Street of Alice

I've been wanting to write something about this for a long time but haven't had the time, now finally I'm ready to share my thoughts and discoveries with all Velvet Eden fans about the link between the Velvet Eden song and the ero manga Street of Alice by Senno Knife!

In 2016 Dada announced Velvet Eden would make a collaboration with manga artist Senno Knife (千之ナイフ), the person who created the manga Street of Alice, which also inspired Dada to write the song of the same name. The origin of the song is that it was featured as title track on their first demotape from 1999, later it was remade to be featured just one year later as titletrack on their second album. The song itself has a sort of mysterious wibe, starting of kind of simple and then progressing really making you feel like you're going deeper and deeper into the world of Velvet Eden. To sum up the lyrics, there seems to be two characters, one obedient and one dominant (this is based on that there seems to be one of them inviting the other one into his or her world and wanting to introduce the other person to that, also offering him or her a key.
The collaboration announced was that they would make a music video to a Street of Alice song remake and the music video would be made by Senno Knife, featuring Dada and Chro as characters in the manga. This video was later given at a Velvet Eden live in Tokyo and released on a DVD togheter with their last cd Requiem.
One of the biggest reasons why I became such a big fan of Velvet Eden in high school was that I truly admired Dada creativity with his lyrics and how Velvet Eden wasn't just a band, everything was connected and helping telling these erotic, horror love stories. Dada's lyrics, Kalm's (or any of the other songwriters) songs, their performance and their costumes. So finding out one of Dada's official (I say official because with time I've found other sources I suspect has influenced Dada but he never mentioned them though) sources for inspiration I decided to dig in deep. He only mentioned that the manga was called Street of Alice, I assumed it was the name of the book so I searched quite a lot and found nothing. Later I realised it wasn't a book but a chapter in one of Senno's books called Sepia. I was lucky being in Japan so I could buy it straight from Amazon, I'm originaly from Sweden, probably one of the strictest countries when it comes to porn. When buying this book it acctually said it couldn't be shipped to my address which I assume has to do with the content, so I can't say if it's available for everyone to buy!
The book contains of 10 acts with different characters and stories, and then at the end you find Street of Alice and another story called Sleeping risky.

So, let me explain the story of the ero-manga Street of Alice! Our maincharacter opens the story by telling us that he woke up having his body stolen, and that it is not a rare thing in this city. He is now a skeleton walking the streets, so from the look it's hard to say if it's a female or a male body, the reason I know it's a male will show later. Anyway, he runs into a person walking in bandaids, and gets to know that this person had his body stolen the other day and he went back to the body shop (hehe) to find his body but it had been sold already so he ended up with another body. Our maincharacter then procedes to the body shop in hopes of finding his own body. He can't find it and ends up with a girls body. Walking out of the shop a car pulls up to him and a woman says she's been looking for her, "Alice". He jumps into the car and tries to tell the woman he's not the person she thinks he is. And soon after he sees someone walking the streets with his body. However, she does not pull over and they end up in a house where some hermaphrodite is greeting "Alice" back. He still tries to tell them he's the wrong person, he's not Alice. They then end up hanging him in chains, the hermaphrodite then says "Alice...you are our toy." and the woman in the car puts her fingers in his now vagina saying she will let him slowly with time remember. They will "give her her favorite toys" and as he screams they say they'll give her mouth a present (guess what:P). So in the next picture we see out maincharacter hanging from chains giving the hermaphrodite a blowjob while the other woman is lying underneath.Then we see our maincharacter sitting almost like from a 3d frame, and he's thinking that he's lost track of time, and that he has to run away before both his body and mind will become Alice, he has to go back to the body shop. The last page I have a hard time understanding to be honest, I first assumed it was our maincharacter still thinking but it doesn't seem right concidering what it says, so I think it's acctually a storyteller now. What the last page shows is car, but we can't see who's in it, and another person who's got a new body walking down the street. Last picture is that Alice, is sitting in the car and the text says Alice will probably be taken back again...again and again. We can see that when our maincharacter ran away, he was basically naked, the picture of Alice in the car shows she has bandaids again. My asumption is that our maincharacter got to the body shop and got himself a new body and gave back Alice body to the shop. The new person in Alice's body then, just like our maincharacter, was picked up by that couple and driven back to their house.In the video to Street of Alice, it is Dada and Chro which is picking Alice up again.

Link to Amazon.jp



I guess it's up to everyone to interpret the lyrics to Street of Alice the way they want to. If one pleases I guess you can see it as a song for the manga, aside from Dada's story.
I hope some might have found this interesting and useful, and I hope to add more entries similar to this in the future!

Sidenote:
Anyone else thinking this character looks a bit familiar? :P It's from one of the other stories in the book. The boy has a human sized doll he wishes to become human. His servant likes him and therefor dresses up as the doll making him believe the doll got life. They meet for nocturnal rendezvous and that's how the story ends. Even the story sounds a bit familiar... fufufu

Kaya - Dream after Dream

As probably all Kaya fans know, Kaya released a long awaited solo single, Yumeji in March! After all the "gothic" songs on Gothic it seems to have been time for a light purple ballad written by Yume Suzuki.
I'm not so keen on Kaya's ballads to be honest, what I like about Kaya is his electronic sound and I think the stuff Kalm and Hora has written for him is when Kaya solo is at it's best (Ken Morioka also did a very good job with Taboo and Dance Macabre). So I wasn't too suprised that I didn't really like Yumeji. It's ok, but not a song I'll listen to over and over (thank god for trance remix). However, never having seen Kaya perform as a solo artist I had to go to this tour final at Shinjuku ReNY!

 

Since it was my first time, I had no idea what to expect from a Kaya gig. Since it was a tour dedicated to his new release I was a bit scared he'd only play slow songs, and like I mentioned I'm not a big fan of those. Fortunate for me I was wrong! Kaya opened with Hydrangea, one of the few slow songs I acctually like! Obviously he wore the Yumeji outfit, minus the hat and minus shoes, and he looked very pretty. His make up was perfect, so cute. He also had a pianist, which people seemed to be familiar with, aswell as his two dancers from back in the days. I was really happy that he played so many older songs frm the Glitter days like Masquerade, Epicurean, Kasha -Shining Flowers- and previously mentioned Hydrangea. Among the other songs was Sink, Babylon and Ophelia, so I felt like Kaya really included a lot of different songs from his career and not just his latest like many bands do, that was a big +!

Besides being a good vocalist live (which I already know from the Schwarz Stein concerts) he also talked a lot between songs and was his cute self. This mans smile really is contagious. For this tour Kaya was selling a new fan for Epicurean which a lot of fans bought. It looked very similar to the old pink one, so not sure what the difference was. I noticed that when people took them out of their packing a lot of feathers seemed to get loose and fall off, so after Epicurean there seemed to have been one girl in particular who's fan had lost a lot of feathers. Kaya noticed it and asked from the stage if she'd bought that tonight, when she said yes he told her to go and have it exchanged afterwards. I thought that was really sweet of him. 

As I mentioned he played a lot of different songs, and he even included a chanson! I don't like the chansons normally, but live it was kind of nice, and Kaya seemed to enjoy singing it so much it made good. Last out on the ordinary setlist was Yumeji and eventhough I didn't follow it all Kaya talked a great lot before it about dreams and how he's always continued to follow his dream to be a vocalist even when it was rough and he wanted to quit. Some girls acctually began crying in the audience when Kaya himself got a bit teared up. I'm not a big fan of Yumeji but it was better live than on the cd (acctually I haven't been abe to hear my single, but based on the trailer on youtube).

When the gig got to the end he acctually announced that Yume Suzuki would perform with him, and they ended the evening with Frosty Rain and Glitter Arch togheter with his two dancers. Before the songs Yume Suzuki gave Kaya a present, a tiny glass shoe in a really nice box and Kaya seemed so excited reaching it with his hands several times despite Yume still talking about their collaboration not being ready to hand it over just yet. Seeing them togheter like that, she androgonys and Kaya looking like a woman (looking a bit like an amazon woman when standing next to a Japanese woman *cough*) really made me feel like Kaya is such an interesting character in today's VK scene. He's not just a VK guy in a dress, but I feel like he's acctually on a more LGBT side, sort of. I really get the impression from him that he truly feel like everyone, no matter what gender or fashion style or sexuality is welcome in his world.

Anyway, they all waved good bye and left stage, Kaya was left alone thanking everyone who came, and as the lights went out and only one focused on him following Kaya as he gracefully walked/danced towards the exit of stage. Just before he was about to exit he freezes, the song pauses and he turns around asking if we really thought the evening would end like that. He then announced Dance Macabre, a song everyone enjoys. I love Dance Macabre so I was more than thrilled to be able to hear it live! It was great and it created such a good atmosphere. Like I haven't felt lucky enough with the setlist, after that one of my other favorites, Addict began! For this I got a bit suprised. Listening to it I've just heard it as one of Kaya's normal, fast electronic, popish songs, but his fans seriously headbanged to it O_o I'm sorry but I'm still not getting how fans create bands parapara. Sometimes I almost wonder if they're deaf, or if I'm listening to the same songs because I can't hear headbaning when I listen to Addict... The fans almost created a moch pit infront of stage where they threw themselves towards the stage and Kaya came close touching people's hands (I got to hold his hand too for a short while) and also kissing some. A bit strange to me, but whatever, it was a nice ending!

Kaya of course sold cheki's, I bought two and of course I got one of Kaya and one of one of his dancers... I felt kind of bad feeling disapointed since Kaya had happily announced there would be chekis of his fellow "helpers". I'm sorry but if I pay for cheki's I want them of the band or vocalist I'm paying to see =/ I'm just happy I wasn't unlucky enough to get TWO with his crew...

１：Hydrangea
２：Marionetto
MC
３：Nouvelle Mariee
４：Ophelia
５：BABYLON
６：Masquerade
７：＜Dancers Solo＞
８：Kasha - shining flowers -
MC
９：Padam padam（シャンソン）
10：愛の讃歌-Remix-
11：ショコラ
12：Epicurean
13：Transmigration
MC
14：Sink
MC
15：夢路

encore
16：Frosty Rain (with 鈴木結女)
17：Glitter Arch (with 鈴木結女)
18：Danse Macabre
19：Addict

Vamquet

I'm not a bit behind anymore with all the live reports, I'm a million years behind. I personally don't like to read livereports concerning a concert that was weeks, or even a month ago, it feels outdated. But unfortunately it just has to be that way for now!

So on march 25th the event HAUNTED XDAY #3 took place at Shibuya Glad, featuring the bands Vaniru, Speed-iD, Vamquet, Der Zibet and Madame Edwarda. It was a sort of goth evening and I went to see Vamquet! I also like Madame Edwarda so I was really looking forward to seeing them for the first time.

The club wasn't hard to find at all as it was part of the Vuenos "chain" of clubs in Shibuya. If there's anything I dislike about clubs in Tokyo is that most allow smoking. Knowing that there would probably be a chainsmoker attending like at most clubs, I felt like I could arrive a bit later so I didn't see Vaniru at all, I just heard them play their last song as I entered Glad. I also found out Glad don't allow smoking on the actual floor, but they have a smoking area on the first floor, in which I found Sadie at the minute I walked in.
For this live Vamquet sold a new sticker and a t-shirt. As the t-shirt was really big (like they always are :P) I didn't get that, only their CD which I hadn't bought yet.

I came to see Vamquet obviously, but I found myself enjoying the other bands as well, especially Madame Edwarda. I've been listening to them for a couple of years now and I like their sound, so it was really fun seeing them live. Most people there seemed to be Madame Edwarda fans which surprised me, infront of me a group of "older" fans (when I say older I mean perhaps between 30-40) arrived. The funniest part was that two women stood there, and they did the funny thing where they sort of book the spot. One of them went for drinks and then the other stands with an arm out or something to mark the spot as taken. I find this behaviour to be kind of odd at clubs and concerts, since I think in most other genres (not bands related to VK in any sense) and countries the floor is for people to dance and move around at. Only in Japan does people stand, with extra space too, looking at their favorite band. So when these slightly drunk and older fans arrived they basically just marched into that womans empty space, and I couldn't help but to find her face extremly funny X) It was so obvious she was offended but she didn't dare say anything so she just grabbed her bag and left. These people were a bit annoying but I just hate people who mark their spot. It's not a line, it's a gig, without seats! Madame Edwarda had a lot of energy and the vocalist, Zin was really into the performance entering with a cain and a cape, dancing around the stage. They ended their setlist with Orpheus, and it was awesome!

Madame Edwarda acctually was the last performance, so let's skip back to the main event, Vamquet!
Vamquet was in the middle of the evening, and since I'm used to Közi being the guitarist I got myself a spot on the right side of the stage, then when the members came out on stage to put their stuff togheter I just remembered that Közi plays bass in Vamquet :P Yeah, bad fan. Anyway, the club was tiny and the stage too obviously so it wasn't as if I couldn't see him. And like always, his group of fangirls filled up the space infront of him (I wish Közi could get a group of drunk fans who could destroy the fangirl-pit...). I had not heard anything besides the trailer for Vamhaus before going to this live, but I really liked what I heard on that trailer so I was excited to hear the full songs. And I wasn't disapointed! I've never been a fan of Art Marju Duchain, but Kai was really good live. I wasn't expecting him to be so dramatic as he was, dancing along to the music, he wore a long black dress really completing his goth look. Közi wore one of his black poncho looking garments if I remember correctly. Since the live I've listened to the album, and eventhough I really like it the songs acctually became better live. It felt like their setlist was over in no time and I wish they had more material/longer playtime. Both on the cd and live my favorite songs are Wonders and Vam Marsch.  Despite Közi not having written any of the music, I feel like it's very Közi:ism. Like a mix of XA-VAT (because of Sadie maybe) and ZIZ, going dark.
Of course as always Közi just did his thing and left the stage, badass :P
I know this project isn't so serious (concidering they've had like two gigs this year) but I'd love to see them release and perform more! Hopefully they'll get some more acknowledgment and keep going.

Next gigs: D on Wednesday and Dalle on Sunday!

(On my to-do-list, I still need to write livereports for D, Kaya and Kamijo :P Slowly progressing)

生誕典礼祭〜Mana様Birthday〜 (18th & 19th)

On the 18th and 19th Moi Dix Mois held their annual Mana birthday live gigs! This was my first time being able to participate so I was rather excited! However things didn't really turn out the way I planned.

18th

On Saturday there was the seated live at Mt Rainer Hall in Shibuya! I have never been there before but it was very close to the station, and acctually part of a shoppingmall (uniqlo was located at the bottom). The previous years I've been very impressed by the fact that they've always sold out the first evening, seeing the venue I understood why, it's very small! It was also a bit confusing to reach the right floor, but I made it just in time! JUST in time :P
I had planned for this day (okey, not that much), I had to pick out a present for Mana (I even bought a blueribbon to attach to the package), I had my outfit planned and I had the time scheduled. Nothing went as planned. I ended up leaving my apartment around 4p.m, it takes me about 1h to go to Shibuya... I got dressed in 10minutes, I didn't even have time to tie my corset properly. I left buying a present until the day before and I was really busy that day so standing in the store, paniced, I decided not to get Mana a present, instead I'd give him my cash by buying something at the live :P
The good thing was that I didn't have to wait for that long when I arrived (I hate waiting for the band to start). I had not seen Moi Dix Mois since 2014 so I felt really hyped, since I remember them as a really good live band.

The setlist felt kind of flat to me, the songs I truly enjoy that they played was Sanctum Regnum, Dispell Bound, Perish and The Sect. This time they did something interesting with The Sect, the beginning was sung in accapella. At first I didn't realise which song it was, until I connected the lyrics with the song. They also did Sanctum Regnum and Dispell Bound after eachother, and Seth gave instructions on how you're supposed to do the D-I-X sign to the music. I was really excited about this, I love Dispell Bound and I felt childishly excited about being able to do the D-I-X with them XD At my first Moi Dix Mois live I got to hear Sanctum Regnum but since it also was my first concert in Japan I remember feeling really freaked out about having to do parapara and ended up not doing anything.
During the MC Mana came out with a panda backpack and threw out candy to the audience (later discovered it was candy bought from the 100yen shop, and Mana had signed each tiny piece of wrapping). Because of the over all boring setlist and the fact I had not eaten in all day, I couldn't help but to wish they were done soon, and he'd throw a piece my way because I was so hungry. Unfortunately I didn't get any.
As always Mana had a message for the audience read by Seth. I didn't follow everything he said but there seems to be some sort of event later this year to celebrate Mana's long time in the music industry.
During the evening they played all of the new songs, again, I'm sorry but only one of those acctually caught my attention. I've heard two of them before (Beast Side and the slow one I can't remember the name of, Twilight something?) and I'm not that impressed by those. But this really new song, I think they played it for the first time this evening, it was acctually good.
As finale they played Je l'aime, and when Seth pronounced the words I was sure he said something completely different so I thought I'd get to hear yet another new song XD When entering the venue they handed out glowsticks, and for this song we were supposed to use them. I haven't used anything which glows for years and years. I used to have those bracelets which glows as a child, but I had completely forgot how you activate them! Seth told everyone to grab their sticks (hehe, that sounds weird), and he held it horizontal, a clicking sound and then it glowed. And I just couldn't get how to get mine to glow! So embarrassing, I just stood there, squeezing and pulling, but nothing. After a while I just gave up XD
So the gig was over, and since I was late I didn't get time to buy any of the new merch when I arrived, so I lined up and most had been sold out, but I got the blue one piece! Maybe it will come in handy when Tokyo gets warmer, so far I've slept in it hehe. I feel kind of weird using these onepieces as dresses outside, because they feel more like something you'd walk around in at home (still haven't used the Dalle one either). Eventhough I didn't get any candy, when the lights were turned on I realised one of Ryux picks had landed right infront of me! Always nice to see that some can throw...

19th

Home to sleep and then up the next morning for yet another Moi Dix Mois evening! This time it was held at Tsutaya O-west, also in Shibuya. It was the first time for me to attend a live at this venue as well, but it lies within an area with a lot of venues (like Vuenos) so it's rather easy to find. This day I was better prepared and since it was a standing live I was hoping for a better setlist. My number was ok I guess, 200-something, but it felt like this venue wasn't that big either, so after I got in and unfortunately couldn't decide wether I should get a locker or not (and then also realise I didn't have the right amount of coins :P) many had already gotten in and close to the stage so I ended up standing in the back after all with an acquaintance. I was a bit right, the setlist had improved but what suprised me was that they played songs they played the night before again! Perish is one of my favorite songs so that was alright I guess, but they played Dead Scape and it's not that good (IMO) to do two nights in a row. What bothers me most about the fact that they play the same songs both evenings is the fact that Moi Dix Mois has material enough not having to do that but they (or Mana?) chose to do so. There's so many songs they rarely play live, why not do those...

Anyhow, I did get to finally hear Unmoved, and they also played Seventh Veil which I love.
During this night MC they talked about Mana being a musician for long and how it started with Malice Mizer, so Mana (or Seth) asked the audience what song they'd like Mana to play! He'd play any Malice Mizer song for us. People started shouting and it wasn't very audiable what they were asking for, so Seth stoped everyone and asked us to shout at the same time. And you could sort of hear most people yelling for Vert Ailes (or as most fans believe it to be called, Bel Air). So Mana started playing it, and to be honest, I'm not an expert but from time to time it sounded a bit off but it's ok, probably been a long time since he did it. Anyhow, I began feeling like it was made up when Seth began singing the lyrics WHILE looking down in his papers. He couldn't have had all of Malice Mizer's lyrics in there, so they sort of knew they'd play that song... Made me a bit disapointed. Mana also threw in some Kioku to sora at one point, which is kind of funny. Makes me wonder if he misses Malice Mizer or if he just wants to show that he hasn't forgotten about it (since many fans still admire them). They of course did Immortal Madness and like always they want everyone to shout out something, tonight though the thing to shout was no less than "sexy, pretty, angel Mana sama", with movements to it....yes, that's how far from the darkness we have gone. I couldn't help but to laugh at it, but at the same time it's sad. I remember watching part of the live performances from Moi Dix Mois first live DVD in high school, and thinking they looked so cool because the atmosphere was so dark and witch-like. Everything in black and Mana was pretty badass showing no emotion. Now we're down to the band performing in gold, while Mana smiles making the audience do movements as shouting he's sexy, pretty and an angel... I wonder what my reaction would've been if someone would've told me 8 years ago... What caught me with Malice Mizer in perticular, but also Moi Dix Mois was the mysterious thing going on. With Mana it felt like it was alywas a performance of music but in a theatrical way. Like you didn't get to see the real people, they were performing EVERYTHING on stage. It might sound weird and as something negative, but to me it was the contrary. I found it very appealing. Now that Mana is slowly breaking that down I feel like Moi Dix Mois image is sort of falling apart as well. The previous evening Mana kept making jokes (through Seth of course) about Ryux, making us shout he was a doll in Immortal Madness, and he pretended to fall to the ground etc etc. I just feel like this wasn't really Moi Dix Mois image to begin with, to make the audience laugh at them, doing slapstick comedy while singing songs about angels and sabbath's, you name it. Maybe I'm wrong though, I didn't attend a Moi Dix Mois live until 2011, but even at that they didn't do all of this...weird stuff. :P I had overall fun (and I finally understood how to use my glowstick:P) but if they were to have another regular live while I'm in Japan, I wouldn't go to be honest. I would've settled for one of these evenings even. Hopefully the new album will be better than I think the new songs has been.

Some fans had contributed with a bouquet for Mana, the blue one of course. And the amazing thing was that someone had made tiny snoopy's, one representing each member, with tiny costumes and Sugiya even had a bottle of Jack Daniel's in his hand!

Alice in Wonderland restaurant

There's a lot of theme restaurants and bars in Tokyo and this time I finally tried one of the Alice in wonderland restaurants!
I've seen pictures and read about it, but I had not yet got myself there until now. There are seven of them in Japan, including the ones in Nagoya and Osaka. In Tokyo however they are located in Shibuya, Ginza, Ikebukuro and then two in Shinjuku. Everone of them looks different and has a individual name, I went to the one in Shibuya called Alice in a dancing land.

 The menu was inside a bick clock, and it acctually worked!

Of course these restaurants go all in the theme, the staff is dressed as characters (we were led in by the Mad hatter) or just in costumes to match the story. Also, our appetizer came with a tiny card, saying "eat me", and when the waitress arrived with it she told us that we should be careful because it might make us bigger (like in the story!).
About the food, you can get a whole menu, which lasts for tw or three hours, or you can just order seperate dishes or smaller menus, which I did. Me and my friend did one of the smaller menus, including an appetizer, main dish and dessert. They had various drinks and also original cocktails, so I decided to try the Cheshire cat drink. My menu was as below!

It's not that visible in the picture, but the drink acctually glowed, no idea how that worked...

 Appetizer, buttery bicuits with soup.

 Avocado and salmon sallad, green sallad and chocolate mousse with strawberry sauce.

Pasta with shrimps and vegetables.

When we arrived, we also got bunny ears to put on, white or black. I was acctually suprised that the food was as good as it was. I didn't have any high expectations at all, concidering I assumed you paid for the experience more than the food. In the background they played Disney music, made me feel very nostalgic. Since all of the restaurants have different interior and style it's an experience just sitting there and enjoying it. For example, at this restaurant they have a merry go round, in which the tables are located.

After we paid our bill and was about to leave, our waitress arrived with a bag of tea, saying we should drink this to get to our normal size again. Some might think this kind of roleplay is silly, but I absolutely love it! That's one of the things which is so amazing about Tokyo, you can find anything here. The staff was very kind, when we were leaving the Mad hatter saw that we were taking picture in front of one of the cards, so he helped us getting a picture together!

I don't acctually remember the total I paid but I believe it was somewhere around 3500-4000 yen, which it was totally worth! They have a table fee of 500yen each, be aware. Reservations can be made through their webpage, but you have to have a Japanese cellphone. However it wasn't crowded at all when I went (around 18.30 on a weekday).

Check them out!
http://alice-restaurant.com/

HIZAKI Birthday Live 「Elizabeth」

I've realised that I'm not keeping up very good with updating here. I'm doing awesome things all the time and yet I never find the time to write about it. This entry is dedicated to the Hizaki solo gig on the 17th at Shibuya Rex!
I wasn't sure if I was going to go to this gig acctually. I was tempted since I really liked Hizaki's solo album Rosario but then again, I'm not a huge fan and I'm not rich so I thought about not going until when I went to Family Mart to pick up my Schwarz Stein ticket. For those who don't know, Family Mart offers a ticket service by using their machines, the Fami Port. You can search for tickets, or pay or pick them up. I was going to pick mine up, but this time it was a bit different and I had the wrong code, so I never got the Schwarz Stein tickets. However, being an awkward person I felt weird going in, especially since the machine at this store was right infront of the register, without getting anything. So I ended up buying a concert ticket! (Yeah I know it sounds stupid).
I felt kind of bad about it, even until the day of the gig, especially since my ticket number was kind of bad (C :P), but now I certainly don't regret it!

I got there right after school, and I had not been at Shibuya Rex for quite some time so I felt a bit nervous about finding my way, I really don't want to get lost, I have the worst sense of direction. I did find it, and I even saw the people who sat next to me at the Versailles concert! (Not that I talked to them, the guy next to me stared at me like I was an alien, I just remember him because he looked like hide). I assumed Rex would be all full and I'd stand in the back concidering my number, but oh no. Most people stood in the back and either the ticket's were limited in numbers or some people never showed up because I can't believe that I had a C ticket and the club was that "empty" when I got in. I checked the merch and they sold some photosets, a pamphlet, Rosario of course, clearfiles and then they had this paper in yellow stating 1000yen and then lots of Japanese. I began reading what I could read and finally I understood that you could pay 1000 yen to take a cheki with Hizaki! I got so excited because I've never been to a gig where they offer that, usually it's limited to either fanclub or instore events. Not a huge fan, but Hizaki's been with me since high school so obviously I wanted a cheki with him! I didn't quite get when and how this would happen, so I went to buy something thinking I could ask the woman at the merch table. Before me however was another foreigner, who did not speak Japanese, so they tried to tell her the rules in some simple Japanese/English, and I finally understood that everyone was welcome to participate and that you'd pay after the gig and also take the photo then.

The gig was a bit late, but hey most are. Hizaki and the support members got on stage while Elizabeth was playing, and I really love that song so I got so excited! Hizaki was really pretty, he wore the Rosario dress (same as the one he has on the photoset below) but with another hairstyle. He basically played all of Rosario except for Presto, and I really got to appreciate songs that I haven't payed that much attention to while listening to the cd, such as Silent Knight and Church Candle. Seeing Hizaki play in itself is an event. I really admire how awesome he is at it, he is so skilled! Seeing him play live was such an experience, it was great to see how carefully he plays to get certain sounds and how many different techniques he really uses! As a special guest for the day of honour, being his birthday event, Teru joined in and played with Hizaki for a couple of songs. I thought there would be even more people there especially since Teru would be a guest, I mean if Versailles could play Budoukan, how could not more people come when two of the members play a smaller venue?
Anyway, Hizaki did some MC inbetween and at one point they talked about the previous touring in Europe and said it was nice to be back, and then Hizaki pointed out that there was a lot of foreigners in the audience today, so he said welcome to Japan in English X). I didn't really notice until later that there was A LOT of foreigners, perhaps many came to Japan just for the Versailles concert? Also Zin came in on stage with a tiny cake and some flowers for Hizaki. It was kind of funny, because at first I didn't see it was him, I don't listen to Jupiter so I don't keep up with his looks, also he wasn't in costume. Hizaki pointed that out as well, how different he looks without make up.
Before the gig a fan handed out those crackers which explode into strips of paper (no idea what they're called), I was kind of suprised but it was a cute gesture I think. Well, by the time for the cake and flowers we all used those, I was unfortunatley a bit late, hehe. One fun surprise was that Hizaki acctually played a cover of Sara Brightman's Time to say goodbye! He said it was the first time he did it, and it was really nice made as a guitarcover.
When the gig was over it was time to wait for the staff to start the cheki taking. Basically we just waited until everyone had left the floor, so we who wanted to have a photo with Hizaki got to wait in line outside. I was a bit late so I ended up outside for real, and it was cold :P When I got into the club again I saw that they had put up some walls to create a more private space and I could spot Hizaki in there. You were allowed to take several pictures and you could also pose with his guitar! When it was my turn I wished him happy birthday and I decided to just have the photo taken with him, so I had my arm around his waist and he acctually got close enough so that our heads met X) I sort of expected him to be a bit reserved so I wasn't sure I could even tough him but he was totally fine with it. I got my picture and left. The sad thing about polaroid pictures is that they develope slow, I went to pick up my stuff and when I look at it I notice that I closed my eyes! How could I f** do that, I get 1 photo with Hizaki and I'm not even looking!!! XD I'm so pissed at myself.

I had a very nice evening though, and I'm super happy I went! I'm really looking forward to the live DVD he'll be releasing and also future albums! (he mentioned a mini album) Might not be able to see him live again though, since I'm working on getting my ass to that Schwarz Stein/Közi gig in June X)

Schwarz Stein der Winter

I don't know where to start, I'm seriously speechless, that's how awesome this live was. If I were to pick on gig that I've been to that's better than any other, this would be it. But let's start from the beginning.

The live was Schwarz Stein's first oneman since last spring! So it's been a long time, and they haven't released anything new since Sleeping Madness in November 2014! So it was a happy surprise when they announced the new single Fleeting Beauty and its following oneman at Shibuya Rex.
Since the single won't be released at record stores, and therefore not have an instore event, they also decided on an afterevent.
This time around the tickets to the gig wasn't sold through e-plus or any of the other regular online services, but at Shibuya Rex/Ruido's webpage. The tickets were released in December, and at that time I was still in Sweden but desperate as I am for a good ticket I decided to try and buy the ticket by paying with credit card and have it printed when I arrived in Japan. Normally it haven't worked to do so with other tickets but this time it acctually did! So I payed and got it confirmed in December and then I went to a Family Mart here in Tokyo to get the actual ticket. Because of this I assume I got a good number, sort of, 57! Considering many like to stand in the back I felt like I had a chance to get pretty close to the stage. For once I got myself a coinlocker, and for everyone's information, at Shibuya Rex they're 300yen! The thing was that I didn't know if I were supposed to be scared that the remix cd would've sold out unless I bought it when I arrive, I also had a tiny gift for Hora which I wanted to give the staff, and at the same time I wanted to get in as quick as possible to get a good spot infront of the stage. I decided to leave the shopping and gift for last, and hoped I'd be able to get everything I wanted. I always go for the right side of the stage since Hora stands there :P and there was only one person in front of me so I had a pretty good view. The music we were left listening to while waiting was Sopor Aeternus, might have been another band too but I recognized some of the songs playing. They started almost on time, just a bit passed 7 p.m, and the entrance was made to The Alternation of Generations -Conception- (I was a bit sad it wasn't Testament). Hora entered first followed by Kaya, and they wore their Sleeping Madness outfits, just Kaya wore another wig, a dark long and Hora had a very good looking cardigan on top of his corset. I seriously loved Hora's cardigan, I wonder where he bought it...
The gig started off with a lot of slow songs like Transient and Lilith, then when they played Queen of Decadence Hora and Kaya made people move around a bit. Everyone was so still and silent I almost felt bad for them, I know it's Japan but it still can't be fun to stand on stage and performing to a crowd which doesn't make any noise whatsoever. They also played Lapis Lazuli, which was the first time for me to hear live! That song has really grown on me, to begin with I wasn't too excited but now I think it's really good acctually.

I also got to hear Fester Love, which is one of my favorite Schwarz Stein songs and it's amazing live! The first one I went to, in 2012, Kaya brought out a whip. Unfortunately I haven't experienced that since then... I got the feeling the setlist was aiming to a slower and darker sound, so they also played Cocoon -Fallen-. This is song which I think gets better live than listening to it on CD/computer. The bass is so loud live, and I really love how that helps project that kind of dark image they're going for. The stage lightning was red, but it kept shifting between red and no light at all. Hora was standing by his keyboard, but Kaya danced around slowly, making it look like he didn't move at all since he would be standing in a different position and place when the light would be turned on (if anyone has seen the horror movie Lights out, you get what I mean).
Like always Kaya and Hora keeps joking on stage, Hora made fun of Kaya's dramatic poses by making a similar but way too exaggerated and silly version of it making both the crowd and Kaya laugh. Kaya pointed out that they should save the talking to the after event but it seems like they enjoyed it so much it was hard to stop.
Of course they played the new single, Fleeting Beauty as well! Kaya presented it and they played both the title track and the B-side, Hakobune
The songs followed the slow theme, imagen Transient sort of. Hakobune has a Hora solo song in it, I got to excited so I can't recall which one, might've been Flow but I don't want to promise anything!
Out of the more speedy songs I got another favorite of mine, Release me. It's so good live, and they really got the crowd going for that.
Just like always, when they leave stage everyone immediately starts calling for an encore. However this time Hora came out alone, grabbed a mic and said it's been 14 years since last time and then he presented no less than BIO GENESIS! I've been waiting for this song, forever! I've requested it, I've been hoping everytime but I've given up on it ever being played live, and then he does it today! I can't say how happy I was to be there for this live. I love BIO GENESIS and being able to hear it live, I'm out of words. Kaya wasn't present during this song, Hora did it mostly looking up the ceiling but god was it awesome or what? I got so excited it felt like it ended just after it began. I still can't believe he did that!
After that kaya joined him for the rest of the awesome, harder songs (Creeper, Syphilis and Disorder, Sleeping Madness and Succubus). They ended with Last Hallucination, and eventhough I haven't mentioned it they also played Perfect Garden and New Vogue Children. Then te live was over and we had to wait for the after event to start.
I didn't realise, but when I paid for the pass I received a paper on which I could write a question for the event, I just put that paper in my envelope for my ticket and didn't realise what it was until it was too late so I didn't ask any question. We waited for a while until those who wouldn't stay for the event had left and for the staff to collect the questions and check that everyone had their pass. When the event started some choir song started and the curtain was raised. On stage Kaya stood in some dramatic pose with a mac. It was time for his Dj session. It was really short but it included trance music with the choire, and in that some old Japanese pop songs and then Hora joined in and they played Sodomy! Eventhough I rather would've heard another Schwarz Stein song (or Hora solo), it was nice since I really like Sodomy. This was followed by Medusiana. Then they began reading the messages. They talked kind of fast so it was hard for me to follow, but someone asked Hora which kind of song is the easiest to compose, and he said that the harder songs are easier than the slower ones, and then someone else asked about their make up. Kaya mentioned that people used to coem in cosplay more often before, and Hora said that if everyone showed up in white make up next time they'd make an album. They then also mentioned how Hora never have shown himself without make up. He said that after a gig with Moi Dix Mois years ago, he and Kaya went to the car, passing fans and at that time he didn't wear any make up but it didn't seem like anyone noticed. Hora also said he had shown himself before, or after I think, an instore event.
The afterevent was a lot shorter than I imagened, especially considering it cost 2000yen, so I felt a bit sad when it was over so quickly. They said good bye and Hora came to wave and touch our hands again and then it was over. I went to buy Fleeting Beauty and some chekis (it started with four chekis, but I only got one of Hora so I decided to get two more, look carefully on the picture below and you'll understand why I couldn't help but to smile when I saw the Hora one...)
Anyway, I was just about to go and get my drink before getting my coat and hand my present for Hora to the staff when I see that Hora and Kaya is standing in the door saying bye to everyone who leaves! I panicked, my fellow fangirls/boys will understand this, but it was like in one of those dreams, when you see your favorite musician and you can't understand that they're really standing there and then when you're about to walk up to them you wake up. Just that this time it really happened! I was so happy that I didn't hand my gift to the staff, I sneaked by Hora to get my stuff from the locker, scared they'd go before I came back. Rushed back and then I noticed the line got smaller so I went to get a drink thinking since I have a gift it might be better to wait until last. So as fourth counted from the back I approached them in the line. When I got closer Hora saw me and gave me a smile and I felt like a child on christmas eve X) I first got to shake hands with Kaya, his smile is contagious so I just smiled and I couldn't really think of anything to say because I just really wanted to get to Hora XD I told him thanks for making wonderful music and it felt so sweet because he really looked at me when I talked to him, and his hands were so warm (I'm always cold so it was very nice). Then I finally got to Hora! I'll just sum it up, I'm so freaking happy, and his hands were also very warm and nice to hold.
This was such a great evening and the setlist was perfect except for Testament (I also would like to hear Beautiful the Virgin some time...). I'm so happy I got to be here for that particular live, I can't describe it in words.

Kaya announced something very nice during the evening, which now is on Twitter so some might already have seen it, but Schwarz Stein will make a coupling live in Nagoya in June with no less than Közi! I'm gonna do my best to get there since Közi and Hora are my two favorite musicians, I feel like I can't miss this. Too much awesomness...

I'm so tired now, so I'm gonna leave it like this, I'll update with a setlist when or if Kaya will post one.
Now I'm off to some sweet Schwarz Stein dreams~

Setlist from Kaya's blog:
2017.2.24 『Schwarz Stein der Winter』
SetList
１：transient
２：Perfect Garden
３：current
MC
４：lapis lazuli
５：Lilith
６：Queen of Decadence
MC
７：Fleeting Beauty
８：方舟
９：cocoon-fallen-
10：fester love
11：Release me
12：Rise to Heaven
13：New vogue children
MC
14：Last Hallucination
encore
15：BIO GENESIS
16：Sleeping Madness
17：CREEPER
18：Syphilis and Disorder
19：Succubus