Merchandise Sellers at venue

I only follow one band that has a female staff member. I’d call it a stretch to call her a roadie because the band is so small, but as far as VK’s definition of roadies goes, she’s kinda? She has her own band and I know she basically “takes notes” of the bands she does staff for.

Their previous staff member though was a guy and he was a friend of one of the members. And basically when that member left the band, he left with him. I still see him running the merch booth for this other guy which is pretty funny considering he went back to being a session band dude. Merch buddy isn’t in any band that I know of.

So usually it are “just friends”?
But how secret is it actually kept?
Nowadays I would understood and could ask the relationship of the staff members to a band.

But, I’m sure I definitely saw female staff who also were one of the guys girlfriends or even ex-girlfriend. But usually hard working people who know the scene well and just love to help out.
I also noticed that it can happen that a “fan” turn into staff, but that are never the jealous types or the types who drool over members usually the types who really love to support the band in a whole.

But its still weird that there are only less guys selling stuff tho. Because There are enough guys around who could do the job well and know lots of visual kei as well. But maybe guys prefer to start a vkei band than selling merchandise. :rofl:

What about your band? Do you have such staff?

Well, about mine, all I can say is we either do our own merch after our show, or if we’re accompanied by friends (male or female), they do for us while we play. Not gonna lie, “friends” are often girlfriends (ours of staff’s). It seems to appeal more to ppl than when we do as the audience is made up of more guys than girls.

From my own experience, it occurs more often that those girlfriends are jealous of the girls in the public that come speaking to musicians/staff than the opposite. But we’re not a VK band.

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I know little about the younger crap vk types that play like Science,holiday etc. But honestly wouldn’t be surprised if they have stupid situations of using gfs as staff but that would seem counterproductive then for their mitsuge stuff unless they are straight up living the himo lifestyle.

But basically for any band of substance staff being some kind of gf type of thing is not very common, crappier lower level I can see it happen. :thinking: so probably any band worth caring about is ok.
Personally it’d be nice to get a guy to do staff but vk guy fans are either the super buyers (always two copies etc.) That youd want to keep in fan zone, or they are unreliable types who couldnt cut it as bandmen :thinking:

Besides onemans we refuse to go to merch table from now on to avoid garnering menhera types that think about this stuff after a fan recently thought I was dating staff friend.

Lord you are lucky to not deal with all the stupid stupid stuff of vk. It’s like a different world called planet stupid :joy:
But sales can be way higher than normal rock bands if you do it right.
Tis a tricky thing to balance!

I had to deal with that “planet stupid” years ago, when I started working with a guitarist from an “emergent” japanese VK band (which means they had more than 50 ppl at their shows lol). They get really mad at him when they learned he worked with me on his free time, because I’m a foreigner. Eventually, he gratuated from them a few months later, and left the VK scene at the same time x)

This is something that would never occur in a regular rock/metal band.

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Ah contract situation or label rules kind of thing? If you choose to suckle on the teet of being in one of the idol type bands or just one on a crap label then you are choosing misery :joy::ok_hand: if you are smart and handle it all yourself and make your own rules there is stonks a plenty but your events are surrounded by those c*nts.

Were they specifically angry due to foreigner aspect? :joy:

Huh😅 What type of dudes have you met. I’ve met not such crazy vkei fan guys.

Guess, if bandman don’t come to sell their own merch means often some crazy fan is around? I also noticed that some guys avoid talking to some fans tho…, you notice him saying in a convo out of nothing, oh sorry gotta go and runs away as fast possible :sweat_smile: and he talks to you again if some people aren’t around.

But don’t know, I am always just curious who the staff people are. Without any jealousy feelings :grin:

The guy fans are not crazy like the girls, but they are often collectors and big buyers.

If talking about crazies and why you want to put up a wall, ignore, etc.
Up until now I’ve gone to merch table, done instore oneday staff event too etc.
But there is always two things besides the normal fans:

  1. the girl that wont leave soon enough. KY as we say in slang. If inbetween sets at events these weirdos can cost you money as the other girls are waiting.
  2. the weirdo host-going/got into vk from young session events or just crap bands so she looks at you expecting you to make advances. "営業されたい":nauseated_face:

Even if you just have your staff there you need to make sure they can handle all these strange types, so again yah, you wouldnt want your gf dealing with that usually haha.

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Is not as annoying as Japanese fans don’t give you time to say Hi to bandman or staff for a moment :sweat_smile: Or they take a long time to buy stuff. :sweat_smile:

But I still wonder who the staff girls are from Tokami and E.T because both were super nice to me :blush:

I was asked to sell my friends band merch because one of the fangirls moaned that the merch girl wasn’t kawaii enough and the vocalist said that they have no choice but hire me to please everyone’s eyes xD and I’m not the only one, for example my favourite band’s merch people are also their fans from the very begging, the other band’s merch girl is member’s kanojo, sometimes band members sell merch themselves (that’s why I can’t buy sodom’s merch, I’ll die if I’ll talk to Zazie :smiling_face_with_tear:). And so on.

Ah! Forgot to say that sometimes merch guys are also the other band’s bandomen xD for example one of my band’s long time staff is also their merch guy and stage staff, but he’s doing his own band (and he’s cousin of the bandomen from the third band huh huh huh)

Well sometimes merch sellers are actual girlfriends of member, so why not :full_moon_with_face:

Really? Logically this is the exact opposite of every situation I’ve encountered in all my years as a bandman here.
These simp bitches get so angry usually if the staff is cute :joy:

My bands are active from times when young people weren’t “fans” but went to the gigs to spend time with friends, both girls and boys. I’m the youngest girl, and most of them treats me like a baby, so that’s the reason I guess :upside_down_face: of course I found some hissing on tanuki, but jealous girls are just jealous girls, so let bitches be who they are​:face_with_hand_over_mouth: they were so in their 10th, in their 20th, and they are in their 50s, band members can’t and shouldn’t please everyone, especially girls who have their own families and children but hanging around band members, stalking them and gossiping about the other girls, especially members friends and staff…

I never saw forgeiners sell band merchendise tho :sweat_smile: the bands I vistited always had Japanese staff

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hmm have gigged and worked with people from the early X days up to current times so are you talking like 80s or non-vk/vk adjacent bands? Because everyone I know from the 90s up until now share the sentiments of you have to be careful on choosing staff~kankeisha due to the super fans. even in 80s girls were stripping naked as a “look at me! please bone me!” thing to bands like X haha. so lets not imagine things : P
lest we forget the Malice Mizer tabloid articles haha. 'tis been going on forever.

Even if it is weird I honestly have the perspective that it is the fans right to be that judgemental, it is not fun when they get weird, but if they are the ones who allow me to not have to do a normal job for nearing 2 years now then I have to take in consideration what they think, even it is weird or creepy at times, they are the customers so I have to try and please as many as possible while making sure no stupid situations increase. Tis tricky

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yah for vk it’s not normal at all haha. honestly most japaneezers will go “oh no! a foreigner! i cannot speak english runs away” our next gig we have a foreign friend doing merch table though! will have to put some sign saying she can speak japanese though haha.

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yep :з non-vkei dark side, haha
I don’t really know about early vkei or X, so I can write only about my bands - not only about merch, their fans from the past is doing visuals, arrangements or printing stuff like postcards for sale…

My bands are generating stupid situations, and they make fun of it :smiley: like in the past, it’s more like old friends parties, at least most of them are still hardcore punks and doing things for fun, not for fangirls pleasing​:blush: and I love it… (that’s one of the reason why I lost any interest in vkei, haha)

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Yah non-vk is a whole different story haha.
It is a lucky thing! Much better for stress levels I think :joy::sparkles::purple_heart:
But have heard of some power harassment stuff from auto-mod member etc. So still Japanese craziness in any scene, you cannot escape it haha.:joy::ok_hand::jp:

Their vocalist is living in the next street and sometimes I see him with grocery bags, quite WEIRD experience…:laughing: