ONE OK ROCK, Monday, October 8th, 5:00pm, Niigata Junkbox Mini
Okay, so. This is going to involve a LOT of flailing. I will try to be coherent first, and we'll see if it doesn't devolve from there.
I showed up about five minutes before start time. There were about 60 people there, maybe, not packed. I'd say a quarter were guys. But then again, four bands were playing, so there were fans from ALL of them, mixed together. I was near the back, and the first guy playing was sort of odd. He had a bright pink Mohawk, but his music was kind of acoustic guitar folky. He wasn't bad, but he wasn't particularly good, either.
After he finished, some people drifted out, the crowd shifted around, and I moved up to fourth row. Mind you, there aren't really ROWS, and anywhere in the venue is within 15' of the stage, 'cause it's SMALL. So at this point, I was maybe three feet from the stage and could easily see over the heads of everyone in front of me. I only saw two girls the entire night who may have been my height. The only people who were taller were the guys, and not so many of them, either.
ONE OK ROCK was the second band to play. They're pretty chill compared to the sparkly Johnnys and visual kei I usually see. These guys just wear jeans and tshirts and their hair is pretty normal and they have no makeup. Taka was wearing jeans and a collared t-shirt, which was a little weird, considering everyone else looked a bit more rock-ish. To be perfectly honest, Taka's the least good-looking in the group. His skin isn’t great, his hair isn't great, he's ridiculously tiny… but whatever, that totally doesn't matter, because he rocks it hardcore.
Taka's stage performance was amazing. Honestly, the only comparison that comes to mind is Kyo from Dir en grey, but minus the scary insane shit (sorry, but I'm just not a fan of the self-mutilation and the like). Taka just throws himself around and headbangs (bodybangs?) and punches and jumps and thrashes and like. He's intense. So's the rest of the band, really.
Their music is mostly straight-up rock. There are bits of rap by one of the guitar players (really GOOD rap). I love their style, I love their music, their performance was excellent. Seriously, they have to be one of the best bands I've ever seen live. Taka's voice is good, nice range, he can switch between the highs and the lows smoothly, his falsetto is beautiful… he's so expressive. He does have a tendency to go sort of bug-eyed when he's being intense, and that's a bit odd, but whatever.
And I think that's pretty much all I have to say about the live itself. The rest is what comes AFTER.
There was a girl band that played after ONE OK ROCK. I went out to get my drink, stuck my head back in… hah, the audience had reversed and was now only a quarter female. The band was rockin', but the girls looked uber-CUTE. They were good, but the lead singer was… eh. Not bad. But nothing I really wanted to listen to. I hung around outside with a lot of other people.
After that band (Pink Panda, btw), I went back in partway through the next set. THAT band, no idea what their name was… something in kanji… they were a bunch of older, really uncool looking guys, BUT their music was pretty kickass. I noticed Taka just kind of chilling in the middle of the crowd, listening, and drifted in that direction. I wasn't going to disturb him, though, because it's pretty cool that he can do that and not have all their fans bugging him. I tried to find a fairly clear space (there were more around him), so I ended up kind of standing to his right. I could have just put my hand on his shoulder. Then he moved in front of me. Anyway, I just watched the band that was playing. It was easy to see right over Taka's head. And at that point, he had put on a towel.
The other OOR members were drifting around the audience too, at some point, mostly in the back. Since the band playing was pretty good (even with a harmonica and kazoo, but somehow it WORKED), I focused on them, and eventually, Taka headed out. I wasn't about to follow, 'cause that'd just be odd.
After the live was entirely over, I gathered outside in the lobby with everyone else. Some of the other bands' members were drifting around talking to people, and you could see that a lot of people were waiting for the OOR guys. But as it started to get later, people left. I attached myself to a group of five Japanese OOR fans, because they looked like they wanted to get signatures. So we chatted for a bit, we discovered a bunch of us are Taka fans (well, I don't even KNOW any other members) and waited. And waited. And waited. And I bought all of OOR's CDs, because hi, cheap? :D
EVENTUALLY, Taka just strolled out, and one of the girls sort of like… ambushed him. Not really, but she was like, um… excuse me…? AND DRAGGED HIM OVER TO ME. O_O I was actually expecting to talk to the American dude, but he avoided the fans and seemed rather irritated. So no, TAKA is like hey, 'sup? Okay, not quite, but. Ah. Okay. *trying to think coherently*
The girl asked him if he would sign my CDs, and he said of course. So I gave him one, and said something about how the band was really good, and he looked all impressed at my Japanese. So, he started up a conversation. And meanwhile, indicated my other CDs and volunteered to sign them ALL (4). So as he's signing, our conversation went something like this, although I don't remember which bits were Japanese and which were English. I'll try to, though. English will be in italics.
This is like 20 questions. XD
T: Wow, you can speak Japanese?
M: A little.
T: Where are you from?
M: New York.
T: WOW. Do you live in Niigata?
M: Yes.
T: For how long?
M: For a year.
T: How old are you?
M: I'm 23.
T: Wow. What do you do?
M: I'm an English teacher.
T: Wow! O_O What kind of music do you like?
M: …sorry, can you repeat that?
T: What… kind of… music… do you like?
M: Many. Pop, rock, metal…
T: *huge grin* Well, there's all of that on the CDs! Please listen to it! :D
M: Yes! Thank you so much!
Then the girls ask if he'll take pictures with them, which he does, and I look pointedly at one of the girls and she's like, oh, take a picture with this girl, too! So she grabbed my cell phone and Taka posed next to me and you get this:
Ahahaha, awkward-looking, right? 'Cause I dwarf him. XD
…
And as we were kind of heading out (fans and band), since he was standing next to me:
M: Will you be returning to Niigata?
T: Will YOU be returning to Niigata? *confused*
M: No, will THE BAND be returning to Niigata?
T: Oh, yes, we will!
Outside, the group of five girls made me take pictures of them and the whole band together with like a bazillion cameras. Then the group was packing up and the girls realized I wasn't in any pictures and they CALLED THE BAND OVER and were like, wait, take a picture with HER TOO.
Hazukashii yo. *facepalm*
But the group happily (mostly) gathered around me and we got a picture. I'll have to wait until the girls send it to me. We exchanged addresses and email and stuff, but since it's a disposable camera, she said she'll send me actual prints.
Anyway, the band was ready to get in their van, so they all turned and bowed to our group, and then Taka stepped forward and stuck out his hand for me to shake. And I took it, and he covered our hands with his other hand and looked me in the eye and said "See you later." XD A random other guy stepped forward to shake my hand, as well. I'm not sure which one he was. XD
Then they left?
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh. I still have this huge grin on my face thinking about it. Dude, Taka was SO. NICE. I mean, SO NICE.
asdlfja;slkdjf;laskjdf;ljasdl;fjas;kjdf;lajsd;fj
ETA:
I showed up about five minutes before start time. There were about 60 people there, maybe, not packed. I'd say a quarter were guys. But then again, four bands were playing, so there were fans from ALL of them, mixed together. I was near the back, and the first guy playing was sort of odd. He had a bright pink Mohawk, but his music was kind of acoustic guitar folky. He wasn't bad, but he wasn't particularly good, either.
After he finished, some people drifted out, the crowd shifted around, and I moved up to fourth row. Mind you, there aren't really ROWS, and anywhere in the venue is within 15' of the stage, 'cause it's SMALL. So at this point, I was maybe three feet from the stage and could easily see over the heads of everyone in front of me. I only saw two girls the entire night who may have been my height. The only people who were taller were the guys, and not so many of them, either.
ONE OK ROCK was the second band to play. They're pretty chill compared to the sparkly Johnnys and visual kei I usually see. These guys just wear jeans and tshirts and their hair is pretty normal and they have no makeup. Taka was wearing jeans and a collared t-shirt, which was a little weird, considering everyone else looked a bit more rock-ish. To be perfectly honest, Taka's the least good-looking in the group. His skin isn’t great, his hair isn't great, he's ridiculously tiny… but whatever, that totally doesn't matter, because he rocks it hardcore.
Taka's stage performance was amazing. Honestly, the only comparison that comes to mind is Kyo from Dir en grey, but minus the scary insane shit (sorry, but I'm just not a fan of the self-mutilation and the like). Taka just throws himself around and headbangs (bodybangs?) and punches and jumps and thrashes and like. He's intense. So's the rest of the band, really.
Their music is mostly straight-up rock. There are bits of rap by one of the guitar players (really GOOD rap). I love their style, I love their music, their performance was excellent. Seriously, they have to be one of the best bands I've ever seen live. Taka's voice is good, nice range, he can switch between the highs and the lows smoothly, his falsetto is beautiful… he's so expressive. He does have a tendency to go sort of bug-eyed when he's being intense, and that's a bit odd, but whatever.
And I think that's pretty much all I have to say about the live itself. The rest is what comes AFTER.
There was a girl band that played after ONE OK ROCK. I went out to get my drink, stuck my head back in… hah, the audience had reversed and was now only a quarter female. The band was rockin', but the girls looked uber-CUTE. They were good, but the lead singer was… eh. Not bad. But nothing I really wanted to listen to. I hung around outside with a lot of other people.
After that band (Pink Panda, btw), I went back in partway through the next set. THAT band, no idea what their name was… something in kanji… they were a bunch of older, really uncool looking guys, BUT their music was pretty kickass. I noticed Taka just kind of chilling in the middle of the crowd, listening, and drifted in that direction. I wasn't going to disturb him, though, because it's pretty cool that he can do that and not have all their fans bugging him. I tried to find a fairly clear space (there were more around him), so I ended up kind of standing to his right. I could have just put my hand on his shoulder. Then he moved in front of me. Anyway, I just watched the band that was playing. It was easy to see right over Taka's head. And at that point, he had put on a towel.
The other OOR members were drifting around the audience too, at some point, mostly in the back. Since the band playing was pretty good (even with a harmonica and kazoo, but somehow it WORKED), I focused on them, and eventually, Taka headed out. I wasn't about to follow, 'cause that'd just be odd.
After the live was entirely over, I gathered outside in the lobby with everyone else. Some of the other bands' members were drifting around talking to people, and you could see that a lot of people were waiting for the OOR guys. But as it started to get later, people left. I attached myself to a group of five Japanese OOR fans, because they looked like they wanted to get signatures. So we chatted for a bit, we discovered a bunch of us are Taka fans (well, I don't even KNOW any other members) and waited. And waited. And waited. And I bought all of OOR's CDs, because hi, cheap? :D
EVENTUALLY, Taka just strolled out, and one of the girls sort of like… ambushed him. Not really, but she was like, um… excuse me…? AND DRAGGED HIM OVER TO ME. O_O I was actually expecting to talk to the American dude, but he avoided the fans and seemed rather irritated. So no, TAKA is like hey, 'sup? Okay, not quite, but. Ah. Okay. *trying to think coherently*
The girl asked him if he would sign my CDs, and he said of course. So I gave him one, and said something about how the band was really good, and he looked all impressed at my Japanese. So, he started up a conversation. And meanwhile, indicated my other CDs and volunteered to sign them ALL (4). So as he's signing, our conversation went something like this, although I don't remember which bits were Japanese and which were English. I'll try to, though. English will be in italics.
This is like 20 questions. XD
T: Wow, you can speak Japanese?
M: A little.
T: Where are you from?
M: New York.
T: WOW. Do you live in Niigata?
M: Yes.
T: For how long?
M: For a year.
T: How old are you?
M: I'm 23.
T: Wow. What do you do?
M: I'm an English teacher.
T: Wow! O_O What kind of music do you like?
M: …sorry, can you repeat that?
T: What… kind of… music… do you like?
M: Many. Pop, rock, metal…
T: *huge grin* Well, there's all of that on the CDs! Please listen to it! :D
M: Yes! Thank you so much!
Then the girls ask if he'll take pictures with them, which he does, and I look pointedly at one of the girls and she's like, oh, take a picture with this girl, too! So she grabbed my cell phone and Taka posed next to me and you get this:
Ahahaha, awkward-looking, right? 'Cause I dwarf him. XD
…
And as we were kind of heading out (fans and band), since he was standing next to me:
M: Will you be returning to Niigata?
T: Will YOU be returning to Niigata? *confused*
M: No, will THE BAND be returning to Niigata?
T: Oh, yes, we will!
Outside, the group of five girls made me take pictures of them and the whole band together with like a bazillion cameras. Then the group was packing up and the girls realized I wasn't in any pictures and they CALLED THE BAND OVER and were like, wait, take a picture with HER TOO.
Hazukashii yo. *facepalm*
But the group happily (mostly) gathered around me and we got a picture. I'll have to wait until the girls send it to me. We exchanged addresses and email and stuff, but since it's a disposable camera, she said she'll send me actual prints.
Anyway, the band was ready to get in their van, so they all turned and bowed to our group, and then Taka stepped forward and stuck out his hand for me to shake. And I took it, and he covered our hands with his other hand and looked me in the eye and said "See you later." XD A random other guy stepped forward to shake my hand, as well. I'm not sure which one he was. XD
Then they left?
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh. I still have this huge grin on my face thinking about it. Dude, Taka was SO. NICE. I mean, SO NICE.
asdlfja;slkdjf;laskjdf;ljasdl;fjas;kjdf;lajsd;fj
ETA: