r...

I love these guys. What a fucking show today at 奈良NEVERLAND. ガラ and ネロ are just too fucking cool. 結生 is just the sweetest dude ever. 
 
And there’s more to come. See you tomorrow, guys. 

Someone asked recently how come DEZERT became famous, or why they seemed to get more famous n recent years. Well, now I’ve seen them 3x and it’s easy to understand why. They fucking SMOKE live.
 
千秋 is a bit wierd and if he isn’t having a good day, it seems to drag the whole band. 
 
But, when he is on, they are ON. Sacchan is a monster.
 
And Miyako seems to have blended in more with the other guys. They sound more like a band and not 3 guys and a support guitarist that models their t-shirts. 
 
Also, I got their new distributed song , おやすみ. I  will upload it as soon as I get home.

If there's one band on Earth who deserves a break, it's MUCC. And it's only three months, so it's all good.

エムオロギー , the song, would be better without the awkward middle part where ガラ sings the title a couple of times. I hate that part. And the fake record scratches, too. I do like all the other parts of the song. It reminds a little bit of 木漏れ日が僕を探してる…
 
Favorite songs so far: 犬型真性MASOCHIST (love it. It's the kind of song I wish it would stay on their set list for years to come); SIGHT GLASS (a MERRY song for the ages. brilliant stuff); Black flag symptom (健一 , dude!)  and, of course, Happy life –reprise – (better than the single version, still not better than the acoustic one).

Just listened to it. Still too early to judge, but I love how short it is. 39 mins. The members mentioned in interviews that they thought their albums were getting too long, so they decided to go back to what they used to do in the first 2 or 3 albums. Short, but sweet. Good idea, MERRY. Good idea.
 
 

ALL DONE! That was my first time transcribing lyrics. It was fun.

In case anyone wants the lyrics for the new album:
 
 

In case anyone wants the lyrics for the new album:
 
 

MASS CONTROL
作詞: ガラ 作曲: ネロ
 
犬型真性MASOCHIST (Inugata shinsei MASOCHIST)
作詞: ガラ 作曲: 結生
 
gaudy
作詞: ガラ 作曲: 結生
 
平日の女 -A面- (Heijitsu no onna -A-men-)
作詞: ガラ 作曲: 結生
 
Black flag symptom
作詞: ガラ 作曲: 健一
 
傘と雨 (Kasa to ame)
作詞: ガラ 作曲: 結生
 
F.J.P
作詞: ガラ 作曲: ネロ
 
Happy life -reprise-
作詞: ガラ 作曲: 健一
 
SIGHT GLASS
作詞: ガラ 作曲: 結生
 
エムオロギー (M-ology)
作詞: ガラ 作曲: 結生
 

That one is awesome. Have you seen this one, tho?
 
 

I'll do that as soon as I finish typing and editing gaudy and 平日の女 -A面-. Thanks!

Thank you for doing this, I really appreciate it!! 💕
 
What I do suggest however is putting the actual lyrics of each song under a spoiler so the topic won't be so clogged up and long. I can help you do that if you need me to.

MASS CONTROL
作詞: ガラ 作曲: ネロ
 
犬型真性MASOCHIST (Inugata shinsei MASOCHIST)
作詞: ガラ 作曲: 結生
 
gaudy
作詞: ガラ 作曲: 結生
 
平日の女 -A面- (Heijitsu no onna -A-men-)
作詞: ガラ 作曲: 結生
 
Black flag symptom
作詞: ガラ 作曲: 健一
 
傘と雨 (Kasa to ame)
作詞: ガラ 作曲: 結生
 
F.J.P
作詞: ガラ 作曲: ネロ
 
Happy life -reprise-
作詞: ガラ 作曲: 健一
 
SIGHT GLASS
作詞: ガラ 作曲: 結生
 
エムオロギー (M-ology)
作詞: ガラ 作曲: 結生
 

nah, no need, I already got everything. thanks though! <3

オリエンタルBLサーカス 
窓
montage
 
shoutouts to メランコリー, too.

btw, if you haven't heard it yet, MERRY's version of SO... is incredible. So far, the best song from the D'ERLANGER tribute album.

Fav B-sides:
 
 - Omohide Sunset
 - Charlie
 - montage
 
Also, shoutout to Midnight Shangrila, one of my all-time fav punky MERRY songs (even though it's technically not a B-side, but it was on like a rly limited single).

エムオロギー , the song, would be better without the awkward middle part where ガラ sings the title a couple of times. I hate that part. And the fake record scratches, too. I do like all the other parts of the song. It reminds a little bit of 木漏れ日が僕を探してる…
 
Favorite songs so far: 犬型真性MASOCHIST (love it. It's the kind of song I wish it would stay on their set list for years to come); SIGHT GLASS (a MERRY song for the ages. brilliant stuff); Black flag symptom (健一 , dude!)  and, of course, Happy life –reprise – (better than the single version, still not better than the acoustic one).

Happy life is BY FAR my favorite song they've released in years. The singles this latest album cycle were all really strong too.

Just listened to it. Still too early to judge, but I love how short it is. 39 mins. The members mentioned in interviews that they thought their albums were getting too long, so they decided to go back to what they used to do in the first 2 or 3 albums. Short, but sweet. Good idea, MERRY. Good idea.
 
 

eu fui. saudades demais. é uma das bandas que mais gosto, até hoje. (mas, faz tempo que não escuto)

alguém aqui foi nesse show? 25 reais show solo do Charlotte no Brasil, hahaha

Dr.亞ん (An) (ex-Diana-->妖艶なる園、崩壊シタ世界。(youen naru en houkaishita sekai)-->爛-lAn--->燭台(怪)(syokudai-kakko-kai)(きくらげ/kikurage)-->エルム(ELM)(ブギー/boogie)) has joined ザアザア (Xaa-Xaa)

I think that this situation sort of showcases the discrepancy between the western and Japanese fandom, in some ways. We in the west have sort of built up our own subculture surrounding VK that isn't the same as it is in Japan. In Japan, attending VK lives can have connotations that a lot of guys would want to avoid, the informal rules surrounding the lives can also make the shows less enjoyable to men too, as in the whole staying put in your spot, allowing time and space for the girls to fix their hair between each headbang and stuff like that. The western VK fandom treats it more like any other alternative subculture whereas I feel like in Japan it has unhealthy connections with the host ideals. 
 
I went to a VK bar in Tokyo and talked to the bartender and he said that the regular girls scared away other customers on the weekends by refusing to let him serve others, since they "paid for his company" by buying drinks, and they would demand from him to play only the one band they listen to the entire night.
I think for a lot of guys who are into VK, most Japanese men who are into VK are CD-only by the way, as in they don't attend the shows but just buy the music from stores and might occasionally show up to onemans and stand in the back, this doesn't create a fun atmosphere since they would prefer to just hang about and talk shit about music and listen to a dozen different bands. 
 
I realize that the bangya culture is what keeps the bands afloat, but I think it's also this culture that sort of kills the fun for a lot of guys who enjoy the music and enjoy the scene aesthetically but isn't just invested in one band and wants to enjoy some host fantasy with them. And this is why guys have a larger part in the western fandom because ours really isn't connected much to the Japanese one beyond listening to the same bands.
 
To be fair though, quite a few bands try to remedy this by doing those male only shows, and I think that's an awesome thing, although I wish it weren't necessary.
 

I don't think it's a clear cut division as much as it's a generalization to make the point easier. There's plenty of bangya who are into many bands and have a wide knowledge of the scene, and there are plenty of guys who go to the lives and enjoy them despite not always feeling like circumstances are ideal (I've attended upwards of 100 VK shows, for example.) 
 
It's just that the majority fall into the stereotypes, whether it's self-imposed or formed by the strong consensus culture of Japan I don't know, but once something gets viewed in the public eye as being geared towards a specific audience, the threshold to dare to break that mold gets much higher, especially in a country like Japan where this is strongly discouraged in general.

In an ideal world people wouldn't care, like you say, but we all know that's not how group psychology works.
 
Also, I think it's pretty normal that people who invest a lot of time and money into something, whether accidentally or not, look down on those who settle for less, but fandom elitism is another topic and far from exclusive to the guys either - it goes both ways, it's just that both groups measure dedication by different scales. I know bangya who look down on girls who attend lives of other bands, for example, because it's seen as "treason" towards their main act. Or look down on the fanboys for not supporting the bands at shows more. Just like I know guys who look down on those who don't know and love that one band that was around for three weeks in '93. It's problematic for sure but I think delving deeper into it is taking the thread off topic?
 
If people want to make another thread to discuss the toxic elements of bangya culture or fandom elitism, I'd be all for it, and I think it'd be interesting topics to discuss in a wider sense, but let's try to keep it relevant to the topic of male fans in the VK scene here.
 
@KomorebiI think it's pretty easy to spot when someone actually cares about the music and when someone is only there to drool at the band. All it takes is a short conversation on the topic of the bands music. And it's not mutually exclusive at all. I have plenty of female friends who can do both, and as long as I can participate in the discussions about the music and they keep the discussions about the bandmens physique with ones that are interested, I'm all good.