Yeah, the Japanese fans are actually more likely to talk to me unprompted. The girl in Tzkwym’s Saizen asked me if I was there for him, then offered me the spot on the edge because the friend that she came with was there for Ms Eva and presumably we would just switch back for them, but I just didn’t want to look dumb in front of Genki by not knowing any of the furi and having to look sideways instead of ahead for cues.
2 Likes
ACME ACMETAL Party Tour 09/28 @Route Fourteen
Fresh off of my fumble of the Hitchcock show, I figure that I have just enough time to head home, grab four more cheezies bags and re-do my makeup.
The show today is all the way out in Chiba, basically, the opposite direction from where I came from.
My bus is a couple of minutes late, and so I have to do some maneuvering at Aoto station to still make it there on time. All in all, I don’t think I really missed out on space for this one, even though it looks like they sent all A ticket holders up at once.
Taking my place at the third row dead centre, ACME come out at 4:30, every member except for Chisa wearing a black and orange jumpsuit that reminds me of a toned down version of their Rotten Orange look.
After a chill opener, they get into the heavier songs. After Rotten Orange, we get Arai nou and the light sticks are coming out. Acme are pretty good at alternating their heavier and their more upbeat songs to avoid either one becoming too tired.
Hal leaves his drum kit for a bit to join in an MC promoting their tour merch.
We’re just over an hour in, had a couple of songs with a circle pit (sneaking two high fives from Chisa) and one wall of death and Acme fans have come out with almost all accessories you can think of. Light up paddle, light sticks, fans, towels, pretty much everything except light up rings. Maybe that should be their next accessory they sell these guys.
For the closing song of the main set, they ask everyone to set their paddles and light sticks to Orange for Tasogare, a slower song off their newest EP.
They leave the stage, and the Encore call is immediate. Even though the background music is drowning most people out, the girls behind me are dedicated to being just that much louder.
After a couple of minutes, Hal comes back out teasing a potential premature end by explaining that they want to do an encore, but it’s difficult. How was the main set? A little short, right? He’s joined by Shogo and Rikito who grab their instruments and start into Stand Up. I’m half expecting Chisa to come out in a matching jumpsuit, but nope, just came out later for suspense I guess. They finish it off with a newer song, Kanon and say their goodbyes after taking a group photo, asking everyone to unravel their towels to display.
I shouldn’t be too hard to spot.
6 Likes
Hitchcock 研修生ドラマー加入記念７夜連続ワンマン■ 『地獄の修行 七連夜 09/29 @Shinjuku Heist
So I’m finally bright and early for once since getting sick. Hopefully my appointment tomorrow can help me avoid feeling like crap the rest of the trip.
So I’m fourth in the 当時line, which grants me third row centre. A couple of more well known Hitchcock gya have made it out to this performance.
Wig Ojisan has a sky blue wig this time. Spider-Man jacket, stylish cargo pants. Maybe would have been more fitting yesterday.
Right by the entrance, we’re given the warning about the “Murder clown” on the loose.
The same smoky feeling returns, this time with something suspicious under my feet when I step the wrong way, and…
Should have been warning us about that. But not long after, it was time to start…
I felt the clown mask before I saw it. One second, lights down, time for the show. Next second, Bam, the clown is practically kissing me. After a quick startle and laugh, he moved on to his next “victim” who he stalks towards, and another, who he play stabs. I see that others are taking pictures, so I snap a couple myself.
After ten more minutes, the main set finally starts. The members have a Carnival theme going on to match the Murder Clown, and start off the set with a few different songs from yesterday’s set.
There were some repeats of course, such as Dahi about half way through, or BAIkin and Sakuran-Byou, which finished off the main set. The encore was one we hadn’t gotten yesterday, a song that had people running from one side of the venue to another, pausing in between to run in place or do squats.
I get a good position for buying another cheki ticket, and after talking a bit with someone active on Twitter, I take my place in the Karasu line. I tell him a bit about myself, and we take our picture and I head off…maybe I should have laid off the foundation today.
Stay tuned for part 2
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Ryutaro Arimura/Tatsuro “Ryutatsuro Arimura” 09/29 @Tokyo Kinema Club
A Japanese friend of mine who I was hoping to meet ended up not feeling well enough to go to either of these dates, so I dedicate this to her, and hope that we can meet later on this trip.
I leave Iriya station, and of course it’s raining. Typical Ryutaro mood. It eases up by the time I arrive at Tokyo Kinema Club, in time to buy a cat ears hooded towel from Ryutaro and a copy of Tatsuro’s most recent single. After chilling at Family Mart and paying for an upcoming November ticket, I head back to wait for the inevitable call.
Ticket number? A8. No S
Eighth in the building, out of a hall with a 600~+ capacity.
And as it turns out, due to to #2 not showing up for number call, seventh in the building.
Front row, halfway between centre and the left side. If I thought I had been close for Luv Together, this shut that right down.
And so far, nobody has yet to eyeball me or try to insinuate that I don’t “belong” here.
Western indie rock as the soundtrack. The Killers, Franz Ferdinand. Foo Fighters too, interestingly enough.
Tatsuro is up first, and it’s enthusiastic from the beginning with Colors. By Endroll, he realized that he was Tatsuro and so he ditched his shoes. He used his newest single, Ao no Setsuna to introduce his backing band, dancing with each one, before going into more Colors material. It was then that he played a couple of older songs, Kowareta Piano and frigidity, the latter of which had the whole crowd jumping. In the last few songs, he pulls out a different Plastic Tree cover, Sink (yesterday got Reset). Closing off with a few more of the older tracks before taking his final bows.
Tatsuro is certainly a difficult guy to have to go after. His audience engagement and vocals were both spot on tonight.
- Colors
- Rhapsodia
- Endroll
- Ao no Setsuna
- Overkill
- Omae da yo
- Kowareta Piano
- Frigidity
- Noble
- Sink (Plastic Tree cover)
- Compass
- Door
- Akai Ito
Ryutaro’s solo music is typically more chill than Tatsuro’s more lively stuff, and for the first seven songs of Ryutaro’s set it was largely about basking in the atmosphere. He rarely ever left his position in front of the mic, as he was playing his guitar for that entire stretch. Occasionally only pausing his playing to do his little Ryutaro-isms (covering his face, beckoning fans to pump harder with outstretched arms, etc).
Then, after the short MC, he lifts the hair out of his eyes, and he finally, you know, sees the whole audience. And I suppose this is the turning part of the show where he starts looking at us more and more. And he should, the lady two spots to the right of me came in a bitchin’ Ryutaro cosplay. Still banging away on guitar, his other guitarist having abandoned his guitar by the end of Kagidokei to crank up the shoegazey affects .
Speaking of clothes, the military theme was prevalent in the merch and we saw those outfits in the promo photos, yet neither guy is wearing them. Tatsuro was dressed very Tatsuro, and Ryutaro is wearing this long red kimono robe over his normal clothes.
It was then that Ryutaro ditched the guitar, and teased his MUCC cover of the night (yesterday got Mama). He points to his band members “Kirai”, one member of the audience “Kirai”, to the other side “Kirai” “Kirai”, “Kirai” before launching into Daikirai, leading the audience in chants.
The energy only ramped up for Juukyusai, when he told everyone to get their towels and start waving them, and for once, I’m glad that I got one before the show. Our display near the front encouraged him to pay the front row special attention that we craved, as a lady close by me threw her towel at Ryutaro to give him something to wave for a bit before he chuckled a bit and tossed it back at her. After one final song, they retreated off stage immediately and a jazz playlist started up.
But lights didn’t go completely up. The slow clap starts. I don’t know whether the venue has a policy against yelling “encor-eh”, because I didn’t hear a single one. It made clapping a bit difficult, but through the three entire jazz songs that they played, everyone just kind of adapted the rhythm of the clapping to the songs.
And after what feels like almost 15 minutes of clapping, we see why they kept us.
Both Tatsuro and Ryutaro come out, wearing their promotional outfits and carrying umbrellas with coloured streamers.
They banter for a bit, and they introduce Ryutaro’s backing band before Ryutaro pulls out the megaphone for his part of the final song of the night, a cover of Cali≠Gari’s Siren. Ryutaro in particular getting up close with the audience, directing his megaphone parts directly at his doppelgänger for about 30 seconds. Not sure if his stumbling around is part of the act, or if he had a bunch of drinks backstage while we were clapping forever.
They wrap up, and fake out leaving again before the two guys run back on stage to take a picture, Tatsuro making a kissy face at the camera. They share a hug, Ryutaro briefly wrapping his leg around Tatsuro. The crowd loves it. I guess “Ryutatsuro Arimura” is their ship name now.
- Rentogen
- Kurooshibana
- Nekoyume
- Nichibotsuchiku
- Shikirei
- Engeki
- Tsukikagetotsukikaze
- Kagidokei
- Daikirai (MUCC cover)
- Juukyusai
- Fuyuu
Encore
12. サイレン (Cali≠Gari cover featuring Tatsuro)
5 Likes
Kane to Juusei, 大洪水 09/30 @東高円寺二万電圧
In other news, I finally got to see the doctor. After two weeks of on and off respiratory challenges, I think maybe they’ll give me an antibiotic to clear this obvious chest infection up.
Yeah, no.
Since they can’t find a clear evidence of bacterial infection and my temperature isn’t elevated, the conclusion is more or less that these are just a set of unpleasant symptoms that should be treated separately with different medications.
So this is what I’m given over five days.
Yeah. Looks like I cleared out the place, doesn’t it?
Still, the process was really quite efficient. I arrived 30 minutes early for my appointment and everything from intake to seeing the doctor, to getting my first dose in me took less than two hours. In Canada, you’d spend half of that waiting for your scheduled appointment with your own family doctor.
Either way,
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It’s back to 20,000 V in Higashi Koenji today. Given that I was here when there were only 50 ish people, I decided to search up what the capacity actually was.
131 people. Gotta get that extra one in there somewhere? What number am I?
116
Damn, not going to be a much better view than the last time. I arrive to caches of water guns beside the venue, foreshadowing what is to come. I unwisely, don’t take a picture.
So doing my research for merch, I initially think “you get a two shot if you buy 3,000 of merch” So I get a towel and photo card set.
Nope, you still need to pay 3,000. Oh well, I have money.
Come here, Chill. Nice to take a picture with a guy I have to bend down for.
I remind him of the last time we had a picture, told him that I was also going to be seeing him in a couple days and when he gestured at his water gun, essentially asking if I knew what was going to occur…I let him know that I packed a coat.
After a friendly heads up from staff that sometimes local street businesses complain about loitering bangya, I take a trip around Higashi Koenji to see if there was anything interesting. I do have two hours to kill, after all.
After coming across many closed restaurant fronts, and a public washroom with an unfortunate looking squat toilet, I settle on a Yakitori place. No terminals, no English. But some of the best pork I’ve had here.
I finally make my way back to the venue and pay for the mandatory coat check for all of my things, less my ticket and drink cover money. And my trusty rain jacket.
Was it rainy? No.
Today is “The Great Flood”.
Warnings plastered all over their social media pages. “We will be dousing the audience with copious amounts of water. Complainers will be asked to leave immediately.”
They open with Asakusa buruu hawai, a song off of their recent set of EPs, Chill, Yuriko and Uru already going with the first water guns before heading into Setlist mainstays Tokyotomushokukobayashiakihito (complete with intense dousing during “that” portion of the song) and gozenreijinorokumeikibou, fans doing their best trying to perform furi in crowded conditions; with periodic water being shot at them, albeit, fans in the front getting it much worse than us at the back. Really, I would consider myself in the “splash zone” at this point.
The set continues, a mix of older and newer songs, with the audience being encouraged to rush the front a couple of times to have water spit at them by Chill and Uru, Yuriko sticking with his water guns.
When, after what feels like only 45 minutes after Rusubandenwa, “encore” lighting goes up.
They say that they’ve run out of water. A few Uru fans near the back make a playful show of yelling “Nerurunai!”, indicating their disappointment at the guy’s range. After bantering for a bit, what’s this? A couple of staff members bringing in two more crates! Uru asks Yuriko if he’s having fun. “Yes, very fun” he responded very unfun-ly. They spray each other for a bit, then give the drummer Eishin his shot at firing one of the guns. He doesn’t do very well. The audience forgives him.
They commence the second half of the set, and this time, it’s personal. The goal becomes to douse those girls as much as they can.
And who’s standing directly in front of them?
Yeah.
I haven’t taken so many shots to the face since being front row for Gwar back in 2007.
But hey, at least my face is getting wiped by the hair of the two gya in front of me. This must be what a car feels like at the washers. Now they’re dropping buckets on the front rows. I guess they thought they felt neglected.
After going through some newer songs and their other few mainstay tracks like Seishounen 4gatsu no yuuutsu and S.V.R. S.E.X, Chill calls for a wall of death. He hops down, and everyone closes in around him. Starting up Watashi no Shinikata, he makes his way to the back, casually spraying audience members as he does he “ay-ay-ay-ay” calls, making his way to the girls. Giving me a small squirt on his way to spray them right in their middles.
He instructs people to start rushing the stage, to get up close to Uru and Yuriko. Uru grabs people’s hands, let’s them touch his bass, wanting to connect more than get them even more wet. Yet, he still yields and spits some water on them, or sprays his bottle over the crowd.
Yuriko has now grabbed a second water gun, alternating between playing and picking them up and spraying.
After a few rounds, Chill re-takes to the stage and commences his own routine of alternating between spitting, water guns and dumping bottles before sending people to the back of the room. I probably got more than a few spits of water to the face. The other visible foreign gya there grabs one of Yuriko’s water guns and has a water gun fight with him before he’s like “Okay, fun’s over, give it back”. Uru leans back into the crowd, his feet in the air. I’m concerned for a second that they might have dropped him, but I peak over the crowd, and they still seem to be holding him while kneeling. This probably went on for what felt like 12+ rounds, before they finally left the stage.
Encore claps immediately. Within a minute, the guys are back on stage for another MC. After some talking, they play their last song, Akai Rhythm, determined to unload the rest of their water onto the crowd. Half way through, I look beside me and Chill has made his way there yet again. He encourages us to jump back and forth as Uru and Yuriko periodically stop playing to unload everything else. They finish, and get Eishin, up until this point the only dry man in the venue, to the front in order to soak him with whatever is left.
We can finally breathe a bit as we file out. After I grab my bag and get out of the crowd, I take a final picture of what I look like in the “after”. I had promised myself that I would grab a few cheki, but maybe I’ll go do that when I don’t feel like a drowned rat. I’m grateful that they had the foresight to have their photo sessions before the show instead of after. Girl Scouting motto, Be Prepared.
10 Likes
DazzlingBAD「 呪縛憑霊project 」
主催挙行 葦原中国 旅業五魂鎮霊
最終奉納祭 - 江戸編 - 10/01 @Spotify O-West
I get ready in the morning, taking my first dose of everything and having a quick breakfast before getting dressed and made up for my first item of the day- A Neth Priere Cain Instore at the iconic Tower Records Shibuya.
I get there with plenty of time, when I hear about the worst thing you could.
Turns out I needed to receive a ticket to the Neth Priere Cain event, which they didn’t give me at the time of purchase.
The staff member bows, says that he’ll see what he can do, asks me to wait and he takes my receipt away for about 15 minutes.
After sweating bullets, he finally returns, event ticket and 2-shot coupon in hand. After thanking him profusely, I pull my random number assignment and wait another 15 minutes before they start calling. Turns out, a bunch of early numbers were still in the box, because I was second in the room with number 14.
Lesson kids: Always ask if there is a separate ticket even if they don’t hand you one.
Not linking my picture, because I was in the middle of saying something so I look pretty bad. I did get a free full band cheki though.
But I end up getting to the venue after racing back to pick up my ticket, number 48 this time, out of maybe around 200 people.
I grab a third row spot, and I can see that the spot negotiations are in full force. I actually go get my water during this time just to avoid trying to have people ask for my spot. Part of me is tempted to just start reciting the rifle speech from Full Metal Jacket every time someone asks me. “THIS IS MY SPOT. THERE ARE MANY OTHERS LIKE IT, BUT THIS ONE IS MINE.”
But of course, bring third row, I get brought into it anyways. The lady in front of me is also negotiating for other people, so she says that I can actually have her second row spot for most of the show, if I yield it to her friend for Ran and her for DazzlingBad.
There’s something about the guy from Honomono’s screams. I don’t know if it’s my chest congestion or the fact that he has us kneeling on the floor for both of them, but it just reverberates in my chest.
The bassist sure loves the barricade. He seems to have a few fans as well, with the way that he looks at some of them.
At the end of it, a drumstick falls right behind me. The fan behind me, not wanting it, hands it to me. There are many sticks like it, but this one is mine.
Blads - The least VK-looking band here in terms of aesthetics. He attempts an audience call. Only I respond. Tried again? No one. Okay, if no one else is doing it, I won’t. As it turns out, while doing my research, this is the same Blads that disbanded in 2017, guess they’re coming back on a limited basis? The left side of Saizen seems much more sure of what they’re doing than the centre, and they earn the picks at the end of the set for it.
I only end up having to move back to my original spot for Ran, which is great. Maybe for DazzlingBad, I’ll just be able to sidestep if half of the crowd is gone by then.
Ran is really more of the same, although with less showing off this time. As a bonus, we got Anonimasu. They finished off the set with Mary, and the Saizen bends forward for ramming a few times, Taichi pulling some people on the right side over to fill in gaps.
- Damashiai
- What?
- Shokuzai no Love Song
- Anonimasu
- Mary
I take back 2nd row for The Gallo, although I still have yet to buy a plate and spoon. This is the third time seeing them live in three trips, you’d think I would have learned by now. The Gallo are just as fun as ever, they distributed paper plates just as they always do. Jojo showed us the furi moves for Daitoua Mahoujin and MRMD-13ß with the fourth song involving the crowd doing The Wave multiple times, and finishing off with Incubus.
- Kerberos
- Daitoua Mahoujin
- MRMD-13ß
- Kokkeishiki sousoukyoku daisanban -Phecda-
- Incubus
I go get five cheki, and you know what? I’m happy. I definitely saw a line of traders, not as much of a clusterfuck as The Madna, but I’m definitely noticing the occasional traders more.
Neth Priere Cain are next, fresh off of their Tower Records Shibuya Instore. My spot has been traded without my knowledge, so I retreat back to the third row (although, the line supervisor did come by to make sure I understood/was okay).
They started by teasing Hoduki behind the curtain, people doing full furi to it before being cut off abruptly in the middle.
Wearing the same kimonos they had been wearing at the Instore, they played mainly their newer EP stuff.
During the final song, vocalist Itsuki threw his hair sticks into the crowd, the audience and band ending on a prayer pose as the curtain slowly closed. I go to see if there are Cheki, but they haven’t had any opportunities to take them today due to their schedule. I opt for an acrylic stand of Syuri instead.
- Yuugao
- Toge
- Ato
- Baku
- Utsuro
Another band, another person to take the spot. Oh well, I keep third row. It’s what I would have had anyways. If anything, this arrangement only benefitted me.
Shiva is another one of those four bands (along with The Gallo, Zeke Deux and Leetspeak Monsters) that I’ve successfully been able to see at least once on all three trips.
So the set starts, them carrying out their band flag, a black and red imperial Japan flag. Never loved that particular aspect of them, but I’m here for the music, not aesthetics.
The set starts and I kind of wish that they had given this spot to someone who was at least going to move. They then played a song I haven’t heard live before. I wonder what kind of furi it’ll have and -oh, never mind. I’mma keep my arm bent. I’m waving goodbye.
Kind of a shame, the rest of their set was really good. Was maybe going to buy some cheki, think I’ll save my cash.
And holy shit, is that Wig Ojisan at a paid live? Row 2? It is!…neat
DazzlingBad are still running with their special project, and the crowd has definitely not thinned out. You know, it didn’t register for me before just how loud Ayaha’s bass is. This set, he got an opportunity to take centre stage half way through, playing his bass with a wooden hand instrument instead of fingers or picks, mouthing the words to the song. It almost didn’t register to me when it was finished, and furi started up again. They had a barricade ramming song, where guitarist Masa gave my arm a good pull.
All in all, a great time. I’m looking forward to seeing this place sold out next week.
9 Likes
Very nice programming here. A lot of interesting bands with the Gallo, SHIVA, NETH PRIERE CAIN and DazzlingBAD and Ran!
1 Like
If you thought that was good, wait until
Mad Night Presents Mad Junk Party Volume One - Nagano Club Junk Box 25th anniversary, 10/02 @Nagano Club Junk Box
Off to Nagano today, this time, getting to the Shinkansen station way too early, but better to be safe given my recent track record of getting delayed.
Number 160 this time. I get worried that I won’t get a decent spot. An area on the left side of the stage, fourth row opens up so I take it.
First up is MAMA. fresh off of firing their drummer for…reasons.
Pre-recorded drums don’t quite sound the same. They seem to agree. They address this at their first MC after two songs, saying it’s their first show without a drummer…which is when they introduce their temporary support one, the drummer of Chaqla!
Mama continued on, renewed by the presence of a real drumset. The vocalist Mei throwing in some hip hop vocals while the audience starts to get a bit more into their set.
This one thing is irritating me. An empty spot third row centre, just there, this empty space. Why? Who does it belong to? So after Mama, I ask. Nope, free. So I take it. Then the gya directly in front of me offers to trade second row Zeke Deux for third row Nazare. Sign me up!
They don’t seem to have Satsuki with them today, he may have been delayed further.
If Zeke Deux were tired from their long flight, they didn’t let on at first. They did just land in Tokyo in the morning. The guys seemed just as enthusiastic as the other times I saw them, however, they did explain that due to the tight connections, etc that they weren’t ready to do their full set yet, so they were doing part of it now and then part of it later in the day.
Still, didn’t stop Haruka’s guitar solos or Kakeru having fun with everyone for three songs. No Saizen rushing for now. My time will come.
I see my last opportunity to go see about Zeke Deux stuff, and it seems like they just have some cheki that they took today, Maya manning the table. I asked him how Germany was, which he responded favourably. I then asked for three cheki. I only had 10,000s, so hoped he could break it.
He didn’t have enough change.
Six cheki?
“Uh, still not enough”
Okay, nine.
That, he had change for.
He apologized, but I told him he was all good.
Nazare come on, and it seems like Issei had one or two fans in the crowd, but Mio and Yoh are still definitely the most popular.
Mio’s singing voice seemed to be faltering at several points, particularly during choruses. The set was still great and energetic, with probably the most enthusiastic audience of the day so far.
The lady who traded spots with me initially offers to switch back for when Zeke Deux come back on, which is all good with me.
Chaqla were next, and I really regret sleeping on them. It makes sense that their drummer offered to fill in for MAMA., because they are in the same vein, but turned up to 10. If MAMA has a bit of hip hop influence in the vocals, Chaqla has more. If MAMA has fun on stage, Chaqla has a blast. If MAMA’s fans were happy, Chaqla’s were ecstatic.
There are a couple of songs they played where you couldn’t even predict what direction the song would go.
After vocalist Annie A danced around with all of the members, the Guitarist Noaka and Bassist Takanosuke chase each other around the stage. The other guitarist, Kai makes his way to the floor where he lightly bumps past me, before jumping back up on stage.
Annie A grabs a prop gun, waving it at the audience before pretending to shoot himself. The next song, he play shoots Takanosuke, who falls effortlessly to the ground while Annie A turns to the crowd in a perfect recreation of the “Why would _______ do this?” Meme.
It’s at this point where I meet an unexpected surprise…it’s @ridley! I knew I’d run into someone from this forum at one point.
So we talk for a bit, and it’s eventually time for Kane to Juusei.
The set was really a shortened version of The Great Flood, mainly first EP mainstays, plus an early-ish single, the only addition being Satsuki (the song, not the Zeke Deux guitarist) They had their school uniforms on, and Chill was definitely interested in flashing and rubbing underneath his skirt (disguised with pantyhose, of course)…he did so multiple times. He also stole Chaqla’s prop gun at one point.
Still, they’re always a blast and it was great to see them when it wasn’t so crowded and everyone wasn’t so wet so that we could do furi properly. I had half a mind to yell “Nerurunai!” when he had the gun, but decided against it.
- Tokyotomushokukobayashiakihito
- Seishounen 4gatsu no yuuutsu
- gozenreijinorokumeikibou
- Kanzen Ikusei Keikaku Bibouroku
- Satsuki
- Watashi no Shinikata
Cheki time! There is no Yuriko left, but I’ll manage,
I’m approached by the lady with the second row spot again, when she explains that Zeke Deux are actually finishing their set next, so that I should take the spot.
The curtain gets pulled away, and there’s Satsuki (the guitarist, not the Kane to Juusei song)! That must have been what they were waiting for.
They do their last two songs, almost as if they had never left the stage in the first place. The guitar sound much more full now with both of them there. Still no rushing the Saizen, but that’s understandable. No band has done it so far this show, and I’m sure the guys are running on fumes at this point.
- Alive
- Unwavering Soul
- Forbidden Chain
- Zero
- Phantom Pain
So back to my old spot, chatting more with Ridley before a fan asks her for her spot for Mad Night and Nameless, and she agrees, because neither of us really know anything about this band.
I’m approached by another lady, and think that she’s about to ask about spots, but then she mentioned Zeke Deux and cheki. She asks me if I bought Zeke Deux cheki, to which I say that I did. She asked if it was over 5,000 and I showed her mine and said that it came to 9,000. She said that Kakeru was looking for me and wanted to make sure that I got a 2-shot out of my purchase. She suggested that I get a picture after Razor, and I agreed.
Mad Night is a local Nagano band that initially started performing together 10 years ago. Vocalist Rev and Guitarist Kira started this band with their brother on bass, who eventually moved on. The guitarist looked to be the same guy selling event t-shirts, and they are the sponsors of this event, possibly having ties with the livehouse itself.
In either case, they certainly had an enthusiastic Saizen full of girls wearing the identical festival t-shirts. Not just the vocalist and guitarist, but also the drummer of Nameless, support bassist Ria, and a keyboardist. The members taking turns hyping people up. They announce that video footage is being taken of the event, and it will likely end up on YouTube.
Mad Night finish up, and Zeke Deux’s staff approaches again to let me know that they’ve asked for the photo to be done right after the next band finishes up. Which, okay. I can do that for them at least. They must want to just get out of here.
This’ll be my last opportunity to see Nameless, after seeing them for Kansai Rock Summit, and many of the songs are fresh in my mind from both shows. Tsumetai Ame, Kanjou Jet Coaster, Mermaid. Mada Bandmen Yatteno had everyone’s middle fingers in the air as if to say “Fuck you, Nameless, for disbanding next month”. The fans definitely came out in full force for them, savouring the last moments we’ll get with them. I know I will.
I put my bag down to go look for the Zeke Deux staff, but Kakeru finds me first. After handing a flyer to a venue staff, we head down the stairs to a section where artists can go. I tell him that he must be very tired, to which he agrees. Haruka also passes by, and Maya and Kakeru take me behind a partition.
I apologize for the delay, just saying “Sugi ni headobangu”, as I try and brush out my hair as much as I can. I forgo the makeup, just because I know they’re busy and tired. My face doesn’t look ready at all, but it’s the thought that counts. They could have just forgotten about it and moved on, but Kakeru wanted to track me down personally to make sure that I got a picture, even threw in a bonus cheki of him. This one is my “serious face”
As eyebleach, here’s the nicer one from the Instore a week ago
Oh god, am I developing a…honmei???
For I have now become bangya, destroyer of wallets.
I rejoin Ridley for Dexcore, and they start shortly after I get back.
They waste no time opening with Skindeep, and then hitting us with Dragout, which was sorely missing from their Nagoya Setlist. Not as much showing off from the guitarist today. High energy all the way through, even through Savior, me screaming along even when my chest is still partially congested.
- Skindeep
- Dragout
- The Dark
- Savior
- Naked
We get in line for Dexcore cheki, and we go over a couple of observations. The main one is that we noticed a few people, most notably a friend group, appearing to “hog” the Saizen (for lack of a better word), just changing spots each time. This seems to take some kind of intricate spot negotiation to try and move from Saizen spot to Saizen spot, trading off with other gya in a way that still guarantees you front row for most bands. Both far beyond my negotiation or Japanese abilities. Still, others didn’t seem to take issue.
The final band tonight is Razor, the project that Ryoga formed with members of Sadie, Serial Number, My Bacteria Heat Island and AlsDead.
Known for being more compelling live than on cd, according to Ridley, I will say that I was interested. I had never given the much of a listen, but it would be irresponsible of me to leave now.
I’ll get to Ryoga in a minute, but can I just say how distracting the guitarist Kouryuu’s one giant gauge piercing is in comparison to his other, perfectly normal earlobe? Good guitar player, just very jarring to look at.
Ryoga has a very “madman on the loose” stage presence, spending most of the set convulsing wildly, pretending to hang himself with a choke chain, fake blood covering the lower half of his face, only toning it down during the one slower song of the night. But that might be a reason why so many bangya have come out to support them. They came to be entertained, first and foremost.
For the second to last song, he calls for a Wall of Death, which kind of makes me wish that I had stashed my stuff somewhere.
He calls for a second, this time jumping down into the gap, initially teasing that he might sit in the centre while the wall happens, but decides to kick out the chair and return to the stage before that happens.
I dunno, man. Maybe he just should have done it. Chill did two days ago, and some of those people were nearly twice his size.
Then again, Ridley did mention Razor gya being kind of nuts…and he was wearing that choke chain. Occupational hazard, I guess. Fair enough, Ryoga, you can head back to the stage.
1 KNOT INVISIBLE
2 NEW WORLD
3 GRAVITY EMOTION
4. LIQUID VAIN
5 Limit
6 Nothing here
7. Brutal Modern
8 DAMIAN FLY
9. UNION
Tired and just wanting to go to sleep, I bid my goodbyes to Ridley, knowing that we’ll eventually cross paths again this weekend.
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That’s exectely what Jouren (elite fans appearing on nearly ever live) are there for. Those girls controll/manage the Saizen and on bigger lives also the second row. They decide who’s allowed to stand in those rows and usually on events the Saizen in filled with Jouren of all bands and no one else. The only way in as an “outsider” was to trade a low entrance number into a spot in the Saizen. I’m not quite sure how it’s done these days, but it surely was much esaier back in the days with printout tickets.
Back than I was always wondering how those girls magically maneged to always be the first ones to enter and know the lineup. But after reading a very interesting master’s thesis the magic gone into thin air. Some stuff had changed since than, but the main point about Jouren stayed the same. XD
It’s so rare for Dexcore to join an all VK event, must have been great.
I hope you’re recovering soon and have much more fun!
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Dang that lineup looks absolutely stacked. I’m glad you got to see RAZOR for the first time! I got lucky enough to finally see them on my last trip and I’ve been dying to see them again ever since. Ryoga’s “madman on the loose” energy is so entertaining to me. 
Out of curiosity, are you going to get a chance to see ゼラ during your trip? 
I’d love to hear what you think about them
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I’ve seen them once before in May, and they were pretty decent, no specific plan to see them on the trip, though.
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It’s cool to live in Tokyo but it seems like concerts outside of Tokyo are better. I came there for Dexcore & Razor but every band was good. Maybe I should’ve came earlier 
That Mama live sounded interesting.
Zeke Deux was dedicated to do this concert even if they had to time travel from Germany. It was my first time seeing them, they were good! Haha sounds like you got a honmei 
I mainly traveled to Nagano to see Dexcore at a vkei concert as well as my main band Razor. I’ve seen Dexcore at multiple metalcore concerts and they’re completely different. I do like that Kagami adjusts his MC for the bangya 
I wonder about them though because as many times as I’ve seen them it doesn’t seem like they got dedicated fans that follow them around everywhere. One concert had one girl dictating the saizen (funny I had to ask permission to be front row for Sailing Before the Wind 
), next concert had no saizen control and was all dudes, next two concerts had some bangya that weren’t here tho.
I saw Dexcore at a taiban with Prompts and they were drinking on stage (as well as a Jaegermesiter bottle being passed around in the crowd), jumping into the crowd, and way more interactive but eh guess we’ll see real Dexcore again at Mad Pit Fes. Metalheads are diff from bangya
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That girl wasn’t jouren and I can’t say I dig too deep in the vkei world since the main (and really only) vkei band I regularly see is Razor, but they don’t have jouren and I’ve seen more bigger bands discourage it completely. That said not saying it doesn’t exist. Odd enough i’ve seen one off instances with it for Prompts (not even Vkei at all but the vocalist PK is Korean) and Dexcore. But a lot of the controlling fans don’t really return 
So I didn’t reach my full bangya form until August when I followed Razor outside of Tokyo to Osaka, Nagoya, Okinawa, & now Nagano. That same girl that was in front of me is the saizen ring leader and her Honmei is Kouryu because she has been in front for every single concert I went to and will ensure no one is next to her on either side. So @GreatNorthernVK if I seemed shocked about her lol there’s a whole backstory, she’s effing crazy to be traveling all over country to make sure no one stands in front of Kouryu 
She’s part of a group of girls that will buy a lot of tickets to ensure they get front row then resell the rest. But for their Okinawa concert that had a 150 capacity they obviously couldn’t resell the tickets so 1/3 of the venue was empty 
Tsurugi wrote about how disappointed he was about that on Threads
She’s technically not doing anything illegal and it’s not that I care about being saizen, but girl you got issues to be hogging a dude like that Some fans have demanded she be banned (apparently she’s been banned from seeing other bands) but that’s a little much, maybe just ID check tickets
But it’s weird where girls throw their money, preorders for their new album opened up and I was only the 4th person…IN ALL OF TOKYO to preorder at Little Hearts so a lot of their fans probably don’t even like them for their music and I got a good number for the in store and in stores at times are longer than the concerts so I don’t know why someone would dedicate all their time, energy, and money to be front row.
/Razor bangya lore
The Razor live felt kinda off of course without Tsurugi and I’m surprised they still played the normal setlist without him and didn’t focus on songs where Kouryu plays lead.
Actually was the least active I’ve ever seen Ryoga. Gotta be the first time I didn’t see him crowdsurf. I hope you get to see how fun Razor actually is before you leave. My first Razor concert I found myself in the middle of a circle pit
Anyway apologies for the thread hijack. Fun concert and it was fun talking to you @GreatNorthernVK!
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Yeah, maybe it’s just a venue policy not to do a lot of these things that the bands would normally do (Saizen ramming, Circle pits, maaaaybe they just made an exception for Razor, because no one else got to do a wall of death)
But yeah, no worries. It was great talking to you too, and I’m sure we’ll find each other at Mad Pit
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”Lotto Christmas - The man is violent Ahhhhh” Lotto Birthday show 10/03 @Takadanobaba Club Phase
Today is Lotto’s birthday! And I found out that he’s still younger than me. FML. Funny that they’re making him work harder on his birthday and not less, but it seems to be the way things are done here.
I return to Takadanobaba Club Phase, and take my spot by the “B” ticket holders who had to go through Eplus. I talk to a friendly American Fukuro fan for a bit before we’re called in.
I take my spot in the third row left side at first, uncertain exactly which order things were going to go. Amamitsutsuki’s store was set up first, but Fukuro’s merch lady came running quickly when I was there. I let her know in Japanese that there’s something for me, and she grabs the corrected DVD print from the watch party for me. She also asks to see my shirt, so I let her know that I just went to it yesterday. She asked in English if I’d be at Mad Pit, so the concert just kind of defaulted to English at that point. I grab some Yoshiatsu cheki for myself and someone back home before retaking my place.
Someone does come up to the general vicinity of where I’m standing and starts asking around about something, including me. I assume that she’s asking about bands we’re here to see because of the last two days of spot negotiations. So I just say “Fukuro”. It isn’t until a few seconds later when I see the context of the conversation around me that she was almost certainly asking who goes first, not who I was here to see. Unfortunately, by the time I try to formulate a clarification, she’s gone.
Shit. Am I getting into my first fight over this?
I hope not…
The God and Death Stars
Shit. Oh well. The people she was talking to don’t seem surprised, so I guess they figured I was just a Baka gaijin who didn’t know. For the best.
I had actually never researched God and Death Stars much prior to this, other than knowing that they were an offshoot band of deadman. I didn’t even know that Aie sung up until then. Good to know that he could fill in vocals for deadman if Maco had an off day.
It was actually refreshing not having to do any furi really. Just kind of enjoy the vibes. Naturally, the guitars are quite deadman-reminiscent, but the music itself is not quite as depressing.
The crowd started moving a bit more towards the last couple of songs. A really strong, consistent performance.
I might start rating these artists on the deadman scale. 1 being sparkly kirakira pop and 10 being “literally deadman”.
I’m going to give them a 7.5 dead men out of a possible 10.
Emmurée
Now it comes time to test Lotto’s fortitude, this is the first of three bands that he’s playing drums for tonight.
Vocalist Sou is certainly a captivating presence, delivering very deadman-esque mannerisms and vocal style.
There was finally a little bit of furi from the audience about half way in, but nothing too demanding. All the better to bask in the melancholic Nagoya Kei, Lovers being the highlight of the set.
I have to give them 8.5 dead men out of a possible 10
lightless-鈍い、闇。-
ラヴリィ
From Hell To Hell
Lovers
story in heaven
ロザリオ~罪人に捧ぐBallad~
Gray Note Freak Show
Fukuro
Starting off, a special announcement from Fukuro. To remind us that non-flash photography and videos are in fact permitted at all Fukuro shows.
Did I take advantage? Yeah. Did I block other people’s views and spend the whole time on it? No.
Moderation is key, people.
Starting off with Korogaru Rock ni Koke wa haene mitei, Yoshiatsu right out of the gate knows that he’s posing for people’s cameras, being very deliberate in most of his actions, poses, etc. Often seeing people who are recording and looking directly at them. Giving his crotch a bit of a rub for Cadenza.
It really is about engaging the audience, for him, I think. There was still no shortage of people doing furi, although the other fan I was talking to said that her side of the stage was pretty quiet, as was mine. I was attempting to sing and ay-ay-ay at full volume, but I wasn’t hearing much from the crowd even though the movement was there.
During Mama and LaLa, he would keep checking in, leaning in to Saizen and second row to test people’s volume, shining a flashlight to try and identify who was singing along and who wasn’t.
Not very deadman like.
Lotto did get a special call out, from Daisuke who unloaded some streamers over him during the last song.
3.5 dead men out of a potential ten.
Amamitsutsuki
I must confess, this is also a band that I knew next to nothing about. Didn’t even realize Lotto played drums for them too until I got there.
They came out, all wearing black suits and sunglasses. Immediately, opening with Tsukiyo, I noticed that they sounded a little closer to the Fukuro side than to the Emmurée side. Which certainly isn’t a bad thing, just won’t earn them a ton of dead men.
I somewhat can’t figure them out, they have some songs that might start off with a deadman vibe, but then lead into these Umbrella esque choruses. At times, it looks like vocalist Ikkou Sanada is going for a depressed vibe, but then he’s leading uplifting furi.
He tosses his sunglasses into the crowd during the third song. The guitarist gives me a little wink by song 6, once I’m getting more into their furi. About half way through, they lead the audience in singing Happy Birthday to Lotto.
During their one song encore, Sanada had to leave about 30 seconds early due to ongoing contact lens issues. He had dropped his lens near the beginning of the song, a fan picking it up and him putting it back in his eye without cleaning it or anything.
What would deadman have done?
I don’t know.
4.5 dead men out of a possible 10.
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He actually did this during one of the Nagoya stops onthe Genealogie der Moral tour this year! Maco was having voice troubles and aie ended up singing 聖者の行進(when the saints come marching in) and the fans ended up singing lunch box.
Fun fact, that live is the first time the fans (or kyodai) were ever asked to sing lunch box. Maco started asking us to sing the chorus after that live.
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Hizaki The Zodiac Sign tour 10/04 @Shibuya The Doors
So this time, it’s off to see one of the greats - The one and only Hizaki. Located in Shibuya, after a little confusion of walking around the grounds of the New National Theater, I cross the street and find the venue, and with a few foreigners waiting outside that don’t look like your standard bangya.
A guy in the crowd noticed me alone, and came up to talk to me, Brandon from Seattle. So we get to talking, and we end up entering the venue at the same time as we’re only two numbers apart. After grabbing some water, we take our places in the fourth row, centre.
They come out gradually, introducing each member of Hizaki’s backing band, guitarist Meyto of Mana Diagram, violinist Jill of Unlucky Morpheus, bassist Tsunehito of D, and drummer Maki of Her name in blood before Hizaki himself takes the stage. After a few songs of the band as a whole, Jill is given her own brief violin solo leading into (what I believe) was Stella Maris, after which the rest of the band sans Jill and Hizaki take a break while the two of them play a duet.
Jill finished up, and now it’s Meyto’s turn to duet with Hizaki. After their duet, they banter back and forth for just a few minutes before re-introducing the band, starting with Maki performing a bit short drum solo before Tsunehito comes back on stage to join him. They then go into the second half of the main set, Tsunehito and Hizaki taking turns trying to get the crowd to be more vocal, to mixed results.
After several more songs, including one where Hizaki went right up next to the barrier to play closer to the crowd, we got some more soloing opportunity from both Jill and Meyto.
Honestly, I think there were times when I preferred Meyto’s parts to Hizaki’s.
During the last song of the main set, there was a bit where Hizaki, Meyto, and Jill would take turns taking the lead.
After about five minutes of encore calling, they return to the stage to talk to the audience some more. Meyto says that she thinks everyone is having fun even though it’s hot in there.
I’m thinking “Okay, we’re just over an hour and a half in, they’ll probably play one more and start photos.
Nope, they’re encoring for a whole 30 minutes.
So they finally finish up, and Brandon and I just kind of chat to the side while people get in line for merch. We’re eventually directed to the cheki line as they’re setting up.
I tell Brandon about my live reports here, he said that he doesn’t know if he knows the site, but then after a brief search, comes to see that he has visited in the past. So if you’re lurking Brandon, “Hi!”
A staff asks us to part for a bit, to our surprise as Tsunehito and then Hizaki come out of the curtains, passing right in between us, followed by Meyto (who made sure to wave hi to both of us on the way out) Jill and Maki.
So we get to the front of the line, where I greet everyone, and take my photo, Meyto copying my pose. After thanking everyone again, I took my cheki and grabbed my badge on the way out.
Brandon and I eventually part ways on the Shinjuku line, saying that we’ll probably run into each other again sometime next week.
Later on Twitter, Hizaki would say that he didn’t feel his best during this concert. That he didn’t get as much sleep the night before and so his playing was a bit off. To which, yeah, I kind of noticed. Still, they put in a great set clocking in at just over 2 hours, only 15 minutes of which was “filler”.
Now, to try and track down a setlist.
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Jiluka’s Mad Pit Fest 10/05 @Spotify O-West and Clubasia
Not wanting to be too early for Mad Pit, considering the rain, I’ve decided to condense the day starting at 2 pm for DAMNED. Getting there just as The Cards I Play we’re letting out, I can tell already that a lot of things about VK lives would not apply here. More guys here, for one, both foreign and local. Also, the absence of anyone asking me what band I’m here to see.
No bags on the ground to hold space. I wonder what would happen if one were to do that?
I suppose we’ll have to see how this plays out.
It played out fairly predictably, with the first few rows being dedicated fans, mostly willing to do the furi, with the bulk of the metalcore attendees staying in the centre/back. A professional cameraman has been replaced by a guy with a GoPro.
Half way through, Hitone calls for a Wall of Death, some guy doing roundhouse kicks in the middle until he finally picks a side.
And then we count down…and collide. And it actually felt good to be in a real wall of death for once. I wish I had ditched my purse beforehand, but all good.
I get pushed farther left than I had been before, an MC from Hitone, Sakura and Suica with silent gaps in which a tall-ish white guy in the centre second row started yelling things like “うつくし!” And “かわいい!”
The band and audience seemed amused.
Hyping the audience up one more time before ending with Veltro, the members take turns saying their goodbyes to the audience before taking off.
After checking out some merch and running into a couple of people I’ve seen before, it’s time to head back for…
Unlucky Morpheus
Fresh off of her show with Hizaki yesterday, Jill is back with Unlucky Morpheus.
Circle pits open up for Kyomou no Koibito and Knight of Sword, with Knight of Sword having solo opportunities from both guitarists, and even the bassist briefly. Very much a diverse crowd of people. Second row yeller is back, yelling his handful of Japanese words. This time I hear “すばらしい!” I’m told by the person I’m standing with (the Fukuro fan from two days ago!) that he’s an attendee from last year and always stands in that spot.
Sailing Before the Wind
So the vibe is different, instantly. The set opens up with some guys doing hardcore dancing followed by a couple of crowd surfers, the first of whom is caught by a tall, larger set foreign guy. For the second song, a circle pit opens up, followed by an opened up pit area of men windmilling, throwing punches and roundhouse kicking.
The band seemed to be mixing in a couple of their more uplifting songs in addition to the heavier ones. The set continued on with circle pits and moshing aplenty, not to mention many more rounds of crowd surfing.
There’s at least one person recording, contrary to stated rules. Then again, crowd surfing, stage diving and kicking/punching are also against the rules, so there’s that.
I buy a signed Setlist from the guys for ¥500, not the worst purchase.
Dexcore
Third time around for Dexcore, and certainly the most “action”, given the crowd. Movement from the crowd right away, not quite a push pit yet, but still more jostling than your average song.
Kagami instructs us to part for a Wall of Death, before announcing the next song…Replace Our Souls, ffffff, yes. I’ve been waiting for this one.
I run forward into the wall, almost tripping over someone’s hoodie (keep your stuff off the floor, guys). After singing along, it was time for Dragout and the pit opens up. Hmmm, have I seen a few of these guys before?
After slowing it down for Still Alive, the pit action renews with The Light, including several crowd surfers, even Kagami himself.
Skindeep
Replace Our Souls
Dragout
Still Alive
The Light
Deviloof
Aaand, the lineup is around the building. Waiting by the love hotels, two rows of go karts passes by. We finally get let in as some guy up the street starts cackling like a madman while staff goes to check on him.
Settling near the right centre, they come on for the first song. There is a clear “bangya” section in the first couple of rows, head banging and doing furi. After the first song, pretty much the exact same group of guys who have been opening up every pit in here do their business and we have ourselves a mosh pit.
Many circle, push and most pits later, Keisuke even takes a couple turns crowdsurfing himself.
Seems like every set has at least a couple of people from the crowd recording.
While I took off a song early to go catch the start of Nocturnal Bloodlust, those that stuck around for the last song were treated to a surprise feature from both the vocalist of Last Day Dream and Jiluka’s Ricko!
- Damn
- Newspeak
- Everything is all lies
- Goujinsangoku
- Natural Born Killer
- Ruin
Nocturnal Bloodlust
The same culprits start the pit at Nocturnal Bloodlust, which rarely lets up throughout the set.
There’s a professional cameraman standing right inside the pit. Assuming this is the professional cameraman and not just a ballsy as fuck dude, maybe find a smarter place for him?
Hiro takes his turn surfing on the crowd this time.
By now, I’ve run into six different people that I’ve seen at different shows.
- Punch me if you can
- Jusou
- Life is Once
- Malice Against
- Dagger
- VIP
Jiluka
I take my place on Sena’s side of the stage, hoping that I can work my way forward as the set progresses.
Well, I do, sometimes. After a wall of death and two circle pits, I end up…around where I started, although, managed to get further up in between all of those things. All as Ricko keeps yelling his song titles, barely intelligible.
They opened up with S4VAGE, and followed up with BLVCK and ELIZA.
Towards the end of the set, Kagami from Dexcore made a surprise appearance for a vocal feature.
All in all, more action and movement from the crowd than I expected, given the last two times I’ve seen them.
In conclusion, some VK bands have great crossover potential into metalcore spheres, but the scenes seem to be separate for a reason due to the radically different concert cultures in the two scenes. Luckily, we have events like these to bridge the gap.
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I do like with metalcore concerts it’s the expectation you’re there to watch all the bands. I never knew how amazing Xaa Xaa was despite being at 5 concerts with them in it because of bangya culture how you’re just there for your favorite band and I always just switched.
Anyone else see Unlucky Morpheus regularly? I only saw them once at a taiban and the crowd was a bunch of old guys (seems with female metal bands the crowd is 50+ year old dudes) but that pit was pretty epic.
At metalcore concerts you can usually record everything since it’s exposure for the band and they’re not selling their image. Most likely why no one stopped them for SBTW. Also unlike vkei, metalcore dudes will interact with your posts and even repost your videos on their page. Chances are if you post something SBTW related Bitoku will engage. So if you ever wonder if vkei bandmen see your content they most likely do but they don’t engage I like that they sell setlists.
Dexcore in their natural habitat. I saw them at The Game earlier in the day and it was pretty funny for the first timers. “The Light” is their crowd surfing song so guys all ran up to the stage and girls were fleeing to the back.
They def had the craziest crowd, I felt a bone crack. I didn’t see View from the Soyuz but their crowd is usually crazy too.
Haha about seeing people the same crowds. Usually at metalcore concerts it’s the same people seeing all the bands. No assumed loyalty for one band since the bandmen interact with each other anyway. Sota of Graupel/Green3yed was selling Sable Hills Merch at Frontline Festival. His bands weren’t even playing. If only you could see that kind of bro love at vkei concerts 
Somehow when I see Razor gya at other concerts we look at each other like we’re cheating w****s 
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Psycho le Cemu/0.1g no gosan 10/06 @Akabane ReNY Alpha
Approximately 420th in the venue, and it looks like this is going to be my view.
Guess I’m watching the monitor.
They come out to 0.1g no gosan being joined by Daishi to sing, of all things, a cover of Yokan by Dir en Grey. To which…the band then leaves the stage and curtains. The lights go up…
Of course, they start for real about 10 minutes later
Opening with Yuugai menhera girl, even the people behind the pillars are mostly going full force with their furi. I can’t say that I really felt the need to. The band can’t see me, I can’t really see them, I can’t see the people directly in front of me.
They break for an MC after four songs, and all I can focus on is this projector behind them displaying a larger version of what’s on stage. So I see a projection of You Midorikawa’s face…right in front of an even larger projection of You Midorikawa’s face.
Before I know it, they’ve been joined on stage by PLC for Gekiai no Merry Go Round, Daishi sharing vocals while Aya and Yura-sama dance.
Yura-Sama stays to dance and provide backing vocals for their next song, and the next has You crowd surfing all the way to the back, and even somewhat towards the sides. After another couple of songs, they close off their set with Zetsubou Menbure Girl and they remind people of their Halloween show coming up.
I finally move to a position where I can see most of the stage.
They come on, and for the first half of the set, they’re all on their instruments, playing mainly newer songs with the exception of Indra no Ya from Trip to the Arcadia, and Ai no Uta from Frontiers.
Half of the way in, they invite 0.1g no gosan on stage for a dance number. It’s a little cramped, of course. Everyone on stage makes their way out while You Midorikawa is distracted, leading him to take off his shirt to dance suggestively for the audience. When everyone comes back out, the drummer of gosan has also taken off his shirt in solidarity.
Afterwards, Aya and Yura-Sama abandon their instruments for Blade Dance, leading the audience in some pretty intricate furi.
But, not all us lost, as they come back with Yume Kazaguruma, followed by Murderer. Death. Kill.
Finishing up with Kimi ga iru sekai, they invite 0.1g no gosan back on one more time for final comments. The audience does some furi to their closing backing track, as the curtain closes. Of course, I’m just trying to get to the dang cheki room.
Honestly, two fun setlists kind of ruined by a venue where 1/3 of people can’t even see the stage at full capacity.
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