Schwarz Stein -15th Anniversary-

Schwarz Stein celebrated their 15th anniversary in November 2017 by presenting a two versions greatest hits, three live performances and a pamphlet. The greatest hits was devided into two different cd's; Dunkelheit, focusing on their darker songs, and Licht, with their more lighter reportoire. The first press bonuses which was offered was the Rudolf Steiner demo tapes, Queen of Decadence and Perfect Garden, as cd's when buying the cd's from Hora's or Kaya's webshops (Perfect Garden was given when buying Licht and Queen of Decadence when buying Dunkelheit). This offer is not offerend anymore however. Zeal Link also had a bonus item as in two different photo sets for each cd, and on the back of the images was Kaya's and Hora's thoughts on the featured songs. Zeal Link also offered instore events, at each place they had a live performance (Tokyo guested by Mana, Osaka guested by Közi and Nagoya guested by Maco).

Dunkelheit, as well as Licht, included one new song each, and Közi contributed with a remake/remix of two songs from their mini album Reccurence of Hallucination (2011).

Unfortunately I could not attend since I just got back from Japan at that time, but I was lucky enough to have a friend buy me some chekis from the live's as well as an extra copy to get photos from Zeal Link! I will in later entries post translations of the photos from Zeal Link, as well as (hopefully if I get the time to start) a translation of the interview in the pamphlet! Please wait for it~

D - Dark Fairy Tale tour final

It's been 3 months and I just now realised I never mentioned it, my last live gig this time around in Tokyo; D's Dark Fairy Tale tour final at Akazaka Blitz,August 29th.

Of course I got a bit lost on my way. I went straight from school to the venue and I was stressed since I only had 1h and it's a bit far away. I was also sad I didn't get to dress up as I planned (I decided not to since it was too hot and I also don't like going dressed up to school).

When I arrived in Tokyo this year I had seen D once before, and I enjoyed it so much I decided I'd go as many times I could this time around. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I'm not a huge D fan, but I think they're one of the best live bands in visual kei and I like that they always change. This year I saw them 4 times and went to 1 instore, and I had lots of fun all of those times. This last live was fun too, but probably the least out of these 4. For once I felt like the forever changing D did a re-run!

They opened this Dark Fairy Tale theme at the free live earlier this year, where they also announced the single. That live was really good, I got to hear a lot of songs I've been wanting so experience live, like 7th Rose, but unfortunately this live felt more or less like the same setlist.

When I've seen Buck-Tick live several times in a short period of time, I've felt a bit disapointed that they keep repeating the songs from their latest album, but this time with D, I wish they would've included more songs from Wonderland Savior! The setlist was very similar to their free live, so I was happy that I got to hear 7th Rose again, and of course Dark Fairy Tale. The band was energetic as always, but unfortunately I was kind of far away from the stage, and the worst part about that is that usually in the back are the people who just want to stand and observe with their own personal space. The girl next to me headbanged like crazy to Meteo though, to the point where I couldn't help but to wonder if that's really healthy...
I did manage to get to HIDE-ZOU's side of the stage which made me happy though. I was hoping badly for them to do Toki no koe, but unfortunately they didn't... What did surprise me was the fact that they didn't do an encore, but played the whole gig in one go! I think that might be the first time I've seen a oneman live in Japan without an encore. Despite the slightly boring setlist I was happy to see them live, I Always feel very positive when I see D. You can tell they have fun on stage. It's been over half a year since the concert so truthfully I don't remember any details (nor did I see them share the setlist unfortunately), I have to update right after gigs next time (new years resolution).

This was my last concert in Japan, and it made me feel kind of sad and a bit disapointed since I was hoping for a better setlist (sorry). But I'm truly happy that I got to see D so many times, and also attend an instore! (I might make an entry about that and the other instores I went to later)

D Always update their ameblo with news about goods and this time around I guess I was lucky! For everyone who purchased goods for 5000 yen or more, you'd receive the Ruiza bonus track (I have no idea what it is as I still have not listened to it) as well as a signed poster (as long as they had any in stock). I was pretty sure I'd miss out on both as my ticket number was really bad and I ended up being one of the last to enter, but I was lucky! Usually I don't really want to buy that much stuff, but they had a new cheki case and a perfume, so I passed the 5000yen limit alright... I'm very much into perfumes, I'd love to see more bands make them (so far I only have BUCK-TICK's, The Mortal and this). The fragrance is pretty nice, not too strong, I haven't tried it one yet, just smelled the top though. I was also super happy to receive this signed Hide-Zou poster! I felt a bit bad, in the line some people before me was another foreign girl and there seems to have been some misunderstanding between her and the staff (or maybe I misunderstood the situation), but it seemed like she didn't understand that she'd receive the poster for free and ended up telling the staff no when asked which member she wanted. I feel bad to this day I didn't butt in...