[LIVE REPORT] Red Bull Live on the Road, Osaka (20 May 2013) PART 1
Because someone couldn’t wake up properly to get to school at 7am and overslept…. Oops. (I kinda just went back to sleep, woke up later at 11:30ish and started writing this.[21 May morning])
My pre-live preparations were nothing special. I had to go to school first so I tried to keep things…simple? My get up for the day:
(sorry rui, none for you. oops)
The worst part was that I was skipping last period to make sure I got to the venue on time but during lunch, my asshole of a friend spotted the teacher for last period and drew attention to me (“SINGAPORE! SINGAPORE!!”) so much so that said teacher walked over and called me “Ms Singapura”…. And then I had to meet him AGAIN at the school library. Urgh!! He doesn’t take attendance but the problem is I’m really recognizable and he always looks at me when he mentions SG in class so….my absence is very obvious. Blaaargh.
Anyway, if you follow me on twitter or any form of SNS (Social Networking Site) you know I’ll have vomited lots of praise for the Red Bull Live on the Road event in Osaka and have termed it BEST. NIGHT. EVER. It was legend- wait for it - fucking dary.
I only just recently found out the area where the livehouses are in Shinsaibashi is AmeMura (American Village, lol) and I know my way there pretty well now even though I’ve only been there 3 times?
Take the train to Shinsaibashi station on the Midosuji Subway line and walk to exit 7/8.
Take the exit at OPA (not the Hotel Nikko one) and turn right and walk straight.
You should pass the gigantic PUMA store and see BEAMS on the opposite side.
Keep walking till you get to the Apple Store.
Turn right just after it and walk straight. You should pass a McDonalds, some shops and a big mall called BIG STEP (Osaka BIG CAT livehouse is there) .
Walk till you see the “park” in the middle of the area next to the KOBAN (Police Post).
Cross the road and walk through the park to the other side and Club DROP will be right in front of you. Next to DROP is FANJ twice.
The entrance to drop is down two flights of stairs and they’re covered in graffiti. Outside DROP are posters of bands, some signed, and upcoming events. When I arrived my friend told me I’d just missed the entire band…and kansei going to buy beer. Damn it. The other time at Shibuya CYCLONE Kat and I just missed Kansei and Godo going to the conbini too. Rawwwwwr!
We queued based on our numbers but pretty much only fade fans were there. Even though I had ticket number 25 I was the 7th or 8th person to enter so I got a nice spot in the front. Slung my towel over the barricade to reserve the spot. Used the TEN tour one this time, but most of the other fade fans used the Kings of Dawn towel (which I really want but it’s sold out; correction: I really want the KoD goods.)
The WHOLE ENTIRE NIGHT was just fun fun fun fun fun fun fun right from the get go and with tickets at only 1000yen a pop that was fucking cheap. And also super worth it. All the bands that performed were good, and the event itself is a great way for them to get exposure.
Basically the RBLOTR setup is that they have a band skirmish, and the top 3 bands will get to perform at Summer Sonic. Then the final stage winner will get a chance to record overseas at one of the Red Bull Studios I think? It all starts from online voting then the qualifier stage lives. The audience will then vote for the band they like most, and the top 5 bands will move on to the next stage. Then from 5 to 3, then 3 to 1. If I remember correctly.
Anyway, the MC (sorry I forgot your name) was really nice and he had an afro and was always carrying a can of Red Bull in his hand. The event started very promptly at 6:30, and he came out to greet the crowd. He said the Osaka crowd was really awesome. There was some shouting thing he did, like a reaction call thing with the audience. I don’t actually remember the exact words but I know the last one is where we shout “DAIJYOUBU!!” He said the Osaka crowd, even though we were less in number than Tokyo, was more responsive, ahaha. “Sasuga Osaka” he said.
Then the first band of the night came out!!
CRACK BANQUET
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They were last year’s winners of the RBLOTR event and on 5 June, their new mini album will be released! They were a PERFECT opening act and got everyone fired up even though we weren’t their fans. The first row was practically all fade fans but the band was so good that we all got hyper and played along with them. They’re a 5 piece band and honestly they all look very different. AND they have a lady on saxophone!!! She was such a cutie pie and also really nice. When the band first came out she went up to the front row and high fived us!
Their music is very energetic and they get very hyper on stage so you can’t help but dance along. They did a lot of interaction with the crowd and we were all happy to respond. During their MC they were telling us about how Red Bull has now been released in PET Bottle form, and that their face is on the label!! The guitarist said it was kinda weird to go to the conbini and see his own face on a bottle. Then the vocalist was saying that the front row was all young women and he was getting a bit hot and bothered cause of the view, and then tugged at his necktie. It was pretty amusing. He then launched into getting the crowd to shout with him, starting with “OH YEAH!!” then “OPPAI!!” (boobs) and when the crowd was giggling he was like “The one who is most embarrassed is me!!!!” and we all laughed and cheered even louder. The guitarist also got into it later, I think telling us to shout “OSSU” with him and we did it like 4 times, each time getting louder and louder and it was just great!!! Oh and I got to high five the vocalist!
They’re really cool so check them out if you can :)
HACHIMAKI (ハチマキ)
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The next band, from Sendai, was the first of the qualifying bands to perform that night, and booooy do they have dedicated fans. The fans were there from really early and were giving out glow sticks to everyone who came cause they thought it would look pretty. They had a LOT of glowsticks, so everyone in the venue got 4 no matter what band you had come to watch. They were also reaaaaally passionate about the band and had made two banners. The vocalist came out and took a picture of the fans with the banners. He’s very good looking, btw. The MC came out before their set and joked that even though their vocalist is really good looking and cool, he’s not too smart or something ahahhaa.
And since it’s only nice to let the fans of other bands go to the front, I moved aside and let the Hachimaki fan behind me take my spot. She was really really happy cause it was a spot in front of the guitarist and she said he’s awesome (ヤバイ, to quote her). My fade towel kept slipping off so I took the hair tie and secured it at the bottom to make sure it wouldn’t fall over.
I think they’re okay, could do better with audience interaction, but their last song “Get Away” (I think) was really good! The crowd had some kids as well and their fans are all really hyper and fun. It was also really cute that the lady I’d given my space to was so happy she thanked me again when I went back to it, and then before she left she came to thank me again!! Awww.
Upset Heroes!
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For a band only formed this year, 2013, they are good!! There weren’t any of their fans there I think, so the front row was very lonely. The vocalist mentioned in his MC that most of us were probably watching them for the first time, and I think he’s right. They could’ve done more to work the audience (it’s kinda hard to when no one’s really responding) but for such a new band they did a very good job. Their PV which had been screening at the wall on the side, reminded me of the fade So Far Gone PV cause the set up was kind of similar (sans the lyrics wall). Their guitarist is very cute, and the drummer had nice hair lol. The bassist really got into rocking out and I think after they get more experience and exposure they could get a lot better! Still impressed, though!
I followed the band on twitter, and when the guitarist (first guy on the right) followed me back, I thanked him for the great show that day! He replied back "Oh, you came to watch us? Thank you!" and I replied I'd stood in front of him ahaha and he his reply was really cute "Ahh, you stood in front of me? I'm glad!! You raised your hand for us and stuff, thank you!!"
HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT
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The first guest band of the night!! They’re…intense. And different. Honestly not my type of music but they put on a good show. I noticed during the set up that there was a fan there, which was very interesting. To put it simply, their female vocalist is the main focal point of the band. If I had to describe them I’d say they’re a combination of BLAST/Trapnest from the NANA Anime/Manga, except their a lot more intense and their music isn’t as mellow. Their guitarist remind me of TAKUMI from Trapnest, their drummer Yasu from BLAST and the bassist was kinda like Nobu from BLAST except Nobu plays guitar (he kind of looks like Miyagawa-san, actually. During the setting up for fade’s set he was in the dressing room and when I saw him I’d think it was Miyagawa-san, oops).
The vocalist’s voice reminded me of Olivia Lufkin’s, and dayum, can she scream (or kind of like an amalgamation of Nana and Reira’s vocals maybe?). She hits those notes and bellows them and wow. I’m not sure what it’s called but she used a microphone synthesizer to get that ethereal feel. Their songs like to throw you off, like echo-y and haunting then POW! she dives into a long guttural cry and just, wow. They have some parts that are very fun to just throw your hair in every direction and I decided, heck, let’s do it, it’s fun, and I think she looked at me and smiled? I was kinda of very shocked and assumed it was to the person behind me…
Remember the fan I mentioned? Well, her outfit was billowy and had this poofy white skirt with a cape thingy that she swished around and twirled around in. The fan would blow her hair around her and it all added on to the billowy, ethereal feeling. Definitely a cool band to experience.
fade
They were the last band of the night so we were all really stoked and waiting for them with baited breath. Setup took a while, but it was still really fast, and the DJ would play music to keep us all hyped up while waiting. There was MCR this time and I relived all the feels I had listening to them in Secondary School. Ricky and Yukiya(??) came out first to set up their equipment, then followed by Miyagawa-san. The lighting made their shirts look brown so I got very confused. Miyagawa-san was wearing the FC shirt with the Kings of Dawn parka over, and Ricky was wearing the OZZFEST T-shirt with the Sky’s the Limit Parka over. We could peek into the dressing room so once in a while we’d get a glimpse of the guys. I spotted kansei peeking out to look at the crowd (he did it more than once, lol) and then a while later Jon did too so I found out he was wearing that exact same blazer again. Either he REALLY likes it or the guys have a “uniform” for when they’re on stage now.
Ricky mainly set up kansei’s GIGANTIC effector board (seriously it’s HUGE, he had a difficult time lugging it out too; remember this video?) and I think the guys didn’t want to come out to test the equipment because we could see kansei testing out his guitar IN THE DRESSING ROOM. It wasn’t working so he had to come out and fix things so we waved hello to him. Rui and Godo also came out to test their equipment and Godo set down the violin bow as well. At first when I saw the guitar set up on my side I realized kansei would be standing more to the right because of space issues and his EFFECTOR BOARD TAKING UP NEARLY ALL THE SPACE. But then he got Miyagawa-san to shift things around and…well. We’ll get to that soon.
Anyway, the MC came out to introduce the band, and we all screamed because we’d been waiting for them. The usual music rui composed accompanied them out but it took a bit longer than usual but they got out eventually…though without Jon. The guys just went straight into the intro for Born Ready and Jon bounded out soon enough.
Godo: Fedora and shades, no choker, arms painted (red and blue streaks), black tank top, and black (cargo?) pants. He had something tied around his waist.
Nori: Leather jacket? All in black as usual, and oh booooy he is ROCKING his new hairstyle. It looks REALLY REALLY REALLY good on him. To quote a Japanese fan “he was so hot I thought I was going to die”. I wonder if nori wore eyeshadow. It looked like he did but I can’t be sure.
Rui: His usual pick necklace that he always wears and I think the TEN photoshoot outfit.
Jon: The usual black blazer with studs on the lapel, a white/grey v-neck shirt with grey star print and jeans.
Kansei: black button up top with first button left undone, dark ¾ jeans, black leggings underneath and boots. He had eyeliner drawn on (quite precisely too, and not the pencil kind this time, liquid eyeliner!!), a thin-ish but dark line on his upper eyelid. Yum.
Setlist:
Born Ready
One Reason
From The Inside Out
Break Away
Close To You (Jpn)
Beautiful (Encore)
I was right in front of kansei. Literally right in front of him, so for most of the live he’d be about an arm’s width or less in front of me. Remember I said he got Miyagawa-san to move the stuff around so he’d have space to stand and all, well he ended up standing RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. I think I wanted to die from happiness. Best seat in the house for a kansei fan. First time ever being this close and perfectly in front of him so…. (the Japanese term for this is 真ん前, manmae)
The start was explosive as always and most reports have mentioned this but kansei is really getting into working the crowd more now. He goes up to the front and follows Jon’s cues to get the crowd raising their hands in the air or he leans over and asks people to sing louder or just gestures “C’MON YOU CAN DO BETTER” then does his thing on stage. I think Jon had some technical difficulties with his mic or something cause he went over to staff after the first or second song (I think first) and stripped off his blazer at the same time (yay!). I can’t say much about the Nori/Godo side cause my eyes were stuck on kansei and Jon for most of the night.
There was definitely some kansei x Jon bromance on stage, not as much as usual, though during Close To You, Jon went over to kansei and looked at him fondly, then reached over and pat his head. Kansei found that very amusing and kept grinning for a while. Kansei did go back to rui’s side and jam with him for a while, and switched places with Nori once. Godo as per usual, stuck to his side of the stage though he did go up to the middle at some points of the night, and I think there was one part where he would look at Jon somewhat quizzically.
During the break in between their songs I shouted “Hentai Eskimo” (haven’t done that in a while) and shouted for kansei too. Most of the screaming that night was for Jon, some for rui and nori I think. I sadly think no one shouted for Godo. I tried to shout “EGGY” for Jon but got cut off by Jon taking the mic and starting the next song.
The MCs were really fun. Kansei took over and was a lot more confident speaking. I remember at the Sky’s the Limit tour fans were still shouting “ganbare!!” to him and he would pause irregularly during his MC. This time he was a lot more fluent. (Maybe it was cause he was hopped up on Red Bull and beer already) So he talked about the bands and performing at Summer Sonic (he was probably drunk already that’s why he didn’t make a proper distinction) so someone asked “Are you guys playing there?” and then he had to clarify that they weren’t playing, the bands who got to the next stage would. Lol. And I think when rui shifted in his seat during the MC (maybe?) a fan shouted “rui!” (no reaction) then “rui-sama!” (still no reaction) then “ruirui!” before he responded with a “urusai!” or like, “shut up!” lol. Then kansei got really amused and called rui “ruirui” as well and I think rui kinda shot him daggers with his eyes like “DON’T ENCOURAGE THEM TO CALL ME RUIRUI”. Remember this cause it’ll come back later on.
Some part in the MC kansei mentions that right there in Shinsaibashi Club DROP, on 6 June, they’ll be having a celebratory live for Jon’s birthday. I think we all went crazy. (Psst, details aren’t out yet, and even the guys themselves didn’t know it was happening till they were told. It’s a very recent development. They’re playing in Nagoya for SAKAE SPRINGS on Jon’s birthday though. )
Kansei and Jon also talked about the Red Bull event where it was free flow Red Bull so they’d been drinking a lot. Kansei was really happy about it (being the Energy Drink enthusiast he is) and Jon was like “This guy, how many have you drank already today??” and kansei was like “7” (Or did Jon say kansei had drank 7 cans of Red Bull already today?) and the crowd was all “woaaaaah” then Jon tried to do this MC thing where he said “Drinking too much Red Bull will make you Crash later on” but I think most of the Japanese crowd didn’t really get it cause they weren’t responding and kansei obviously didn’t give a rats ass about what Jon was saying and ignored him to grin ecstatically because RED BULL IS AWESOME!!111!!1!!1!1!!
And then he jumps into his Snake Pit section though Jon doesn’t announce it or anything. Basically kansei grabs the Gin (Bombay Sapphire) bottle and a can of red bull (he’d knocked down two other cans grabbing that one earlier and didn’t realize it. A staff came over to pick them up) and then goes to the center and starts mixing them. The Gin is 47% alcohol and was about ¼ full. A fan helps to hold the bottle up as he pours then gets the red bull can cause kansei doesn’t take it back. I’m not sure what happened to it but I think it went to someone else. Then he chugs it and we cheer him on, Jon looking on too and he gets it all over his shirt as well but damn, that guy can drink. He passes the bottle back to staff and then goes back to his side of the stage and I think Jon launches them into the next song.
When kansei is back in front of me I can smell it on him, but he smelt mainly of Red Bull (probably cause Red Bull smell is really strong, compared to the Gin)
As usual Jon asked everyone to sing along for Beautiful, and kansei got the crowd to sing louder. I think it was during this song that Jon looked at me right it the eyes and sang for a while (or was it Close To You?). His eyes are so pretty.
At some point, Godo’s hat flew off and landed in front of the amp. It stayed there for the rest of the night till after Beautiful when he went to get it and put it back on.
I think most Japanese fans mentioned it about Saturday’s live but fade’s set had a very “rock” feel to it and I agree. Break Away was a very nice addition, I think it was my first time hearing it live. Also, I loved One Reason live. I expected Cosmicalism for the closing encore song but instead they played Close To You (Jpn) Beautiful. During the chorus of Close To You the guys are jumping on stage and get everyone to jump along to. Some Japanese fans were making hearts and doing some of the actions I think.
Random but I like how Jon shouts “OSAKA!!!”
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(& because I wrote way too much I have to split this into two parts. So after the show is PART 2)
P.S. all band photos in this post are from the RBLOTR FB Album
My pre-live preparations were nothing special. I had to go to school first so I tried to keep things…simple? My get up for the day:
(sorry rui, none for you. oops)
The worst part was that I was skipping last period to make sure I got to the venue on time but during lunch, my asshole of a friend spotted the teacher for last period and drew attention to me (“SINGAPORE! SINGAPORE!!”) so much so that said teacher walked over and called me “Ms Singapura”…. And then I had to meet him AGAIN at the school library. Urgh!! He doesn’t take attendance but the problem is I’m really recognizable and he always looks at me when he mentions SG in class so….my absence is very obvious. Blaaargh.
Anyway, if you follow me on twitter or any form of SNS (Social Networking Site) you know I’ll have vomited lots of praise for the Red Bull Live on the Road event in Osaka and have termed it BEST. NIGHT. EVER. It was legend- wait for it - fucking dary.
I only just recently found out the area where the livehouses are in Shinsaibashi is AmeMura (American Village, lol) and I know my way there pretty well now even though I’ve only been there 3 times?
Take the train to Shinsaibashi station on the Midosuji Subway line and walk to exit 7/8.
Take the exit at OPA (not the Hotel Nikko one) and turn right and walk straight.
You should pass the gigantic PUMA store and see BEAMS on the opposite side.
Keep walking till you get to the Apple Store.
Turn right just after it and walk straight. You should pass a McDonalds, some shops and a big mall called BIG STEP (Osaka BIG CAT livehouse is there) .
Walk till you see the “park” in the middle of the area next to the KOBAN (Police Post).
Cross the road and walk through the park to the other side and Club DROP will be right in front of you. Next to DROP is FANJ twice.
The entrance to drop is down two flights of stairs and they’re covered in graffiti. Outside DROP are posters of bands, some signed, and upcoming events. When I arrived my friend told me I’d just missed the entire band…and kansei going to buy beer. Damn it. The other time at Shibuya CYCLONE Kat and I just missed Kansei and Godo going to the conbini too. Rawwwwwr!
We queued based on our numbers but pretty much only fade fans were there. Even though I had ticket number 25 I was the 7th or 8th person to enter so I got a nice spot in the front. Slung my towel over the barricade to reserve the spot. Used the TEN tour one this time, but most of the other fade fans used the Kings of Dawn towel (which I really want but it’s sold out; correction: I really want the KoD goods.)
The WHOLE ENTIRE NIGHT was just fun fun fun fun fun fun fun right from the get go and with tickets at only 1000yen a pop that was fucking cheap. And also super worth it. All the bands that performed were good, and the event itself is a great way for them to get exposure.
Basically the RBLOTR setup is that they have a band skirmish, and the top 3 bands will get to perform at Summer Sonic. Then the final stage winner will get a chance to record overseas at one of the Red Bull Studios I think? It all starts from online voting then the qualifier stage lives. The audience will then vote for the band they like most, and the top 5 bands will move on to the next stage. Then from 5 to 3, then 3 to 1. If I remember correctly.
Anyway, the MC (sorry I forgot your name) was really nice and he had an afro and was always carrying a can of Red Bull in his hand. The event started very promptly at 6:30, and he came out to greet the crowd. He said the Osaka crowd was really awesome. There was some shouting thing he did, like a reaction call thing with the audience. I don’t actually remember the exact words but I know the last one is where we shout “DAIJYOUBU!!” He said the Osaka crowd, even though we were less in number than Tokyo, was more responsive, ahaha. “Sasuga Osaka” he said.
Then the first band of the night came out!!
CRACK BANQUET
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They were last year’s winners of the RBLOTR event and on 5 June, their new mini album will be released! They were a PERFECT opening act and got everyone fired up even though we weren’t their fans. The first row was practically all fade fans but the band was so good that we all got hyper and played along with them. They’re a 5 piece band and honestly they all look very different. AND they have a lady on saxophone!!! She was such a cutie pie and also really nice. When the band first came out she went up to the front row and high fived us!
Their music is very energetic and they get very hyper on stage so you can’t help but dance along. They did a lot of interaction with the crowd and we were all happy to respond. During their MC they were telling us about how Red Bull has now been released in PET Bottle form, and that their face is on the label!! The guitarist said it was kinda weird to go to the conbini and see his own face on a bottle. Then the vocalist was saying that the front row was all young women and he was getting a bit hot and bothered cause of the view, and then tugged at his necktie. It was pretty amusing. He then launched into getting the crowd to shout with him, starting with “OH YEAH!!” then “OPPAI!!” (boobs) and when the crowd was giggling he was like “The one who is most embarrassed is me!!!!” and we all laughed and cheered even louder. The guitarist also got into it later, I think telling us to shout “OSSU” with him and we did it like 4 times, each time getting louder and louder and it was just great!!! Oh and I got to high five the vocalist!
They’re really cool so check them out if you can :)
HACHIMAKI (ハチマキ)
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The next band, from Sendai, was the first of the qualifying bands to perform that night, and booooy do they have dedicated fans. The fans were there from really early and were giving out glow sticks to everyone who came cause they thought it would look pretty. They had a LOT of glowsticks, so everyone in the venue got 4 no matter what band you had come to watch. They were also reaaaaally passionate about the band and had made two banners. The vocalist came out and took a picture of the fans with the banners. He’s very good looking, btw. The MC came out before their set and joked that even though their vocalist is really good looking and cool, he’s not too smart or something ahahhaa.
And since it’s only nice to let the fans of other bands go to the front, I moved aside and let the Hachimaki fan behind me take my spot. She was really really happy cause it was a spot in front of the guitarist and she said he’s awesome (ヤバイ, to quote her). My fade towel kept slipping off so I took the hair tie and secured it at the bottom to make sure it wouldn’t fall over.
I think they’re okay, could do better with audience interaction, but their last song “Get Away” (I think) was really good! The crowd had some kids as well and their fans are all really hyper and fun. It was also really cute that the lady I’d given my space to was so happy she thanked me again when I went back to it, and then before she left she came to thank me again!! Awww.
Upset Heroes!
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For a band only formed this year, 2013, they are good!! There weren’t any of their fans there I think, so the front row was very lonely. The vocalist mentioned in his MC that most of us were probably watching them for the first time, and I think he’s right. They could’ve done more to work the audience (it’s kinda hard to when no one’s really responding) but for such a new band they did a very good job. Their PV which had been screening at the wall on the side, reminded me of the fade So Far Gone PV cause the set up was kind of similar (sans the lyrics wall). Their guitarist is very cute, and the drummer had nice hair lol. The bassist really got into rocking out and I think after they get more experience and exposure they could get a lot better! Still impressed, though!
I followed the band on twitter, and when the guitarist (first guy on the right) followed me back, I thanked him for the great show that day! He replied back "Oh, you came to watch us? Thank you!" and I replied I'd stood in front of him ahaha and he his reply was really cute "Ahh, you stood in front of me? I'm glad!! You raised your hand for us and stuff, thank you!!"
HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT
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The first guest band of the night!! They’re…intense. And different. Honestly not my type of music but they put on a good show. I noticed during the set up that there was a fan there, which was very interesting. To put it simply, their female vocalist is the main focal point of the band. If I had to describe them I’d say they’re a combination of BLAST/Trapnest from the NANA Anime/Manga, except their a lot more intense and their music isn’t as mellow. Their guitarist remind me of TAKUMI from Trapnest, their drummer Yasu from BLAST and the bassist was kinda like Nobu from BLAST except Nobu plays guitar (he kind of looks like Miyagawa-san, actually. During the setting up for fade’s set he was in the dressing room and when I saw him I’d think it was Miyagawa-san, oops).
The vocalist’s voice reminded me of Olivia Lufkin’s, and dayum, can she scream (or kind of like an amalgamation of Nana and Reira’s vocals maybe?). She hits those notes and bellows them and wow. I’m not sure what it’s called but she used a microphone synthesizer to get that ethereal feel. Their songs like to throw you off, like echo-y and haunting then POW! she dives into a long guttural cry and just, wow. They have some parts that are very fun to just throw your hair in every direction and I decided, heck, let’s do it, it’s fun, and I think she looked at me and smiled? I was kinda of very shocked and assumed it was to the person behind me…
Remember the fan I mentioned? Well, her outfit was billowy and had this poofy white skirt with a cape thingy that she swished around and twirled around in. The fan would blow her hair around her and it all added on to the billowy, ethereal feeling. Definitely a cool band to experience.
fade
They were the last band of the night so we were all really stoked and waiting for them with baited breath. Setup took a while, but it was still really fast, and the DJ would play music to keep us all hyped up while waiting. There was MCR this time and I relived all the feels I had listening to them in Secondary School. Ricky and Yukiya(??) came out first to set up their equipment, then followed by Miyagawa-san. The lighting made their shirts look brown so I got very confused. Miyagawa-san was wearing the FC shirt with the Kings of Dawn parka over, and Ricky was wearing the OZZFEST T-shirt with the Sky’s the Limit Parka over. We could peek into the dressing room so once in a while we’d get a glimpse of the guys. I spotted kansei peeking out to look at the crowd (he did it more than once, lol) and then a while later Jon did too so I found out he was wearing that exact same blazer again. Either he REALLY likes it or the guys have a “uniform” for when they’re on stage now.
Ricky mainly set up kansei’s GIGANTIC effector board (seriously it’s HUGE, he had a difficult time lugging it out too; remember this video?) and I think the guys didn’t want to come out to test the equipment because we could see kansei testing out his guitar IN THE DRESSING ROOM. It wasn’t working so he had to come out and fix things so we waved hello to him. Rui and Godo also came out to test their equipment and Godo set down the violin bow as well. At first when I saw the guitar set up on my side I realized kansei would be standing more to the right because of space issues and his EFFECTOR BOARD TAKING UP NEARLY ALL THE SPACE. But then he got Miyagawa-san to shift things around and…well. We’ll get to that soon.
Anyway, the MC came out to introduce the band, and we all screamed because we’d been waiting for them. The usual music rui composed accompanied them out but it took a bit longer than usual but they got out eventually…though without Jon. The guys just went straight into the intro for Born Ready and Jon bounded out soon enough.
Godo: Fedora and shades, no choker, arms painted (red and blue streaks), black tank top, and black (cargo?) pants. He had something tied around his waist.
Nori: Leather jacket? All in black as usual, and oh booooy he is ROCKING his new hairstyle. It looks REALLY REALLY REALLY good on him. To quote a Japanese fan “he was so hot I thought I was going to die”. I wonder if nori wore eyeshadow. It looked like he did but I can’t be sure.
Rui: His usual pick necklace that he always wears and I think the TEN photoshoot outfit.
Jon: The usual black blazer with studs on the lapel, a white/grey v-neck shirt with grey star print and jeans.
Kansei: black button up top with first button left undone, dark ¾ jeans, black leggings underneath and boots. He had eyeliner drawn on (quite precisely too, and not the pencil kind this time, liquid eyeliner!!), a thin-ish but dark line on his upper eyelid. Yum.
Setlist:
Born Ready
One Reason
From The Inside Out
Break Away
Close To You (Jpn)
Beautiful (Encore)
I was right in front of kansei. Literally right in front of him, so for most of the live he’d be about an arm’s width or less in front of me. Remember I said he got Miyagawa-san to move the stuff around so he’d have space to stand and all, well he ended up standing RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. I think I wanted to die from happiness. Best seat in the house for a kansei fan. First time ever being this close and perfectly in front of him so…. (the Japanese term for this is 真ん前, manmae)
The start was explosive as always and most reports have mentioned this but kansei is really getting into working the crowd more now. He goes up to the front and follows Jon’s cues to get the crowd raising their hands in the air or he leans over and asks people to sing louder or just gestures “C’MON YOU CAN DO BETTER” then does his thing on stage. I think Jon had some technical difficulties with his mic or something cause he went over to staff after the first or second song (I think first) and stripped off his blazer at the same time (yay!). I can’t say much about the Nori/Godo side cause my eyes were stuck on kansei and Jon for most of the night.
There was definitely some kansei x Jon bromance on stage, not as much as usual, though during Close To You, Jon went over to kansei and looked at him fondly, then reached over and pat his head. Kansei found that very amusing and kept grinning for a while. Kansei did go back to rui’s side and jam with him for a while, and switched places with Nori once. Godo as per usual, stuck to his side of the stage though he did go up to the middle at some points of the night, and I think there was one part where he would look at Jon somewhat quizzically.
During the break in between their songs I shouted “Hentai Eskimo” (haven’t done that in a while) and shouted for kansei too. Most of the screaming that night was for Jon, some for rui and nori I think. I sadly think no one shouted for Godo. I tried to shout “EGGY” for Jon but got cut off by Jon taking the mic and starting the next song.
The MCs were really fun. Kansei took over and was a lot more confident speaking. I remember at the Sky’s the Limit tour fans were still shouting “ganbare!!” to him and he would pause irregularly during his MC. This time he was a lot more fluent. (Maybe it was cause he was hopped up on Red Bull and beer already) So he talked about the bands and performing at Summer Sonic (he was probably drunk already that’s why he didn’t make a proper distinction) so someone asked “Are you guys playing there?” and then he had to clarify that they weren’t playing, the bands who got to the next stage would. Lol. And I think when rui shifted in his seat during the MC (maybe?) a fan shouted “rui!” (no reaction) then “rui-sama!” (still no reaction) then “ruirui!” before he responded with a “urusai!” or like, “shut up!” lol. Then kansei got really amused and called rui “ruirui” as well and I think rui kinda shot him daggers with his eyes like “DON’T ENCOURAGE THEM TO CALL ME RUIRUI”. Remember this cause it’ll come back later on.
Some part in the MC kansei mentions that right there in Shinsaibashi Club DROP, on 6 June, they’ll be having a celebratory live for Jon’s birthday. I think we all went crazy. (Psst, details aren’t out yet, and even the guys themselves didn’t know it was happening till they were told. It’s a very recent development. They’re playing in Nagoya for SAKAE SPRINGS on Jon’s birthday though. )
Kansei and Jon also talked about the Red Bull event where it was free flow Red Bull so they’d been drinking a lot. Kansei was really happy about it (being the Energy Drink enthusiast he is) and Jon was like “This guy, how many have you drank already today??” and kansei was like “7” (Or did Jon say kansei had drank 7 cans of Red Bull already today?) and the crowd was all “woaaaaah” then Jon tried to do this MC thing where he said “Drinking too much Red Bull will make you Crash later on” but I think most of the Japanese crowd didn’t really get it cause they weren’t responding and kansei obviously didn’t give a rats ass about what Jon was saying and ignored him to grin ecstatically because RED BULL IS AWESOME!!111!!1!!1!1!!
And then he jumps into his Snake Pit section though Jon doesn’t announce it or anything. Basically kansei grabs the Gin (Bombay Sapphire) bottle and a can of red bull (he’d knocked down two other cans grabbing that one earlier and didn’t realize it. A staff came over to pick them up) and then goes to the center and starts mixing them. The Gin is 47% alcohol and was about ¼ full. A fan helps to hold the bottle up as he pours then gets the red bull can cause kansei doesn’t take it back. I’m not sure what happened to it but I think it went to someone else. Then he chugs it and we cheer him on, Jon looking on too and he gets it all over his shirt as well but damn, that guy can drink. He passes the bottle back to staff and then goes back to his side of the stage and I think Jon launches them into the next song.
When kansei is back in front of me I can smell it on him, but he smelt mainly of Red Bull (probably cause Red Bull smell is really strong, compared to the Gin)
As usual Jon asked everyone to sing along for Beautiful, and kansei got the crowd to sing louder. I think it was during this song that Jon looked at me right it the eyes and sang for a while (or was it Close To You?). His eyes are so pretty.
At some point, Godo’s hat flew off and landed in front of the amp. It stayed there for the rest of the night till after Beautiful when he went to get it and put it back on.
I think most Japanese fans mentioned it about Saturday’s live but fade’s set had a very “rock” feel to it and I agree. Break Away was a very nice addition, I think it was my first time hearing it live. Also, I loved One Reason live. I expected Cosmicalism for the closing encore song but instead they played Close To You (Jpn) Beautiful. During the chorus of Close To You the guys are jumping on stage and get everyone to jump along to. Some Japanese fans were making hearts and doing some of the actions I think.
Random but I like how Jon shouts “OSAKA!!!”
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(& because I wrote way too much I have to split this into two parts. So after the show is PART 2)
P.S. all band photos in this post are from the RBLOTR FB Album