The Reverend

What's the over/under on 'amount of people that would even recognize that you were covering Mis†ake songs'? 5.5?

so zekkooo was a Dali cover band, & this one is a Mistake cover band???

VK newbies モンダイジ!! (Mondaiji!!) released a PV for their new song "ラヴベリ-Love very-" and because they decided to disable comments on the video, I had to take my comments here!
 
'Hey guys! We're Mondaiji!!' I don't like that this caution tape is arranged in such a way that it isn't even pretending to keep anyone out of anything. It looks way more like they were learning about Maypole dances in class that day and had no streamers to make one.
 

Oh no we're only 10 seconds into this video and they've already started adding unnecessary post-effects in editing. They did not have a lot of confidence in this video holding up on its own.
 

See what a I mean? Though this was probably necessary considering the terrible lighting of this PV.
 

'We don't have a drummer yet.'
 

Did no one think that exposed fluorescent lights maybe wasn't the best they could do for lighting a music video featuring three men in tons of makeup? The lighting just screams 'this is a cheap PV we made on an iPhone!' and is the second worst thing about this video.
 

The worst thing is how unwilling the whole band is to just 'go for it'. I remember Jimi from Chemical Pictures blogging once about how to look cool in a PV you have to be willing to look ridiculous in person because normal movements won't translate with any energy on film. The dancing and jumping and instrument-ing in this video are so half-assed it's like the band are embarrassed. 
 
This is also my biggest complaint with their sound so far. I actually kind of like the summer-time fun vibes in the verses of this track, but no one in the band sounds like they really *mean it*.
 

I have no idea what this song is about, so I'm not sure if the classroom relates. But now the vocalist is singing into a chalkboard eraser cause why not.
 
(Though I do appreciate that they gave him a microphone in this PV, nothing makes singers look more awkward than when they have nothing to hold and don't know what to do with their hands.)
 

I feel ya bro.
 

'Quidditch after class??'
 

I actually think dude on the right's vibrator-on-my-hip blowin-some-bubbles aesthetic is pretty on point.
 

Again, dudes look like they got bored in the middle of shooting their own music video.
 

There's rapping in this song. When will VK vocalists learn that really all you have to do to not sound like my mom or the Beastie Boys trying to rap is rhyme more than one syllable?
 
Also there's no way that little cone would amplify someone's voice whatsoever.
 

'Oh shit I forgot to hold either my mic or cone or eraser. I'll just mime it for this shot.'
 

What's with the curtains in this classroom? I like to think they shot this video while school was in session somewhere and the school's principal needed all the middle school children to not see the VK horrors lurking in that classroom.
 
(Hopefully it's something innocent like nap-time darkness. Going to school in America, we had drills where we had to hang things to black out the windows so hypothetical school shooters wouldn't be able to see into the classrooms 😢)
 

Who ya got as the GOAT, MJ or LeBron?
 

'What are you doing to the clock??'
 

'Hehe, time to go! Saika you're such a trickster!'
 
These guys have a one-man show coming up at Takadanobaba AREA this fall, whoa!

Nice review, this album it's 6/10 for me.
 
Here is some interview translation I did in news thread on why they change style so drastically.
 
"I just read chiaki's new interview on cure, it seems like this album is his answer to this question(why doing music) he kept searching for over a year.
Basically he's in existential crisis right now.
 
Here's a brief translate(Sorry for my bad English):
 
-Why name this album [Today]
Chiaki: How to get through [Today], to me its really difficult for past year. I have insomnia for over a year, can't sleep, don't wanna go out. I know there is no answer but I'm keep searching by hang out with members and go on tour(That explained why their last tour name is"Please save/help chiaki"). Sometime I get a little realization but mostly don't. So it's really difficult for me to live through everyday.
 
Although you might think:"Even though you depressed before bed, you just close your eye and today will end, right?" . The answer is no, it doesn't. Because there are no ways you can experience tomorrow, you can only live in "Today". I wanna get an answer, otherwise  there will be no inner peace in my mind. In order to move forward from this restless state, from now on I will create songs on this premise. I'm not trying to deny our past, I will still write heavy songs when I'm angry, but right now this album is my state of mind.
 
I know a lot of people will think:"wtf are you guys doing, you changed so much", I don't expect this album will reach to everybody, it would be great if I can create something everybody like, but I cant. If there is one moment in the album that can resonate some of you, for me right now, its the happiest thing ever. I expect a lot of backlash, I will take full responsibility, that's how important this album to me. "
 
After read this interview, that explain why they have some thematically change on lyric since live-distributed single ohayou. It changed from grotesque theme to this kind of existential theme.
 
Some of the lyric in ohayou means "I used to be think everything was fine but now every morning I wake up feel like shit,why is that? whats wrong with me? It really suck." "I dont wanna live yet I dont wanna die, I just keep singing" "when can I smile again from bottom of my heart, I wanna go back to that morning" So my guess is his depression start around that time(2016).

D'espairsRay and 12012 being dated my lord what time period am I in. 
 
I haven't even begun listening to the album yet. Too scared to find out what horrors await. They should've done something like Inugami Circus Dan and created an alter ego band to go with a different style (how's that for another dated reference). Or maybe start a side project? I'm glad there was a heartfelt reason for this style change according to Chiaki, but he knew there would be consequences. Now, I know going down these routes isn't as simple as "if I can think it, I can do it", but it just sucks to lose another band to itchin-for-a-change-in-direction-itis.
 
P.S. I fully stan heavy comeback 12012! 

Awesome live report! I have never had the nerve to venture to the lowest section of AREA as a similarly tall dude. (though I've never been to a show there that had 50% boys...)
 
Amazing.
 

I love that out of all the vk/kansai vk bands, Vo.魁那 chose to be a Dali stan. One of that tracks on that recent mini album is basically a cover of choo choo 1room ( which is a Mis†ake song).

DIMLIM:
Gt. Ryuya, Vo. Sho, Gt. Retsu
Support:
Ba. Yume (ex-Pisaro, Now in DIMLIM)
Dr. Hibiki (ex-A Ghost of Flare)
 
Set-list:
1. Birth
2. Innocent Passion
3. THE INVISIBLE
4. Limit of reverse
5. Age of lies
6. Destroy a desire
7. MASSACRE
8. 浄土の花
9. 記憶、紺碧の微笑み‬
10. 初潮
11. 虚妄の歌
12. PERSOALIT NONCONFORMIT
13. 「」
 
encore:
14. THE SILENT SONG
15. 塵外
16. ハレワタ
17. MASSACRE (Chorus)
 
 
This was one of my first concert experiences in Japan and it was one of the most memorable concerts I've ever been to.  The venue is Takadanobaba AREA and I must admit in pictures it looks tiny, but once inside it’s a lot larger than I expected. The venue is divided into 3 sections: the front, middle, and back. Of course, your boy here was in the front! There was a lot of guys at the live; to my surprise I think it was an even number of girls and guys. Walking into the live, there was a curtain raised with a projection of the DIMLIM logo and the sounds of baby’s crying and screaming. It was very fitting because I wanted to scream as well, I was thrilled to finally see DIMLIM live. The live started a bit late but once it began the projection went away and the SE track “birth” began. The curtain was still raised, but a light from the other side projected the shadows of Ryuya, Sho, and Retsu onto the curtain. They stood still until “birth” ended. A few seconds of silence passed, and they just gained life as they began playing “Innocent Passion
. The song began with the opening riffs, and once Sho gave his scream, the curtain was lowered revealing all of them. 
 

 
Everyone looked amazing, but Sho stood out since the paint on him was inverted from the paint he had on the MV for “THE SILENT SONG”. He had a white colored face with black details. He still looked killer. As they played, Sho hits all the screams, including the intense high-pitched ones. Most bands skip these types of screams, but Sho made sure he hit each one. Other noteworthy standouts are Ryuya and Yume (At the time he was in Pisaro but he’s now officially in DIMLIM). I was shocked at how skinny Ryuya was, even though he still looked great. Yume, well, he’s short. I’m not joking. He’s so tiny, he had a box next to him, that he would use to stand when he wanted to yell something or get the crowd’s attention. It was cute haha. Everyone was noteworthy because Hibiki (ex- A Ghost of Flare), despite not being in a visual-kei band, still wore eye shadow, did his hair, and wore a cool outfit. He looked wonderful. And Retsu… well he’s fucking beautiful, so nothing else I can say there.
 

 
They played a few more songs, but I was so unprepared once they got to “Destroy a desire”. A lot of the songs had dance moves that go with them, like fist pumping or waving your hands side to side, etc. (AKA Furitsuke). For the most part, it was headbanging. But for “Destroy a desire”, people started jumping side to side. They first jumped to the right and before I could make it and realize what was going on, they started jumping to the left (towards me) and I almost crashed in to one of the girls. Side note: Im 6’3” so I’m nowhere near little. I would have destroyed this girl. Luckily, I managed to jump left and join them.
After this they debuted the song 「」.It began with the whispers of a women and goes into a techno like rhythm. The pacing of the song is slower than the usual songs DIMLIM puts out. Its not the heaviest song, but there are some screams. My personal favorite part is the harmonics that Ryuya adds during the slow parts. It’s a really nice song.
 
To my surprise they played “初潮”afterwards. I was expecting this song to be their closing song, but I didn’t mind it. It’s every bit as beautiful and powerful live as I’d hoped it be. I gained so much respect for Yume because he owned that solo and overall did an awesome job. He even played it sitting just like Tsubasa (former Bassist) used to. Retsu executed the solo beautify and it gave me chills seeing it played live.
 

 
And probably the most fun I had was during the wall of death. For those that don’t know, a wall of death is when the crowd splits into two and gets some distance between them, so they can run towards one another. During “MASSACRE”, Sho asked us to split and so we did and as he was hyping us up I proceeded to taunt the other side haha (I flexed a bit haha). 
 
Unfortunately, I don't remember much about “Age of lies” and “記憶、紺碧の微笑み”. These two songs where part of the first live limited single so this was my first time listening to them. All i rember is one of them not being as heavy, so kind of slow. Wish I can say more but thats all I got.
 
The main set ended, and they played a short video. Sadly, I can't read Japanese, or at least all the Kanji that was there. There was a lot of clapping and cheering haha. The video ended, and the curtain opened, and the band stood before us. All the lights were off and out of nowhere Sho gave a powerful scream that began “THE SILENT SONG”. Sho had a podium in front of him like the one in the MV. It was painted black and had the DIMLIM logo sprayed onto it. It was a really nice touch and I wasn't expecting it. Sho sang the song with the podium. He would lean on it in order to get closer to the crowd and even shaking it to get the crowd going. Sadly, he shook it too hard and halfway through the song the podium fell apart. Sho tried to hold it together, but it collapsed, and all the pieces fell to the floor. Sho sighed but he laughed it off and continued singing. Staff stepped in and removed the pieces off the stage.
 
I figured that the end was near, and of course they closed with their debut song “ハレワタ”. All i can say is Holy Hell was it good live. The energy they gave off was incredible. They played and sang passionately and when they headbanged, everyone headbanged. The song ended, and I thought it was over. I was wrong, DIMLIM wanted to get us going one last time so they transitioned into the chorus of MASSACRE and made us do a wall of death again to end the show and we did. I taunted again hehe... and the show ended as powerfully as it had begun.
 

 
Bonus:
They have this thing where if you buy cheki, certain cheki will be marked with "Lucky" in Kanji. If you get a cheki with one of these written on them you can take a picture with one of the members. I bought three and got Luky hehe... I was thrilled, and I yelled a bit and some of the girls there game me a stink eye. You snooze you lose, because I didn’t see those girls after, so they didn't get lucky HAHA.
 
I waited in line to take my picture and once it was my turn I was really nervous. I went in the room and there they were Sho, Ryuya, and Retsu. I wanted to tell them something at least, so I told them I had come from the U.S. to see them. And that their music is super cool.
Sho nodded with his arms crossed and said "hmm”. I’m guessing that a good thing, Ryuya said "Ahhh". lol and hands down the best reaction was Retsu. He said in English,
"I can speak english a little bit.... Stay with Us!" I wanted to cry he made the effort to speak English for me and he did it so well.  I took my picture with Retsu ❤️ 
 

 
 
 

I actually like it!
Nice catchy song with really good vocals.
And their guitarist has lovely hair xD
 

SHIVA new single "百舌鳥-MOZU-" will be released at 2018/12/5. (3 TYPE)

They’re actually not bad live. I like the cover fuck very better though...

*Quick public service announcement*
 
Are you that dude in the mosh pit flailing your arms everywhere and punching and kicking all around??
 
Nobody likes you and your whole shit is definitely an act.

Yo! 
So, I've been a long time follower here and I finally decided to join. 
(Do I get a senior discount for using livejournal back in the 2000's?) 💦
I've been into vkei since the early 90's when my family hosted an exchange student from Japan.  
I instantly got hooked into Malice Mizer . Soon followed by Angura-kei and Nagoya-kei as I got older. 
There's so many different bands that I cherish, we'd be here forever if I listed them all haha
 
After many years of saving and dreaming, I'm finally going to Japan in March/April 2019.  🌸
(If anyone has tips or Japan 101, I'd be forever grateful for your help. Especially with seeing a LIVE and getting merch) 
I definitely want to see ARCHEMI, D (or Asagi solo), and possibly some indie bands. 
 
I haven't seen too many bands, sadly.
Dir en Grey- 2 times in San Francisco. 
Kaya- several times (San Francisco and Los Angeles *Most recently at RuPaul's Drag con. I made him a flag present) 
 
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this. 
 
I do have instagram and twitter if anyone wants to follow. 
 
 
 

Nice breakdown of this messy pv. I tried to watch along with your comments, bubble blowing vibrator on the hip aesthetic got me good

VK newbies モンダイジ!! (Mondaiji!!) released a PV for their new song "ラヴベリ-Love very-" and because they decided to disable comments on the video, I had to take my comments here!
 
'Hey guys! We're Mondaiji!!' I don't like that this caution tape is arranged in such a way that it isn't even pretending to keep anyone out of anything. It looks way more like they were learning about Maypole dances in class that day and had no streamers to make one.
 

Oh no we're only 10 seconds into this video and they've already started adding unnecessary post-effects in editing. They did not have a lot of confidence in this video holding up on its own.
 

See what a I mean? Though this was probably necessary considering the terrible lighting of this PV.
 

'We don't have a drummer yet.'
 

Did no one think that exposed fluorescent lights maybe wasn't the best they could do for lighting a music video featuring three men in tons of makeup? The lighting just screams 'this is a cheap PV we made on an iPhone!' and is the second worst thing about this video.
 

The worst thing is how unwilling the whole band is to just 'go for it'. I remember Jimi from Chemical Pictures blogging once about how to look cool in a PV you have to be willing to look ridiculous in person because normal movements won't translate with any energy on film. The dancing and jumping and instrument-ing in this video are so half-assed it's like the band are embarrassed. 
 
This is also my biggest complaint with their sound so far. I actually kind of like the summer-time fun vibes in the verses of this track, but no one in the band sounds like they really *mean it*.
 

I have no idea what this song is about, so I'm not sure if the classroom relates. But now the vocalist is singing into a chalkboard eraser cause why not.
 
(Though I do appreciate that they gave him a microphone in this PV, nothing makes singers look more awkward than when they have nothing to hold and don't know what to do with their hands.)
 

I feel ya bro.
 

'Quidditch after class??'
 

I actually think dude on the right's vibrator-on-my-hip blowin-some-bubbles aesthetic is pretty on point.
 

Again, dudes look like they got bored in the middle of shooting their own music video.
 

There's rapping in this song. When will VK vocalists learn that really all you have to do to not sound like my mom or the Beastie Boys trying to rap is rhyme more than one syllable?
 
Also there's no way that little cone would amplify someone's voice whatsoever.
 

'Oh shit I forgot to hold either my mic or cone or eraser. I'll just mime it for this shot.'
 

What's with the curtains in this classroom? I like to think they shot this video while school was in session somewhere and the school's principal needed all the middle school children to not see the VK horrors lurking in that classroom.
 
(Hopefully it's something innocent like nap-time darkness. Going to school in America, we had drills where we had to hang things to black out the windows so hypothetical school shooters wouldn't be able to see into the classrooms 😢)
 

Who ya got as the GOAT, MJ or LeBron?
 

'What are you doing to the clock??'
 

'Hehe, time to go! Saika you're such a trickster!'
 
These guys have a one-man show coming up at Takadanobaba AREA this fall, whoa!

VK newbies モンダイジ!! (Mondaiji!!) released a PV for their new song "ラヴベリ-Love very-" and because they decided to disable comments on the video, I had to take my comments here!
 
'Hey guys! We're Mondaiji!!' I don't like that this caution tape is arranged in such a way that it isn't even pretending to keep anyone out of anything. It looks way more like they were learning about Maypole dances in class that day and had no streamers to make one.
 

Oh no we're only 10 seconds into this video and they've already started adding unnecessary post-effects in editing. They did not have a lot of confidence in this video holding up on its own.
 

See what a I mean? Though this was probably necessary considering the terrible lighting of this PV.
 

'We don't have a drummer yet.'
 

Did no one think that exposed fluorescent lights maybe wasn't the best they could do for lighting a music video featuring three men in tons of makeup? The lighting just screams 'this is a cheap PV we made on an iPhone!' and is the second worst thing about this video.
 

The worst thing is how unwilling the whole band is to just 'go for it'. I remember Jimi from Chemical Pictures blogging once about how to look cool in a PV you have to be willing to look ridiculous in person because normal movements won't translate with any energy on film. The dancing and jumping and instrument-ing in this video are so half-assed it's like the band are embarrassed. 
 
This is also my biggest complaint with their sound so far. I actually kind of like the summer-time fun vibes in the verses of this track, but no one in the band sounds like they really *mean it*.
 

I have no idea what this song is about, so I'm not sure if the classroom relates. But now the vocalist is singing into a chalkboard eraser cause why not.
 
(Though I do appreciate that they gave him a microphone in this PV, nothing makes singers look more awkward than when they have nothing to hold and don't know what to do with their hands.)
 

I feel ya bro.
 

'Quidditch after class??'
 

I actually think dude on the right's vibrator-on-my-hip blowin-some-bubbles aesthetic is pretty on point.
 

Again, dudes look like they got bored in the middle of shooting their own music video.
 

There's rapping in this song. When will VK vocalists learn that really all you have to do to not sound like my mom or the Beastie Boys trying to rap is rhyme more than one syllable?
 
Also there's no way that little cone would amplify someone's voice whatsoever.
 

'Oh shit I forgot to hold either my mic or cone or eraser. I'll just mime it for this shot.'
 

What's with the curtains in this classroom? I like to think they shot this video while school was in session somewhere and the school's principal needed all the middle school children to not see the VK horrors lurking in that classroom.
 
(Hopefully it's something innocent like nap-time darkness. Going to school in America, we had drills where we had to hang things to black out the windows so hypothetical school shooters wouldn't be able to see into the classrooms 😢)
 

Who ya got as the GOAT, MJ or LeBron?
 

'What are you doing to the clock??'
 

'Hehe, time to go! Saika you're such a trickster!'
 
These guys have a one-man show coming up at Takadanobaba AREA this fall, whoa!

The first one 「くしゃみ」(Kushami)  will be released on 2018.09.26.
 
Tracklist :
01. くしゃみ(Kushami)  
02. ゴミ漁り純恋歌(Gomi sunadori jun renka)
03. 囚人番号07番は愛した(Shûjin bangô 07 ban wa aishita)
 
The second one 「粉砕するぞ！」(Funsai suru zo ! ) will be released on 2018.12.03.
 
TYPE A : 1620 yen
CD :
01. 粉砕するぞ！(Funsai suru zo ! )
02. 悲しみ三丁目(Kanashimi san chôme)
03. ベッドの下の性書(Bed no shita no sei sho)
 
TYPE B : 1620 yen
CD :
01. 粉砕するぞ！(Funsai suru zo ! )
02. 死因:腹上死 (Shiin: fukujô shi)
03. 実録!!宇部市少年、大人との戦争(Jitsuroku!! ube shi shônen, otona to no sensô)
 
The third one 「俺を必要とする人はこの世の中に居ないよ」(Ore o hitsuyô to suru hito wa kono yononaka ni inai yo) will be released on 2018.12.03.
 
TYPE A : 1620 yen
CD :
01. 俺を必要とする人はこの世の中に居ないよ(Ore o hitsuyô to suru hito wa kono yononaka ni inai yo )
02. 隣の席の卑猥ちゃん(Tonari no seki no hiwai-chan)
03. 48手のお品書き(48 shu no o-shinagaki)
 
TYPE B : 1620 yen
CD :
01. 俺を必要とする人はこの世の中に居ないよ (Ore o hitsuyô to suru hito wa kono yononaka ni inai yo)
02. 死因:煙草(Shiin: tabako)
03. 挿入歌(Sônyû ka)
 
--> https://mamireta.com/contents/187216
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

SHIVA - PHANTOM (A, B, & C)
SHIVA Joker Tour Finale DVD
ゴシップ - 面会謝絶/少女A
SCREW Xanadu Seventh Heaven Pamphlet
SCREW Breathe One's Last Breath Pamphlet

I am so glad you posted this. This is a hilarious take on visual kei music videos that actually makes me want to watch it once.

Lack-co are in the middle of hosting a series of Monday two-man shows called "ステゴロ" (what does Stegoro mean??)  and having never seen Tenten in any of his bands and The Gallo being one of my favorite active VK bands I had to go to this one while I was visiting Tokyo.
 
東高円寺二万電圧 (Higashi Koenji ni man Den-atsu) is just outside the central Tokyo region defined by the Yamanote Line, but it was a quick trip on a couple trains and Den-atsu is very close to the station when you arrive.
 
To access the venue you first have to descend an outdoor, concrete staircase toward an outdoor landing. The descent actually made me a bit nervous as there was no railing on one side and it was raining at the time. This was a very non-descript entrance from the roadway. After walking down the stairs and making a turn I was looking at a way too-cool-for-school 30-something dude manning the ticket table. Acknowledging that I don't look much like the typical VK fan in Japan, when I asked for one ticket this guy with shaggy hair at the table actually asked me "You know who's playing tonight?" He didn't sound mean about it, I think he genuinely wanted to save me from seeing this show normally reserved for younger women assuming I had just stumbled to the club looking for any live music I could find. I assured him I was there to see The Gallo and he handed me my paper ticket that doubled as a drink ticket.
 
I liked the set up in side Den-atsu as the bar and merch tables were outside the stage area, which meant I could stand pretty much anywhere inside and not be in the way of people trying to sell things. I found a spot in the rear of the club in front of a tiny alcove that was littered with bags belonging to the VK girls in attendance.
 
This was a fairly small club with low ceilings; their website says the capacity is 130 and I'd say this show had about 80-90 people in attendance. The head count reminded me just how niche a scene VK is. I'd consider The Gallo and Lack-co two of the more well-known indies bands, so it was a bit jarring to see the small venue they were playing at even in a giant city. I'm obviously too deep into VK to remember that almost no one cares about this stuff.
 
Obviously The Gallo were going to be playing first... both because Lack-co were hosting the event and because I saw a lot of the girls standing near the stage holding their signature bowl and spoon. One girl near me had a plain bowl with no logo on it that I could see, did I miss something or did this girl just bring her own bowl from her kitchen to clap along with? I think the latter scenario is pretty funny/ingenious actually. I mentioned in a live report from a couple years ago that The Gallo fans kept doing furi during the band's music playing between sets over the club's PA, and during this show the fans clapped along to the bass drum sound check. Gallo fans seem like a fun bunch in general.
 
 
 
The curtain was drawn to reveal the band in their latest Gallo-Vuitton all over print leisure suits. Jojo had his hair cascading through the top of a hat with the top cut off and some Day of the Dead skull inspired makeup for a very Tim Burton-y look overall. Andy had his palm against the ceiling atop the stage, and I don't think he was raising his hand to get the crowd hyped but rather to test whether or not he could pump his fist upward during the show (he couldn't without hitting his hand... a lot of the band members had to deal with this and would only throw up their hands while bending backward to afford themselves a little more space.) Some of the audience were even checking to see if they could touch the ceiling. The stage right guitarist (they have names for these positions in VK but I don't remember them) had one of those guitars with no headstock, and it looked from across the room like the end of the neck had dripping red wax poured on it a la a Maker's Mark bottle.
 
The newer guitarist, Nov, passed out paper plates to the audience so that people who didn't bring their own (like me, no I didn't pack my Gallo plate in my luggage) could clap along and the set began with "Belphegor". "Belphegor" has some pretty obvious clapping along portions, so even a noob like me could get the hang of the plate banging fairly quickly.
 
The highlights of the set for me were the fact that they played "Kuroi Ondori" (ok they played the remade version from Nero, but still) which is a favorite of mine, and also the 'circle pit' that Jojo started with himself dancing in the center of the maelstrom playing with a megaphone set to siren mode.
 
The lowlights, if you can call them that, were that two different songs had the audience doing the wave (do we need that two separate times?) and that the MC music was "Tokyo Cinderella" but they didn't actually play "Tokyo Cinderella".
 
Some of the non-bowl-based audience participation that was fun was the crowd stomping on the floor in time the beat and the crowd holding hands and swaying back and forth. Of course a couple songs had the requisite gyaku-daibu portions, and I'm certainly not jumping into the backs of some tiny Japanese girls, but they were fun to watch. Nov was kneeling on the backs of a couple girls during one diving song and slipped off them and stumbled backwards onto the stage. Wajou occasionally tried to demand the crowd participate in the diving like the other members were, but he is way too smiley and couldn't really pull it off. He just couldn't help being happy even trying to look mean.
 
The Gallo ended their set with a really high energy rendition of "Incubus" (which I'm still disappointed has no theremin in the live version) during which Jojo was leaning over the crowd singing and got some feedback when he put his mic in front of the amp and proceeded to give it a disappointed look and bop the amp on its 'head' like it was a recalcitrant child.
 
With The Gallo finished with their set thus began the churning of the crowd as Lack-co fans moved into the frontmost positions and many girls invaded my small space in the back looking to find their bags and check their phones and makeup. It kind of sucks for people in the back, as the polite spot changing for peoples' favorite bands leads to a weird concert-going scenario where the back of a venue is often more crowded than the front, but it is kind of cool that the scene (or just Japanese live music fans?) doesn't require people who want to be up front for the band playing last to endure being crushed through all the other shows as concerts in the west would.
 
Interesting note about Den-atsu: in tearing down the stage between sets (which isn't quite the production at these Japanese clubs where you basically just have to bring your instrument and plug in) the bands/roadies had to move equipment down from the stage into the audience area and out through a side door that wasn't connected to the stage. So after the curtain was closed on The Gallo, a couple minutes later we saw band members bringing things down from the stage to this side door.
 

(from Lack-co Twitter)
 
While The Gallo fans can be identified by their white bowls and spoons, Lack-co fans had all produced blue and red clamshell castanets to clap along with. I have to say these did dramatically change the sound of the crowd applause in a way that might get old, but was kind of refreshing for the first time.
 
Lack-co's intro SE was a piano rendition of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" that gradually morphed into the requisite fist-pounding, techno track. The first member to take the stage was drummer Higiri, and wow I thought I hated his black face, but this blue Alfalfa x Cindy Lou Who hairstyle he was rocking for the show might actually bother me even more (not bother in the same way obviously, but it was not pleasant to look at.) I resolved to avoid watching him as much as possible.

The band, except for Tenten who had a Lack-co band tee over a white shirt, were all wearing the red suits with writing strewn all over them from their most recent look. I recognized some of the words scrawled on their suits like 'shine' and 'kimoi' as 'mean things to say to someone'. Very edgy boys.
 
Between not loving their output so far, and the majority of their tracks having titles in Japanese, I didn't recognize much of Lack-co's set list other than a riff here or there. The show did remind me of why I keep giving Tenten's bands chances and will continue to; he is one hell of a charismatic frontman. His sly smiles and confident stage mannerisms had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand and made it so it was hard to pay attention to any of the other members of the band. His best move was when he parted the Red Sea of fans to do a bit of 'everyone run into each other from opposite sides of the venue' but just as the opening in the center stabilized, he jumped down and ran to the cameraman at the back of the venue, struck a pose for a moment, then dove back onto the stage just as the cue for the crowd to go wild hit.
 
Lack-co's set actually resembled a straight up rock show the most of any VK bands I've seen I think. There was very little *furi*, most of the synchronized moves were headbanging, clapping, fist-pumping type stuff that required no direction from Tenten or the band. Tenten even commanded an almost bona fide circle pit during which one girl lost her sweater and it ended up absolutely trampled. In fact, I was a little surprised by how much the show, for lack of a better word, rocked. Lack-co has always seemed like an assemblage of too cute ideas in search of a central theme or melody to hold on to on wax, but live their songs resonated nicely even with perhaps a 'jazz' breakdown a little too often.
 
Milk threw a carton of milk into the crowd as the band were leaving the stage... ride that USP hard buddy.
 
Ivy was fun strutting around the stage and headbanging as usual. I say as usual because I'm pretty sure I saw him at three different shows the week I was in Tokyo, at Lack-co and as a session bassist the other two.
 
When the set ended the girls chanted and clapped in unison for an encore. (Though they appear to be saying "an-ko-re" instead of "an-ko-ru"? I guess the first group that did it had only seen the word encore and not heard it spoken??) They even started up a chant for a second encore that was cut off by the house lights and a voice over the PA system telling them, I'm guessing here, that the show was actually over and it was time to go home.
 
This was a fun pairing for a two-man show as both bands and their groups of fans have pretension-free fun jumping around to some quality tunes. I'll be sure to check out Tenten's next band if I visit Japan again 😉.

*Quick public service announcement*
 
Are you that dude in the mosh pit flailing your arms everywhere and punching and kicking all around??
 
Nobody likes you and your whole shit is definitely an act.

Haha, I would not have thought about it until this thread... but having been to a few VK shows I now will absolutely think to myself "oh this has got to be the bit they jump back and forth across the venue during" or "I bet this three minute song takes 15 during a concert".
 
There are names for the different moves??

FC Tickets to An Cafe's last lives for my boyfriend and I.

I've listened to XIII a few times and can confirm that this isn't a new low in lynch.'s career. It's not a new high either. It's hard to do new things when your livelihood revolves around doing the same thing in a new way in perpetuity. With no immediate flaws that demand attention, It's not the stinker that GALLOWS was on first listen. I do have a lot of nitpicks about certain songs and choices made, which work together to take the album down a few pegs. I haven't listened to lynch.'s new material seriously in a year and a half because I got tired of the monotony of their heavier sound, but respected that willingness to push in new directions, fail a few times, and learn from those experiences. They've walked back on that experimentation here for the most part and in many ways have regressed to SHADOWS-era songwriting capability, but they walked it so far back I don't sense any of the lessons learned in the final product. I say "for the most part" because a large part of my burnout comes from how one-dimensional their heavier tracks are, and that is still front and center. XIII gets good when the band lets songs like "RENATUS" and "SENSE OF EMPTINESS" do all of the talking, and makes me realize how much I'd kill for a ballad mini-album from them. There are other deep cuts in XIII which indicate that effort was spent on the album; the guitar melody at the end of "GROTESQUE" is an easy example of new ideas put into production. Songs like "JOKER" illustrate there are still visual-kei motifs they haven't exhausted yet (although I feel like that carnival/jazz take on rock was done better on "GHOST"). But dear god, the amount of times I was listening to a new song and thought I was listening to something else entirely is too damn high, much like rent. And having two one minute interludes on the album to bulk up a track list that would otherwise look anemic is a personal pet peeve. There's not much left to say except that it's another album from lynch., it's at least better than half of their previous albums, and it's not doing anything to turn old fans away or to bring new fans into the fold.