Kaya 歌姫回顧展 2017-1997

This year Kaya celebrates 20-years as an active singer (or should I say Diva fufufu), and in honor of this he held a livegig at Takadanobaba AREA with most of the memebrs from his past activities. The aim with this gig was to go through Kaya's career and among the guests was Hora so it was mandatory for me to go. I did however not go in my Hora t-shirt, it felt it would be a bit disrespectful to Kaya, hehe.

 
My plan was to go back to Sweden in mid June so I didn't get a ticket for this event until 3 weeks ahead. So I wasn't expecting a great number, I got 143 so I figuered I wouldn't get close to stage. How wrong was I? I was lucky and a lot of people wanted to stay in the back so I got pretty close, on Hora's side of course!

The gig started off a bit late, projections was used, showing Kaya's timeline, the years and pictures of him. I sort of assumed it would start from the past and work its way to today, but it was the oposit, so Kaya entered to the sounds of Yumeji, followed by Perfana, representing the years 2016-2017. Kaya wore his black dress from Femme Fatale's Freya, and the same wig I assume. In one of his MC's he mentioned he really likes the dress and that it was kind of elegant. And I guess that style sort of suits all his past projects as well.

I'm not a fan of Femme Fatale, so I haven't seen them live before obviously. Kaya said we were gonna turn back time a bit, and an instrumental song began playing while he stood with his back to the audience and Tana, Fumiya and a support bassist joined him on stage. Just for the record, I am not familiar with any of the members joining Kaya this evening, except for Hora (but Tana looked freaking hot, I loved his outfits!). But the music was just as boring live as on the CD to me, so I just hoped for them to be done already and bring on the good stuff! The other guitarist of Femme Fatale had left a message (again, don't know who he is, is it the guy who people blame for the breakup?). During one of the MC's with the band the drummer, Fumiya who was dressed in a black suit, mentioned how hot it was on stage. Kaya being Kaya obviously suggested he'd take his clothes off... (spoiler, he did not!).

On Kaya's setlist, you can see at the bottom, he lists Salome as a solo song, BUT the version they played was the Femme Fatale one so I disagree with Kaya there a bit... Memento Mori was nice live, not one of my favorite songs but it's good! The band left and we got some good old Kaya solo songs! For this gig I was sort of hoping he'd do some "iconic" songs that he might not play that much live, like Kaleidoscope, unfortunately he didn't. We did get Chocolate of course, but other than that it was just songs he plays a lot. Kaya is always so full of energy, I love how happy he looks!

Then it was time to turn back time yet again! And OMG was I hyped for this time travel. The "Hora session" started off with Another Cell. The lights were turned off and pictures of Kaya from Another Cell, Schwarz Stein and even Rudolf Steiner was shown on the projector while ARCHETYPE.01 played and Hora entered stage. From Another Cell they played Inner Universe-cybernated. It was a first for me, I've only heard Blazing Darkness from Another Cell (and Kuroageha depending on if you count it as Rudolf Steiner or Another Cell :P). Kaya and Hora then talked about how they've been playing at Takadanobaba AREA since Rudolf Steiner times. Mana was also mentioned, how he shoed up at the club wearing black sunglasses and how they later were summoned to Midi Nette headquarters. The funny thing about the setlist is that Kaya listed Transient as Schwarz Stein, but right before the song he mentioned how Transient really is a Rudolf Steiner song, as many might now. Transient was followed by Perfect Garden and then finally as Rudolf Steiner Kuroageha and Queen of Decadence are listed. I really don't quite understand the song selection, they basically played only Rudolf Steiner (except for my favorite Fester Love/Kusatta Kajitsu). Also, during the gig in Nagoya Kaya mentioned them playing Rudolf Steiner at this gig, as if it was something special. Which made me think they might acctually perform the songs like they sound on the demo tapes, but it was just like at any other of their gigs. I love their songs, so it's not like I'm disapointed, I just don't get the hype about Rudolf Steiner songs being performed. At this point Another Cell is more rare. Also, it's a bit weird they performed Rudolf Steiner songs during the Schwarz Stein session, that was a chance to do more recent songs. So, something about the songs. Kuroageha I think is really great live. To be honest I don't listen to it that much on an everyday basis, probably because I feel that it is better live. I think Kaya's vocals adds something special to it, especially at the end when he shouts the lyrics. After Kuroageha Hora waved and left the stage. People were shouting for him inbetween songs and he didn't make a fuss about and finally he just said Thank you. I got the feeling he didn't want to go all in as he usually do at Schwarz Stein gigs since this was a Kaya anniversary.

Then it was time for Isola! Another band I barely heard. Schwarz Stein was the first thing I heard Kaya in, and later his solo, so I don't really think of him as a bandman and I feel like rock music really doesn't suit him. I've heard Isola's album but I didn't get into it. The bassist and guitarist, Fumi and Tsubaki, joined him for this session and Kaya mentioned it felt strange since it was so long ago and he has changed as a person from that time. I can't say that much about the songs, it was fun live but not my cup of tea.

Mind, from Meties began playing and the stage was lit down. None of the original members came to this gig I believe (not sure though because I'm not certain about the line up). I really like Mind, but the rest of the songs sounds a bit the same for me. Like I mentioned, I don't think bands suit Kaya, I prefer him with an electronic sound. But again, it was nice live.


At first, when I bought the ticket, I was sort of wondering what activities he had in 1997... Kaya talked about that at first he was in a copy band called Zephyr Zone, and it is not well known. Since it was a copy band they didn't really have any material, but he did remember one song he wrote lyrics to called White Gate. He barely remembered it but he tried and sang a short piece acapella. Lastly, Kaya and the band played two cover songs, I don't know the original ones but they were kind of old fashioned VK, with a lot of shouting.

At this point I was a bit scared that this was it. But then Rose Jail began playing. It's one of my favorite Kaya songs and a great live song! I got a kiss on my hand this time too, when the evening was over I realised I still had his lipstick on my hand. Overall it was a fun gig, although I'm a bit disapointed with the setlist. I would've loved to hear some other songs from his solo like I mentioned. And I think they should've played some of the "real" Schwarz Stein songs.

They sold old chekis, from previous Kaya gigs (I found two cute ones of Kaya and Hora), but also from this evening, with ALL the support members. It's only 500yen each, but what are the odds of picking a Hora cheki? I stuck around after the gig and noticed some people just kept buying to get the "right" member, and some ended up with Hora over and over again. Since they didn't seem to want him I ended up getting one from them! I've seen people do this at live gigs, trading or selling off the ones they don't want, but I've never dared trying it since I don't really know the "rules" (at VK gigs you easily get the feeling that people in the fandom have rules and guidelines, at least I feel that way). But I really want a cheki, if they're sold, at every gig I go to, as a memory sort of. So I was happy that I found some people who didn't want theirs.
Overall it was a fun evening. I'm a bit sad I won't get to see Kaya play solo again before I leave, and I'm even sadder I won't be able to attend the Schwarz Stein 15th Anniversary live in November (which they announced at this gig, and later was posted on Hora's blog).

Looking forward to my next trip to Tokyo, fufufu.

One of the old chekis of Kaya, and Hora's from this gig.

Setlist taken from Kaya's blog:
2017-2016　Kaya solo
１：夢路
２：Prefana
MC

2015-2014年　Femme Fatele
３：JESTER
MC -Toshiコメント-
４：BURN

2013年-2012年 Kaya solo with BAND
５：SALOME
SE（Pendel-eins）
７：Memento mori
SE（VORWISSEN - null）

2011年-2007年　Kaya solo
８：Transmigration
９：ショコラ
10：火車

2006年-2005年　another cell
11：INNER UNIVERSE- cybernated
MC

2004年-2002年　Schwarz Stein
12：transient
13：Perfect Garden

2002年-2001年　Rudof Steiner
14：Queen of Decadence
15：黒揚羽

2000年　ISOLA
16：Egoiste Betterfly
MC
17：『Cruel』

1999年-1998年　Meties
18：激痛の空
19：ネクロフィリア

encore
1997年　Zephyr Zone
20：White gate（アカペラ）
＋カヴァー2曲

encore 2
23：Rose Jail

Mana ESP guitar event

Everyone who likes and follows Mana probably knows he helped design a new guitar with ESP, and in honor of that an event was held at the ESP museum in Shibuya!

I don't know anything about guitars truth be told, I don't play any instrument and I don't really have an interest in the details about guitars electronics. So when I found out that in order to attend the event you had to buy either the t-shirt or the doleman with the new guitar and it's specifics on I felt a bit disapointed to be honest. It's a bit too nerdy for me, but I ended up with the doleman (it's way too big for me so I'm sleeping in it). Because of this, I didn't really care about the new guitar either, I just wanted to shake Mana's hand and get something signed! X)

To begin with I was thinking long and hard about what I should bring for Mana to sign, I even concidered having someone ship my Malice Mizer 1th Anniversary demo, and then it was announced he'd only sign a photo provided at the store. A bit disapointed, and a bit relieved as I no longer had to think about what to get signed, fufufu.

I was given the 4th period, 18.00 (6 p.m), a bit stressed I arrived just in time for picking up my event ticket. Mana announced that for those who bought the guitar, he'd take a picture with them. When I was waiting for the event to start I walked around the ESP shop and noticed about four people filling out forms, making me wonder if they acctually bought the guitar...
I'm guessing I've been complaining a lot lately X) but I don't care to be honest. So here's my next complains:
I'm not sure about this, but I sort of assume that those who buy this guitar does it because Mana helped design it and to get the photo with him. The guitar cost, at the shop 800 000yen, with that price I feel like Mana should throw a slumber party for those who bought it. To only get to take a photo with him feels kind of bad. Many bands offer the cheki thing for a 1000 yen...
Second complaint, the event was way too short! Let's get to the few details.

So, about 15 minutes before the start of the event they let us in the room where it would be held. It was very nicely decorated with the regular gate with blue roses which can be seen at Moi Dix Mois concerts and also of course the big cloth with the band logo on. The room was all dark and only lit up from blue lights in the ceiling which was shaped as the cross on the Jeune fille guitar!

My seat was in the left corner, next to room partitioner for where Mana would sign the photo. While waiting we got to listen to some Moi Dix Mois music, from what I heard they were playing Reprise. The wait was short, staff closed the doors and explained the rules concidering taking pictures etc. Then they asked if we should call for Mana sama. People shouted (once only to my surprise) and then Mana came out in Moité (I know everything he wears is Moité, but none of the Moi Dix Mois outfits). This was my first time seeing Mana like this, not on stage performing so I felt kind of surprised at how big he felt to be honest, I mean surely he wears platforms but he's not that tall, and at the previous gigs I've been to he's always looked so thin and now I felt like he's kind of been gaining weight! I'm not saying that as in he's fat and need to loose weight, I don't care if he gains weight, I'm just not used to that since he usually looks very thin (stick legs).
Anyway, he came out with the new guitar, showed it off and then the staff also announced that Seth and Ryux would join him. Seth looked awesome! He wore black jeans, boots, a blouse, corset, hat and eyepatch. He had his hair in a ponytail, making him look a bit casual (for being VK).
He began reading Mana's message which was really short, and just about the guitar. Mana then played a bit of Je l'aime, and when I say a bit I mean a short bit, maybe 30 seconds. Mana looked a bit nervous, but it went fine. Then the event was over. Seth left with Ryux and Mana went behind the screen while staff explained how to order the guitar I think....I stoped listening here because I noticed I could sneak on Mana from the crack in the screen! I saw some fans looking at me going between looking straight ahead and then looking into the screen. Not that much exciting things, Mana looked a bit stressed removing all his rings, but then he just stood there chillin' waiting for people...until I'm sure he noticed the crack and I looked him in the face for a short while. ...then I stopped looking, the awkwardness was a bit too much for me.

People started lining up and it all went really fast so I grabbed my present and lined up aswell! So when I got back there Mana stood behind the table, I handed over my present, he bowed and accepted it, then he signed the photo and took my hand in both his, handed me the portrait and then it was over! When I shook his hand and said something to him, it looked like he wanted to smile but tried not to, hehe.
I didn't see what time it was, but it felt like the event was over in no time. I was hoping it would've been longer, that he would've played a whole song or something. A bit disapointed but I still enjoyed meeting him for the first time and acctually get his authograph (I have signed things but it's not the same when the person hasn't signed it infront of you).

D - 14th Anniversary Special Premium "Free" Live (Dark fairy tale)

On April 23rd D held a free live at Zepp Tokyo on the artificial island Odaiba. The free live was to celebrate their14th Anniversary. The tickets were handed out for free on a flyer which could be taken at most visual kei shops, or they were also handed out at their oneman live in January. However, if you wanted a good entrance number and a secured place at the live you could pre-book a ticket through pia. It was still free but you had to pay the administration fees. I chose this option and ended up paying 500yen for my ticket, which I thought was totally worth it concidering how much a normal ticket costs.

Since it was a free live I didn't have that much expectations regarding the length of the live. I've seen a lot smaller bands offer free live tickets for gigs lasting 1 hour, so for D which are a kind of big visual kei band I assumed it would be a rather short live. Oh was I wrong.

Eventhough I pre-ordered my ticket I ended up with a B-number, so about 700 people entered before me :P It sounds like a lot but Zepp is kind of big, I've had worse numbers there so it was ok. I also bought the D flags for this occassion! I mentioned that a nice fan lend me one of her flags last time, so I felt like it was time to get my own set now. I also got some costume chekis.
I wasn't aware of the system D has with chekis, but both at this live and the next (which I haven't written about yet) you could buy a ticket for chekis before the live, and then you go and pick them up afterwards. With this system you buy a set, so you get 1 cheki of each member, all in or out of costume, it's your choice. They come in a nice little envelope which states the date and live, so it makes a nice memory!

Since Zepp is kind of big I was really suprised to see it seemed kind of full! I'm glad that many showed up and hopefully some who's never seen D enjoyed the concert and will go to their later too!
The stage was amazingly decorated with flowers, real and actually big ones made from fabric or similar attached to the background, matching their new dark fairytale costumes. I have to say the new theme really appealed to me, I'm glad to see that D's fantasy doesn't seem to cease.
There seem to have been some electronic issues, all of a sudden some projection started eventhough the club was all lit up. It was just for a moment though and it was turned off immediatly. Short after the club was lit down and the projection was turned on for real. What it showed was a music video, the members were all dressed in their new outfits, and as most can figure out, it was the PV for their new single Dark Fairy Tale.
I just don't get how they can keep releasing so much stuff! D really never takes a break (even when they do :P). The song was very typical D, to be honest, to me nothing special. Better than Happy Unbirthday but not a top notch song. The PV was fun though, and I have to admit I love their costumes.

After the PV the members came out on stage and the first song up was 7th Rose! I really like that and I haven't heard it live before so I got really hyped. Like always D are very energetic on stage and the fans too, that's what I love about their lives. Eventhough I'm not a great fan (I follow them and have most of their full length albums but not fanatic) their lives are one of the best in the visual kei scene in my opinion.
As the evening went on I realised that eventhough it was a free live, it was just as good and long as a normal live with D. And what was great about the setlist was that it really reflected their anniversary! I assumed they would play a lot of songs from Wonderland Saviour, being their most recent album but the set list offered a wide variety of songs. To follow the nature/fairytale theme they acctually played Namonaki mori no yumegatari which is one of my favorite songs! It was great live of course, and from that single they also played Sankaku oyane to awarena koguma. The first half of the concert was just full of my favorite songs, so I couldn't have been more pleased. Also, Yami yori kurai doukoku akapera to bara yori akai jounetsu no aria, how can Asagi sing that so well live!?

The later half of the setlist, one song written by each member was played. Asagi would first present the song and say who wrote it and also some other things about it. So, it started with Hiroki and Desert Warrior! I feel like the setlist was very well thought. Not only did they chose songs to follow the nature theme, they also included songs from all of their career and on top of that one song from each member. Hands down to D, they know how to make a good live.
There seemed to have been some technical problems later too, at some point staff came to help Ruiza with his guitar equipment. It looked rather funny as Ruiza turned around and the staff member lifted his skirt to be able to help with the thing connected to the guitar (not a technical person so I have no idea what it's called), and I could hear some fans laughing (he has some great legs though).
I was happily surprised to hear that they played Kurobara no kishi again! It's one of my favorite songs on Kingdom and it's really fun live, hopefully I'll get to hear it once more before leaving Japan. (I noticed though that some people looked a bit scared seeing the parapara for it, I assume those girls weren't D fans, hehe)

As a last song of the main setlist they played Dark fairy tale, and Hide-Zou was supposed to show us the moves. There was some headbanging in the beginning and then for the chorus Asagi asked what everyone should do and Hide-Zou thought we could go for the "fancy hand movements" (as I like to call it :P), so in a very feminine manner he began showing with his hands and people laughed a bit, Asagi too.

Like always they all say some words to the fans and wave goodbye for a rather long time before leaving stage. I think that's really sweet, especially Asagi which I sometimes feel can come across as a bit stiff. He really stays on each side of the stage for a long time to wave to everyone.

This was a great live, and too bad for those who couldn't attend or chose not to, you really missed something. Please go see D if you get the chance, if you're into visual kei I'm sure you won't be disapointed!

―SE―

7th Rose

闇の国のアリス

闇より暗い慟哭のアカペラと薔薇より赤い情熱のアリア

光の庭～名もなき森の夢語り

～MC～

Night-ship”D”

花摘みの乙女

～MC～

三角お屋根と哀れな子熊

～MC～

Vampire missa

花惑

～MC～

Lost breath

ードラムソロー

Desert Warrior

In the name of Justice

鬨の声

～MC～

GOD'S CHILD

～MC～

君が見る夢の中

～MC～

Leukocyte

黒薔薇の騎士

～MC～

Dark fairy tale　

Encore

太陽を葬る日

Wonderland Savior～太陽と月の歯車～

Pride

Dearest you

EDEN

春の宴

Night Low Be 2017 at Club Zion, Nagoya

Where Schwarz Stein goes, I will follow. Sort of. (2 years ago I was about to go to Sapporo to attend their oneman and instore, but decided not to because it would cost too much)

So when they announced they'd do a coupling live with Közi in Nagoya again I couldn't stop myself from going. Being a fan of both Közi and Schwarz Stein I just had to see this, especially since I missed the last live they did together in 2015.

 So, right after a concert in Tokyo on Saturday night I went to Osaki station and got on my bus to Nagoya! Since I went just for the gig (I also did some sightseeing that I will post about in a seperate entry) I only stayed for one night and therefor decided to try a dorm for the first time in my life. When I arrived I passed by the bathroom/powder room, seeing that someone was applying some heavy make up. I didn't pay much attention to it, but then I went back to have a shower and realise that the make up this girl is applying is Hora's! I've always wanted to make his magic circle for a live but I know I wouldn't be able to pull it off (too much details!) and she'd done his make up so perfectly, I was so impressed. We talked a bit and since we were headed the same way we went together! Most of the time (basically always) I go to live gigs alone because I don't know anyone who likes the same bands as me so it was really nice and fun having someone to share the experience with for once. But talk about coincidence, I meet someone from Tokyo who's come to Nagoya just like to see Schwarz Stein and we're staying at the same dorm!

Anyway, I was kind of split about who'd start the evening and who'd end it. I acctually thought Schwarz Stein might be the opening and Közi the ending but it showed to be the opposit. So Közi started, and like the other times I've seen the E//+Z project he had projections being shown of different images, and he had his red suit on. I really like his hairstyling, instead of teasing it up it's combed down. I think with the red suit it makes him look sort of stylish salaryman á la visual kei.
Közi acctually didn't have his guitar for this live, just some sort of machine to change and do effects on his vocals (I'm not into music equipment so I have no idea what it was and how it works...). Like I've said before, Közi is really great live, I feel like he just goes up there and does his thing and it feels very natural and like he's enjoying it. Közi isn't just a very good musician but also very amusing to watch. For example, when the intro for Cacophony began playing he grabbed his bottle of tea to drink, and he just stood there with one arm in his side and the bottle in his other hand and the remix version of the song has a kind quiet opening and then all of a sudden the guitar will just break out sort of. And in that moment he quickly took a sip of his tea. It looked very amusing and everyone began laughing and I even think I could see a smile on Közi's face too. One interesting thing is that he make small changes to the songs live, so it doesn't really feel repetitve to watch E//+Z despite it just being one CD with songs, and you know what he'll be playing (I love the CD so I wouldn't mind just listening to the songs as they are but it's nice to see he puts some effort to change the setlist as much as he can while still using the same songs). He greeted everyone, Közi isn't much of a talker really (unless he's talking to the other members), so he kept quiet but it seemed like one of his members didn't know if he should start the next song or not so they quickly exchanged a look and Közi nodded but it got kind of awkwardly silent for a while so Közi just shouted out Nagoya again and then the song started. I don't have a setlist but I'm pretty sure he played all the songs off the remix album. I do however remember that the last song he played was ISM, and I couldn't help but to wonder if Hora would join him for it, but it didn't happen. Közi thanked everyone and left stage.

We in the crowd were left to listen to some Sopor Aeternus. I felt like the paus was kind of long, and then all of a sudden Testament began playing. I was so happy they opened with that, I love it and they didn't use that for their oneman in Tokyo. Everytime I hear Testament I just get this adrenalin rush, probably because I get so hyped knowing I'm at a Schwarz Stein live! Hora entered first as always, followed by Kaya. I don't take notes on the setlist because I just want to enjoy the gig, I do remember the songs though (in the wrong order), but as soon as a setlist is announced I'll put it on here!
Both Kaya and Hora wore their Sleeping Madness costumes, and of course they played their most recent release Fleeting Beauty, the live started off a bit slow, but then they did the classics and eventhough people always are a bit stiff to begin with they began loosen up during Perfect Garden and Release me. I was really hoping to hear Release me because it's awesome on CD and even more awesome live. During their onwman in Tokyo the sound was a but off, the bass was too loud but this time around you could acctually hear the melody as well. Hora and Kaya both gestured to people to raise their hands and dance to the music but people seem to stop when they stop their instructions which I find kind of funny...
I found it kind of funny that both Közi and Schwarz Stein mentioned that it was fun being back in Nagoya, because I recognized most of the people there. This means that either the people all came from Tokyo to see this gig, or these people come from other cities to Tokyo everytime to see them. I bet most came from Tokyo though, and if that's really the case....did they have to make a live in Nagoya making us travel across the country? :P During the MC Kaya and Hora talked quite a bit, and people shouted kawaii and Kaya said "I know", quoting Hora from the previous live, hehe. Kaya seemed to have some trouble pronouncing the title of the event, and then he mentioned, like always, that Schwarz Stein is a "my pace" project and for now they don't have any plans. Hora will however be a guest at Kaya's anniversary live later this month. The plan is for them to do some Rudolf Steiner and some Schwarz Stein songs (making me wonder what the difference will be concidering the Rudolf Steiner songs has all been released as Schwarz Stein, or Another Cell. Or will they acctually perform them as they sound on the demos?). 
Then came the biggest suprise. Kaya mentioned that in Tokyo they do the after events, and then they will say goodbye to everyone, but they've never had that in Nagoya so for this evening they decided to offer a 3shot cheki for 1000yen after the gig. I barely couldn't believe my ears, I've been so jealous of the people who attended their gig in the US who got to take a picture with them, and I was hoping they'd do some instore for Fleeting Beauty offering a 3shot cheki. I was so happy I did go to Nagoya for this gig after all. 
Like always they ended with all their heavier songs, Creeper, Syphilis and Disorder, Sleeping Beauty and Succubus. One thing I've noticed is that over the years the crowd has gotten more violent. The first gig I attended in 2012 everyone was sort of leaning towards the stage for these songs, this time one girl acctually fell to the ground (and I was about to fall too once). I noticed that the girls standing closest to the stage was basically lying with their upper body on the stage by now, and at one point Hora even gesticulated to everyone to back a bit. The club was also extremly hot. There must've been something wrong with the airconditioner because it was so warm I could see how Hora was dripping of sweat after just one song (and I felt it running down my back after just a short while). Kaya mentioned during their first MC that it was very warm, asking if everyone was ok. I was very happy we'd get to take pictures with them, but did it have to be the day I was sweating like there was no tomorrow? Like always, despite it being a bit aggressive, I really like the end bit of Schwarz Stein's lives because those songs are just awesome live and Hora and Kaya really gives it their all. Kaya as always went to kiss and lick people's hands (hehe).
They left stage but of course came out for an encore. I was kind of excited since I remember they did Succubus with Közi last time, I really wanted to hear that. Kaya mentioned that he thinks Közi is really cool at one point, hehe. Közi entered stage with his fellow support members (all with a drink in their hands of course) and then they talked a bit. Közi said he liked the hand movement Kaya does in Creeper, so they wanted to do that together. He also asked Hora what it is he says during Creeper, and then they decided it would be changed to "nairobi" (ナイロビ), a shorter version of Night Low Be (probably easier for Kaya to pronounce as well, hehe). So they started Creeper, just like it always sounds but when it was time for the chorus Hora changed "crave your wings" to "nairobi" and then Közi would get in with a "nairobi" right after like an echo. Both Kaya and Hora had a hard time keeping a straight face, Kaya began laughing and couldn't do the arm gesture and Hora had problems keeping up his death vocals. Közi however kept going without problems, and his support members did the arm gesture with us in the crowd. I felt a bit like Közi and his "gang" was a bit too amused (perhaps had one too many), and when they then did Succubus (changing "nightmare" to nairobi" of course) Közi went accross the stage to do something with one of the speakers (adjust volume maybe?) he acctually fell on his behind! No harm done though, he just got up again, I've just never seen him fall, I thought that was a Mana thing (fufufu). For those who follow Közi on Twitter might have noticed that Közi wrote that he lost his phone in Nagoya...(just saying...).

Közi said it was nice to do the Night Low Be, and that they'll do a Night Low Be 2018 (something for everyone in Japan to look forward to). Then they left stage and I sort of rushed out to get some air (it really was like a sauna in there) and to buy that 3shot cheki! I noticed the tickets didn't sell out, and also that most people only bought one, I got two (I don't want closed eyes again like with Hizaki...). I was waiting by the end of the stairs, outside of the actual stage area to be able to breath, when all of a sudden I see Kaya, followed by Hora coming down the stairs! I always feel so weird because I don't know what to say, so I said good evening, haha. I also hate taking these kinds of photos having all the people watching me so I waited until last. I also wanted to see how others did it who bought several tickets (like if you could request a pose etc). One thing I noticed which I haven't seen before was that one girl requested a cheki of Hora and Kaya together, without her. Then it was my turn and I got one regular and one pose, hehe (not posting my photos, I look to awkward). Then before Kaya and Hora left Hora said thanks and take care. I went out of the club feeling like I was on drugs or something. 
Schwarz Stein's gigs are always so intense it's crazy. And getting the chance to take a cheki with them was just overwhelming for my fangirl heart. The day after I had to look at the photos again, assuring myself it really happened, haha. It was totally worth traveling to see this. Schwarz Stein is always worth it.

2017.6.8 Set List

SE(testament)

１：Lilith
２：Release me
３：Perfect Garden
MC
４：Fleeting Beauty
５：方舟
６：Current
MC
７：Sleeping Madness
８：CREEPER
９：Syphilis and Disorder
10：Succubus

encore

11：CREEPER(“Night Low Be”ver)
12：Succubus“Night Low Be”ver)

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)