Blitz of Messiah Tour Final
This is pretty late by now, but I still want to write about it. (It's a good distraction from other things.) On June 9th, April and I went to Mejbray's tour final at Akasaka Blitz! I was pretty excited because I'd been looking forward to the live for a while and it was the perfect thing for me to vent my frustrations after a shitty weekend.
April and I arrived a bit early to the venue, which was good because that meant that we were able to grab a locker for our things at the station. (This saved us a bit of time once we got into the venue.) We killed time by hydrating with drinks at Starbucks before heading back to the venue. We had A tickets that I got through the pre-order. Our numbers were 381 and 382, so though we didn't get inside right away, we still had a good view because Blitz is a bigger venue. We were close-ish to the front, near the center.
While we were waiting for the show to start the venue was playing classical music. Not exactly something you usually hear before a rock concert. April and I discussed whether we thought the band had purposefully chosen the music before the show. A few of the songs also had organ in them, so we started making jokes about Tsuzuku being the Phantom of the Opera.
April and I waited impatiently, but the show finally started. The curtain pulled back to reveal Meto in this wheelchair, as usual. The rest of the boys then took the stage. To my surprise/delight, Tsuzuku was wearing a lace mask over half of his face (like he did in the Cure photoshoot). Suddenly those Phantom of the Opera jokes seemed a lot more appropriate lol.
The setlist this time varied a little bit from the rest of the tour. The band kicked off the show with "Messiah", which made sense. They played all the songs from MESSIAH.bat and many of the other usual songs as well. During "Worms", Meto put on a snare harness and came to the front of the stage! He was a total cutie and danced around, while Tsuzuku lifted up his skirt and thrusted at us (he was wearing pants underneath though lol).
The middle of the set was when things got really interesting. I think it was my favorite part of the show. The stage went dark as black hooded figures slouched their way across it. They disappeared to reveal Tsuzuku wearing a goat skull mask, complete with horns and a pentagram. The stage was bathed in red light and flames appeared near the back. The band played "Hakuraku" and it was fantastic. Tsuzuku jerked and twisted and screamed his way across the stage, looking almost like an actual demon come to life. Definitely the best performance of "Hakuraku" that I've seen. The next song was "baby crossing" and it was the first time I'd seen the band perform it live. It's pretty amazing and Mia's guitar solo is awesome. Near the end of the song, Tsuzuku took off the mask. The last song of this small set, was "Spice". I fucking love "Spice". Koichi's bassline in the song is amazing and Tsuzuku sings the song so sexily. The Liquidroom performance was really sexy, but this time Tsuzuku sang it a bit different and it felt almost desperate. Such a good song.
The band then played some more songs to get us fired up. When they played "D.E.Incubus", it became very apparent that layout of the venue was not ideal for Mejibray shows. The floor area of Blitz is split into quarters by bars. I guess they'd be good for hanging onto when headbanging, but they're not very safe for rowdy moshing crowds because people get crushed against them. The bars made the back and forth during "D.E.Incubus" a bit difficult. We somehow managed it though and made it through the show without the band stopping for any injuries this time. The first set ended with "Insomnia".
We called them back for an encore, but it took a bit until they returned to the stage. The lights then dropped down and the winning name for the contest to name Meto's bear was announced! Her name is Ruana. Meto then took the stage with Ruana. He showed off Ruana and his new drumset (which has a picture of a woman's spread legs, wearing high heels, on the bass). He then started playing and we did the usual chanting for him. He's such a sassy little thing lol.
The rest of the band came back and started the encore with the shortest version of "Chameleon Yummy" that I've ever seen them play. It felt like it had barely started before Tsuzuku was yelling that it was the last time. I think he must have been worried about the crowd being crushed up against the bars and he decided to end the song quickly so people wouldn't get hurt. That seems like the kind of thing that he'd do.
During the MC, Mia brought out his new guitar and gifted his old flying V to, Reo, his roadie. It was pretty cute because Reo was all bashful about it and then Tsuzuku teased them a little.
At this point, I can't remember the rest of the songs during the first encore, so I'm gonna skip to the second encore. The band came back out of stage. Mia adorably wheeled Meto on stage and then Meto stood up and they made heart hands together. Then, it was time for "Toroshina". Fuck yes. April and I somehow ended up over to the right, near Mia's side. We grabbed hands to stay together as we jumped back and forth in the crowd. Tsuzuku squirted water at the crowd and we got a bit wet. Meto came to the front of the stage with his tambourine too. It was fun! The boys then ended the show with "Karma". I was happy because they hadn't played it at the previous live, so April hadn't gotten to see it yet.
The boys then said their goodbyes and Tsuzuku told us he loved us. After they left the stage, it went dark again and an announcement video played. It announced that starting in September, the band has three consecutive months of new singles, and a new oneman tour this fall! One of the singles is mysteriously named "Decadence - counting goats -"...I don't even know. Apparently sheep aren't satanic enough for them lol.
After the live, April and I hurried over to the goods line. We had to wait a little while, but luckily we weren't super far back in line. We were able to buy some cheki and the adorable Ruana plush keychain that they sold specially for the tour final! There were four different kinds of Ruana keychains, each one with a different colored button eye representing a different one of the band members. You got a color at random, so I ended up with the blue button Ruana, which is Mia's color.
This live was a lot of fun, though I'd say the last tour final at Liquidroom was better. I felt that the encore songs were better, the band was more playful, and the crowd had more freedom to be wild because the stupid bars weren't in the way in the middle of the floor. This live was definitely still good though and it had some really awesome parts. I can always count on Mejibray to put on a great show. Definitely can't wait until their new tour this fall, which I already have tickets for!
April and I arrived a bit early to the venue, which was good because that meant that we were able to grab a locker for our things at the station. (This saved us a bit of time once we got into the venue.) We killed time by hydrating with drinks at Starbucks before heading back to the venue. We had A tickets that I got through the pre-order. Our numbers were 381 and 382, so though we didn't get inside right away, we still had a good view because Blitz is a bigger venue. We were close-ish to the front, near the center.
While we were waiting for the show to start the venue was playing classical music. Not exactly something you usually hear before a rock concert. April and I discussed whether we thought the band had purposefully chosen the music before the show. A few of the songs also had organ in them, so we started making jokes about Tsuzuku being the Phantom of the Opera.
April and I waited impatiently, but the show finally started. The curtain pulled back to reveal Meto in this wheelchair, as usual. The rest of the boys then took the stage. To my surprise/delight, Tsuzuku was wearing a lace mask over half of his face (like he did in the Cure photoshoot). Suddenly those Phantom of the Opera jokes seemed a lot more appropriate lol.
The setlist this time varied a little bit from the rest of the tour. The band kicked off the show with "Messiah", which made sense. They played all the songs from MESSIAH.bat and many of the other usual songs as well. During "Worms", Meto put on a snare harness and came to the front of the stage! He was a total cutie and danced around, while Tsuzuku lifted up his skirt and thrusted at us (he was wearing pants underneath though lol).
The middle of the set was when things got really interesting. I think it was my favorite part of the show. The stage went dark as black hooded figures slouched their way across it. They disappeared to reveal Tsuzuku wearing a goat skull mask, complete with horns and a pentagram. The stage was bathed in red light and flames appeared near the back. The band played "Hakuraku" and it was fantastic. Tsuzuku jerked and twisted and screamed his way across the stage, looking almost like an actual demon come to life. Definitely the best performance of "Hakuraku" that I've seen. The next song was "baby crossing" and it was the first time I'd seen the band perform it live. It's pretty amazing and Mia's guitar solo is awesome. Near the end of the song, Tsuzuku took off the mask. The last song of this small set, was "Spice". I fucking love "Spice". Koichi's bassline in the song is amazing and Tsuzuku sings the song so sexily. The Liquidroom performance was really sexy, but this time Tsuzuku sang it a bit different and it felt almost desperate. Such a good song.
The band then played some more songs to get us fired up. When they played "D.E.Incubus", it became very apparent that layout of the venue was not ideal for Mejibray shows. The floor area of Blitz is split into quarters by bars. I guess they'd be good for hanging onto when headbanging, but they're not very safe for rowdy moshing crowds because people get crushed against them. The bars made the back and forth during "D.E.Incubus" a bit difficult. We somehow managed it though and made it through the show without the band stopping for any injuries this time. The first set ended with "Insomnia".
We called them back for an encore, but it took a bit until they returned to the stage. The lights then dropped down and the winning name for the contest to name Meto's bear was announced! Her name is Ruana. Meto then took the stage with Ruana. He showed off Ruana and his new drumset (which has a picture of a woman's spread legs, wearing high heels, on the bass). He then started playing and we did the usual chanting for him. He's such a sassy little thing lol.
The rest of the band came back and started the encore with the shortest version of "Chameleon Yummy" that I've ever seen them play. It felt like it had barely started before Tsuzuku was yelling that it was the last time. I think he must have been worried about the crowd being crushed up against the bars and he decided to end the song quickly so people wouldn't get hurt. That seems like the kind of thing that he'd do.
During the MC, Mia brought out his new guitar and gifted his old flying V to, Reo, his roadie. It was pretty cute because Reo was all bashful about it and then Tsuzuku teased them a little.
At this point, I can't remember the rest of the songs during the first encore, so I'm gonna skip to the second encore. The band came back out of stage. Mia adorably wheeled Meto on stage and then Meto stood up and they made heart hands together. Then, it was time for "Toroshina". Fuck yes. April and I somehow ended up over to the right, near Mia's side. We grabbed hands to stay together as we jumped back and forth in the crowd. Tsuzuku squirted water at the crowd and we got a bit wet. Meto came to the front of the stage with his tambourine too. It was fun! The boys then ended the show with "Karma". I was happy because they hadn't played it at the previous live, so April hadn't gotten to see it yet.
The boys then said their goodbyes and Tsuzuku told us he loved us. After they left the stage, it went dark again and an announcement video played. It announced that starting in September, the band has three consecutive months of new singles, and a new oneman tour this fall! One of the singles is mysteriously named "Decadence - counting goats -"...I don't even know. Apparently sheep aren't satanic enough for them lol.
After the live, April and I hurried over to the goods line. We had to wait a little while, but luckily we weren't super far back in line. We were able to buy some cheki and the adorable Ruana plush keychain that they sold specially for the tour final! There were four different kinds of Ruana keychains, each one with a different colored button eye representing a different one of the band members. You got a color at random, so I ended up with the blue button Ruana, which is Mia's color.
This live was a lot of fun, though I'd say the last tour final at Liquidroom was better. I felt that the encore songs were better, the band was more playful, and the crowd had more freedom to be wild because the stupid bars weren't in the way in the middle of the floor. This live was definitely still good though and it had some really awesome parts. I can always count on Mejibray to put on a great show. Definitely can't wait until their new tour this fall, which I already have tickets for!