söndag 28 december 2014

~Happy New Year~

I haven't been updating recently, mostly because I haven't been to any gigs these past week and a half, but also because I'm away from my dorm and doesn't have as much time.

The livereport for Buck-Tick's concert at Nippon Budokan will have to wait another week (sorry), so while you wait for that;

Happy new year!


onsdag 17 december 2014

Super Session -vol.1ー at Ikebukuro Edge

 Last night I went in the awful rainstorm to Ikebukuro to attend 333music's event Super Session -vol.1- at Ikebukuro Edge! Reason: Közi would be there!

This was the first time at Ikebukuro Edge, and eventhough it was small I think it was really good to be honest. Not that much bigger than Ikebukuro Cyber but so much better.

Like mentioned the weather was horrible last night, it was raining a lot and the wind was kind of strong, and my train was late for some weird reason so I got there about 30 minutes after they called numbers (didn't really matter to me, I had a shitty number 150).

I didn't know much about this event other than it was presented by 33music, who also makes the Motto magazines Közi participated in before, and that it would be sessions.

When I arrived I was one of the last to show up. We all got a calendar for 2015 at the door (see picture). The event began at 7.30 with the first session band and I have no idea who those people were, but they did play covers of L'arc ~en ~ciel's Winterfall and Malice Mizer's Gekka no Yasoukyoku which made everyone really enthusiastic!


They played for about 30 minutes and then it was time for Közi!
For his session, on vocals we had Közi and the bassist from Kagrra, Naoki. Közi used his Malice Mizer guitar, the one from Brise live.
To begin with they played 4 songs, then they invited ISSAY to join them on stage! I don't know that much about ISSAY other than that he's friends with Atsushi Sakurai of Buck-Tick, but I kind of liked his vocals. Also the man looked like Dracula, what's there not to like.

They played 4 songs before ISSAY joined them. Then they played another 5, among them Christmas sucks and White Christmas.
The evening ended with a talk led by Naoki, everyone got back on stage with a rose in their pocket, except for Közi, he had it in his mouth like a cigarette. At the end he threw it out, I did not manage to grab it though.
Before leaving stage he announced that they had one more present for us (except for the calendar), they'd line up outside and thank us on the way out.

If only I would've known, I was thinking about buying a christmas present for Közi but didn't because I have no idea what to give, but if I knew I'd have the chance to give it to him in person I so would've thought of something.
While standing in line to go out I began feeling bad, like should I say something? I really want to say something. Maybe you're not allowed to (since it might stop the line). I don't want to be the crazy foreign girl who can't behave at japanese lives.
In the end I just looked up at him slightly while passing by, and I heard him saying arigatou. I felt like I'd die (I passed Közi, I stood within an arms lenght away! asdfghjkl-fangirl hysteria).

Közi seemed very happy tonight, and while watching him I realised how young he seems. I felt like he can't possibly be over 40 years old, he's like a boy! He has so much energy on stage, it's very amusing to see him live.

During the talk Közi announced that the new ZIZ cd will be released at their all night event later this month. I won't be there though, but I really hope it will be sold later because I really need a copy of that.


BUCK-TICK FISH TANKer's Only & Metaform Nights or Anarchy

The past weekend has been really busy, I have exams this week but haven't had time to study because both saturday and sunday I had to go all the way to Odaiba to see Buck-Tick! It was totally worth it though.

On saturday was the FISH TANKer's Only live, to be honest I joined the fanclub just so I could preorder tickets since I know they sell out (or almost sell out) kind of fast and I want a chance to get a good number. I didn't though, for this live I had number 2010 (Zepp Tokyo takes about 2700 people), but for some reason japanese fans seems to enjoy standing in the back (unless you're a crazy fangirl/boy), so I was acctually able to get kind of close without being killed. Let me just say getting to the middle of the stage is IMPOSSIBLE, but I was happy with standing on Imai's side.

Of course I bought some merch first, and I was very suprised to see that people lined up to do that, and it wasn't just a few people, the line was so big I didn't even see that it was a line. On Buck-Tick's webpage it says the t-shirts are sold out but I was happy to see they were sold here! Looks really pretty and it has the FISH TANKer's Only tourlist on the back.


I'm not used to going to bigger live events, so to be honest I felt slightly annoyed I could barely see anyone else than Imai because of all the arms and some tall heads. So I don't really remember what either Hide nor Yuuta was wearing, but Imai had white shirt and a black blazer with white/glittery polkadots, Yagami wore a black jacket with the Metaform Nights or Anarchy logo on the back. Atsushi entered stage with one of those black scarfs covering him up, a black (with slightly golden colors in it) frilly sleevless blous and black pants. I did not take any notes about in which order they played songs, or which, but they played all of Aruiwa Anarchy of course and some older ones.They acctually opened with Hyper Love! To me it looked kind of weird though, seeing Atsushi entering with his veil/scarf over himself I assumed they'd open with something heavier than Hyper Love. Other songs I was very pleased to hear was Heroin, Romance and Funny Valentine.

For this tour they played the Melancholia -Electria- version, and it was pretty awesome live!
I don't know if it was because of my location, next to the speakers, or if they acctually changed it a bit because the synth/electric melody was kind of hidden and it felt more rock than the recorded version. I really like the single version but this was great aswell. You could hear the guitars and bass a lot more.

Atsushi doesn't really do that much of an MC, he just said welcome, and some sex here and there, but during the presentation of the members, when he was introducing Imai he started patting his shoulder, it looked a bit weird in a fun way. I was a bit disapointed by the fact that they barely moved on stage. Imai was the only one I got a good look at because I was standing in his "zone", but Atsushi and Hide only came over to the left side of the stage during Once Upon A Time, and Yuuta I barely saw at all (being so small and all...).

They ended the night with Mudai, Tenshi wa dareda and Revolver (I was sort of hoping to hear Muma the nightmare...) and on our way out we were all handed a black bag with the tourlist for the FISH TANKer's Only gigs and some flyers.


Then I was back on sunday for the tourfinal!
Since FISHTANK had given me all my tickets the day before I didn't really have to get there so early (It went really smoothly to pick up everything and the staff was reall nice too), and this day I didn't have as bad number, only 879! I'd love to know how these lottery things work through FISHTANK, because I assumed us members would have like maybe tickets 1-500 or something, but it seemed it's completly random since I saw people entering way later with a fanclub ticket.
This evening I felt like I wanted to get closer to stage since I had a better ticket, so I tried to proceed as fast as possible and get myself a good spot. This time I wanted to get infront of the bars which devides the floor (on saturday I stood behind the first ones), I did but it was sort of close to the exit so I felt a bit sad I'll see the stage from the side... THEN some hoard of fangirls (I assume) stormed in and pushed us all so hard I ended up between Imai and Atsushi! This might seem like luck, but it really wasn't. First off they pushed us so hard I would've fallen to the ground unlss it wasn't so crowded and also, now we stood so close people couldn't get their hands down and it began to get kind of warm fast.
I thought that was bad, when Buck-Tick acctually entered it got worse. WAY worse. They opened with Iconoclasm and I can't say I saw a thing during that, I just tried to avoid being killed by people. There were arms everywhere and people jumped around, I fell into people several times and acctually hit my head in one guys back and all of a sudden I realised one guy nailed on to me using me like some sort of shield pushing me evencloser to the stage. I felt a bit sad since I really like Iconoclasm and I wanted to see the stage... When they proceeded to Devil'N Angel I realised that if I stood on my toes I was above most people, so I tried that, but then I lost my balance even easier, and all the way until Dokudanjou Beauty this guy was standing infront of me and I could feel how his back got even more sweatier by every song and I accidently shoved my hand up a wet armpit...
By LIMBO though, I was saved, people had then pushed my to the side so I was back on Imai's side of the stage. I couldn't be happier to have a somewhat bad spot.

It was still pretty crowded but not as much, and funny thing is I realised even the air got extremly warm! If I put my arms up I could feel the difference in the air, it was kind of creepy. I had to stand on my toes again to get some "fresh" air.

Anyway, back to the acctual concert.
The setlist was almost the same, but they exchanged some of the old songs, and I was thrilled to hear MAD! I just wish they'd take a break from the most resent albums, I'd love to hear more from Six/Nine, Cosmos, One life, One death etc. This evening Atsushi acctually got over to our side a bit more, but I have to say, he's way too much at the center. It feels like the members rarely move on stage to be honest.

One song I've learned to like is acctually DADA DISCO -G J T H B K H T D-. When I first heard it on the cd I mostly felt "wtf am I listening to", but I think the live's changed my mind. Same with Satan, I think Atsushi's vocals sounds really good singing it live. The songs I still don't get are masQue and Uchuu Cirkus. Didn't really like them on the cd, don't really like them now either, especially not masQue.

Before I knew it, the evening had come to an end. Time really flies by when you're having a good time.
On monday I recieved a mail from FISH TANK saying they recorded the tour final and it will be shown on Nico later in december. Looking forward to seeing the songs I missed...



Setlist:

ICONOCLASM
Devil'N Angel
PHANTOM VOLTAIRE
Dokudanjou Beauty -R.I.P.-
LIMBO
M.A.D
Bodoreru de nemurenai
Satan
Sekai wa yami de michite iru
masQue
Uchuu Cirkus
ONCE UPON A TIME
Melancholia -ELECTRIA-
Zekkai
Makka na Yoru
Aku no Hana

Encore 1

DADA DISCO -G J T H B K H T D-
NOT FOUND
Keijijou Ryuusei
Mudai

Encore 2

SURVIVAL DANCE
Tenshi wa dare da
REVOLVER

Next up I'll write a livereport from the Christmas event with Közi I went to last night!

fredag 12 december 2014

Artnia

 
In 2011 on my first visit to Tokyo I got lost in Shinjuku one day, and while cursing over my bad sense of direction I found a Square Enix store! It had a kind of weird location, by the highway between Shinjuku and Harajuku, but I made many visits and spent a lot of money in that store... (among many random stuff, I bought a Sephiroth perfume).

Not only was this store really cool because it had a lot of Final Fantasy items, but it had an innersection which was kind of dark and had a lot of reflective glass. In this section they sold more expensive items, like perfumes and jewelry, and most importantly, they had a realsize Sephiroth lying under glass in the floor! They also had Gackt's outfit from the Redemption PV standing in that section.





















When I went back to Japan in 2012 I went back to the Square Enix store of course, this time during the evening and I was just planning what I should buy and then get back another day. When I got back another day the store was closed. Close, closed. I was so angry that I didn't buy what I wanted that evening!

A couple of months ago a friend of mine told me there was a Final Fantasy café in Shinjuku somewhere and that we should go there. After a little google:ing I realised it was the Square Enix store which just changed location, and last saturday we went there to check it out!

I was very excited for this restaurant/bar they opened since they had some Final Fantasy themed stuff on that menu.
The store is located a bit away from the Shinjuku station, but I don't mind walking. Just walk down to the area with Forever21 and MaruiOne etc. The building looks very special, almost like a tiny spacecraft, white and somewhat eggshaped. They had cute decorations outside with Chocobos and Cactuars!


Just like the old store, it had two sections, the first with the café area and regular shopping, then they had a similar "dark" room with jewelry. Unfortunatley Sephiroth was nowhere to be found, instead they had a very impressive rainfall and materia in the middle of the room!





















As for the restaurant, since it's so small you have to write your name on a list and wait for a table (unless you're lucky and there's acctually a table available). They have food, like meat and pasta, but the themed food is sweets! There's parfait with a tiny chocolate sword or Yuffie's shuriken! Cocktails called potion or named after aeons, like the awesome looking, blue "Shiva".
I decided to try a cappucino and pancakes! When ordering they acctually ask if you want Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest themed food, so here's what my order looked like!


One of my friends acctually got a tiny chocobo on her pancakes aswell! I wont lie and say it was the best coffee and pancakes I've ever had, but it was fine and most importantly, I went there because I love Final Fantasy and just seeing a chocobo in my coffee made it worth the price!

Of course I made some shopping, this is what I got with me;

Cactuar glas and a clearfile
I really liked the old store, especially because that Sephiroth statue was one of the most awesomest things I've ever seen, but on the other hand I think it was a great idea to have a café/restaurant, I love how there's so many themed cafés in Tokyo! It's totally worth to visit, and to stand in line for almost 1 hour to get a table!

Link: http://www.jp.square-enix.com/artnia/en/

Next up will be livereports from BUCK-TICK's FISHTanker's ONLY live tomorrow and their Tour2014 metaform nights final gig on sunday! (yes...I'm going 2 days in a row...)

måndag 8 december 2014

Moi Dix Mois - Dis Inferno XII ~Last year party~ at Shibuya WWW

Last night was the last concert for Moi Dix Mois this year, Dis Infernal XII.
It felt a bit special for me this time because the live was held at Shibuya WWW, and that's where I saw them the first time in 2011.
I sort of forgot time...and my localtrain was going so slow it took me forever to get to Meidaimae (where I transfer to a train going to Shibuya), and on my way I tried figuering out why it felt like I left something at home, I later realised it was my earplugs! So on top of being late, I was too scared going deaf I ran into a pharmacy trying to find earplugs (no success). When I arrived at the venue it was about my turn to go in eventhough I had a sort of bad number (161).
Seeing the stage made me feel even more "nostaligic" (if you can be that for an event which happened 3 years ago:P), because the setting was almost the same, with the big cross in the ceiling, the gate by Mana and Hayato and the Moi Dix Mois logo in the back.

As always I feel a bit annoyed at the fans who keep space infront of them in which 2 people could stand, but fortunatley my friend agreed so when the lights were turned off and the band was about to enter, we pushed like there was no tomorrow.

As the members entered I was really excited to see Ryux, especially the rest of his outfit, but from where I was standing and with tall people in high heels, I was happy if I could see Mana's upperbody (I did see all the members heads though :P)
Nothing new when it comes to the outfits of the other members, just the same as for the release of Reprise. To be honest I was highly disapointed in what we could see of Ryux outfit in Mana's blogentry, and I was even more dispointed at the rest XD I'm sorry but I can't see how his clothes fit the rest of the members... His hair reminded me highly about Rikku in Final Fantasy X-2, with the headband and long braids. I didn't get a good look at his bottompart, but it looked very simple, and the model of his top looked like a t-shirt (just in another kind of fabric and details), so I hope they release something so they get some new outfits XD

As the times before, I think Moi Dix Mois music is awesome live. They might not add anything special to the songs, but they're just so great when played live! I was really happy over the great setlist aswell, I never thought I'd hear Vizard live! I prefer the songs like Night Breed, Neo Pessimiste etc, over the slower ones like Solitude, especially live, since Mana's so..."shy" I think he performs best during these songs. The reason I wrote "shy", is because eventhough I'm pretty sure he really is shy, I have to say he comes across as unengaged sometimes during lives. Like when Seth is talking and you can see Mana just looking down the floor or doing stuff with his guitar, and then all of a sudden he's back to sign language and whispering. The more I've seen him live the more I feel like I'd so pick him if I got to chose 1 bandman to talk to XD I really want to know whats behind all that. It's not that easy to read his face, sometimes I'm not even sure if he really enjoys it to be honest. I hope he does though, and I think he does, he probably would've quit by now otherwise.

During the first MC Mana wanted us to call Mana-chan and Mana-kun, then he told Seth it made him remember schooltimes.
During this night Mana came pretty close to us in the audience, and I saw how many people reached for his guitar, which I felt was kind of weird since he was playing and it was obviously distracting, at least since some grabbed for it. I tried my best to get one of his guitarpicks, but I failed... Once I even felt it on my chest, but it fell on the floor and eventhough I sat down trying to find it, it was too dark and I felt a lot of platformshoes...and I didn't feel like loosing my hand trying to find the guitarpick, and on top of that I wasn't the only one who dived down, when I wanted to get up again it was almost impossible since I then had the ass from the girl infront of me covering my way up since she bended down looking for the pick:P
I'm glad Hayato now always gets to take part of the MC! He joined in during Immortal Madness. When I saw them in 2011 he did not talk during the whole evening, but since he did during the live in October I'm guessing its something which has changed with the years (?).
Also, his hair was a bit different, he was now shaved on the sides (not completly but the hair was reallyreally short). Maybe he have had it like this for longer...I don't know since photos are rarely posted of him :P
Mana went and got a Jack Daniel's, and I was pretty sure he'd drink from it, but NO, he made poor Seth do it instead....twice! after the second sip you could see Seth wasnt that amused by it XD

For the encore the band got back on stage with partly new outfits. Mana in his Mötley Crue t-shirt, Hayato also had some old bandshirt, don't know which but it was black with some greenstuff (XD), Sugiya had a black leather jacket and Seth came back in pants and a huge fur. Not because of perverted fangirlness, but I was a bit glad that Seth was halfnaked because I wanted to see his tattoos. I don't know how old he is, but I'm guessing around the same age as Mana, have to give him creds for looking very youthful. In general Seth looked very nice, I felt as if he didn't have that much make up, slightly red eyeshadow, and he looked very beautiful.

They played a cover (I'm guessing something by Mötley Crue?) and unfortunatley Seth's vocals wasn't the best, probably because it was an english lyrics, it wasn't that his voice sounded bad, but like many japanese singers the words start to melt togheter after a while. Like most already know, Mana was playing drums for this and Hayato did the guitar. After the song Mana threw out his drumsticks to the audience and I acctually grabbed one by the edge, but people went crazy and I realised I wouldn't have a chance...

The second and the last song for the encore was Deus ex Machina! I really like this so I'm glad that's one of the songs they seem to play every time. This evening balloons were thrown out. Mana stood kind of close to us in the audience and people for some reason threw te balloons back at him so for a while he stoped playing and just kept throwing them back. Not sure with his stoneface but I think he looked kind of amused (XD)
Then when the song ended, he all of a sudden turned his back against us, removed his guitar and just leaned back, and here's the weird part, I stood kind of close but all of a sudden people sort of pushed some of us away. and I have no idea if it was people from the middle just attacking to get a touch of Mana, or if people backed XD (normally you're supposed to take the person who stagedives, not go away XD), so some staff came and helped Mana up again. Then Mana went to the other side of the stage and touched peoples hands, and again, since people saw him coming back they got a bit violent, for a while it looked like people really grabbed his hands and arms and didn't seem to want to let go. I took my chance too, but gently. Then it was about to wrap things up, Mana was sitting in a corner throwing back balloons again, and Hayato grabbed a balloon and hit it with his drumsticks, and I was lucky enough to catch it! Finally the bandmembers all grabbed eachothers hands and then they jumped, said goodbye and left the stage.

I had a lot fun, and I do feel a bit sad that this was my last Moi Dix Mois live at least for now. I would've loved to go to Mana's birthday live....but I'll cherish the memories I have from these two lives I've been able to attend!


The setlist is stolen from Twitter, I did not remember the order! So thanks to the japanese fan who posted this!

Setlist
The Pact of Silence
In Paradisum
The Seventh Veil
Diabolos et Angeli
Night Breed
Twilight Flower
Methaphysical
The Sect

MC

Beast Side
Vizard
Pendelum
Solitude
Neo Pessimiste

MC

Immortal Madness
Dead Scape
Ange ~D Side Holy Wings~
Je l'aime

Encore

Deus ex Machina

fredag 5 december 2014

Yokohama

Eventhough I've been to Tokyo 2 times before, and I've planned it several times, I've never been to Yokohama.

Yokohama counts as Japan's 2nd biggest city (eventhough it's in the Tokyo area), to be honest I've never really understood that...
Anyway, one of my teachers live there and she randomly handed out Yokohama maps one day saying we should all visit it someday. I planned to go a month ago but other things got in the way, but this weekend I finally dragged my ass to Yokohama!

 It was a bit of a bother to get there, I first took my local train to Meidaimae, there change to the train to Shibuya, got off at Shibuya and on the Tokyu Toyoko line. In total it took me 1½ to get there (including the time I had to wait for another train to Yokohama since I accidently went on the local train, realised, went off but then missed the express:P).

Anyway, Yokohama is a big area, so seeing it all seems impossible in 1 day, so I kept to the left part of town. Starting off with going to Closet Child! *yay*

I'm always hoping to find some rare stuff, like demo tapes etc, and I never do... (Everyone assumes just because it's Japan the tapes are everywhere, or really old and rare cd's etc, they're not. Best way to find that is on aucton or to find some other ex-fan who has it and is willing to sell it).
But I did search every corner of the store and came out with some stuff from their sales.


The main attraction for this evening was sort of to see the illumination at Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse, so we took the train to Bashamichi Station, and then walked up to Minato Mirai, Shinko Area. I have to say I wasn't that impressed by Yokohama at the station, looked like most other places in Tokyo, but this little "island" was completly amazing! It reminded me a lot about Odaiba, which I love, so I got really excited.


Yokohama Cosmoworld is placed on the edge of Shinko Area and the Ferris wheel, Cosmo Clock21, can be seen all over since it's so big! (about 100m) I've been up the ferris wheel on Odaiba so I had to get up this one too *_* I love seeing Tokyo from high up, it looks so pretty with all the lights and tall buildings. We got the red cart, so we named it The Közi-wagon (yeah, when fandom's taken over completly and I see Közi in everything red) XD


It was completly worth the 800yen, it was so cool to see Yokohama from above.
This amusementpark had some attractions and any games, I don't really know what this was but I have to share pictures because it looked so funny.

   
It seems to be some sort of game inside, but the wall (left picture) made me so think about Mana's webpage! The guy standing at te front looked highly amused by the fact that we got so excited...I'm guessing most who show up here are boys in the age between 12-16?...

Anyway, to the mainthing, the illumination.


I didn't really know what it would be, but it was acctually a christmas market! I was very suprised because at a first glimpse it really looked like the European markets you can find in Berlin etc. But the further you went the more japanese:ness would be found.

 
Like the christmastree, with bells under which people went up to and rang (just like a temple), and the food. People ate frenchfried and pizza... they also had cocktails....made from Bacardi XD
Then when I finally thought the christmas spirit acctually felt kind of nice and cozy, we found a very mal placé santa....with a very short skirt and lowcut blouse on the end of one of the houses XD 


Overall it felt nice to see a bit of christmas, all the lights looked so pretty, and we had a good laugh at the japanese christmas ^^


Finally, I found this guy standing there.... Remember him from a Ma Chérie?... Közi...??? (XD)
 

söndag 30 november 2014

ZIZ on Takadanobaba Club Phase

Friday night ZIZ participated in an event on Takadanobaba Club Phase togheter with Amber Gris and Hollowgram.


I rarely know in which order the bands play so I'm always a bit confused about if I should rush to get a good spot or if I can have a drink and wait... Usually I just rush because I don't want to end up in the back :P
Amber Gris was first out and to be honest they made me yawn XD Their 40 minutes felt like 1 hour, and they just felt so random... I googled them before I bought the ticket just to see what I had to endure for the sake of Közi, and since they acctually had PV's I didn't think they'd feel so...amateurish XD They looked so random, like the bassist was dressed in lolita fashion, the singer reminded me of Adam from ADAMS and one of the guitarists looked a bit steampunk and obviously was their fangirl magnet :P
I was kind of happy when they finally left stage and ZIZ got on.

Club Phase has this screen which is pulled down when the bands prepare the stage, but you can still see them on the sides of that screen. I kept looking to see if I could catch a glimpse of Közi but no Közi....

ZIZ played for 40 minutes, but time always flies by when you enjoy something. Közi was awesome as always, and looked great as most of the times. He had a black blouse with pink dots/spots, black velvet blazer and black tight leather pants.
All the members came in on stage one by one while Ö was playing, and Közi was last of course. he took quite the time to join the others and I couldn't help myself from thinking that he probably had a last drink.... before getting on stage to have one more... (since he had liquor on stage last time I saw him)

As the other times I've seen Közi he was really into what he was doing, and when comparing ZIZ performance with the other two bands, well there was a huge difference XD Közi just seems so comfortable on stage, like he's just doing his thing but it comes out so great and relaxed.

They played some songs I didn't recognise though. Közi announced in the MC the finished the recording of the new album so maybe it's on the coming release? I certainly hope so because I really liked the second song. It felt very Közi, like Katharsis meeting something electronic XD it's kind of hard to explain, but sometimes I feel like Közi's songs, or just part of certain songs is "dreamy" in a way. Like not straight forward like RayD5, like they're blurry, like Katharsis or parts of Memento. Does that make sense? maybe it's just in my head but I feel like Közi's songs sometimes does that, they enter some sort of trans-stage XD like they sound a bit repetative, but not in a bad way, and melancholy. Yugami did vocals with Közi on this, and it didn't sound like anything ZIZ released so far...so I'm very excited for this new album.

Except for ZIZ great performance, I acctually found myself a bit annoyed... Since bands like ZIZ are really small, the people who come to see them are usually the same, so they come on like fangirl groups and they usually know or are familiar with the other people who come to see the other bands aswell. SO, this live gig wasn't so small that they ahd one of those "lists" for the frontrow, instead it was one of those in which the fangirls wait in the back and then they just change place with someone they know :P so it's impossible to get really close, and I feel a bit frustrated especially since these people see these bands several times a year and for me it's once in a lifetime XD (sorry, this might sound a bit like I should get a privilege just because I'm a foreigner, but it's more I feel like I should get a privilege because I might not see them again XD). All though I prefer the japanese live-system, the whole ticket with number is great IMO, but inside I get kind of pissed to be honest. As a foreigner you really feel a bit left out.
Also I really don't get everyones systematic behaviour. Like I mentioned before, everyone does the same movements at the exact same time, and sometimes it's not just wave your hand, sometimes it's almost like tiny dances XD and I just want to know who the *** came up with that XD It takes so much energy and focus to do all that, you almost miss the whole livegig. Like I mentioned before I didn't care when I saw The Velvet the last time, I just wanted to enjoy the gig, and same with ZIZ...ESPECIALLY with ZIZ. Their music (IMO) isn't even suited for all that dancing and headbaning or whatever...I don't get it, the front row went all crazy with the headbanging, and I can really not hear that in their music... it's almost like the japanese fans HAS to do all that stuff, even if the music doesn't even have parts in which it's suitable. I mean not even the band hints at that (normally you can just look at the band, like with D, Tsunehito headbangs, you headbang). It's a true mystery to me... the Japanese way of concerts (should be a book about that..).
Over all I had a great evening though (still want to hear Spiegelwelt though...).

Setlist:
Ö
RayD5
Unknown *LLELVI
MC
FREAKQUENCY
Unknown*ECHOFALLS
Night Creature
MC
Unknown *BE POP HIGHSTYLE
Sanityman
SUPERBSAW

torsdag 27 november 2014

BUCK-TICK 甘美な死骸 - quan vie nna sigue eye -

Today I finally got my BUCK-TICK perfume! It was kind of weird because they never gave us a shippingdate, like stores normally do, just that it would be shipped by the end of the month so I almost thought mine was lost somewhere (I have a really weird address which is way longer than normal), but it arrived safely!

Kanbina Shigai was released in 3000 bottles, and they've all been sold out! I can honestly say that it was a bit expensive since it's not highclass perfume :P but I like perfume, so if a band I like releases a fragrance, I'll be sure to get it!

 I haven't tried it, and I won't at least for now (perfume starts to get bad the minute you start using it since air will get down the bottle, and it might even change colour or smell after a while (like after 2 years), and since I don't drown myself in perfume one bottle lasts quite a while for me... but I have tried to smell the opening and judging from that it's kind of a weak fragrance, nothing that stands out a lot (which can be seen as good, I mean now most will probably not say they hate it:P).
The bottle was kind of heavy and eventhough the fragrance feels very female and I'm guessing the most people who bought it were women, the design is somewhat pour homme for me. I like that though.


onsdag 26 november 2014

The Velvet at GARDEN

Today's been very stressful, I had class until 3pm then I went home, changed clothes and went to Shimokitazawa to see The Velvet!


A little bird told me they'd be first out tonight so there was no time to loose (me finding places are the worst thing possible, I get lost very easy). I acctually passed by GARDEN...no I'm not kidding, I passed it and had to go back... that's happened so much since I got here it's not funny (and always as embarrassing to go back).

The good thing with these really small livegigs are that it's not packed. You can arrive 15 minutes before they start and get to the front row or at least really close to the stage. The Velvet doesn't have that much fans so I got a good spot between Mimi and Bera ^^

Over a month ago I acctually found black stockings with white dots! So eventhough the band now changed outfits to nonpolka dots I decided to wear them anyway.

I have to say I love the new outfits. Mimi looked adorable. He wore long black pants with a black sleeveless shirt, which was longer at the back and almost a bit short at the front because he kept flashing his cute stomach, with ruffles and a red ribbon around his neck. On top of that he had a black blazer with some decorations on his shoulders.
Tonights setlist was perfect IMO, almost the whole setlist was favorite songs of mine and I finally got to hear SORROW! <3

At the live I went to in October they also played Meikyuu shoujo and I totally fell in love with that! The song's from the compilation cd DEEP MORE DEEP that was released this summer, unfortunately I haven't heard the recorded version, only at lives, but it's one of the best songs from The Velvet *_* You can acctually here it in their video from the Halloween gig on their official youtube channel (and see Mimi's cute dancing which makes me feel so retarded when doing -.- I'm pretty sure I don't look as cute as him doing that -.-'')


Tonight unfortunatley Bera had some problems with the strap on his guitar, it broke during Usotsuki onna no shita o nuke (I think it was during that song..) so he had to sit down for a bit and play. But even though after getting some help from the staff, the strap broke again and this time he dropped the guitar on the floor infront of the stage. Mimi kept going though but I couldn't help but to look at Bera since I thought he was gonna fall down from stage when he picked up his guitar >_< This was at the end of Victor, Mimi kept going on his own, but between Victor and SORROW they had a short break in which staff helped Bera to attach the strap to his guitar with sticky tape.

As always they were full of energy on stage, I really admire their scenepresens. I wish more people would come and see how awesome they are live. For tonight I didn't really care about all the specific handmovements and stuff, I'm tired of keeping up with that to be honest, hehe. I just wanted to enjoy The Velvet, and I'm glad I did because it was a really great live.

After they played (which didn't feel like 30 minutes, more like 15) I went over to the merchtable! Unfortunatley Mimi wasn't the one standing there like last time =( I really wanted to thank him for bringing t-shirts^^ 
As seen on my photo I got the black t-shirt (SO pretty *_*), 幻影フィクション and a cheki. When you buy cheki's you can't pick which one you like, you just draw one or as many as you buy from a bunch, and I had the badluck of getting Bera with their support drummer (no offense but I want Bera and Mimi...). But like an angel sent from  heaven, this woman came up to me asking if I bought any chekis because she wanted to trade, and she wanted mine and gave me the close up of Mimi and Bera <3 on top of that, when I thanked her I said I wanted one with Mimi she just handed me the Mimi single shot, and when I was about to pay her she didn't want it *_* So I got Mimi as a gift! I was so surprised, couldn't thank her enough <3

I left early, mostly because I'm tired of seeing mostly shitty random bands and I had early class. In October I thought I should see The Velvet once more before I leave Japan, so I did, but now I want to see them again XD Maybe I can catch them once more if possible.

(I got a reply on this photo on twitter, someone really liked the t-shirt, if I go again, I can offer to buy t-shirts or cheki's if anyone wants! Please comment or mail me if that sounds interesting.)


Setlist:
1.Plastic doll
2.Meikyuu shoujo
-MC-
3.Usotsuki onna no shita o nuke 

4.25 ji no Cinderella 
5.Victor
6.SORROW

fredag 21 november 2014

高幡不動尊 Takahatafudoson Kongoji Temple

Last sunday I decided to do some sightseeing in my neighbourhood. Every day on my way to school I pass the station Takahatafudo, and see part of a huge temple there, but I never went there because when I first arrived I blamed the weather for being to warm saying I'd go when it cooled down a bit. Now I realised it's winter and soon it will get really cold so better start doing everything I won't enjoy doing in 5 degrees :P

This isn't just a temple, it's like a whole area! It was dedicated to the deity called Acala, and was built somewhere between 794-1185 (Japanese Heian period).
There seemed to have been some kind of event when I visited because people had like a market, selling various things and I saw several people dressed up (among them an adorable little boy dressed in the traditional hakama which is a rare sight).

I left with a bunch of photos in my camera a new charm for good health.

This gate (ironicly modern with the sign and everything) shows the way from the station Takahatafudo.
 Horinkaku
 This is the pagoda, the part of this area you can see from a very long distance! I read somewhere that it's said that monks stayed on each floor depending on your skills/wisdom, so best at the top. These kinds of templebuilding has its origin in China, but you can find them in many asian countries, like Japan.


Maybe it's not that noticable but the  statue to the left was very big, bigger than human size. Really cool, and I also love these lion/monster statues that often sits by entries to temples in Japan (right picture).


lördag 15 november 2014

Schwarz Stein instore event at ZealLink

Today was the instore event at ZealLink in Shibuya!
I was very hyped to finally get the chance to attend, I even planed on bringing a Rudolf Steiner tape and get it signed, but decided not to because I want to have the release the event concerned signed, makes a better memory. It also felt good that I really like this release, not that I didn't enjoy Gebet or COCOON-Fallen-, but this is pure awesome.

I also wanted to get them something, my first idea was to hunt down popcorn for Hora, but the store's in Harajuku, and the one in Shibuya is too far from the station, so I felt like fuck it, everyone likes chocolate, I'll go with that. So I first went to Lindt's shop by the Shibuya station and picked out chocolates I thought would suit Hora and Kaya, then I bought some presentbags at a 100yen shop.

For once I wasn't 5h early either. I acctually arrived when they already opened. But since this was my first instore event I had no idea the chairs were numbered....in the bottom :P So I just picked a chair and sat my ass down, then I saw how one girl began to flip the chairs and then I realised I had to find my place :P which of course was a total fuck up. My number was 30, and there were NO number 30, there were two 31's though, so with a little help from a kind girl I sat down at one of those.

You got a piece of paper on which you were to write your question for them, when you bought the single. My queston was why they decided on the name Schwarz Stein. Funny thing was, I noticed how most didn't leave a question to the staff...like don't they care or assume other's will leave tons of questions?

From Kaya's Twitter

Anyhow, they started on time, around 2pm. Kaya came in first followed by Hora. Hora seemed a bit uncomfortable, he kept touching his corset like it was uncomfortable, maybe he's not used to sitting in it ^^
 They did a short presentation and then the staff began asking the questions fans had written. To be honest I had a hard time keeping up with it. There were so much and my inner fangirl was about dying from the excitment of being this close to Hora. There were several questions about their make up... but none about Hora's magic symbol! Seriously, I want to know if he has some sort of stash of those tattoos for kids or something, because that thing is not done by hand. I think Kaya mentioned Hora's done pretty quick with his make up, and something about they should switch make up style once (haha).
Hora also talked about their time in the US, and then Kaya mentioned France, Paris and Hora said he doesn't know much about it, and asked the crowd which country they like, and no one replied. I was so tempted to say Japan XD
Then when it was time for my question I almost missed it because I was starring at Hora and noticed how he waved at a girl infront of me and it looked so sweet... To be honest I didn't get the full answer for this either, sorry. Kaya gave a translation to japanese of "schwarz stein", and then he said the name was made up by Hora and Mana, and that he thought it was good. They also mentioned how Kaya used to call himself Hime, but I didn't catch all of that.

When the questions were done, the staff collected our tickets and we stood in line for the signing. Some people handed them their gifts personally, but it seemed like the staff was rather annoyed by people taking too long and that they had to put the gifts in the basket afterwards, so when it was almost my turn I just dropped of Kaya's bag, and the bottom of his basket was full, while Hora only had 1 bag in his =(
Kaya didn't say anything except for thanks, but he smiled and had a very formal body language XD He took the booklet with both of his hands, like Japanese do with businesscards, signed and then he turned it around so that I had the cover facing me in the right direction and of course gave it back with both hands. I wanted to say something but I was too nervous so I just thanked him and continued to Hora. When I gave him the booklet he didn't say anything and I was too nervous so I thought, well I don't want to fuck this up with my bad japanese, but then he asked me where I came from, and when I said Sweden he sort of looked at me like he probably knew who I was, so I said my name and then he seemed to get who I was, (or faked it XD). He thanked me and smiled, then the stressful staff came over and put a hand on my arm to nicely show that she thought I was in the fucking way stoping others from going forward XD so I stepped aside and put my tiny bag of chocolate in Hora's basket, and he looked up and bowed his head.
Then I went out, trying to get the single back to it's plasticwrap like I had it when I arrived, but that was impossible because my hands were shaking like leaves XD

I'm kind of sad I didn't say more, but on the other hand there wasn't any time for that, and I'm also pissed they did signing and photos with people in the US and not here. I'd really want a picture with Hora =(
But it was nice to see them close up (admiring Hora's face), and to acctually get something signed before me, and not just presigned and sent as some bonus.


Then I did some random tourism in Shibuya. I haven't really spent time there eventhough I've been here 3 times. But, I still can't say I really enjoy Shibuya...

fredag 14 november 2014

D at Shinjuku Blaze

On Thursday I went to D's  release concert for Kingdom at a sold out Shinjuku Blaze.


I planned on seeing D in 2012 but ended up not getting a ticket, which was one of the worst decisions I ever made, because I love Namonaki mori no yumegatari which was released then, so I decided to try my best getting a ticket for their tour, but they didn't have any Tokyo gigs during my stay :P So when I saw this release concert I was very happy and acctually went to Lawson 3 minutes after the release of the tickets. I got ticket B-7, which I thought was a great number (it usually is). This was not :P

I've never been to Shinjuku Blaze but with a little googling I saw that it has the capacity for 800people. I arrived just on time, because I had to go pay a visit to Closet Child eventhough I go there about once a week :P and I acctually got myself a copy of D's Dark Wings, with Tsunehito's trading card *_*

I seriously bet about 500 people was lining up outside of Shinjuku Blaze, that's how crowded it was! I listened very carefully as they called out the numbers, and when they were betweek A 150-200 I felt like it would be my turn soon....but NO. I have no idea what kind of system D has but A tickets acctually went all the way up until 600! There went my "great ticket"...

I try not to go to the merch table before concerts because I just want to get a good place, so I squeezed my way to the middle on the left side somewhere, and D was a bit late I might add :P I hate waiting especially when you stand with 800 people.

Finally the venue got dark and the new PV for Shuuen -uchuu e no kai ki- began to play on a screen. I have to say, wtf happened to D's PV's? XD I'm sorry but it doesn't really make it for me with all these western people and random storylines I don't get. Asagi handed over a baby to some old guy, Tsunehito was some sort of princess, HIDE-ZOU played guitar, Ruiza was some overnatural being and Hiroki was almost dead or something, I have no idea what was going on, but the song was suprisingly good. I usually don't like D's slow songs, but this really had a bit of that extra.

I got kind of hyped, seeing the shadow of HIDE-ZOU, and then finally the concert began for real.
They played all the songs from Kingdom straight up, so I only recognised the singles, and I have to say Dark Wings was pretty awesome live. Even if I like certain bands, if I haven't seen them live I have no idea what movements the band wants people to do, but D was pretty good with guidance XD (Like when Asagi demands the crowd to bow with his handmovement)

I was lucky though, since this was a completly new album and most of the people had not heard it yet (Asagi asked if some had listened to it yet and some acctually raised their hands...), so they told us a lot of what they wanted us to do during certain songs. Best part was when Asagi said HIDE-ZOU would show saru no dansu (monkey dance), he looked so adorable, and it was fun seeing Asagi laugh for a change.



To be honest I don't really have any idea which member in D who's the most popular among fans. In the west it seems like Asagi (of course) and Tsunehito has a lot of fans, so I was kind of suprised to notice that people seemed to be shouting for everyone equally, and that Hiroki had a lot of fans because he seems a bit forgotten among western fans. It was also highly amusing to listen to the 2 "older" women (around 30-40) behind me who commented on how cute Ruiza was as soon as he came to the front on the stage.

Hiroki had a pretty interesting drumsolo, and later the other members, except for Asagi, joined him in a really great performance.
They ended with Shuuen -uchuu e no kai ki- and then they went off but of course people shouted for an encore so we got to hear old favorites like Night Ship D (I felt so bad for not having flags T_T), Eden and of course Toki no Koe! I've seen live videos of Toki no Koe so many times and it looks awesome live, so I was very happ they played that, it was just as fun IRL as in the videos *_*

They took a lot of time to wave good bye to everyone, that was sweet of them. Tsunehito was very energetic all evening, he even headbanged his minihat off :P He came to the front of the stage a lot, encouraging people to shout, and I have no idea if he doesn't care or just doesn't think about it, but he often puts one leg on the speaker and since his skirt for the Kingdom look is short on one side we got to see all of his cute tiny tigh (I'm curious if those at the front row saw up to his underwear...what underwear does he have under all of those fluffy skirts...)
My fangirlheart was completly melted by HIDE-ZOU this evening though. He was so adorable, and sososo much prettier IRL than on the promophotos! I really don't get the overphtoshoped pictures of all VK bands, they look so much better IRL! I mean how can anyone say no to:



The concert itself was really good, it was not as much fun to get out of Shinjuku Blaze though :P I still hadn't used my drink ticket and I tried to aim for the bar, but there were so much people I was sort of pulled away... and then I looked at the line for the merch and just felt paniced so I just left... I really wanted to get the Kingdom pamphlet =( but I can't stand that much people in that small venue.
Eventhough I enjoyed them, I felt like most of the songs on Kingdom just didn't do it for me. I'll of course listen to it again, but yeah, sorry but I felt a bit meh.

I'd love to see D again, but I doubt that will happen since they'll go on hiatus next year... so I'm happy I at least got this chance!


Next up is ZIZ in 2 weeks!

tisdag 11 november 2014

Közi solo ver : E//+Z short review

I know many are very eager to hear about the new Közi release, so I'll make a tiny review of it.

So, 5 people have chosen their favorite Közi solo songs and made remixes of them. Közi himself is one of them (hehe).
I'm just gonna write some basics about how the songs sound and my personal thoughts^^

Tracklist 

GROTTESCA / Koma RMX
Great openingtrack. I really like Grottesca so I was a bit scared this wouldn't be good enough, but it is. It's one of the more intersting tarcks on this cd, and one of the most hard one. I almost get a bit of Blam Honey vibes from this from time to time.

INCOHERENTS / MAXDEADROOM RMX
Feels very disco/club, especially live. One of my favorite tracks, but I also really enjoy the original version. I like that he kept most lyrics, remixes tends to just be a loop of the same piece for 4 minutes.

BABYLO /Közi RMX
Közi's done a great job with this one. Instead of the rocksound it usually has it's pure electronic/club music.

CRUEL ARCADIA / YUGAMI RMX
My number 1 track on this cd. Amazing, love it. I mentioned before I was a bit tired of Cruel Arcadia, well I'm head over heels in love again. Also I can't get Közi's slow dance he did during this out of my head XD

KATHARSIS / Közi RMX
For some reason I really love this. It sounds very Közi in my opinion. Very cute and distant in a way, I'd have loved if he would've made a longer version out of this. I just want it to continue and continue!

HONEY VANITY /Koma RMX
I don't think you can make Honey Vanity bad, it's just awesome in every shape. I really like this, the chorus isn't as it usually is, but slower and I think you can hear a lot more of Közi's pretty voice when he sings slower so I like this ^^

CACOPHONY / MAXDEADROOM RMX
A lot calmer version compared to the original! Cacophony is not a favorite of mine so I'm not  hyper about the original nor this remix to be honest. It's okey, but not one of those songs with that tiny bit of extra.

THE EYES /Koma RMX
Also a bit slowed down version of original The Eyes, also Közi's voice's not as distorted as in the original which I liked. The eyes aren't that different either, I think it has the same basics as the original version, good or bad?

PROMENADE /Közi RMX
 This isn't as upbeat as we're used to. On the contrary it's darker and slower.

ISM /Hora RMX
Very Hora:ish. You can hear immediatly it's a Hora remix, and I of course really like it. Might even be better than the original ISM to be honest.  For me, the first half of the cd is the most interesting, so I think it was nice to end the cd with a really good track aswell. And a Hora track as ending when the previous songs are slower, great.

I don't like to write reviews of cd's, probably because I hate reading them (I never agree and I don't like to hear what others think, I just want to hear and make my own opinion) therefor this is very poorly written XD sorry about that. But maybe someone liked to get an idea of what it sounds like.

lördag 8 november 2014

Közi Solo Ver : E//+Z at Vuenos

Közi announced some days ago that he'd release a new cd, today no less at his livegig at VUENOS in Shibuya. Ever since I first saw the "Közi Solo Ver : E//+Z" I've been quite curious what that is... I mean Közi haven't played solo for a long time. At first I thought it was some acousticlive, since I know he's been doing that, but I couldn't have been more wrong.

Since I bought my ticket late, I didn't plan on going to this because there's been so much going on this week I feel like I need to just relax, but since the cd would be released I really wanted to get a copy as soon as possible. I've never been to this venue so I didn't know how big it was on the inside, and since my ticket was nr 57 I was afraid I'd end up in the back, but I was lucky and just like many other events where several bands play most people move over when the act they wanted to see is over (which I first didn't notice so I suffered through the first band, some 4man band playing some popish rock, looking like hosts, making me feel like bursting out in laughter when they shouted ATAMAAA and all the fangirls began to headbang to their really soft sound).

I think Közi's a bad influence... Just like at the talkevent I acctually had alcohol and felt like passing out. I need to stop drinking when I'm at lives *writes memo to myself*

Közi was the third band playing, and I tried sneaking my way to the front but I don't like to push and the system at livegigs feels so complex here you never know if there's some person somewhere in the club making a list of people at the front or whatever, and I hate being the foreigner who doesn't know the rules... But I had a good view at second row!

Since this was a small event the bands had to put their stuff togheter themselves, so first out were Közi's 2 supportmembers (no idea who they are, but one of the guys looked like his old bassist). Then Közi came out from the backstage area looking like:

 This picture is stolen from Közi's twitter!
I don't know how many are familiar with the old electro band Kraftwerk, but I'm pretty sure Közi had them in mind when he chose this outfit... Acctuallt when he entered stage he has a black leatherglove on his left hand (I really like this look on him).
Közi didn't look up once, eventhough people shouted for him. It was kind of fun because first he just walked across the stage, looked like he was just passing by XD Then he came back and began to help them set up their stuff. He looked very focused, doing everything kind of slow, well in his own pace (I was acctually thinking about how he just walked around with full confidence and no looking where he stepped eventhough he had like 10cm heels and there were wires all over the floor, while Hora was all about looking where he walked^^)

Then Közi went backstage and the light was turned off! I had no idea what to expect but since there was a keyboard and a mac computer onstage I sort of figuered it wouldn't be acoustic as I first thought, and I was very right.
The setlist for tonight was all songs from the new cd and it's all songs from Közi's solo done in a sort of remix/club manner. I was happily suprised, I really enjoyed what he has done to the songs. The music didn't fit the scenery though, listening to the songs and seeing Közi dance around, then seeing the crowd which was like 30 people, 3 lines infront of the stage and the rest standing in the back.
This was my third time seeing Közi and if I've noticed anything it's the fact that Közi's really great live. This is of course my own opinion, and I might be effected by the fact I really like Közi, but he's really something special live. Many say he's lazy for not writing any new material and all that, and I get the feeling many might think he just sticks around to have an income XD, but seeing him live, he really looks like he enjoys it, a lot. I get the feeling Közi's very aware of himself when he's on stage aswell. Like, he knows how he wants the performance to look, I'd say he's the opposite of random!

Közi moved around a lot, well not walking around since the stage was kind of small but he danced to the music and he even did the same movements as he does on the DVD for Incoherents! 
I can't remember which song it was, but he held up his left hand, and many of the people in the front row did the same, and he began doing different signs, like holding up 2 fingers, 1 or none and they kept doing the same thing. I got the feeling he did that to see if they'd follow, it looked really fun ^^
During the first MC he first just said hi and it felt like he was about to start another song when he suddenly turned around and said ow yeah, the new album! He also said everyone should get a copy, maybe even several (hehe). It's funny because Közi seems so different when he's performing and when he's talking or just preparing before the gig. When he's singing he feels very full of energy and very comfortable on stage, then when he's talking he's so calm and kind of quiet.
Before they began I acctually noticed how he placed a can and a bottle on the side for himself and I couldn't help but to think how most bands have water and not liqour on stage. For the second MC he raised his can saying cheers, then the brand, then he grabbed his bottle and said the name of the tea which was inside XD
For the last song, Promenade, Közi played bass.
My absolut favorite song tonight was Cruel Arcadia. To be honest I used to love the original version, but I think I just listened to it too much, because I ended up being kind of tired of it. So hearing this new, fresh version made my love come back again. I can't wait to hear the recorded version! (I don't have a cdplayer, nor does my computer take discs, so I need to ask a friend to rip for me:P)
If this will be released and available for overseas I demand all Közi fans to buy it! Not just for supporting his work but because it's really great!

I'm going to ZIZ live by the end of the month and I'm really excited. Közi's so great at what he does, I wish he'd make oneman lives again!

Setlist:
Grottesca
Incoherents
Babylo
MC
Cruel Arcadia
Katharsis
Honey Vanity
MC
Cacophony
ISM
Promenade


fredag 7 november 2014

Schwarz Stein at Khaos Rave Decadence

This has been a busy week, Schwarz Stein on Monday, Velvet Eden och Wednesday and Schwarz Stein again today! (and Közi tomorrow x_X)


This wasn't a oneman, but a twoman they did with the band Aki (Aki is acctually a soloartist, the vocalist from the old band Laputa but he now has 2 members with him). I've never heard of Aki before, but their music was something like a mix of Schwarz Stein and Blam Honey in a way, so they stood for the rave tonight XD


Schwarz Stein was the opening act, and in general they had the same setlist as at their oneman, just shorter, and also, of course the same outfits. The only song they didn't play then was Release Me, but on the other hand they played that at Kamijo's event. I had a better ticket tonight, so I acctually was right behind the person who was at the front, so I had a very good view of Hora :3 Therefor I also got the chance to touch his somewhat sweaty hand 3 times (died on the inside from fangirl overdose). Hora's got quite the fanclub recently XD When I saw them in 2012 I remember that the center and left part of the floor was filled with people because that's where Kaya stands, while the right side was a bit less crowded. Now it's equal and there's so many people calling for Hora, which is fun because he always start out all serious and then when everyone's calling his name he smiles and looks so shy. A new thing I've noticed with Hora compared to 2012 is that he looks at people and gestures that they should put their hands up XD Not in a bad way, but he gives some people looks and sometimes points at them when they wave at him etc (I'm also guessing it's some fans which comes to every live), I think I got one of those points at the end... don't know if it was because I'm a foreigner or because of my Hora t-shirt XD He looks so pleased, eventhough he's obviously a bit uncomfortable on stage, it's very amusing to see and it makes me happy that he's happy to be back on stage. He looks so pretty when he smiles at people.
Hora wasn't as talkactive tonight as he was on Monday. People kept shouting for him and saying he's cute, but he kept smiling and looking down, hehe.

During the second MC Kaya began with making moaning sounds, he sounded a bit erotic, and then all of a sudden Hora did it too which made Kaya laugh saying he didn't see that one coming. Kaya also told us there would be a Schwarz Stein drink at the bar, called Madness Hora. I didn't really catch everything they were saying but I heard it would include milk, which made me slightly interested...
As you can see the ending was quite intense, all the Hora-songs at once. I really like Creeper live, it feels so weird when Kaya makes everyone do the armgesture (I do not mean to offend anyone, but surely everyone must agree on that it looks like a zieg heil?). People really got crazy during these when Hora got close to the edge of the stage. But he smiled and touched as many people as he could when he didn't sing. He looked so suprised that so many of us put out our hands for him XD It seemed like many of the people there was fans of Aki, and I was thinking that might have been the reason people all of a sudden changed their armmovements during Succubus :P Normally (don't know how they did it back in the days) but in 2012 and on their oneman on Monday, when they shout "Nightmare" people reach out with their hand and sort of bends forward (the people at the front more or less throws themselves at the front bars) but today people made some of those weird handmovements instead which are commonly seen at small livehouses when regular visual kei rockbands play (kind of hard to explain how it looks but they make some weird "fancy" hand movement and then just put their fist togheter and pull their arm towards themself). Same thing during Sleeping Madness when Hora's bit plays.
I've noticed Hora's no good with wires XD On Monday he got the wire from the mic above his head so it ruined his hair a bit, and today he spent some time pulling the wires from his keyboard over the floor, and watch his step so he wouldn't fall on them. He almost tripped during one of the ending songs (can't remember which), he came to the front by one of the speakers when he suddenly tottered and then smiled slightly suprised and embarrassed ^^ 

After Succubus they left stage, kind of sudden for Hora, Kaya on the other hand stayed, and began singing a song I did not recognise and in the middle Aki joined him on stage, and then they played their setlist. Like I said Aki had a harder sound than Schwarz Stein and I quite enjoyed their music.

I was thinking about going to be honest but stayed just incase, and lucky me because Schwarz Stein came back on stage. Kaya seemed to really like Aki's guitarist, he began to pet his cheek, and later following him on stage XD Hora seemed a bit uncomfortable again, hehe. He kept having a really shy and uncomfortable expression in his face when Aki talked to him. Aki mentioned Hora's symbol on his forehead, I didn't really understand what it was, but Hora looked so uncomfortable XD I almost felt sorry for him, standing there in the middle with all the attention aimed at him.
Then both bands played 3 songs togheter, I have no idea what it was but I get the feeling it was covers of some sort, I hope Kaya shares the titles on his blog *updated*.

Before leaing stage everyone went crazy over Hora again, shouting for him so he came over again. I wonder when he got this popular XD
They all got in again for a second encore, and they played one of the first songs yet again. Then it was really over.
I saved my drinkticket like always, thinking I could try Madness Hora, but no, of course that drink was cash only (500yen), so I had a coke...then I ordered the mysterious Madness Hora XD


I was a bit nervous about getting it because it includes vodka, and after Közi's talkingsession in which I had alcohol and ended up feeling drunk XD, I wasn't sure this would be a good idea, BUT....Hora doesn't make drinks everytime and I certainly can't have them, so I decided to try it anyway. To be honest I couldn't even feel the vodka, that's how weak it was. It tasted like sweet milk, so it was tasty. I just wonder why Hora made a drink with alcohol when he said himself that he doesn't drink, or is that the reason it didn't even taste like vodka XD (??)
Madness Hora included vodka, milk and gomme syrap, and ice of course (in case someone wants to try it at home :P).

As always Schwarz Stein was amazing live, and it made me really sad that this probably will be my last live with them. Still have the signing event next Saturday, but I want to see them play again =(

Setlist *Updated*
Testament
Current
Release Me
MC
Lilith
Transient
Perfect Garden
Rise to Heaven -2014-
New Vogue Children
MC 
Creeper
Sleeping Madness
Syphilis and Disorder
Succubus
The Alternation of Generations -Increase-

揺れながら…REMIX (Yurenagara, Kaya made a Laputa cover some time ago, and tonight Kaya sang it wich Aki)

Encore
少女A (Shoujo A, Nakamori Akina cover)
飾りじゃないのよ涙は (Kazari janai no yo namida wa, Nakamori Akina cover)
DESIRE-情熱- (Desire -jounetsu-, Nakamori Akina cover)


Incase anyone wants to hear the songs, here's some links. It's funny all of these bandmen in their middle 30's are into old jpop XD It's all catchy songs, but Kaya rocked these songs XD He should make a cover album of all these old goodies. As a small notice, Kaya and Aki even pulled off some of Nakamori's dance steps aswell, highly amusing.