(no subject)
On Saturday night I went to yet another exist+trace concert! This show was in Shibuya at O-West and it was called "Just Like a Virgin".
I arrived at the venue about 20 min. before doors. I saw Tomonori right away and we chatted while we waited. I also people watched. Directly across from West is O-East, a bigger venue owned by the same company. There was a show at East that night too (though I don't know who was playing). It was interesting to see the differences between the two crowds. There was a pretty clear distinction of which people where there for which concert. The crowd across the street was pretty typically dressed, while our crowd was dressed mostly in black and had more eye-catching hairstyles lol. I also saw Ibi (the designer for Sixh) arrive and get ushered into the venue before the crowd. Aki arrived and met up with me and Tomonori just in time once they started calling people into the venue.
Once we were inside, I put my purse in one of the coin lockers conveniently located on the back wall (I hate having to hang onto things during a concert). Aki, Tomonori, and I found a spot near the center, in the middle of the crowd (which worked out well viewing wise because I like Omi, Aki likes Jyou, and Tomonori likes Miko). There was also a camera crew set up because the show was going to be broadcast live on Niconico, the Japanese version of Youtube.
I was excited for this show because this was the first time we'd get to hear most of the new songs from VIRGIN live. The girls kicked off the show with "Wonderland'. Lights appeared behind the closed curtains on stage, then the curtains were drawn back and there was the band. The girls were wearing outfits from Sixh. because they're currently doing a collaboration (hence Ibi being at the show). Damn, they were looking good. Omi had on a long black jacket with leopard print that reminded me a bit of the Sixh. jacket that I own. Miko had a cute dress on. Mally's outfit had no sleeves which showed off her gorgeously toned arms. She'd also decorated the shaved side of her head with even more rhinestones than usual for the occasion. I liked the hat Naoto was wearing and her new hair color with the grey layereyed underneath the black. When Jyou initially appeared, she was completely cloaked in a black robe with a hood. At the chorus she threw it off revealing her newly dyed black hair. I loved her red hair, but I think black hair suits her nicely as well.
After that the band launched into "Daybreak", which is still one of my favorite songs on the album. Then, it was MC time. Jyou greeted us and everyone watching around the world on Niconico. She seemed more nervous than usual, I'm sure because of the live broadcast. (Understandably so because the show was viewed by 26,000 people online in addition to the crowd in the concert hall.) It was cute though, especially during the second MC when she went to talk and accidentally bumped her teeth on the microphone. She laughed and joked about how cool she was. XD
The band had some special tricks up their sleeve for this live. They did the usual fairy tale masked ball scene during "Little Mary", but this time they had a lovely female violinist on stage playing the violin parts live. There was another surprise during the waltz scene. Omi went to take Miko's hand like usual, but Jyou butted in and stole Omi as her dance partner! They waltzed a bit and then Omi tried to cut away and go back to Miko, but Jyou grabbed her and held her tight. She brought Omi very close to her, pretended that she was going to kiss her, and then pushed her away. It was fantastic!
The next song was "あなた". Jyou took off the robe she always wears during "Little Mary" to reveal a long, sleeveless black dress with a slit up the side of the thigh. She looked so lovely! (I never get used to seeing Jyou in feminine dresses, even though she sometimes wears them on stage for a few special numbers during the concerts.) She then proceeded to put on a pair of dangly black earrings and apply red lipstick while looking in a hand mirror. She slunk around the stage while she sang and oh my god. "あなた" is a song with a lot of desperate feeling in it about love gone wrong. During the song Jyou's voice gets more and more desperate as she sings, reaching a point where you can't tell if she's sobbing of laughing in a vaguely unhinged way. She pulled this off so well during the performance, growing more deranged looking as the song went on. It was great. The band then performed "Rouge", with Jyou still in her dress. It was very fitting for the song and Jyou femmed it up on stage while she sang.
Next there was a short musical intermission while the band changed their outfits. The speakers began playing "All That Jazz" from Chicago and I just knew that "Ginger" was going to be the next song. And I was right! Behind the curtain Jyou and Miko began a bantering dialogue, taking on their roles as thieves from the song and PV. They were speaking pretty fast, so it was hard for me to understand a lot of what they were saying, but they were talking about pulling off a heist at that night's concert. The curtain's opened revealing the band in their outfits from the "Ginger" PV, and Jyou and Miko ready to do their twin vocals. After that the girls performed "Kiss in the Dark" which matches the style of "Ginger" perfectly.
My order on these is a bit fuzzy, but the band performed a few more of my favorite songs from the new album. "二つの声" is written by Omi and is fantastic. "HONEY" is my favorite of the new songs on the album. It's just unf. The band really got us riled up during "HONEY", shouting and pumping out fists in the air. When the girls performed "Signal", Mally and Jyou led the crowd in blowing their whistles in time with the song. The whistles were new concert merch, specifically meant to be used during this song, but they sold out before I was able to buy one. I'll have to get one next time.
The girls ended the show with "Vanguard" as usual. Almost as soon as they were off the stage, we were enthusiastically demanding an encore. They didn't keep us waiting for too long. Jyou came out first and joked around with us about her new hair color, pretending it was actually a wig that she was going to pull off. Then we called the rest of the band members back to the stage. Mally showed off her new drum set. Jyou joked about Naoto being the one who caused the typhoon last week. Miko was introduced as the leader, whom without exist+trace wouldn't be possible. When Omi came out Jyou joked about dancing with her. Omi lovingly gave her a light karate chop to the head lol.
Then it was time for a bunch of announcements. The first was that the girls are doing another small tour in November. Next was that the night's show at O-West was going to be released on DVD! Then there were announcements about the next Vanguard live. It's in August and this time Jyou is going to be producing it! There's also going to be a karaoke contest at the live and the winner is going to get to sing a song on stage with the band! I've never wished that I was a better singer more in my life. I don't usually like being on stage in front of people, but I'd love the chance to share the stage with exist+trace because I really admire them. Jyou said that if the winner sings Miko's part in "Little Mary" they can have the chance to waltz with Omi! *dies* She then joked about how it would be funny if a man won and got to waltz with Omi. Everyone cracked up and Omi made motions of refusal (furthering my Omi is a lesbian theory/wishful thinking).
The encore songs were "I Feel You", "Orleans no Shojo" and "Sora". The band brought the violinist back out on stage and she joined them in playing a gorgeous version of "Sora". At the end of the show, the band had all of us link hands as usual and we all jumped together on the count of three. The girls then made their way off the stage. Omi and Miko were the last ones left on stage. Omi put her arm around Miko and the audience went crazy. Omi knew what we wanted and gave Miko a kiss before the two of them left the stage together. (I ship it hard.) It was a lovely end to a lovely show.
The night wasn't quite over yet though. After buying one of the new t-shirts, I made my way out of the venue with Aki and Tomonori. We happened to look across the street as we were leaving and saw Sugizo from Luna Sea! I didn't notice him at first, but Aki and Tomonori got really excited and pointed him out to me because they're huge Luna Sea fans. I was content to stare across the street in awe, but Aki and Tomonori began following him and motioned to me to join them. We followed a ways behind him and his group for a minute, debating if we should try to talk to him. I think Sugizo and his group realized they were going the wrong way because they turned around and walked past us. We got Sugizo's attention as he walked past. He saw Aki, smiled, shook her hand and said "久しぶり"! She'd met Sugizo before and he remembered her! Sugizo then greeted Tomonori and I and shook both of our hands, too. We had a small conversation with him. He asked if we'd been at the show and said that he'd been there too. (He must have been hiding up in the balcony.) He said it was his first time seeing exist+trace. After that we said our goodbyes and let him be on his way. Jfc, I'm only a casual listener of Luna Sea, but meeting someone so well respected and influential in the J-rock genre was amazing. (I'm still kind of boggling over the fact that I've now met both Yoshiki and Sugizo.) We stopped for a moment and chatted with one of the cute girls handing out fliers for a new all-girl J-rock band (I'm pretty sure that she was one of the band members). We shared a moment of squee with her about the concert and told her that Sugizo had been there too and we'd just seen him. Aki and Tomonori were in awe that they had met Sugizo the whole way back to the train station, where we parted ways.
All and all, it was a rather great night! The next day was fun too because Kaille and I went to Ueno Zoo together and spent hours gushing over cute animals. We even bought penguin couple phone charms for our phones! We ended our day with delicious bagels at a new bagel cafe we found in Ikebukuro, while we had an extended gripe session about Glee. A very good end to an awesome weekend~
Tonight, I sent in my ticket request for exist+trace's next Vanguard live in August, so hopefully I'll be able to go again!
I arrived at the venue about 20 min. before doors. I saw Tomonori right away and we chatted while we waited. I also people watched. Directly across from West is O-East, a bigger venue owned by the same company. There was a show at East that night too (though I don't know who was playing). It was interesting to see the differences between the two crowds. There was a pretty clear distinction of which people where there for which concert. The crowd across the street was pretty typically dressed, while our crowd was dressed mostly in black and had more eye-catching hairstyles lol. I also saw Ibi (the designer for Sixh) arrive and get ushered into the venue before the crowd. Aki arrived and met up with me and Tomonori just in time once they started calling people into the venue.
Once we were inside, I put my purse in one of the coin lockers conveniently located on the back wall (I hate having to hang onto things during a concert). Aki, Tomonori, and I found a spot near the center, in the middle of the crowd (which worked out well viewing wise because I like Omi, Aki likes Jyou, and Tomonori likes Miko). There was also a camera crew set up because the show was going to be broadcast live on Niconico, the Japanese version of Youtube.
I was excited for this show because this was the first time we'd get to hear most of the new songs from VIRGIN live. The girls kicked off the show with "Wonderland'. Lights appeared behind the closed curtains on stage, then the curtains were drawn back and there was the band. The girls were wearing outfits from Sixh. because they're currently doing a collaboration (hence Ibi being at the show). Damn, they were looking good. Omi had on a long black jacket with leopard print that reminded me a bit of the Sixh. jacket that I own. Miko had a cute dress on. Mally's outfit had no sleeves which showed off her gorgeously toned arms. She'd also decorated the shaved side of her head with even more rhinestones than usual for the occasion. I liked the hat Naoto was wearing and her new hair color with the grey layereyed underneath the black. When Jyou initially appeared, she was completely cloaked in a black robe with a hood. At the chorus she threw it off revealing her newly dyed black hair. I loved her red hair, but I think black hair suits her nicely as well.
After that the band launched into "Daybreak", which is still one of my favorite songs on the album. Then, it was MC time. Jyou greeted us and everyone watching around the world on Niconico. She seemed more nervous than usual, I'm sure because of the live broadcast. (Understandably so because the show was viewed by 26,000 people online in addition to the crowd in the concert hall.) It was cute though, especially during the second MC when she went to talk and accidentally bumped her teeth on the microphone. She laughed and joked about how cool she was. XD
The band had some special tricks up their sleeve for this live. They did the usual fairy tale masked ball scene during "Little Mary", but this time they had a lovely female violinist on stage playing the violin parts live. There was another surprise during the waltz scene. Omi went to take Miko's hand like usual, but Jyou butted in and stole Omi as her dance partner! They waltzed a bit and then Omi tried to cut away and go back to Miko, but Jyou grabbed her and held her tight. She brought Omi very close to her, pretended that she was going to kiss her, and then pushed her away. It was fantastic!
The next song was "あなた". Jyou took off the robe she always wears during "Little Mary" to reveal a long, sleeveless black dress with a slit up the side of the thigh. She looked so lovely! (I never get used to seeing Jyou in feminine dresses, even though she sometimes wears them on stage for a few special numbers during the concerts.) She then proceeded to put on a pair of dangly black earrings and apply red lipstick while looking in a hand mirror. She slunk around the stage while she sang and oh my god. "あなた" is a song with a lot of desperate feeling in it about love gone wrong. During the song Jyou's voice gets more and more desperate as she sings, reaching a point where you can't tell if she's sobbing of laughing in a vaguely unhinged way. She pulled this off so well during the performance, growing more deranged looking as the song went on. It was great. The band then performed "Rouge", with Jyou still in her dress. It was very fitting for the song and Jyou femmed it up on stage while she sang.
Next there was a short musical intermission while the band changed their outfits. The speakers began playing "All That Jazz" from Chicago and I just knew that "Ginger" was going to be the next song. And I was right! Behind the curtain Jyou and Miko began a bantering dialogue, taking on their roles as thieves from the song and PV. They were speaking pretty fast, so it was hard for me to understand a lot of what they were saying, but they were talking about pulling off a heist at that night's concert. The curtain's opened revealing the band in their outfits from the "Ginger" PV, and Jyou and Miko ready to do their twin vocals. After that the girls performed "Kiss in the Dark" which matches the style of "Ginger" perfectly.
My order on these is a bit fuzzy, but the band performed a few more of my favorite songs from the new album. "二つの声" is written by Omi and is fantastic. "HONEY" is my favorite of the new songs on the album. It's just unf. The band really got us riled up during "HONEY", shouting and pumping out fists in the air. When the girls performed "Signal", Mally and Jyou led the crowd in blowing their whistles in time with the song. The whistles were new concert merch, specifically meant to be used during this song, but they sold out before I was able to buy one. I'll have to get one next time.
The girls ended the show with "Vanguard" as usual. Almost as soon as they were off the stage, we were enthusiastically demanding an encore. They didn't keep us waiting for too long. Jyou came out first and joked around with us about her new hair color, pretending it was actually a wig that she was going to pull off. Then we called the rest of the band members back to the stage. Mally showed off her new drum set. Jyou joked about Naoto being the one who caused the typhoon last week. Miko was introduced as the leader, whom without exist+trace wouldn't be possible. When Omi came out Jyou joked about dancing with her. Omi lovingly gave her a light karate chop to the head lol.
Then it was time for a bunch of announcements. The first was that the girls are doing another small tour in November. Next was that the night's show at O-West was going to be released on DVD! Then there were announcements about the next Vanguard live. It's in August and this time Jyou is going to be producing it! There's also going to be a karaoke contest at the live and the winner is going to get to sing a song on stage with the band! I've never wished that I was a better singer more in my life. I don't usually like being on stage in front of people, but I'd love the chance to share the stage with exist+trace because I really admire them. Jyou said that if the winner sings Miko's part in "Little Mary" they can have the chance to waltz with Omi! *dies* She then joked about how it would be funny if a man won and got to waltz with Omi. Everyone cracked up and Omi made motions of refusal (furthering my Omi is a lesbian theory/wishful thinking).
The encore songs were "I Feel You", "Orleans no Shojo" and "Sora". The band brought the violinist back out on stage and she joined them in playing a gorgeous version of "Sora". At the end of the show, the band had all of us link hands as usual and we all jumped together on the count of three. The girls then made their way off the stage. Omi and Miko were the last ones left on stage. Omi put her arm around Miko and the audience went crazy. Omi knew what we wanted and gave Miko a kiss before the two of them left the stage together. (I ship it hard.) It was a lovely end to a lovely show.
The night wasn't quite over yet though. After buying one of the new t-shirts, I made my way out of the venue with Aki and Tomonori. We happened to look across the street as we were leaving and saw Sugizo from Luna Sea! I didn't notice him at first, but Aki and Tomonori got really excited and pointed him out to me because they're huge Luna Sea fans. I was content to stare across the street in awe, but Aki and Tomonori began following him and motioned to me to join them. We followed a ways behind him and his group for a minute, debating if we should try to talk to him. I think Sugizo and his group realized they were going the wrong way because they turned around and walked past us. We got Sugizo's attention as he walked past. He saw Aki, smiled, shook her hand and said "久しぶり"! She'd met Sugizo before and he remembered her! Sugizo then greeted Tomonori and I and shook both of our hands, too. We had a small conversation with him. He asked if we'd been at the show and said that he'd been there too. (He must have been hiding up in the balcony.) He said it was his first time seeing exist+trace. After that we said our goodbyes and let him be on his way. Jfc, I'm only a casual listener of Luna Sea, but meeting someone so well respected and influential in the J-rock genre was amazing. (I'm still kind of boggling over the fact that I've now met both Yoshiki and Sugizo.) We stopped for a moment and chatted with one of the cute girls handing out fliers for a new all-girl J-rock band (I'm pretty sure that she was one of the band members). We shared a moment of squee with her about the concert and told her that Sugizo had been there too and we'd just seen him. Aki and Tomonori were in awe that they had met Sugizo the whole way back to the train station, where we parted ways.
All and all, it was a rather great night! The next day was fun too because Kaille and I went to Ueno Zoo together and spent hours gushing over cute animals. We even bought penguin couple phone charms for our phones! We ended our day with delicious bagels at a new bagel cafe we found in Ikebukuro, while we had an extended gripe session about Glee. A very good end to an awesome weekend~
Tonight, I sent in my ticket request for exist+trace's next Vanguard live in August, so hopefully I'll be able to go again!