雅-MIYAVI- and his amazing fans, the Co-Miyavi
I want to talk about my experience at the 雅-MIYAVI- concert last night, not because I am a die-hard fan of Miyavi but because of how small the world really is and how other fans can really make a show absolutely magical.
I want to start this out by prefacing that I’ve seen Miyavi in concert before, a couple of times, both in Japan and in the U.S. This show was in small-town D.C. - and I say small-town because D.C. is not known for its J-rock and visual kei scene, nor do any of my local friends have much interest in that particular genre. So I braved the crowds alone and figured what the hell, I’ll grab a V.I.P. pass, too, though later on I was wondering if the expense was worth it. After the fact I definitely can say it was, even if mostly because of the people I met after the show.
The concert itself was fun and I found myself talking to random fans and ended up at the front railing of the second-floor mezz of the club because I just didn’t want to deal with tiny, whiny, screamy, pushy fangirls - ya’ know, the ones with cheap Asian knock-off clothing, home hair jobs, and huge signs that they feel necessary to wave around in the air right in front of your face. Yeah, those. We’ve all been there and I’m starting to feel to old to willingly put myself through that (addendum: I totally would for X Japan, though).
I found myself leaning forward comfortably on the railing with a perfect - if not super close - view of Miyavi unimpeded. I got to talking to a lovely girl beside me who was also in the same boat - no friends wanted to come experience this random and fantastic Japanese dude that they’ve never heard of before. So I had a club buddy during the show to bounce around and chat with.
After the show I walked downstairs to the meet and greet and somehow ended up right smack in the middle of a small, tight-knit Co-Miyavi group amongst all the other V.I.P. people milling around. This one blonde chick and I kept glancing over at each other, sort of like we knew each other and then she started speaking fluently in Japanese which sort of pinged in my head like this seems familiar.
And then we both figured it out that we've met before!! In Japan!! At Miyavi’s Osaka show in Triangle Park all the way back in 2008! They were these amazing die-hard Co-Miyavi fans that lived in Japan and followed him around on tour from Sapporo to Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, everywhere! They couldn’t get tixs to the Osaka show so I was given their blessing to rock out for all of us as I was the only gaijin there. We then met up and had a blast at the Fukuoka show a week or two later.
Fast forward to today, 2011, 4 years later and she is still rocking her Co-Miyavi heart out and just managed to sneak in U.S. shows in NY and DC before heading back to Japan, one of which I just happened to be at. Happiness and photos ensued and I spent the rest of the evening an honorary Co-Miyvi with amazing and fantastic group of people. I can’t even tell you how it made my night to be able to just bum around with these people at an IHOP at midnight after the show and hear all of these fantastic and uplifting stories of how Miyavi had enriched their lives and to see all of the new and hilarious and cute stories that this one Co-Miyavi has garnered since I’ve seen her last, those 4 years ago.
I, myself, am a casual Miyavi fan and I don’t even know much or any of his new music, but these people live and breathe Miyavi and it was so much fun to be part of that world, even for one evening. Can I say that $100 V.I.P. ticket was worth it? Hell yeah(!!), but not for the reasons one would assume.
- oh, and hey, I got a geeky fan photo, too.
I want to start this out by prefacing that I’ve seen Miyavi in concert before, a couple of times, both in Japan and in the U.S. This show was in small-town D.C. - and I say small-town because D.C. is not known for its J-rock and visual kei scene, nor do any of my local friends have much interest in that particular genre. So I braved the crowds alone and figured what the hell, I’ll grab a V.I.P. pass, too, though later on I was wondering if the expense was worth it. After the fact I definitely can say it was, even if mostly because of the people I met after the show.
The concert itself was fun and I found myself talking to random fans and ended up at the front railing of the second-floor mezz of the club because I just didn’t want to deal with tiny, whiny, screamy, pushy fangirls - ya’ know, the ones with cheap Asian knock-off clothing, home hair jobs, and huge signs that they feel necessary to wave around in the air right in front of your face. Yeah, those. We’ve all been there and I’m starting to feel to old to willingly put myself through that (addendum: I totally would for X Japan, though).
I found myself leaning forward comfortably on the railing with a perfect - if not super close - view of Miyavi unimpeded. I got to talking to a lovely girl beside me who was also in the same boat - no friends wanted to come experience this random and fantastic Japanese dude that they’ve never heard of before. So I had a club buddy during the show to bounce around and chat with.
After the show I walked downstairs to the meet and greet and somehow ended up right smack in the middle of a small, tight-knit Co-Miyavi group amongst all the other V.I.P. people milling around. This one blonde chick and I kept glancing over at each other, sort of like we knew each other and then she started speaking fluently in Japanese which sort of pinged in my head like this seems familiar.
And then we both figured it out that we've met before!! In Japan!! At Miyavi’s Osaka show in Triangle Park all the way back in 2008! They were these amazing die-hard Co-Miyavi fans that lived in Japan and followed him around on tour from Sapporo to Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, everywhere! They couldn’t get tixs to the Osaka show so I was given their blessing to rock out for all of us as I was the only gaijin there. We then met up and had a blast at the Fukuoka show a week or two later.
Fast forward to today, 2011, 4 years later and she is still rocking her Co-Miyavi heart out and just managed to sneak in U.S. shows in NY and DC before heading back to Japan, one of which I just happened to be at. Happiness and photos ensued and I spent the rest of the evening an honorary Co-Miyvi with amazing and fantastic group of people. I can’t even tell you how it made my night to be able to just bum around with these people at an IHOP at midnight after the show and hear all of these fantastic and uplifting stories of how Miyavi had enriched their lives and to see all of the new and hilarious and cute stories that this one Co-Miyavi has garnered since I’ve seen her last, those 4 years ago.
I, myself, am a casual Miyavi fan and I don’t even know much or any of his new music, but these people live and breathe Miyavi and it was so much fun to be part of that world, even for one evening. Can I say that $100 V.I.P. ticket was worth it? Hell yeah(!!), but not for the reasons one would assume.
- oh, and hey, I got a geeky fan photo, too.