VIVA V-Rock & dix Love
Yup, stealin the words of Mana now. XD
Sorry I haven't been able to update this sooner.
I've been contemplating about how I wanted to write about this.
In all honesty I'm just not too big on writing "reports" about events.
I don't know what it is about that, but it just really bores me to pieces.
I finally decided I'm not going to do that then...I apologize if some of you were looking for a report, but I personally feel better writing about experience rather than wracking my brains out thinking of what would sound great for live reviews. Besides, writing about experience I think is a little bit more personal so I even feel like I get more out of writing it, and I'd hope in some ways you do too.
I was planning on getting to Makuhari Messe (the venue) around 9:15, but apparently that didn't happen. I was too busy doing make up and hair and time ended up passing me by...The bad thing is, I told Kanna to meet me between 9:15-9:30 so by the time the clock struck 9:00 when I was still at my neighborhood station I began to worry. It takes me more than an hour to get to Kaihin Makuhari so I knew there was no way I'd get there in time...
Fortunately though, Kanna sent me a text saying she was late too. She was coming in from Yokohama so her time to get there was even longer than mine. By the time I was in Tokyo Station she had already boarded the Keiyo line (the line you take to the venue) but it sounded like she was only a little bit ahead of me. I got on the train and it just sat there....Ugh. Sometimes I hate large stations because the trains stay stationary for longer so more people and board and such...x_x;
Long story short, around 10:30 I finally got to where I needed to be. However, of course we can't just NOT have an adventure getting there lol. A few weeks ago I had gone to the Tokyo Game show in this same area and Kanna said she had never been there before, so I told her I'd take her to the venue. As we were walking, we came up to the venue I thought it was at and there was a motor show instead!! We were really confused because there were several buildings for conventions going on at the same time so Kanna kept going up and asking people where V-Rock festival was and nobody seemed very knowledgeable. We spent quite a while walking around looking for Makuhari Messe after spending forever being turned around in every which direction looking for it.
Finally we get there...after getting our wrist bands we began to look around the main lobby area. There was a table of fliers for all the bands with events coming up. Immediately Kanna and I looked for Moi dix Mois....You know, all these other bands have really nice glossy fliers with their pictures and advertisements and such, so I was hoping Mana would have a nice one too....nope. XD Moi dix Mois was one of the VERY FEW with their flier printed on a piece of computer paper in black and white advertising Dis Inferno. XDD Way to go Mana! Gotta love that man. XD LOL
Anyway,from there we looked at a few booths in the lobby, then finally went into the main area where all the concerts were. D was having an autograph session and Kanna wanted to meet Asagi, so we had to run around trying to figure out how to do that. Kanna thought it might be a good idea to ask the staff at the Gothic & Lolita Bible booth what she was supposed to do to get D autographs but apparently the staff was even waiting for an answer on that too. One of the staff went off to see if he could get an answer from someone and left us standing at the booth for about 20 minutes waiting. In the mean time, there were some photographers at the GLB booth trying to be all discreet with their cameras trying to take candid photos of us. XD I didn't know what to do so I just stood there and pretended like I didn't know what was going on. XDD
Maybe you'll see us in the GLB. ;D
So the staff finally came back and only a certain number of people would be able to win autographs from the band so chances were slim. In the mean time we decided to go watch Guns and Roses play. The crowd was MASSIVE and we stood in the back but it was still crowded. I usually never get this way, but for some reason I was suddenly feeling REALLY claustrophobic. I ended up completely zoning out and then all I could think about was "I need to get out of here," but I knew if I left Kanna would follow me and I didn't want to disrupt her from a band she liked. I stood there and stood there until I couldn't handle it anymore and I had to leave. As expected Kanna came along so I felt really bad but she said it wasn't a big deal. She said the crowd really was too much and the sound wasn't good, so it really wasn't THAT enjoyable for her, she was just watching because it was something to do. We decided to walk to the other side of the building (not that far away) and found where the S-stage was. There was some band playing that we watched for a while and then went outside where a bunch of food stands and band merchandise was located. We looked for Moi dix Mois merchandise right away but all they had were a few shirts and a pendant. I already had majority of the shirts, so I got one of the much older long sleeved shirts I never bought in the past. Good thing I got that one too, because it was really cold outside!! I ended up using my shirt as a sweater outside because I was freezing to death. x_x;
At that point, Kanna and I decided to get lunch since there wasn't a whole lot going on. When we were deciding on what to eat, we were standing in front of a brazillian Kebab stand. There were these big turning wheel things just FILLED with meat, and one of the guys working there started scraping off a HUGE mound of it with a knife into a freakin SHOVEL!! XDD I was utterly disgusted and couldn't stop staring at it, and when Kanna realized what I was doing she just broke down laughing. XDDDD Apparently the faces I was making was hilarious and the fact that that guy was scraping off huge mounds of meat into a shovel was really REALLY funny to her. XDDDDDDDDD We both sat there and cracked up soooo hard for a really long time watching it XDDDD
But anyway I ended up getting curry and Kanna got a crepe. We sat on the ground to eat since all the tables were filled and ended up just sitting outside for a really long time talking. Eventually the weather was getting even more cold so we decided to go in where it was warmer. At that point we watched another band for a little while, then decided to go to the main area where a lot of booths were. Kanna decided she needed to refresh her make up, so I walked around on my own a little just looking at the booths. There was an ESP guitar stand, but no Jeune fille in there...just a picture of a Jeune fille and a picture of Mana in his latest outfit. Then they had a booth advertising various styles that were going to be shown in the fashion show, a booth for Visual Kei DVD magazine (with a giant biju in front), then of course the GLB booth. I got kinda bored since it was such a small area, so I ended up standing around towards the front so Kanna could see me and check my phone. I wasn't paying much attention, but as soon as I looked up from my phone, I saw a crowd of some VERY interesting people! It was Mana and Seth!!!....but not. XD I happened to see them RIGHT as they passed me and they were sort of far away, but as soon as I saw that Mana costume I was in shock! I thought to myself "Well thats rather bold of Mana to go out walking around all dressed up!" so my second thought was that it might not be him...the bad thing was, I couldn't see their faces because they had walked past me. I started to study them, especially Seth and I began to think "...something seems a little weird about Seth, but maybe thats because I dont usually pay attention to what he looks like?" By the time they got a pretty good distance from me, the Mana looked back right at me and from far away it looked JUST LIKE him!! I got so excited thinking it was him that when Kanna came back I said "I think I just saw Mana!"
Kanna started freaking out and saying "WHERE?! WHERE?!" I pointed in the direction they went and she said she never saw him but asked if he recognized me from the Randezvous. I said "I think maybe he did because he looked over at me!" and she got all excited. XD
From there we decided to go do a free photoshoot the GLB booth was hosting. At that time I couldn't get "I think I just saw Mana walking around!!" off my mind, so the whole time my brain was in a different place. XD I'm a little worried about how those photos came out now...but I hope if we do make it in the GLB I wont look stupid. XD
After the GLB photoshoot, we decided to go back to the S-stage so we could prepare to try to get to the front for Moi dix Mois. For a few bands we stood in the very back, and a few minutes after we got there THERE THEY WERE AGAIN!!! Kanna's eyes just about popped out of her head and she started screaming REALLYYYYY loud XDDDDDDDD
Mana and Seth passed RIIIGHT by us, so close I could touch them, so this time I decided to take a closer look. The first one I looked at was Mana. AS SOON as I saw him I looked back at Kanna and gave her a look like "....You really believe thats Mana? Even I could do a better cosplay than that..." XDDD The make up and face shape up close were not like Mana's at all!! It looked GREAT from far away, but up close it was so obvious they were just cosplayers. However, Kanna really had a moment with that and couldn't stop screaming. XD As soon as they left I said out loud "...That wasn't him" and asked Kanna if she really believed that was Mana. She said no, and so we decided to just watch the concert again. After a while, I guess the idea of that Mana was still going through her head because she wrote a message on her phone for me to read that said "Maybe it WAS Mana only with less make up? Its a mystery."
I guess I didn't pay as much attention as I should have to the make up detail of the cosplayer, because I just sort of glanced at them and knew it wasn't Mana. But since Kanna was beginning to question it, I started to feel like maybe I should question my own thoughts too? I began to think "But that person didn't even ACT like Mana...too stuck up. But then...if Kanna is questioning it, maybe Mana has a different attitude when hes in full make up? This person certainly didn't act anything like Mana when I met him a couple weeks ago!"
After that I continued to question the idea over and over again. I was finally reassured it WASNT Mana when it was almost time for the Moi dix Mois concert and that Mana and Seth was in the first row with me and I saw their faces again -- DEFINITELY not Mana at all!!! Kanna said she felt so stupid for believing it was him...XDDD
So as for my time in the first row -- Kanna and I actually snuck up to the front early to ensure we got a good spot in front of Mana for Moi dix Mois. We got to see ALI Project, D'espairsRay, Moi dix Mois, AND the fashion show right up front!!
As far as the concerts...
I absolutely LOOOOVE Ali Project!! Wow! If you watched the streaming footage, weren't they amazing?! I really never suspected them to make such a huge entrance that they did, but right off the bat they were great. Kanna didn't realize all the dancers were men, but I found it really amusing noticing that. The Marie Antoinette style and outfits were something I definitely wasn't suspecting but it made them even more appealing and the image totally fit the music. Often times I feel like many visual kei bands lose their touch with the whole idea behind appearance AND music, but I think its a concept Ali Project has together really well -- it makes them unique and enjoyable to listen and watch at the same time. I love shows like that; ones where you feel like you're in a different world while watching the concert. It was so nice to see how much effort they put into their whole performance rather than just watching them play music for a while and then going off stage. When Mana updated his Aesthetics the afternoon after V-rock he mentioned him and Ali Project had been talking and made an offer. It makes me wonder if Ali Project will be performing at Dis Inferno this year....it would be SOO amazing if they did! I'm dying to see them again!
Next was D'espairsRay. I was so happy I was able to see them again! If you have kept up with my LJ for several years now, you have probably noticed I've been going to D'espairsRay lives almost ever single year since their American debut quite a few years ago now. They were the first jrock band I ever got to see perform live, and for some reason I always have a tenancy to run into them -- I mean to say even my first time in Japan when I went to a Moi dix Mois concert D'espairsRay was also playing!! They're also the first jrock band I actually traveled in the US to go see live as well, so they have a lot of meaning to me. Seeing them again was nice, their music has sort of an "at home" feeling for me, and it always makes me smile when I hear Garnet played again. Unfortunately for me, I suppose a lot of their songs they played this time were new because I didn't recognize many of them. Its interesting to see how much they've changed and grown though, so that concert was really nice for me.
Then it was finally time for Moi dix Mois!!! Waiting for them felt like FOREVER, but they finally came out when Sacred Lake started playing. First I believe it was Hayato and Sugiya who walked out, then K and a few people started screaming when he walked out, then Mana and EVERYONE started screaming, and finally Seth.
Their outfits were new this time.
Mana's new contrast is blue and black, with more emphasis on the blue. The shirt under his corset has that cross design you often see on a lot of newer Moitie dresses recently -- I believe the shirt was actually black but the cross on it was blue and the ribbon lining the sleeves was mostly blue. His corset is black with blue lacing, and the skirt part is majority blue, but with black underneath and a black under skirt that comes down straight (rather than flowing like the top piece). He also has different boots this time -- they are a little below the knee and have sort of that "patch work" look on them as you might have seen on some demonia boots (if you actually look at that kind of thing XD).
I found Seth's new jacket to be interesting in itself too -- its another sleeveless jacket, but the outside lining is a dark red and the inside of the jacket is the blue Moi-meme-Moitie material. In some ways I felt like the colors somewhat clashed in what I felt was an intersting combination, but I believe the outfit was made to look like that for a reason. Seth's hair was very kinky and long this time, I'm assuming thats partially a product of his own with Art Cube as well (although I'm sure Mana had some input for how he wanted his hair to look for Moi dix Mois).
K and Hayatos outfits weren't too much of a big difference from what they have been in the past, so I wont really describe it.
Sugiya had on a black jacket and a big red bow at the neck. Something interesting I noticed is how EVERYONE was wearing some form of red at the concert, except for Mana who was totally blue and black. Perhaps there is a specific correlation in this?
Anyway, the concert immediately started out with metaphysical.
I believe the set list was something like this:
Sacred Lake
Metaphysical
**NEW SONG** The Sect
exclude
dispell bound
Immortal Madness
**NEW SONG** Dead Scape
The Prophet
Vizard
Speaking of the new songs, I absolutely LOVE them!! When I first heard The Sect I thought it was a previous Moi dix Mois song, but the further they played through I thought "ooohh this is different!" When I listen to it, I feel like theres a mix of old and new in it. I think it has many nostalgic elements of older Moi dix Mois songs but of course new elements (such as the screaming) of a progressing Moi dix Mois. Its a very dark but fast passed song with very hard rock but also some of those more "classic" Moi dix Mois sounds too. Its difficult for me to explain, but I really like the mix and contrasts of this song a lot. To me it simply ties in a lot of what Moi dix Mois was and what they are now and I like that idea a lot. Kanna told me this song hasn't been playing in about a year or more now,so even for the Japanese Moi dix Mois fans this song was very refreshing and sort of "new" to them as well.
Dead Scape was great too -- I could certainly see this as another "regular" Moi dix Mois song in the future. To me this song seemed more as completely new in contrast to the old/new elements of The Sect. I enjoyed it though; the chorus is fun and the "slower" transitions and parts have a nice tune to them. I hope they'll play this one again soon. I believe Moi dix Mois fans got to hear this song for the first time during Deep Sanctuary this summer.
If you want to hear The Sect, its on part one (the second full song) on the footage of V-rock festival here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crw6zXUb-kM
Dead Scape should be on the third part here (second part):
I absolutely recommend watching it if you haven't already, because this was certainly one of my most favorite songs of the concert. Well, I recommend watching the entire thing, but if you want to hear a new song its the second part of that video.
Also, if you have the chance, watch the other parts to the footage as well (if you haven't already). I'm actually in the video footage a few times. On part 2 you can see me in around 4:27 then again around 6:30 - 6:40 during dispell bound. On part 3 you can see me just for a second at 2:38. But other than that, its a very interesting concert -- the lighting used was fantastic and I enjoyed the set list because it was full of not only regular songs but also new songs and old songs. I felt like it was a really nice mix that nobody has heard in a really long time, so on that aspect this concert was great.
Heres parts 2 and 4 (since I already gave you 1 and 3):
As for when Mana "spoke", it was kinda funny. A lot of the video footage doesn't do a whole lot of justice for what the concert was ACTUALLY like. When Seth gave the microphone to Mana in real life, he sort of jumped back with a surprised look on his face and at first he acted like "uhh...no no, i dont want to" but then he gave in and took the mic (I'm sure that was rehearsed but his reaction was so funny XD). Mana went up and then K turned his back towards the audience and started speaking for Mana.
Another thing about the concert vs. the video footage was that there were quite a few technical difficulties. Kanna told me when they were rehearsing the day before, Mana would go out to the audience area to check to see how the concert sounded from an audience perspective, but of course the concert is STILL going to sound different when people are there compared to when its an empty area. For some reason he kept thinking the sound was off in the audience area compared to on stage so he kept trying to get the sound crew to fix the sound and change things around, but in all reality it was Mana who was hearing things wrong and nobody had the heart to tell him he wasn't hearing it right. XDDD I guess in the end they DID get things fixed, but it was evident in the concert Mana wasn't happy with the sound particularly, especially with his own guitar.
He kept making a lot of concerned faces and then he would continually walk to staff and roadies on the side of the stage and try to make them fix things for him. He went back MANYYY times trying to get them to fix various things, and especially his guitar until eventually they gave up and took his black/blue jeune fille and gave him the white one instead. Still, once he got the white jeune fille it was sort of evident he wasn't completely happy with that -- I guess because he felt the guitar didn't particularly match his look. Although I think after a while he finally started to let it go a little because he quit going back to get problems fixed and he started mouthing the words to Dead Scape.
But the concert itself was GREAT, I just feel a little bad thinking Mana wasn't having as good of a time as he would have liked to because he was too worried about a lot of technical problems. Its nice the video shows good footage of him performing though. I suppose the reason why they don't show a lot of him however is probably because he was continually going to the back trying to fix things. Some of my friends say he seemed to be really happy and energetic during the concert, but I don't know...I sort of feel otherwise. :/
Anyway, thats about it for the Moi dix Mois concert. I think they probably played more songs than most bands and performers were able to, but that was probably because they were the only band playing during their time slot and it was getting closer towards the end of the night when Marilyn Manson was going to perform.
Directly after the concert was the fashion show. Obviously lots of brands were represented, even Hakuei was there! Mana was the last to go and the only one to represent Moi-meme-Moitie (of course). His image was really nice. He had on a blue blouse with ruffles that overlapped his black sleeveless jacket. He has a corsage made of blue and black flowers and feathers that REALLY added a nice touch! His make up and hair was still in Moi dix Mois style, but this time his lipstick was a dark dark blue! I thought he looked really nice during the fashion show, but its a shame it went by so quickly. At the very end, everyone from all the brand names came walking out so everyone could have one last look, except for Mana. Although I'm sure thats fine because he stole the show away anyhow. Everyone was cheering and really excited to see him. XD
So after all that, Kanna and went walking around some more. We were able to get free drinks with our free drink tickets and then I ended up buying a crepe. ♥
We watched Marilyn Manson for a while and then it was off to go home.
Going home was yet ANOTHER adventure. We boarded the train back to go to Tokyo Station. Everything was fine until we got to a particular stop and EVERYONE got off! Kanna and I were the only two just sitting on the train for the longest time. After a while we began to question WHY we were just sitting there. XD We looked around at the signs and the train said it was going to Tokyo, but it wasn't moving and nobody was on but us... We probably waited about a half an hour when suddenly a FEW people got on and then the train started moving. We were cracking up when we were waiting and decided to be dumb and take pictures. XDDD
Kanna on the train XDDD
and me with my Moi dix Mois shirt I bought over my dress because it was sooo cold and raining! It also killed my hair that was all epic and poofed up. >_<
Long story short, the train eventually started moving and we started freaking out because we thought the train started going back from where it came from!! XD As soon as we saw the stop "kaihin makuhair" we both stared at each other and said "Oh my god, we're going back!!"
Kanna ran outside to see what the sign said and it still said we were going to Tokyo so we were majorly confused!! I said "Are you sure thats correct?!" and she said "yes, the sign said to Tokyo!" but we both just sat there in our seats in silence thinking we made a mistake. Finally Kanna talked to a man sitting next to her asking if we were going the right way, and fortunately we were.
After a while of talking and resting on the train, I happened to look over across from me and noticed there was a woman sitting there...but this woman had a MAN voice! XDDDDDD
It confused me so much so I just sat there and stared at him or her for a really long time, until I realized it was a member of Ali Project! One of the back up dancers! I was in shock, so I whispered to Kanna "Look across from me!!" she didn't get it and looked in the wrong direction so I said "no the other way!" and once again she looked in a different wrong direction. XD Finally I pointed straight across from me and I think her eyes almost popped out of her head...again! XD She almost started screaming again too but she caught herself. XDDDD I said "Hes from Ali Project isn't he?!" and she said "YES HE IS!!!! ITS MANA MAGIC!!" XDDDDDDD because apparently Mana randomly gives us the power of Jrockers according to Kanna now. XDDDDDD
We tried to get a picture of him, but as soon as Kanna got the shot someone moved in front of her camera and she got a picture of someone's big butt instead. We cracked up over it for a while and watched until he got off at the stop right before us.
Speaking of Ali Project members, we saw another one of the members walking around at V-rock festival so we tried to stalk him for a while. He stopped at the ESP booth and stared at the picture of the Jeune Fille for a while and wouldn't leave so we got bored of him and wandered away.
Anyway, it was a very fun day! I apologize for not writing sooner but as you can see there was A LOT to cover and I had been thinking so hard about how I wanted to approach this.
I will go see Moi dix Mois (and D) again next week so expect to hear about that as well!! dix!
Sorry I haven't been able to update this sooner.
I've been contemplating about how I wanted to write about this.
In all honesty I'm just not too big on writing "reports" about events.
I don't know what it is about that, but it just really bores me to pieces.
I finally decided I'm not going to do that then...I apologize if some of you were looking for a report, but I personally feel better writing about experience rather than wracking my brains out thinking of what would sound great for live reviews. Besides, writing about experience I think is a little bit more personal so I even feel like I get more out of writing it, and I'd hope in some ways you do too.
I was planning on getting to Makuhari Messe (the venue) around 9:15, but apparently that didn't happen. I was too busy doing make up and hair and time ended up passing me by...The bad thing is, I told Kanna to meet me between 9:15-9:30 so by the time the clock struck 9:00 when I was still at my neighborhood station I began to worry. It takes me more than an hour to get to Kaihin Makuhari so I knew there was no way I'd get there in time...
Fortunately though, Kanna sent me a text saying she was late too. She was coming in from Yokohama so her time to get there was even longer than mine. By the time I was in Tokyo Station she had already boarded the Keiyo line (the line you take to the venue) but it sounded like she was only a little bit ahead of me. I got on the train and it just sat there....Ugh. Sometimes I hate large stations because the trains stay stationary for longer so more people and board and such...x_x;
Long story short, around 10:30 I finally got to where I needed to be. However, of course we can't just NOT have an adventure getting there lol. A few weeks ago I had gone to the Tokyo Game show in this same area and Kanna said she had never been there before, so I told her I'd take her to the venue. As we were walking, we came up to the venue I thought it was at and there was a motor show instead!! We were really confused because there were several buildings for conventions going on at the same time so Kanna kept going up and asking people where V-Rock festival was and nobody seemed very knowledgeable. We spent quite a while walking around looking for Makuhari Messe after spending forever being turned around in every which direction looking for it.
Finally we get there...after getting our wrist bands we began to look around the main lobby area. There was a table of fliers for all the bands with events coming up. Immediately Kanna and I looked for Moi dix Mois....You know, all these other bands have really nice glossy fliers with their pictures and advertisements and such, so I was hoping Mana would have a nice one too....nope. XD Moi dix Mois was one of the VERY FEW with their flier printed on a piece of computer paper in black and white advertising Dis Inferno. XDD Way to go Mana! Gotta love that man. XD LOL
Anyway,from there we looked at a few booths in the lobby, then finally went into the main area where all the concerts were. D was having an autograph session and Kanna wanted to meet Asagi, so we had to run around trying to figure out how to do that. Kanna thought it might be a good idea to ask the staff at the Gothic & Lolita Bible booth what she was supposed to do to get D autographs but apparently the staff was even waiting for an answer on that too. One of the staff went off to see if he could get an answer from someone and left us standing at the booth for about 20 minutes waiting. In the mean time, there were some photographers at the GLB booth trying to be all discreet with their cameras trying to take candid photos of us. XD I didn't know what to do so I just stood there and pretended like I didn't know what was going on. XDD
Maybe you'll see us in the GLB. ;D
So the staff finally came back and only a certain number of people would be able to win autographs from the band so chances were slim. In the mean time we decided to go watch Guns and Roses play. The crowd was MASSIVE and we stood in the back but it was still crowded. I usually never get this way, but for some reason I was suddenly feeling REALLY claustrophobic. I ended up completely zoning out and then all I could think about was "I need to get out of here," but I knew if I left Kanna would follow me and I didn't want to disrupt her from a band she liked. I stood there and stood there until I couldn't handle it anymore and I had to leave. As expected Kanna came along so I felt really bad but she said it wasn't a big deal. She said the crowd really was too much and the sound wasn't good, so it really wasn't THAT enjoyable for her, she was just watching because it was something to do. We decided to walk to the other side of the building (not that far away) and found where the S-stage was. There was some band playing that we watched for a while and then went outside where a bunch of food stands and band merchandise was located. We looked for Moi dix Mois merchandise right away but all they had were a few shirts and a pendant. I already had majority of the shirts, so I got one of the much older long sleeved shirts I never bought in the past. Good thing I got that one too, because it was really cold outside!! I ended up using my shirt as a sweater outside because I was freezing to death. x_x;
At that point, Kanna and I decided to get lunch since there wasn't a whole lot going on. When we were deciding on what to eat, we were standing in front of a brazillian Kebab stand. There were these big turning wheel things just FILLED with meat, and one of the guys working there started scraping off a HUGE mound of it with a knife into a freakin SHOVEL!! XDD I was utterly disgusted and couldn't stop staring at it, and when Kanna realized what I was doing she just broke down laughing. XDDDD Apparently the faces I was making was hilarious and the fact that that guy was scraping off huge mounds of meat into a shovel was really REALLY funny to her. XDDDDDDDDD We both sat there and cracked up soooo hard for a really long time watching it XDDDD
But anyway I ended up getting curry and Kanna got a crepe. We sat on the ground to eat since all the tables were filled and ended up just sitting outside for a really long time talking. Eventually the weather was getting even more cold so we decided to go in where it was warmer. At that point we watched another band for a little while, then decided to go to the main area where a lot of booths were. Kanna decided she needed to refresh her make up, so I walked around on my own a little just looking at the booths. There was an ESP guitar stand, but no Jeune fille in there...just a picture of a Jeune fille and a picture of Mana in his latest outfit. Then they had a booth advertising various styles that were going to be shown in the fashion show, a booth for Visual Kei DVD magazine (with a giant biju in front), then of course the GLB booth. I got kinda bored since it was such a small area, so I ended up standing around towards the front so Kanna could see me and check my phone. I wasn't paying much attention, but as soon as I looked up from my phone, I saw a crowd of some VERY interesting people! It was Mana and Seth!!!....but not. XD I happened to see them RIGHT as they passed me and they were sort of far away, but as soon as I saw that Mana costume I was in shock! I thought to myself "Well thats rather bold of Mana to go out walking around all dressed up!" so my second thought was that it might not be him...the bad thing was, I couldn't see their faces because they had walked past me. I started to study them, especially Seth and I began to think "...something seems a little weird about Seth, but maybe thats because I dont usually pay attention to what he looks like?" By the time they got a pretty good distance from me, the Mana looked back right at me and from far away it looked JUST LIKE him!! I got so excited thinking it was him that when Kanna came back I said "I think I just saw Mana!"
Kanna started freaking out and saying "WHERE?! WHERE?!" I pointed in the direction they went and she said she never saw him but asked if he recognized me from the Randezvous. I said "I think maybe he did because he looked over at me!" and she got all excited. XD
From there we decided to go do a free photoshoot the GLB booth was hosting. At that time I couldn't get "I think I just saw Mana walking around!!" off my mind, so the whole time my brain was in a different place. XD I'm a little worried about how those photos came out now...but I hope if we do make it in the GLB I wont look stupid. XD
After the GLB photoshoot, we decided to go back to the S-stage so we could prepare to try to get to the front for Moi dix Mois. For a few bands we stood in the very back, and a few minutes after we got there THERE THEY WERE AGAIN!!! Kanna's eyes just about popped out of her head and she started screaming REALLYYYYY loud XDDDDDDDD
Mana and Seth passed RIIIGHT by us, so close I could touch them, so this time I decided to take a closer look. The first one I looked at was Mana. AS SOON as I saw him I looked back at Kanna and gave her a look like "....You really believe thats Mana? Even I could do a better cosplay than that..." XDDD The make up and face shape up close were not like Mana's at all!! It looked GREAT from far away, but up close it was so obvious they were just cosplayers. However, Kanna really had a moment with that and couldn't stop screaming. XD As soon as they left I said out loud "...That wasn't him" and asked Kanna if she really believed that was Mana. She said no, and so we decided to just watch the concert again. After a while, I guess the idea of that Mana was still going through her head because she wrote a message on her phone for me to read that said "Maybe it WAS Mana only with less make up? Its a mystery."
I guess I didn't pay as much attention as I should have to the make up detail of the cosplayer, because I just sort of glanced at them and knew it wasn't Mana. But since Kanna was beginning to question it, I started to feel like maybe I should question my own thoughts too? I began to think "But that person didn't even ACT like Mana...too stuck up. But then...if Kanna is questioning it, maybe Mana has a different attitude when hes in full make up? This person certainly didn't act anything like Mana when I met him a couple weeks ago!"
After that I continued to question the idea over and over again. I was finally reassured it WASNT Mana when it was almost time for the Moi dix Mois concert and that Mana and Seth was in the first row with me and I saw their faces again -- DEFINITELY not Mana at all!!! Kanna said she felt so stupid for believing it was him...XDDD
So as for my time in the first row -- Kanna and I actually snuck up to the front early to ensure we got a good spot in front of Mana for Moi dix Mois. We got to see ALI Project, D'espairsRay, Moi dix Mois, AND the fashion show right up front!!
As far as the concerts...
I absolutely LOOOOVE Ali Project!! Wow! If you watched the streaming footage, weren't they amazing?! I really never suspected them to make such a huge entrance that they did, but right off the bat they were great. Kanna didn't realize all the dancers were men, but I found it really amusing noticing that. The Marie Antoinette style and outfits were something I definitely wasn't suspecting but it made them even more appealing and the image totally fit the music. Often times I feel like many visual kei bands lose their touch with the whole idea behind appearance AND music, but I think its a concept Ali Project has together really well -- it makes them unique and enjoyable to listen and watch at the same time. I love shows like that; ones where you feel like you're in a different world while watching the concert. It was so nice to see how much effort they put into their whole performance rather than just watching them play music for a while and then going off stage. When Mana updated his Aesthetics the afternoon after V-rock he mentioned him and Ali Project had been talking and made an offer. It makes me wonder if Ali Project will be performing at Dis Inferno this year....it would be SOO amazing if they did! I'm dying to see them again!
Next was D'espairsRay. I was so happy I was able to see them again! If you have kept up with my LJ for several years now, you have probably noticed I've been going to D'espairsRay lives almost ever single year since their American debut quite a few years ago now. They were the first jrock band I ever got to see perform live, and for some reason I always have a tenancy to run into them -- I mean to say even my first time in Japan when I went to a Moi dix Mois concert D'espairsRay was also playing!! They're also the first jrock band I actually traveled in the US to go see live as well, so they have a lot of meaning to me. Seeing them again was nice, their music has sort of an "at home" feeling for me, and it always makes me smile when I hear Garnet played again. Unfortunately for me, I suppose a lot of their songs they played this time were new because I didn't recognize many of them. Its interesting to see how much they've changed and grown though, so that concert was really nice for me.
Then it was finally time for Moi dix Mois!!! Waiting for them felt like FOREVER, but they finally came out when Sacred Lake started playing. First I believe it was Hayato and Sugiya who walked out, then K and a few people started screaming when he walked out, then Mana and EVERYONE started screaming, and finally Seth.
Their outfits were new this time.
Mana's new contrast is blue and black, with more emphasis on the blue. The shirt under his corset has that cross design you often see on a lot of newer Moitie dresses recently -- I believe the shirt was actually black but the cross on it was blue and the ribbon lining the sleeves was mostly blue. His corset is black with blue lacing, and the skirt part is majority blue, but with black underneath and a black under skirt that comes down straight (rather than flowing like the top piece). He also has different boots this time -- they are a little below the knee and have sort of that "patch work" look on them as you might have seen on some demonia boots (if you actually look at that kind of thing XD).
I found Seth's new jacket to be interesting in itself too -- its another sleeveless jacket, but the outside lining is a dark red and the inside of the jacket is the blue Moi-meme-Moitie material. In some ways I felt like the colors somewhat clashed in what I felt was an intersting combination, but I believe the outfit was made to look like that for a reason. Seth's hair was very kinky and long this time, I'm assuming thats partially a product of his own with Art Cube as well (although I'm sure Mana had some input for how he wanted his hair to look for Moi dix Mois).
K and Hayatos outfits weren't too much of a big difference from what they have been in the past, so I wont really describe it.
Sugiya had on a black jacket and a big red bow at the neck. Something interesting I noticed is how EVERYONE was wearing some form of red at the concert, except for Mana who was totally blue and black. Perhaps there is a specific correlation in this?
Anyway, the concert immediately started out with metaphysical.
I believe the set list was something like this:
Sacred Lake
Metaphysical
**NEW SONG** The Sect
exclude
dispell bound
Immortal Madness
**NEW SONG** Dead Scape
The Prophet
Vizard
Speaking of the new songs, I absolutely LOVE them!! When I first heard The Sect I thought it was a previous Moi dix Mois song, but the further they played through I thought "ooohh this is different!" When I listen to it, I feel like theres a mix of old and new in it. I think it has many nostalgic elements of older Moi dix Mois songs but of course new elements (such as the screaming) of a progressing Moi dix Mois. Its a very dark but fast passed song with very hard rock but also some of those more "classic" Moi dix Mois sounds too. Its difficult for me to explain, but I really like the mix and contrasts of this song a lot. To me it simply ties in a lot of what Moi dix Mois was and what they are now and I like that idea a lot. Kanna told me this song hasn't been playing in about a year or more now,so even for the Japanese Moi dix Mois fans this song was very refreshing and sort of "new" to them as well.
Dead Scape was great too -- I could certainly see this as another "regular" Moi dix Mois song in the future. To me this song seemed more as completely new in contrast to the old/new elements of The Sect. I enjoyed it though; the chorus is fun and the "slower" transitions and parts have a nice tune to them. I hope they'll play this one again soon. I believe Moi dix Mois fans got to hear this song for the first time during Deep Sanctuary this summer.
If you want to hear The Sect, its on part one (the second full song) on the footage of V-rock festival here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crw6zXUb-kM
Dead Scape should be on the third part here (second part):
Click to viewI absolutely recommend watching it if you haven't already, because this was certainly one of my most favorite songs of the concert. Well, I recommend watching the entire thing, but if you want to hear a new song its the second part of that video.
Also, if you have the chance, watch the other parts to the footage as well (if you haven't already). I'm actually in the video footage a few times. On part 2 you can see me in around 4:27 then again around 6:30 - 6:40 during dispell bound. On part 3 you can see me just for a second at 2:38. But other than that, its a very interesting concert -- the lighting used was fantastic and I enjoyed the set list because it was full of not only regular songs but also new songs and old songs. I felt like it was a really nice mix that nobody has heard in a really long time, so on that aspect this concert was great.
Heres parts 2 and 4 (since I already gave you 1 and 3):
As for when Mana "spoke", it was kinda funny. A lot of the video footage doesn't do a whole lot of justice for what the concert was ACTUALLY like. When Seth gave the microphone to Mana in real life, he sort of jumped back with a surprised look on his face and at first he acted like "uhh...no no, i dont want to" but then he gave in and took the mic (I'm sure that was rehearsed but his reaction was so funny XD). Mana went up and then K turned his back towards the audience and started speaking for Mana.
Another thing about the concert vs. the video footage was that there were quite a few technical difficulties. Kanna told me when they were rehearsing the day before, Mana would go out to the audience area to check to see how the concert sounded from an audience perspective, but of course the concert is STILL going to sound different when people are there compared to when its an empty area. For some reason he kept thinking the sound was off in the audience area compared to on stage so he kept trying to get the sound crew to fix the sound and change things around, but in all reality it was Mana who was hearing things wrong and nobody had the heart to tell him he wasn't hearing it right. XDDD I guess in the end they DID get things fixed, but it was evident in the concert Mana wasn't happy with the sound particularly, especially with his own guitar.
He kept making a lot of concerned faces and then he would continually walk to staff and roadies on the side of the stage and try to make them fix things for him. He went back MANYYY times trying to get them to fix various things, and especially his guitar until eventually they gave up and took his black/blue jeune fille and gave him the white one instead. Still, once he got the white jeune fille it was sort of evident he wasn't completely happy with that -- I guess because he felt the guitar didn't particularly match his look. Although I think after a while he finally started to let it go a little because he quit going back to get problems fixed and he started mouthing the words to Dead Scape.
But the concert itself was GREAT, I just feel a little bad thinking Mana wasn't having as good of a time as he would have liked to because he was too worried about a lot of technical problems. Its nice the video shows good footage of him performing though. I suppose the reason why they don't show a lot of him however is probably because he was continually going to the back trying to fix things. Some of my friends say he seemed to be really happy and energetic during the concert, but I don't know...I sort of feel otherwise. :/
Anyway, thats about it for the Moi dix Mois concert. I think they probably played more songs than most bands and performers were able to, but that was probably because they were the only band playing during their time slot and it was getting closer towards the end of the night when Marilyn Manson was going to perform.
Directly after the concert was the fashion show. Obviously lots of brands were represented, even Hakuei was there! Mana was the last to go and the only one to represent Moi-meme-Moitie (of course). His image was really nice. He had on a blue blouse with ruffles that overlapped his black sleeveless jacket. He has a corsage made of blue and black flowers and feathers that REALLY added a nice touch! His make up and hair was still in Moi dix Mois style, but this time his lipstick was a dark dark blue! I thought he looked really nice during the fashion show, but its a shame it went by so quickly. At the very end, everyone from all the brand names came walking out so everyone could have one last look, except for Mana. Although I'm sure thats fine because he stole the show away anyhow. Everyone was cheering and really excited to see him. XD
So after all that, Kanna and went walking around some more. We were able to get free drinks with our free drink tickets and then I ended up buying a crepe. ♥
We watched Marilyn Manson for a while and then it was off to go home.
Going home was yet ANOTHER adventure. We boarded the train back to go to Tokyo Station. Everything was fine until we got to a particular stop and EVERYONE got off! Kanna and I were the only two just sitting on the train for the longest time. After a while we began to question WHY we were just sitting there. XD We looked around at the signs and the train said it was going to Tokyo, but it wasn't moving and nobody was on but us... We probably waited about a half an hour when suddenly a FEW people got on and then the train started moving. We were cracking up when we were waiting and decided to be dumb and take pictures. XDDD
Kanna on the train XDDD
and me with my Moi dix Mois shirt I bought over my dress because it was sooo cold and raining! It also killed my hair that was all epic and poofed up. >_<
Long story short, the train eventually started moving and we started freaking out because we thought the train started going back from where it came from!! XD As soon as we saw the stop "kaihin makuhair" we both stared at each other and said "Oh my god, we're going back!!"
Kanna ran outside to see what the sign said and it still said we were going to Tokyo so we were majorly confused!! I said "Are you sure thats correct?!" and she said "yes, the sign said to Tokyo!" but we both just sat there in our seats in silence thinking we made a mistake. Finally Kanna talked to a man sitting next to her asking if we were going the right way, and fortunately we were.
After a while of talking and resting on the train, I happened to look over across from me and noticed there was a woman sitting there...but this woman had a MAN voice! XDDDDDD
It confused me so much so I just sat there and stared at him or her for a really long time, until I realized it was a member of Ali Project! One of the back up dancers! I was in shock, so I whispered to Kanna "Look across from me!!" she didn't get it and looked in the wrong direction so I said "no the other way!" and once again she looked in a different wrong direction. XD Finally I pointed straight across from me and I think her eyes almost popped out of her head...again! XD She almost started screaming again too but she caught herself. XDDDD I said "Hes from Ali Project isn't he?!" and she said "YES HE IS!!!! ITS MANA MAGIC!!" XDDDDDDD because apparently Mana randomly gives us the power of Jrockers according to Kanna now. XDDDDDD
We tried to get a picture of him, but as soon as Kanna got the shot someone moved in front of her camera and she got a picture of someone's big butt instead. We cracked up over it for a while and watched until he got off at the stop right before us.
Speaking of Ali Project members, we saw another one of the members walking around at V-rock festival so we tried to stalk him for a while. He stopped at the ESP booth and stared at the picture of the Jeune Fille for a while and wouldn't leave so we got bored of him and wandered away.
Anyway, it was a very fun day! I apologize for not writing sooner but as you can see there was A LOT to cover and I had been thinking so hard about how I wanted to approach this.
I will go see Moi dix Mois (and D) again next week so expect to hear about that as well!! dix!