My first Japan-trip - A report of the concerts I attended

[Demivee 103]

For the next 2 weeks I will enjoy my very first Japan-trip. As I will visit 4 concerts in this period I thought you may be interested in a report of the shows.

 

February 15, 2020 - Buglug, Arlequin, Kizu (Man only) - Meguro Rokumeikan

 

So this will be it: My first concert on Japanese ground! I was beyond excited. The concert was scheduled for 5:30. We went there early to avoid any troubles. In front of the venue a nice guy from Israel spotted us and gave us some useful tips for attending a concert in Japan (the entrance system, behaving etc.) Thanks for that man! He also told us that this venue is legendary one. Especially known for X Japan shows in their indies. 

We entered the venue after climbing some stairs down. It was much smaller then I expected. I would say it has a capacity of 150~200. There were no boundaries in front of the stage so the atmosphere is really  intimate. 

 

Arlequin (アルルカン) started the evening. Of course I am familiar with the name of the band but never dared to listen to them. But wow - they were great! They really really had fun with the man only gig. Aki pumped us with shouting Otoko!! several times. He even grabbed his guts lol. He did some stage diving between one song. I really liked his stage performance and the rest of the band was great too! I will definitely get into their discography. They played around 45 minutes. I can‘t report a setlist, sorry. 

 

Second band was (finally) Kizu (キズ). They were the main reason for choosing this concert as I really ship them! So this report will be very long. 😁

As not being the headliner you could see that most of the fans came for Kizu. So as their intro started the venue was pumped!

Lime‘s outfit was a mix between a vampire and the Joker. He had a long black cape, joker makeup (the Heath Ledger one) and hair extension. 

Reiki looked as usual with his short trousers. But his hair is grown much longer. 

Yue had a very dandy look with his hair combed back. He wore a black suit which was open so you could see his upper body. 

Kyonosuke had an interesting look with combed back hair too and a black ruffled indefinable top.

 

They started with Heisei which is so much better live! Lime played a second guitar. 

Next song was Buta also a very nice live experience. 

Then Jugo - and omg what a madness. So much headbanging and Furi. Same with the following Elise.

I‘m not a big fan auf Kuro ame but I have to admit the song is beautiful live. Lime sang the first verse without microphone and that gave me shivers. You could also see that the song is very emotional for the whole band.

The silence after Kuro ame was short as they played Oshimai - fuck yes! It was wild. Reiki did his guitar flip and the crowd was insane. 

Last song was Kizuato - forget what I was saying about Oshimai... this song was insane! That breakdown in the end. 😱 I hoped that they play it and I was so happy. 

And this was it. A 45 minute concert which felt like 10 minutes... If you have any chance to watch them, do it!

 

Setlist キズ:

平成

豚

十五

ELISE

黒い雨

おしまい

傷痕

 

And last but not least BugLug entered the stage. They were the headliner for the show. I‘ve never heard one song of them so I was excited to see what they may deliver. Light went out and a SE started to play as someone tiped my shoulder. It was the lead singer lol. They surprised us and came from the entrance straight through the audience to the stage. They shouted something with a megaphone. That was really cool. Next surprise: Before they started to iniateted a wall of death. Neat!

They did a really good and entertaining show with stage diving, moshing, fan service etc. While the last song the singer came right into the audience and sang the whole song there and even started to mosh. 

Great band but their music is not my cup of tea. (Please don‘t kill me dear BugLug fans!)

They also played 45 minutes. I don‘t know their songs but I took a picture of their setlist if someone is interested.

 

So this was it! A great concert with left us all with smiling faces. next one is the Meme Oneman on February 18.

 

I hope you liked this review and didn‘t fall asleep while reading. I will soon write again after the next concert.

Edited February 16, 2020 by Demivee

[Demivee 103]

Hey it‘s me again!

So after a few amazing and exhausting days in Tokyo the next scheduled concert was approaching:

 

February 18,2020 - MEME (oneman) - Tokyo Higashikōenji ni man den'atsu

What started as a joke a year ago I never ever would have imagined that I would see this „band“ live in my life. We only started listening to them because of that ridiculous name but L‘s new project really convinced me with some amazing songs. So it was a now brainer that we wanted to take the chance to see him live. 
 

Long story short we missed the most part of the concert because of getting stucked in Tokyo... (maybe it wasn‘t a good idea to try to get a seat in the Kirby Café on the same day as the concert lol)

I was so angry at those big metro stations with those ridiculous never ending line change hallways but we couldn‘t do something about it.

 

So we arrived half an hour after the start at the venue and earned those (well deserved) stupid Gaijin looks. But they let us in and we entered a not so full but hot room. We saw like 4 songs and it was good! L seriously knows hot to entertain and those Bangyas worshiped him with wild Furis and screams. 
He had a great look with some extended hair and a white dress. 
His backing band was also on fire.

So we did the best to enjoy the short rest of the concert. 
Next time I will definitely watch my time better..

 

So Monday I will go to the much anticipated little hearts Taiban with gulu gulu, Mother, Scapegoat etc.!

 

Edited February 20, 2020 by Demivee

[Demivee 103]

So today I attended the  「MY little HEARTS. Tour Edition Vol.14」event. We went very early to avoid any troubles like the last time...

There were 8 bands on the the schedule which roughly played 15~30 minutes each. I went mainly because of gulu gulu and Mother but I‘m always curious to find some new bands so I watched every show.

 

I will describe the shows of gulu gulu and Mother in detail, the other ones as a blind review as I heard no songs of them before. So please don‘t feel offended if I‘m not writing not overwhelming positive about your favorite band.

 

February 24, 2020 - 「MY little HEARTS. Tour Edition Vol.14」with gulu gulu / ザアザア / 極東ロマンス / Chanty / -真天地開闢集団-ジグザグ / マザー / SCAPEGOAT / モンストロ - Osaka Big CAT

 

The event took place at Osaka Big cat, a familiar name. It is located in a shopping mall in a cool and fashionable district. The venue was a big and good aired room with an estimated capacity of 800~1000 people. 

 

モンストロ (Monstllow)

 

The official starting time was 5 o‘clock but Monstllow started half an hour earlier as the opening act. The venue was packed from the very beginning and the curtain opened for the first time. Some hesitated cheering started and Monstllow entered the stage. They played only two very chaotic songs. The crowd was not impressed and the curtain closed again after 15 minutes. But they did their all to excite the crowd and I‘m pretty sure they will gain fans soon. 

I liked their show but they had too less time to shine. 

 

gulu gulu

 

The curtain closed again and a soundcheck started. Excitement spreaded as the gulu gulu fans recognized the guitar tones and rushed to the front. So gulu gulu is starting that early? Someone told me that it is very common for Taibans that one of the bigger bands starts early to excite the crowd. 

So I was hyped as fuck as I REALLY wanted to see gulu gulu. 

The curtain opened and the crowd exploded! It was clear that many attendees came for them.

The band looked mostly like on the latest promo pics but Mei had like a school outfit with a cute red satchel which he had on his back for the whole concert. 

They sadly played only four songs. The first two where unreleased. I can tell you: look forward to their next release, the songs were awesome!

Next was Merry go round - fucking brutal omg!

The last one was Mazui masui, also great. 

Mei throw his satchel away and they left the stage. Felt like the concert lasted 5 minutes.

I’m really curious to the future of the band as they grown really popular in a very short time. 

 

極東ロマンス (Kyokutō romansu)

 

As my main act was over so soon I was excited what came next. The Curtain opened and five black suited guys came out. A little group of fans screamed of excitement. But I didn‘t like their performance that much. They sounded like Glay for the poor lol. Anyways they played their 20 minutes set and the curtain closed again. 

 

マザー (Mother)

 

The curtain opened and their was a beamer installed which throw the Mother logo at a canvas. Yay! I love the somewhat mysterious story of the band. If you didn‘t follow their debut: The aliases of the members are four animals which are transformed to a human form to collect spirit from the audience at their shows. The looks of the members are not published yet so I was curious how they were presented on the stage. The Beamer showed a little movie in the style of their YouTube videos and then the band entered. They looked great - didn‘t expect this! Their songs were pretty hard and their stage presence was awesome. They definitely gained stage experience before as they acted like veterans. They even gave us some fanservice lol. I‘m pretty curious how far this band will go as they definitely have a marketing concept. 

 

Neat little extra: We met them outside after the show and talked to them. They even recognized us as they spotted us big gaijins from the stage while their show. 😅 They took a nice picture with us.

SCAPEGOAT

 

the next band was Scapegoat. The name is familiar to me but I never dared to listen to them. There were definetely many fans of them in the audience as the show was full of complicated furi. The singer brought a chair with him which he and the other members interacted with. Their style was like in the newest promo pics and suited them very well. I really liked their performance and will listen into their discography. 

 

Chanty

 

The curtain opened again but this time there was no fancy intro played but the band already stood on the stage and was presented in a red light. They started with a ballad and wow this really got me. Afterwards they played another quite song. Pretty strange to see a band entering the stage and the audience is not cheering at all because of the quite songs. But after that they delivered some faster songs and the audience did their duties. I really liked their show and will listen to them too in the future.

 

ザアザア (Xaa Xaa)

 

Band number 7 and I slowly got tired. But omg their was no time for being tired. Xaa Xaa hitted me like a train. That show was wild as hell.

I often stumbled over this band before and know that they are a thing at the moment but I never listened to them yet. This I will change right now! Wow they were so great and the crowd was unbelievable. While the curtain was closed the bassist shouted and made the crowd go wild. Then the curtain opened and the band minus the singer were already there and did some fist pumping. Then the singer made his way though the crowd and climbed on the stage. What followed was a set full of wildness on and in front of the stage. At one time we all had to move to the left side of the venue and than had to run all together from one side to the other - like a wall of death with no other side. They closed the set with a nice ballad which I didn‘t expected but it was great. After that the show was over. They gained a new fan!

 

-真天地開闢集団-ジグザグ (Zig Zag)

 

After Xaa Xaa I was really exhausted and hoped that the next show wouldn‘t be that hard. The curtain opened for a last time and a three piece band came onto the stage. What happened next was a big wtf and I‘m not able to describe at all what I did see there. 😅 
The singer had like a dog ear wig with long white hair so that it was not possible to see his eyes. The bassist had a Japanese traditional costume and the drummer looked like he was playing in Deviloof or something similar lol. The first song was a solid VK piece but what followed after was the weirdest thing I ever saw. I would explain it as a mix of DJ Ozma and Deathgaze or something similar. The crowd was loving it and I was also very entertained. They played a short set and when they abruptly stopped the Taiban was over. 
 

It was a great experience and I saw some nice new bands. I’m sorry if my report is a little bit mixed up but there were so many impressions in my head. If you have any particular questions please ask!  

 

Sadly this was the penultimate concert for this Japan trip. But Thursday will be my very highlight with seeing Luna Sea for the first time!

[Demivee 103]

February 27, 2020 - Luna Sea - Utsunomiyashibunkakaikan dai hōru

 

The final post of my concert cycle actually should have been a pure fanboy report as Thursday was the big grand finale with the Luna Sea concert. Yeah should...
One day before the concert  it was announced that the concert will be rescheduled because of the fucking Corona virus.
You can‘t image how shattered I was after reading the news. For so many years I was dreaming of seeing them live on day and the concert should have been the pinnacle of this trip.
But yeah it is like it is. Fortunately I was able to get a quick refund for the tickets.

What saved my day was that the acquaintance who bought the tickets for me gifted me a tour pamphlet from the last date of the tour she visited as a little encouragement. So cute! 😭
She also sent SUGIZO a personal tweet telling him my story for traveling that far etc. and told him that Luna Sea has to come to Germany as a compensation. Let’s see if he will reply lol.

Sorry that I can‘t give you a lively live report.
I hope that the Corona madness will end soon.

 

So tomorrow will be my flight back home. The two weeks were awesome and full of new experience. Thank you for reading!

[platy 3018]

Thanks for the report, it was fun reading it  Glad to hear xaa-xaa are still crazy live. I wonder when mother will reveal their proper looks. Are they waiting to gather more fans so they can buy higher quality outfits? 

 

When you say fanservice, what do you mean? Members winking at each other or something? 

[Demivee 103]

19 hours ago, platy said:

Thanks for the report, it was fun reading it  Glad to hear xaa-xaa are still crazy live. I wonder when mother will reveal their proper looks. Are they waiting to gather more fans so they can buy higher quality outfits? 

 

When you say fanservice, what do you mean? Members winking at each other or something? 

Thank you so much!
Haha I'm curious too. Their stage-look is actually very nice and nearly the same as on their Anime-counterfeits (They only have those animal outfits for promotion).

The singer did some kneeing in front of the bassist and touched the guitarist inappropriately at his chest.