Crazy Fighters, Vol. 1
On 5/10, April and I went to see exist+trace at Shinjuku Loft. The band was holding a live event called 'Crazy Fighters'. Including exist+trace, four bands played.
April and I opted to get food before the live and arrive a bit after the start, since exist+trace would be the last act hitting the stage. It took us a little bit of wandering through Kabukicho (Shinjuku's red light district) to actually find the live house. It ended up being in the basement floor of a giant building of host clubs lol. April and I scurried past all the hosts waiting around the building to get inside.
When we arrived, the first band was already a good portion of the way through their set. I caught a glimpse of Mally enthusiastically watching them perform from behind the goods table. She's such a cutie. :3
The second band, Where's Andy?, was a group of three youngish girls, who performed what I'll call 'chipmunk rock" (hard rock songs with a really squeaky, cutesy vocalist). Not quite my thing. The third band, 快進のICHIGEKI, was a group of guys who performed more typical hard rock, with some traditional Japanese elements thrown in. They were good though because they got the audience really pumped up. The vocalist actually started singling people out in the crowd who weren't participating and got them to come closer to the stage. April and I weren't close enough to the crowd, so he decided to single us out until we participated to his liking lol. It did end up being a fun set though.
While we were waiting for exist+trace to take the stage, April and I ended up next to the vocalist for Where's Andy?. She noticed us from the crowd earlier (which I felt slightly bad about because we weren't that enthusiastic about their music) and struck up a conversation with us, asking if we spoke Japanese. We talked with her for a minute about learning English and Japanese and then about exist+trace. She was cute and it was clear that she admired the band.
Soon it was finally time for exist+trace to perform! April and I were close to the front, between Jyou and Omi, as usual. Jyou cut her hair and it's now a cute chin length bob. The girls played a great fast paced set that was a mix of songs from 'Virgin' and their brand new songs. The new songs are really growing on me the more I hear them! They started with "Diamond", their newest single, which is a lot of fun. The coolest part of the night was when they performed "RAZE". Shinjuku Loft has recording equipment, so they recorded the audio of the song and then burned it to CDs that they gave to everyone at the end of the live!
We had to wait around for a little bit after the live ended because not only did we get a CD with the recording of "RAZE", but the band personally gave the CD to everyone! The girls lined up behind a table near the door and shook everyone's hands on our way out. It was April's first time getting to meet the band! She was in front of me in line, so I got to watch her talk with Jyou. We were close to the front of the line and the pace for the handshaking hadn't really been set yet. Jyou commented on the necklace April was wearing, which was from the previous week's Sixh show. I could see Asako (the band's manager) behind April trying to coax Jyou to get the line moving along lol.
There wasn't much time to talk with the girls this time because they had to keep the line moving at a pretty quick pace. It was still great to meet them again though! I could tell that they recognize me from all the lives I've been to. First in line was Jyou, then Naoto, Omi, Mally and Miko. I didn't have much time to do anything other then thank them and tell them that the live was fun. I feel like the experience kind of went by in a blur, but I didn't lose my cool around Omi this time. I remember Mally enthusiastically taking my hand in both of hers as she shook it. Since Miko was at the end of the line, she was the one who gave everyone the CD. She told me to please come to another live as she gave me the CD. :)
It was definitely a good night! April and I left the live house giggling and breezed by all the hosts waiting around outside. One of them tried to hand April his card, but he fumbled and dropped it. Very smooth, sir. Another host tried to get our attention too, so he said "good morning" in English, before realizing his mistake and saying "good night" instead. It was an amusing end to the evening. XD
April and I opted to get food before the live and arrive a bit after the start, since exist+trace would be the last act hitting the stage. It took us a little bit of wandering through Kabukicho (Shinjuku's red light district) to actually find the live house. It ended up being in the basement floor of a giant building of host clubs lol. April and I scurried past all the hosts waiting around the building to get inside.
When we arrived, the first band was already a good portion of the way through their set. I caught a glimpse of Mally enthusiastically watching them perform from behind the goods table. She's such a cutie. :3
The second band, Where's Andy?, was a group of three youngish girls, who performed what I'll call 'chipmunk rock" (hard rock songs with a really squeaky, cutesy vocalist). Not quite my thing. The third band, 快進のICHIGEKI, was a group of guys who performed more typical hard rock, with some traditional Japanese elements thrown in. They were good though because they got the audience really pumped up. The vocalist actually started singling people out in the crowd who weren't participating and got them to come closer to the stage. April and I weren't close enough to the crowd, so he decided to single us out until we participated to his liking lol. It did end up being a fun set though.
While we were waiting for exist+trace to take the stage, April and I ended up next to the vocalist for Where's Andy?. She noticed us from the crowd earlier (which I felt slightly bad about because we weren't that enthusiastic about their music) and struck up a conversation with us, asking if we spoke Japanese. We talked with her for a minute about learning English and Japanese and then about exist+trace. She was cute and it was clear that she admired the band.
Soon it was finally time for exist+trace to perform! April and I were close to the front, between Jyou and Omi, as usual. Jyou cut her hair and it's now a cute chin length bob. The girls played a great fast paced set that was a mix of songs from 'Virgin' and their brand new songs. The new songs are really growing on me the more I hear them! They started with "Diamond", their newest single, which is a lot of fun. The coolest part of the night was when they performed "RAZE". Shinjuku Loft has recording equipment, so they recorded the audio of the song and then burned it to CDs that they gave to everyone at the end of the live!
We had to wait around for a little bit after the live ended because not only did we get a CD with the recording of "RAZE", but the band personally gave the CD to everyone! The girls lined up behind a table near the door and shook everyone's hands on our way out. It was April's first time getting to meet the band! She was in front of me in line, so I got to watch her talk with Jyou. We were close to the front of the line and the pace for the handshaking hadn't really been set yet. Jyou commented on the necklace April was wearing, which was from the previous week's Sixh show. I could see Asako (the band's manager) behind April trying to coax Jyou to get the line moving along lol.
There wasn't much time to talk with the girls this time because they had to keep the line moving at a pretty quick pace. It was still great to meet them again though! I could tell that they recognize me from all the lives I've been to. First in line was Jyou, then Naoto, Omi, Mally and Miko. I didn't have much time to do anything other then thank them and tell them that the live was fun. I feel like the experience kind of went by in a blur, but I didn't lose my cool around Omi this time. I remember Mally enthusiastically taking my hand in both of hers as she shook it. Since Miko was at the end of the line, she was the one who gave everyone the CD. She told me to please come to another live as she gave me the CD. :)
It was definitely a good night! April and I left the live house giggling and breezed by all the hosts waiting around outside. One of them tried to hand April his card, but he fumbled and dropped it. Very smooth, sir. Another host tried to get our attention too, so he said "good morning" in English, before realizing his mistake and saying "good night" instead. It was an amusing end to the evening. XD