vk host club
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Holy moly so they’re pretty much gonna start “work” at 4pm until whenever the 2-shots end (like probably 11pm)?? That’s super tight.
I’m interested in how it’ll go, and how many “tickets”/spots are available.
imagine you pay 135 euro to go in and they seat you at a table of annoying people lol. i’d cry
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Okay, so if I have this right. The price is 135€ to:
- Be seated at a table with fans (maybe one member per table? Maybe. Or the band has their own table?) and get a picture of your table
- Opportunities to get your stuff signed (included in price)
- Opportunities to talk with the guys on a limited basis (included in price)
- A drink and something to snack on
- Opportunities to either get Polaroid photos with a member, or take selfies on your own phone with a member (not included in price)
Total time at event: Around 90 minutes
So 135€ is about $215 CAD. My evening with Fukuro, around 2.5 hours, came to $350 CAD.
Differences:
Selfies were free
Drinks were virtually unlimited, but no snacks
Came with a free bag of America tour merch valued at easily over $200 CAD.
I only had to share them with six other women.
Once again, the Japanese event is a much better value.
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Which is no surprise because they didn’t need to travel to another continent and paid venue rent, travel and food in yen instead of the much more expensive Euro.
If a european fan travels to warsaw and gets a hotel for this, it will still be much cheaper than just the flight to Japan. So I don’t think this is a bad deal. Sure if you’d do a lot like these events across europe, you might be better off going to Japan but for the people who won’t or can’t (too young to travel alone to another continent, not enough time off to make the flight costs worth it etc.) do this, this is a super nice opportunity and they are surely happy it is offered in the first place.
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Its the day before the concert, not the day-of.
Yoshiatsu is getting a tattoo to remember the europe tour. Bless his heart.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DMF8FSnCbH9/?igsh=MW5scXZyODM0ZXlieg==
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London was a great show, no complaints from me.
I can also see where the touchy feely comments come from and the fuckboy thing he touched some fan in the front row on the head and she started crying. 
Not in a distressed way I’ll add but you can tell, despite most of the women not being old enough, that they literally would throw their pants at him if they could. I also dont understand why because, although he is a talented man, he isnt a great looking one. Haha.
- Dadaroma definitely helps the popularity of Fukuro imo.
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Being in a band is inherently sexy 
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The live in London yesterday was amazing! The venue and stage is so so small (there wasn’t even a barrier and space between the stage where the security guys usually stand), I was at the 2nd row so I got a great view! As usual, I didn’t take many photos or videos, I just stared into their eyes the whole time.
The band members are all so smiley and kind, and the vip photo and 2-shots went well, the staff weren’t rushing people at all! Although I did rush myself out of fear of being a nuisance so I didn’t really get to chat with them as much as I wanted, just otsukaresama deshita and mata London ni kite kudadai. I especially wanted to tell yoshiatsu that I’ve been a fan since crazy shampoo, but yeah I didn’t talk much ;_;
Here’s my photos and 2-shots (I’m fat and ugly aghghg) and my Instagram post for more personal thoughts etc.
Interested to know about other people’s experience!
https://www.instagram.com/p/DMJu_oGKXpc/?igsh=MW84czh3aG4zcng3NQ==
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Nice to see them having fun and enjoying their tour. Different type of music from the usual vkei bands but very solid overall. Hope Yoshiatsu can make it work with “DRUGS” as well.
The photos turned out fantastic and you look great! Especially in the 5-shot. Love your outfit! 
I am starting to regret that I didn’t get tickets to any of the concerts. It really looks like they are doing great live shows and are so happy to be able to do an oversea tour 
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Their music is definitely different and refreshing, and I’ve really started to admire Daisuke’s skills on the piano! (any prior info on him? Vkgy says he’s only been a freelance pianist, though he was support for dadaroma! Which I’m guessing is how they knew each other.) I’m started to check out yutara and lotto’s previous activities as well since I’ve never heard of them before.
And it makes me wonder about yoshiatsu when he was in dadaroma…
I wonder did he not enjoy making the music in dadaroma, or was it some other issue that caused the disbandment? Fukuro seems to be a lot more successful than dadaroma, I think dadaroma only played at an anime con in Paris. I absolutely loved the music in dadaroma and yoshiatsu’s vibe, it’s hard to find bands with a similar sound, i still go back to dadaroma’s music from time to time and I really miss it. I wanted to tell yoshiatsu that I’ve been a fan since dadaroma, but i was concerned if it would be a sensitive topic. Maybe I’m thinking too much lol. I just miss dadaroma… And also I’ll see how Drugs does, it’s interesting cos wow yoshiatsu is so multi talented _
Thank you so much! (I made that red top hehe)
For me when they announced tickets, I was hesitant since I didn’t really immerse myself enough with their music yet, but the tickets were affordable plus the vip add on too, so I just went with it. And during the time between the live, I got myself more familiar with their music and instantly fell in love.
Yeah, they look so happy and are so energetic! I love how they seem to love engaging with the audience! When it was time for them to leave, they were high fiving the crowd (yutara and Daisuke slightly touched my hand ;;), and lotto stayed on singing the mom track with the crowd until it was over. Their little messages they write in Instagram are so precious, like how yoshiatsu asks if you’ve eaten well and slept well, and to the Japanese fans to wait for their live on the 30th ;;
Have they played in huge venues in Japan? Sometimes I’m sad I can’t go to lives in Japan, but sometimes I’m glad I live in Europe cos you get to be so much closer to the stage a lot easier. I spoke to someone who goes to lives in Japan and told me how much more time you have during the vip photos where you can actually chat with them for 5 minutes. Is there someone I can read live reports in English?
(sorry that was a lot. I’m still not over yesterday’s live and wish I could see them again soon)
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Oh, definitely not. This is a case of a band drawing much bigger crowds overseas than in Japan.
They often play taibans, and their oneman shows usually offer free admission (or, at least the shows in the window that I was there were). Ridley went to a Christmas show of there’s that only had paid tickets, and less than 25 people showed up.
I would say that in Japan, Dadaroma were definitely more popular. The only reason why they didn’t tour overseas as much as Fukuro is now is due to the relative slump that the overseas VK fandom was in during most of the 2010s.
Also, if you’re interested in some general observations from the couple of Taiban sets I caught and a kind of fan party I went to in Yoshiatsu’s bar, you can scroll through my mega thread. Relevant dates 09/07, 10/03 and 10/28
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Thank you for linking your thread and thank you for writing about it!
I wonder why fukuro aren’t as popular in Japan as they are overseas? The venue in London that i went to had a capacity of only 500, and it wasn’t sold out, i was wondering if they were used to this teeny tiny space lol.
How does the free admission one man shows work, how do they earn money from them?
The way vk live shows work in Japan seems so different, and the bangya culture and strict rules seem pretty daunting (i swear if I lived in Japan I’d become broke so soon x_x)
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Primarily from merch sales. Although there are usually at least one or two dozen die hards of many bands who are willing to pay in advance to make sure they’re up front.
Offering free admission can also be a draw tactic to convert casuals into regulars. Fukuro also encourages people to post their own photos and videos on social media, even in Japan (which is rare). So promotion is a big thing with them.
A possible explanation for the drop in popularity might have just been the significant change in sound. Dadaroma may have had a few slightly jazzy songs, but Fukuro wouldn’t seem out of place at any given Jazz festival. Unfortunately, that does make them pretty out of place in the current VK scene.
I personally like how unique it is, that it isn’t just another pop rock, punk, or metal/metalcore band. But I do get the feeling that the type of listener who likes alt-jazz music probably isn’t hanging around the VK scene.
Another possible explanation is that when bands fracture, people tend to pick their favourite member and go follow them to their new project. Two members of Dadaroma formed The Madna, so perhaps more of the fans went there.
Normally, vocalists would get a lot of fan attention. For people in the scene who tend to follow the grittier parts (gossip boards like Tanuki)…Yoshiatsu doesn’t exactly have the greatest reputation. Rumours are rumours and can’t be verified, so I wouldn’t use anything on Tanuki as a reason to avoid the band. Just maybe don’t sleep with the guy.
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Same!
And I’m not just talking about wanting to go to one of the concerts, @zero0o your photos are great and you are absolutely NOT fat and ugly 
When they initially announced the Europe Tour, I was hoping for a Hamburg concert - or somewhere close. Cologne would have worked for me if it where on a Saturday. It’s just too far away from me for driving there after work and a day off was not possible at the friday of the concert.
But it seems the tour is a success and everything that is written here sounds like a lot of fun so they will hopefully be back (and with Hamburg in their schedule, please )
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I’ve been a casual Fukuro listener this whole time, but the gig fueled my interest in them. The first time I saw Yoshiatsu live was almost exactly ten years ago in Tokyo, so to be able to see him live in London made me a lil emotional since I’m a huge fan of his style. His voice is beautiful, expressive and powerful and his antics make it seem like Pennywise (the Bill Skarsgard one) took inspo from him lol
There was a lot of fanservice, courtesy of the venue being small, some fan had her hand held while being serenaded by him, while another one got stared in the eye while he removed his tie, touched her face with it then played with her hair. He also grabbed his crotch a lot and did other phallic gestures that made the crowd scream – it felt a lil out of place considering Fukuro’s vibes but okay, I guess you can take the clown out of dadaroma but you can’t take the filth out of the clown. (or something)
Instrumentally, everyone was excellent. There’s no guitarist in the band, but their sound was full without even a backing track. Excellent piano work, and Daisuke said he composed all music with Yoshi’s voice in mind, and praised him as a vocalist. Made me wonder why he took up the project, and glad that he did so even if I miss his screaming. Yutara (Ba.) stayed in his corner for most of the show, but his energy was infectious and I loved his sound.
There were some ballads in the set list but mostly the energy was high and light and the whole band managed to get the crowd really invested. Daisuke and Yutara came out with bubble guns, there was the encore, and post-encore interactions with the band. The members spoke in a mix of English or simple Japanese. One highlight was that they came on stage exactly one hour after doors opened lollll I’ve been so tired of acts coming on two hours+ after the stated time.
Anyways, I almost got crushed by someone who was desperately trying to get Yutara to high five them, and he was trying to get the fan to calm down but it didn’t work, so in some aspects the crowd was annoying but I was pleasantly surprised by how many knew the lyrics, furi, were dressed in theme etc.
I’d go again!! Yoshi said on stories that in Europe they have been treated like celebrities, but in Japan ticket sales for their upcoming gig is worryingly low ;/ They’ve also mentioned there being a surprise post tour. Probs a new release?
I’m grateful they were able to tour EU and it’s been refreshing to see how they’ve documented their antics during their travels. You can tell they’re having a good time and overwhelmed by the reception during the shows.
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@GreatNorthernVK
Interesting, thanks for sharing!
Fukuro’s style is definitely unique, I don’t usually listen to jazzy stuff but I’m really loving their music! And all the members are really lovable and interactive! I’ve always loved yoshiatsu’s voice, and Daisuke’s composing skills are impressive (I also play piano so I’m super envious).
Oh yeah I’ve read a ton of rumours about him, I don’t really know what to think about it. (I mean dadaroma has a song called p0rnography so 
) I love the messages he posts on his Instagram though, stuff about sharing music with the world, peace and love, he seems so sincere and thoughtful and a nice person, so idk. I’m not really one to idolise someone (thankfully), all I know is that he has a nice voice and I like listening to it lol.
@Xayide
Thank you >_<
On a side note, what are some more interesting and creative poses to do for 2shots?? Is there a tag on twt or something where I can see examples?
When they asked what pose, I panicked and said idk, and they kept suggesting the heart lol. I asked yutara what pose he suggests, hoping not to do the heart, aaaand he did heart. (I’ve never ever done hearts with my hands before x_x)
I was also super scared to ask for a pose, just in case they didn’t want to do it or if it’s stupid or “too much” /too intimate.
But then I spoke to a girl who went to lives in Japan and she said it’s ok to ask for poses (she showed me one where she asked the bandomen to choke her haha, forgot what band is was but they gladly did it).
So for yoshiatsu’s 2shot, since he was the last one (the order was daisuke, lotto, yutara, yoshi), when he suggested the heart, I said in a very very quiet voice, hug daijyoubu? And aghgh I got my well anticipated hug ;_;
But yeah haha continuing on with replying. For me, i always travel to London from Ireland, and I’ve accepted that ireland doesn’t exist to them lol. But yeah, it must be difficult, some people have told me they took the day/some days off work to come, so i hope next time you can do the same!
@platy
Thanks for sharing, and glad you had a good time!
Oooh if you don’t mind sharing a bit, how was he 10 years ago compared to now??
Right, his stage expression reminds me of kyo from diru a lil bit, really immersive, in his own world, with the whole creepy clown thing. His actions are definitely really cool and you can see how emotional he gets. I forgot what song but he held out his hand that he got the star tattoo, and i felt emotional as well at that moment, remember what he said about the star being a symbol for a guiding star.
The venue was sooo small I was so surprised. Right, I was so close to the girl (she was “vip number 1” and she arrived there at 4am 0_0 so I’d say she deserved the special treatment) I think it’s his signature move during dorobo no march, the verse about the ojyousan.
I’m sorry you got crushed too… I wrote about it a bit in my Instagram (and complain about it after every concert haha, always ruins my experience), I’m not sure if it’s “UK concert culture” and “that’s the way it is” (I got told that), but i absolutely hate it when people invade your space and try push their way to the front. When GA started coming in, I could immediately feel the space behind me and to the left side was getting tighter, to the point that I couldn’t even move my arms freely to get stuff out of my pocket. I also hated how they kept screaming stupid stuff during inappropriate parts, and yoshiatsu even shushed them when he was trying to immerse himself and start singing (I caught it on video haha). And when Daisuke was speaking in English (reading from his phone), people kept interrupting him and shouting I love you. And he responded by making some noises like んん, like, “yeah i know already thx just let me read this” T_T
That’s why I’d love to attend a live to see the difference.
Oh thanks for sharing! I wasn’t able to understand everything he said, so that’s what it was about…
That’s really sad, and I’m really wondering why that’s the case, being more popular in overseas countries rather than your own. It’s kinda baffling to me.
Side note, I’m super super interested in how that meeting event thing in Poland will go. It’s surprising not sold out yet (the last time I seen killing daze’s post about it).
Also I’m trying to find reports or people who went to the similar thing in LA last year, where they hung out with the members for the day. I really wanna know what that was like. It kinda seems like a very “host” thing??
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A lot of it has to do with the resurgence of popularity of VK in Europe. Nearly any VK band could book a EU + London tour and get a half decent turnout just as long as they timed it correctly and informed people.
In Tokyo, there is a larger audience of VK fans but at the same time…shows are pretty much every day and the competition is pretty fierce.
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