WHATS MY NAME World Tour 2011 North America Leg - Portland Review
What’s My Name? 2011 North America Circuit
Hawthorne Theatre - Portland Oregon - 23/10/2011
So this was the first of two shows I am able to attend on this part of the tour. Coming so many months after the Japanese shows, it feels really strange to be ‘back on the road’ again. It’s the first show I’ve attended in North America since last June’s show at the Roseland Theatre, also in Portland.
We arrived at the venue at 10 am, and there were about 10 people in front of us. One was the girl who’d asked me for the extra ticket I had, so that one of her friends would be able to come, even though she had no money for the show. I was more than happy to help out, since both Amanda and I had our tickets already, and I figured that no one who could afford to go would need to buy scalped tickets. Spending all day in line is the usual for these shows; there’s no showers in the venue so demachi is pretty short and we don’t get a lot of time to hang out after anyway with shows ending at 10:30/11pm as everyone needs to head home on busses or has school in the morning. So even when I would rather be sleeping until later I will always jump in line as early as I can to meet people and get to know the local Comiyavi. Still, when the bus arrived around three pm, I dutifully headed back to greet Miyavi as he got off the bus, maintaining a respectful and safe distance. Miyavi, however was totally not interested in getting off the bus, so the crowd of twelve dwindled and dwindled until it was four, and then we started being silly and running circles around each other (literally) and laughing and cursing at Miyavi to get off the bus already. Two and a half hours later, he finally came out, and we waved to each other and he blew us a kiss. I think he must have been watching us act like goofballs in the parking lot, but what can you do? Regardless I think he saw me and recognized me then.
A whole bunch of the people I met last year were at the show. Amanda, Ken-chan, Viviana, Ellis, Mackii, I love you all. Everyone whose names I have forgotten because I’m terrible with those, I love you too. I also met Andrea-who I got to know via twitter after she commented on my Portland video review on youtube last year-and her husband. It was great to see everyone again, and I had a grand time hanging out with all of them.
Everyone warned me that the Hawthorne is a really hot venue; literally hot, as there is no air conditioning. However it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been to see Miyavi in a venue like that, and it most likely will not be the last. With no air-con there is little you can do for yourself aside from hoping that the artist you’re seeing is going to be generous enough with their water that they’ll keep you cool. Miyavi did get us soaked pretty good, but not until the first song of the encore was finished. It meant you had to be careful about your own temperature, but it was still a good time.
I ended up in front of the monitor and mic on the right side of the stage, again. I feel that I should have told the people who really wanted the chance to touch Miyavi that he really doesn’t come to the right side as much as the left side; information I gave last year but did not think to provide this year. Needless to say when the pushing started, as it always does, I did get shifted over a little bit, but I did my best to save the people next to me who had a stair in their way and nowhere to go if I got shoved over too far. So in the end I ended up moving about a foot to the right, and took most of the crush of the crowd on my left hip.
I did save space for Andrea to come up front with us. She was further back in line, but is also only five-two, and didn’t really get to see everything last year from the bar. This year I made sure she could see everything. I have no idea if Miyavi actually recognized me this year, because he didn’t show it during the show like last time. Maybe that’s part of why he blew us a kiss at irimachi though…Ah well, I’m just here to support him and be a part of this awesome fan-family, regardless of Miyavi knowing my face or not.
So when we finally got inside, there was an opening act. I have no idea who they were. For their short set we mostly couldn’t hear their vocals at all, but the music was pretty good. Then they cleared out and it was time for the main event.
Miyavi opened the show with What’s My Name, the obvious opener for his What’s My Name tour. We had noticed a written setlist, and I quickly noted it down in my iPhone, but in the end he deviated from it quite a lot by the end. After the opener, he played Universe for us, then Hell No and Ossan Ossan Ore Nanbo.
He gave us a quick little MC, and then jumped into Music Free, Boom Hah Boom Hah Hah and Shelter.
This is where it got interesting. According to the setlist, he was supposed to play Moon and then リクエスト(Request) which I took to be the name of a new song, but no-for the acoustic set Miyavi is indeed taking requests. The audience surprised him with their cries for songs-I heard people calling out Are you Ready to Rock, Shouri no V, Papa Mama, Jibun Kakumei, Itoshii Hito, Selfish Love, and half a dozen other things I can’t remember. I wasn’t surprised that he didn’t actually play Papa Mama, because as far as I know he hasn’t played it since Hamamatsu in 2010(which I was privileged to attend), and not for five years before that. He did play us a short version of Jibun Kakumei, which was awesome because I’ve never heard it live outside a DVD. He followed that with Girls Be Ambitious (YAY!), and then Itoshii Hito, before wrapping up the acoustic with Chillin Chillin Money Blues. It’s silly, but even after two and a half years, Girls Be Ambitious still makes me cry when I hear it, because it’s always going to remind me of the first time I ever heard it live in Texas, and the good friends and dreams and choices that were made that day.
After that it was back into the rocking setlist with Strong. Here he deviated again from his written set list (which I read backwards and half in Japanese) with Torture and then a new song called A-Head (yay for reading the set list). After that we rocked into Futuristic Love.
I was a little amused to find out the girls behind me were talking about how tired they were when Miyavi kept demanding that we jump and dance through all nine hundred minutes (not literally) of Futuristic Love. True, it is really tiring to get to the end of the main set and be faced with this high energy song full of lots of “JUMP” from Miyavi, but no matter how tired I might have been (and I was pretty exhausted), my only thought when it started was “Oh you want me to Jump? I’ll jump. I can do this ALL NIGHT!!!” I can’t actually jump all night, but I’m a lot better at it now than I was before Miyavi started demanding we jump for pretty much ten minutes straight. He went off stage after that, and we waited for him to come back while chanting his name.
When he came back on stage, to my complete lack of surprise he launched right into the Futuristic Love Reprise. Yay, More Jumping!!! I feel I’m getting very good at this. Nevermind how tired I am, or how little sleep I got the night before, or how anything really. When I am at a show, none of that matters. All that matters is giving as much energy back to Miyavi as I possibly can. It’s been a pretty long weekend with not a lot of sleep for me-between traveling, working, insomnia, and just the general awesome that is seeing people I don’t actually get to see at all, I’m pretty tired most all the time. Before the show, I was totally not interested in being a part of a crowd, or loud music, or jumping or waving my arms, or even just being anywhere near a crowd of several hundred people. I was about ready to fall asleep on the steps of the venue and god forbid anyone try to wake me up. And yet I didn’t, and the moment Miyavi came on stage all the tired fell away and I was alive again.
During one of his MCs, Miyavi did actually ask the fans to not take photos. He says “Look, guys I really really really hate being taken photographs of.” Everyone got really quiet while he talked about that. I haven’t personally ever seen so many cameras out at an MYV show, although I might be biased since I usually see him in Japan, and we don’t believe in photographing him. When one fan shouted out “they’re memories!” he responded with a comment about how we need to remember to take memories with our own eyes, as well. He did say he doesn’t mind photographs this tour-but he added a humorous anecdote about the fans’ behaviour at the Netherlands show; every time he paused for the fans to make some noise for him, they were just standing there silent with their cameras up. Words cannot do the story justice because as with many things Miyavi tells us, his facial expression and acting out of the story are part of what make it funny. I do feel that the fact he felt he had to mention it at all means he wasn’t happy with how MUCH of it was happening, even if he is not so anti-cameras in the USA as he used to be. I did consider snapping a shot after that, but decided that it would feel wrong to me, since I was trained in the “Japanese KoMiyavi Dojo”, as we jokingly refer to it. A lot of people did put away their cameras after that, or at least stealthed them a little more.
I really do feel that so many people miss out on the awesome that is Miyavi because they’re too busy trying to take a good photo or video of the show for ‘memories’. Maybe it’s because of where I go to most of the shows I’ve seen, or maybe it’s just the way I experience shows, because I think that’s a little different for everyone. I’m not sure what it is, but the idea of having my camera out is just strange. Maybe it really is just that I’m used to having my hands busy with furi(hand gestures). But I know part of it is because I actually feel that Miyavi would be disappointed in me if I had my camera out. So I won’t. Even if he says it’s okay, and that he doesn’t mind.
He also talked about Jewelie coming on stage with him in LA, and I thought it was really cute when someone yelled out “We want to see her!” and he looked at them and responded “SO DO I!!!!” He’s such a proud daddy, it makes me really happy for him.
IN the middle of the Joy of a Miyavi show, there is one thing that disappointed me and I am going to be a bit of a troll and address it.
All in all the show was a little more pushy than the last time I saw him in Portland. It wasn’t horrible, but there were definitely some people that needed a little lesson in etiquette. I’m always a little amazed by people who aren’t willing to put in the queuing time and think they still have somehow magically ‘earned’ the right to be up front by just showing up a couple hours before doors and will push their way to the front row regardless of how packed the venue is. I see it once in a very rare while in Japan, and have seen it a lot more commonly over on this side of the pond. I feel the Comiyavi are my family-I don’t push, I don’t shove, and I don’t put touching Miyavi above the welfare and comfort of my family. Not ever. So yes, I will plant myself to avoid hurting the people on the other side of me. Yes, I will stand in a way that you will NEVER pass because you will NOT hurt my family by being selfish. Your elbows do NOT hurt enough to get me out of the way. Stop trying. Watch the show, have a good time, and treat us with respect. At the end of the show you may find you come out with a dozen new friends that will be there whenever you call because you’re Comiyavi, rather than people who think you’re just a selfish, arrogant bitch.
To the girl on my left, I’m sorry I planted myself so hard against you. I know it wasn’t your fault, and I really don’t blame you. I was just trying to save the short girl on my right from being cut in half against the stair. I love you for apologizing and I totally understand. So glad you had a good time, even though the crowd got a little stupid.
To the Comiyavi who know what I’m talking about when I say Family. Otsukare. Good work. I love you.
To the Miyavi fans who are just learning what Comiyavi means. Otsukare. Good work. I love you.
雅へ、お疲れ様。本当にありがとうございます。愛してるぜ～！！！！
To the people who are just finding out about Miyavi - welcome to the family. I hope you’ll join us, we love you.
Hawthorne Theatre - Portland Oregon - 23/10/2011
So this was the first of two shows I am able to attend on this part of the tour. Coming so many months after the Japanese shows, it feels really strange to be ‘back on the road’ again. It’s the first show I’ve attended in North America since last June’s show at the Roseland Theatre, also in Portland.
We arrived at the venue at 10 am, and there were about 10 people in front of us. One was the girl who’d asked me for the extra ticket I had, so that one of her friends would be able to come, even though she had no money for the show. I was more than happy to help out, since both Amanda and I had our tickets already, and I figured that no one who could afford to go would need to buy scalped tickets. Spending all day in line is the usual for these shows; there’s no showers in the venue so demachi is pretty short and we don’t get a lot of time to hang out after anyway with shows ending at 10:30/11pm as everyone needs to head home on busses or has school in the morning. So even when I would rather be sleeping until later I will always jump in line as early as I can to meet people and get to know the local Comiyavi. Still, when the bus arrived around three pm, I dutifully headed back to greet Miyavi as he got off the bus, maintaining a respectful and safe distance. Miyavi, however was totally not interested in getting off the bus, so the crowd of twelve dwindled and dwindled until it was four, and then we started being silly and running circles around each other (literally) and laughing and cursing at Miyavi to get off the bus already. Two and a half hours later, he finally came out, and we waved to each other and he blew us a kiss. I think he must have been watching us act like goofballs in the parking lot, but what can you do? Regardless I think he saw me and recognized me then.
A whole bunch of the people I met last year were at the show. Amanda, Ken-chan, Viviana, Ellis, Mackii, I love you all. Everyone whose names I have forgotten because I’m terrible with those, I love you too. I also met Andrea-who I got to know via twitter after she commented on my Portland video review on youtube last year-and her husband. It was great to see everyone again, and I had a grand time hanging out with all of them.
Everyone warned me that the Hawthorne is a really hot venue; literally hot, as there is no air conditioning. However it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been to see Miyavi in a venue like that, and it most likely will not be the last. With no air-con there is little you can do for yourself aside from hoping that the artist you’re seeing is going to be generous enough with their water that they’ll keep you cool. Miyavi did get us soaked pretty good, but not until the first song of the encore was finished. It meant you had to be careful about your own temperature, but it was still a good time.
I ended up in front of the monitor and mic on the right side of the stage, again. I feel that I should have told the people who really wanted the chance to touch Miyavi that he really doesn’t come to the right side as much as the left side; information I gave last year but did not think to provide this year. Needless to say when the pushing started, as it always does, I did get shifted over a little bit, but I did my best to save the people next to me who had a stair in their way and nowhere to go if I got shoved over too far. So in the end I ended up moving about a foot to the right, and took most of the crush of the crowd on my left hip.
I did save space for Andrea to come up front with us. She was further back in line, but is also only five-two, and didn’t really get to see everything last year from the bar. This year I made sure she could see everything. I have no idea if Miyavi actually recognized me this year, because he didn’t show it during the show like last time. Maybe that’s part of why he blew us a kiss at irimachi though…Ah well, I’m just here to support him and be a part of this awesome fan-family, regardless of Miyavi knowing my face or not.
So when we finally got inside, there was an opening act. I have no idea who they were. For their short set we mostly couldn’t hear their vocals at all, but the music was pretty good. Then they cleared out and it was time for the main event.
Miyavi opened the show with What’s My Name, the obvious opener for his What’s My Name tour. We had noticed a written setlist, and I quickly noted it down in my iPhone, but in the end he deviated from it quite a lot by the end. After the opener, he played Universe for us, then Hell No and Ossan Ossan Ore Nanbo.
He gave us a quick little MC, and then jumped into Music Free, Boom Hah Boom Hah Hah and Shelter.
This is where it got interesting. According to the setlist, he was supposed to play Moon and then リクエスト(Request) which I took to be the name of a new song, but no-for the acoustic set Miyavi is indeed taking requests. The audience surprised him with their cries for songs-I heard people calling out Are you Ready to Rock, Shouri no V, Papa Mama, Jibun Kakumei, Itoshii Hito, Selfish Love, and half a dozen other things I can’t remember. I wasn’t surprised that he didn’t actually play Papa Mama, because as far as I know he hasn’t played it since Hamamatsu in 2010(which I was privileged to attend), and not for five years before that. He did play us a short version of Jibun Kakumei, which was awesome because I’ve never heard it live outside a DVD. He followed that with Girls Be Ambitious (YAY!), and then Itoshii Hito, before wrapping up the acoustic with Chillin Chillin Money Blues. It’s silly, but even after two and a half years, Girls Be Ambitious still makes me cry when I hear it, because it’s always going to remind me of the first time I ever heard it live in Texas, and the good friends and dreams and choices that were made that day.
After that it was back into the rocking setlist with Strong. Here he deviated again from his written set list (which I read backwards and half in Japanese) with Torture and then a new song called A-Head (yay for reading the set list). After that we rocked into Futuristic Love.
I was a little amused to find out the girls behind me were talking about how tired they were when Miyavi kept demanding that we jump and dance through all nine hundred minutes (not literally) of Futuristic Love. True, it is really tiring to get to the end of the main set and be faced with this high energy song full of lots of “JUMP” from Miyavi, but no matter how tired I might have been (and I was pretty exhausted), my only thought when it started was “Oh you want me to Jump? I’ll jump. I can do this ALL NIGHT!!!” I can’t actually jump all night, but I’m a lot better at it now than I was before Miyavi started demanding we jump for pretty much ten minutes straight. He went off stage after that, and we waited for him to come back while chanting his name.
When he came back on stage, to my complete lack of surprise he launched right into the Futuristic Love Reprise. Yay, More Jumping!!! I feel I’m getting very good at this. Nevermind how tired I am, or how little sleep I got the night before, or how anything really. When I am at a show, none of that matters. All that matters is giving as much energy back to Miyavi as I possibly can. It’s been a pretty long weekend with not a lot of sleep for me-between traveling, working, insomnia, and just the general awesome that is seeing people I don’t actually get to see at all, I’m pretty tired most all the time. Before the show, I was totally not interested in being a part of a crowd, or loud music, or jumping or waving my arms, or even just being anywhere near a crowd of several hundred people. I was about ready to fall asleep on the steps of the venue and god forbid anyone try to wake me up. And yet I didn’t, and the moment Miyavi came on stage all the tired fell away and I was alive again.
During one of his MCs, Miyavi did actually ask the fans to not take photos. He says “Look, guys I really really really hate being taken photographs of.” Everyone got really quiet while he talked about that. I haven’t personally ever seen so many cameras out at an MYV show, although I might be biased since I usually see him in Japan, and we don’t believe in photographing him. When one fan shouted out “they’re memories!” he responded with a comment about how we need to remember to take memories with our own eyes, as well. He did say he doesn’t mind photographs this tour-but he added a humorous anecdote about the fans’ behaviour at the Netherlands show; every time he paused for the fans to make some noise for him, they were just standing there silent with their cameras up. Words cannot do the story justice because as with many things Miyavi tells us, his facial expression and acting out of the story are part of what make it funny. I do feel that the fact he felt he had to mention it at all means he wasn’t happy with how MUCH of it was happening, even if he is not so anti-cameras in the USA as he used to be. I did consider snapping a shot after that, but decided that it would feel wrong to me, since I was trained in the “Japanese KoMiyavi Dojo”, as we jokingly refer to it. A lot of people did put away their cameras after that, or at least stealthed them a little more.
I really do feel that so many people miss out on the awesome that is Miyavi because they’re too busy trying to take a good photo or video of the show for ‘memories’. Maybe it’s because of where I go to most of the shows I’ve seen, or maybe it’s just the way I experience shows, because I think that’s a little different for everyone. I’m not sure what it is, but the idea of having my camera out is just strange. Maybe it really is just that I’m used to having my hands busy with furi(hand gestures). But I know part of it is because I actually feel that Miyavi would be disappointed in me if I had my camera out. So I won’t. Even if he says it’s okay, and that he doesn’t mind.
He also talked about Jewelie coming on stage with him in LA, and I thought it was really cute when someone yelled out “We want to see her!” and he looked at them and responded “SO DO I!!!!” He’s such a proud daddy, it makes me really happy for him.
IN the middle of the Joy of a Miyavi show, there is one thing that disappointed me and I am going to be a bit of a troll and address it.
All in all the show was a little more pushy than the last time I saw him in Portland. It wasn’t horrible, but there were definitely some people that needed a little lesson in etiquette. I’m always a little amazed by people who aren’t willing to put in the queuing time and think they still have somehow magically ‘earned’ the right to be up front by just showing up a couple hours before doors and will push their way to the front row regardless of how packed the venue is. I see it once in a very rare while in Japan, and have seen it a lot more commonly over on this side of the pond. I feel the Comiyavi are my family-I don’t push, I don’t shove, and I don’t put touching Miyavi above the welfare and comfort of my family. Not ever. So yes, I will plant myself to avoid hurting the people on the other side of me. Yes, I will stand in a way that you will NEVER pass because you will NOT hurt my family by being selfish. Your elbows do NOT hurt enough to get me out of the way. Stop trying. Watch the show, have a good time, and treat us with respect. At the end of the show you may find you come out with a dozen new friends that will be there whenever you call because you’re Comiyavi, rather than people who think you’re just a selfish, arrogant bitch.
To the girl on my left, I’m sorry I planted myself so hard against you. I know it wasn’t your fault, and I really don’t blame you. I was just trying to save the short girl on my right from being cut in half against the stair. I love you for apologizing and I totally understand. So glad you had a good time, even though the crowd got a little stupid.
To the Comiyavi who know what I’m talking about when I say Family. Otsukare. Good work. I love you.
To the Miyavi fans who are just learning what Comiyavi means. Otsukare. Good work. I love you.
雅へ、お疲れ様。本当にありがとうございます。愛してるぜ～！！！！
To the people who are just finding out about Miyavi - welcome to the family. I hope you’ll join us, we love you.