Answers to 29 Questions + Bonus 29

There were so many that I worked twice as hard.

They’re a return present from me.

Start.

Q: Do you ever eat chocolates or cookies?

A: I eat them when I get a sweet tooth.

Q: There were a bunch of pictures on your blog…were they from a photoshoot?

A: You’ll find out soon enough.

Q: Can you tie a cherry stalk with your tongue?

A: Piece of cake.`

Q: Please give me some encouragement so I can pass my exams.

A: Good luck.

Q: I’m going to start learning [about design]. Once I can make my own clothes, can I send you the pieces that I designed?

A: I accept the challenge.

Q: How do I put on makeup so that I look VKish?

A: Do whatever you see fit.

Q: What kind of games do you like?

A: The ones with voice recognition.

Q: If I send you a fan letter, will you reply to it?

A: Just wait patiently.

Q: Is the cologne you’re using now the one you got from a fan and posted on your blog before?

A: I change colognes depending on the mood.

Q: I’ve been fighting with my parents lately because they keep dismissing my dreams, but I don’t want to give up my dreams. Am I wrong?

A: There’s no such thing as right or wrong in life.  Don’t give up and keep fighting.

Q: Please tell me exactly what type [of person] you like.
A: Someone who has what I lack.

Q: Do you like G-strings?

A: I prefer no underwear.

Q: Is it okay if I keep loving you all my life?

A: I’m looking forward to it.

Q: What makes you happiest on your birthday?

A: A concert.

Q: Why are you so hot?

A: Cuz I sucked at school.

Q: Do you have any favorite clothing brands?
A: LAGUST, the rock-ish type.

Q: Do you have any criteria when you pick out clothes and accessories?
A: My instincts.

Q: Which do you prefer, us calling out to you in death voice or in normal voice?
A: Death voice.

Q: Do you like byou gara only because your name is Byou? Or do you actually like byou gara?
A: Whyyy?

Q: What do you want to get for your birthday?
A: Justin Davis.

Q: Please tell me the names of the twins you had with Kazuki-san.

A: Whyyy?

Q: Would you wear LAGUST’s white x gold jeans?
A: I want to.
 

Q: You’re really flashy, aren’t you♪ Would you really wear anything?
A: Just leave it to me.

Q: What kind of girl do you prefer, the prim and proper type or the gyaru type?
A: My type is the girl that I like.

Q: To the ero vo. Byou-san, which do you prefer, chasing or being chased?
A: Depends on the mood.

Q: What’s your fetish?
A: Myself.

Q: When was your first experience?
A: Right after birth.

Q: Your movie [Beat Rock☆Love] is coming out soon. What’s the highlight?
A: Me.

Q: Why 29 questions?
A: It’s stimulating.

Q: I’m about to get a haircut now, but do you like girls with short hair?
A: Would you like me to cut it for you?

Q: Aniki, you’re gonna celebrate your birthday soon. What’s your new goal?
A: Shaping up.

Q: What made you decide to be in a band?
A: Go back through the Byousatsuhiwa.

Q: Do the lyrics come to you during recording? Or do you write them down when they hit you in daily life?
A: Both.

Q: When are you the most relaxed?
A: Just before going to sleep.

Q: What’s the #1 thing you want right now?
A: A laptop.

Q: Your legs are skinny, but what do you do to stay in shape?
A: Thank my parents.
 

Q: Are my thoughts reaching you?
A: Try harder.

Q: Aside from chocolate, what do you want?
A: Beauty care products.

Q: What’s the #1 thing that will make you happy? What’s the #1 thing that will make you sad?

A: I’m happy when you guys get along.

Q: Are you a tsundere?

A: I’ll leave it to your imagination.

Q: Please tell me a surefire way to win a go-con.

A: Being a tsundere.

Q: Please tell me which movies you recommend.

A: I haven’t seen any lately, so you tell me.

Q: What kind of clothes do you want girls to wear?
A: Don’t wear anything.

Q: Aniki, what’s the greatest legend you’ve been part of up until now?
A: The legend starts now.

Q: I’m going to the concert tomorrow, but I can’t decide on a present. Is there anything you want?

A: Maybe clothes or a hat?

Q: I have a natural baby face. Do you think it’s impossible for me to look sexy?
A: Don’t get a complex about it, turn it into a weapon.

Q: What do you do to kill time?
A: Shopping.

Q: What would you be if you could be reborn?
A: A chihuahua.

Q: I’m thinking of sending you chocolates and a necktie for Valentine’s Day, but would it be a bother?
A: Feel free.

Q: What kind of things make you happy when you receive them?
A: Sometimes I feel like playing video games, so video games.

Q: Can you wait until April for your birthday present?
A: Of course.

Q: What do you do when you’re feeling down? How do you cheer up?
A: I write lyrics.

Q: What kind of kid were you in junior high?
A: A kindergartener.

Q: It looks like I’ve received a jersey. Can I give it to you?
A: Sure.

Q: Byou-san, what will you be doing the instant the date changes into 2/9?
A: In the middle of answering [questions].
 

Q: What’s your favorite design?
A: Skulls.

Q: I want to give you some underwear when you come to the Sapporo concert, but what size are you?
A: Medium.

Q: Can I call you aniki?
A: Sure.

I’m lucky that I get to have a concert on my birthday this year too.

I’ll make sure to give you guys some extra lovin’ for coming to see me.

Translator’s Notes:

byou gara = leopard print

gyaru = fashionable/trendy/hip girls

ero vo. = erotic vocalist

Byousatsuhiwa = the name of Byou’s blog

tsundere = a person who’s cold on the outside but sweet on the inside, a hot-and-cold personality

go-con = a dating party

aniki = Byou’s nickname, means “big bro”, commonly used in yakuza speech

UNDEAD PRESENTS 「ICE ROMANCER」 memorial oneman

Sadie

12/21/2008 America-mura Big Cat

Free, Sadie, fanclub, oneman, what more could I ask for? It’s been a year since I last went to a Sadie oneman. They’ve come out with a lot of new material in this past year, and gained a lot of new fans, I’m sure. For some reason, Sadie seemed different tonight, different at a oneman, like they’re more in control and more confident. They’re good at events too, of course, but it’s not the same.  

Anyways, I arrived at the venue around 5PM, and they were still calling numbers, one by one (how ridiculous is that?). Around 5:20PM, they finally ran out of fanclub tickets (real fanclub tickets) around 310 (I guess now we know how many people are in UNDEAD) and started calling in 5’s or 10’s. Because it took everyone such a long time to get inside, the show didn’t start until 6:10, so they were running 40 minutes late. Big Cat can hold about 800 people, and I suspect that it was only 2/3 filled today. Since my number was 794, I aimed for a side spot near the back. I had a lot of space to headbang and stuff, so it was great. There was a lot of male fans, and a lot of people who were probably casual fans around me.  

Setlist (from 2ch):

SE
Ice Romancer
Crimson Tear
Payment of vomiter
meisai
Grieving the dead soul
psychedelic chemical movie
MAD-ROID
Rock'n roll stinky people
Silent Eve
hakanaki risou, wazuka na ai
under the chaos
Sexual affection
marionette
psycho culture
CHILDREN OF DESPAIR

 

en1.
Recall
In Cave
a holy terrors

 

en2.
Ice romancer

I’m glad they played all their recent songs. I was slightly caught off guard when Ice Romancer came on first, but all things considered, the lineup was hardly surprising. Payment of vomiter & Sexual affection were my favorites tonight, two songs I’ve always missed out on.

During a break, Mizuki kinda wiggled around and his fans were like, WAHH!! Aki kept peering into the crowd as usual. Kei was looking at god-knows-what behind his drum stand – sometimes it seemed like he was staring at the ceiling or at the curtains or something. Maybe it’s because I’ve always been on Aki’s side and hardly ever pay attention to Mao, but he was really intense – his voice sounded really good live. And he seemed to be able to change between high-pitched voices and death growls effortlessly. Halfway through the show, he stripped. Down came the trench coat. Down came the shirt. I don’t know if he chucked his (chunky gold) necklace. 

Mao talked a lot at various intervals. He kept urging us on, saying “Can you do it, Osaka?” (ikeru ka) or “Are you ready” or “come at me” (kakatte koi). And later on (probably in the MC in the 2^nd encore), he said that since this was a free live and anyone could come if they’d bought Sadie’s ICE ROMANCER single, there were surely people in the audience tonight who’d never seen Sadie. So then he asked for a headcount for n00bs, and a few people raised their hands (and surprisingly several of them were in the front). I thought there would’ve been more… He also talked about their upcoming schedule, namely, their spring tour and their next live at Big Cat, which is the 3man with heidi. and lynch.

And then Mao or Tsurugi said it was hot, and that someone should turn up the AC, but Mizuki was like, “nah, let’s be easy on the environment.” And then the funniest thing -- 3 minutes into the MC (all the other members had already come back), along came Aki. He breezed right through, ignored the MC completely and just kept checking his equipment.  It was like he was invisible.  So then Mao let us sing ICE ROMANCER this time around. He was like, “I’m gonna have you sing it.” The fans went, ehhh? And he amended, “I’m gonna have you sing it…with me.” So we did, amidst the bright lights, waving our hands and letting the air carry our voices. It was a nice ending. The show ended at about 8PM.

honorary FC member for a day 

Byou’s blog Q&A

Q: What do you think when you see mura-musume cosplaying you?

A: Honestly, I’m happy. You better be me perfectly.

Q: What kind of motif do you like on your accessories?

A: Skulls or something chunky.

Q: Up until now, I’ve been desperately wanting to be showered with the water that you spit out, Byou-san…but lately I haven’t been going [to your lives] so I don’t know what it’s like. Are you still spitting out water?
A: Still spitting with high reviews.

Q: If there were only 3 colors in the world and you couldn’t even blend the colors, what colors would you recognize, Byou-sama?

A: Gold, Silver, Byou.

Q: Can I listen to “the autumn breeze?” Can I do furi for it?
A: I’d like to listen to the song.

Q: How can I forget something that happened in the past…?
A: You don’t have to forget it.

Q: Can I keep living like this?
A: The answer can be found as you keep living.

Q: Byou-san, which do you like better, Chrome Hearts or Justin [Davis]?
A: Justin Davis

Q: Byou-san, do you prefer long bathtubs?
A: Depends on the bath.

Q: Byou-san, what do you usually look like when you go out?
A: Mature & rocker type.

Q: It seems you watch DVDs, so what’s the DVD you cried the most for, or the most interesting DVD you’ve watched up until now?
A: The Untouchables

Q: Byou-san, do you and your younger brothers look alike?

A: Sometimes.

Q: Byou-san, I really want to see you right now. What should I do?

A: Come and see me.

Q: Byou-san, when was your first love?

A: 3 days after birth.

Q: Aniki, do you wear under garments and stuff?

A: What would I do in the winter? I try to wear it.

Q: After sending fanmail, how long does it take until it reaches everyone in SCREW?

A: Depends on my mood. After I open the URL.

Q: What item do you want the most right now?

A: Melting Pot

Q: Byou-san, what do you do when you’re tired?

A: I’m tired like hell.

Q: Is the younger brother that’s on Ameblo the second son? Or the third son?

A: The third son.

Q: Byou-san…do you hate green peas?

A: Can you ask me the question after you read my blog?

Q: Which do you like better on girls, short hair or long hair?

A: Long on top, short on the bottom.

Q: I don’t understand what the point of living is anymore. Can I live for you, Byou-san?

A: If it’s related to the point of living.

Q: Byou-san, do you like byou gara??

A: Can you ask me the question after you see my outfits?

Q: Why are you so hot?

A: I can’t help it.

Q: Byou-san, you don’t eat?
A: What’s your basis?

Q: Byou-san, do you play video games?
A: Despite my appearance, I do.

Q: Byou-sama, do you like cologne? What kind of scent do you like better, sexy or cool?
A: Lately, yes. Anything other than the smell of sh-t.

Q: Byou-san, how tall are you?

A: 172cm

Q: How come you write such good songs?
A: Because I want to write good songs.
 

Q: Byou-san, have you and Kazuki-san done it? Do you love each other?
A: Recently we gave birth to twins.

Q: Where’d you get your sunglasses?
A: Shibuya.

Q: Byou-san, it looks like you have a lot of sunglasses and underwear already. I want to give you some other kind of present. What would be good?

A: I can never have too much underwear, and besides, it’s not like I’ll be bringing them along for next year’s oneman tour.

Q: What kind of gifts do you like? What makes you happy?
A: Beauty products.

Q: What size T-shirts and pants are you?
A: S~M

Q: When I watched the PV for Gather Roses, my mother was also watching from behind.  It was freaky!  What should I do?

A: Be more careful.

Q: Byou-san, you’re a vocalist I really respect. Can you give me some words of encouragement!?

A: How was your first live? Let’s work hard together.

Q: Even though finals start tomorrow, I can’t think of anything but Y-kun. What should I do? What would Byou-san do?

A: When the finals are over, fuck Y-kun.

Q: You wrote that because of Jin, you could only sleep 1 hour. What were the two of you doing?

A: A 2-man troupe.

Q: Byou-san, is there someone so important to you that you think you can’t live without this person?

A: There is.

Q: Byou-san, do you like Jin-chan?

A: I do have an interest.

Q: Byou-san, I want you to tell me the brand and type of cologne you use!

A: Can you ask me the question after you read my blog?

Q: Have you decided what to name that funky pink bear-san?

A: Only the last name.

Q: I’m a new fan, but is it okay if I come to your live in Shinjuku next month?

A: Of course.

Q: Which do you like better, big boobs or small boobs? Which type are you?
A: Depends on the feel type.

Q: I think that people can’t change easily, but if you grow even a little, then it’s a step up, don’t you think?
A: That’s right.

Q: Byou-san, how pervy are the pervy things you think about?
A: 100% porn videos.

Q: Byou-san, do you like takoyaki?
A: I prefer tacosen.

Q: Can I send you letters again?
A: Yeah. No need for my permission.

Q: Byou-san, can I ignore school and come see you at next year’s oneman?
A: You better pull off both smoothly.

Q: Byou-san, what should I do to be your personal manager?

A: Audition.

I’ll post again if I feel like it.

***

Translator’s notes:

mura-musume = SCREW fangirls

furi = choreographed hand movements

Aniki = Byou’s nickname

byou gara = animal prints

takoyaki = octopus balls

takosen = octopus crackers

RENTRER EN SOI

LAST ONE-MAN TOUR 「MILLENARIANISM」

12/4/2008 Holiday Nagoya

Setlist (thanks, Shun!):

1:MURDER INTENT
2:I HATE MYSELF AND WANT TO DIE
3:LAST SCENE
4:BAPTISM
5:THORNY RAIN BREAK
6:DAMNATION
7:gedoku magai ni suicide
8:taiyo no todokanai basho
9:CRUSADE
10:AMONGST FOOLISH ENEMIES
11:STIGMATA
12:UNENDING SANCTUARY
13:JUST MAD PAIN

EN.1
ushinawareta fuukei no yume (unplugged)
LAST WORD 「　」
SECRET SCARS-BESIDE YOU-

EN.2

hamon tsutau memai
binetsu shita de shajitsu shita shinsou ha atesaki fumei no tegami to naru

EN.3
ichigo oblate
haikyo to kashita hakoniwa
bunretsu LE+DD jinkaku
METEMPSYCHOSIS

SPECIAL ENCORE
OASIS(SHORT Ver)

I traveled to Nagoya today to see RENTRER EN SOI’s first, and last, oneman in Nagoya. I got lost trying to find Holiday Nagoya (that map on their website is so skewed), so I arrived at the venue late, 20 minutes past the opening. Holiday Nagoya is so much nicer than its counterpart in Osaka. The stage is pretty wide and can fit at least 10 people, and the ceiling is super high, unlike most dinky little livehouses. Luckily, the hall wasn’t too crowded, and I got a nice spot in the middle of the room, next to W. and N. Nagoya fans are so civilized (read: lackluster) – they didn’t push at all (amazing!), and there weren’t as many death growls either. Hell, even the shouts for encores died down and fizzled every so often. 

The show started late again, at around 6:45PM. The members wore basically the same things as yesterday, except for Satsuki, who wore a white studded suit today. He wore his fingerless gloves again, along with a thin gold necklace (with a cross dangling off of it), and a black belt with diamonds at the center. When he first came on, he wore a black handkerchief/scarf that covered his lower face, but he quickly tossed that aside when they began playing (he is a singer after all, and it would’ve muffled his voice).  Oh and Takumi wore a deep blue shirt underneath his suit jacket.

Basically the progression of the songs was like this: they started off with some heavy songs, then switched into ballads, ended the main set with more heavy songs, did 3 acoustic songs/ballads in the first encore, then 2 livelier songs in the second encore, followed by a mix of heavy songs in the third encore and topped off with a ballad, and finished the show with a “special” encore.

They played “taiyo no todokanai basho”, one of my favorite ballads. I realized that I must’ve confused anima mundi with taiyo, and that was why I thought I’d recognized anima mundi yesterday. But whereas anima mundi is sad and haunting, taiyo is ethereal and faery-like. During taiyo, there’s this part where Satsuki trails off, clutching his chest, and everything is perfectly quiet, until Mika’s drums kick in again. I’ve seen it several times live, but it never had a profound meaning for me, until tonight.

I wonder if Satsuki’s voice was feeling the effects from yesterday’s live and this live. He didn’t sing for a while during STIGMATA, and simply pointed the mic to us (for us to sing, though the music drowned out our voices). Then, during JUST MAD PAIN, he did some death growls, but I could clearly hear pre-recorded vocals in the background. He also let us sing hamon today, looping several times:

目覚めれば消えてしまう優しい眩暈
だから僕は月に照らされて永遠の夢に眠る…

Satsuki dived 5 times today again, but only in the center. He dived 4 times in succession during one song early on (probably LAST SCENE). It happened like this: he stood on the podium with his back to the audience, fell down backwards and lay on top of the fans, got up with the aid of the livehouse staff/roadies, went back up to the stage, hopped on the podium again and loop. It was an incredible sight to see, especially from an objective POV. I felt like I was watching him dive at a swimming pool. 

Once again, only Satsuki ever said anything.  At the beginning of the show, he told us to “burn this sight into our memories.” Later, he apologized to us for not coming to Nagoya sooner, and that even though it’d be the last time, he was glad he met us. He told us lightly, “Don’t cry, you’ll only make us sad. Save your crying until the very end.”  He also said he was KY – why? – because he was saying KY things like these. “So don’t cry, okay?”

They went through a rapid succession of songs and encores. The first encore featured an acoustic rendition of “ushinawareta fuukei no yume”, so all the members save Satsuki sat down and got out their acoustic guitars/bass (exactly how many instruments do band members bring on tours?). The members came back in their tour T-shirts during the second encore. We barely shouted for the third encore, and it was like they came back instantly. During “bunretsu LE+DD jinkaku” (RENTRER’s customary ending song at event lives), everyone in the front piled on top of each other, and some kids did gyaku dai on top of them.

Finally, Satsuki told us that this would be their last song. The audience was like, “NO!!” and “play some more!”, but Satsuki chided us and said, “This is really our last song. Even our setlist says so. See, go check for yourself.” Then he casually tossed out the setlist to the crowd. So he introduced the song, METEMPSYCHOSIS, as a song that has a lot of meaning to the band. It must be very special, since they keep playing it last at every single stop on this tour (not including the unanticipated encores).

After METEMPSYCHOSIS ended, the members waved, threw out stuff, and made their exit. Satsuki was like, “See you on 12/25 in Tokyo!” Then the curtains closed and the lights came on. At this point, some people started to leave, but most of us remained, unsure what to do. Some people (including me, boistered by yesterday’s surprise encore) started chanting “encore” again, but it didn’t catch on until after 5 minutes or so. We shouted for a good 15 minutes, until finally, Satsuki’s voice came on through the loudspeaker (he must’ve been standing near the stage but we couldn’t see him). He apologized to us because apparently, their manager was really strict and told them they had to pack up their stuff and leave, so they couldn’t do another encore. We were like, EHHHH?! So he told us to open and peek through the curtains. And the saizen did just that, and what do we see? – the drum stand was all but cleared, in the middle of the stage. But even so, we kept protesting and begging Satsuki to play more songs. Through the course of negotiations, somehow Satsuki agreed to do an extra encore and more songs in Tokyo, but that didn’t help those of us who’d only be seeing them in Nagoya. Finally, Satsuki relented and agreed to do one more song. “Well we obviously can’t use the drums anymore, so why don’t Takumi and I do an acoustic performance?” The crowd cheered, ecstatic, despite the WTF-ness of the situation. Some people even started to chant “RI-EN-TO RI-EN-TO”, the same way mania would chant “DIS-PAS-RAY DIS-PAS-RAY”.

So the staff prepared chairs and acoustic guitars (one was for Satsuki!), and Satsuki and Takumi came out and sat down. They played a really short song, OASIS, and it couldn’t have lasted more than 3 minutes, but it was enough for us. More than enough really, to have 4 encores. Satsuki even played the intro chords alongside Takumi! Following this, the other members made one final appearance on stage, waving and throwing stuff, before leaving again, this time for good. 

The live ended at about 9:15 again. Afterwards, talk of the special encore was still buzzing around. According to Shun’s blog, even the members had a good laugh over it. They’d never encountered a situation like this before, in all their 7 years of playing.

My head is still spinning from all the headbanging, but I treasure this pain above all else. My voice is hoarse from extended shouting, but the crazy encore that came out of it was well worth it. My heart is heavy – I’ll never see them again – but content. My only regret is PROTOPLASM, but I couldn’t have done more, as a fan. Good night, and goodbye, RENTRER EN SOI.

Mika’s drumstick – he used this during the main set and it’s all chipped

(Speaking of Mika and drumsticks, he must have tossed out like ten drumsticks tonight.  He kept tossing out the last drumstick because it failed to land beyond the stage...it was hilarious.  Finally Takumi picked it up and gave it a good throw – the third time’s the charm – and it landed into the crowd.)
 

RENTRER EN SOI

LAST ONE-MAN TOUR「MILLENARIANISM」

12/3/2008 America-mura FANJ twice

Setlist (from Shun’s blog):

1:LAST SCENE
2:UNENDING SANCTUARY
3:JUST MAD PAIN
4:DAMNATION
5:STIGMATA
6:TO INFINITY
7:hamon tsutau memai
8:anima mundi
9:karasuiro no taiji
10:tsuki ga maioriru koto no nai daichi
11:MISERY LOVES POISONOUS BLUE
12:BAPTISM
13:AMONGST FOOLISH ENEMIES
14:bunretsu LE+DD jinkaku

EN.1
seishinshi 13 dome
DEAD believe ME
I HATE MYSELF AND WANT TO DIE

EN.2
Eyes of Forest
ichigo oblate
haikyo to kashita hakoniwa
fuyuu tsuisou
METEMPSYCHOSIS

En.3
THE ABYSS OF DESPAIR
MURDER INTENT
mizuyume miru chouchou

I dropped by Shinsaibashi FANJ twice tonight to see RENTRER EN SOI’s last live in Osaka. Luckily, I found my way there without getting lost this time, aided by the throng of band girls standing outside the livehouse. Apparently the fans were doing a group project, that is, having all the fans write messages to the band on this giant towel. They were doing this at the Triangle Park before the live, and on the floor inside FANJ twice after the live. Anyways, I got inside and got a spot in the 3^rd row center.  FANJ twice can fit about 200 people, and I think the place was almost filled tonight.  There was an awful lot of pushing all throughout the concert, more so than most onemans, and a bunch of tall guys who suddenly moved up to the front by the end of the concert. I think I’ll just chill out in the back at tomorrow’s show in Nagoya.

The show started about 15 minutes late, at 6:45PM. Their SE (Mawaru) came on, quiet and haunting. We cheered for each of the members as they came on: Mika, Shun, Ryo, Takumi, Satsuki. To be sure, the majority of RES fans are Satsuki fans (me included), so I heard more death growls for Satsuki than for all the other band members combined. 

Individual members:

Mika: His hair was dark and curly, and about shoulder-length. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see him most of the time. But once, at the end of the main set, he came up to the stage and high-fived those of us in the front.

Shun: His hair was brown, shoulder-length, and sorta spiky. He was all decked out in black leather. He kept having tech problems and even had to go off stage at one point.

Ryo: His hair was really short, and he had on a wig (consisting of some black spirals piled on top of his head). He wore a cool black blazer with silver rockstar-style lapels, and a sparkly silver rectangular pendant on his neck. 

Takumi: His hair was a mix of gold and brown and black, and it was also spiked up. He was also dressed in black leather, and he wore a black&white animal-print tank underneath his suit jacket. I noticed that he kept switching guitars (luckily, they had 3 roadies on hand). Once, he came up and high-fived the people on his side.

Satsuki: He wore a leopard-print suit (with nothing under the suit jacket, btw), a glittery black necktie around his neck, a gold belt, and brown pointy shoes. His blond hair was sticking out in volumes. He kept smiling at us during the live, and it made him look really young and boyish. Maybe it’s because they’re professionals, or because they didn’t want to upset their fans even further, but they all looked calm and composed on the stage, unto the end.

Satsuki dived five times tonight. The first time, we were all headbanging, so he caught me totally unawares, knocking over my head. He almost fell that time, too. The next couple of times, he kinda gave us a warning (ie he stopped and stood at the edge of the stage) so it was more obvious, and he stayed longer in the crowd. He seems so small, yet he’s heavier than I’d have thought. Later, he also dived in the left and right sides, not only in the center.

His voice is incredible, and he could switch between high and low pitches instantaneously. Of course, his death growls are nothing to boast about (I keep wondering how he manages to do I HATE MYSELF), but his voice can soar. I’ve never realized it at the lives until now, since they only seem to play heavier songs nowadays and rarely play their old ballads anymore. I’m glad they played some of their ballads tonight, because they really showcased his voice and his talent. They also played a bunch of heavier songs, of course, but the ballads are the ones that stick. In any case, their setlist was really diverse, showing off the breadth of their repertoire over these past 7 years.

Individual songs:

anima mundi – It’s such a sad, haunting ballad, good for escaping. I’ve never heard it before, but I must have, somehow, because I recognized it… It reminds me of Everything But the Girl’s “Missing.”

karasuiro no taiji – A bunch of people went spastic when Satsuki announced this song, because it’s from the ol’ days. I love the part where Satsuki sings “sayonara” (so chillingly high!) – maybe it was because of the absolute silence in the hall (and better reverberation), but it sounded even better live than on CD.

tsuki ga maioriru koto no nai daichi – It’s one of the 2 new songs from their new, and last, album, AIN SOPH AUR. Satsuki introduced it and credited Ryo as the songwriter. We all cheered. It was another ballad, so we all listened quietly, holding our breaths.

hamon tsutau memau & mizuyume miru chouchou - Both songs were very upbeat and we waved our hands during them. I’m glad they played mizuyume miru chouchou last, because it was fun & fast and dispelled the sad atmosphere (ie crying girls). 

The members came back in their tour T-shirts in the first encore. They wore the same pants, so for Satsuki, that meant the leopard-print pants. Shun toted a video recorder and recorded everyone’s faces. Satsuki was the only one who did an MC tonight. At the end of the second encore, he made a solemn speech, something that goes like, “I believe that fate guides our lives and that there is a meaning in everything we do. The meaning in the creation of RENTRER EN SOI was to meet you. Thank you for supporting RENTRER EN SOI up until now.” He also said stuff like, “Thank you Osaka” (twice). After the members left the stage, some girls started crying, and it seemed that the live was over.

Nonetheless, we shouted for a third encore, ignoring the lights that came on and the livehouse announcement saying that the live was over. Some people even left at this point. But we kept shouting (this was goodbye, after all), and our shouts were answered, finally, after about 15 minutes, when the members came back on. According to Shun’s blog, they hadn’t planned to do the third encore, and I can believe him, especially since they only did 2 encores in Fukuoka and Sapporo. But they played 3 more songs, as if rewarding us for our persistence. Satsuki even asked us which songs we wanted to hear (as if they hadn’t already decided amongst themselves). Actually, first he told us they’d play 2 songs, but when those 2 songs were over, he said they’d play 1 more, “mizuyume”, which was a “hidden song” on their setlist. Of course, we were all happy to hear that. I think the third encore did much to cheer people up, since it was so unexpected. The live ended at about 9:15PM, stretching the concert to 2.5 hours.

Now if I can hear PROTOPLASM just once before I die, I’ll be happy…

D’ERLANGER presents ABSTINENCE’S DOOR #004
Supported by FM Osaka

the Underneath/lynch./Sadie/D’ERLANGER

11/9/2008 Namba Hatch

After a month-long abstinence from lives, I decided to go to this live at the last minute, in exchange for giving up lynch. in Hiroshima and Fukuoka (transportation & hotel fees were too expensive). Namba Hatch reminds me of a planetarium. The building looks like a dome from the outside, and we even had to ride a narrow, single-person escalator up to the hall. The hall itself is wide (about 20 people could fit in the saizen) but not that deep, and supposedly the capacity is 1500. Today, it was only about half filled, and there were lots of open spots towards the back. My ticket # was A23, but because some people didn’t show up on time, I was like the 10^th person to enter the hall. So I got a spot in the saizen shimote area, right in front of where the bassist usually stands. Oh and nobody asked me which band I’d come to see. 

There was no shikiri today, probably because it was a D’ERLANGER event. Instead, it was a free-for-all. I swear, at least 4 girls asked me which band I was interested in and if I could give them my spot when their band came up. Somehow, it got really annoying. I kinda wanted to scream, I’m staying put here cuz I didn’t pay 6500 yen just to see one band play for 30 minutes so stop ur yapping bitch. Of course, in the end, I only stuck up front for lynch. and Sadie. Things are rough when you’re a bangya, b/c you get treated like one and you have to play by their rules. On the other hand, the guy next to me never moved an inch during the whole live, literally. It was like he was glued to the spot, and I didn’t see anybody ask him who he was there to see.

the Underneath

Setlist (from 2ch):

1. GEKKOH

2. FAT FATTY FUCKIN’ PIGS

3. LA VIE EN ROSE (D’ERLANGER cover)

4. BITE THE BULLET

They had very few fans in the crowd. The only time there was any moment was during the third song, when they covered a D’ERLANGER song and the audience went crazy. GEKKOH is the one song of theirs I like (reminds me of D’espairsRay), but their other songs weren’t to my taste. TAKA had on a dark trench coat at first, and later took it off, so he was just left wearing a tour T-shirt. He called out to us a lot, mainly in English, like “Thank you Osaka”, and “arigatou gozaimashita” with a fake American accent, and some longer phrases. At first, I didn’t notice their bassist, RYO, but he was hiding in the back, standing on the right side instead of the left.   

lynch.

Setlist:

1. Ambivalent Ideal

2. I’m sick,b’cuz luv u.

3. roaring in the dark

4. the universe

5. Adore

Boy this band sure loves surprises. Everyone thought the 2^nd band would be Sadie, so all the Sadie jouren were in the front row. It’s a good thing I was there for both Sadie and lynch., or else I’d have been booted to the back. Though during the set-up, I did hear some guitar riffs that sounded very lynch.-like, so I was kinda on guard.

The curtains opened, revealing the members of lynch., already on stage. They quickly slipped into Ambivalent Ideal, which was a nice opener, especially since I’d been looking forward to hearing it live. I saw some scattered hands and heard some scattered cheering, but wherever lynch.’s fans were, it certainly wasn’t at this live. It’s been a while since I heard roaring in the dark and the universe, so I kinda messed up on the furi/movements. I think more people joined in towards the end, especially during Adore. It’s such an upbeat song. 

I think everyone’s got an image change. Yusuke’s hair was chin-length and cropped at the sides, kinda like a mini-bob. Junji looked radically different. Or just radical. His hair was longer and parted at the sides. And I think he wore lots of makeup tonight. Asanao’s hair was long and shaggy and he could’ve been a bum or something. Hazuki looked the same as I’d last seen him, though with a different costume (some scraggly-looking long black cutsew). Reo didn’t seem to have changed, at least, only gotten older, as we all do.

There was hardly any aori from Hazuki tonight. In fact, he didn’t really wow me. It was like he wasn’t even trying. Maybe it was because he was still recovering from the previous night’s live. But at the end of their set, Hazuki yelled out something like, “Let’s do this again, Osaka!”

Sadie

Setlist:

1. meisai

2. Grieving the dead soul

3. M.F.P. (thank god for 2ch)

4. In Cave

I’ve been itching to see them for a long time now (ever since Grieving the dead soul was released), in some ways, even more so than lynch. During the set-up, the Hatch staff spent quite a while buttering up Mao’s podium. Finally, the lights dimmed and their SE came on. The members walked on stage in haphazard order, Kei, Mitsuki, Mao, Aki, and Tsurugi. Before Mao appeared on stage, Mitsuki went on the podium, grabbed the mic, and gave us a friendly greeting. Sadie’s fans were really vocal, as usual, shouting out for the members (mostly Mao’s in the center but a few Aki’s on my side). The members were all dressed in monotones, but compared to the dark, somber outfits of the Underneath and lynch., they looked positively glowing. 

They played some of my favorites, meisai first and In Cave last. I wished they could’ve played the other tracks from Grieving, but you can’t be picky at an event live. Maybe it was because their songs are really fast-paced, but I felt like the members moved around and changed positions quite often, which is something lynch. needs to learn how to do. Every so often, Aki came up to the stage and peered at us while playing. What is he looking at? Nothing, really. After they finished playing all the songs, Mao gave a short MC and was like, “Thank you Osaka” and stuff. And we kept cheering and shouting out in our death voices. And of course Aki ripped out his bass strings at the end.

D’ERLANGER

The overwhelming majority of people were there to see this band. You could even pick them out, they were mostly in their 30’s or 40’s, and almost half were men. The band members themselves were middle-aged men wearing dark suits. I stayed to catch their first 3 songs, which were pretty much power metal and reminded me of Galneryus. Surprisingly enough, for a band that’s been disbanded for so long, most of the people in the crowd knew the exact furi and movements and stuff. And they were all jumping and rocking out and stuff. All I could think was, this could be me and _______ (lynch.? girugamesh?) in 20 years. I left the hall at 8PM, having had my 60 minutes of headbanging/jumping/fist pumping workout.

Reo (Gt.)

Birthdate – 11/3

Bloodtype – A

Hometown – Aichi

Height/Weight – 178cm/58~60kg

Shoe size – 27cm

Ring size – #17 (ring finger)

Habit or phrase – adding “eh” to the beginning of what I say

Favorite color – black, silver, blue

Cigarette brand – JPS

Favorite brand – RUDE GALLERY, Argent Gleam, SONY

Cologne you use – SAMOURAI BRONZE

Model of cell phone & ringtone you use – SO703i, a preset ringtone

Favorite food – CoCo Ichibanya’s curry

Least favorite food – anything pickled, ginger, wasabi

Favorite present – clothes and accessories from my favorite brands

Best present you gave someone – the wallet I gave my senpai (hand-me-downs from myself)

Type of girl you like – someone who carries herself well, someone who doesn’t rely on others, someone who’s liked by other girls

Type of girl you don’t like – someone without a sense of self, someone who relies on others, someone who’s hated by other girls

Type of girl’s fashion you like – the casual type, the secondhand type

Ideal date – going for a drive down an uncongested highway

Girl’s action that makes your heart beat – ?

Name you’ll give your kid – Kaori

Your treasure is? – the equipment that I use

Worry – Things you don’t have to lose sleep over.  And then they come back to haunt you all at once.

Moment you feel happiness – when I get into my futon

Person you want to meet the most right now – Araki Hirohiko

If you had 3 wishes that could come true, what would you wish for? – nothing in particular

Favorite time – when I listen to the finished products we’ve recorded

Favorite celebrity – Ishibashi Ryo, Terajima Susumu, Matsuda Ryohei

Celebrity you’re said to resemble – ?

Musician you’re close with in real life – bands from other genres that perform at livehouses in Nagoya

Point of concern lately – the Tibet problem

How you spend your day off – Sleeping.  Or going shopping at the instrument and CD shops or window-shopping for clothes.

Right now, what kind of room do you live in? – a room surrounded by equipment and CDs

Favorite artist – D’ERLANGER, LUNA SEA, The Mad Capsule Markets, Kimura Kaela, etc.

Artist you’re influenced by – hide-san, SUGIZO-san, Takigawa Ichiro, Ishigaki Ai-san, etc.

Something you bought lately – a RUDE GALLERY T-shirt and cap

Event you want SHOXX to do in the future – an event with only Nagoya bands

Stress reliever – weight training

If you weren’t a musician… – an office worker

If you could go back to the past, when would you want to go back – before my beloved cat Tora died

Why is that? – so I could play with it more

How you would spend your last day on earth – I’d spend it quietly with my family

Ideal masculinity – someone who’s liked by other men and who can become an iconic figure

Please discreetly tell me the other members’ secrets – ?

Favorite motto – learn from the past; you only live life once

A word to yourself right now – please work hard

A word to yourself 10 years from now – please work harder

A word to each of the other members – regards from now on too

Future goal – to become a band who’s still talked about 10 or 20 years from now

Translator’s Notes:

Araki Hirohiko = a Japanese manga artist

Ishibashi Ryo, Terajima Susumu, Matsuda Ryohei – all Japanese actors

Asanao (Dr.)

Birthdate – 7/12

Bloodtype – A

Hometown – Aichi

Height/Weight – 176cm/58kg

Shoe size – 26.5cm

Ring size – #16 on my ring finger

Habit or phrase – clearing my throat

Favorite color – red, black

Cigarette brand – Seven Stars

Favorite brand – CA4LA, Timberland

Cologne you use – I don’t wear any

Model of cell phone & ringtone you use – ringtone 1 type

Favorite food – fried chicken, spring rolls

Least favorite food – I eat anything

Favorite present – hats

Best present you gave someone – nothing that was “it”

Type of girl you like – tsundere

Type of girl you don’t like – yandere

Type of girl’s fashion you like – anything if it looks good on that person

Ideal date – It’s too annoying to think about.

Girl’s action that makes your heart beat – I’d like to feel my heart beat.

Name you’ll give your kid – I wonder what.

Your treasure is? – Nothing, really.  Maybe my drums.

Worry – I want to get better at drumming.

Moment you feel happiness – The first gulp of beer when I’m tired.

Person you want to meet the most right now – Yanagihara Kanako

If you had 3 wishes that could come true, what would you wish for? -

1. Remove or fix the bad parts of my body
2. Better skin tone on my face!
3. Please give me 3 more wishes and loop again

Favorite time – vegging out by myself

Favorite celebrity – Yusuke Santamaria

Celebrity you’re said to resemble – Oosawa Takao

Musician you’re close with in real life – Sel’m’s MANJ”!

Point of concern lately – Why does it often rain on the day of a lynch. live?

How you spend your day off – vegging out.  That, or strolling around town by myself.

Right now, what kind of room do you live in? – a strangely-shaped room that’s about 12 tatami mats?

Favorite artist – Muraishi Masayuki-sama

Artist you’re influenced by – Merry Go Round’s KYO-sama

Something you bought lately – MK jeans, a BEAMS T-shirt

Event you want SHOXX to do in the future – an outdoor festival around town

Stress reliever – I don’t build up stress

If you weren’t a musician… – I’d become an otaku.

If you could go back to the past, when would you want to go back – I’d probably go back to age 16.

Why is that? – Because my past and present perspectives are so different.

How you would spend your last day on earth – I’d eat ramen and go to sleep.

Ideal masculinity – None.

Please discreetly tell me the other members’ secrets – I don’t know

Favorite motto – I’ll think about it

A word to yourself right now – deal with it

A word to yourself 10 years from now – congratulations

A word to each of the other members –

To Hazuki-kun: How are your dives?

To Reo-kun: How are you nowadays?

To Yusuke-kun: How are you?

Future goal – Now and before, I’ve only ever thought about improving my drumming.

Translator’s Notes:

tsundere = someone who’s cold and sarcastic on the outside but actually sweet and emotional on the inside; someone with a hot and cold personality

yandere = the jealous/bitchy type; in anime and video games, a girl who gets obsessive when she likes someone and who starts attacking the heroine

Yanagihara Kanako – a Japanese comedian

Yusuke Santamaria – a Japanese actor

Oosawa Takao – a Japanese actor

See picture here:

http://www.nt2099.com/CELEB/o.html

Sel’m – an indies VK band from Chiba, active 2004-present.  MANJ” is their drummer.

Muraishi Masayuki – a professional drummer

Merry Go Round – an indies VK band from Nagoya, active 1995-2004.  KYO was their drummer at one point, but he is now retired from the scene.

otaku = anime geek

Yusuke (Gt.)

Birthdate – 5/10

Bloodtype – unknown

Hometown – Aichi Prefecture

Height/Weight –  height is about 170cm/weight is a secret

Shoe size – 26.5cm

Ring size – I generally don’t wear rings so I don’t know

Habit or phrase – habit: talking to myself; phrase: it’s annoying

Favorite color – monotone colors

Cigarette brand – Seven Stars REVO ULTRA LIGHTS MENTHOL

Favorite brand – nothing in particular

Cologne you use – I don’t wear cologne

Model of cell phone & ringtone you use – model: DoCoMo  P703i, ringtone: Rintoshite Shigure’s “Telecastic fake show”

Favorite food – café food

Least favorite food – nothing in particular

Favorite present – I’m happy to get anything

Best present you gave someone – something I thought the other person wanted

Type of girl you like – someone who looks good with black hair

Type of girl you don’t like – someone with no common sense

Type of girl’s fashion you like – anything’s OK as long as it looks good on that person.

Ideal date – having fun naturally in the afternoon and then going to a café and eating café food at night

Girl’s action that makes your heart beat – my heart might skip a beat if I get stared at

Name you’ll give your kid – boy: Ren; girl: Renka

Your treasure is? – lynch. and everyone who supports lynch.

Worry – nothing nowadays

Moment you feel happiness – when I’m sleeping

Person you want to meet the most right now – Perfume

If you had 3 wishes that could come true, what would you wish for? -

1. I want my body to be able to play the guitar all my life
2. world peace
3. a healthy family

Favorite time – when I’m sleeping

Favorite celebrity – nowadays, Perfume

Celebrity you’re said to resemble – Who do I resemble?

Musician you’re close with in real life – there’s nobody who you’d be surprised to hear

Point of concern lately – the continuation of the foreign drama HEROES

How you spend your day off – going to fancy cafes

Right now, what kind of room do you live in? – a place with a good view from the balcony

Favorite artist – too many to write

Artist you’re influenced by – There’s many.  Lately I’ve been influenced by guitarist vocalists.

Something you bought lately – two outfits

Event you want SHOXX to do in the future – a largescale outdoor festival

Stress reliever – sleeping

If you weren’t a musician… – working at a cafe

If you could go back to the past, when would you want to go back – I don’t need to go back to the past

Why is that? – because I’m happy right now

How you would spend your last day on earth – I think I’d spend it idly

Ideal masculinity – father

Please discreetly tell me the other members’ secrets – it won't be a secret if I tell you

Favorite motto – ROCK FOREVER!

A word to yourself right now – Are you working hard?

A word to yourself 10 years from now – Are you still working hard?

A word to each of the other members –

To Hazuki-kun: take care of your voice

To Reo-kun: take care of your fingers

To Asanao-kun: take care of your whole body

Future goal – pursuing my own style of music

Hazuki (Vo.)

Birthdate – 12/10

Bloodtype – B

Hometown – Aichi Prefecture

Height/Weight – 174.3cm/54~56kg

Shoe size – 25.5~28.0

Ring size – who knows

Habit or phrase - OK I died~

Favorite color – nowadays I like mild colors, like beige or gray

Cigarette brand – KOOL KINGS BOX

Favorite brand – LAD MUSICIAN, CHARM CULT

Cologne you use – don’t wear any nowadays

Model of cell phone & ringtone you use – DoCoMo  P701iD, ringtone 1

Favorite food – Sapporo and Hakata ramen, Sendai’s gyutan, Niigata’s hekisoba, Nagoya’s ankake pasta

Least favorite food – everything else

Favorite present – letters, items from my favorite brands or cigarettes or bath salts or sketches

Best present you gave someone – none

Type of girl you like – the bright type

Type of girl you don’t like – the dark type

Type of girl’s fashion you like – skinny jeans

Ideal date – hot springs

Girl’s action that makes your heart beat – none

Name you’ll give your kid – Tom

Your treasure is? – my instruments and equipment, also my car and darts

Worry – I’ve got no time to write songs

Moment you feel happiness – the final moments of a live, sleeping after drinking

Person you want to meet the most right now – none

If you had 3 wishes that could come true, what would you wish for? -

1. Give me a wallet with money that’ll never shrink.
2. Give me a singing voice that’ll never waver.
3. Give me a body that’ll never get sick.

Favorite time – the time right before a live, the time spent at my local darts bar

Favorite celebrity – Kitano Takeshi

Celebrity you’re said to resemble – sometimes people tell me I resemble someone but I forgot who

Musician you’re close with in real life – lately I’ve gotten close with heidi.

Point of concern lately – my hand’s getting numb

How you spend your day off – going to the darts bar, meeting up with friends

Right now, what kind of room do you live in? – gold

Favorite artist – LUNA SEA, Kuroyume

Artist you’re influenced by – LUNA SEA, Kuroyume

Something you bought lately – I’m planning to buy a bunch of clothes in about 3 days

Event you want SHOXX to do in the future – BBQ

Stress reliever – it just keeps building up

If you weren’t a musician… – lumberjack

If you could go back to the past, when would you want to go back – I don’t wanna go back

Why is that? – cuz I always have the most fun right now

How you would spend your last day on earth – using up all the money in my bank account

Ideal masculinity - dandyism

Please discreetly tell me the other members’ secrets - they’d get mad

Favorite motto – nowadays none

A word to yourself right now – go to the hospital

A word to yourself 10 years from now – Are you alive?

A word to each of the other members – everyone go to the hospital

Future goal – get some muscles

Translator’s notes:

gyutan = cow tongue, a Sendai specialty dish

hekisoba = buckwheat noodles with seaweed, a Niigata specialty dish

ankake pasta = thick/starchy pasta, a Nagoya specialty dish

ＢＥＲＬＩＮ kaisan shusai event supported by UNDER CODE PRODUCTION

「ＴＨＥ ＷＯＲＬＤ ＥＮＤ…」

kelli/Zodia/Lamina/Jigoro/VelBet/Megaromania/Nega/SUICIDE ALI/DEATHGAZE/BERLIN

07/19/2008 Esaka Muse

10 bands, 6.5 hours.  Luckily, the place wasn’t that crowded today, and people kept moving around depending on whether they liked the band that was playing.  As a result, there was lots of space around me, and even though I headbanged for every single band after Jigoro, I barely broke into a sweat.  In contrast to my last couple of lives, there were like a total of 3 male fans in the whole crowd tonight.  A7X’s “Critical Acclaim” kept blasting on the PA in the 15 minute breaks between each set, and it got really annoying – Muse really oughta diversify.

kelli

I arrived late so I missed their set entirely.

Zodia

I got to see half of their set.  They’re a trio, with the guitarist doubling as the vocalist.  The bassist was like a miyavi wannabe, with dreads and face paint, but regardless, he was hot.  Their music is typical Under Code and likewise with their outfits.

Lamina

This band really creeps me out.  Their bassist was like a Japanese Snape (!) – though he actually looked nicer (aka not so severe) up close.  The left guitarist looked like a crow (hair spiked up, nose-strap and all).  Their music was extremely heavy, but often had no continuity.  It was like they decided to see how much noise they could make and this was the product.

Jigoro

We were treated to a video prior to their set.  Or rather, the video was part of their SE.  It showed a bunch of random clips of each member.  Like for Shinnosuke, the pretty feminine bassist, the pics were of him in full costume at an amusement park (maybe Disneyland), and he was like on all the kiddy rides and stuff.  Their set was good, lots of fun and lots of furi.  I love their oriental-inspired theme, and their costumes are among the prettiest I’ve ever seen.  Luckily, I was standing in the center right and the girl in front of me was tall enough that she completely blocked my view of their crazy keyboardist, Minazuki.  So I just looked at the vocalist, Kayu and his interesting hand movements.

VelBet

VelBet has had an outfit change since I last saw them.  They’re now wearing white, but they sound even more cote, if possible.  I swear that their songs tonight must’ve been like the Under Code special.  I even got to do gyaku dai for the first time in ages.  During the MC, Riuki announced that this is their second show in Osaka in 2 days, and they’re having a shusai event on 7/25 in Tokyo, which is their 3^rd shusai in 3 months.  (I guess this band is really good at managing their tour schedule.)

Megaromania

Their music sounds like a mix of Under Code and Metis Gretel, and it doesn’t really work.  Even their outfits were bizarre.  Sui’s cream-colored satin dress looked so pretty, but the black PVC corset just ruined the outfit.  I’m glad that the members had color-coordinated hair, like vo=blond, dr=blue, left gt=purple, right gt=red, and ba=brown.  At least it made it easier to tell them apart.

Nega

I always have ambivalent feelings when I see them.  Their music is decent, but they need to work on their personalities.  One of Yuu’s cymbals was set so high that I was amazed he could actually play at that angle, and I kept gawking every time he hit it.

SUICIDE ALI

Just before their set, the first two rows of their fans huddled together and did like a band cheer.  It sure was an interesting sight.  I wish the fans of my band(s) can do that.  Anyways, their set rocked.  The members wore white outfits, with some other hues thrown in in various places.  They have a unique sound.  The closest analogy would be a crooked painting, for artistic purposes of course.  And there was lots of headbanging.

DEATHGAZE

Setlist

1. yami ni ame fuhaishita sekai

2. DEAREST

3. abyss

4. genocide and mass murder

Esaka Muse is a much nicer venue than Route 14, which is where I’d last seen DEATHGAZE.  I learned from last time and opted for off-center so I could see Naoki.  There weren’t many DEATHGAZE fans there tonight, and I didn’t spot any of their jouren.  I have to say, Ai was probably one of the better vocalists of the night, if not the best vocalist.  His voice was steady throughout the set.  After their set, I almost bumped into their staff girl, who had been recording the show from the back. 

BERLIN

My meate band, done so I could get their live-distributed last single, Rebellion.  They're another cote band, and they’re not that bad either.  Too bad they’re breaking up.  I really liked their first song, which had some electronic parts (reminded me of Ruincrear at first).  Rebellion was a more upbeat song, almost ballad-like.  They did 2 encores (still in their costumes), which were just 1 song apiece.  In the MC in the 2^nd encore, the vocalist made some lewd references and said stuff that amounted to, ‘Haven't had enough?  To those perverts among us, let’s make it an orgasmic night’ or something, but it was just aori, of course.  The concert ended at 10:30PM.

Like an Edison&UNDER CODE PRODUCTION PRESENTS

「CROSS GATE 2008~The Colored World~」

Inugami Circus Dan/Galneryus/Moran/the studs/chariots/lynch./Versailles

07/13/2008 America-mura BIG CAT

This is the first “major” event that I’ve gone to in a while.  Major meaning that all the bands playing tonight had some degree of popularity.  There was a 3:7 guy to girl ratio.  It was also fairly packed, at least in the front, and I felt gross and icky towards the end as more and more people piled up front.  I started in the 2^nd row center left and migrated to the center by the end of the night.

Inugami Circus Dan

I feel like this band doesn’t really belong in VK scene – their fans were all normal guys and gals, and their music sounded like a bizarre mix of Schwarz lilie x enka.  Of course they had their own visual concept and wore their own costumes (reminds me of the gaudiness that is NoGoD), but they might as easily have just ditched the white face makeup and went mainstream.  I didn’t like the female vocalist’s voice.

Galneryus

Since this was a VK event and they’re not a VK band, not many people were there for them, and the saizen was only half filled before their set.  The members were all in their 30’s or 40’s and wore regular clothing, except the cute bassist, YU-TO, who looked very VK-influenced (orange-blond hair, punky clothes, rocking out the VK way, but no makeup) and looked under 25.  Their music is also hard to categorize.  Wikipedia labels them as “power metal”, but sometimes the music sounded like classic rock, and sometimes it sounded almost poppish.  It was interesting to hear YAMA-B sing the songs in English (mixed with some Japanese).  I think I only realized halfway through their set.  He also seemed to speak English quite well, like even the way he said Japanese words like “Osaka” sounded American.  He made a short MC before they launched into their new song, Alsatia.  They also had a keyboardist, which is quite rare in VK but more common in the metal scene.  I wouldn’t mind seeing them again.  

Moran

Looking a lot more visual since the last time I saw them (at their secret live back in December).  Now they’re wearing flowy, Grecian-style outfits, reminiscent of Ruvie, but clearly with higher price tags.  I felt like I was watching art in motion rather than a concert.  Such is the multifarious nature of VK lives.  Anyways, their costumes were really beautiful, white and gold tunics.  Their music is soft and mellow, and would probably make some good background music, if nothing else.  I loved the way Hitomi moved and talked, as if he was a thespian in a Greek tragedy.  Like he introduced their song “Element” in a hushed voice, “70% of our bodies are made up of cells.  I’m sure that it’s cells and not water.” (Or something like that.)  But he made it sound really poetic.

the studs

Yet another band that doesn’t belong in VK.  I’ve always been curious about them.    They’re a talented group, and their music is really good.  It’s lighter and grungier than I’d like (with minimal headbanging), but I do need a change from the usual mix of oshare, cote, and cote oshare.  If they went major, they’d probably have a huge following.  I have to say, Daisuke’s a lot shorter than I thought, and also looks a lot younger (and cuter) than I thought.  On a side note, this tour was probably something of a reunion for certain members in Moran, the studs, and lynch.  I definitely want to see them again. 

chariots

Setlist (revised from 2ch):

yui

new song

Cold Pray

sono shunkan okuru hanataba wo

Jade

razzi

I’ve decided that I don’t give a rat’s ass about them or their music (this after seeing them 5 times).  For a band supposedly that popular, their music comes nowhere close to par.  Still, I did all the furi and headbanging.

lynch.

Setlist (from 2ch):

59.

STARZ

melt

Adore

Unknown lost a beauty

Pulse_

My meate band, what else.  Despite playing 2^nd to last and despite the fact that their songs are really short, they played for a shorter time than I’d expected.  Yusuke and Reo got haircuts.  Now Yusuke has cropped hair up to his chin.  Reo’s is even shorter, of course.  The only change in Junji was probably the number of earrings (went up).  I didn’t notice anything different about Asanao.  They wore pretty much the same stuff as last month, with Hazuki, Reo, and Yusuke baring their arms and Junji wearing his long-sleeved jacket again.  Hazuki didn’t dive as I’d hoped for, but he did spit water at us in the end.

Versailles

I should’ve just left after lynch., because…Versailles in Osaka is scary.  Or rather, their fans are scary.  About half the people in the front second and third rows were male fans, and they were really pushy.  The girls were pushy too, of course.  Not to mention every time one of the band members came up to the stage, they’d scream and raise their hands, and push push push forward in the hopes a member will grab their hand.  Talk about fanaticism.  Kamijo was trilingual on stage – he often tossed in random French, English, and of course Japanese phrases.  Like “bonjour” when they came on, and “so and so” on “such and such” instrument during the roll call.  He spoke more English than that, but I couldn’t catch what he was saying.  I wonder if the Japanese fans could understand better.  We shouted for an encore, starting with “encore encore” and then switching to “Versailles Versailles” (this led by the male fans).  They came back after 5 minutes and did 1 more song. 

AWOI  

4^th Maxi Single “DEADMAN” Release Memorial Interview
Rebels Style Vol. 002, June 2008

--It’s been 1 year since your last release, right.

Otogi: Yes.

--It feels like this is the single we’ve all been waiting for.

Otogi: Our concept was to use this single to bring forth various changes in AWOI.

Shou: It’s like we tackled a lot of new things.

Otogi: We wrote a bunch of songs, but it’s like we had to spend a lot of time on them until they could solidify into that shape, and they only became the way they are now because we kept watching for new developments.

--Was it a different approach from your previous works?

Otogi: That’s right.  Even with the title “DEADMAN”, we were tackling something new.

Shou: He means that it’s the first time we used English.

--Ah, I was curious about that.

Otogi: First, the title creates an impact, doesn’t it.  Next, the 1^st song, “Koe”, is a new song, but out of all the songs we wrote from the time our last work was released up until today, it had a certain air about it, like “this is the perfect song to put on a single” or “it’ll probably become one of AWOI’s representative songs in the future”, so we thought we’d release it with this timing.

Shou: It’s like this is what AWOI’s new business card looks like.

--So this is the current AWOI.

Shou: That’s right.  Considering everything we’ve done so far, this point at present is truly AWOI.

Saki: Both the sounds and the songs, everything.  Including the visuals.

Otogi: I think that in a good way, the new AWOI and the old AWOI can be seen on and off.  It’s like we focused on the melodies in all 3 songs this time, and there’s barely any heaviness, so you can basically hear all the singing in the songs.

--Were there any new changes to how you played or to the lyrics?

Shou: Hmm.  Changes…  There’s a solo in “Koe”, which is something we hardly ever did until now.

--Oh, so there’s a guitar solo!

Shou: I used monotones this time, so there’s a solo that really sounds like a solo.

Saki: I’m the same as before, steadily doing the backing.  These guys need me after all.

--Ahh.  I think I know what you mean.

Otogi: He’s a naughty boy.

Saki:  I’m always backing them, but I thought that I should let out more of myself than before.  That’s why I did various things while playing that I haven’t done up till now.  Well, it was like all the members were breaking out into unchartered territory, like with Shou-kun playing the solo and all.

Shou: It would’ve been kind of ridiculous if there’d been no solo there this time.  Also, I played rougher than ever before. 

Otogi: Yeah.  It’s like it’s a living being.  Right?

Shou: Yeah.  It’s like being in the flesh.  I was pretty aware of that, so when we were recording, I took off my shoes and my shirt and got pretty rough.

--Is it like being at a live?

Shou: Like giving off a live feel.  That’s why it feels groovy.

--Ah, so more band-like, more live-like.

Shou: We spiced it up with Hiro-kun’s drums, plus Saki-kun’s bass, and my grooves on top of them.

Otogi: Instead of just pursuing the rhythm and the tempo, we focused more on the individual songs and their atmospheres.

Shou: I think if you listen to the finished product, you’ll find that it’ll convey something.

--So the guitar solo was necessary and essential for that.

Shou: Yes.

Otogi: Well, the guitar solo was pretty flexible too.

Shou: Actually, in the latter half of the solo, I didn’t play any decent phrases.

Saki: If you look at the music tabs, they’re a mess.

Shou: It’s probably impossible, right.

--Are you going to be able to play that at the lives?

Shou: See, that’s why that part’s all groovy too.

--Oh~.  I see.  How about you, Hiro-san?

Hiro: That’s right.  “Kanashii Uta” is a song from before I joined, and this time when we rerecorded it, we focused on the rhythm more than the previous version of “Kanashii Uta”, and we kept thinking of ways to make it better, like how to bring about changes and improvements.

Otogi: There are 3 songs on this single: “Koe”, a new song, “Renai Shashin”, which is our representative song that we’ve always been doing at the lives, and “Kanashii Uta”, which had been on our 1^st single, but in particular, “Renai Shashin” is a rearranged version, and it wasn’t produced in the usual manner, that is, we went into the studio as like a session band, and it’s like we wanted to try to change and improvise the original version, and so we basically rearranged the whole thing through a bunch of ad-libs.

Shou: We pretty much kept it in that vein during the recording too.

Otogi: The only thing we decided on was the original chord progressions, the phrases were left up to everyone individually, and we just made it up while going with the flow.

--Was the original “Renai Shashin” completely different?

Otogi: It’s almost entirely different from the original version.  We made a bunch of changes.  I think because we did that, out of the 3 songs, it’s the song that best captures that raw sound, and since we made great efforts from the time of making the song until the recording, it feels like this song came out great.

Shou: Out of the 3 songs, this song feels like it has the most groove.

--More than “Koe”?

Shou: Yeah, it’s #1.  It came out of a jam session, so it flows really well.  It’s also set off by a great pace.

Otogi: The bass sounds pretty sexy.

Saki: It’s erotic.

--So did you have a clear vision of the world that you wanted to convey through the lyrics in “DEADMAN”?

Otogi: My lyrics are dark, about a depressing world, and in that world, things like your weaknesses and the pain that comes with living.  And how even though it’s tough to go on living, people can’t easily die.  My lyrics emphasize the suffering and worrying in the midst of that, and this new single addresses those spots.  For example.  Like when you want something to come back but it doesn’t come back, and you can’t do anything about that, like that sense of helplessness.  That’s the most difficult part of living.  The thing I want to say the most is that humans are weak.  That’s why we try to become stronger.  My style isn’t to gloss over that part, but to write about it in easy-to-relate-to situations and words, and I think that really comes through.

--So you mean you also focused on the lyrics themselves?

Otogi: I have a holistic idea of the message and the thing that I want to convey the most at the time, and I try to write them down in a form that could most easily be conveyed.

--I see.  So you were able to make one work that combined the lyrics and music that reflect your deep thinking, and that’s why you also added in your first video product this time?

Otogi: We wanted to try to make a PV, and we chose “Suzumushi” this time because it was the easiest to show off our worldview, and that encompasses our costume change and such.

Shou: The shooting itself was a mess.

Otogi: The site had a great atmosphere, and it fit into the world of AWOI and our songs perfectly.  We also got ahold of some good staff members, and at every step of the shooting process, I was like, “this is going to be a great product.”  We chose a relatively heavy number, so I think there’s a lot of dynamic motion in the work. 

--Did you have any difficulties making your first PV?

Shou: It went on like usual.

Otogi: Most of the scenes were of us performing, so it’s like we just did what we always do at the lives, but made them seem even cooler.

Shou: The images are always moving around so it’s interesting.

Otogi: The scene progression was really fast, and we took many cuts too, so it felt like we were working reeeally hard.

Saki: It’s like there’s several scenes superimposed on each other.

Otogi: Even if it’s just one band performance, there’s shots taken of us from all different angles.

--Oh, I see!  So you superimpose many sides, and they become one image, right.

Otogi: You can see many things in the PV itself, but in my case there’s some scenes of me performing, and I was trying to create a sexy atmosphere, or rather, a wild atmosphere, and I think it comes out, so I think you can sense that.

Hiro: Also, for those of us on the instruments, you can see quite a bit more of us performing stuff that you normally wouldn’t be able to see.

Shou: That’s exactly right.  You can’t see our expressions close up in a live unless you’re in the front, but in the PV, you can see them suddenly showing up on the screen.

Otogi: The music is a given, but AWOI also has a lot of things that we want you to see on the visual front, and I think capturing this on screen lets you see our good sides from every nook and cranny.

--I see.  So it’s undoubtably a work that you can fully enjoy both musically and visually.

Otogi: That’s right.

--Hnn.  To accompany the release of “DEADMAN”, there’ll be a record-release tour, which includes a oneman finale, and it seems like it’ll drive up the energy even more.

Shou: We’ve never gone to the south before, but we’re going there on this tour, so I think we’d like to take “DEADMAN” around the entire country.

Otogi: It’s just in the middle of when AWOI is carrying out our changes right now.  We also reaped a lot from our tour in May.

--You mean Generation’s?

Otogi: We fumbled our way around more or less, but we also had a strong desire to tackle new things, and we found that we’d changed a lot in the 3 places that began with Nagoya and ended with Tokyo.  At each and every live, it was like we were meditating while we were playing, and we got a lot out of them.  It was our time to try out new things, and we were filled with the spirit to challenge ourselves.

Shou: Out of those, it felt like we’d changed at the 2^nd place, Esaka.

--Concretely speaking?

Shou: Honestly, with this “DEADMAN” CD, AWOI has done many things that we’ve never done before, and it’s like even at the lives, those parts are changing into what’s becoming our current atmosphere.

--Come to think of it, I did get the impression that I could directly feel the atmosphere of the band named “AWOI”.

Shou: It was the perfect opportunity for AWOI to change and show off our world.

Hiro: It’s like there’s some profound place that can’t be explained in words, and it’s been awakened, or rather, has started changing.

Otogi: Well, it’s like this is only beginning.

Shou: I think we’ll still be changing until the tour, and I think we’ll keep changing during the tour.  It’s like how much can we change as we make it our own.

Otogi: And for the oneman, I’d like people to watch us without holding any preconceptions of the old AWOI.  I think we’ll keep the good parts of the old AWOI and show them off in a more polished form at the oneman.

--I totally look forward to it!  Anyways, finally, I think I’d like to have you answer the theme of our magazine.

Otogi: Sure.

--What does music mean to you?

Hiro: To me, music is…what I dye my everyday life with.

Saki: My reason for living.  I don’t care if you laugh at me.  That’s what I seriously think.

--reason for living.

Saki: It’s like, if someone asks me why I’m alive, I can reply, “because I wanna play music”, and if I gave up music right now, I wouldn’t know whether I’m alive or dead.

Shou: For me, it’s the thing that can express who I am the most.  I think without music, I wouldn’t be able to convey that this is who I am, through the guitar.

Otogi: Music is my life.  Music has taken up an incredibly big chunk of time in my life, and I think my life, what I’ve seen and what I’ve heard and what I’ve thought, shows up in the music I’m doing right now and even in the music I’ve done up until now.

--That’s deep.

Shou: That’s how serious everyone is about music.

--No doubts about it.

Shou: I think there’s still a lot of people who don’t know about AWOI.  So if you pick up this free paper and wonder what we’re about, I think you’ll understand if you just come to our live.  And I think you’ll sense our atmosphere.

Otogi: Yeah.  AWOI will cover up all the preconceptions around us in the future too, and we’ll go on doing activities as the kind of band that’ll always betray everyone’s expectations, in the good sense, so please look forward to it.

Ansinomy First Live「aimai na yakoue kusuri, to warau」

6/21/2008 Shinsaibashi FANJtwice

My first free oneman live.  There’s a reason it was free – there’s no way the band could ever sell out on their own.  I got to the venue at 6:30PM, just in time to catch their opening.  There was a decent crowd, about 150 people or so, including some guys standing in the back.  FANJtwice is a strange venue – it felt more like a movie theater than a livehouse.  The floor space was slanted downward (with the stage at the very front/top), so if you’re watching from the back like I was, you’d feel quite small. 

What a bizarre band.  Every time we pumped our fists, we’d go on for like 5 minutes straight.  During which time, Keishi (vo.) would keep urging us on until he got nearly the whole place participating.  And then the music would spin off into an entirely different WTF direction.  I think I stopped questioning it early on and just took it all in. 

The band is like a patchwork of different bands.

First and foremost, they reminded me of Nightmare.  Especially “danpenkou”, the song on their OHP, which is deceptive.  That’s the song that lured me to the concert.  One of their other songs had a melody that sounded like Raison D’etre.  Another one of their songs sounded like Latin Maria…it had a choir part (ouch! to my ears).  So that was the lynch. component.  But most of their songs sound like a mixture between VelBet and some random Under Code band (Nega comes to mind).  There were some pseudo-heavy parts with headbanging, bend-over headbanging, and the claw.  They had oshare elements too, like their colorful outfits, and the furi and whiny schoolgirls from the audience’s side.  Some of their songs had like no cohesion/flow.  In the end, they’re just another run-of-the-mill VK band. 

As for their looks, they looked like a typical, Osaka-born and bred cote band.  The vocalist, Keishi, screamed and sang in a low, deep voice most of the time, but when a lighter/poppier song came on, I was surprised at how nasal his voice was.  It sounded like Satoshi (girugamesh) on meds.  There were a bunch of congratulatory flowers in front of his podium and sometimes he’d take one and eat it.  At one point he almost tripped on his podium, but he caught himself in time.  Sho (right gt.) was a lolita x Hizaki-clone.  He was like, all these girls in the front row on my side here are cosplaying me.  Tak (left gt.) kept trying to act cool on stage, like jumping up and down and shit.  His face and hair reminded me of alice nine.’s Tora.  Rei (ba.) was my favorite.  He wore a black cape (looked like it limited his movements) and had blond hair sticking out all over the place.  He made quite a dashing vampire.  Izuru (dr.) did like all the MCs.  He started off with “Herro herro herro” instead of “Hallo hallo hallo”, which scored points with me.  Then each member made a tiny speech.  Somewhere along the way, somebody mentioned a new single to be released in September.

There was a screen at the back of the stage, and sometimes it’d show nifty futuristic designs.  Most of the time, however, it only displayed the band’s logo.  At the end of the show, there was a credits scene (again, adding to the whole “movie” feel).

We shouted for an encore after the main set, and they came back on (in full costume) after 5 minutes.  They played danpenkou and then another song during the encore.  The concert lasted 1.5 hours, and I left immediately afterwards.  I felt cheated because I thought I’d get a free live-distributed CD, but instead, I got a free live-distributed sticker (and a tiny bottle of Evian water with my obligatory drink ticket).

『LOUD CORE MONSTERS WAR 2008』-Main Stage-　

meth./born/UnsraW/Black:List/RENTRER EN SOI/DEATHGAZE/girugamesh

5/29/2008 Shibuya O-West

meth.

They were the opening act, and indeed, they were pretty amateur compared to the later acts.  Hardly anybody in the crowd cheered for them.  They’re another suit band, and they played 3 songs.  The furi for their songs was really uncoordinated too, since basically their saizen was made up of DEATHGAZE fans.  I’ll see them again with DEATHGAZE in the summer.

born

They keep changing names, but their fandom isn’t exactly changing.  They didn’t have that many fans either. They wore black cyber-ish outfits with lots of silver buckles and clasps.  Their music is okay, on the heavy side.  The drummer has a crazy mohawk.  He drummed quite forcefully, as if he wanted to destroy the drums.  Every time he pounded on his drums, I could feel my heart skip a beat (as in, like I'll have a heart attack).  They played 4 songs.

UnsraW

Setlist:

1. sora

2. -9-

3. warai oni

No SE tonight.  The curtains opened and they launched into sora straightaway, so we didn’t get a chance to shout out for the members.  The members looked pretty out of it.  Then again, Rai always looks like he’s off in his own world.  Tetsu’s also the same.  Shou looked pretty matter-of-fact, as if he just wanted to get the job done with.  Jun was the only one who looked somewhat alive – he moved around a lot and kept making his kimoi bug faces at the crowd.  There was no MC either.  -9- felt short, but warai oni was even shorter.  Usually it goes on for at least 5 minutes, but tonight they only did like the bare minimum.  They left the stage with nary a glance at the audience.  To be honest, I was kinda letdown.  This isn’t the same UnsraW I saw last year...

Black:List

Like born, they were okay.  Just another cote (dark look, heavy sound) band to add to the ranks.  They also wore suits.  They had nifty instruments though.  I liked the bassist’s bass – it was black with white whirly designs.  Tomozo’s shorter than I’d expected.  They played 4 songs.

RENTRER EN SOI

Setlist:

1. JUST MAD PAIN

2. Murder Intent

3. STIGMATA

4. AMONGST FOOLISH ENEMIES

5. bunretsu LE+DD jinkaku

I’m glad they started off with JUST MAD PAIN and not STIGMATA or something, so the SE actually connects with the first song.  And I always love hearing JUST MAD PAIN live.  Murder Intent really did kill.  There was headbanging, headbanging, followed by even faster headbanging.  Then there was a lull in headbanging during STIGMATA but AMONGST FOOLISH ENEMIES quickly remedied that.  Shun looked really visual tonight – hot gold pants, spiked hair, dark makeup, etc.  On the other hand, Ryo looked really un-visual – no makeup, scraggly-looking hair down, a goatee, etc. – just your average scruffy-looking Japanese guy.  Next to them, Satsuki looked really vibrant.  It was great to hear him say kakatte koi in that voice of his.  I’ll see them again next week with -OZ- in Osaka.

DEATHGAZE

Setlist (from 2ch):

1. yami ni ame

2. CHAOS

3. rihitozoire

4. shinizakura

5. genocide and mass murder

I’m really glad they got to play next to last tonight.  If the monster’s war could be decided by headbanging units, then I think DEATHGAZE would come out on top.  As much headbanging as I did during RENTRER’s set, DEATHGAZE definitely outdid them.  The crowd really came together during their set and everyone was headbanging together to the music.  CHAOS was awesome, especially in that packed theater.  Ai kept looking at the crowd (kinda like he sees through people).  And once he actually went up close to the stage, in front of the podium, and headbanged towards us.  At the end of their set, Naoto whirled around, spraying water from his bottle at us, before chucking it into the audience.  I’ll see them again in July.

girugamesh

Setlist (from 2ch):

Intro

patchwork
Vermillion
stupid
shadan
Dance Rock Night
CRAZY FLAG
crime-tsumi-
fukai no yami
volcano

omae ni sasageru minikui koe
En.

shining

giru was the guest of the night, and as such, their set was like double everybody else’s – or in the case of UnsraW, triple.  Even though I saw a lot of people cheering for the other bands, I guess most people were there to see girugamesh, since everybody around me stayed put until the very end.  And it was really packed up front by then.  The whole place rocked out – I’m sure the view from the stage must have been amazing.  There was a marked difference between the other bands and giru.  girugamesh really sounds pro.  And this is probably just my opinion, but their suits look nicer too.  Their banner was huge and seemed to reach the ceiling of O-West.

During the setup, the guys started playing the Intro, so we all clapped along and cheered – and I actually thought the live would start like that – but nah, it was just a false start. 

Since I was perfectly off-center, I got a good look at all the drummers tonight.  Ryo’s smile is so precious.  He smiles like a devilish little kid.  Nii was still rocking out in that crazy British rocker way, hair flying all over his face and all.  Shuu played in a more laconic way, bobbing his head to the rhythm.  He sure can slap that bass.  Satoshi was like, “let’s stupid” again.  Didn’t anybody correct him on their Europe tour?

They played some songs I’d never heard live, like fukai no yami and volcano.  Some girls shrieked when fukai no yami started, since apparently they haven’t played it in Japan for a couple of years.  After omae ni sasageru minikui koe (crazy mosh pit, btw), we shouted for an encore, and they came back quickly and did one last song, closing the evening.  I'll see them again at their 3days lives in July.

Afterwards

It took me a while to sort out everything, but I gave the photo collages and everyone’s gifts to the UnsraW roadie/goods table staff.  He took them graciously but didn’t exactly look overjoyed either.  I bet he’d be good at poker.  Anyways, then I went to the DEATHGAZE table and bought a towel (again!) because I’d lost mine when I went to Korea, and besides, I’d need a towel to take a shower later that evening.  Then, remembering that I still had a bag of candy, I wrote a letter on the spot to Ai and told him he should eat the sweets and get fat.  Of course I added that it was a joke, but I wrote it in English so I hope he won’t get offended.  I’d have filled out their survey but they didn’t have one tonight.  Maybe they actually took my suggestion to heart and are reprinting a new survey?  Oh and meth.’s Yuya was there, chatting up the fans and probably saying goodbye since he’s leaving the band next week.

Demachi

I had nothing left to give, so I just watched the bands come out and leave.  I missed seeing UnsraW leave, but I did see their roadie running around the place.  And besides, I’d seen Rai before the live (my first irimachi? in Japan) -- he was strolling down the street nonchalantly carrying his guitar.  Anyways, RENTRER was packing their van when I went outside, and it felt like hardly anybody was there waiting for them.  Or maybe they don’t allow demachi, like lynch.  I saw DEATHGAZE’s van leave, their Nagoya fans waiting by the roadside.  And all those fans stayed put until meth. left too.  Nagoya is so incestuous.  All in all, I left at around 11PM, a little tired, light-headed, sad, happy -- a little bit of everything. 

SEX POT ReVenGe meets lynch.

Vinyl Syndicate Vol. 14, April 2008

--So what kind of fashion does everyone wear in private?

Hazuki: There’s several brands that I like, and I almost always wear those brands, but my taste runs about halfway between tight and loose.

Yusuke: I don’t pay attention to brands and I don’t have any that I wear in particular, and besides, I often wear secondhand clothes and stuff.  I choose my outfits by thinking about  the coordination, like “this top goes with this bottom” or “this innerwear goes with this outerwear”.  Basically if I think it looks good on me, then anything’s fine.

Asanao: I wear whatever I want to wear no matter what anyone says.

Reo: I don’t let trends influence me, and I try to buy “basics”, or rather, things that I can wear for a long time.

--It’s interesting how you all have different styles.  So how does everyone feel about wearing SEX POT items for this photoshoot?

Hazuki: I didn’t wear anything but the belt.  Is that okay? (laughs)

--Of course, don’t worry about it (laughs)

Hazuki: I enjoyed it.

Yusuke: Me too.  It’s different from the photoshoots we always take and I felt like I was a model.

Asanao: I wore a T-shirt, and I thought it looked great and that I could definitely wear it.

Reo: I was worried at first whether or not it suited me, but once I got it on, it felt really good, like I was branching out.

--Speaking of lynch., I had the image that your outfits were black suits, but recently, well, the color is still black, but you’ve been wearing casual wear?

Hazuki: We got tired of them. (laughs)

--Your new single “Adore”, that was released on 4/2, is heavy but it has a catchy melody at the same time, and I think it really sounds like a ‘major’ song.  Were you trying to show your musical progression through your outfits as well?

Hazuki: For “Adore”, we weren’t thinking of anything except for it to outdo “THE AVOIDED SUN”, the album that we put out last year.

--When Hazuki-san brought out “Adore”, what kind of impressions did the 3 of you have?

Yusuke: I totally understand where Hazuki-kun’s coming from when he says wanting to outdo “THE AVOIDED SUN”, and indeed, I thought the song was very lynch.-like but that it also had a refreshing quality about it.

Asanao: I really like melodic & harmonically transparent songs.  That’s why I thought it was great that we could release a song that sounded ‘major’ like “Adore” into a single.

Reo: I also thought the melody was really good, and I tried to showcase that while playing the guitar.

--You wrote the lyrics to appeal to the fans, right?

Hazuki: That’s right.  I think up until then, it felt like we were thrusting away our fans, but last year, as we did a bunch of tours…

Reo: After “THE AVOIDED SUN”, we released another album called “THE BURIED”, and honestly, I don’t remember anything about last year except doing lives and recording.

Hazuki: I wrote it in the midst of that, when we were trying to become one with the fans, or rather, when I realized that.

Asanao: I leave the fan interaction up to the 3 members in the front, but up until 2 years ago, the atmosphere was completely different if you were watching from the back.

Yusuke: I think now the whole place comes together and everybody has fun.

--So Hazuki-san, you wrote the lyrics “Together with our roaring voices / Hey  let’s light the shrouded darkness that lies ahead” with those feelings, right?

Hazuki: That’s about right.

Reo: But when we talk about “becoming one with the fans”, I also don’t want us to get too familiar with each other.  I want to have fun while maintaining the same sense of tension that we’ve had up till now.

--You’ll understand that feeling of “not wanting to get too familiar with each other” once you listen to the coupling song, “an illusion”, right?  While it’s a beautiful song with a whimsical title, there’s something in it that makes you tense up.

Hazuki: This song is different from “Adore” in that Reo, Yusuke, and Asanao wrote it with their own images in mind.  For instance, the tempo is a tempo that Asanao likes, and the bass phrase is one that Yusuke often plays in the studio.

--Wow~!

Hazuki: I think in that sense, more so than lynch.’s image, the members’ individual images come out in the song.

--Did the 3 of you soon understand Hazuki-san’s feelings?

Yusuke: I understood.

Asanao: I didn’t understand them until now when we were talking (laughs).  But I felt really good when I was drumming, so Hazuki must’ve known that I liked this tempo. 

Reo: I understood them too, but we came up with so many ideas that, at first, I was worried about how to compile everything.

--It’s the type of song that you like, so you must’ve thought up all-the-more ideas.

Reo: Yes.  I’m so proud that we were able to create a song like that.

--Starting from 4/10, you’ll be going on your first oneman tour, “URGE to DROWN”, and it seems like the lives will be tense and fun and unify the stage and the audience.

Hazuki: Aside from “Adore” and “an illusion”, I want to play 1 or 2 more new songs, but our plans are undecided up till the end (laughs)

Asanao: Even though we’ve held events there before, there are also places that we’ll be doing onemans at for the first time, so I’m looking forward to them.

Yusuke: Of course, I play with everything I got at each and every event too, so whether it be a oneman or an event, my attitude toward lives won’t change, but since it’s our first nationwide oneman tour, I’m going to play each and every live with more than the usual everything.

Reo: But no matter what happens, there’s always a time limit, so I hope to show you things that can’t be shown during events alone.

Hazuki: The final is on 4/25 at Ebisu LIQUIDROOM, and it has the largest capacity out of all the places we’ve played at so far, so we ourselves don’t know what’s going to happen either, but I’d like to show you the outcome of our tour through the live, so please look forward to it.