2013-007: Hello, March.
Just like that, it's already the 3rd month of the new year. Time flies by so fast, ne.
Exactly 1 year ago, I'm still wandering around Hong Kong, fresh from attending my first JRock concert - L'Arc~en~Ciel's World Tour. By this time last year it was all still so surreal - I still can't believe I was able to finally see them live, but at the same time, I knew I can do that again if the opportunity went my way. Concerts like these (outside Japan) are so fucking do-able.
This weekend (Saturday night) I attended the One OK Rock tribute gig organized by the local fan club. It was a haphazardly decided attendance, b/c earlier that day I went all over the place meeting friends lhukhe09, sober_me, stateofgrace, yurasamaism and running errands for my Mom, so by the time I finished, it was already almost 9PM. The gig was supposed to start at 7PM. So i was debating w/ myself if I should still go (I know that gatherings of this nature almost always don't start on time, or if so, will last until at least after midnight) or just to ditch it and catch up on sleep (I only had around 2 hours' worth that day.)
But inside the innermost insides of my head I thought that it was too enticing to pass up (especially for me as a new OOR follower/fan), so I called kawaiiysa and asked if I can still go. She told me it's just started so w/o a second thought, I brought myself to Freedom Bar.
It was my first time @ Freedom Bar, even though there's been so many J-rock themed gigs that's been held there since I stopped attending back in 2007 (the last closed-venue gig I attended was 2003/2004 at Crisanta Towers; my very last one was J-Crunch: Ripiito at open-air Makati Park & Garden Ampitheater) I guess I wasn't really adventurous and the image of attending gatherings at a bar was a bit too overwhelming for my young self. Also, I didn't have anyone to go together with, so...
I was surprised to find out the place wasn't difficult to locate (also almost squealed there was an InfiniTEA branch across the street and I was about to go in had the staff not started to pack up things, lol) When I got there, I was intimidated by the people outside the bar that I wanted to turn back. Good thing Ysa was there to help me (much hugs to you!) and Nerissa (LPST taichou) was there so I didn't feel awkward watching by myself.
I didn't get to hear the bands who went first, but I stayed until the gig ended. I heard around 6-8 bands perform, but only two left a lasting impression on me - Stigma of Disgrace and Asterysk* With the other bands I felt like it's either the vocals were lacking (overpowered by the instruments) or I felt distracted seeing them read the lyrics (it's like their attention was off to someplace else or sth), or I felt that the effort to engage the audience was a bit weak. I dunno, maybe it's also because I wasn't familiar with the non-OOR songs that were performed? But then again if so, Stigma didn't perform an all-OOR set and I'm not very well versed with Maximum the Hormone but I still liked their performance.
Anyway, I think it was well thought out (if it was) that Stigma went on near the middle of the show (re-energizing the then-sleepy crowd) and Asterysk* went last (to end the show with a mighty exclamation point!) I won't mind seeing these two bands again, if given the chance. As to the others, with a bit more practice on showmanship, not letting their vocalists get drowned out by the music, and maybe changing things a bit if they're trying to play something that's out of their comfort zone genre... I'm sure they're gonna blow me away too, the next time I see them.
I haven't found videos of Stigma of Disgrace yet, but here's several from Asterysk* - I let you guys judge on your own:
THEY PLAYED KANZEN KANKAKU DREAMER, i was waiting for that one! i was so pleased that while on the cab going home it was still playing in my head, lol.
i wish there was "Living Dolls" and "Nobody's Home" - I'd really like to hear those two next time.
(also, their female vocalist reminded me so much of goldengutgirl <3)
So there. This gig reminded me so much of my 2003 days, and I wish our own L'Acoustic will be close to something like this. ^^
.
Exactly 1 year ago, I'm still wandering around Hong Kong, fresh from attending my first JRock concert - L'Arc~en~Ciel's World Tour. By this time last year it was all still so surreal - I still can't believe I was able to finally see them live, but at the same time, I knew I can do that again if the opportunity went my way. Concerts like these (outside Japan) are so fucking do-able.
This weekend (Saturday night) I attended the One OK Rock tribute gig organized by the local fan club. It was a haphazardly decided attendance, b/c earlier that day I went all over the place meeting friends lhukhe09, sober_me, stateofgrace, yurasamaism and running errands for my Mom, so by the time I finished, it was already almost 9PM. The gig was supposed to start at 7PM. So i was debating w/ myself if I should still go (I know that gatherings of this nature almost always don't start on time, or if so, will last until at least after midnight) or just to ditch it and catch up on sleep (I only had around 2 hours' worth that day.)
But inside the innermost insides of my head I thought that it was too enticing to pass up (especially for me as a new OOR follower/fan), so I called kawaiiysa and asked if I can still go. She told me it's just started so w/o a second thought, I brought myself to Freedom Bar.
It was my first time @ Freedom Bar, even though there's been so many J-rock themed gigs that's been held there since I stopped attending back in 2007 (the last closed-venue gig I attended was 2003/2004 at Crisanta Towers; my very last one was J-Crunch: Ripiito at open-air Makati Park & Garden Ampitheater) I guess I wasn't really adventurous and the image of attending gatherings at a bar was a bit too overwhelming for my young self. Also, I didn't have anyone to go together with, so...
I was surprised to find out the place wasn't difficult to locate (also almost squealed there was an InfiniTEA branch across the street and I was about to go in had the staff not started to pack up things, lol) When I got there, I was intimidated by the people outside the bar that I wanted to turn back. Good thing Ysa was there to help me (much hugs to you!) and Nerissa (LPST taichou) was there so I didn't feel awkward watching by myself.
I didn't get to hear the bands who went first, but I stayed until the gig ended. I heard around 6-8 bands perform, but only two left a lasting impression on me - Stigma of Disgrace and Asterysk* With the other bands I felt like it's either the vocals were lacking (overpowered by the instruments) or I felt distracted seeing them read the lyrics (it's like their attention was off to someplace else or sth), or I felt that the effort to engage the audience was a bit weak. I dunno, maybe it's also because I wasn't familiar with the non-OOR songs that were performed? But then again if so, Stigma didn't perform an all-OOR set and I'm not very well versed with Maximum the Hormone but I still liked their performance.
Anyway, I think it was well thought out (if it was) that Stigma went on near the middle of the show (re-energizing the then-sleepy crowd) and Asterysk* went last (to end the show with a mighty exclamation point!) I won't mind seeing these two bands again, if given the chance. As to the others, with a bit more practice on showmanship, not letting their vocalists get drowned out by the music, and maybe changing things a bit if they're trying to play something that's out of their comfort zone genre... I'm sure they're gonna blow me away too, the next time I see them.
I haven't found videos of Stigma of Disgrace yet, but here's several from Asterysk* - I let you guys judge on your own:
Click to viewTHEY PLAYED KANZEN KANKAKU DREAMER, i was waiting for that one! i was so pleased that while on the cab going home it was still playing in my head, lol.
i wish there was "Living Dolls" and "Nobody's Home" - I'd really like to hear those two next time.
(also, their female vocalist reminded me so much of goldengutgirl <3)
So there. This gig reminded me so much of my 2003 days, and I wish our own L'Acoustic will be close to something like this. ^^
.