fade - DAMAGE LIVER 04/22
Yesterday I saw fade in Shibuya for their Damage Liver live.
The venue was one of those wonderful little live houses that are so easily missed. From the street, all you can see of it is the entrance and the sign as the venue is underground. Japanese cities are full of these places and I love how easy it is to have walk passed them dozens of times without noticing their existence (like I had previously with SOUND MUSEUM VISION)
Upon entering we were all given a lottery ticket and the show was due to start at 18:30. The first band was Agitato and they were actually pretty good. The lead singer looks like he should be in a Korean boy band (that’s a compliment) and they were very pretty, which probably helps my assessment of them! They were a great support band - very happy and bouncy and even the single ballad in the set didn’t really interrupt the flow. They have a keyboard player instead of a second guitarist so they’re a little different from other bands of their type. The crowd responded well to the songs and to the members, chuckled in sympathy when the guitarist fluffed his lines while promoting the jelly shots and helpfully told him how much they were when he wasn’t sure. I’ll probably check them out again when I have time.
Uzumaki took the stage at around 19:30 and they most definitely should not be in a Korean boy band! They have a very heavy, industrial sound with two vocalists who mainly rap their way through the songs. The microphone set up for them was not good though so it was very difficult to actually hear anything when the rest of the band was playing at full speed. Again, the crowd reacted well and it was clear that they had some of their own fans there. They’re very good at their style of music, but their style is not my style so I didn’t particularly enjoy them although I could appreciate how skilled they are.
fade finally came on stage a little after 20:30. Weekend lives are usually finished by this time so it was obvious it was going to be a short set list and it was. Far too short, really. As soon as it started, it seemed to finish!
They made it count though, and despite the set being shorter than the Kings of Dawn lives last December, I think it was a better performance. Obviously due to the album recordings they’ve been spending more time together as a band again as YFCz’s activities have slowed and it showed. They were tighter and it seemed more effortless (the previous lives were far from bad, but not in the same league as last night). And wow, they were really enjoying themselves!
I was third row, just off centre and was surrounded by really, really short people. Really short. The lady in front of me was nearly a foot shorter and the one in front of her was maybe 4-5 inches shorter. I think I stood out again because not only was I the only white person there that I saw (well, other than Jon, obviously!) but I was easily one of the tallest. I realised halfway through Uzumaki’s set, that if fade arranged the stage the way they always do, then I was going to be right in front of Jon again. Yep, I was. It was an accident! I’m standing the other side next time on purpose…
Setlist
1. One Reason
2. Ever Free
3. From the Heart
4. REIMEI〜黎明
5. Cosmicalism コズミカリズム
6. In the end
7. Break Away
8. So Far Gone
9. Last Man Standing
10. Kings of Dawn
-encore-
11. Let it Go
12. Beautiful
Awesome setlist really. I couldn’t have picked a better one myself!
The new songs were the highlights. Everfree is still as catchy as it was last time I heard it, the verses have a funky rhythm to them that’s reflected in the punchy vocals and the chorus line is infuriatingly catchy and easy to pick up. It’s a perfect song to sing along to, with the “woah-oh-oh” backing vocals that were made for any crowd to immediately pick up. Nothing’s ever gonna be free…
REIMEI〜黎明 most people know already from the album sample fade uploaded and the Ustream broadcast. It’s suitably epic live and the mix of languages works really well. In the end begins with an awesome riff from Kansei (so awesome that Jon made note to point it out) and the guitar work is the highlight, I think. It’s a hard hitting upbeat song with bite, and will be a perfect album opener.
I’m pretty terrible at remembering song lyrics, usually I can only do it if the song is playing and I can sing along, but a little bit of In the end sticks out. Namely the part where Jon starts singing about bullshit and sings for someone to “shut the fuck up” while flipping the bird. There were a few “motherfuckers” dropped during his MCs too. JON! Wash your mouth out with soap, dirty boy!
As I said, the band seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely. Kansei was his usual odd mix of happy bounciness and serious business guitar solos. Godo is always really intense and you really get the sense that he just loves being immersed in music and the atmosphere (artist, right? XD). Rui was marshalling everything from the back and even did his own sound check just to make sure everything was right. Jon smiled, strutted and jumped his way through it all and interacted with Kansei and Nori as much as he could. And Nori, well, I think he had wings on his shoes. He was flying everywhere. There were raised platforms at the very end of the stage (I don’t think they were equipment but I may be wrong) and Nori was all over these on both sides whenever he didn’t need to sing backing vocals.
The crowd were very good, I though. A little on the small side, but definitely enthusiastic. They clapped, pumped their fists, bounced and did their best to sing along whenever it was required. Okay, most people are dripping in h.DARTS or have a certain spambot troll king as their phone wallpaper (like me, to be truthful!), but they’re supporting fade and have become fans of the band in their own right.
There was, of course, the customary Damage Liver section where Kansei chugged half a bottle of Jack Daniels. He’s moved onto AKB48’s Heavy Rotation as the intro song now, and it cuts off just as the first “I want you” line comes in. The crowd missed it, some of them wanted to sing along (WHY??) so after a slightly uncomfortable wait we got the song again. Thanks, fellow fans. I really needed to hear that twice.
Lottery prizes this time were a full bottle of Jack Daniels signed by the band and two T shirts also signed by them. Kansei pulled out the winning ticket for the JD (of course) and Jon picked the t shirts winners. Unfortunately for Jon, he was trying to be dramatic and keep everyone in suspense before reading the winning numbers and didn't realise that it was pretty easy to see through the paper and see the numbers for ourselves. The front rows really shouldn't have pointed that out to him.
Other than that, a plug for the new album and a couple of sentences of banter between songs it was pretty light on MCs. After the live had finished, Kansei started to talk about the new tour, but was swiftly smacked in the head by Rui. He recovered and carried on anyway.
And speaking of the next tour -
6/29 - Sendai HOOK
7/6 - Hiroshima CAVE-BE
7/8 - Osaka Shinsaibashi DROP
7/11 - Nagoya ell.SIZE
7/14 - Shinjuku BLAZE
Pre-sale lottery began at 18:00 today and runs until 12pm on 4/30 with the results announced on 5/3. Tickets are 3,300yen, plus drinks token.
I don’t normally do ticket orders (and please, don’t ask me to do them in the future) but if anyone outside of Japan is interested in going, I may be able to apply to the pre-sale for you.
[fade pre-order ticket offer - tl:dr for those not interested]
The basic way the ticket sales will work is -
Pre-order > General sale > On the door
This pre-order is not the only way to get tickets, so don’t think that you have to enter it via me. You’ll be able to pick them up in general sales right up until the date of the shows, and if they don’t sell out (honestly, a sell out is unlikely) then you can buy them on the door before the show starts. However, the best tickets are in the pre-sale.
The tickets are 3,300yen, but if you go through me for the pre-sale, then they will be 3,700yen. This is to cover the fees charged by Ticket Pia and the combini. I won’t charge any commission for these. I’ll probably be at Shinjuku and Osaka and can hand over those tickets, but if anyone needs tickets posting then that will be a separate charge.
I need the money before I apply for the tickets - I’m not applying for tickets that won’t be bought. I’ll refund if the pre-sale is unsuccessful of course (unlikely), but if you can’t make the show then it’s your responsibility to sell the ticket and I won’t refund you. I should be able to purchase via the general sale too, whenever that starts.
Any questions on this then either comment or PM me. If there’s non-LJers looking at this offer, then email me at pyroyale[@]gmail[.]com (that’s not my PayPal address)
Deadline for the pre-order is April 29th for PAYMENT.
The venue was one of those wonderful little live houses that are so easily missed. From the street, all you can see of it is the entrance and the sign as the venue is underground. Japanese cities are full of these places and I love how easy it is to have walk passed them dozens of times without noticing their existence (like I had previously with SOUND MUSEUM VISION)
Upon entering we were all given a lottery ticket and the show was due to start at 18:30. The first band was Agitato and they were actually pretty good. The lead singer looks like he should be in a Korean boy band (that’s a compliment) and they were very pretty, which probably helps my assessment of them! They were a great support band - very happy and bouncy and even the single ballad in the set didn’t really interrupt the flow. They have a keyboard player instead of a second guitarist so they’re a little different from other bands of their type. The crowd responded well to the songs and to the members, chuckled in sympathy when the guitarist fluffed his lines while promoting the jelly shots and helpfully told him how much they were when he wasn’t sure. I’ll probably check them out again when I have time.
Uzumaki took the stage at around 19:30 and they most definitely should not be in a Korean boy band! They have a very heavy, industrial sound with two vocalists who mainly rap their way through the songs. The microphone set up for them was not good though so it was very difficult to actually hear anything when the rest of the band was playing at full speed. Again, the crowd reacted well and it was clear that they had some of their own fans there. They’re very good at their style of music, but their style is not my style so I didn’t particularly enjoy them although I could appreciate how skilled they are.
fade finally came on stage a little after 20:30. Weekend lives are usually finished by this time so it was obvious it was going to be a short set list and it was. Far too short, really. As soon as it started, it seemed to finish!
They made it count though, and despite the set being shorter than the Kings of Dawn lives last December, I think it was a better performance. Obviously due to the album recordings they’ve been spending more time together as a band again as YFCz’s activities have slowed and it showed. They were tighter and it seemed more effortless (the previous lives were far from bad, but not in the same league as last night). And wow, they were really enjoying themselves!
I was third row, just off centre and was surrounded by really, really short people. Really short. The lady in front of me was nearly a foot shorter and the one in front of her was maybe 4-5 inches shorter. I think I stood out again because not only was I the only white person there that I saw (well, other than Jon, obviously!) but I was easily one of the tallest. I realised halfway through Uzumaki’s set, that if fade arranged the stage the way they always do, then I was going to be right in front of Jon again. Yep, I was. It was an accident! I’m standing the other side next time on purpose…
Setlist
1. One Reason
2. Ever Free
3. From the Heart
4. REIMEI〜黎明
5. Cosmicalism コズミカリズム
6. In the end
7. Break Away
8. So Far Gone
9. Last Man Standing
10. Kings of Dawn
-encore-
11. Let it Go
12. Beautiful
Awesome setlist really. I couldn’t have picked a better one myself!
The new songs were the highlights. Everfree is still as catchy as it was last time I heard it, the verses have a funky rhythm to them that’s reflected in the punchy vocals and the chorus line is infuriatingly catchy and easy to pick up. It’s a perfect song to sing along to, with the “woah-oh-oh” backing vocals that were made for any crowd to immediately pick up. Nothing’s ever gonna be free…
REIMEI〜黎明 most people know already from the album sample fade uploaded and the Ustream broadcast. It’s suitably epic live and the mix of languages works really well. In the end begins with an awesome riff from Kansei (so awesome that Jon made note to point it out) and the guitar work is the highlight, I think. It’s a hard hitting upbeat song with bite, and will be a perfect album opener.
I’m pretty terrible at remembering song lyrics, usually I can only do it if the song is playing and I can sing along, but a little bit of In the end sticks out. Namely the part where Jon starts singing about bullshit and sings for someone to “shut the fuck up” while flipping the bird. There were a few “motherfuckers” dropped during his MCs too. JON! Wash your mouth out with soap, dirty boy!
As I said, the band seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely. Kansei was his usual odd mix of happy bounciness and serious business guitar solos. Godo is always really intense and you really get the sense that he just loves being immersed in music and the atmosphere (artist, right? XD). Rui was marshalling everything from the back and even did his own sound check just to make sure everything was right. Jon smiled, strutted and jumped his way through it all and interacted with Kansei and Nori as much as he could. And Nori, well, I think he had wings on his shoes. He was flying everywhere. There were raised platforms at the very end of the stage (I don’t think they were equipment but I may be wrong) and Nori was all over these on both sides whenever he didn’t need to sing backing vocals.
The crowd were very good, I though. A little on the small side, but definitely enthusiastic. They clapped, pumped their fists, bounced and did their best to sing along whenever it was required. Okay, most people are dripping in h.DARTS or have a certain spambot troll king as their phone wallpaper (like me, to be truthful!), but they’re supporting fade and have become fans of the band in their own right.
There was, of course, the customary Damage Liver section where Kansei chugged half a bottle of Jack Daniels. He’s moved onto AKB48’s Heavy Rotation as the intro song now, and it cuts off just as the first “I want you” line comes in. The crowd missed it, some of them wanted to sing along (WHY??) so after a slightly uncomfortable wait we got the song again. Thanks, fellow fans. I really needed to hear that twice.
Lottery prizes this time were a full bottle of Jack Daniels signed by the band and two T shirts also signed by them. Kansei pulled out the winning ticket for the JD (of course) and Jon picked the t shirts winners. Unfortunately for Jon, he was trying to be dramatic and keep everyone in suspense before reading the winning numbers and didn't realise that it was pretty easy to see through the paper and see the numbers for ourselves. The front rows really shouldn't have pointed that out to him.
Other than that, a plug for the new album and a couple of sentences of banter between songs it was pretty light on MCs. After the live had finished, Kansei started to talk about the new tour, but was swiftly smacked in the head by Rui. He recovered and carried on anyway.
And speaking of the next tour -
6/29 - Sendai HOOK
7/6 - Hiroshima CAVE-BE
7/8 - Osaka Shinsaibashi DROP
7/11 - Nagoya ell.SIZE
7/14 - Shinjuku BLAZE
Pre-sale lottery began at 18:00 today and runs until 12pm on 4/30 with the results announced on 5/3. Tickets are 3,300yen, plus drinks token.
I don’t normally do ticket orders (and please, don’t ask me to do them in the future) but if anyone outside of Japan is interested in going, I may be able to apply to the pre-sale for you.
[fade pre-order ticket offer - tl:dr for those not interested]
The basic way the ticket sales will work is -
Pre-order > General sale > On the door
This pre-order is not the only way to get tickets, so don’t think that you have to enter it via me. You’ll be able to pick them up in general sales right up until the date of the shows, and if they don’t sell out (honestly, a sell out is unlikely) then you can buy them on the door before the show starts. However, the best tickets are in the pre-sale.
The tickets are 3,300yen, but if you go through me for the pre-sale, then they will be 3,700yen. This is to cover the fees charged by Ticket Pia and the combini. I won’t charge any commission for these. I’ll probably be at Shinjuku and Osaka and can hand over those tickets, but if anyone needs tickets posting then that will be a separate charge.
I need the money before I apply for the tickets - I’m not applying for tickets that won’t be bought. I’ll refund if the pre-sale is unsuccessful of course (unlikely), but if you can’t make the show then it’s your responsibility to sell the ticket and I won’t refund you. I should be able to purchase via the general sale too, whenever that starts.
Any questions on this then either comment or PM me. If there’s non-LJers looking at this offer, then email me at pyroyale[@]gmail[.]com (that’s not my PayPal address)
Deadline for the pre-order is April 29th for PAYMENT.
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