Remioromen ftw
Just got back from seeing Remioromen live at the Budoukan \o/ It was super good, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could understand most of their MCs. (Although on second thought it might have been kind of bad if I couldn't - I saw TOKIO last March, and could only understand bits and pieces of their MC - if I hadn't improved at all in a whole year I would be really sad, lol!) They did not sing my favorite song, Hotaru, but they did mix a lot of their older stuff in with songs from their latest album. And at the end, for the final encore, they ran the lyrics on the screen in the background and the entire audience sang Sangatsu Kokonoka* (how perfect would that have been if they could have sang sangatsu kokonoka actually on sangatsu kokonoka, lol! they actually talked a bit about that during the mc too, haha. Missed it by a week! I think Nagoya or somewhere got that date). It was great though, and I usually end up singing that song along with Konayuki (which they also sang) (of course) whenever I go to karaoke, so I was singing right along with everyone and it was awesome.
*Sangatsu kokonoka - 3gatsu 9ka - March 9
I was unable to buy either the Kaze no Chroma tour towel or the tour phone strap that I wanted, because I didn't check my cash supply before setting out and it turned out I only had a thousand yen on me. It was slightly embarrassing, as I asked for the phone strap before discovering that I had spent all my change earlier on a drink and an anman, and didn't have enough. So I ended up with a compact mirror instead (800 yen, lol), which I thought about using in place of my trusty MAC compact but then decided to just stick on my wall instead. My purse can be a dangerous place, so I'd rather my tour souvenir stay safe on my wall, lol.
Also the drummer for Remioromen is adorable. Before this live, I actually didn't know who was who besides being able to barely recognize the lead singer (who is not really my type but who I fall in love with whenever he opens his mouth because his voice is amazing), but the drummer is smiley and adorable and wore the bright pink REMI shirt out for the encore. <3
So now I've seen Dir en grey, TOKIO, and Remioromen here in Japan. Next up: Arashi! I may have to break down and join their fanclub if I want to be sure to actually get into their next Tokyo concert though. Tickets here go RIDICULOUSLY fast; for Remioromen, I bought my ticket an hour after general seating opened, and I still got stuck way at the back. I was talking to a student of mine and apparently after fanclub first-goes and preorders, there are usually very few seats left and it's super hard to even get a ticket if you're not really fast for some of the more popular bands. When X-Japan did their live at the Tokyo Dome, tickets sold out in half an hour. For the freaking Tokyo Dome.
Anyway wow it's already one. Time for bed~ I was going to watch a horror film, but I watched one last night before going to bed and I had some really weird nightmares. Like, seriously, I barely got any sleep because I must have woken up three different times after three different nightmares. It wasn't even a super scary film, it was more of a mystery/suspense thing, but it was done in that slow, creeping, psychological style that I've become rather a fan of. I've watched three Kiyoshi Kurosawa films within the last week, and I totally recommend him. Kairo is my favorite - I actually watched it once before, back in college, but I didn't really pay attention to it at the time. I watched it again last week and it's so good. It starts slow, but it builds to a really fantastic apocalyptic conclusion, and the themes really resonated with me. I considered watching the American remake (Pulse), since I liked The Ring and The Grudge, but I heard that Pulse is really terrible so I probably won't bother. You can't really top Kairo anyway, part of what makes it so great is the slow pacing and American studio films can't seem to really grasp that concept. The film that apparently gave me nightmares last night was Cure (another Kiyoshi Kurosawa), starring a hot amnesiac with no soul who hypnotizes people into committing murders. (Well, ok, technically it stars the detective who investigates the murders, but I have a thing for hot soulless villains : p ).
*Sangatsu kokonoka - 3gatsu 9ka - March 9
I was unable to buy either the Kaze no Chroma tour towel or the tour phone strap that I wanted, because I didn't check my cash supply before setting out and it turned out I only had a thousand yen on me. It was slightly embarrassing, as I asked for the phone strap before discovering that I had spent all my change earlier on a drink and an anman, and didn't have enough. So I ended up with a compact mirror instead (800 yen, lol), which I thought about using in place of my trusty MAC compact but then decided to just stick on my wall instead. My purse can be a dangerous place, so I'd rather my tour souvenir stay safe on my wall, lol.
Also the drummer for Remioromen is adorable. Before this live, I actually didn't know who was who besides being able to barely recognize the lead singer (who is not really my type but who I fall in love with whenever he opens his mouth because his voice is amazing), but the drummer is smiley and adorable and wore the bright pink REMI shirt out for the encore. <3
So now I've seen Dir en grey, TOKIO, and Remioromen here in Japan. Next up: Arashi! I may have to break down and join their fanclub if I want to be sure to actually get into their next Tokyo concert though. Tickets here go RIDICULOUSLY fast; for Remioromen, I bought my ticket an hour after general seating opened, and I still got stuck way at the back. I was talking to a student of mine and apparently after fanclub first-goes and preorders, there are usually very few seats left and it's super hard to even get a ticket if you're not really fast for some of the more popular bands. When X-Japan did their live at the Tokyo Dome, tickets sold out in half an hour. For the freaking Tokyo Dome.
Anyway wow it's already one. Time for bed~ I was going to watch a horror film, but I watched one last night before going to bed and I had some really weird nightmares. Like, seriously, I barely got any sleep because I must have woken up three different times after three different nightmares. It wasn't even a super scary film, it was more of a mystery/suspense thing, but it was done in that slow, creeping, psychological style that I've become rather a fan of. I've watched three Kiyoshi Kurosawa films within the last week, and I totally recommend him. Kairo is my favorite - I actually watched it once before, back in college, but I didn't really pay attention to it at the time. I watched it again last week and it's so good. It starts slow, but it builds to a really fantastic apocalyptic conclusion, and the themes really resonated with me. I considered watching the American remake (Pulse), since I liked The Ring and The Grudge, but I heard that Pulse is really terrible so I probably won't bother. You can't really top Kairo anyway, part of what makes it so great is the slow pacing and American studio films can't seem to really grasp that concept. The film that apparently gave me nightmares last night was Cure (another Kiyoshi Kurosawa), starring a hot amnesiac with no soul who hypnotizes people into committing murders. (Well, ok, technically it stars the detective who investigates the murders, but I have a thing for hot soulless villains : p ).