My friend is a huge fan of 9goats black out, and Ryo is among her top-3 vocalists (along with Jin from Nega and Wataru from 12012). So she went to see Hollowgram twice this trip, and as you can imagine, she is insanely happy 
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Worshipping Ryo is simply correct.
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Seventeenth Day – 22.09
DAMNED – Oneman Tour Final @ Shibuya WWW
The first half of the day was spent on errands: I sent my family to a Japanese cooking class (okonomiyaki plus something else), bought vinyls and a haori for a friend back home, and introduced my family to umeshu/matcha cocktails. Picked up a new Junji Ito x Reflem t-shirt with the Intersection bishounen design – being his fan and having 1/3 of my sleeve covered in tattoos of his characters, I had no choice. You can see the design from the official photosession collaboration below.
Once all of that was done, my friend and I headed to Shibuya WWW for DAMNED’s one-man tour final.
I grabbed cheki with Sakura (yes, I’m a fanboy) and Suica, found my spot, and waited for the show to start. The place was nicely filled – good turnout for the band.
And DAMNED delivered. Simple as that. Interestingly enough, Sakura was their main MC, while the rest of the band was relatively quiet when it came to interaction with the audience. Not that I am complaining about that, I am part of the Sakura squad, after all – the more of Sakura, the better.
The question on everyone’s mind: did Cazqui show up?
Yes – and they played two songs together. He was as lively as expected, and this is the closest thing I’ll ever get to OG Nokubura. It felt good, man.
The show itself was terrific: a packed setlist, flawless instrumentals and vocals. And I got to hear this song, which is my favorite of theirs.
Honestly, DAMNED in the 2020s feel like what Nokubura were for loud kei in the 2010s. If you get a chance to see them live – do it. It’s absolutely worth it.
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Eighteenth Day – 23.09
Chimaira Festival @ Ebisu LIQUIDROOM
After running a few errands, it was time to head to Ebisu LIQUIDROOM for the Chimaira festival.
Mama – the sound was so much better than at their two-man with Nurie, so I finally got to enjoy their set properly. Bonus: Annie from Chaqla joined for Fxxk your feelings.
Kakumay – top 3 worst bands I have ever heard live. Probably the worst one. Literal vomit.
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Horrible sound. Muddy and incomprehensible.
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Vocals so bad he never seemed to hit a single note.
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Songs completely devoid of life – even breakdowns had no groove.
I genuinely don’t know how all of their members can lack this much introspection when writing and actually performing music for the last 6 years, or how their fans can have such catastrophically bad taste and enjoy this. How can a band this objectively awful live (forget the material) book Zepp Shinjuku for a oneman? Beyond me.
Thank the gods they were late and played only 4 songs instead of 6. I still don’t understand how they’ve lasted six years.
Honestly, this is what a “successful” Maria Cross would sound like.
And then – a huge line for their cheki. I don’t know, man. I just don’t know.
Chaqla saved the night. Absolutely pristine sound – no noise, no dirt, no mess. Everything was clean and balanced. Immensely enjoyable setlist. They were the polar opposite of Kakumay in every way.
Mitsu – not much to say. A very generic solo project. Something to chill to, nothing more, nothing less.
Azavana – I had high hopes. Their recorded material is nice, and I liked their DVD clips. Live… not a disappointment, but a clear downgrade from Chaqla. Too noisy, too muddy, Ryo’s vocals were buried in the mix – and when he pushed harder, it just got dirtier. Definitely a letdown.
Verde… Verde is like your favorite grandpa who just started using Gen Z slang to stay relevant – a little clumsy, but you can’t help but find it charming. Their awkward breakdowns and growl attempts were adorable, and you’re simply incapable of feeling negativity toward Verde. Extremely enjoyable set.
Mamireta – simply incredible. I honestly thought nothing could top Nega’s revival for me, but Mamireta managed to challenge them.
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Crystal-clear sound. I am looking at you, Azavana and Kakumay.
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Batsu doing Batsu things.
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Insane energy from start to finish.
You can’t compare the incomparable – both this show and Nega’s are now tied as my top VK concerts ever. Sad that I won’t catch them again this trip, but it is what it is.
So yeah, definitely an enjoyable festival.
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Funny enough, I have one day coming up where I have a choice between a Kakumay one man and a Chaqla one man. I think I know where I’m going.
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Damn, another one I would have loved to see! Thanks for the reports 
Chaqla’s live material on youtube is also fantastic, I wish they’d pick up that social media traction and came over here
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absolutely WHEEZING at the description of kakumay live 
highkey i wonder if thats why i like them KANDNSJSJDJSB
LIVING for these reports!!! i wouldve absolutely loved to hear yuuri of irokui covering vidoll, dream crossover tbh
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Honestly not surprised about KAKUMAY. I remember seeing VEXENT which was the previous band of some of the members and they were BAD, same as you describe, muddy, noisy, horrible.
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Nineteenth Day – 24.09
DazzlingBAD / The Gallo @ Live House Shishio
Family Visual Kei Experience™
Context: my mother’s last rock concert was 35 years ago. My sister had never been to a music concert in her 20+ years of life.
So what did my big brain come up with?
Take them to see DazzlingBAD and The Gallo.
Family VK baptism, you know.
They know I listen to visual kei, but their understanding stops at “guys with makeup who scream and sing.” They know I came to Japan to see concerts every day – and while they find such motivation of visiting Japan slightly weird, but hey, as long as I am happy, they don’t care.
At the Venue
Live House Shishio – the tiniest venue of the whole trip. I parked my mother and sister in a corner at the back while I headed for the middle. There was another reason for this – I wanted them to be alone and far away from me, so that they would be isolated in their experience without a chance of interacting with me.
Got my sister some alcohol – because hey, if we’re doing this, we’re doing it right.
DazzlingBAD
We all know how -iT- looks, right? My family was visually stunned.
We all know how he sings – with every possible effect pedal engaged. Let’s just say, it’s not what you expect a singer to do.
And we all know how shocking your first furitsuke session can be.
I periodically glanced at their faces – they were confused at first, but slowly started to enjoy themselves.
Then came my first sin of the night:
Since my sister enjoyed the show, she wanted to buy something as a token.
¥4.5k gone for a photobook of -iT- and JoJo – yes, that photobook.
She officially lost her VK merch virginity.
As for the performance: I’m not only a -iT- fanboy, but an Ayaha fanboy too — and Ayaha looked amazing, very old-school VK vibes. DazzlingBAD were weird in a good way. I’m not their biggest fan, but it was a fun set.
The Gallo
This was the part I was really looking forward to – I love their whole discography.
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JoJo taught us all the furitsuke moves (for example, for Boogeyman), which were absolutely insane and insanely fun. Impossible not to join in.
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The band was tight. A pleasure to listen to live.
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For the finale, JoJo brought -iT- on stage and they performed Incubus together. Perfect.
Yes, my family participated in furitsuke. Not all of it, but movements with plates and spoons, sitting down and then jumping in the air, etc.
And then came my second sin:
Sister loved The Gallo so much that she wanted merch. So I introduced her to the art of cheki gambling. ¥2k gone.
Third sin:
She wanted -iT- cheki. ¥6k gone for three cheki – one with JoJo and -iT- together, two solo.
Fourth sin:
She pulled a JoJo cheki. I’m the JoJo fanboy, not her.
So I taught her the beauty of cheki trading. For my Minato (Misui) and Ray (Nega) cheki, I claimed my JoJo.
The Aftermath
Both my mother and sister enjoyed the whole show.
Sure, I could’ve taken them to an art-kei festival or something more “serious”. I mean, musically, it was more likely to get them to enjoy the material.
But I wanted them to experience the spirit of visual kei – the chaos, the theatrics, the merch table temptations.
Mission accomplished.
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Twentieth Day – 25.09
Petit Brabancon @ Spotify O-EAST
Today was a Petit Brabancon day – and this will be a short report, because I’m exhausted. Plus, I only really like a few of their songs, so this was more of a “pay respects to the elders” visit for me.
First observation: the audience behavior was fascinating – a mix of European/American style (circle pits, mosh pits, even crowd surfing) and classic VK furitsuke. Really interesting to watch that blend.
Second: I couldn’t help but notice some discomfort in Kyo’s body language throughout the show. Could be his ear issues he mentioned a couple of months ago, could be something else, could just be me overthinking — yet, he still absolutely slayed vocally.
Music-wise: clean sound, roughly 20 songs, no MCs. Solid, tight, no complaints. Venue was packed, but not a sold-out.
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Twenty-First Day – 26.09
XANVALA @ Yogibo Holy Mountain (Osaka)
Today was an Osaka day – XANVALA at Yogibo Holy Mountain.
Fun fact: the venue is literally under the train line, so during moments of silence, you can hear trains passing overhead. But 99.9% of the time, you don’t notice a thing.
Why XANVALA? Honestly, because when I was planning this trip, Osaka’s VK schedule was pretty empty for this particular day, so XANVALA felt like the most obvious choice among the options I wasn’t particularly excited about. To me, they’re the epitome of generic-kei – but that doesn’t mean they can’t be enjoyable.
The venue was packed, and the crowd went crazy the entire time. We were lucky – there was a very kind lady near us who, seeing that we weren’t enjoying hair-whipping furitsuke in our faces, offered to swap spots with us. Very sweet of her.
The sound was pristine – which mattered, because XANVALA’s guitar parts can get quite intricate, and it was nice to hear all those tiny details clearly.
And I have to admit: XANVALA are good live. If you get a chance to see them, even if you’re not a fan of their material, it’s a solid choice and can be a delightful show.
That said, given my reasons for choosing them today, I don’t have a strong emotional connection to their music, so there’s not much else to add.
Non-Concert Life (Last Few Days)
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Matcha tasting: 10+ different kinds, and I finally learned a lot about how to prepare it properly and why I wasn’t getting any umami taste back at home.
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Teamlab museum: sensory overload, in the best way.
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Harry Potter Studio: almost a copy of the London one, which is great, because that version is fantastic.
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Osaka Rarez Hunting: Pure Sound and Like an Edison delivered — I found several releases that were either never online or only available in trash quality. But that’s a story for another time.
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Twenty-Second Day – 27.09
ΛrlequiΩ @ E.L.L. (Nagoya)
After getting my family on their plane, it was time to head to Nagoya. And no, sadly it wasn’t for a proper nagoya-kei gig (a bit of a shame) – but for Arlequin’s one-man, which isn’t bad at all.
Arlequin have a soft spot in my heart ever since Eclipse came out – I still remember my first reaction to it. Their later material was hit or miss for me: between 2016 and 2021 they went through what I call “Lynch. Syndrome” – releasing a lot of repetitive stuff. But their most recent work feels like evolution, and I appreciate that.
We got to the venue just in time. Nicely packed, grabbed our spots at the back, and waited. I’ve seen plenty of their live DVDs, so I knew Aki would sound good – but hearing it live is a different experience. He hits everything, and his screams sound exactly as on the recording – you know what I am talking about since Aki’s screams are quite unique for VK.
They played a lot of newer material, which I loved – nothing worse than a band becoming a “best-of” legacy act. Obviously, a gig that I enjoyed a lot.
E.L.L. is two venues stacked together, and XANVALA were playing their one-man two floors above. Since I saw XANVALA yesterday, it gave me food for thought.
XANVALA sound like a very polished band – like perfectly assembled Lego blocks. Everything clicks, but it feels a bit soulless, like I want to like them but can’t.
Arlequin, on the other hand, feel messy, emotional, alive – and that’s what makes them special personally to me.
Another band checked off the bucket list. On we go.
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Twenty-Third Day – 28.09
Codomo Dragon @ Soul Power (Toyama)
Today was Codomo Dragon day – and honestly, they were a must-see band for me this trip. I missed them last year, so this time I was ready to make sacrifices. Tokyo shows and some nearby shows were off the table (no e+ app for me, and these tickets were app-only), so the only way to catch both them and Arlequin was to see Arlequin in Nagoya and then go all the way to Toyama for Codomo. And that’s exactly what we did by taking a 4-hour bus from Nagoya to Toyama in the morning.
I could say many things about Toyama, but I will do it much later once I summarize all of the thoughts about this trip overall.
As for the performance, it seems like Hayato had health issues, so his voice wasn’t the best, for which he seemed to apologize profusely. Yet, he delivered the best he could, given the circumstances.
As for the tracklist – first of all, we got to hear Right Evil. Bad and Unpray were a nice addition, but the best and unexpected thing happened when they played Miminari, which I consider to be one of their best B-sides. I mean, I would have never expected to hear that song live. The setlist was fine – some older songs, plenty of fresher ones.
As you can imagine, Toyama isn’t exactly the place foreigners flock to. Even more, if we are talking about foreigners who want to go to a VK concert. So we were the only foreigners at the concert. Then, given Codomo’s cult status, everybody participated in furitsuke but us. And apparently, this is something that Hayato noticed, and from time to time, he was making sure that we were enjoying the concert by trying to get our attention up to the point where he made sure that we saw him and made an ok gesture back at him.
After the show we went to the merch table, and I used my gaijin privilege to thank Yume and Men-men, who were present there, personally. Both were very happy to hear it.
Then came my favorite moment: I’m heavily tattooed (two sleeves, full back). On one sleeve, near my elbow, I have a “V系” tattoo (there’s also a vk.gy logo next to it). Yume noticed it and was genuinely shocked – in a good way. He immediately called Men-men over to show him, and they both thanked me for my love for VK in cute and broken English. The reason why I am happy about it is that it’s one thing when people generally recognize that I listen to VK based on that tattoo. It’s a different story when it’s actual VK bandomen who see that tattoo and react to it. Doesn’t matter if they think it’s cringe and pretend to be positively shocked by it, because I don’t see it as cringe
And the perfect fanboy ending: after the concert, we were sitting on the steps figuring out where to eat, when Hayato himself walked by on the way to a taxi, thanked us again, waved, and was gone.
So yeah, the gig turned out to be amazing.
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YUMEEEEE SO ADORABLE WAAAAa
sorry I’ve been like dealing with life the past couple of weeks so i haven’t been following your reports super cloesly but I’m so glad for the Codomo love!! and so glad that they found it so wonderful!! I think they’re really quite genuine - Yume is very innocent iirc (and doesn’t age lmao) and Men-men is rather sociable. I’m very glad it was a solid experience, I truly feel that Codomo Dragon deserves so much more recognition as a vkei band!!
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Uwaaa I still want to see Codomo live one day!!
Sounds like you had an amazing time!
Also I am curious to hear how you liked the city, I lived there for 3,5 months back in 2023 hahaha
There really isn’t much to do or see there, especially if you’re there on a visit
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In short, I like such cities — I understand why such cities could be suffocating to people living there, but since I work remotely and having my wife and animals near me is more than enough, such city is amazing to me personally Few people, nothing to do, nature nearby — perfect.
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i’ll wait patiently
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Twenty-Fourth Day – 29.09
Chanty @ Club Phase
Part of me went to see Chanty simply out of respect – but another part wanted to feel like a Pokémon master. With XANVALA, I’d already “caught” three ex-Fixer members. With Chanty, this makes four. Jey is probably impossible to catch – and given his XJapanization, I’m not sure I even want to.
Morning was hectic – the trip is almost over, so it was time to buy presents: mostly matcha-related stuff, umeshu, and a few other things. Once all errands were done, I rushed to Club Phase for Chanty’s one-man.
And it wasn’t just any one-man – it was Shiro’s birthday one-man with a special twist: the original guitarist (shia.) came back on stage to play several songs.
If you’ve seen their latest PV, it features all their ex-members – like a “passing the torch” theme – so it was fitting that the first song they played with Shio was that very one. He performed a total of four songs – three during the main set and one during the encore.
This gig was also important from a VK lore perspective: Shiro got his cake and blew out candles on stage. Essential VK mythology moment to witness a stage cake moment.
Akuto was quite emotional during the set – he cried several times, and it felt wholesome. Feels like he has a strong emotional connection to the band.
As for the setlist and performance – I mean, it’s precisely what I expected from Chanty. It was pleasant and I had a great time. Too bad I didn’t get to hear Aimai, which is my favorite song of theirs, but overall, I cannot complain.
My friend is a huge fan of Fixer, so after the concert she bought enough merch, which made her eligible for taking a photo with a band member, so of course, she took a photo with Shiro . I had to leave earlier to run some errands; otherwise, I would have taken a picture with the band.
Tomorrow is our last gig for this trip – and conceptually, you’re going to love my choice. After that, I will summarize all my thoughts within a week and provide a broader perspective on this trip, discussing how I believe it changed some aspects of me.
See you tomorrow.
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What happened to Jey?