Autumn Cup Tour~FINAL~ Live Report (3rd December 2019) featuring Develop One's Faculties, gulu gulu, SCAPEGOAT, Yamitera, and more

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Autumn Cup Tour~FINAL~ Live Report

Date: 3rd December 2019

Location: Shibuya (Tokyo)

Venue: Tsutaya O-West

Bands/Artists: Develop One’s Faculties/GRIMOIRE/Chanty [cancelled]/gulu gulu/SCAPEGOAT/ヤミテラ (Yamitera)/ マザー (Mother)/ヴァージュ(Virge)

 

After putting this off for two months, I’ve finally had some time to sit down and write about my experiences of a taiban (a live where multiple bands perform) that I attended last year. I was looking forward to this live that had many artists I wasn't familiar with and others I was curious about. It's been a while, so my memory is a bit hazy on some aspects, but I've done my best to capture what happened. However, that also means some of the events written may not be in the order it took place. Many apologies in advance! It's also my first time writing one of these, so please excuse my rookie writing ^^;

 

Note 1: Chanty cancelled their performance so there was a “special guest” who played in their place (more on this later). Also, Haklo was listed in the original advertisements, but they did not appear on stage.

 

Note 2: I’ve done my best to transcribe a setlist when possible. If there are any errors, I deeply apologize in advance! Please let me know of any mistakes and I'll be happy to correct it ^^

 

So, let's get to it!

 

Spoiler

Before the Live

 

The taiban live took place at Tsutaya O-West, which is in the popular, chic city of Shibuya. To VK veterans, it is a familiar and well-known place. For those unfamiliar, it’s luckily not in the chaotic center of Shibuya scramble or other popular iconic stores like Shibuya 109. However, it actually isn’t too far away from it, either. So, traveling from the JR Shibuya Station isn’t too bad.

 

(Courtesy of Google Maps)

 

As I trekked along the small road where the livehouse was located, I noticed several other venues along the way. So, if you are itching to attend more VK concerts (or non VK-lives), then you are in luck since there was basically a show/live playing at every concert hall within the vicinity.

 

Aside from livehosues, there are also some convenient stores and other shops and restaurants close by. If you arrive early and want to sightsee, eat, or rest beforehand or perhaps spend some time with buddies afterwards, there plenty of options available. Shibuya isn't exactly like Shinjuku, so unfortunately, there isn't a line of bars or nightclubs all waiting to be explored. But Shibuya isn't devoid of options, either.

 

In any case, there is a Lawson convenient store right next to Tsutaya O-West. If you ever find yourself late and need a quick snack/meal, it is super easy to pop into Lawson to eat (or buy whatever you need) before heading inside.

 

When I arrived, the staff had set up the barrier gates to let eager fans know where to (vaguely) line up. Many already arrived, all anxiously awaiting to head inside to snag the best spot possible. As a side note, O-West provides the option of putting your belongings in a big plastic bag where (I assumed) it will be placed inside of O-West’s cloakroom for 500 yen. There’s also the ability of utilizing the coin lockers inside the livehouse.

 

As customary, when it was time to enter, the staff called out by the ticket number (1, 2, 3, etc.) and both female and male fans alike headed up the stairs anxious to snag the best spot possible. As for myself, I stood in the back as I had a high-numbered ticket, and at my older age, I’m content enjoying a live without breaking a neck when possible.

 

As you hand in your ticket to the staff member, you pay your drink fee (usually 600 yen), and they basically ask you: Who are you supporting? (i.e. which band gets your money for the live). After selling my soul to one band, I headed up the stairs and entered the venue, which was a decent size. However, as a note, because of the size, fans did not receive the chance to personally interact and meet the band members. (Sometimes, at a smaller livehouse one might have the chance to meet the band members who might come out and sell the merchandise themselves. Although, this is just from my experience.)

To my surprise, there were quite a healthy number of people, and it was a challenge to navigate my way around. There was still some leg room to sit down during intermissions, but it was pretty crowded for taiban lives, which usually do not have as much attendees as a one-man live.

 

There was some time to wait around before the first band played, so I looked around, noticing a variety kind of fans, ranging from young teenagers to middle-aged and even older fans. It was heartwarming to observe the interactions between good friends who shared a common love for one or several of the bands playing that night.

 

When facing the stage, the goods table for each band was on the right-hand side and the bar/drinks station was on the left-hand side. If your Japanese is mediocre (like mine), it’s suffice enough to say "mizu" (water) or "cola" (coke) to the bartender for a simple drink order. (Make sure to order it before the live ends or else your 600-yen drink fee goes to waste.) If you’re feeling brave (or perhaps have better Japanese than mine), you can order cocktails, too.

 

The Live

 

After waiting around for a while, the lights dimmed, which meant that the first band was ready to come out and play. Here’s the order of the bands:

 

Order of Bands

1. ヴァージュ (Virge)

2. GRIMOIRE

3. マザー (Mother)

4. SCAPEGOAT

5. Chanty cancelled ---> ぼんど餅フン太郎 (Bondo Mochi Fun Taro)

6. gulu gulu

7. ヤミテラ (Yamitera)

8. Develop One’s Faculties (DOF)

 

As is standard for taiban lives, most bands play only five to six songs before exiting, and then, there’s ten to fifteen minutes of waiting around before the next band plays.

 

The first band to appear on stage was ヴァージュ (Virge).

 

ヴァージュ (Virge)

 

Setlist

1. -ガラシャ- (Gracia)

2. 海月 (Kurage)

3. 二枚舌 (Nimaijita)

4. 紅いドレス (Akai Dress)

5. 籠女 (Kago Onna)

6. Le ciel

 

They began with -ガラシャ-, which was a great heavy banger to start out and got the audience riled up. I guess to no surprise there were many fans in the crowd who came to the taiban to listen to Virge and knew the dance movements/routines (furitsukes) of the songs. The rawness of Ryo’s voice was a pleasure to hear live as he emanated his feelings clearly into every note he sung. He acted out with each song as according to the tempo and feeling of the piece. And the amount of vigor the band poured into every song impressed me especially the guitars. Each of the members were great and emotive, interacting with the crowd a great deal. But I’ll admit that I’m a huge sucker for guitars, so those stood out to me the most. But the rhythm section also shined as well. In all, I could see why they have a sizeable fanbase. If they can inject this much life at a taiban, I can only imagine the explosive and positive atmosphere they must have at their one man. Sign me up for their next one man live!

 

GRIMOIRE

 

 

Setlist

1. システムエラー (System Error)

2. ばけもの (Bakemono)

3. タロットゲーム (Tarot Game)

4. パルプテッストーション (Pulp Testing(?) Not sure what the second part is ^^;)

5. ピンキー (Pinky)

 

Grimoire entered the stage, sporting the look from their single, Bakemono. They wore the dark yet colorful splotched pajamas. Ryuk, the vocalist, did not cover his eyes either (something he does in the promotional photos). They played songs filled with both fluffy and metalcore elements meshed together, putting on an energizing show for their fans. I enjoyed watching the guitarist, Kie, enthusiastically strumming his guitar and motioning the crowd to join in on the fun alongside Ryuk. Perhaps it was just me, although, I felt they lacked a little vigor compared to the one Virge had. Either way, they were still entertaining to watch and listen.

 

マザー (Mother)

 

Note: I tried to look up a setlist, but unfortunately, I didn’t see one anywhere on the band’s twitter ^^; If it’s somewhere else, then please let me know and I’ll post it here~

 

Seeing they have only debuted last year (2019) with their mysterious anime-esque pictures as a preview, I had no idea what to expect. At first, they presented a video, using a projector (similar to the ones they put up on the YouTube channel), talking about the taiban live itself and making jokes with each other. Afterward, the heavy introduction song blared on the large speakers, which got the fans wildly cheering. To my surprise, they have garnered a healthy fanbase size who also were quite familiar with the dance movements to every song they played. (I guess I shouldn’t have been shocked since the members aren’t exactly new to the VK scene.)

 

Each of the members made their way on stage, eagerly greeting the crowd with a friendly smile. Although, they didn’t look quite exactly like their anime counterparts. But they still looked nice and sported the anime hairdo. I think the vocalist was wearing a wig.

 

They had many lively songs for the crowd to go crazy for. At one point, they had a song in which fans used their light-up glow sticks and had the audience glitter with fanatic brilliance. Overall, I think they’ll be an interesting band to keep an eye out for. I hope they will release some official music soon that is not only on Spotify ^^;

 

SCAPEGOAT

 

Setlist

1. ラブカ (Rabuka)

2. 凡人白書 (Bonjin hakusho)

3. 拒絶 with yuya (Kyozetsu)

4. デモクラシー (Democracy)

5. 縁 (En)

6. 月光 (Gekkou)

 

I was most excited to see SCAPEGOAT, and they did not disappoint. Haru belted out amazing range with his amazing voice while the drummer, U, was fantastic. Both Sayura and Layha also were emotive and exciting. I was most stunned when yuya (the vocalist from DOF) came out on stage as a guest singer along with Haru. There was some eye candy fanservice for the girls for sure, but they both sounded perfect together. It makes me wish they recorded a song together for real! (Or is there one and I’m just ignorant of it? XD) At one point, I remember yuya interacted with Sayula on stage in which Sayula looked somewhat embarrassed but was happy for yuya’s vibrant presence.

 

The songs were fantastic, but I think ‘縁’ left the most impression with me. Despite the topic of the song, it was fun to join in on with the furitsuke (despite looking like the world's biggest idiot since I had no idea what I was doing). The band even clapped at the beginning of the song, signaling for the crowd to participate. And their enthusiasm was infectious. Somewhere in the middle, Haru thanked the crowd for coming out to tonight’s final show of the Autumn Tour cup and hoped to see everyone again at future lives. Listening to the sliver selection of songs left me impressed, and now I’m curious about how their one-man shows are.

 

Chanty cancelled --> ぼんど餅フン太郎 (Bondo Mochi Fun Taro)

 

Chanty cancelled their performances, and thus, left their fans shedding a tear. However, to fill in Chanty’s shoes, a random guy dressed up like an older man came up on stage to perform. (I assumed he was a staff member from one of the bands). He even sported the whole grey wig, a cheap “cape”, which looked like a raincoat, and a wifebeater shirt with khaki-looking board shorts. Suffice to say, it was far from a typical VK look.

 

As I am not familiar with Chanty’s songs, I’m not sure if he performed their songs. However, he did sing Christmas songs and even encouraged the crowd to participate in the rock songs he sung. He also danced around on stage, trying to hype the crowd. To his dismay, the audience giggled and awkwardly muttered among themselves. It was very obvious that the fans found it peculiar. Some even wondered what was going on.

 

Nonetheless, it was amusing to watch.

 

gulu gulu

 

Setlist

1. 不味い麻酔 (Mazui Masui)

2. 変なメリーゴーランド (Hen'na Merry-Go-Round)

3. 轟音とニードル (Gouon to Needle)

4. 「　」‐まっしろ‐ (「　」-Masshiro-)

5. チャイルドプレイ？(Child Play?)

 

This was one hell of a (crazy and good) session. All the bands were lively, but I think gulu gulu hit it out of the park with Ai’s theatrics and the short MC moments. At one point, Ai picked on the guitarist, rito who wondered what he had done wrong. It was a cute and funny moment.

 

The band began with an emergency alarm (like the ones on fire trucks or emergency medical trucks) to alert of gulu gulu’s entrance as each member walked out one-by-one. It’s been a while, but the live was insane with numerous of fans headbanging for each song and hollering out the members’ names nonstop. Ai was jumping up and down on the stage completely barefooted while he headbanged and sang, growled, or danced around. I believe he was wearing what looked like a black blanket around him. It was goofy, but it fit Ai perfectly.

 

At the end, when the rest of the members left the stage, the drummer, hotaru chan, stayed on, playing a bit of a fast-paced and intense mini-solo before banging on the last cymbals. He then threw his drumsticks in the air and promptly waved goodbye as he exited the stage. It was a dramatic, but symbolic way to end their session.

 

After each band finishes playing, their goods table opened, waiting for die-hard fans to buy the towels, shirts, chekis (small polaroid photos), and whatever other goods are available.  When the curtains closed on gulu gulu, the goods table was like waiting for the best ride at the carnival or theme park. More than half of the crowd stormed the table. To me, it seemed to be a testament of their current popularity in the scene.

 

外道反逆者 ヤミテラ (Gedou Hangyakusha Yamitera)

 

 

Setlist

1. 前線敬礼歌 (Zensen keirei uta)

2. メンヘラ撲滅 (Menhera Bokumetsu)

3. イキタガリ (Ikitagari)

4. 反逆の豚 (Hangyaku no Buta)

5. 夕闇 (Yuuyami)

 

I’ve seen their names around on MH, but I hadn’t listened to much of their music, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Surprisingly, they have a healthy number of fans who came to specifically see them, and each of them had their muffler towel ready to use. (For dancing, of course. What else?)

 

The vocalist, Rina, was very enthusiastic, emulating the furitsukes for every song played, and sung each song with loud vigor, never losing any stamina. By the end, I remember Rina glistening from sweat due to the amount of effort and energy he put into his performance. And this high-strung emotion was replicated by the fans who were more than thrilled to see them. They had many heavy songs filled with metalcore elements and intense guitar moments. Rina thanked the people who came to the live and spoke about their one-man tour and final live of said tour. I remember there being a bit of friendly banter between the band members as well.

 

Develop One's Faculties (DOF)

 

 

Setlist

1. 無礼王 (Burei Ou)

2. insert memory

3. ephemeral

4. フラスコを振ると天秤揺れた (Furasuko wo furu to tenbin yureta)

5. アンインテリジブル (Unintelligent)

6. 有為転変は世の習い (Uitenpen wa yononara)

7. 斑 (Madara)

8. My World

 

It was a real treat to hear yuya’s voice live. I heard him earlier when Scapegoat played, but to listen to him for eight more songs was even better. Sadly, since DOF was the last band to play, there weren’t too many fans who stayed behind to watch them. (The crowd was quite small at that point.) It was somewhat discouraging, but luckily that didn’t stop yuya and the rest of the band from putting on a killer performance.

 

Every vocalist that night was amazing and had their A game on. But Yuya definitely stood out, being able to play guitar and sing at the same time. He hit every note perfectly not only with his singing, but also with his guitar playing. His vocals already sound stellar in the recordings, but at the live, he sounded right on point. Something about the rawness of his singing was breathtaking. Rui, the guitarist, could be seen having fun, swaying around and almost jumping up and down. Also, this was before Hiromu officially joined the band, so they had someone else filling in for the bass guitar that night. The support bassist’s playing wasn’t too shabby, either!

 

I've already said this before, but bands most of the time bands perform about six songs at the most, but DOF played eight! I wasn't complaining, and the band didn’t seem to mind, either, as they seemed to want to end the tour with a big bang. Yuya thanked the fans for coming (and staying on until the end). He also spoke about how grateful he was to be on the tour with the other bands/musicians. It certainly was an unforgettable night.

 

The Wrap

 

Attending the taiban was tons of fun, and I had a great time. Technically, you don't get your money’s worth for hearing your favorite band play a few songs. But I think taibans are a nice way to support the band you love and sample the ones that maybe you weren't listening to or thought their works sounded mediocre in the recordings. More often than not, I believe lives can bring a band’s personality and their songs to life (which sometimes doesn’t come out in a recorded CD). In either case, it certainly got me hooked onto a few bands that I wasn’t previously paying attention to before.