Zeus

We get more shit than Japanese fans because we do dumb shit in English. As far as "no pictures at the concert goes", I turned off my flash and took several dozen pictures over the course of the show. I didn't have flash on and I was near the back, so they didn't see me at all. I think they say no pictures because they don't want people recording the show on their phones, and it's unreasonable to expect anyone to identify what someone is doing with their phone in the middle of a concert. A blanket rule like that to stop piracy makes sense, but I think piracy is a distant second to presentation. Visual kei bands are all about looks and presentation and they always want to look their best. I really think the band didn't want anyone recording or taking pictures of the concert because they want to publish the pictures they like best. My hunch is supported by what one of the announcers said before the NYC show; paraphrasing here but it was "no need to record this show tonight because we are recording it for you". A band that is all about visuals relies heavily on the first impression, and that impression is ruined if the first recordings of THE NINTH WORLD TOUR is a scratchy home made tereko recorded from someone's phone, or blurry pictures taken from the center of the mosh pit.

He definitely wasn't as excited as my show, but he did show his side of the stage tons of love! Reita was the show stealer at NYC, going up to the front to play next to Ruki several times. Aoi was the most reserved out of all of the guitarists on stage.

@Komorebi, @ricchubunny, how were your concerts?

Monochrome Heaven's 2019 Banner Contest The window for banner submissions has closed, so I present to you now all of the banners our lovely members have submitted for consideration. I will be giving them all a number and please vote for the ones you like in the poll. You can vote for as many as you want. The poll will be open until June 1st at noon, so you have some time to get your votes in. 0. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

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Something that surprised me about the concert is that it is a lot shorter than I expected. 90 minutes is a generous estimate. I was expecting a 2 hour show honestly. It isn't a stretch to say that those fans who came dressed to slay spent more time on their outfit than they did in the concert hall. I probably spent equal amounts of time in the theater and outside of the theater on line.

She might. Nao, drummer from maximum the hormone, had a kid. She took a (very long) pause from band activities but then eventually MTH came back together. The real question is will the rest of Aldious wait for Toki, find a temp guitarist and continue activities, or fill her position?

Setlist: 1. 99.999 2. Falling 3. Ninth Odd Smell 4. Gush 5. Vortex 6. Venomous Spider's Web -SE- 7. The Mortal 8. その声は脆く 9. DOGMA -SE- 10. The Suicide Circus 11. Incubus 12. UGLY 13. Two Of a Kind 14. Filth in the Beauty Encore: 15. INSIDE BEAST 16. COCKROACH 17. TOMORROW NEVER DIES I'm in need of facial reconstructive surgery after this experience, because my jaw was on the floor the entire time. I have been waiting for years for the GazettE to visit North America on their World Tour. Last time that I remember making plans to go, the band had elected to skip North America, and then the time after that I had prior commitments and couldn't make the show. I was hellbent on making sure I attended this one, and I made sure to bring my friend Jet with me. We were listening to the GazettE in high school during the peak of visual kei, so he's that one friend I can talk to J-Rock about in real life. He's been waiting for this experience as long as I have. After smashing plates of chicken katsu, bulgogi, and rice, and braving our way across town through weather that threatened to pour (but didn't), the two of us arrived at Playstation Theater and was overwhelmed with the disorganization. There were a lot of fans, many lines for various purposes, and no signs to shepherd people into their place. @YuyoDrift, having bought a VIP ticket, was already in the thick of it by the time that I had arrived, and I was unable to find him. After asking around, we discovered that the line we wanted to be on was down the block and around the corner, and that line itself stretched down the block and around another corner. Organization was easily the weak point of this concert, since it seemed like the staff of the theater hadn't planned on so many people showing up. Joke's on you guys; when a visual kei band shows up in America the scene rolls out! @YuyoDrift had reported some issues and drama near the front of the line concerning miscommunication between VIP members and heresy fan club members on who got to enter first, but all I can talk about was how the other half of the line was progressively pushed back further and further until we were about a block and a half away. While I was in line, no less than five groups of people came up to me to ask why we were all standing here. One of them offered to sell me weed and some papers. None of them knew who the GazettE were, but a couple seemed more than interested in the colorful garments of some of the more hardcore fans in line. I need to take a moment to discuss the people that showed up. What a generational gap! There were easily 800 to 1000 people between all of the lines, and this is just what I saw. The youngest fan I saw on line was 12 or 13. The oldest fan I saw on line was in their 40s, and that person didn't look like they were escorting a relative. Some of the older people on line most definitely were parents. The most common age range was actually 18-25. There were people dressed relatively normally like myself, possibly sporting a band shirt or hoodie from a previous tour. There were some scene and emo kids wearing dark pastels and heavy make up. There were some fans who came in sporting colored hair and face paint, really pulling off the visual kei look. The most striking outfit I saw was a man in his 30s wearing a studded vest where the studs were easily several inches long, who came along with an equally as colorful entourage that could have been easily mistaken for Naruto cosplay. The stereotype about the average visual kei fan was thus dispelled and confirmed simultaneously, and I now have a deeper appreciation for just how many different types of fans there are. I was stuck in line for an agonizingly long time listening to the people around me front their knowledge of the band, which was honestly rather painful. One person claimed that the GazettE formed five years ago, to which Jet and I exchanged glances and laughed really hard. We both were listening to the GazettE ten years ago, so clearly they were mistaken. Another person had asked when the band had actually formed, and it took them several minutes to find out it was 2002. Someone behind me in line claimed that the GazettE were K-Pop. I tried not to talk to many people in line because of this, but when you're outside for 90 minutes it eventually happens. I didn't meet anyone too outrageous and after a long time the line suddenly lurched forward and began feeding into the theater. The doors had opened. Jet and I breezed through security, popped in our earplugs, and made our way downstairs to the venue. The line for merchandise was gigantic by the time we got there, and both of us made the decision to get good seats rather than stand in line. That turned out to be the wise move, because most of the merchandise was gone before the show even began, but not before both of us got a shirt later that night. There was a few cool shirts and hoodies that they ran out of before the show even began. Never underestimate the deep pockets of devoted fans. We were standing towards the middle of the floor at first, but we eventually decided to grab some seats shortly before the show began because we had already been standing for hours by that point. That was also a great idea, because parts of the crowd got really wild and it would have been hard to see over four rows of jumping and screaming fans. The earplugs were also a good move, because this concert was really loud. Limiting the sound to a max of 80 decibels spared my hearing a gory torture session and I was more clearly able to make out the instruments. Eventually the lights went dim and the crowd went insane as "99.999" started playing and the band members walked out to front stage. They played the first four cuts off of NINTH before the first pause, and I gotta say that hearing it live has made me enjoy these songs even more. I have a new appreciation for Reita and just how much his bass adds to the music. Heavy isn't the word for it; the bass itself sinks into the floor and pounds into your chest. He swapped bass a few times over the course of the concert as well, always slightly changing the feel of his bass depending on what songs were coming up next. "VORTEX" is the first curve ball that the GazettE threw the crowd, and then that was followed up with "Venomous Spider's Web", and I think both songs sound way better live than on the record. They fit naturally into the set and shows how much NINTH is a refinement over TOXIC. I wasn't expecting them to reach that far back. One of the standout moments of the show was definitely the combination of "The Mortal" and "その声は脆く". The first cut in really heavy after a second, shorter break and the first live-only interlude, which got the crowd really energized. "その声は脆く" stole the show. This was the first proper ballad of the show, and the contrast on the guitars really changed the atmosphere of the venue for those few minutes. Ruki went all out on the performance here, adding some emotional screams to the end which made this a treat to experience. This entire show was recorded, so I'm really hoping that this exact performance of "その声は脆く" ends up on the DVD. It needs to. After that song was done, the lights fade and sound effects wash over the audience again before the opening riff to "DOGMA" began, and it's at this point where the crowd goes ballistic. No one was expecting this. The energy was insane, but this is one of those songs that I think sounds better in the studio than live. That's not to take away from the performance of this song, which was incredibly stellar, but more to comment on just how dense of a song "DOGMA" is. There was a bit of aural whiplash as the band transitioned into a live-only SE followed by "The Suicide Circus" next, but that set the tone for where the rest of the night was headed. Ruki addresses the crowd briefly before "Incubus" kicks in, followed up quickly by "UGLY". "UGLY" was absolutely dominant and by the end of the song the whole crowd was clapping together as the next song immediately kicked in. "Two of a Kind" was also a really powerful and driving song live, if a bit abbreviated. They went from one song to the next without enough time for the cheering to subside. I think Reita makes one more bass switch before this all begins as well. No matter what, the GazettE made sure those in the front were having the absolute time of their lives. Ninety minutes had passed in a flash, and all too soon Ruki announced that they were playing their last song before cracking a small smile. The opening licks and background vocals of "Filth in the beauty" start up and then the crowd cheers harder than ever, and then Ruki's smile gets even bigger before he begins singing. This was the second curve ball we were thrown, and I'm really glad I got to hear one of their classics live. At this point, I looked to Jet who was already looking back at me, and he just shot me a huge thumbs up. "Filth in the beauty" was the song that got him into the band, so to end on that note was extra special for us. The band took a ten minute break at this point and we got merchandise while the crowd was chanting for an encore. We went separately but got the same shirt for $35 (gotta support the boys) and Jet came back just in time for Kai to come back out. He picks up the mic for the first time, entertains the crowd as the rest of the band comes back, and gives the mic to Ruki for a few more words, some "I LOVE NEW YORK!!!", and then the beginning of "INSIDE BEAST" begins. At this point, we were glad they came back out at all and figured that we had one or two more songs left before the true end of the show, but I was seriously not expecting to get "COCKROACH" during the encore. This was the song that separated the old fans from the new fans, because the old fans were over the moon for getting such a throw back, and the new fans looked a bit confused over what song it was, but didn't really care because it banged so hard. This was the oldest song we got all night, and it was equally as compelling live as it is in the studio. I hope future tour dates get a crack at hearing "COCKROACH" live too. The show ended with "TOMORROW NEVER DIES", which was okay I guess, but I would have preferred "Unfinished". All good things must come to an end, but in this case that end was also good. All members of the band retired from the stage rather quickly; Kai took a picture with the crowd before departing too. Both of us had a train to catch, so we slipped out fast as hell after the show ended, but I heard afterwards there was a meet and greet for VIP. I wasn't on that line, so I can't report much on that. Considering how we've missed some bands that we'll never get to see live and how infrequently the GazettE are in town, Jet and I are both glad we went. We'll definitely be in line for the next visual kei concert to hit New York. If you're on the fence about buying tickets to go see the band, I would say go. If you have even a passing interest in visual kei, seeing one of the biggest visual kei bands of all time live is something words can only partially describe. If you really like the GazettE, you owe it to yourself to go. Just keep in mind that they're going to be playing mostly their new material, so don't hold your breath expecting old classics like "Katherine in the trunk" or "Crucify Sorrow" to show up.

How did I not know this?

I was going to cover this in a separate post later, but I think the reason why no one cares about IIII-Ligro- is because Tomurai was never released. They were good, but as a jaded and seasoned fan I wait until a band's first album before I start activating the hype thrusters. IIII-Ligro- ended activities just as things were getting good.

That is six degrees of overthinking it! I started by pulling up my entire friends list and going down. I made several passes over it and it was pretty fast. I got rid of obvious annoyances that are always angry or upset or lashing out at groups of people. Drama queena too. Culled a few inactive accounts, then did a second pass and removed people i haven't talked to in years. People who were the barest of acquaintances when they were in my life. People i would not miss. I had no target number in mind. I just went over the list asking if each person added value to my life. Some people add value in different ways, and the amount of people i was on the fence about was less than expected. With the way the site works, you dont see things that it thinks you dont want to see. The algorithms put people in a bubble and shapes their worldview. If they have over 150 friends and don't interact with you at all, they probably won't notice you are gone, especially if you are like me and rarely make statuses. I've deleted hundreds of people over my various purges, and only 3 ever noticed and added me back. And it took them so long to notice, they assumed it was a new account or that we were never connected to begin with.

It's actually really easy once you start.

i may or may not have deleted half my facebook friend list in a frenzy of mania

Is it an era or a pejorative? I thought it was a sarcastic term.

I was there too! We probably stood next to each other and didn't notice. Glad to see you active here!

Nothing that I put in bold is recent. Visual kei has been boy band metal for as long as visual kei has existed, just the appeal and the market has changed in and around it. Remember that visual kei takes lots of cues and inspiration from glam metal, which was boy band metal from the 80s. Formulaic visual kei has also been around almost as long as the scene has; it is just the formula has changed as well to adapt to changing markets. Take any decade of music and you can see this in action. I made it through the roughest part of the scene so far (end of 00s to early 10s) where the momentum within the scene seemingly contracted and the fifteen minutes of fame had passed, and that was the most prime moment for the ceiling to fall and the scene to die. It didn't. Thus, I'm not too worried about the "fate of visual kei". Visual kei is resilient and it will adapt into whatever form that it needs to to survive. Us being here 12 years is proof of that. I would be more concerned if your ~flavor~ of visual kei survives the next decade. It won't, but perhaps what rises out of the ashes will still appeal to you? I'm an old head who prefers songs from the 90s and early 00s, but I can find music in every time period that I like! If you still like visual kei in ten years, you'll have new favorites. I guarantee it. But of course, this isn't about the future of visual kei; it's about ghost writing. I'm sure the scene has a few ghost writers, more than one could optimistically hope for and less than one would pessimistically believe. I also have the unpopular opinion that the scene would be taken more seriously as a whole if more bands hired ghost writers. Not to plug my own work here, but my Copy/Paste series is all about finding musical similarities that pop up again and again and it's way too easy to take a currently active band and find a riff they took from a popular band 5 to 6 years ago. A lot of new bands today look to bands of the past for inspiration and it bleeds through to their music, but it's not doing enough to push the scene forward. The homogenization of the scene is doing a lot more to affect the sound of visual kei than everyone tapping the same ghost writer for new material. This kind of homogenization can also be seen in disparate industries like AAA video games and block buster movies, where studios would rather stick with something safe and deliver guaranteed profits rather than try something new, potentially fail, and lose money. I think we are seeing the same thing here, don't you agree? What you bring up at the end of this paragraph is one hell of a revelation, so I'll have to quote it again: I certainly cannot think of a classic from the last decade off the top of my head as easily as I can one from the decade before that, but a lot of that has to do with time. Time, no matter how small, is required for an album to transcend to classic status. Classics are defined by the effect that they have on music that hasn't been made yet, so unless you have magical future seeing powers it's hard to know what will stand the test of time for sure. Classics also have a personal angle to it; something can be a classic to you and not to the scene at large. It can also go in reverse. Albums can be considered classics by consensus, even though very few people may listen to said album on a regular basis (example: Art of Life by X JAPAN is a ~classic~, but when is the last time anyone sat down to listen to all 30 minutes of it?). A lot of albums were also given "classic" status years ago that definitely didn't stand the test of time. illational by THE EIGHT is my favorite example of this, and if your first response is "who is that?" then my point has been proven. I wouldn't worry too much about not having classics from this time period now, because bands are still proving themselves. Come back in five years and I am sure that generating a list will be way easier. You could have asked me this question in 2012 and I would have been completely unable to answer your question. Now, I'm only partially unable To run through these questions rather quickly: I never thought about this, but there could be a few good ones. Bands that pump out release after release and the styles of the release are all over the place. If the band sounds like 3 or 4 people with different musical affinities are writing the music, that's because it probably is. Liner credits can also be a dead giveaway, especially if the band doesn't have any, but bands are also known to lie on those so they aren't always reliable. It's not a perfect definition, but bands that obviously care more about looks than music are definitely idol kei. Visuals are important, but visuals are just a medium to sell music and concepts. If your Photoshop is on point but your music sounds like it was recorded in the gutter, you are "idol kei" in my eyes. If you have a ton of money for intricate outfits, but complain about fans not spending enough money, you're probably "idol kei". If a band has one core member and other members that can be exchanged interchangeably, that would be considered "idol kei" to me. Same day as visual kei was born. I think the argument over whether ghost writers produce "good music" is all subjective. That's why it is in quotes. Logically speaking, someone hired to write and produce mass amounts of music is supposed to be good at their job by definition. Do I approve of ghost writers? Only when they do a good job and I don't think about it. Music is inherently collaborative; I'd rather have band members work with veterans and bounce ideas off of others to come to the best solution rather than DIY the whole process and come out with a diamond in the rough, or potentially something even more disastrous. There are other things about the scene that hurt its well being more directly than having ghost writers. I'm sure most genres have artists that use ghost writers. I'm still listening to visual kei because it provides me with sounds no other scene does. The sounds I like and the bands that follow change, but I'm still attracted to the overall sound. I actually don't care much about visuals at all tbh.

Their latest worldwide tour has just begun! Who is going to the show in New York tonight?

> If you're missing anyone, it's not DELUHI > Claims Juri was going to be kicked out the band So which is it?

@Bear I streamed it from HBO GO, and I only noticed one artifact in the beginning during the credits. I had no problem seeing anything the entire episode.

There are two types of people in this world: people who complained that S08E03 was too dark, and those who have properly calibrated TVs and could see what was happening. I would be in the second group because I didn't notice a single issue the entire time and both my girlfriend and I said that the episode was very cinematic. Then again, we were in the perfect setting for it, so I guess we were also lucky ^^;;

Someone translate this into Japanese so Leda can read it.