violetchain

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines for about the millionth time. i just love this world, Bloodlines 2 cant come soon enough 
 
 
oh and Pathologic 2 

@psychonnect_rozen
I understand not agreeing with someone like that, but it doesn't give you the right to harass them for funsies. It just makes you look just as bad, especially when posting about it on this thread, and it's not gonna change her weird mindset or opinions.

Before I got into Japanese music, the main type of music I used to actively seek out was hair metal (I'm a big fan of bands like LA Guns, Hanoi Rocks, The Dogs D'Amour, Skid Row, etc., although calling some of those bands "metal" has never felt all that accurate to me). I was also into bands like AFI and The Used and just the usual modern pop and rock.
 
I watched a lot of VH1 when I was younger (which is partially why I'm so fond of hair metal), so I was also rather partial to best-ofs from retro or "classic" artists. (ex. Prince, Elvis, Loretta Lynn, Whitney Houston, etc.), and I also used to try out bands from books about heavy metal and punk rock (like a lot of those "100 _ albums you need to hear before you die", etc. kind of things.) There was one book that was like an encyclopedia of hard rock/metal bands put together by the magazine Kerrang that I used to try out bands from a lot, which might have led me down some interesting paths.

The second Toronto show is tonight, in case anyone was considering going.
 
This was a really great line-up - one of the best in a while. They were all good, but the winners for me this year were definitely KO-GO-NO GORAIKO-Z and imai.
 
KO-GO-NO GORAIKO-Z were really playful - plus they have a drummer-vocalist, which I didn't notice from the video preview. Super entertaining set, and I think their music lined up the best with my taste. If I remembered to buy a CD this year, it would have been theirs for sure. Was so dead at the end that I totally forgot.
 
imai was insanely intense. We were like directly in the middle of the audience, and he was making some serious eye contact with the crowd, so my friends and I all felt like he was like staring directly into our souls for his whole set. He didn't need any time to warm up at all either - he was dancing like a beast from the very first track. Can't help but dance when someone is giving you that much energy. This was from the end of his set after he'd been dancing and headbanging like this for about 40 minutes straight:
 

Someone posted video of KO-GO-NO GORAIKO-Z as well, although it doesn't really capture what made them so much fun:
 
Koutei Camera Girl Drei were good too, but they went last at like 12:30~1:00 am, so my legs were basically giving out at that point and it was a bit hard to get too into their set. They were much more aggressive than I was expecting from the preview, which is a big plus for me. Thought they had a more laidback sound.
 
 

I translated this myself, and my Japanese isn't very good, but there's a part from the xTRiPx song "10+1" I really like.
 
"Somehow, we managed to raise up a big revolution
What’s left after that storm of passion?
Even if the answer is “zero”, that’s fine
Because life is addition"
 
‘なんかデカい革命起こしてやんだ’
息巻いて結果何が残った？
答えがゼロでもいい
人生は足し算だから

While I've enjoyed some of the songs I've heard from them over the years, I've never been able to will myself to listen to a full GALNERYUS release featuring Sho on vocals.
 
I really should give their more recent stuff a shot, because I liked the theme they did for Hunter x Hunter a lot, but Yama-B's super earnest vibe and general goofiness were the main things I liked about them, tbh, so it's still kind of hard to force myself to make the adjustment...
 
 

Why? The singer recorded parts for Ryutaro Arimura's solo album, and THE NOVEMBERS were also on the Plastic Tree tribute album. I doubt they would do it on purpose, but I don't think it's unlikely at all that they would accidentally lift something from Plastic Tree.

Lol, point taken. I guess I always remember him as having a big chin because of pics like this:
 
 
The song sounds good to me. Pretty much what I was imagining when I read LUNA SEA and Gundam theme.

Bands usually improve when they sign to a major label. 

I'm not really surprised. I thought they were promising as Hakubishin, but they seemed a bit lost after the name change.

I translated this myself, and my Japanese isn't very good, but there's a part from the xTRiPx song "10+1" I really like.
 
"Somehow, we managed to raise up a big revolution
What’s left after that storm of passion?
Even if the answer is “zero”, that’s fine
Because life is addition"
 
‘なんかデカい革命起こしてやんだ’
息巻いて結果何が残った？
答えがゼロでもいい
人生は足し算だから

The singer from DOG in the PWO creeps me out.

I'm not really surprised. I thought they were promising as Hakubishin, but they seemed a bit lost after the name change.

Kyonosuke (Kizu) photoshoot for Cure.
 
  
 
  

Kyonosuke (Kizu) photoshoot for Cure.
 
  
 
  

Is anyone going to NMFT this year? I skipped the last few for various reasons, but I'm going to the Friday show in Toronto. It's always worth seeing, but the organizer promised a more upbeat party vibe this time around, so I'm hoping it will be a bit more my speed than the last one I saw.
 
It's only $15 if you buy tickets in advance, and you get like 5 solid hours of entertainment, so I highly recommend it even if you're just mildly curious.
 
Line-up: imai (from group_inou), STEREOGIRL, Koutei Camera Girl Drei, TAMTAM and KO-GO-NO GORAIKO-Z
 
Shows: https://www.nextmusicfromtokyo.com/shows
 
 
ETA: Actually, I just realized I skipped more than a few - looks like the last one I saw was vol. 9. Really liked THIS IS JAPAN from that one, but I can't remember much about the rest of the bands besides jizue playing a cover of When You Wish Upon a Star when we walked into the venue.

It depends on the scale of the venue, I suppose, but personally, I just feel like it's a bit sad for the artist because they can actually see you doing it right in front of them. I felt super bad for Miyavi the one time I saw him live.
 
The venue staff actually went to the trouble of checking everyone for cameras and putting them in little bags to make sure no one took any pictures, but people still had phones or cameras they sneaked in up in the air throughout the whole show. (this was a long time ago, so cellphones weren't used for photos and videos as much as they are now) I remember Miyavi even personally asked if people could cut it out while he was onstage, but they still didn't stop. I mean, sure, it's just some pictures and it's a silly, outdated policy, but it just felt kind of rude that they ignored his request right to his face like that.
 
Then again, the crowd at that concert was pretty rude in general. My friend actually left where we were standing and went to sit at the bar halfway through, it was so unpleasant.

Kyonosuke (Kizu) photoshoot for Cure.
 
  
 
  

Really excited to hear that they're doing another album together. SALU is a good influence on him.
 
 

Yu-Gi-Oh GX is still one of the most ridiculous things to ever air on television.
 
 

Even though I know the correct pronunciation of "xTRiPx" now, I still read it as "eks trip" in my head every time I see it.

I don't think NOAH was actually in a group - wasn't he just like a random Kansai Johnny's Jr.? I don't think he stuck with it very long either.
 
Question? were around for much longer and they were much better known. I've never really followed the Jrs, but I've seen them perform on various Johnny's shows before.
https://www.generasia.com/wiki/Question%3F

It kinda just looks like they all got TP’ed in their sleep and they just woke up

THE SOUND BEE HD are going to be on another TV show soon - the first appearance they made was mainly about how much You loves eating soboro dons, and I think this next appearance is going to be more focused on how You made the switch from a cabin attendant to a member of a VK band. Daisuke posted this preview shot of You as a flight attendant.