynch, Razor…), not my thing. Funny to see Malice Mizer still stocked though.

• Like an Edison: last year in Osaka I scored Diealo & Fixer DVDs. This time – nothing.

• Pure Sound: jackpot. Two Visage tapes. Worth the whole store crawl.

Festival time. Coming from a European festival mindset, I expected the opener to be some filler band. Nope – DAMNED opened, and they were great – solid setlist, not just the obvious PV tracks.

Unfortunately, Edge’s sound hit me hard. The venue is wide, not deep, so there’s no real escape from the speakers. Insanely loud – even with earplugs, I needed time to adjust. It could’ve easily been 20% quieter.

Misui were next, with noticeably more fans and a lot of furitsuke. Hair flying everywhere, chaos. I enjoyed their set.

Then came Deigan, and to my surprise, they had even more fans – at least twice as many as Misui, judging by the screaming and the merch line. I don’t enjoy their material (mid at best), and live they sounded worse than DAMNED or Misui – muddy instruments, too much noise. Still, I get the appeal of simping for Ten.

Tsukishigure ni Hanataba wo were next, and wow… they were bad. Not just “not my style” bad – they sounded completely out of sync, several beats off each other. Gave me flashbacks to Ms. Eva last year. Probably the worst live band I’ve heard so far. It seems that their vocalist brought the disease of sounding insanely bad as a band to Tsukishigure. Honestly, this was the worst band I’ve heard live so far. I wanted them to finish so badly. And yet – the audience went wild, tons of furitsuke, huge merch line. I genuinely don’t get this fandom.

Then sugar. And guess what? 25% (maybe more) of the crowd left after Tsukishigure. This fandom, man… I like Sugar’s album, so I was excited. Nea isn’t a bad vocalist, but leaned too heavily on backtracks – felt like 50% of the vocals were prerecorded, which buried his real voice. Not my favorite approach, but still an enjoyable set overall.

Machina was last, but jetlag finally caught up to me. Since I’d see them later anyway, I bailed, grabbed ramen, and went to crash.

[zaa_zaa]

Third Day – 08.09
Mama vs Nurie @ WildSide Tokyo

Finally got a half-decent night of sleep. Breakfast, a quick stop at a nearby shrine, then into the city to get a custom baseball hat at CPH. €50 is a lot for a hat, but this is hands-down the best one I’ve ever owned.

Harajuku? Total disappointment – pure tourist trap. With 33°C heat it was unbearable, so I hid in the hotel and killed time in Hogwarts Legacy until it was showtime.

At the live house, maybe 50–70 people in total. Nurie opened – honestly, nothing to say, completely unmemorable for me, though the crowd seemed happy.

I was there for Mama, and they delivered – I got to hear “Witch” and “Doku-iri MILK wa MAMA no Aji,” both favorites. But the mix was rough: Mei’s vocals were buried under guitars (even with the backing track), so half the time I could barely hear him. Why the sound engineer thought this was fine, I have no idea.

Still, a good enough show overall. Grabbed takoyaki and umeshu after, then straight to bed – jetlag still hasn’t fully let go.

[zaa_zaa]

Fourth Day – 09.09
Noroimico / Articlear @ Takadanobaba Club Phase + CHAOSS / Shingeki no Awake / Revaless @ Ikebukuro Edge

Originally, the plan was just the Ikebukuro Edge festival (LIZA, TABOO, Shingeki no Awake, CHAOSS, Tenebrae, REVALESS). But before bed, I stumble on Jin’s Twitter and see that Articlear is playing at Club Phase at 18:15 – with Noroimico right before them at 17:30. No-brainer: Club Phase first, then Edge to catch what I can.

Morning culture boost: tea ceremony with a tea master. Peaceful, meditative, and yes – I ate tea leaves with sauce. Strange but oddly nice.

After some errands, I make it to Club Phase.

Noroimico: What a presence. Crystal-clear sound, perfectly mixed – a relief after the messier audio at WildSide and Edge. Their stage presence was pure positivity. I immediately grabbed some checki after the set.

Articlear: My first time seeing Jin live, and it delivered exactly what I hoped. Hearing Tenseishitara 「Jin」 datta Ken live made my day – maybe my whole trip. Of course, more checki had to be taken.

I skipped the next bands (K, Omega Dripp, Nostradamnz), grabbed a konbini sandwich, and dashed to Ikebukuro Edge. By the time I arrived, TABOO, LIZA, and Tenebrae had already finished – a bit of a shame, but worth it for Noroimico/Articlear.

CHAOSS: Edge is still too loud; nothing I can do. They sounded fine technically, but their material is just generic VK to me. I mostly stayed for Ikura (ex-Deathfina) – he was good, but the songs didn’t stick.

Shingeki no Awake: still decora kings. Last year they were great, this year just as good. Only ~30 of us are left in the room, half of them hardcore Shingeki fans in full decora mode. The synergy between the band and its fans was magical. I don’t enjoy their recordings, but live? Absolutely incredible.

Revaless: final band, final disappointment. Only 18 of us were left by then, and honestly, deservedly so. Even worse than Tsukishigure ni Hanataba wo two days ago – at least Tsukishigure had some idea behind their music. Revaless felt lazy, uninspired, and just bad live. I stayed out of courtesy – I didn’t want them to perform to 17 people instead of 18.

Closed the night with umeshu and random Japanese food – ordered blindly, got lucky, enjoyed everything. Then bed.

[zaa_zaa]

Fifth Day – 10.09
cali≠gari session (Larme Belladonna + ELEKTEL Shiki) / Lay About World / the Nostradamnz / Daishi (Neu:Noiz) / Liiloo (ex-Sug) / The BOZU (Maru, ex-Bis) @ Holiday Shinjuku

Finally got to sleep in until 11. Had zero energy or motivation for anything productive, so I just did the bare minimum of things I needed to do until it was time to head out.

cali≠gari session was a pleasant surprise – they sounded insanely close to the original, and hearing Maguro live made it worth showing up early.

Lay About World: I’m a Kyotaru fanboy (Black:list, the EIGHT, etc.), and I like several LAW songs, so I was really looking forward to this. Sadly, no Cxclone this time, but we got FUCKIN’ DAY and UP SIDE DOWN. Kyotaru was as lively as ever, but you can definitely tell he’s getting older – like all of us. The sad part: maybe five actual fans in the room.

the Nostradamnz: I hate circus/clown kei with a passion. No childhood trauma, just pure dislike – clown noses and carnival music are instant red flags for me. Their drummer had the nose on, so… yeah, mentally I checked out. They had way more fans than LAW, though, which I don’t really understand given how generic the music felt.

Daishi (Neu:Noiz): stayed in the back and opened my Kindle. I have zero patience for 80% solos + 20% shredding solo guitarists. While the fans enjoyed their honmei, I enjoyed Stephen King’s The Institute.

Liiloo (ex-Sug): tried to give them a chance, got through one song, then back to King. Generic j-rock, nothing memorable.

The BOZU: my main reason for being there. Dream come true – got to hear Days and Start by Bis live. Pure happiness. You can read the report here – https://forum.jrockone.com/t/general-session-band-thread/4786/63.

Closed the night with more umeshu and random Japanese food at my favorite Shinjuku izakaya. Then straight to bed.

[zaa_zaa]

Sixth Day – 11.09
cali≠gari @ Shinjuku Loft

Woke up craving “cultural enrichment,” so I went for a sushi-making class in the morning. Two hours later, I confirmed once again an important thing: I hate cooking. Didn’t enjoy making sushi or rolls at all — but hey, still an interesting experience.

Ran a few errands after that, which almost made me late for the show.

The concert: setlist was known in advance — 20 songs, I like maybe 2-3 of them. https://forum.jrockone.com/t/cali%E2%89%A0gari/464/165. The rest are just okay to me. But it’s cali≠gari, so skipping was never an option.

Shinjuku Loft’s capacity is around 500, and it was absolutely packed. At first, I couldn’t see the stage at all thanks to a giant column blocking my view. So I had a choice: stay where I was or be “that guy” and move closer. Decided that since Japanese fans can see them whenever they want, and I don’t know if I ever will again, I dove into the crowd. Thirty seconds of non-stop “gomennasai” later, I found the perfect spot: back of the room, on a step, dead center. Totally worth it.

Observations:

1. Average age of the crowd: 30+. Lots of married couples in their 40s.

2. At least 25% men.

The performance: cali≠gari was flawless. Musically tight, vocally perfect, the audience sang along to everything. Even if I only liked 2 of the 20 songs, just being there and experiencing it live was worth it.

After the show: umeshu + izakaya. Then I suddenly decided the night needed a sequel, so I hunted down a bar near my hotel that serves cocktails with matcha, umeshu, and tea liqueur. Absolute heaven. Two cocktails later, blissed out and ready for bed.

[zaa_zaa]

Seventh Day – 12.09
Blaze vs Lyrica @ Ikebukuro Black Hole

The day started with a mission: new sneakers. Mine were falling apart, so I went second-hand hunting. Ended up at Kindal and scored the perfect pair – Nike x Stone Island Sock Dart – great price, perfect condition. Worth every yen.

Ran some errands, then headed to Ikebukuro Black Hole.

Lyrica opened. I counted about 40 people in the room – a surprisingly small crowd for two pretty decent bands with good streams, youtube views, and fandom from previous bands. Lyrica was solid: Usagi’s timbre and tone were spot-on, just like on recordings. Hit every note cleanly. Hearing Strange Rabbit was a highlight; sad they didn’t play Strawberry Marmalade, but overall a good set. People who bought tickets to their shows in Germany, you are in for a treat.

Then Blaze came on. I counted again: only 30 people. Couldn’t believe it – is VK really this niche in 2025? Anyway, I went in with low expectations because their Spotify recordings sound rough (bad recording or bad mastering, not sure which). And Mio’s live vocals with Nazare were often shaky according to their DVDs I watched – high notes missed, out of breath mid-line.

But Blaze live? Absolutely killed it. Mio had much better breath control, nailed the high notes, and the band was tight instrumentally. Honestly, the songs sounded better live than on Spotify – they really deserve a better recording engineer.

I enjoyed Blaze a lot – if you get a chance to see them live, do it.

Closed the night with okonomiyaki and two more liquor-based cocktails. Then, sit down and write up everything you just read. From now on, I should finally be on pace with one report per day for the rest of my stay in Japan

[zaa_zaa]

Eighth Day – 13.09
MAYOHK @ 20000V

Started the morning with yet another dose of “cultural enrichment”: meditation practice at a local shrine. I’d never tried meditation before, so I was curious. The tour included two meditation sessions, calligraphy, chanting, praying, and matcha. It was enjoyable overall, but I’m still far from being a meditation convert.

After running a few more errands, it was time to head out to 20000V to see MAYOHK. This was the farthest venue from my hotel — about an hour away — and pretty small, maybe 120-cap. Around 2/3 full, and a decent number of non-Japanese in the crowd, which meant my usual “stand in the back and see everything” plan didn’t quite work (too many people my height). Oh well. As expected, the crowd was generally 30+, more on the goth/punk style.

My relationship with MAYOHK is basically nonexistent — I’d only heard a couple of songs, and they weren’t my style. But you can’t skip a gig with Kozi and Hora when visiting Japan, as they are legends.

As expected with electronic retro music, there was zero furitsuke – just people vibing. I might have become a Hora simp by the end of it. Kozi even livestreamed a few songs, played some guitar, and surprised me with a headless guitar – no old-school grandpa energy, very on-trend.

If I had to pick a few songs that got stuck in my mind – TOO NIGHT, SEXY MUSIC, ADAGIO. So that was definitely enjoyable.

[GreatNorthernVK]

Nice thread so far!

I’ve always wondered how the experience differs for someone who doesn’t really do the furitsuke.

Turns out, furitsuke can make the bands sound not as bad, lol.

[zaa_zaa]

Ninth Day – 14.09
Ga to Chou @ Harevutai

Started the morning with another round of “cultural enrichment” — this time, a sumo experience. First, a brief history of sumo, then mochi-pounding, a demo training session, a short performance, and finally a real match. Afterwards, you get to try sumo training yourself and even face off against a professional wrestler. Of course, I did both — and lost miserably. With about a 60 kg difference between us, I couldn’t move him an inch and was on the ground within 30 seconds – of course, it could have finished much faster, but the wrestler was obviously kind enough not to humiliate me instantly. Fun experience overall. My advice: if you want to watch sumo, go see an actual tournament; these shows, like the one I attended, are mostly worth it if you plan to participate.

After a quick curry and a few errands, I rushed to Harevutai for Ga to Chou. Having learned my lesson from the cali≠gari gig, I arrived right at 17:00 when doors opened to secure a good spot. I had a B5 ticket, but with at least 200 A-tickets ahead of me, arriving early didn’t change much. Still, I managed to get a decent spot, so all was fine.

Harevutai is easily the nicest venue I’ve been to so far – and the first one where I didn’t feel cold. As usual, I scoped out the demographics: plenty of people in their 30s–40s and some pushing 50 (which makes sense given R-Shitei, Kiryu, and Lycaon’s long history), alongside a good share of younger fans. Pretty even age distribution overall.

My relationship with Ga to Chou is mixed: I love the heavier tracks like Sousou, but the carnival/circus-kei stuff (Ageha, etc.) leaves me cold. Their setlist was basically 50/50 — half I vibed with, half I didn’t care about.

The band was tight. Souma impressed me by not using backing tracks at all – all vocals were live. The crowd was super engaged, with more than 90% doing furitsuke for every song. Souma even attempted a wall of death, which was adorable but doomed to fail – the energy just isn’t the same when most of the audience is female and not in a mosh-pit mood.

After the main set, they revealed new looks (Hiyori looked incredible) and premiered the MV teaser for their upcoming single. And then an encore came.

Overall, a very enjoyable live. Capped the night off with the best matcha latte I’ve had so far (Mermaid Café – highly recommend) and a killer umeshu/sake cocktail. Then back to the hotel.

[x51715x]

@zaa_zaa

a sumo experience

wtf i’m so jealous

[zaa_zaa]

Tenth Day – 15.09
Lynch. / D’ERLANGER / Plastic Tree / KIRITO @ Zepp DiverCity – or maybe not?

Father, forgive me for I have sinned.

I have a confession to make. I committed a blasphemy some of you probably wouldn’t understand. But hear me out – it was a tough decision, and yet I feel that by doing what I did, I stayed true to the spirit of OG visual kei.

There was no cultural enrichment today. I stayed in bed and took care of some personal stuff. While doing that, I started thinking: here I am with a ticket for Lynch / D’ERLANGER / Plastic Tree / Kirito.

I am a Lynch stan – and like many of you, I stan the pre-2014 material. I literally don’t care about almost anything they released after 2014. I even checked my Spotify likes: only REBORN and ALLIVE made the cut. As for the other bands… well, as horrible as it might sound, I just don’t care.

So this gig was literally just for me to see Lynch and hope they’d play songs from THE AVOIDED SUN or SHADOWZ as their remakes are about to be released in two weeks. And that’s the problem – it was just hope. I checked their setlist from a show two weeks ago and didn’t like it at all. To make things worse, Lynch didn’t publish the schedule, so there was a good chance I’d be stuck sitting through three bands I don’t really care about (legends, sure, but still) only to get a Lynch setlist I might not enjoy.

Under normal circumstances, I would have gone. Seeing these legends live is worth it, especially if there’s even a chance of older Lynch material.

But here’s the twist: there was a super-session happening at Ikebukuro EDGE. Maro (ex. Objet De Neige, 【_Vani;lla】, L&DS, ABOO, etc.) was officially ending his music career. He revived ABOO for one day, plus lined up at least five session bands with members from DIV, Irokui, ZOMBIE, REIGN, Nazare, and more.

I’m not deeply familiar with all of Maro’s bands (I’ve heard them all, but don’t care much, except for【_Vani;lla】), but this put me at a real crossroads. On one hand: respected, long-standing VK bands and a chance – just a chance – to hear older Lynch. On the other hand, a once-in-a-lifetime festival with songs from the 2000s and 2010s, featuring members I might never see again – Ikuma and Kazuharu from REIGN, Issei from Nazare, Kanata from ZOMBIE, Nao from REALies, and others.

And there was no way to attend both – if Lynch weren’t the first band, I’d miss Maro completely since it’s about an hour from Zepp Diver to Ikebukuro EDGE.

Then I saw the setlist for the session bands – and honestly, once you see it, I think most of you would have abandoned the Lynch gig too:

18years Guild

1. NEXT⇒REALies

2. メカウサギ / イロクイ。

3. 人魚 / ヴィドール

4. 新聞マスコミ関係者の方へ… / ヴィドール

5. ファンキーボーイ / イロクイ。

L&DIVs

1. Bonds / L&DS

2. Life is / L&DS

3. 夏の行方 / DIV

4. L & frienDS / L&DS

5. 毒彩ギーク / DIV

ROYAL CAST

1. sugar blue ocean / L&DS

2. #夏の微熱 / CLØWD

3. 腐り姫 / ZOMBIE

4. Worry? / CLØWD

Bump Live

1. Ghost Labyrinth / REIGN

2. ブラックアウト / アンド

3. ウソつき / 【_Vani;lla】

4. Trigger / アンド

Hearing ZOMBIE – Kusari Hime with Kanata? AND – Trigger with Ikuma? Irokui – MEKAUSAGI with Yuuri? DIV – Natsu no Yukue with Chisa?

Count me in immediately.

So that’s the real title of today:

Tenth Day – 15.09
Maro Last Birthday Live @ Ikebukuro Edge

The venue (capacity ~250) seemed sold out or very close – it was packed. I managed to get a good spot with a clear view of everything. The audience leaned on the older side, which isn’t surprising given that many of the musicians on stage started 20-25 years ago. Right next to me was a lady in her 50s who clearly came for Yuuri and the Irokui material – she did furitsuke to the best of her abilities.

First up was the session with Ikuma (ex-AND, REIGN). His voice was a bit rough around the edges as he didn’t really perform in the last four years, but overall, it was a solid performance. Hearing Trigger by AND was definitely a highlight. Issei looked bored as always – classic grumpy grandpa energy. Plus, they played a 【_Vani;lla】song I liked, so that was a win.

Then ABOO came on and played four songs. I’m not particularly into their material, but I still enjoyed the set.

Next was a session with Chisa (DIV, ACME). Plenty of Chisa fans in the crowd. Compared to Ikuma, Chisa had much better vocal control – not surprising given how active he still is in the scene. I never cared much for L&DS material (I’m more of a【_Vani;lla】guy), so I was mainly waiting for DIV’s Natsu no Koe – and they delivered.

After that came a short two-song micro-session that was gathered specifically for Kru (the drummer from【_Vani;lla】and L&DS) by Maro: one song with ABOO’s vocalist and one with Ikuma, which seemed like yet another【_Vani;lla】song – of course, it made me happy.

Then came Kanata (ex-ZOMBIE). Let’s thank Kanata for taking a break from his busy host-club schedule to show up. Let me remind you a bit of lore about Kanata and ZOMBIE in general. Basically, there’s a claim from their drummer that he was the only one who really played his instrument (yes, the voice is also an instrument) without relying on playbacks.

Obviously, I was curious about Kanata’s abilities. So, what can I say about Kanata? Mid at best. Not terrible, not insanely out of tune, but nowhere near the recordings. His range felt very limited. Overall, just… mid. They played two CLØWD songs, and when Kou from CLØWD stepped on stage for these two songs, the difference was instant – he’s just on another level vocally. Yet, hearing ZOMBIE’s Kusari Hime live made it all worth it.

The last session featured Yuuri (ex-Irokui). They played one REALies song, two Irokui tracks, and two Vidoll songs – which wasn’t on my bingo card, but with Shun from Vidoll on guitar, it made sense. Yuuri did a great job emulating Jui’s voice – surprisingly close to the original.

In the end, skipping Lynch for this festival was absolutely the right choice. No regrets.

[CervaCannibale]

@zaa_zaa

On one hand: respected, long-standing VK bands and a chance – just a chance – to hear older Lynch. On the other hand, a once-in-a-lifetime festival with songs from the 2000s and 2010s,

Does is really matter how respected they are if you personally don’t enjoy them/the setlist? Good thing you went to the gig you really wanted to see. That’s always the right decision.

[zeus]

I agree. You can probably catch lynch. another time. This session band was a once in a lifetime experience! Glad you got to go.

[GreatNorthernVK]

Yeah, at some point you just gotta go where your mind takes you.

[zaa_zaa]

I still consider these bands to be an educational experience, as they had such a profound influence on the scene. So, to me personally, that’s enough justification to attend a show even if I know the bands are not my thing. It’s like me going to Slipknot – I don’t like their material in general, but I can enjoy it anyway

[zaa_zaa]

Eleventh Day – 16.09
Soranaki / Rurunone / Deigan / Karasu / Kuroneko / Machina / Mathilda @ Holiday Shinjuku

Tomorrow is going to be a long day, so I stayed in bed until it was time to head out to the already familiar Holiday Shinjuku. Grabbed my favorite spot – and the show began.

Karasu opened. I got to hear Kamisama no Iu Touri。, which was nice, but honestly, the meme I made about them sums up my feelings better than words.
I am actually proud of this meme.

Then came Rurunone – what I’d call “wafuu djent.” If Meidara and Jiga sit firmly on the djent side (Yamon was a guitarist in both bands), Rurunone lean to the wafuu side. Yamon was a powerhouse of energy, and watching him interact with the audience was a highlight in itself.

Kuroneko were next – one of the two bands I was really looking forward to. Judging by the crowd (at least 80% joined in the furitsuke), I wasn’t alone in this sentiment. They didn’t seem to play their older material, which was a bit of a letdown, but their newer songs sounded great. Based on audience reaction, merch line, and overall vibe, they seem to be on the rise and might become the next big underground band. Musically, I actually hear some similarities to Karasu, which made me think Kuroneko are what Karasu could have been if Ryo had a stronger songwriter.

Next up was Machina. I was curious about them – their first release was fine, and they clearly have some budget. Live, though, they were just… okay. They feel like the child of Nameless and Mathilda, to be honest. It was satisfying to see that Kuroneko had the better audience reception.

Then came Deigan – my second time seeing them. Nothing’s changed: still not my thing.

Mathilda followed. Way too many vocal playbacks, but the bassist completely stole the show with insane stage presence. Overall, a good setlist and fun performance, but still not a band I’d follow. After Mathilda, 2/3 of the audience just left which was a bit unusual, but not surprising.

Finally, Soranaki – my other main reason for coming. And… it was rough. They and Rururone both draw from djent influences, but where Rururone sounded tight, Soranaki were just a noisy, unpleasant mess. Felt genuinely sorry for the drummer, who seems too good for the band. I lasted three songs before leaving.

So, was it the best festival? No. But I didn’t feel like I wasted my time – and that’s good enough.

[CervaCannibale]

@zaa_zaa

an educational experience

You and I have vastly diffrent approaches to our hobby

[sayonara_blue]

@zaa_zaa

Hearing ZOMBIE – Kusari Hime with Kanata? AND – Trigger with Ikuma? Irokui – MEKAUSAGI with Yuuri? DIV – Natsu no Yukue with Chisa?

gotta be an outstanding decision to make !! sounds like you just attended live a real life random playlist of mine when I was in high school So lucky aaaaarrggghh