lynch. and mount fuji
I'm writing about things kind of out of order, but that's because I can't find the lynch. setlist for Saitama yet. I'll write about that and the lynch. ZEAL LINK event in another entry, I guess, since they both happened in Tokyo.
Toyohashi 7/31 lynch. ♥. This was a great show! I love how homey the venue feels because it's very similar to the other ELL places. Three tiers, maybe capacity 300. harmlessbondage and a German high school exchange student came with (he's technically not my student so I don't feel weird hanging out with him and having him overhear Jazz's dirty comments, haha).
lynch. @ Toyohashi ell. knot, 7/31
Setlist:
LAST NITE
MARROW
STARZ
The Universe
melt
Lizard
I DON'T KNOW WHERE I AM
MAZE
Ambivalent Ideal
EVILLY
I'm sick,b'cuz luv u
59.
SHADOWZ
alien tune
THE BLASTED BACKBONE
unknown lost a beauty
Adore
CULTIC MY EXECUTION
Encore 1
an illusion
roaring in the dark
a grateful shit
Encore 2
vernie
dazzle
pulse_
I thought this setlist was better than Saitama, because it was a good mix of old and new songs (Saitama had more newer songs) and I'm always happy when the melt/lizard combo is played. Everyone looked great. Hazuki's new hair is short, but I'm kind of all natsukashii over it because it's a little similar to how it looked in September 2007 when I first saw them. Yusuke's new look is NICE-- his hair is half down and the other half tied in this weird top-knot, but it works for him. We talked about how his stylist is excellent, because they managed to make an ugly guy (face it, Yusuke's perfectly ugly) look pretty rocking. Asanao had his hair straight, I think. Or at least for the encore, he did. It's always nice like that. And Reo's stupid layered dyed hair still looks awful.
I don't think I screamed for anyone else but Yusuke and Junji! We were standing on their side and I figured they don't get enough love. The girl behind us also screamed REALLY loud for Junji, so between her, me and Jazz, we formed this trio of Junji fangirling, haha. Lately, he's become really popular. I think the band knows it, too, because Hazuki gets him to talk more during MCs.
I love all the new songs with piano intros (grand total of two-- LAST NITE and CULTIC; incidentally the first and last songs of the main set). Jazz saw the setlist on the stage before they began and I was screaming for her to not tell me what it was so she wouldn't ruin the surprise. Fortunately, it turned out to be wrong anyway. J., the German exchange student got a high number ticket, but he could see everything from the back anyway. The ell. knot is a pretty well-designed livehouse, I think.
We could NOT stop snickering during I DON'T KNOW WHERE I AM because of the lyrics. Also, during "a grateful shit", the first chorus, the whole "Like a Stalin" part was only supposed to be sung twice, but both Yusuke and the audience sang it three times-- and Yusuke quickly cut himself off. Hee hee!
MAZE is really pretty live. SHADOWZ really has grown on me-- it's not a GREAT song, but it's a fun song. Which describes a lot of lynch.'s music, in fact. CULTIC is awesome. It's so atmospheric and Hazuki's weird spoken word lyrics really work. The ending, instead of that lameass fadeout on disc, turns into a screeching shredding/grinding prolonged noise by Yusuke, and he's the last one to leave the stage.
For the MC, the band came out in the black tour shirts... which, by the way, sold out by Toyohashi!!! We got stuck at the end of the line and the guy 5 people ahead of me got the last black shirt off the display. I can't believe they sold out by the third show on the tour-- none of which are really big cities (though I saw plenty of Nagoya regulars at the Toyohashi show). So I'm going to have to get a black shirt at Osaka. Anyway, Hazuki said it was the first time they played Toyohashi (whoo!) and asked who was from Aichi-- maybe a good half came from within the prefecture, maybe a little more. Then he bragged about being on the cover of OOSU PRESS, an ELL publication. There's a little interview with them in that-- and Hazuki bragged that they're the first VK-related band to grace the cover. I think it's because they rub elbows with the owner of the ELL houses a lot... they must, anyway, since they play there all the time whenever they're in Nagoya and they thank Electric Lady Land in the live DVDs.
Junji got a bit of talking in, mostly just "KONBANWAAAAA!" and then he pointed out how he wasn't in OOSU PRESS, hee hee.
So then they launched into the third encore, and as usual, the best song was pulse_. I just LOVE that song-- it's so crowd-interactive and that's probably why they play it all the time. Everyone knows just what to do for it.
The line for the merch was SO long, I'm a little cheesed I didn't get that shirt (and they were out at Saitama, too) but I got a good haul, mostly for kidoairaku. The tote is really nice, I think. Something I could use myself if it weren't for the fact that I already have one. The towel is very nice! It's got the Asanao crow on it. I have named it Towel Crow.
Soooo... Toyohashi was really excellent! And Jazz, J. and I hung out at McDonald's afterwards and had a good time. Didn't see any students, though. Since Toyohashi sold out, I wonder if maybe they didn't get tickets. Which would be really sad. :(
Then on 8/5 and 8/6, I climbed Mt. Fuji, which was really the exact opposite of physical enjoyment. I took the new Towel Crow with me. :) But other than that, a lot of it was miserable.
We took the bus to 5th station on the Fujinomiya trail, about 2400m up, which was just around the tree line. I expected the trail to look prettier, but it was terribly ugly... shrubs and clumps of grasses was about it since the altitude was too high. The soils on the mountain were interesting though. The rocks were so obviously volcanic: dark, ashy, bluish, purplish, and very loose earth, which made it hard to climb.
We started climbing around 3:15pm and the first few stations were fine. The ascent was okay. By nightfall, we reached 8th station, where we were sleeping until 2:30am (we started climbing about 3am again to catch the sunrise). Before we went to sleep, we saw the Izu peninsula and the bay around Shizuoka lit up by city lights. It was so beautiful, but when we woke up again, this SUPER heavy mist had rolled in and we couldn't see crap. It was so heavy that whenever we took a photo with flash, everybody's face was sort of obscured by these creepy white wisps.
So from 8th station to the summit (10th station) was just MISERABLE. We were climbing in the dark and the altitude was really getting to me by 9th station. Every 5 steps was exhausting and it felt like my heart was pumping out of my chest but failing to give me enough oxygen. It was dark and very wet because of the heavy mist. At 9.5th station, my head was pounding a bit and C. and I had to share a bottle of oxygen because we were both feeling pretty nasty.
The last stretch between 9.5th and the summit (3776m elevation) was awful. The mist made it look like the summit was just ahead, but it would always part to reveal even MORE mountain ahead of us. It was neverending! And when we finally got to the top, it was too misty to see any sunrise, or even the volcanic caldera. It was really crowded near the top and there were all these omiyage shops there plus a post office!!! The shop sold hyakuen shop noodles for 800 yen!!! But everyone was so cold and wet that most people shelled out the money. I got really faint from the thin air and the crowds and had to sit down. It wasn't much of a victorious climb.
Also, I got VERY pissed off that they were smokers up on the summit, puffing away, trying hard to light up in spite of the thin oxygen not cooperating with the lighters.
We stayed about 2 hours, acclimatizing on the top. The mist didn't go away, and eventually we had to start descent, which took about 5 hours. At first, it was fine because going down was easier on the lungs... but it was a lot more dangerous and slippery and my knees were killing because of the constant impact.
On the last stretch, for the last 15 minutes, the mist turned into full on RAIN. D: So we got drenched. Soggy and unhappy. That stupid mountain got the last laugh.
We got down to 5th station again by noon-1pm or so. Blegh, and then my muscles really hurt by the next day. I guess at least I can say I've done it, but I wouldn't really recommend it to other people unless they really enjoy having bragging rights.
Tuesday/Wednesday = Osaka and Himeji gigs!
Toyohashi 7/31 lynch. ♥. This was a great show! I love how homey the venue feels because it's very similar to the other ELL places. Three tiers, maybe capacity 300. harmlessbondage and a German high school exchange student came with (he's technically not my student so I don't feel weird hanging out with him and having him overhear Jazz's dirty comments, haha).
lynch. @ Toyohashi ell. knot, 7/31
Setlist:
LAST NITE
MARROW
STARZ
The Universe
melt
Lizard
I DON'T KNOW WHERE I AM
MAZE
Ambivalent Ideal
EVILLY
I'm sick,b'cuz luv u
59.
SHADOWZ
alien tune
THE BLASTED BACKBONE
unknown lost a beauty
Adore
CULTIC MY EXECUTION
Encore 1
an illusion
roaring in the dark
a grateful shit
Encore 2
vernie
dazzle
pulse_
I thought this setlist was better than Saitama, because it was a good mix of old and new songs (Saitama had more newer songs) and I'm always happy when the melt/lizard combo is played. Everyone looked great. Hazuki's new hair is short, but I'm kind of all natsukashii over it because it's a little similar to how it looked in September 2007 when I first saw them. Yusuke's new look is NICE-- his hair is half down and the other half tied in this weird top-knot, but it works for him. We talked about how his stylist is excellent, because they managed to make an ugly guy (face it, Yusuke's perfectly ugly) look pretty rocking. Asanao had his hair straight, I think. Or at least for the encore, he did. It's always nice like that. And Reo's stupid layered dyed hair still looks awful.
I don't think I screamed for anyone else but Yusuke and Junji! We were standing on their side and I figured they don't get enough love. The girl behind us also screamed REALLY loud for Junji, so between her, me and Jazz, we formed this trio of Junji fangirling, haha. Lately, he's become really popular. I think the band knows it, too, because Hazuki gets him to talk more during MCs.
I love all the new songs with piano intros (grand total of two-- LAST NITE and CULTIC; incidentally the first and last songs of the main set). Jazz saw the setlist on the stage before they began and I was screaming for her to not tell me what it was so she wouldn't ruin the surprise. Fortunately, it turned out to be wrong anyway. J., the German exchange student got a high number ticket, but he could see everything from the back anyway. The ell. knot is a pretty well-designed livehouse, I think.
We could NOT stop snickering during I DON'T KNOW WHERE I AM because of the lyrics. Also, during "a grateful shit", the first chorus, the whole "Like a Stalin" part was only supposed to be sung twice, but both Yusuke and the audience sang it three times-- and Yusuke quickly cut himself off. Hee hee!
MAZE is really pretty live. SHADOWZ really has grown on me-- it's not a GREAT song, but it's a fun song. Which describes a lot of lynch.'s music, in fact. CULTIC is awesome. It's so atmospheric and Hazuki's weird spoken word lyrics really work. The ending, instead of that lameass fadeout on disc, turns into a screeching shredding/grinding prolonged noise by Yusuke, and he's the last one to leave the stage.
For the MC, the band came out in the black tour shirts... which, by the way, sold out by Toyohashi!!! We got stuck at the end of the line and the guy 5 people ahead of me got the last black shirt off the display. I can't believe they sold out by the third show on the tour-- none of which are really big cities (though I saw plenty of Nagoya regulars at the Toyohashi show). So I'm going to have to get a black shirt at Osaka. Anyway, Hazuki said it was the first time they played Toyohashi (whoo!) and asked who was from Aichi-- maybe a good half came from within the prefecture, maybe a little more. Then he bragged about being on the cover of OOSU PRESS, an ELL publication. There's a little interview with them in that-- and Hazuki bragged that they're the first VK-related band to grace the cover. I think it's because they rub elbows with the owner of the ELL houses a lot... they must, anyway, since they play there all the time whenever they're in Nagoya and they thank Electric Lady Land in the live DVDs.
Junji got a bit of talking in, mostly just "KONBANWAAAAA!" and then he pointed out how he wasn't in OOSU PRESS, hee hee.
So then they launched into the third encore, and as usual, the best song was pulse_. I just LOVE that song-- it's so crowd-interactive and that's probably why they play it all the time. Everyone knows just what to do for it.
The line for the merch was SO long, I'm a little cheesed I didn't get that shirt (and they were out at Saitama, too) but I got a good haul, mostly for kidoairaku. The tote is really nice, I think. Something I could use myself if it weren't for the fact that I already have one. The towel is very nice! It's got the Asanao crow on it. I have named it Towel Crow.
Soooo... Toyohashi was really excellent! And Jazz, J. and I hung out at McDonald's afterwards and had a good time. Didn't see any students, though. Since Toyohashi sold out, I wonder if maybe they didn't get tickets. Which would be really sad. :(
Then on 8/5 and 8/6, I climbed Mt. Fuji, which was really the exact opposite of physical enjoyment. I took the new Towel Crow with me. :) But other than that, a lot of it was miserable.
We took the bus to 5th station on the Fujinomiya trail, about 2400m up, which was just around the tree line. I expected the trail to look prettier, but it was terribly ugly... shrubs and clumps of grasses was about it since the altitude was too high. The soils on the mountain were interesting though. The rocks were so obviously volcanic: dark, ashy, bluish, purplish, and very loose earth, which made it hard to climb.
We started climbing around 3:15pm and the first few stations were fine. The ascent was okay. By nightfall, we reached 8th station, where we were sleeping until 2:30am (we started climbing about 3am again to catch the sunrise). Before we went to sleep, we saw the Izu peninsula and the bay around Shizuoka lit up by city lights. It was so beautiful, but when we woke up again, this SUPER heavy mist had rolled in and we couldn't see crap. It was so heavy that whenever we took a photo with flash, everybody's face was sort of obscured by these creepy white wisps.
So from 8th station to the summit (10th station) was just MISERABLE. We were climbing in the dark and the altitude was really getting to me by 9th station. Every 5 steps was exhausting and it felt like my heart was pumping out of my chest but failing to give me enough oxygen. It was dark and very wet because of the heavy mist. At 9.5th station, my head was pounding a bit and C. and I had to share a bottle of oxygen because we were both feeling pretty nasty.
The last stretch between 9.5th and the summit (3776m elevation) was awful. The mist made it look like the summit was just ahead, but it would always part to reveal even MORE mountain ahead of us. It was neverending! And when we finally got to the top, it was too misty to see any sunrise, or even the volcanic caldera. It was really crowded near the top and there were all these omiyage shops there plus a post office!!! The shop sold hyakuen shop noodles for 800 yen!!! But everyone was so cold and wet that most people shelled out the money. I got really faint from the thin air and the crowds and had to sit down. It wasn't much of a victorious climb.
Also, I got VERY pissed off that they were smokers up on the summit, puffing away, trying hard to light up in spite of the thin oxygen not cooperating with the lighters.
We stayed about 2 hours, acclimatizing on the top. The mist didn't go away, and eventually we had to start descent, which took about 5 hours. At first, it was fine because going down was easier on the lungs... but it was a lot more dangerous and slippery and my knees were killing because of the constant impact.
On the last stretch, for the last 15 minutes, the mist turned into full on RAIN. D: So we got drenched. Soggy and unhappy. That stupid mountain got the last laugh.
We got down to 5th station again by noon-1pm or so. Blegh, and then my muscles really hurt by the next day. I guess at least I can say I've done it, but I wouldn't really recommend it to other people unless they really enjoy having bragging rights.
Tuesday/Wednesday = Osaka and Himeji gigs!