Komorebi

Heyyy it's been a while since I've been part of a forum. I randomly feel really nostalgic for Anti-Pop (was anyone here active there when it was around?) and did a search for jrock forums and Monochrome Heaven popped up lol. 
 
Anyway, I've somehow managed to get myself to Japan and have been living here for the past three years. Even though I've been on my own in a foreign country for so long I still don't really feel like an adult haha
I basically just go to as many lives as possible :DD at the moment I'm super obsessed with TRA TRA TRA although I can't seem to find anyone else who's half as interested in them as I am T_T 
 
Here are some bands I like for those of you who are curious:
★ the GazettE
☆ TRA TRA TRA
★ ALSDEAD (on hiatus)
☆ SCAPEGOAT
★ xTRiPx
☆ RevleZ
★ GYZE
☆ FEST VAINQUEUR
★ Crossfaith
☆ EAT YOU ALIVE
★ DELUHI
I’m always looking for new bands, so feel free to suggest any!

I'm not gonna be a douchebag about this, and as impressive as your dedication to visual kei and Jrock were, I'm not bothered about this at all. Every single time a bunch of no-bodies have formed a shitty band that never got any further than one gig they've gotten a new thread, and every single time a known Japanese rocker have thought about just having a shit after lunch you've made a thread about it. And to be honest it's just been way too much and too messy for my taste. Which means I've more or less stayed away from the entire news section. Now maybe I'll try check it out for new bands again.
 
But as I said, your work here has been pretty impressive no matter what I feel about it. Top notch dedication to the scenes at least.
 
Thanks bye

Any news on a last live DVD or a best of news album ? 
 
Also Trombe do a face reveal please

idgaf even if trombe hacked my bandomen sama's tsunagari's line accounts to get news, nothing he did is exceptional considering he's probably devoted most of his spare time to looking up obscure news no one gives a flying fuck about, and if you think he does it for the community, you're entirely deluded. trombe never gave a fuck about any of you or news, he did what he did to prove that he was good at breaking news and he enjoyed his rank as a result of that. once his power was taken away, he was visibly upset. never once was he co-operative with staff in letting others post news. think of a child who has a skill that they can do very well, they'll do all in their power to show their skill to anyone who pays attention--once they find someone who does what they can do but better, they'll either adjust their skillset to improve or just stop. and god forbid someone tells the child their skill isn't appreciated anymore--they'll freak the fuck out. i hate to go all creepy psychology on you, but this is the mental complex of someone who literally scours the web for obscure news and tries to oppress all others who stop him. this is why he would bitch biweekly about news that no one commented on, because there wasn't any altruistic intent. he needed attention, and if he didn't get it he'd threaten to leave. that resulted in the ass kissers on here rubbing his ego, and he probably looked at those posts, giggled in some creepy room full of computers, and continued to go on tapping bandomen manager's phones to find info about a session that maybe 4 japanese girls would ever care to attend
 

It's nice for once to read one of these kind of threads and not be part of the so called "nazi"-staff.
 
Being staff on any fan forum really isn't rewarding at times. Handle a trouble maker and you are a nazi, leave it be and you are playing favorites. Really just a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation.
 
But that's mostly because normal users only see the visible stuff. When in actuality a lot of things happen that aren't visible. Staff gives warnings by PM, then technical warning if that doesn't work. After that possibly short suspension and so on. And while this all happens staff talks together to think of possible solutions. But then you are of course a nazi, because you did your "job" and I use quotation marks because you don't get paid.
 
Luckily though every once in a while someone actually thanks you for your work and you feel like continuing doing that work for the good of the community.

It's never truly felt open though. I am kinda curious where and how Trombe was able to gather so much news so quickly. Anyway I see this as more of a positive than a negative. It's not healthy for one individual to take such a heavy burden. We have such a strong and active community that I'm sure things should be fine. 

To just add to the points above - many of the people who have TRIED to contribute news have been constantly antagonized and oppressed by trombe's actions. @Traxanis NOT the only one to have experienced this. What most of you guys DON'T see are the endless complaints about trombe that the staff receives from other members about how their own contributions are being impeded upon. Other great contributors like YNS and numetal were mentioned - the difference is that they don't actively try to prevent other people from contributing as well. They do their part for the community and allow others to do the same. No one has EVER been against trombe posting news. Hell, he's free to post as much news as he wants as often as he wants, but there's no need to step on other people's toes.
 
And to even assume that the staff did not value trombe's contributions is absurd. trombe has been problematic for years now and the staff have tried their hardest to work with, honor, and appease trombe because his contributions were so meaningful. But what do you do when you give someone a special rank, color, and their own special set of permissions - when you give them the power to contribute more efficiently and they just abuse that power? What do you do when you're a staff member trying to address a problem and your efforts to communicate and work out said problem are blatantly ignored? What do you do with a user who is constantly praised and literally the member with the most likes on the entire forum BY FAR, yet this member bitches and moans when a few threads (out of hundreds posted every week) don't get any replies (despite plenty of page views)?
 
The staff have literally bent over backwards for trombe. If It was up to me, I would have perma-banned his ass ages ago - because I wouldn't want to keep dealing with his constant bullshit, his shitty attitude, and his inability to actually talk shit out and reason. Fuck that, he can kick rocks. Dude was fuckin' temp-banned for a week. A MOTHERFUCKING WEEK. Bruh...And yall think the mods don't value this guy? No one in their right minds would continue to put up with this nonsense if they didn't actually give a shit.
 
I mean, I get it. I understand that emotions are high and people are upset about losing a contributor as outstanding as trombe, but at the end of the day, It should also be understood that trombe is leaving of his own accord - not because of the staff, or "trolls", or some ridiculous behind-the-scenes plot. So again, I say good. You should leave if you're not willing to cooperate and be a part of this community.
 

Here's the thing about vk news though: there's no 'original source'.
 
For major and relatively well known bands you can rely on visunavi, NAVER, various 'matome' and news purveyor accounts on Twitter. But otherwise it's down to stalking thousands of bandmen - something which I have literally attempted on my main Twitter account. The result was me getting spammed with 30 tweets every 10 seconds, and THEN I had to sift through the crapload of awkward selfies and useless tweets talking about weather and food. I don't recall, but maybe 0.01% of the feed was useful news? In any case I abandoned that account shortly after because it was unusable.
 
There are also other avenues like LINE accounts, bandmen's ameblo, and 2chan as mentioned. Or you can try typing 始動 and 解散 into twitter search and refresh it every 10 seconds.... if you have that much time. In any case, what a lot of people don't seem to notice (and this is the point @filth_y was making) is that Trombe also posts news that don't "officially" exist on the Internet except maybe, in a bandman's private reply to a fangirl's tweet (I've witnessed this at least twice), or as a casual afterthought in a label staff's ameblo post. (In the latter case, I talked to a band's shikiri and even she wasn't aware that the band would be releasing a CD that day..). Yes, some MH members may have done this before - but to do it consistently for an insane number of bands is a whole different animal.
 
All of this aren't even considering the facts that: (i) these news are in Japanese, so let's not trivialize it as as copy-and-pasting. Translating and formatting it into a news post is a bitch if you consider the volume of news Trombe puts out; (ii) Trombe posts news of bands he doesn't even care about on a regular basis, some of whom comprising members that no one here has even heard of, much less having an interest to follow and post news of.
 
I'm on no one's side at this point. None of this is a defense for what Trombe did, nor is it a suggestion that he should be immune from punishment if he has contravened the rules. I just wanted to provide a corrective to previous comments suggesting that by picking 1 or 2 bands each we will communally be able to cover the ground that Trombe did, as if it was as easy as sitting together and doing some Ctrl C+V while having cereal in front of your computer. Let's just say I'm not that optimistic, because I can't imagine someone, or even a group of competent and extremely free people, going to the lengths Trombe did. Hopefully more people can appreciate the scope of the dirty legwork he has done for MH ("appreciate" as in "understand clearly", not "prostrate yourself"). And before any accusations come my way: I have contributed news of bands I like (including translating full-length interviews of them), and will happily continue to do so. Let's just see what happens.

could this be the most apocalyptic disbandment thread ever since lycaon? #goals #impact

@filth_yI can tell you I have posted news directly from band members mouths before official announcements more than once and know other MH users who have as well. Trombe is not alone in that. Jsyk. 

Honestly,
I can't provide a link to you because the bands I want to know about I check on (The way people did it before trombes time). To find new bands I simply do it the old fashioned way and see suggestions on facebook, twitter, and youtube. Do I follow everything? NAW DAWG THAT'S A LOT TO FOLLOW.
But let's be real. If it's important enough to you, you'll remember where to go look for updated news. 
As for getting news via 2ch... If you're that passionate about the scene to crave news not accessible to the wider community, then maybe you should be passionate about learning how to use that site. It's the original source afterall amirite?
 

Not to be harsh, but the other "90%" are lurkers who purely use the forum to download things and get the free news. If people became more active, the community would be a lot larger. Just because someone contributes a high percentage of one section of this forum does not make it okay for them to be disrespectful and childish. The fact that people are defending and suggesting one person have an exception to do whatever they want simply because they provide a convenience people are to lazy to do just baffles me. 
 
This is a forum, not just a news site. People are encouraged to be active and contribute. PS: a lot of those "trolls"/mods liked/and people known around here are known for a reason. They're liked for a reason. Mods were users just like all of us who took on their positions to help make this community an enjoyable place. These are also people who have contributed in just as much of a valuable way as trombe did. 
 
You want a news section? Pick a band or two and contribute. You wanna read news and do nothing, get off a forum and go to a news site.

To all the people complaining that now "there won't be any news anymore" let me tell you this as a person who's written for newswebsites for years: when you see one person do 95% of the stuff, you're easily demotivated to even go and try to see if whatever news you've bumped into is already there or not. So people who want to help but aren't as quick will either see that person as an easy way out, "they'll do it, I guess. Maybe already did", or will just start believing they're simply "not good enough" to bother posting anything at all.  With such a person not around anymore, people will be more inclined to actually post a thing when they come across it. The "next gen" MH news people will show up by themselves for sure.
 
That said, Trombe did lots of work through these years, and all of it was because they felt like it. While they might not have made the best decisions concerning issues and MH as a team, the work itself can't be ignored. But doing lots of work (essentially no one's asking you to do) doesn't equal being able to do whatever the fuck you want to. Rules are rules. And they are there for every single one of us.

^ This. To all these people acting like, "oh noooo, MH won't have any news posts now that Trombe is no longer here!! such pointless, much dead forum, wow"
 
Other people are perfectly capable and willing to post news. I imagine the reason very few people tried to before (myself included, though I did make a few attempts) is because they felt intimidated by the fact that Trombe had such a monopoly on the news section and there was no point in trying to post news yourself, even if you managed to post it before Trombe, because some ghost thread would show up five minutes later anyway. It's not as if we're all a bunch of helpless babies that can't do anything on our own. Trombe was impressive because s/he managed to do most of this single-handedly, and it was certainly appreciated, but there is no reason why a single person has to keep doing it. You can sit around whining in this thread all day, or you can think about contributing in some small part to help keep things just as active as they ever were.

Ah well... disbandments always suck, no matter the reasons, but I guess it's not up to us to decide if they should disband or not, when we don't know what made it come to this... that said, I thought the way he wrote it was brilliant. Well done. Also, thanks for all you've done until now, though I did ask myself if you were a news bot... it was impressive lol. I've been back here for a short while, but I guess I can say it's the end of an era. We should try to fill the void by taking care of the news section ourselves too. : )
After reading some other posts, I kinda get what could've brought everything to this. I think. Kinda. I'm also an admin/mod on other forums so I know how complicated things can get at times, no matter how patient we'd try to be. And the tension between members can get pretty high. That's never a good thing. Also, the staff usually works as a whole and not even people from the staff are free to break rules. But anyway, it's okay if things have to come to an end, everything does someday, so I just hope you had a great time here!

I think that was the problem, ironically.
 
No one here is going to deny that Trombe was a very well known, and informative member on this website for VK news.
Yet, everyone needs to realize that he was just that. A member. No different from any one of us. To my knowledge, he was not being paid to do this.
 
It seems that no one besides the Admins/Moderators, are aware of the situation. No one should be jumping to conclusions. As being a moderator on various websites over the years myself, I understand what a group decision among other mods is like. No right to disrespect, if you don't understand.
 
If you feel that the news section was the ONLY thing making up MH, then perhaps reconsider and take a close look at the rest of the content that our admins have worked hard to provide for us to view and participate in. I find it ironic that some members I have never seen, have posted on this thread, but no other part of the forum.
If you really don't care about anything/anyone else on this site, then why are you even a member? It's an honest question. There are plenty of blogs elsewhere to read for news.
Those of you mentioning that only Trombe made up the forums news section, are placing him on a high pedestal, when you should not. Please find it in your best interests to help populate the news section from now on if you feel you could, as we already have plenty of other members already doing so, and the more the merrier.
 
I love some of the excuses on here to justify their lack of support for the news section.
You don't know where to start looking? Well no one's holding a gun to your head lol just post anything that you come across that has not been posted yet, if ever. It's that simple
No time to post you say? Well, if you can read the content on one website, I'm pretty sure you can copy/paste that same news on here as well.
Don't feel like it? Well, then you have no say on this matter, now do you?
 
Due to the negligence of most of us here at MH, to not provide a piece of content when we probably could have, have allowed one member to dominate a section of the forum to the point where we eventually felt there was no longer a need for other contributors, and newer members saw this member as the ONLY means for new VK news. In a way, it's our fault Trombe became so vital to the community.
Edit: I had heard about Trombe and his PMs of hate on other potential news posters, but I didn't think it was real until now. Nice to see these individuals come forward. Perhaps this will shed some light as to why it seemed that there was no one else BUT Trombe who posted news.
 
Why do I sound like a moderator? lol
Excuse my asshole rant.
 
Thank you for the contributions to this forum Trombe. Good luck on your new blog or website, if you should choose to do so.
No hard feelings.
 

Oh well...
 
1 - I kinda know what this is about, and rules are indeed rules. News section are a section of the forum as any other, so ANYONE could and should post there. While I understand that it's kinda lame for people to manipulate timestamps, use older posts or alter shit just to appear to be the first post and stuff like that, I also think that says much more about the person who did it than it affects the community as a whole. That's why we have mods, I guess. To do what's necessary, even when that means hurting the form in some way;
2 - That being said, people should absolutely NOT dismiss the service @Trombedid for the community all those years. I'm here for I don't know long, and no one will be able to match him/her in news broadcasting EVER. MH is THE frontpage of western VK on the internet, and the news section is one of the big reasons for this. Trombe work was so good and fast that it spoiled us, to be honest. THANK YOU, Trombe;
3 - Him/her/it describing itself as a band is a joke guys, c'mon;
 
Wish you luck, Trombe. maybe bringing up your own news site/tumblr/twitter will provide you the control of the news you think it's necessary, or maybe your're back next week, since we old forum geezers apparently can't stay out for long, as someone said before. In any case, hope to see you again pal. Thanks again! cheers!

I am not his pet, nor his friend, nor anything to him at all. 
 
I am posting in this drama thread for the simple reason that VK news is the main reason why I am here on  MH, and thanks to this drama, again, VK news are going to vanish little by little 
 
I don't know what happened and I don't care AT ALL
 
Like it has been said before, even when you follow 10000 twitter bandmen, you can even keep track of everything, since not everything is posted there and there are like 20 messages/minutes. So yes the fact that Trombe will no longer post in this section is a huge problem for me and probably for many others who DO care about your so-called "no1cur about bands"
 
I get it that stuff happened, shit happened either and I get it that Trombe nor anybody in this forum should have the right to do whatever they want, that's a fact, still this one thing will have an impact on a very important section of this forum.
 
And yes, it is an important section, just look at the number of answers, even people nobody knows are posting atm to say how it will change MH
 
So of course you are all able to say whatever you want  and think whatever you want about Trombe and the people who kinda "support" him, but if your throw you egos away for a moment, you will agree with other people who say he is a huge contributor in this forum and not having him will clearly change a part of MH.

^
 
No, but really, Trombe did a lot of work none of us wanted to do on our owns. His posts became a convenience for most of us. However, I'm sure the mods of the forum know this and it probably wasn't an easy choice to suspend him for whatever reason it was for. While Trombe contributed a lot to this community... He is not THE community. I'm sure the mods have justified reasons for their choice as a whole with the communities best interest in mind. 
 
So please, I understand being upset for losing that contribution, but don't forget the other things MH has to offer and how hard the mods work to keep everyone happy to the best of their abilities 

i'm sad to see that it has come to this.
 
not gonna take sides since I hardly know the details of the drama, but no matter how you look at it this is a blow for people who actually care about the 'no 1 curr' bands, or random ad-hoc sessions, or what live-limited cd is being distributed in sendai next weekend. whether the news is of quality is for the audience to judge; however without an appreciable volume of news filtering in there's nothing left to know about, much less to judge. and regardless if you like trombe, or however questionable his motives may be, it can't be denied that he's been a great service to not just you and me but the international vk community since it should be patently obvious that every self-professed 'vk news source' out there is basically a c+p of what's posted in MH.

if you literally gave half as much of a shit about the bands you stan then you'd know where to find relevant news about them yourself anyway lmao
 
being ''the news guy'' shouldn't be an excuse to just go around breaking the rules, insulting mods and acting like a diva for no fucking reason, if other people aren't allowed to bandodge then why should he?

Also, just so that the rest of the users know, there is no such things as "that mod." All of the staff talk together and make decisions as a team. Just wanted to clear that up in case anyone thought we had a rouge staff member.

Finally got around to watching the first season with a buddy and i would have to say it wasn't as bad as i thought it was, rather decent actually. I could watch it again if I had too

I kinda have been single for my entire life.
 
Despite the fact that there was a girl I met online a couple years ago through social media. We talked some and soon became best friends, then finally dating (I guess?). It was long distance though, I mean she lived on an entirely different continent. But we were constantly making motions to meet each other one day, and she would be allowed to stay with me for a week or so. That all went to shit when she met this other girl who lived in the country next to her. They became the BEST of friends, visiting each other within weeks of knowing one another and spending a month in Japan after knowing each other for 3 months!! 
 
I felt hurt, especially since she had stopped talking to me less and less, and she had done all this with someone she barely knew while she had been speaking with me for well over a year. Fast forward some, she later told me that we never WERE dating (so she technically didn't cheat on me when I figured out she had slept with her new best friend. Her logic).
 
This story is very clipped and is actually much longer but I'm entirely over this situation hence I'm too lazy to rehash it all. Just wanted to put this here in a short explanation that I have been truly single ever since. I'll be moving somewhere else within a year so I hope to meet someone new.
 
I have lost all hope in long distance relationships too since I feel I am easily replaceable. I fear that a similar situation will happen again....so yeah.
 
How's it like to be in an actual relationship lmao

シビレバシル (sibile bashir) presents 『本能』音源発売主催劇場「優越感カテゴライズ」  @ Takadanobaba AREA 2016.6.08
 
This is the third concert I’ve attended at AREA in one week and finally there was a bit of a crowd for this one. It still wasn’t sold out… but moving from one side of the floor to the other would’ve been tough at this one; whereas the other shows I attended there were pretty much wide open for most of the night.
 
I made mention of it in another live report… but holy crap these things start early! 3:30 in the afternoon is way before you should be thinking about attending a concert. Assuming the show will be ending around 9pm or so that’s over five hours of VK concertage; too long even for a show you like and rarely get to attend. (and it seems longer because I still think it’s weird to sit down between sets and refuse to do it on very misguided principles.)
 
IGGY - Yes I had just seen them the night before at a different event show. Haha. Actually three of the bands playing tonight were repeat bands for me (from three different shows, I definitely hit the VK hard during my week in Japan). I kind of wondered, especially because I was standing near the merch tables in the back for both shows, if the dudes in Iggy didn’t think, at least briefly, “who is this giant white dude who keeps showing up but doesn’t come buy anything of ours?” For the record; I like Iggy but their merch consisted of two CDs I already had and checki… and I have yet to, and probably won’t, wade into the world of buying tiny pictures of bands I like.
 
Anyway, the actual music performing was mostly the same. Same tracklist as far as I could tell, same outfits for the most part. The weirdest, basketball shorts wearing member did not have black makeup smudged all over his face for this show, though he did still move in the strangest, jittery way.
 
It seems a bit premature to sound so jaded after a week of VK shows; but I think I’m kinda over the diving into the front row of girls thing they do instead of moshing. It has its place, and can be fun there, but when you’re by any definition the opening band and don’t have a ton of support in the building… it gets kinda awkward. Like, if I can tell from back here that you’re just half-heartedly jumping into the girl in front of you because the band is yelling for everyone to do it and you’re standing too close to ignore them, can’t the band tell two feet from you? I don’t know, it’s just, if you’re only going through the motions why participate at all?
 
The jumping in one direction and then back in the other (which Iggy do during ‘Continue’) is still fun to watch though… don’t ever stop doing that VK bands!
 
Archemi. - If I didn’t have anything new to add for Iggy I really don’t for Archemi. I did know when the having to kneel down, praying furi was going to happen this time though… so I wasn’t as clueless looking the second time.
 
Later in the show I wandered over to their merch table, figuring I’d seen them twice now (once for free!), and they’d put on good shows… so I’d pick up Archemi’s newest mini-album. They didn’t have any CDs for sale (maybe it’s tough to bring those along when you’re playing shows outside where you live?), but they did have cheki… so I’m starting to realize what the real money maker is for VK bands and why selling songs online to the ten people outside Japan who would buy them just isn’t important for the visual economy.
 
スタア区。(starku) - Starku came out in very pretty gold kind of R-shitei to me looking marching band-ish jackets. In fact the vocalist kinda reminded me of R-shiei’s if he were a 13 year old prone to temper tantrums. Starku’s vocalist also came out in flip flops…. Which is somehow according to my twisted logic even worse than being barefoot on stage.
 
Overall it was a little too perky and colorful for my tastes, and the bassist was way too loud for his skill level (or at what he was asked to do); but just because it’s not my tastes doesn’t mean I don’t recognize that Starku have a lot of potential and were undeniably fun during some songs.
 
They also dealt with technical difficulties better than most bands I’ve seen that had to pause for unexpected problems. Starku had to stop a song about 30 seconds in because the drummer was having some sort of problem. Rather than mumble some shit and act awkward, the vocalist and a guitarist started performing some, I assume classic, song that the crowd seemed familiar with. Then the bassist started to make fun of the stage right guitarist’s half falling off weave, and eventually just snatched it off and started waving it around like a lasso. The girls ate this bit up and even I was impressed by how easily they passed the time while the drummer was working to get things right.
 
Doak - Yooo, so Yuuki is kinda a big dude, huh? Not like fat at all, just not a typical tiny VK bandman. He also definitely has big teeth.
 
So I’ve been rooting for Yuuki since Unsraw’s -9- came out and it was like “holy shit VK bands aren’t allowed to sound like that!”. I don’t really like Doak, and only rarely really liked Unsraw, but I want to see them succeed y’know? (Yes I know they’re breaking up) Yuuki has always seemed pretty dedicated to the scene, and probably deserves more credit for mixing deathcore into VK like five years before everyone started doing it.
 
A couple times during their set I could actually imagine the band onstage was a bunch of grizzled dudes with black tshirts… and I mean that as praise for a heavy metal band.
 
I really liked Doak’s drummer, and how freaking high he raised his sticks before pounding his kit. He also had a giant crash symbol with the big holes set up slightly behind his head up high, so that when he wanted to whack it the motion had this innate flourish and pantomime that made you pay attention. When the set ended, instead of tossing a drum stick into the crowd, he just let go as he was striking his last beat on a tom and let the stick sail into the audience….. He was kind of a bad ass (what band will he be in next/has he been in??).
 
Doak’s set included no talking, which I kind of prefer when I can’t understand what they’re saying anyway, and during their last song Yuuki just spit a bunch of water on the crowd and then stormed off like a boss. So, still don't’ really like what they’ve released, but they put on a good show.
 
Morrigan - I’m pretty sure Morrigan only played two songs and then their stir the crowd up repeating song for like 15 minutes for their set. Luckily, the vocalist of Morrigan is unafraid of mixing it up with/in the crowd and can keep the energy up throughout. (seriously, I saw Morrigan twice in Japan and I’m pretty sure I’ve heard the two-minute-long-on-CD RIP for about 25 minutes live haha)
 
My favorite parts of the mayhem were Aryu laying down across the backs of four girls bent over the bar nearest the stage, and when the bassist grabbed the guitarist’s giant teddy bear (which he holds during their intro) and started whacking the girls up front with it. Imagine a four foot tall brown stuffed bear making slow arcs through the air lit by strobe light as the bassist channeled all his energy into beating the crowd with it. Pretty surreal/amazing.
 
Aryu had some fun with one of the Sibilebashir gloves that were for sale during a break in the set. (someone will have to explain the significance of those multicolored gloves to me)
 
Morrigan’s drummer has somehow gotten away with a look that includes hair that probably takes only two minutes to style. Good for him (cheater!).
 
Avelcain - Ooooh… they’re back in black suits like when I saw them in 2013. That is a bulletproof VK look in my book.
 
Avelcain’s set (both here and the similarly long sets I’ve seen online) are definitely heavy on b-sides and slightly older songs. I’m glad Avelcain seem to dislike their most recent stuff as much as I do ;).
 
They might be the only band that utilizes call-and-response well (that I’ve seen this week) in VK. It’s just a given that at American shows you’ll be stuck next to a bunch of people singing along inexpertly… Japanese audiences really only do it when specifically called upon to. I think it’s an engaging move that is underutilized.
 
I’m a big Avelcain stan, but even I’ll admit most of the live videos that have surfaced of them have been rather lackluster. I’m happy to report actually in the room they sound much better than the brittle recordings straight from the soundboard would lead me to believe. I guess a lot of sloppiness can be covered up by the walls of reverb/noise live. Karma did sing most of the words too, which seemed like something he only half attempted to do in some live videos… and the backup vocal track seemed much more subdued in person.
 
They ended their set with 死化粧 which is just an awesome song (and I’m not sure I had seen in any live videos of theirs yet). I feel like when tastes change and I’m listening to Avelcain in ten years, a lot of their stuff may not age well… but 死化粧 has the possibility to be a bit more timeless. Just a quality pop rock song with a hint of sadness that doesn’t rely too heavily on current hard rock/VK trends. A girl standing near me was quite literally crying during this track. It definitely had an effect on the crowd.
 
I will say that the two most annoying fans in AREA were Avelcain fans. They weren’t actively obnoxious… but they sat through every band up to Avelcain’s set and were not off to the side/back where it might be cool to do that. If you’re going to wait for your fave to play… at least stand up and watch the other bands play. (if for no other reason than they were a tripping hazard sitting around while the crowd was jumping around during the other bands’ sets!)
 
Between sets I noticed multiple people dropping benjamins (or you know, whatever the fun way to say 10,000yen bills is) on cheki at the merch tables. I have no comment other than to say thanks I guess… VK wouldn’t exist without you!
 
Develop One’s Faculties - The VK band with the strangest phrase for a name going right now! First band I’ve seen that got a rousing round of applause as they took the stage, I imagine this was mostly enthusiasm for Johannes’ steampunk bikini.
 
 
That video may not be from the show I attended. But they were wearing the same thing and played that song… so it may as well be. Gives you a good indication of how pumped the crowd was for DOF. I don’t think I realized how popular they were (you know, relatively).
 
I liked their vocalist/guitarist and guitarist’s dueling solo moments. During the jump from one side and then back the other way (which, again, is a fun part of any VK band’s set) at the end when they came back to where they started everyone in the crowd that had a towel would toss it up into the air. Made the show look like a budget graduation ceremony.
 
DOF had lots of energy and seemed like skilled musicians. They’ve got something good going it was cool to see in the beginning. (cue them breaking up…)
 
シビレバシル (sibile bashir) - Up front I’ll mention: I enjoy the idea of Sibilbebashir’s slightly weird take on VK. And respect that they are the rare band who can do strange and dark without being *heavy*. (not to mention their fun video cover of Shiina Ringo) But I don’t really like them all that much. Though I did thoroughly enjoy the nurse-kei-ish look they had at this show. I don't’ know, their songs just have never really clicked with me.
 
I suppose by virtue of hosting the event they got to play the longest set of the night. The crowd actually had thinned just a little bit by this point (I guess the people who come just for their faves had left… but tickets are like $45! Get your money’s worth girls.)
 
The vocalist, as expected, was weird and very engaging. Their die-hard fans might have been the most dedicated of the night (based on my cursory evaluation haha). The rest of the band had a couple moments to shine, but for the most part deferred to the vocalist.
 
Shamefully in hindsight, I left a couple songs before the end. It was a really long show! So if they did some giant, bunch of bands band out and jam together I missed it.
 
As I wandered back to the Takadanobaba station, I noticed Sibile Bashir and Avelcain posters were posted at the station advertising their respective one-man gigs. I didn’t notice them there earlier in the day… as much flack as Shimizuya Records gets (justifiably!)... it would be pretty cool if they posted these ads during the show so everyone leaving and heading back to the trains would see them after seeing the bands.

This show in general had a bunch of fun bands, and was a great last concert for my week of VK in Japan.