(no subject)
One more entry to go to catch up with things this month. On July 15th, I went to Zepp Tokyo to see alice nine live for the first time. I had debated on it for a bit because I haven't been so into their latest stuff, but I decided to go for it. They used to be one of my favorite J-rock bands and I really wanted the chance to see them at some point.
Since I needed to be in Odaiba that day anyways, April decided to come with me so that we could go on the huge ferris wheel together. It was a lot of fun! It was a nice view of the bay and, of course, the best part of it was getting to cuddle up with April. After the ferris wheel, we went to a nearby game center to take purikura. We also won some cute little things from the crane games. I won two adorable stuffed alpaca phone straps and gave one of them to April.
After the game center, I headed over to buy goods and pick up my ticket at Zepp Tokyo (which is literally under the ferris wheel). I ended up buying the towel, tour pamphlet, an Alican (which contained one of five random cute keychains and lace bracelets, a different one for each member), and alice nine curry. Yes, alice nine curry. They were selling a pre-packaged curry, with the band in chef uniforms on the box. It was so random and derpy that I couldn't resist it. Then, I picked up my GFC ticket at the ticket window.
April decided to go back home after this, since she wasn't going to the live. After seeing her off at the station, I waited around outside Zepp for them to start calling ticket numbers. The GFC numbers were in the 600s this time. Once I got in the venue, I was able to get a spot near the middle, by the second bar (the first bar being the one in front of the stage). It was a pretty good view of all the band members!
When the live began, the band immediately started playing and the curtain pulled back. The band started with "Shadowplay", their most recent single. The stage was dark, except for a beam of light that shone on each member. Saga started the song by playing keyboards, which was something I didn't know he could do (but maybe I'm just that far out of the alice nine loop). I hadn't been as big a fan of the band's more recent songs, but I actually liked this song a lot.
It was my first time seeing the band in person, so I took the time to examine all of them. Shou's a cutie (even if I didn't quite like his haircut). It's still a little hard to believe that that deep voice comes out of his body. Hiroto is pretty tiny! It's like, I knew he was tiny, but knowing it and seeing it in person are different things. I loved when he and Tora would go back to back for guitar solos because Tora's tall and Hiroto's not. And Tora. Oh, Tora. Sometimes he makes such derp faces while he's playing his guitar. I love it. Saga is pretty tall, too. He's very lanky. I love watching the way he plays his bass. Then, of course, there's Nao. God, he is such a smiley cutie! Absolutely adorable.
The band played a fair amount of newer songs, with some older songs mixed in. I was happy because near the beginning of the live they played "Tsubasa" and "Blue Planet". They also played "Rainbows", which I love! It's such a fun song and it was just as fun live. When Shou yelled during the chorus, we would make A's with our arms and jump up. He would also take turns getting into the other band member's faces and sharing the mic with them, so that they could yell during the chorus, too. A+, Shou. :)b
The middle of the live featured a lot of newer stuff that I didn't know that well. The songs are still good, they're just not my preferred type of alice nine music. I really do miss their older style.
I was super happy near the end of the main set because the band pulled out some old favorites from their first album! It was like someone flipped a switch and Shou went from being really sweet, to flipping us off and yelling "fuck you". The band proved that they can still rock out! First they played "Kowloon-Nine Heads Rodeo Show" (which is another favorite of mine). I was enjoying the song and before I knew it, I was surprised to find the crowd doing gyaku dive! I definitely hadn't been expecting it, but it was fun. I was pushed forward, so I was actually on bar for the song, which basically meant that every time the gyaku dive started, I had to drape myself over the bar to avoid being crushed against it. The crowd wasn't too violent though, so it was fun! The next song was "Dead School Screaming" and there was more gyaku diving. I got pushed up against the bar again. This song also repeated for a while, speeding up a bit each time at the end. It was pretty awesome.
The band then performed "The Arc" and the crowd lifted their alice nine card lights into the air during the song. I hadn't known it was a thing, so I didn't bother to get one. It was still pretty to watch though and it was a nice end to the first set.
The beginning of the encore was awesome. Normally, Nao is the first one out on stage to pump us up by playing his drums. This time, Shou and Tora were the first ones out on stage. They said that since it was the final show of the tour, they thought that they should take Nao's place. They chatted for a bit and then called Saga on stage. He went to the keyboard and put on his pair of sunglasses. When they called Hiroto on stage, he came on with his camera and took pictures of the audience. Then, they finally called Nao on stage. Hiroto had taken a seat behind his drums, so he had no where to go. He stood and gave us all a sad puppy look at the front of the stage. Since he was standing near the mic, people started call out telling him he should sing. And to our delight, he did! Saga gave Nao his sunglasses and Tora gave Nao his guitar. Hiroto played drums and Saga played bass. Shou and Tora sat on the side of the stage looking fabulous. Nao then sang us a little song about how much he loved Odaiba and 海の日, while he strummed the guitar. It was so funny that I thought I was going to start crying laughing. This band is made up of such dorks!
The actual encore consisted of "Red Carpet Going On", "Heart of Gold", and "the beautiful name". "the beautiful name" was gorgeous. Shou had us start the song by singing and then the band joined in. We kept singing throughout the song, while people held up their card lights. It was lovely. I swear Shou was crying, too.
After that, the band said their goodbyes before they left the stage. Hiroto was the last one off the stage. Before he left, he stopped and gave us a deep bow. He stayed that way for a minute and I expect he was composing himself so he wouldn't cry, since his eyes looked a bit watery on his way off the stage. It was all a good way to end the live.
Even though I'm not as big a fan of alice nine's current music, I'm still glad that I got a chance to go to their live! It was definitely a lot of fun.
Since I needed to be in Odaiba that day anyways, April decided to come with me so that we could go on the huge ferris wheel together. It was a lot of fun! It was a nice view of the bay and, of course, the best part of it was getting to cuddle up with April. After the ferris wheel, we went to a nearby game center to take purikura. We also won some cute little things from the crane games. I won two adorable stuffed alpaca phone straps and gave one of them to April.
After the game center, I headed over to buy goods and pick up my ticket at Zepp Tokyo (which is literally under the ferris wheel). I ended up buying the towel, tour pamphlet, an Alican (which contained one of five random cute keychains and lace bracelets, a different one for each member), and alice nine curry. Yes, alice nine curry. They were selling a pre-packaged curry, with the band in chef uniforms on the box. It was so random and derpy that I couldn't resist it. Then, I picked up my GFC ticket at the ticket window.
April decided to go back home after this, since she wasn't going to the live. After seeing her off at the station, I waited around outside Zepp for them to start calling ticket numbers. The GFC numbers were in the 600s this time. Once I got in the venue, I was able to get a spot near the middle, by the second bar (the first bar being the one in front of the stage). It was a pretty good view of all the band members!
When the live began, the band immediately started playing and the curtain pulled back. The band started with "Shadowplay", their most recent single. The stage was dark, except for a beam of light that shone on each member. Saga started the song by playing keyboards, which was something I didn't know he could do (but maybe I'm just that far out of the alice nine loop). I hadn't been as big a fan of the band's more recent songs, but I actually liked this song a lot.
It was my first time seeing the band in person, so I took the time to examine all of them. Shou's a cutie (even if I didn't quite like his haircut). It's still a little hard to believe that that deep voice comes out of his body. Hiroto is pretty tiny! It's like, I knew he was tiny, but knowing it and seeing it in person are different things. I loved when he and Tora would go back to back for guitar solos because Tora's tall and Hiroto's not. And Tora. Oh, Tora. Sometimes he makes such derp faces while he's playing his guitar. I love it. Saga is pretty tall, too. He's very lanky. I love watching the way he plays his bass. Then, of course, there's Nao. God, he is such a smiley cutie! Absolutely adorable.
The band played a fair amount of newer songs, with some older songs mixed in. I was happy because near the beginning of the live they played "Tsubasa" and "Blue Planet". They also played "Rainbows", which I love! It's such a fun song and it was just as fun live. When Shou yelled during the chorus, we would make A's with our arms and jump up. He would also take turns getting into the other band member's faces and sharing the mic with them, so that they could yell during the chorus, too. A+, Shou. :)b
The middle of the live featured a lot of newer stuff that I didn't know that well. The songs are still good, they're just not my preferred type of alice nine music. I really do miss their older style.
I was super happy near the end of the main set because the band pulled out some old favorites from their first album! It was like someone flipped a switch and Shou went from being really sweet, to flipping us off and yelling "fuck you". The band proved that they can still rock out! First they played "Kowloon-Nine Heads Rodeo Show" (which is another favorite of mine). I was enjoying the song and before I knew it, I was surprised to find the crowd doing gyaku dive! I definitely hadn't been expecting it, but it was fun. I was pushed forward, so I was actually on bar for the song, which basically meant that every time the gyaku dive started, I had to drape myself over the bar to avoid being crushed against it. The crowd wasn't too violent though, so it was fun! The next song was "Dead School Screaming" and there was more gyaku diving. I got pushed up against the bar again. This song also repeated for a while, speeding up a bit each time at the end. It was pretty awesome.
The band then performed "The Arc" and the crowd lifted their alice nine card lights into the air during the song. I hadn't known it was a thing, so I didn't bother to get one. It was still pretty to watch though and it was a nice end to the first set.
The beginning of the encore was awesome. Normally, Nao is the first one out on stage to pump us up by playing his drums. This time, Shou and Tora were the first ones out on stage. They said that since it was the final show of the tour, they thought that they should take Nao's place. They chatted for a bit and then called Saga on stage. He went to the keyboard and put on his pair of sunglasses. When they called Hiroto on stage, he came on with his camera and took pictures of the audience. Then, they finally called Nao on stage. Hiroto had taken a seat behind his drums, so he had no where to go. He stood and gave us all a sad puppy look at the front of the stage. Since he was standing near the mic, people started call out telling him he should sing. And to our delight, he did! Saga gave Nao his sunglasses and Tora gave Nao his guitar. Hiroto played drums and Saga played bass. Shou and Tora sat on the side of the stage looking fabulous. Nao then sang us a little song about how much he loved Odaiba and 海の日, while he strummed the guitar. It was so funny that I thought I was going to start crying laughing. This band is made up of such dorks!
The actual encore consisted of "Red Carpet Going On", "Heart of Gold", and "the beautiful name". "the beautiful name" was gorgeous. Shou had us start the song by singing and then the band joined in. We kept singing throughout the song, while people held up their card lights. It was lovely. I swear Shou was crying, too.
After that, the band said their goodbyes before they left the stage. Hiroto was the last one off the stage. Before he left, he stopped and gave us a deep bow. He stayed that way for a minute and I expect he was composing himself so he wouldn't cry, since his eyes looked a bit watery on his way off the stage. It was all a good way to end the live.
Even though I'm not as big a fan of alice nine's current music, I'm still glad that I got a chance to go to their live! It was definitely a lot of fun.