(no subject)
Now to write about Tuesday night's Buck-Tick concert!
After work, I took the train to Akasaka to meet up with Aki. She was a little late because of work, but thankfully the doors didn't open until 6 PM. Our ticket numbers were higher anyways, so we reached Akasaka Blitz shortly after they called our numbers to enter.
Once inside, we went straight into the concert hall. Despite our ticket numbers, we found a pretty decent spot, a little further back than the middle of the crowd. We also found a good place for our bags. Since we were slightly to the left of the middle barrier, we were able to put them under the bar and not worry that they'd get stepped on. We had the better part of an hour to ait until the live started, so we spent time checking our the tour goods online and deciding which ones we wanted to buy after the show.
The show started shortly after 7. The lights went down and colored lights illuminated the stage, which was decorated with metal rods that looked similar to icicles, hanging from the ceiling. The lights shined off of the metal and it created a cool effect. The whole time this was going on an ambient/deconstructed version of "Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star" was playing the backround. Rather abruptly the lights switched to bright red and lit up the stage. Then, the band members appeared. First was Yagami Toll, then U-ta, Hidehiko, and Imai Hisashi. U-ta adorable waved to the crowd. The audience was really fired up as Sakurai Atsushi quietly snuck on stage and stood next to Imai before coming to the middle.
Can I just devote this paragraph to Sakurai Atsushi? There's just something about him every time I see him perform. Unf. He's so handsome and I love his voice. Also, when he performs, that man is all hips and graceful arm gestures. It's really hard to take your eyes off of him. I fortunately had a pretty nice view of him during the whole live, even if my view of the other members was sometimes blocked.
I don't have the whole setlist. I had to look some songs up online, too. I'd say I recognized about half of the songs at this live (most of the more recent ones).
The band started with "キラメキの中で". Atsushi had his hair slicked back and was wearing a sort of black suit jacket outfit. His microphone stand was wrapped in a black feather boa and had a masquerade mask attached to the top. He waved at around stage a bit before he sang. When Atsushi sang using the mic stand, he could cover his face behind the mask. It was a very dream-like start to the live, which was appropriate, since this tour was called Cosmic Dreamer.
Next was "Lady Skeleton". Before launching into the song, Atsushi asked us if we wanted his heart. Then he was like, "No, this is what you really want," as he gestured towards his lower body. I can't take it when you do things like that, sir. During the song, Acchan showed off his skeleton-like dance moves. The crowd also shook their hands along to the "tch-tch-tch" sounds in the song.
I mentioned that Atsushi's hair was slicked back. It's worth nothing that at this point, his hair was already starting to fall into his face. This resulted in a lot of him pushing his hair out of his face for the rest of the live. I was pleased because I much prefer his hair when it's not slicked back.
Something else I have to note, U-ta is freaking adorable. I don"t know why I didn't realize it sooner. He always seems so cheerful as he bops along with the music. He might possible be the most adorable 40-something year old man I've ever seen.
Between many of the songs there were little musical interludes, many of which were played by Imai on his guitar. It made for interesting transitions between the sets and kept up the dream-like feel.
The crowd really got into it when the band started playing "エリーゼのために". I was glad to hear it because it's one of my favorite songs from their newest album!
During "人魚 -mermaid-", Atsushi pulled out what I'm going to call his hula mermaid dance move, which greatly amused me. It sounds ridiculous, but somehow ended up looking really graceful when he did it.
When the band played "Lullaby-Ⅲ", Acchan put the black feather boa on and sat at the front of the stage. It was quite fitting for the feel of the song. U-ta also switched from his bass guitar to an upright bass for the song.
"絶界" had an almost Spanish feel with castanets and the crowd clapped along. The masked mic stand was brought back out and Atsushi sang to it during various parts of the song. The lights then turned red, so you could only see silouettes on stage, as Atsushi dipped the mic stand and kissed the mask on its lips.
When the band played "残骸" rain started to fall at the front of the stage. Acchan stood just behind the spray as he sang. It was a really awesome effect! He would also periodically put his hands into the spray and then lick the water from his fingers. During the next song, "夜想" the rain let up and a light mist was falling in front of the stage.
I especially loved it when the band played "MISS TAKE-僕はミス・テイク-". Something about the song really struck me recently. I think it's beautiful. When the band started playing it, I could just feel my heart swell up in my chest.
The next really fun song was "Climax Together"! I love how Atsushi holds the mic out to the crowd during the chorus so we can sing along with the band. The whole crowd gets really into the song. I also thought it was really cute that he curled his paw like a cat and pretended to lick it when he sang "子猫ちゃん".
The band ended the main set with "夢見る宇宙" and Imai ended the song by playing "Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star" on his guitar, just like he did at Buck-Tick Fest.
The band then threw picks and sticks to the crowd. Before Yagami throws his drumsticks to the crowd, he throws them at the stage hard enough that they bounce back up. Then he catches them and throws them the fans. One of his sticks came pretty close to wear Aki and I were standing, but we didn't catch it. U-ta was the most adorable. Instead of tossing out picks individually, he takes a handful of them and does a little spin and throws all of them into the crowd. XD
It wasn't long before the band came back for an encore. They played "INTER RAPTOR", "禁じられた遊び -ADULT CHILDREN-", and "Alice in Wonder Underground". I have a soft spot for "Alice in Wonder Underground" since it was one of the first Buck-Tick songs I heard.
This time, when the band threw their picks and drumsticks, Yagami stepped to the front on the stage. Instead of throwing the stick, he carefully handed it to a fan in the front row. I thought that was really sweet.
We were enthusiastic enough that the band came back for a second encore. This time they were wearing tour gear. I really liked the galaxy zip-up hoodie that Imai was wearing. He designed it and it was one of the goods on sale, but I didn't buy it because it was a bit too expensive. Acchan returned to the stage and put the feather boa back on. By this time there were no traces of the fact that his hair had been slicked back either. It was quite sexy.
This set consisted of uptempo older songs that I wasn't familiar with. They were a lot of fun though! The band played "Spider", "君のヴァニラ", and "Ash-ra".
After the set, Acchan thanked us and strutted off the stage. This time when Yagami threw his drumstick it came even closer to where Aki and I were standing. There was bit of a shuffle over it and the fan who grabbed it generously gave it to another fan. It was really nice of her.
Aki and I then grabbed our bags and headed over to looks at the goods. I bought a compact mirror with the tour logo on it. It's super cute! Then, we headed over to the nearby McDonald's (it's always McDonald's, isn't it?) to get some food before going our separate ways.
I'm glad that I decided to see Buck-Tick again! I still don't feel very familiar with a lot of their songs because they just have so damn many of them, but the lives are fun nonetheless. I'd definitely go to another one.
Going to rest up tonight because this weekend I'm seeing both exist+trace and Mejibray! I definitely can't wait!
After work, I took the train to Akasaka to meet up with Aki. She was a little late because of work, but thankfully the doors didn't open until 6 PM. Our ticket numbers were higher anyways, so we reached Akasaka Blitz shortly after they called our numbers to enter.
Once inside, we went straight into the concert hall. Despite our ticket numbers, we found a pretty decent spot, a little further back than the middle of the crowd. We also found a good place for our bags. Since we were slightly to the left of the middle barrier, we were able to put them under the bar and not worry that they'd get stepped on. We had the better part of an hour to ait until the live started, so we spent time checking our the tour goods online and deciding which ones we wanted to buy after the show.
The show started shortly after 7. The lights went down and colored lights illuminated the stage, which was decorated with metal rods that looked similar to icicles, hanging from the ceiling. The lights shined off of the metal and it created a cool effect. The whole time this was going on an ambient/deconstructed version of "Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star" was playing the backround. Rather abruptly the lights switched to bright red and lit up the stage. Then, the band members appeared. First was Yagami Toll, then U-ta, Hidehiko, and Imai Hisashi. U-ta adorable waved to the crowd. The audience was really fired up as Sakurai Atsushi quietly snuck on stage and stood next to Imai before coming to the middle.
Can I just devote this paragraph to Sakurai Atsushi? There's just something about him every time I see him perform. Unf. He's so handsome and I love his voice. Also, when he performs, that man is all hips and graceful arm gestures. It's really hard to take your eyes off of him. I fortunately had a pretty nice view of him during the whole live, even if my view of the other members was sometimes blocked.
I don't have the whole setlist. I had to look some songs up online, too. I'd say I recognized about half of the songs at this live (most of the more recent ones).
The band started with "キラメキの中で". Atsushi had his hair slicked back and was wearing a sort of black suit jacket outfit. His microphone stand was wrapped in a black feather boa and had a masquerade mask attached to the top. He waved at around stage a bit before he sang. When Atsushi sang using the mic stand, he could cover his face behind the mask. It was a very dream-like start to the live, which was appropriate, since this tour was called Cosmic Dreamer.
Next was "Lady Skeleton". Before launching into the song, Atsushi asked us if we wanted his heart. Then he was like, "No, this is what you really want," as he gestured towards his lower body. I can't take it when you do things like that, sir. During the song, Acchan showed off his skeleton-like dance moves. The crowd also shook their hands along to the "tch-tch-tch" sounds in the song.
I mentioned that Atsushi's hair was slicked back. It's worth nothing that at this point, his hair was already starting to fall into his face. This resulted in a lot of him pushing his hair out of his face for the rest of the live. I was pleased because I much prefer his hair when it's not slicked back.
Something else I have to note, U-ta is freaking adorable. I don"t know why I didn't realize it sooner. He always seems so cheerful as he bops along with the music. He might possible be the most adorable 40-something year old man I've ever seen.
Between many of the songs there were little musical interludes, many of which were played by Imai on his guitar. It made for interesting transitions between the sets and kept up the dream-like feel.
The crowd really got into it when the band started playing "エリーゼのために". I was glad to hear it because it's one of my favorite songs from their newest album!
During "人魚 -mermaid-", Atsushi pulled out what I'm going to call his hula mermaid dance move, which greatly amused me. It sounds ridiculous, but somehow ended up looking really graceful when he did it.
When the band played "Lullaby-Ⅲ", Acchan put the black feather boa on and sat at the front of the stage. It was quite fitting for the feel of the song. U-ta also switched from his bass guitar to an upright bass for the song.
"絶界" had an almost Spanish feel with castanets and the crowd clapped along. The masked mic stand was brought back out and Atsushi sang to it during various parts of the song. The lights then turned red, so you could only see silouettes on stage, as Atsushi dipped the mic stand and kissed the mask on its lips.
When the band played "残骸" rain started to fall at the front of the stage. Acchan stood just behind the spray as he sang. It was a really awesome effect! He would also periodically put his hands into the spray and then lick the water from his fingers. During the next song, "夜想" the rain let up and a light mist was falling in front of the stage.
I especially loved it when the band played "MISS TAKE-僕はミス・テイク-". Something about the song really struck me recently. I think it's beautiful. When the band started playing it, I could just feel my heart swell up in my chest.
The next really fun song was "Climax Together"! I love how Atsushi holds the mic out to the crowd during the chorus so we can sing along with the band. The whole crowd gets really into the song. I also thought it was really cute that he curled his paw like a cat and pretended to lick it when he sang "子猫ちゃん".
The band ended the main set with "夢見る宇宙" and Imai ended the song by playing "Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star" on his guitar, just like he did at Buck-Tick Fest.
The band then threw picks and sticks to the crowd. Before Yagami throws his drumsticks to the crowd, he throws them at the stage hard enough that they bounce back up. Then he catches them and throws them the fans. One of his sticks came pretty close to wear Aki and I were standing, but we didn't catch it. U-ta was the most adorable. Instead of tossing out picks individually, he takes a handful of them and does a little spin and throws all of them into the crowd. XD
It wasn't long before the band came back for an encore. They played "INTER RAPTOR", "禁じられた遊び -ADULT CHILDREN-", and "Alice in Wonder Underground". I have a soft spot for "Alice in Wonder Underground" since it was one of the first Buck-Tick songs I heard.
This time, when the band threw their picks and drumsticks, Yagami stepped to the front on the stage. Instead of throwing the stick, he carefully handed it to a fan in the front row. I thought that was really sweet.
We were enthusiastic enough that the band came back for a second encore. This time they were wearing tour gear. I really liked the galaxy zip-up hoodie that Imai was wearing. He designed it and it was one of the goods on sale, but I didn't buy it because it was a bit too expensive. Acchan returned to the stage and put the feather boa back on. By this time there were no traces of the fact that his hair had been slicked back either. It was quite sexy.
This set consisted of uptempo older songs that I wasn't familiar with. They were a lot of fun though! The band played "Spider", "君のヴァニラ", and "Ash-ra".
After the set, Acchan thanked us and strutted off the stage. This time when Yagami threw his drumstick it came even closer to where Aki and I were standing. There was bit of a shuffle over it and the fan who grabbed it generously gave it to another fan. It was really nice of her.
Aki and I then grabbed our bags and headed over to looks at the goods. I bought a compact mirror with the tour logo on it. It's super cute! Then, we headed over to the nearby McDonald's (it's always McDonald's, isn't it?) to get some food before going our separate ways.
I'm glad that I decided to see Buck-Tick again! I still don't feel very familiar with a lot of their songs because they just have so damn many of them, but the lives are fun nonetheless. I'd definitely go to another one.
Going to rest up tonight because this weekend I'm seeing both exist+trace and Mejibray! I definitely can't wait!