Katie’s non-stop VK live report extravaganza something something…

Hi, I figured that I would start posting these here, as not everyone has access to the discord.

Background info: I’m 37, VK fan since 2001, separated last year from a shitty dude who was draining me financially and only just last year started having the resources to go to Japan. In fact, my first trip was what convinced me to finally leave him.

So I saved up a bunch, and finally had enough money to take a once in a lifetime trip for ten weeks to Tokyo, starting two weeks ago.

So I have lives planned…virtually every day. I know that this was an ambitious goal and I’m not even 100% sure that my savings will be sufficient to get me through it, but 頑張って

27 Likes

Every day for 10 weeks is wild! I live here, so the most i’ve ever done is 4 a week and i felt like my neck was coming off by the third live.
Side note, I’ve met quite a few older bangya (40+) who recently got back into vkei after divorcing their shitty husbands and they all say that they’re so much happier now. So congrats on the new freedom!

6 Likes

Diaura - Fool’s Day September 3, 2024 @ZeppShinjuku

“Diaura - Now with no Sieg Heils”

After getting my bearings inside of my new apato for the next ten weeks, I head to Zepp Shinjuku, which is right in the middle of Kabukicho. I snap a picture of the screen displaying today’s event I take my spot in the courtyard where hundreds of fans are waiting, including a Yo-ka cosplayer. An elderly white couple start walking through the crowd, wondering if they’re perhaps lost. Maybe they just really like Diaura, who knows?

My ticket seems (deceptively) good, B24.

Of course, we’re dealing with a live bringing in over 600 A ticket holders. So after quickly grabbing my water once I’m in and snapping a photo of some cardboard cut outs, I take my place near the back of the first level of flooring.

They had the video screens on in the back, sometimes playing PV clips, other times background animations.

I had been given a heads up that one of their songs has a Sieg Heil furi move, so I was keeping my eye out for that. But, I am pleased to say that I did not see any tonight.

They played a solid 20 song Setlist, and much headbanging and furi was had throughout almost all of it.

Tonight was also “Gacha chance” night, so the two opportunities to win was at the cheki table, which opened after the show, and at the cd table. I purchased four cheki, which could have hypothetically been marked for a chance to win merch, but mine were unfortunately not (3x Shouya, 1x Kei), as well as the This is My Cult DVD. I also purchased Antism at the cd table, which won me two photo cards. So I went with Yo-ka, and a group shot.

After being distributed a free copy of their latest single, Helltopia, I decided to head back and try my first bites of Japanese Dominos.







11 Likes

you mentioned going to deadman in another thread, so let me give you a heads up - the song “through the looking glass” has something pretty similar. horrified me the first time i saw it live :joy:

1 Like

Lynch - 09/04 The Fierce Blaze tour final @Tokyo Dome City Hall

Heading to the Bunkyo area, I have gradually learned over my last couple of trips to find the probable fans and follow them. This time, it was a bit less successful because it seemed like even some of the people wearing lynch shirts didn’t seem to know where to go. All of the people waiting around for the idol concert in the Tokyo Dome proper didn’t help matters either. So after 15 minutes of searching around, I finally found the entrance.

I look down at my ticket. Second balcony. However, I discover later that I could have hypothetically gotten third balcony, so it’s not so bad. Pretty much dead centre view as well.

I grab my merch before the show starts, a small rucksack and a tour t-shirt. Lineup is pretty much nil, so why not?

The stage has a raised platform above the drums for Hazuki to run back and forth on. They come out to A fierce Blaze off the new EP.

They play 20 songs before double encoring with a second play of Un Deux Trois. They then announced their 20 year anniversary project including some scheduled lives for the next year.

One thing I noticed that differentiates this from the other balcony shows I’ve been to is that people are going just as hard with headbanging and fist pumping up here as they would down on the floor. Tons of crowd chants too. Ryutaro from Plastic Tree was also in the crowd, and he commented afterwards that he was super impressed by how passionate the crowd seemed.

My throat and neck starting to get sore, got some McDonalds while going over my flyer package.





9 Likes

ooh i was here too! I was down in the arena. I even got a pick from yusuke!

3 Likes

Jigsaw/Ms Eva 09/05 Sudden Death Volume 2 @Shinjuku club Science Free Live

One of the few times that I’ll be utilizing free shows on the trip, I had finished my errands by 3:30 and literally had nothing better to do than plunk myself down on the sidewalk and eat Lawson karaage.




For the longest time, no one joined me. But then, an older guy walks over, drink in hand, and sits down beside me. After a little while, he shifts to right across from me. Late 40s, shaved head, sports jersey and basketball shorts, casually muttering to himself. I thought he was just chilling. Until an hour passes, and other people are showing up including the group of German Jigsaw gya that I saw before at Osaka Muse in May.

So the guy gets up and starts waiting inside the venue for free tickets to be called. And then, he opens his backpack and pulls out this blue VK wig and puts it on, still muttering and gesturing to someone who isn’t there.

So free tickets are called and I get my water. Even for free tickets, they still wanted to keep track of who was seeing who. I manage to get third row for Ms Eva at the very end.

They put on a standard energetic performance, complete with tons of head banging, hopping, and audience chanting. I don’t know their songs well enough to pinpoint any of them, but I certainly had a good time. The girl in the middle of second row who wouldn’t move made maneuvers a bit difficult, though.

So Jigsaw gets on, and you can tell that the majority of the audience was there for them. Much more response from the audience right away. Jigsaw also has some interesting furi, with some songs incorporating more intricate hand gestures as well as their signature hand pose (creating a rectangular box with your thumbs and fingers)

Bukimi always has a captivating stage presence, and I decided to finish off the night with a 2-shot from him. I gave him the basic spiel, name, country, told him I had fun. He kept it fairly simple for me, asking “どのポスですか” so, I told him “ブキミさんを選んだ”
“ぼく?ええと。”


9 Likes

D=Out 09/06 自作自演単独公演TOUR’24 @Kawasaki Serbian Night

So I remember that this is the first day where my neck was starting to hurt something fierce. I made a note to watch the headbanging, to get me ready for next Monday

It’s quite a ways to this venue, but one thing I noticed after walking through the streets to get there is the sheer number of Pachinko parlours lining the streets. I had half a mind to try one, but I had to line up for the event.

I had ticket B2 for this one, which, depending on how many A tickets there are, can be very good or bad. It seemed like it was an even 50/50 split between fan club and non fanclub, so I got a decent spot around row 5 or 6. I plunk my bag down to go get a towel, fan and 2 cheki before heading back to my spot beside another foreign fan that I awkwardly don’t talk to.

Now, I have yet to find an actual Setlist for this tour. What I do know for sure, is that they played their new album pretty much in full…which is great, because I loved it. They encored with six older songs.

The fans get broken out for two of the songs of the main set, so at least I was prepared beforehand. Although, I was hoping for a little more fan action.

An ongoing joke for the show was how the upper barrier of the stage ended up obscuring most of Kouki’s face during MCs and whenever he decided to jump on the platform for the audience to get a better look at him (of course, having the opposite affect). He also broke out the Koto for Housen and one of the encore songs.

I head home after grabbing some more conbini food and drinks, the Pachinko parlours having yet to entice me. Not like I need another expensive addicting hobby.





*Last picture an official one, not mine.

6 Likes

Fukuro DVD watch party 09/07 @Bar梟

It was me, and six other ladies (all Japanese). We were let in at 6:00, and instructed to sit at either the bar or the couches of Bar Fukuro (I was at the bar, next to Lotto). We were given our packages of American tour merch along with our DVDs.

Yoshiatsu and Lotto were…quite attentive to my drinks. I never specifically asked for a refill, but they kept pouring. Not that I’m complaining, I just didn’t want to impose.

So we started watching the DVD. The Japanese used wasn’t too complicated, so I could follow most of it. They visited places in between their tour dates, kind of like a combined tour/vacation, as people suspected.

I managed to ask Lotto a couple of questions about stuff in the DVD, and was able to tell the guys afterwards about my travel/concert plans. After the DVD finished, we wandered about the room gathering signatures and photos with the members. Turns out my Japanese confidence increases while slightly buzzed.

I finished by giving a last thank you to Yoshiatsu, who put his hand on my shoulder and pulled me in for a mini side hug, telling me he’d see me on October 3rd.

Before everything started, I handed out my Hawkin’s cheezies to the members.

I originally wanted Lay’s Ketchup, but when you look at space economy in my suitcase, 72 cheezies vs 40 Lay’s chips, the cheezies still came out ahead…




9 Likes

Shazna 09/08 @Sanrio Puroland Fantasy Theater

My neck still feeling stiff, I decided against trying to go super early.

When I finally get there, I start feeling nervous because the ticket warns that ID checks may occur, and my proxy buyer’s name is on the tickets. I’m obviously not a Japanese man named Yoshino, so I may be out of luck if they insist. I make plans with him ahead of time to be available for a phone call if they need verification.

I walk around Puroland for a bit, but unless you’re really into Kawaii characters or have young children, there isn’t much to do there.





So I end up heading to Shazna’s merch table a few minutes after the 1:30 pm show has cleared out.

It was a 2 parter today, with part 1 representing hits and part 2 representing deeper cuts. I picked up a Shazna light up ring, photocards, and their newest album.

So tickets come to be ripped…they take one look at the name, smile, and let me walk right on through.

The stage was quite unique, looking like something out of a storybook.




So the Setlist being deep cuts/“maniac” songs was just a little misleading, seeing as how most of the Setlist was their newest album in full. Which from what I understand, was also true of the earlier show. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, as the newer album is more rock focused than say, Pure Hearts was.

Izam came out on the balcony platform of the stage for the first song, before coming down to join the rest of the band. He walked through the crowd, passing by my section a couple of times during Kiss on Shelly and Melty Love. I sang the choruses extra hard to try and get his attention, but to no avail. I think I was the only foreigner there.

We did get Lavi from the Raspberry Time EP, Kiss on Shelly, Sweet Angel and Melty Love as the final song of the main set. The mascots did come on stage to dance to both Melty Love and the final encore song, off the new album. Instead of a traditional encore call, the audience sang the chorus of Melty Love on repeat for about five minutes. Kind of moving, actually.

All in all, Izam Aoi and Niy have not lost it over the years. I would love a chance to see them again, but was glad that I got this chance.

Goodbye, Puroland.


9 Likes

NAZARE - Mio produced night 09/09 @Live House Sugamo Lion King



I arrive at Sugamo Lion and wait around for the venue to open. It’s “Black clothing only” day, so it’s pretty easy to spot the fellow concert goers. I was 30th into the venue, and snagged myself a third row spot for both shows.

It was hard not to notice that this live had more men than the average VK show, boasting over a handful.

So I leave my stuff and go grab a (formerly) live limited 2024 single and a few cheki. Uta and 2 Yoh’s.

This show was promoted as a Mio themed show, and I must say that I’m glad that this was the one that lined up with my schedule. Between his vocal range, command of the crowd, and stage presence, Mio is truly something to behold live.

The first encore song, Junan, in particular showcased his raw emotional delivery when it was just him on stage. The rest of the band re-joined for the rest of the encore. After missing Uta’s bass pick, a nice Saizen fan let me take a picture of her Setlist.

I decide to grab a couple more cheki, because Mio won me over and I still needed an Issei. 1 Yoh and 2 Mio’s this time. Issei refused to be picked. Maybe because I am shit motherfucker who used to download old Dimlim songs. Death penalty for me, I guess.

After some confusion regarding 2-shot eligibility, I left for half an hour while they did a quick clean up and got ready for change over.



Like the first time, we’re called back in order. Only this time, I notice that two of the men have donned Corey Taylor masks with the guy in front of me in particular completing the look with his Slipknot jumpsuit and long strawberry blonde ponytail.

They come on with my favourite Nazare song, Tada Wakatte Ita and then repeat the next two songs from the first set. Although with Paradox the second time around, Mio’s delivery was slower and more menacing.

After delivering a set of songs after that different from the first set, the encore starts off with Satellite and Ideal from the first set, but ended with two different ones. We get a 6 minute MC afterwards led by Mio, but with him bantering with Yoh and Uta. They talk about the live, but then they can’t help but turn their attention to the obvious Corey Taylor cosplay in the second row.

They decide that they must do something special for this occasion. So Mio instructs the crowd to split down the middle, and he leaps down onto the floor, Yoh following behind him. They break out into another song, as the crowd circle pits around them (myself included, because why not?) for round two, Mio climbs on Corey Taylor’s back and rides him for a few rotations. After a third round of circling, everyone returns to their spot and the band finally takes off.

During all of this, Issei didn’t say a single word. I don’t think I even heard a single person call for him during member call. I kind of felt bad, because Mio and Yoh stole this show so badly that they even managed to convince me, the anti member-caller to start cheering for Mio.

But Issei ended up giving me one thing…

10 Likes

Damned - Sakura’s Birthday live “Evergreen” 09/10 @Takadanobaba Club Phase




I came today bringing gifts, not for the bands, but for a moot on Twitter. After talking for a bit, we headed down to the Takadanobaba Club Phase and she reconnected with an older gya who she used to go to Scapegoat lives with. That’s two things I noticed about this show in particular. More 30+ gya and more foreign gya or tourists. The checking in process goes really smoothly, but I do get an extra Damned specific ticket as I chose them as my preferred band.

Upon grabbing my spot at the far right side of the third row, I notice people already lining up for Damned merch. I meet her back in line and she explains that the ticket I received was a free stamp on your Damned frequent buyer points card. As I’m only seeing Damned one other time this trip, a points card wouldn’t really help me, so I gave it to her to hold onto in case she knew someone who needed one or if she could double dip on incentive benefits in one future live.

I pay for my Cheki reservation and grab a Sakura Birthday photo card set and take my spot again waiting for Lyrica.

Usagi comes out, not surprisingly, with his Usagi plushie. Playing up his creepy/cute persona the entire set, the audience was enthusiastic in their Furi performance.

1.Rabbit Parade
2.幸福中毒
3.ストロベリィマァマレィド
4.バスルームに毒の花。
5.Strange Rabbit

After pulling a lucky cheki for each of the three main members, and starting a Lyrica points card of my own, I took my spot for 201号室

They had a more mature, almost jazz rock sound. The audience was probably the least interested in them, of all of the bands playing tonight although I enjoyed their set.

  1. Kotirinoyaunisiawasedesu
  2. Deathco
  3. Where is?
  4. Lychee
  5. Yellow Heart

Lay About World was next, formed in 2018, but featuring veterans in the Sapporo scene from the early to late 2000s, they certainly haven’t forgotten how to work a crowd. Furi was a little bit more disorganized, but the enthusiasm from the first few rows was consistent. All topped off with the curtains closing over vocalist Kyoutarou collapsing onto a heap on the floor.

Forbidden were next, and if Usagi was the creepy in the good way, Byo was the creepy in the bad way.

…just kidding. But you couldn’t exactly miss the innuendo of his performance, complete with crotch grabbing, moaning and spraying a couple of members of the audience with a stream of water.

And yes, it’s the same Byo from Screw and Khryst. I thought his voice sounded familiar.

  1. Perfect Victim
  2. Night Ruler
  3. Fearless
  4. W.D.S.
  5. Dystopia

So it finally came time for the reason I ultimately chose this live, even though I wanted to see Damned and Lyrica as well. Madman’s Espirit caused the second and third rows to quickly expand to accommodate more people, though their Saizen was small.

Kyuho definitely has a presence to him that can’t be denied, tying the microphone cable around his choker for the first song. They played the tracks from 5 old scars, their new EP which is almost entirely in Japanese except for Suicidol. Not really much in the way of furi with them, mainly head banging. Still, I appreciated not having much distracting me from Kyuho’s excellent vocal performance.

  1. Kaidan
  2. Tsuiraku
  3. Hakkotsu no Teien
  4. 京城
  5. Suicidol

After buying a towel and two cheki from the merch team (I don’t know whether to love or hate when I attempt to order in Japanese and my ass gets shut down when someone responds in English with a North American accent), I pick up my Damned cheki reservation and head back to my spot for Damned.

Sometimes in Taibans, the final band goes out with a whimper as fans of other bands slowly trickle out. This time, it went out with a roar. Even most people who weren’t there for Damned as least stayed in the back and didn’t leave. Eyes were definitely on Sakura, as he was the birthday boy.
I was standing in front of Kou for the main act, and I’ll say that his fans enjoy kneeling a lot during his solos. I’d say he was the second most popular man of the night.
The set was a bit longer than the other bands, and they only played a couple of songs currently available on streaming. Still, despite not recognizing most of the songs, the experience was very intense with sometimes quick transitions between different types of headbanging and other furi.

After this, came the time for additional last minute sales. I grab two past cheki for someone back in Canada, then I notice that the members of Madman’s Espirit are just hanging around. I consider going up and talking to them, but then I notice the Polaroid camera that one of their staff has. I go up to the lady that helped me last time and I ask how much 2-shots are.

“One thousand”

“Oh? Literally, only 1000¥?”
“Yeah, it’s just a one time thing.”

One thousand yen for a picture of me with Kyuho Lee? Sign me the fuck up.

The wait isn’t even as long as I thought it would be. I compliment him on the show and tell him that I hope to see him in Canada one day. He said that he might try and work it out when he eventually heads to the states.

I thank him and take my developing cheki to the line for Sakura’s 2-shots. My cheki reservation order was enough to qualify me for the ticket, so I wait for the staff member to be ready. Right before I get my shot, Kyuho pops in to take a Birthday photo with Sakura.

I introduce myself and we do a hand heart pose. I think my time is up, so I get up to leave but he’s like “ep, ep, ep” and tells me that I still have time before the lady comes back from Kou’s 2-shot line. It’s a little awkward, as I hadn’t rehearsed anything to say. He seemed to understand a bit of English, so I say “oh, when am I seeing you next?” And then find my Japanese words again to tell him that it’ll be in October, and that I’m returning to Canada in November. We do some playful handshakes before I say my mata ne’s.

I say my goodbyes to my Twitter moot, and head back to my apato, wondering how sore my neck will be after two nights of intense headobang.

Spoiler alert: Not as bad as I thought.





12 Likes

Enjoyed reading these all, keep em coming! Go canada!

1 Like

Kra 23rd Impact Anniversary show 09/11 @Shibuya Pleasure Pleasure


Kra’s 23rd anniversary. How time flies…wait a minute, what else happened exactly 23 years ago? Imagine celebrating your new band, only for an international incident to mark your anniversary a few hours later?

I see from Google Maps that it seems like the venue is actually on top of Shibuya station, which takes me a few minutes to find.

The first thing I notice is that there doesn’t seem to be a noticeable merch table. Instead, there was a stand where Asahi Dry were selling beer cans for a chance to win a Gacha prize. Too confusing for me, not going to bother.

The show starts, and Keiyu leads the crowd in furi for a couple of the earlier songs, but the second half of the main set was furi heavy with the audience largely knowing what to do. The two fans in front of me were particularly passionate and served as a great furi guide.

The final song of the main set was an extended version, giving the band a chance to showcase their members with the audience cheering them on.

But I’d say that Yura’s basslines were the real hero tonight.

6 Likes

Yooooo I think I stood next to this same guy at a free live for Den-no Himeca at the beginning of this year. He even switched wigs during the middle of the live. He was certainly an… interesting character, but he didn’t seem to bother anyone luckily. Maybe going to free lives is his hobby or something.

1 Like

Yeah, I probably wouldn’t even have mentioned him if not for the wig part.

I had no idea kra was still around!
Tbh I love the Pleasure Pleasure venue. It’s accessible from below ground and The seats are so comfy… I almost fell asleep during Koji & Hiro’s Eternal Wings memorial show. (Sorry, Koji.)

1 Like

That’s Wig Ojisan! He’s a vkei cryptid who appears at tons of free lives.

10 Likes

Omg vkei cryptid :joy: I love it

1 Like

鴉-カラス-(Karasu) “Five Big Cities” tour 09/12 @Shibuya Rex

It was relatively dead when I arrived ten minutes before doors. To the point where I thought I had the wrong place. But right there, was the venue with today’s sign.

A couple of minutes later I see people trickling into the area as the venue staff come out.

I’m number 22, and upon finally settling in, I realize I may have been one of the last few people in the venue. I counted around 26 there right before curtain. I get a spot right in between the vocalist Ryo and lead guitarist Yuhta in the second row, and hunker down for the 45 minute wait.

They come out to sentimental Psycho-pass, one of my favourite by them. The first two rows exploded with enthusiasm.

This continued for the rest of the main set, with the final song being extended out in order to welcome some volunteers to come to the front to act as a human barricade for the commonplace VK practice of ramming the front row during certain songs.

After ramming into people a few times, grabbing the hand of both Ryo and Yuhta…rhythm guitarist Daichi jumps down to encourage us to ram harder. Ryo then motions for the front row to part so that Daichi can be sandwiched in the middle. We all take turns bumping into him as well.

But now I’ve captured Ryo’s attention. He grabs my hand and leads me to the centre. After a few “ay ay ay ay” yells into the microphone, he launches me into Daichi at full force. He does this with four other girls before grabbing me yet again and launching me a second time. Then, he motions at me once more…and we both go running straight into the Daichi’s back, Ryo smoking my arm in the process.

We start the encor-eh cheer, and they’re back out within a few minutes. I didn’t catch much, but Yuhta was asking Daichi if he had a miserable past few minutes.

Ryo sneaks up behind Daichi and they go into a three song encore, complete with wall of death for the second song. Mind you, it’s really just nine girls bumping into each other while Ryo spits water all over us, but I was grateful for the coolness.

All in all, I would say they converted me. They deserved a few thousand more of my yen, even if the set was the shortest one-man of the trip so far. Not that I could hold a candle to the gya who bought a whopping 50 cheki beside me in order to receive a “member produced gift”.



4 Likes