I went along to Pia today to get a ticket for An Cafe’s live in January. They are to play to JCB Hall, which is no small fry in the world of live venues. Back when I saw them in May, I don’t think I was in any huge rush to buy a ticket so I didn’t think the same would happen this time. I was wrong, very very wrong. An Cafe went on sale yesterday and have sold out for every venue in the Tokyo area! I honest to God never thought they were that popular; this reminds me more of pop acts than VK. The fast rising re-surge in the popularity of VK continues to surprise me and now I have to figure out a way to get to this An Cafe gig.

Zeal Link Omedetou! The record label/ magazine/ live organisers turned a year old after giving us some great lives with … another great live. This time it was 24 bands, playing at two venues (East and West) at Shibuya O. The lineup was an impressive number of popular indies like Bergerac, CELLT, Ando along with heavyweights like AnCafe and Girugamesh.

I however was in the deeply unhappy position of having to work until 6pm so missed the majority of bands. I apologised to Zeal Link for my work when I picked up my pass, I was simply so happy to have been given the chance to attend. In the end my work schedule ensured I could only see 2 bands. There was a chance to see 3 but the choice between Sex Android and Chiba (from Sendai Kamotsu) left me cold. Nonetheless I finally saw Mix Speaker’s,Inc. and for that alone I am happy.

MSI were at East and boy was East packed! MSI ooze experience with Aya, seek and Miki in the band and from the moment they appear on that stage you can feel their slick professionalism. They put on one awesome show, even if it was only for 20 minutes. The live began with the poppy Go!Go! Bremen. Yuki and Miki – both adorably dapper in black suits and black ties – swapped vocals while the rest of the band danced along and led the audience in the dance. Aya was furthest from me, with his shock of red hair. seek was close though. He walked on stage on stilts in the ‘practical version’ of his official costume. This costume includes a Predator esque mask but today seek just had green hair, black suit and a face painted black. Despite officially being an ‘alien creature’, the outfit yesterday was something like The Hitcher crossed with The Spirit of Jazz from the Boosh.

When they actually picked up their instruments it was to play Junk Story, followed by the new song, one I forgot and finally MONSTIME. Miki and Yuki sounded great, although Miki’s vocals do show more experience. The twin vocal thing works so well in my opinion. Both visually and aurally; they dance with each other, it keeps the sound really fresh and the vocalist gets a buddy to mess about with. Not that the rest of MSI were inactive at all. seek in particular wandered around much and occasionally bellowed the death vocals. I was also overjoyed to hear Miki’s MC. He still whispers as he did when he was in SCISSOR. All in all, MSI were a class act.

My only other band of the night was An Cafe of whom you could have the highest expectations and yet still have them all met. It was a short and sweet setlist but still managed to include Tekesuta Kousen and a fantastic version of Donald Duck no Magical Adventure. This version included BAN and Sou from Lolita23ku. Miku stopped the song – as he does- for the daily An Cafe game, which involved pants. Or rather signed pants that they put on Sou’s and Ban’s head. The Lolita23ku pair ran around the stage with hammers tormenting the various members of AnCafe before throwing the pants into the audience and the waiting hands of fangirls. Sou wandered over to our side with Miku dancing along as Miku sang. Then suddenly Sou grabbed Miku for a kiss; it was not a mere peck but something last a good few seconds and the fangirls went crazy.

Lolita23ku left the stage afterwards, leaving AnCafe to play a new song, Kawaiyu’s Rock and then Snow Scene. The lights in O-East did not go up afterwards though so everyone chanted for an encore. AnCafe returned after a short bit of yelling EN COR RAY and finished up with the ever wonderful and ever popular Smile Ichiban Ii Onna. Band and fans danced away happily, it was a sad moment when I realised the song was coming quickly to an end and thus An Cafe’s set. Even though I had a tough choice tonight between AnCafe and NoGoD, judging by AnCafe’s sparkling and professionally delivered performance it had been the right choice. Unfortunately there are 4 more months until their next Tokyo gig but in the interim there is the cute new single (with cover art of a rabbit with a tommy gun) coming at the end of October.

Ah well… Zeal Link-san. Omedetou!

When X Japan announced their countdown live, it set my thoughts a-whirring. Johnny’s have the Dome with both NEWS and the Johnny’s Countdown. Most of the other large livehouses are occupied so where could X go. I thought the National Stadium near Setagaya would be the ideal choice, even though it is open air and on New Years Eve. Or perhaps the Yoyogi Olympic Stadium, both being huge arenas. Last week the venue was unveiled as….. Akasaka Blitz! Now don’t get me wrong, I love Blitz very much but X at Blitz? X, that tiny band who have played the 67 000 capacity Tokyo Dome 16 times and who earlier this year sold out three nights in a row there playing at Blitz. There were more people at the YOSHIKI fan conference event last week than can be stuffed into Blitz.

According to Yahoo News/Nikkan Sports it is because YOSHIKI wants to return X to their livehouse roots since they started out as such. They had asked the staff if they could do such a live before the Dome concerts in March but it was impossible so instead NYE has been chosen. I can’t help wonder though if the X sound is just too big for Blitz, and they might end up blowing the walls off or turning half the crowd deaf!

During a week of shocking break ups and tumult in the world I would never have expected this one… RENTRER EN SOI are splitting up???? I could have predicted the demise of Lehmans more easily than that shock announcement by Satsuki & co!

The official line is, they seem to have reached the end of their plans for RENTRER EN SOI. From the OHP translations on JaME and “http://www.shattered-tranquility.net” it appears there was no fundamental falling out of musical difference, just simply they felt that they had acheived all they could do and indeed wanted to as RENTRER EN SOI. It was a good 5 years and I’ll miss them a lot. They were just getting really good again too. I can’t feel angry though. It seems sudden yes, and certainly shocking as I felt they were a band with a solid future but sometimes people just want to move on to the next stage in their life and I hope RES will pop up in the music scene very soon.

The final live is on Xmas Day but before that they are embarking on a final tour taking in Meguro Rock May Kan, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo and Fukuoka before returning to Tokyo for the Last Live.

Meanwhile in other shocking news, although slightly of the happier kind, Merry are re-releasing Gendai Stoic. They sent it off to London for engineers to play around with resulting in a lovely new remastered version that I cannot wait to hear. According the the Merry site it is being remastered at Metropolis Mastering in the UK by a gentleman named Tim Young. I wonder how the classic crackly tracks will sound…

Prior to arriving in Japan, I thought Cross Gate was only an annual event, it appears not as tonight I attended my second this year. As before Versailles headlined and Chariots made an appearance, but beyond that it was quite different.

Inugami Circus Dan started the billing and I…. missed it. It was a gamble based on the order given on the ticket but I hoped that by arriving at 5:30 I would miss them. Mission accomplished. I really cannot stand that woman’s voice.

So onto bands I do like.

Tonight was my first time watching Moran, the new band of Hitomi/Sanaka/Kanoma (that one who was in Fatima). I have been admiring their visuals in Cure magazine for a while; they have that dishevelled look that reminds of fairytales, Gormenghast and something rather organic. With Hitomi at the helm I knew that vocally they would sound good and hopefully this would translate to the music too. This was somewhat akin to Fatima, as one might expect but with a slightly more metal edge. Tight melodies prevailed throughout with Hitomi’s clear vocals. I particularly enjoyed their final song, a track tinged in electronica. While Moran were not as mindblowing as I perhaps had hoped (unlike the first time I heard Versailles) but I thoroughly enjoyed them and will actively support them in the future.

Galneryus followed with a full onslaught of ear-obliterating guitars and wailing hair metal vocals. They sounded quite perfect on stage and I quite forgot I was watching a Japanese band! It was great fun and their song, Stardust, from the forthcoming album was rather addictive. One of their members, YU-TO, the bassist is also in my new band-based addiction, Deluhi so to watch him perform a different role in a different band was rather interesting.

I moved forwards after to prepare for my two main bands. Chariots came first. I like Chariots, I like their sound live but unfortunately they are a band I will enjoy watching at an event but afterwards they barely leave an imprint upon my memory. I struggle to remember details beyond how Riku looked. The Chariots sound is very much in the screamo visual kei mould and when they are surrounded, as they were tonight, by bands with much more interesting concepts, Chariots kind of fade into nothingness.

Thankfully the sets at events are quite short so it wasn’t too long before the studs appeared. Daisuke’s new band along with former deadman members might have taken some flak for unoriginality of their music or how much they resemble the members former bands but as one who loved both Kagerou and deadman, I won’t complain. It was fantastic to see Daisuke again. Starting with the Intro track from and hate, Aie, Yukino and Hibiki rocked out over this opening number before Daisuke strolled on stage to his adoring public. They immediately began to play Thursday replete with Daisuke’s growling vocals and Yukino’s pounding basslines. the studs managed to capture the attention of every eye in the room with such awesome stage presence and perfect musicianship.

The whole set consisted of 7 songs, within which rain drop was played. It was lovely to hear a band do a ballad instead of the usual thundering melee of sound. It was a beautiful rendition too and interesting to watch how Daisuke sang it. He acted his words with his eyes and gestures putting heart and soul into the performance. Yukine too, although stood stoically over his guitar the concentration in his eyes was mesmerising. It was a shame their whole set was so short.

I just checked their website and it turns out they have a picture of their setlist attached to the ground, and in full it reads like this:

01 Intro
02 Thursday
03 disclosure
04 raindrop
05 Niji no iro
06 advance insane
07 (kanji are too blurry)

I found it quite amusing that Versailles then followed the studs or that the studs preceded Versailles for the sheer about-face in musical styles. Nagoya-kei to epic gothic metal. Versailles, as before, were stunning. I doubt if they will be as good but as the curtain raised on the five members in their elaborate dress, Yuki’s drumset attired in climbing roses and a giant banner reading Versailles while an ominous classical piece served as introduction I was dragged back into their beautiful world. I even started to doubt my new interior design plans as the beautiful images of gothicism and vampires washed over me while I stood in awe of their beauty. I don’t think any band had such an effect on me.

Kamijo was in a slightly playful mood that night, asking Teru to sing a couple of times and communicating to the crowd on my side with a cheeky set of smiles and gestures. As for the setlist, they began with Aristocrat’s Symphony, a grand and opulent piece of melodic metal fused with classical orchestrated notes that created the feel of an opera house out of O-West. This was followed by two heavier numbers, Red Carpet Day and ZOMBIE. The latter I adore for it’s sinister carnival sound. It is less aristocratic vampirism and more circus sideshow with unique use of guitar to create this effect. The finale was Revenant Choir, starting from the first chorus/bridge part. It is impossible to get bored of that.

Versailles release their new album, Noble, soon. Simply from the sound of the Prelude on the website I know I will love this.

I was admiring the new outfits throughout too. Near to me was a girl in Hizaki cosplay from The Revenant Choir PV and it got me thinking again in that direction. Jasmine You was resplendent in purple with a giant headpiece and Teru near him in hues of indigo and lavender equally so. I would quite like to attempt a Jasmine You piece one day.

Versailles did no encore, like CROSS GATE back in January, so I headed back into the Shibuya night. I noticed then how many foreign faces there were at Versailles… and many foreign faces that all seem to know each other. Maybe there is some big Versailles relation to all this as I never see as many or indeed the same faces at any other VK live. I still lack the confidence to talk to people though, which is strange as one of my best friends here now was made when I asked about the ‘next band’ back at an event at Shibuya BOXX back in March.

It has been a while since I wrote about any lives properly. I have been attending concerts, with less frequency than in March and April perhaps but I have been。Recently my efforts have concentrated less on my own live reports for a bundle of three reports for JaME that I wrote a short note for earlier. For now however some recent live experiences… such as AnCafe, one month (sigh) ago.

AnCafe have been through a few changes since I last saw them almost three years ago in Japan. Bou left to be replaced by Takuya and Yuuki, and the band has made a couple of visits to Europe. Miku`s dream that he relayed to Nia and myself way back when in Sendai has been acheived. “I really want to play in London!” he told us.　In April of this year, they did.

This date at the NHK Hall was a continuation of the tour that had visited the UK. However now AnCafe were back on home ground playing to their largest indoor audience in Tokyo. Any tiredness they may have felt was thrown away for a night of pure fun, sugar coated in bright neon oshare colours and repeated calls of `nyappy!`　(Miku`s word for `happy`)。NHK Hall was surrounded by an eclectic mixture of girls, the usual crowd that populate these gigs who gradually made their way into the hall. The merchandise line inside was long and I had to question the sensibility of opening the doors a mere 45 minutes before the scheduled start. Staff members strode up and down the line bellowing warnings of the approaching start time like wailing sirens. I held my ground in the line although cut it quite fine and scooped up the goods just before the live began. I had a third floor seat – annoying at first but as with all things you eventually become accustomed to misfortune.

Lock on the new sekai provided the thudding instrumental SE as the band assumed their positions to the calls of the audience. This eventually became a proper version of Lock on the new sekai. This song is fun, it is designed for lives but the sound was off. The guitars were woolly and I could barely hear a word Miku sang. A touch disheartened, the realisation dawned that while AnCafe would play excellently the bad acoustics of the NHK Hall would ultimately spoil the experience. I am not a fan of the NHK Hall. Despite hosting the annual Kouhaku Utagassen New Years concert and weekly Shounen Clubs, it is not a venue suited to live music; a rock band sounds more like a moss-covered-stone band. It appears that the technicians agreed with me and gradually the sound became crisper as they battled against the hall. They managed to sort out the problems for a glorious performance of `Naniro crayon de egaku hikari` that stunned the audience into silence as NHK became a starry wonderland. Miku`s vocals were beautiful and as the song came to a close a few audible sniffles came over the reverberating bass.

As AnCafe launched into a medley of oldies, starting with Candyholic and including Ese Uranai, Escapism and Tekesuta Kousen the live came alive. The dancing from the crowd became more enthusiastic as did the singing which steadily increased in volume. I was quite taken with the inclusion of so many old hits and more so that the Tekesuta Kousen furi is much harder than I remember! It was not the only section of oldies either as later Miku brought out the blue Donald Duck puppet for a bit of coordinated `saku` from a couple of thousand people and a host of duck noises filling the NHK.

Music aside, because music is only 75% of the live experience in Japan, AnCafe were rather conversive tonight with a number of short MCs. At the midway point, Miku left the stage with Takuya and Yuuki for a comedy skit from Kanon and Teruki. They began a rhythm game of `Ancafe exercise`.　They took turns in directing the audience in clapping slow at first for the `Antique Cafe no exercise…`　and then fast as they chanted `la la la la` followed by saying something amusing or, as Kanon demonstrated later, putting their heads between each others legs. Takuya was called on stage to join in, and as he came to the end of his chanting both Kanon and Teruki`s heads appeared between his legs. Takuya looked down in shock and shouted `What are you two doing?` Kanon and Teruki could only reply with giggles. Miku`s turn however at the exercise game resulted in the audience shouting `nyappy` together and, naturally, led into Nyappy in the World 3 and some fabulous pom pom dancing from Miku the cheerleader.

The other MCs were more of the conversational type: early on Miku made some comments about the importance of the concert in NHK Hall and rechristened it `Nyappy Happy Keropi` as he pointed to some girls in the audience wearing Keropi Kigurumi. Meanwhile the longer Encore MC was a Teruki story time MC. Teruki is like Nero; an active drummer, however unlike Nero, Teruki is a ball of energy bursting with stories from tours to embarrass his fellow bandmembers with. This time it was a tale about Yuuki and some chocolate ice cream and Miku in a car park.

This encore was preceeded by some newer songs being played; Kakusei Heroism, Cherry Saku Yuuki and Koritsu Hospital all proved themselves to be fan favourites judging by audience reaction. Cherry Saku Yuuki was greeted with a loud cheer and a lightshow of school related symbolism. Throughout the closing segment both vocals and music were perfect; any issue with the acoustics had been solved and AnCafe were able to show their full potential.

The first song of the encore was Orange Dream, a sweet balladic number played semi acoustic for the occasion and then in complete contrast, 3p with all its aggressive power. They drew it out for a while and the fans continually hurled themselves over their seats tirelessly until the final chord and the departure of the band. Finally the band played Bonds ~Kizuna~ for which we rased our orange towels for a bit of whipping the air. A venue like NHK Hall or CC Lemon Hall is good for one thing: whipping ones towel around as there is little fear of being actually whipped by high-speed material.

My hopes were raised for a big announcement as a video projector screen came down before the band re-merged for a second encore. The video showed a history of AnCafe over the past five years with sad sighs emitted as Bou’s image appeared on screen. This is the 5th Anniversary year of AnCafe and as a result they are having a celebration, the AnCafe Summer Festa in Yokohama at an outdoor venue. Sadly it is on a Saturday thus ruling out my chance of attending. I was however filled with pride for the five members who continue to grow as a band. Following a trend I have noticed recently there were many boys in attendance, something that shocked Teruki. This can only bode well for AnCafe if this sugary rock is appreciated by the male populace!

This finale was, as I had expected, Smile Ichiban II Onna and what a finale it proved to be. A pastel neon lightshow, the by now usual silver streamers and a band who couldn`t have been having more fun. As Miku asked the audience to sing the final words, NHK Hall erupted with a triumphant `Taiyo sa!`(for the full lyrics of `You are my sun`) and it certainly felt like those words were meant by both audience and band.

After an initial rocky start the live became supremely memorable and a lot of fun. Fears quashed, AnCafe are still the best oshare/light visual kei act around.

There are many reasons to be happy about the forthcoming months in music terms with crammed full schedules from July to September and (apart from a fast approaching trip to Tokyo Dome) nothing is possibly more exciting than this lineup:

Arc／愛狂います。／アヲイ／12012／vistlip/ ヴィドール／Versailles／Envus／えんそく/ 関西変態系お笑いヴィジュアルバンド HEAR / キス＆ネイト／キャンゼル／KLACK／ClearVeil / Sadie／SIVA／ジゴロ／Sugar
ジュリィー／シンディケイト／the studs / ゾロ／Dali／タロット-tarrot-／Chariots / Dio／Daizy Stripper／DEATHGAZE / Duel Jewel／DELUHI／デンジャー☆ギャング / 東京ミカエル。／Dolly／ドレミ團／ネガ／heidi / Hi:BRiD／バギーボギー／HERO / 176BIZ／姫苺／Fuzylog／boogieman / Black List／BRANCH／VelBet／born / 摩天楼オペラ／ムック／Megaromania／MELLO / Moran／ラッド／RENTRER EN SOI／LiZ / Rosario／他　　　

I spy with my little eye…. MUCC, heidi, 12012, DEATHGAZE, Rentrer en Soi, the studs, Vidoll, Versailles, Awoi…. all superb bands who command such awesome stage presence.

Scuber Dive is essentially a visual kei festival. I can see it now; hundreds of VK gals and guys invade Dogenzaka for a day moving between the various livehouses of the Shibuya-O complex. It should be a fun day and I hope that some stores may make an appearance as it would be a perfect chance to sell clothing although I rather doubt this would happen. AMPM on the other hand must be salivating over the potential sales that day will bring as the only conbini within a 30 seconds walk of the area.

For Tokyo, tickets go on sale on the 5th July priced at 6000.

There have been many Lives this past month and a bit that I attended and haven’t written about. A couple I plan to post and a couple I need to write a long dedicated piece about. Yet still more I wrote for JaME and those live reports I can post now.

April 27 2008

Plastic Tree @ Akasaka Blitz

I revisited Akasaka Blitz for an incredible oneman from old timers Plastic Tree. This classic Jrock band really showed again how ‘it’ was done and transformed the famous Livehouse into a magical circus world for one night.
Pura GO

I found myself in the position of attending the after party once it was over. I spoke to Ryutaro and Tadashi, shook their hands and congratulated them on a good live. Tatsurou was also there hanging about and I scared him again… I think anyway!

29th April 2008

Our Love to Stay

After Pura came a small jazz band, Our Love to Stay who were soon to break up but had asked for a live report. Noriko, my Japanese based manager and I went along to the tiny 7th Floor above O-West. There was a gig happening in O-West at the time as the elevator vibrated going past the livehouse. 7th Floor couldn’t have been more different though with a classier smoky bar attitude and thick red velvet drapes on the stage. It was an odd balance though between industrial (i.e. undecorated ceiling) and moorish. I wished they had gone all out to be honest. Decor aside, the music was fantastic. A little long perhaps though – after a full day of work I was starving come the end. It was great to thank the band and chat with them a little but despite how much I enjoyed it, it pushed me a little.
Our Love to Stay

May 2008

Many Merry Days Final @ Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan

My darlings, Merry (even though my sensible brain tells me Tozasareta Rakuen is weak, I am blind to Merry) played their finale of Many Merry Days at Yokohama. It was their biggest indoor (at least) concert to date with 4000 people! I was unbelievably happy to have witnessed it and although I had been asked to do a report I already had a ticket and asked if I could attend as a fan. My love for Merry makes writing a detailed report even a week afterwards quite easy. It was incredible as far as lives go and the best I have seen Merry at. I understand it is not thebest though and so I knowing they can be even better just blows my little musical mind. I adored Nero’s maru/batsu game, the pyrotechnics during a killer performance of Japanese Modernist and the simple high energy in the room that had us all singing along excitedly and then moving some girls to tears as Gara spoke. My friend Rei is back for the Hibiya Yaon live; I can barely contain my excitement!
No Merry No Life Pt …

That is now almost up to date. NoGoD’s Omotesando Live was fun although I neglected to write a report and I will scribble up notes for D’espairsRay too soon. I also saw DaizyStripper pull off a rather accomplished first oneman last week too – another report for JaME – which should hopefully go online soon.

It’s all go.

(Girugamesh~ apparently the guests of the event but rather they headlined it and had an encore.

So why not just call them headliners?)

The Loud Core Monsters War tour was pretty much as the name suggests: loud. Hot, heavy and screamy. Ordinarily I am more of a melodic band fan but occasionally I like to indulge in a bit of pure heaviness, so the triple billing of Girugamesh, Deathgaze and RENTRER EN SOI lured me out into the rain to Shibuya O-West. It turned out to be a rather good evening with all four bands that I saw turning in tight performances. At events the atmosphere between crowd and band is a little lacking when compared to one mans but I thought both DEATHGAZE and Girugamesh in particular tried their best to play up to the crowd.

My evening began with Black:List. This quartet had a few problems over the New Year period and restarted activities with a new vocalist. For a small indies group I thought they had promise and while their vocalist lacked full richness in his voice the guitarist in particular showed prowess. I think they spotted me as a couple of times, the vocalist, looked me straight in the eyes and made motions at me to dance. After five songs, Black:List left the stage and it was time for the big names of the night.

Up first was RENTRER EN SOI. I have a bit of history with RENTRER EN SOI, as in I turned away from their releases for the best part of a year. PROTOPLASM brought a new RES with echoes of Dir en Grey rather than the beautiful visual kei band of before. Satsuki’s voice is stunning and it pained me to see him waste it on screaming and their music to simple thundering guitars. I listened to a couple of releases and was largely disheartened by the experience, until Stigmata this year, that is. I fell in love with Stigmata; it bore similarity to RENTRER EN SOI of old while maintaining this new, heavier sound and suddenly I found myself able to accept their new direction. I listened to their album, RENTRER EN SOI and discovered I had been unjustifiably prejudiced. Yes, RES were heavy with a keen Dir en Grey ring to them but they were still Renter en Soi too as ethereal string and piano melodies lurking beneath the screams occasionally floated to the surface to lend the Satsuki’s voice the beautiful music it deserved.

Such was my RENTRER EN SOI u-turn that I even gave them my ticket stub last night! Back to that evening; compared to either DEATHGAZE or Girugamesh, RES were a little stilted. They were largely motionless on stage, except Satsuki who put some real passion into his performance. In their five song set they included Stigmata, which was a joy live. Managing each high note deftly, Satsuki’s vocals soared over the complex melody that Takumi and Shiun’s twin guitars played around with and off each other.

RES left without much fanfare, unlike the following DEATHGAZE who, collectively walked on stage with a confident swagger. DEATHGAZE are my weakness, they are so brutally heavy and unlike any other band in the scene. To think too that this stalwart of Nagoya kei almost disbanded for good until a new vocalist was found this year – after holding auditions they decided on bassist, Ai. They hammered through their six tracks with a couple of MCs thrown in for good measure: essentially Ai wandering around railing the girls with heavily accented Japanese. They refrained from playing any quieter songs tonight, and instead it was thirty minutes of solid headbanging turning O-West into a hot, humid pit of thrashing hair.

Of the setlist, CHAOS was particularly fun although every song was played well and Ai’s vocals deep and rich vocals, much like Otogi of Awoi or Tatsuro of MUCC complemented the powerful metal riffs of the music beautifully. disease and venom, too, with thumping drumming and allowed Ai to show off his impressive death voice. I think the richness of the vocals are why I appreciated DEATHGAZE. Unlike Dir en Grey for Kyo’s hoarser vocals do not provide as aurally pleasing an accompaniment to the crunchy guitars.

Finally it was time for Girugamesh. Apparently Girugamesh were just ‘guests’ but this also meant they did the longest set and had an encore! Not that I minded much because they were seriously impressive. Satoshi knew how to work a crowd, as did NI on his guitar parading around the stage. It was almost half a full concert but you could tell they were having a lot of fun. In between the headbanging stupid, Volcano and Omae ni (the finale song of the main set) they had a couple of more traditional furitsuke songs like the funky Kotoware sareta tsukue and CRAZY FLAG. This latter song, varied from melodic to punchier raw verses all connected by a syncopated drum machine and neat bass led bridges from Shuu. The crowd heaved themselves forward to the heavy basslines and Ryo’s drums that powerfully stood out above the melee of music.

freesia meanwhile provided a quiet moment for O-West to cool down a bit and allowed Satoshi to show off the power of his vocals. After the wild activity that preceded it, it was a little strange to see O-West silent. I can’t say I am not used to the silent crowd during ballads but on this evening it was a little strange. Along with shining (that filled O-West with a sudden feel of electronica) and the furi numbers this gave the performance a nice variety. I have to add a note for Dance Rockers Night too. It was again so different with a lighter character to both vocals and a melody that was, by Girugamesh standards playful with some swirly riffs and flourishes in the guitars. Overall it was a great set; Girugamesh hardly put a foot wrong and they left the O-West crowd quite sweaty and breathless. The queue for the drinks line was longer than normal. I can’t say I was surprised.

(Despa tomorrow!)

Another post about live music. I will make more entries about other interesting things but recently it really has been a world of lives for me.

Akasaka Blitz, the famous live house in Tokyo has recently reopened its doors to the public. In celebration of this grand rejuvenation they are holding a long opening ceremony series of concerts of which one was Ayabie. During the MCs at the concert, Aoi referred to the pride he felt at being included in this ceremony but on each occasion, Ayabie were referred to as ‘The Visual Kei band’ and he poked fun at this by repeating, ‘Ayabie: Visual Kei Band’ a few times. The opening series is also, I imagine, to justify the reopening to investors, or at least that is how I would explain the strangely high number of old men in suits sitting in the guest area. I can’t imagine that Ayabie, a group of 5 fairly fey 20 year olds (one of whom dresses his nails up like a girl) would be popular with old men unless they had a fetish for young femme-boys

Anyway