Online fanmeetings and the such

Sorry if this is in the wrong place but I wanted to talk about this to someone and I thought, hey, what place better than here.

Maybe you’ve noticed that Alice Nine will hold an online fanmeeting for overseas fans only and I’m feeling like listening to them more often just so I can go because I love them for doing this, but I don’t really love them, I just like some songs I guess. (not that I hate them I just never took the time)

It’s so infrequent of bands to do this that this really got me thinking and I can’t think of any other jrock band that did this during the pandemic …? It’s pretty common in k-pop to hold global online fanmeetings, which is actually a BAD thing, because when they held lives + fanmeetings locally the fanmeeting tickets would be sold on a “first come first serve” basis and not a “buy 1827 albums to get 1827 tickets and then maaaaaybe you’ll have a chance if you follow these 81928 technical guidelines” like happens now, or has always happened in Korea IG. Well, actually, I’ve seen a lot of Korea-only online fanmeetings as well, which is … wow. Gee, Thanks.

But then for Alice Nine they’re selling tickets on a first come first serve basis it seems, which is so nice and makes me want to become a fan in the next weeks but anyway, wanted to ask just out of curiosity:

1- Have any other bands done this yet?
2- Would you attend one of these? For which bands?
3- Why is it that some bands hold locals-only online fanmeetings? depressing … I’d be willing to speak broken Japanese you didn’t have to be so prejudiced damn it

Lately I guess the lack of lives + total lack of any hope (lol Japan is barely sending GOODS here tbh) is making me more depressed than usual (not that I’d go anyway because I’m staying safe but we b livin one concert after another…) and I’d love for this practice to become commonplace, but I guess not many jrock bands can do it. Well I mean, probably way more than the number of bands that have been attempting, but anyway. Is there not much of a demand, I wonder? Is it not worth it for some reason, like needing a good enough connection because of ping issues? I don’t get it. It seems like a relatively cheap and easy way for bands to make money or connect with international fans, but I guess they just… don’t want to? Is there something I ain’t seeing?

Anyway, can we talk about online fanmeetings then? Any experiences? I did purchase a couple of tickets for one fanmeeting of the k-pop group I follow but no luck so I have no experiences to share lol.

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I don’t know Japanese bands who do this
But it’s universal that bands really don’t hang out outside of work or photoshoots, like you might see jap bands kissing on the cheek on stage for fanservice (which is weak btw, I prefer watching them strip and tongue each other, thank god for oshare kei) but after disbanding they really don’t talk much, I mean you could tell how fake their laughs are in “making of videos”

I went to some arcade fire, classified shows and greets which were really fun and attentive, but no one knew they existed at those times so they don’t count.

How about the opposite? Limp bizkits front man Fred durst actually hates his fans because his music was very misinterpreted, and because they act like animals and thugs at live shows (just watch Woodstock 99, you can’t tell the difference between the slipknot duality video) people who just ruined his life, using his music and emotions for something else, changing his image forever to a “energetic show stomper, to a clown jumping around on stage” but he still cares for fans evident by his constant fear of “being a let down” on results may vary, which I thought was a great record, unfortunately a fanbase like limpbizkit who just wants 3 dollar bill and the nookie has no chance for a change, be careful what you wish for.

Bands like radiohead who spawn unintentional super singles like “creep” and fans just leave the shows after listening it (like literally the crowd is cut in half) so they just stop playing it all together

I know a lot of awesome forgotten bands who did a lot of free concerts, meet n greet, hanging out with fans, unreleased live only music, but those are special to me so I can’t tell.

The only heavy metal rock group that I’ll ever listen to, and respect, who don’t resort to tropes and quirks (like the album covers looking like a gothic emo Knight riding a dragon on top of Mount demaver or some shit like that) is A7X or avenged sevenfold, goddammit I love this band, very serious towards their fans about giving good concerts, they’re respectfull, kind, hardworking (they made not ready to die for call of duty in less then 3 days, a 6 minute song LESS THEN 3 DAYS) but that’s besides the point, they’re awesome, RIP THE REV.

Green day, It’s god favorite band, ever been to one of their shows? Unlike failing to get the stage pumping and flowing like U2, these people are phenomenal, and they don’t act too kindly to fans trying to fuck up their songs by going on stage pretending that they can play guitar, some would just make them look stupid, but they will straight up kick your ass (like oasis did at the backstage when they dragged one of the fan who kicked the guitarist)
You may not love green day, but you love green day.

The roots do online meeting talks and others being a hip hop super group its no wonder them being respected and close to fans.

The most notable band I can think, and who I went to live shows in texas and other steers, despite hating live music and who is really close to their fanbase even how shitty and two faced they are, is actually Linkin Park, they held a few free major concerts before, sometimes they would get together to do a free show in a bar or just the metro, sometimes going out handing pamphlets old school style and see if anyone would recognize them, and they were really close in fact often kicking older replacement members just to get their original bassist back.

And because their mainstream attention is dead, so this is the biggest international fanbase you can find but be warned, all you can find are Iranians spamming “IS THIS THE NEW SINGER?” or “THIS SOUNDS LIKE CHESTER” on every. Fucking. Rock. Video. That has nothing to do with the band. Not to mention the over usued cringy “sang like an angel, screamed like a demon” or “one man saved millions, millions couldn’t save one” just Fucking say it you assholes, you hated the new album, Chester killed himself like every other has been rock group, and now they comment like redditors circlejerking, patting themselves on the back.

It went to the point of Mike being fed up and faces this head on, oh yeah he plays among us with other fans, makes songs on twitch and what not.

But getting closer to your fans isn’t really that great, since they act like you’re their soldier buddies, the reason kpop groups are so popular is well… They distance themselves from fans, being hot is just an added bonus for fangrils, and boys if you’re in to that kinda stuff, and a lot of lonely people exist so… Fantasise away. Unsolicited beaver haircut Koreans for everyone.

Watch Any miku 3d concert and you’ll know what I’m saying.

It’s not that, it’s biased or anything logical or that it’s too expensive to meet international fans online, or too much work setting up, it’s just that theyve more important things and matters to attend, like fuck fangirls or get wasted and contemplate life acting like a passive waste as their life is dispatched with haste (like the video of the front man of golden bombers 2 hour long video of insanity) they just don’t care lmao.

Becarefull what you wish for, what you see beautiful in the distance, is ugly next to you.

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Hizaki started doing it on youtube. No translator though and the first time he did, he was 45 min late -.- but they do see the superchats(donations).

Best format I have seen is with a Korean rock group Rolling Quartz. They know they have an international fanbase so their online concerts has an actual translator to field questions from chat during talk breaks in their concerts. So in essence it is half a fan meet and half concert.

I wish this format would take off. Would love to interact with bands that I couldn’t before even if I have to superchat them.

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@HeroOfLove I didn’t get the gist of your reply at first but now I do and yeah you’re right. I was thinking of the concert experience as a whole as something that I miss, but I guess more indie and less pop-y bands really don’t do M&Gs and such that often. It’s more often just “meet us at the venue” … I was thinking of j-lives I attended but of course they have to be a sizeable Japanese band to actually do a World Tour and end up in South America lol. Either way, VK isn’t really all metal (see: Alice Nine themselves …?) and I wish the more popp-y of the bunch would join the online fanmeeting bandwagon.

Well I can’t blame musicians either, some (if not most) fans can be really annoying and intrusive and it’s probably not fun to be a world-famous persona most of the time lol. It’s nice when it’s possible to have a respectful relationship, though, just “oh hey I like your songs congratulations bye” at a venue. I … actually don’t think I’d like to be friends with most celebrities I appreciate so I like it better when they keep a distance. I didn’t know about these episodes (but honestly, I respect bands that charge “fans” who can’t be respectful). I ain’t particularly a fan of Limp Bizkit nor Green Day so IDK (but well maybe I would’ve gone to one of their shows if we had Hella Mega Tour here :eyes: damn) . But it’s really telling in that sense. It must’ve been bad for his mental health at the end of the day (understandably so) :frowning:

tl;dr: you’re not wrong but I like the experience and most artists like the money so

@JukaForever Oh, did he? Lol, but that’s pretty cool!! Gotta say I’d be very excited to take part in one of these for some artists I like.
Oohh I’ve seen these girls around. This is cool. They’re rising quickly so good for them and their fans I guess. It’s certainly good for promotion and for the “why didn’t I stan sooner” effect afterwards lol. (I like them and their song cover choices, I just wish … they could … actually sing/play)

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I’ve seen some bands I follow doing online signing sessions, but I don’t pay a ton of attention to that kind of thing because I don’t care about autographs.

I haven’t attended any myself, but Chaotic Harmony (a US-based VK event promoter team/online merch store) does a series called “Timora Talks” with games and Q&A with fans via Discord that have English translations. They’ve mostly done VK bands that aren’t very well known and indie idols, but I know they had Libravel and JILUKA as guests not that long ago, so maybe someone on this board was part of one of those?

They put up clips from the one with Ayakashi no Kiko, so you can see the format:

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Ohhhh, this is so cool actually. Is this a thing because of the pandemic too? Either way, I’m going to check this out, thanks!!

I think so. I doubt they’ll do it as often once concerts start up again and regular Q&A panels come back (not that they do it very often now), but they’re one of the few groups I’ve seen that does this kind of event specifically geared towards English-speaking fans with VK artists.

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It’s not about the money man, you don’t see any other major band give out their signature guitars that’s been used for a decade, or do free concerts in Milton kynes. Or Go to countries like heiti, Sudan. Those bands I mentioned are the biggest rock bands of the decade who do philanthropy or just get close to the masses.

I only care if they’re genuine and not lying about it, and judging by their accomplishments, success, charity (actually going to the countries they help) making disaster foundations so people can have a job, write political lyrics in controversial times (plastic bag over a monument - holiday) they’re fighting the way John lennon would want.

It’s because rock is a dead genre, and the last vanilla communitys that stand are gatekeeping assholes who force you to like their number 638925 band with same chord progression, shit chromatic guitars, ska type drumming, and I guess screaming is supposed to be deep? It’s hard to relate when they do dumb shit like snort coke, waste thousands of fan donations on hookers, and lyrics whining how life is unfair,
Talk about how every other band formed after 2010 is shit, whining that the bands should never change their sounds.

pop isn’t like that it’s universal especially kpop, you just get boys prettier then your daughter, sing about love or some shit, never be seen with anyone resembling the opposite gender, braindead computer beats, insane fans, wattpad fanfics.

But I don’t blame them, most people don’t have anything going for them, nor will they ever try to change it, dreaming about a hot stud 3k miles away from you is all they have, and if it makes them happy, it makes me happy, even if it burns others around them.

Comfortably numb.

You mean you don’t see artists of nowadays do this kind of thing? It’s true, I guess. But at the same time, … well even though we have the internet and Youtube now it feels like the music industry is more reified than ever and… well, it’s owned by big corporations basically and all these corporations really care about is the money. In the end, I don’t see your point, but maybe it’s because I don’t expect artists to do it, see, I don’t expect artists to give away the money they earn. I don’t live in the richest country either, and I know some artists I like wouldn’t step foot here because they’re afraid a lion would kidnap them or something. And others claim to like it in here. I don’t know. Some who claim to like it in here don’t really help poor countries in any way, and some who are afraid of kidnapping lions donate great sums or do other things for charity. It’s hard to know, if you’re not an insider, who is just doing a marketing stunt and who wants to help. But at the end of the day I don’t support an artist because I want them to do charity - if I want to do charity I will do it myself. I support an artist because I like the feeling their art evokes in me. Anything else sounds a bit hypocritical personally.

But I can agree that this whole “spirit of rock” thing is kinda, like, a thing of the past. I mean, even in the past I don’t think rock music was ever too inclusive or… nice. Nor was it meant to be so… The Beatles did split up for a reason, what one thinks is good isn’t always what another thinks is good you feel me? Of course, though, in every era there is bound to be at least a few artists just doing what they want even if it isn’t in vogue. I’m not going to lie, I tend to like those who do charity even if it’s not “cool” too.

tl;dr: I don’t get your point at all and maybe I’m just not privileged enough but thanks for your insight. At the same time well, it’s kinda funny to me that people in here often seem so bothered by kpop fans in general I guess lol

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I didn’t put into account small bands or new artists because they’re small, they have time to spend with fans garnering a fan base, but once they’re big they really don’t conform as they used to, the aforementioned bands are the biggest bands and still stretch their schedules to meet with fans outside of work.

I mean everything you need to know why pop artists don’t get close is explained there but here I’ll make my own too long didn’t read

Tl;Dr : The person portrayed and the portrait are 2 different things.

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Ohh I got it now. Yeah that’s what I was saying, I guess the less popp-y of the bunch don’t do m&gs and the such anyway. It’s just a different business method? And I’m fine with both personally.

Well, I mean, isn’t it just because they literally can’t? As I was talking about it too. If you’re too popular, for sure, if you say X at least ten fans will agree and at least ten others will disagree and it might escalate and be bad for business. It’s hard to please that many people, and it’s probably bad for one’s mental health to try, which is why many choose to be impersonal and I think that as a fan you should like them for their work but you really don’t have any way of knowing how they “really” are. I was just saying that on top of this, we don’t really have any way of knowing (for sure 100% unless we’re an insider as I pointed out before …) either which ones of the bunch that keeps a distance is being genuine but staying safe and which ones of the “genuine” bunch are really just charismatic psychopaths.

In other words, you’re saying it like we all don’t have the honne - tatemae thing…? (and obviously it’s even more necessary for super popular celebrities)

Dunno about VK bands, but KoRn did virtual meet and greet tickets bundle for their online concert couple months back. And sold out in matter of minutes. So it is definitely doable regardless.

It is not 1995 anymore, wifi is everywhere, mobile phones and webcams now excellent camera quality. It is only come down to if the band want to do it or not.
Many Japanese stuffs rely on exclusivity and elitism too much. And it is the usual reason why they don’t do things and open up to bigger market until it’s too late.

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Yeah really. Maybe it’s the same old matter, they don’t even bother uploading samples to YT sometimes so an online fanmeeting really seems like an extravagant thing to attempt. Boggles my mind how some of those fuckers have the audacity of saying they’d like to tour overseas lmao look I’m here overseas trying to BUY YOUR MUSIC and you’re not making it any easy for me.

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I usually don’t care about fan meets (I’ve never been to one for a vkei band but I have met a couple regular J rock bands randomly) but I am actually considering the Alice Nine one. During the pandemic I got into them because of Tora’s Youtube channel (also looking at old Alice Nine channel videos they are pretty funny and entertaining).

I don’t know any other bands (Japanese) that have done something like this.

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