[LIVE REPORT] fade at THE UNIVERSE vol 91, Shinsaibashi Club DROP
19 September 2013
OVER YOU [The Departure] release tour-feat.THE UNIVERSE Vol'91-
Shinsaibashi Club DROP
Before live:
Lunch & Purikura with the ST ladies, Louise, Hannah, Belle and myself! We printed 6 copies and the extra 2 were given to Jon and Nori.
Later, we met Yoko and joined her to wait for the doors to open. This was when we started going crazy and writing on our faces, chests and well, abdomen for Belle. We were at a café across from DROP and saw Nori walk back into it. He had a black fedora on and his hair stuck out and cause of the wind two strands were “flying”. It was hilariously adorable.
We went to wait outside DROP at about 4:30pm for the doors to open. Rui was talking on the phone when we walked down the stairs, and he climbed the stairs and left to talk upstairs. The H”palty guys were walking into DROP and I said hi, introduced the band to everyone, and passed them souvenirs from Singapore. They’re so, so nice! Belle thought they were my classmates from school who had come for the live ahaha.
It was close to 5pm or after when we saw Miyagawa-san and Ricky walk out from DROP with the band (sans Godo) trailing behind them. Kansei was wearing a colour block t-shirt with squares/rectangles of brown, blue and some other colour. Jon’s hair was kinda flat and he looked like he was in a hoodie? Kansei waved to us and they made their way up, with Jon whispering to him as they walked.
Godo came out a little later and smiled at us and walked past with a nod of his head. As he ascended the stairs, Belle shouted out “I love you!” in English and he peeked back and waved.
Hung out with Yuta and his friend Takashi before the live, joking about things and giving everyone in the group nicknames. There’s Coka, Pepsi, Calpis, Fanta, Kintaro and Sprite, but who is which name I won’t reveal ahaha.
Live:
H"palty
OHP | Youtube | Twitter
Setlist:
1. dog ville
2. 平成 inside bomb
3. Decadance
4. One's way home
I think it's the second time they've played together with fade. The first was probably at Kyoto MOJO (or was it MUSE?) earlier this year, and this is the second time! Their sound is pretty similar to fade's but more dance-y and bounce-y. They were right before fade so it was a perfect time to rock out to them and then fade after!! It also helps that they love fade and have no qualms saying they do and fanboy-ed a lot about Jon ahaha!
The band's set up was, left to right,
Ma-ki- (Gt), Shuma (Ba), Ryunosuke (Dr), ISATO (Vo), DAIKI (Gt/Vo)
My favorite songs of theirs are "Decadance" and "Paradise Lost" which coincidentally, are both in the same single! If you only buy one of their CDs, that's the one to get.
They're really awesome on stage. Off stage they're super friendly and nice but when they take to the stage, dayum, the temperature goes up a few notches. While only 3 years old, they have a good aura and command of the stages they perform on and ISATO is a great frontman, really dynamic. He got us to sing along to "Decadance" which is your cue to just jump about and go crazy, and the ending song was a great soulful ballad. Amazing job, guys!!
fadeThey started around 8:50pm, after soundcheck, and was the second last band of the night.
Setlist:
1. Born Ready
2. Yure no naka
3. Cross Road
4. My Way
5. Cosmicalism
6. Close To You (Eng)
7. Beautiful
Jon: black t shirt inside, light blue blazer over, and black/dark jeans with sneakers. His hair was styled up kind of like in this photo
Kansei: KILLING TIME white T-shirt, eyeliner
Godo: Sleeveless black top, moon/stars body paint (because it’s full moon viewing in Japan that night), sunglasses and black fedora
Jon stood a little off center most of the night, but came really really close and leaned into the crowd a lot. Early on he looked at me and grinned, then later stuck his tongue out at me (I returned the favour) and then pointed at my chest (with Kansei written on it) and laughed. He propped his leg up in front of Belle at one point and I gave her a push forward so she held onto his leg, I think he said “It’s okay!” and ruffled her hair. He’d seen her chest (“TAKE ME JON”) and I heard him say “I’ll take you!” though no one’s really sure what he said.
There was some rather tame Jon/Kansei bromance on stage, though a lot more Nori/Kansei on the right side where they’d stand next to each other. Jon went over to Nori and Godo too, stuck his tongue out at Nori’s ear once I think. Kansei also went to the back to jam with rui a bit, and there was one point where the spotlight was on rui and he was just a BAMF on drums.
It’s the second time I've heard “Cross Road” and “My Way” live, with a 2 month-ish gap in between. The first time I heard them was when they were first performed live. Let me just say that the band has improved on it a lot and the songs sound MUCH better live now than they used to. The "feel" and "impact" is better though to be honest I have no impression of “My Way” because compared to the other new songs it's more 'lacking' something, I feel, or too similar and gets lost in the crowd of similar songs that have more impact.
Now “Yure no naka (ユレノナカ)”. When I heard it for the first time, I was floored. Because it is amazing. It has the perfect balance between hard rock and pop which fade does so well, and out of all the new songs I like it most. It felt like "fade is finally back, this is the fade I was waiting for" and they are moving toward a much more different 'sound' than TEN (album), but it is amazing how the new album will feature tracks so different from “REIMEI” and “TEN”/”Ever Free” but have the feeling of both songs somewhat amalgamated together. I don't think I'm making much sense but it's this beautiful beautiful balance between rock and pop and the lyrics they're not emo or dark nor overly pop and cheesy they feel just right and in between. The song has bang, impact, a wow factor and a track many people can easily fall in love with because it's so catchy.
I don't know how else to describe things and I'm rambling way too much.
"Cross Road".
There has been no other song from fade previously that can match this song. I said before it felt like Ever Free/TEN. I was wrong. It is so so different, the feelings, the emotions, the sound. I can't even think of songs mixed together that sound like it. But it is uplifting. It makes you soar, it brings you over and flying together with the band on that wave of energy from the crowd and you jump together with them and the euphoria that washes over you. Like soaring without wings, airborne just with the energy from the crowd and the band. Flying through the clouds. Never falling. There is a sense of accomplishment as if you have reached the end of the dark tunnel, achieved something you fought long and hard to get, and when you think about it - it's exactly what they've done.
After “Beautiful”, Belle and I held up the Singapore flag for the guys, and Jon leaned over
Jon: Is this for us?
Me: YES. TAKE IT.
Then he took it and waved it on stage, announced happily it was from the Singapore ST, then walked off.
After live:
Jon came out in the new black & pink shirt. Nori came out in a grey top and jeans.
Me: I’m really sad Kansei didn’t come out. I mean, look, I wrote this for him :(
Jon: He saw his name on your titties and couldn’t take it. C’mon just commit and pull it down all the way. Commit your love to him!
Me: I’ll do it you know, so tell him please.
Jon: *high fives*
Me: Can I have a hug too?
Jon: Sure. *hugs tightly* You’re back from Singapore!!
Talked to the H”palty guys and took pics with them. They’re so nice and kept thanking everyone for being so responsive and dancing along! We compared hand sizes too and my hands are the same size at DAIKI's (and Nori's). Jon's are of course hugeeeee but Hannah's are impressive and almost match up to his!
With ISATO
With Ma-ki- (left) and DAIKI (right)
With Shuma! (He was really cute and kept saying "I'm not popular are you sure you want a photo with me??")
We were shooed out of the main/stage area of DROP so band members were hanging out in the lobby/bar area with fans. Jon was talking to fans with the underwear Belle gave him sticking out of his pocket. Her mom saw it, pointed it out and ISATO and DAIKI proceeded to do this:
So Belle joined in:
After live, seeing the guys off:
Me: Hi Kansei! Look!
Kansei: Oh my god.
Me: Sign it please :D
Kansei: …um. Don’t sue me!
Me: Well, you can touch if you want to
His signature ahaha (I can't believe I actually did that...)
Me: Hey Kansei do you remember this? (*cat paw*)
Kansei: Yeah, I still have it in my house
Chatted at Burger King till about 2 or 3am, then when bunking with Belle we had a drink before bed at ~5am.
My last live was in July so the night was really explosive for me. I missed the feeling of jumping and singing along with them. They shine really bright on the stage and words just really cannot describe what it’s like. It was a wonderful welcome back to Japan and a great start to my fall semester. I was completely exhausted though, legs aching, neck sore, sleepy…and my phone had gone flat while hanging out with Hannah and Louise so I felt very disconnected too. Recalling “Cross Road” and then watching fade videos on my iPod during the train ride home, I was emotional to the brink of tears. I can’t really even describe how I felt then but it was definitely blessed.
I felt even more blessed when I got home and turned my computer on to find this:
And then much later, summing up my feelings for the band in a burst of emotion (as usual):
My favourite lyrics are “blessed by irony” from Born Ready, and I got that written onto the fade bracelet we made together.
It can be interpreted in many ways, but for me, it represents how ironic my life has been (or how I’m always in ironic situations) and yet, things have somehow worked out. When the live started with “Born Ready” the feeling was just indescribable.
It felt like I was home. Finally.
P.S. Belle's report here. Hannah's here.