PMX 2008 - Day One
PMX 2008
or
You have not truly lived until you've seen this live.
Day One
Registration
I showed up to the hotel around 10:30 in the morning, but I was lucky enough to be able to check in then instead of waiting 'till the standard 3:00 PM. After going up to the room to drop my stuff off and freshen up a bit, I headed down early for registration, not knowing what kind of crowd to expect. I eventually navigating the maze of halls and small rooms with some assistance, and I sat down with some other girls to wait and joined the line of two people so far. After about on hour of waiting, a bit behind schedule (computer problems), they started letting people in. I got a call from Reiko about this time saying she and Krystal were there, so I met them and gave Reiko the other room key before hopping back in line to pick up my badge and Kaya wristband/ticket.
Exhibit Hall - First Kaya Appearance
I headed back to the room with Reiko and Krystal before leaving to get in line for the opening of the exhibit hall around 12:30. I have never seen so many lolitas and pseudo-lolitas in one place before; if it wasn't clear from the registration, it was clear now that loads of people were here mainly for the brands.* The hall opened about on time, and I immediately gravitated toward the Kaya merchandise table set up near the door. After I'd ogled the good sufficiently, I checked out the brand booths (alas, no socks for Kate!) and glanced over the anime ones. I ended up buying two posters and a copy of Versailles' Noble at the Maru Music booth and meeting up with Krystal and Reiko somewhere in my browsing of the hall.
I proceeded back to the Kaya table to buy a CD, a poster, a pamphlet, a calendar, and postcards (yes, I am a Kaya whore; it's great fun), and while I was completing my purchase, Kaya stealthily began his appearance at the Anime Jungle booth. This was around 2:00 PM, about an hour after the scheduled time (hence my wandering about the hall for so long), but he's Kaya, and he's allowed to be fashionably late when he shows up looking so pretty. He wore a cream and purple dress with some waloli influence--that he let us know he designed himself--and a waist clincher; his hair and make-up were spot on, as could be expected. Though there were no pictures or autographs allowed (we'd have to wait 'till Sunday), they let us ask questions. Kaya was exactly as he seemed in his comment videos; he kept his voice soft and high and hid his laughter behind his (very pink and fluffy) fan. His smile was as pretty as in the pictures, and he was wonderful about answering the questions. Some of his responses included telling that he takes about an hour to put his make-up on, indicating that he dressed that way all the time, and pointing out his favorite picture in his calendar. Somebody asked about expanding the fanclub overseas, and that took a while to get across with the translator, but we get a regretful "We don't know," though he expressed interest in doing so. I got to make some quick comments like "Thank you for coming," "I love your voice and music," and "Please excuse my Japanese" and shake his hand. The question session was wrapped up, and Kaya stepped out from around the booth to leave, showing that while he'd seemed relatively tall for a Japanese guy, without his formidable boots, he'd be more like average or below in height.
Down Time
Soon after he left, I headed back to the room with Krystal while Reiko stayed behind with some friends. Krystal soon headed out to seek some more information about her Kaya interview, and I gratefully became acquainted with the bed (I was more than ready after getting zero sleep on the bus the night before). I woke up from my nap a little before six when Krystal came back from her Kaya interview with Hikari in tow. After chilling in the room for a bit, I headed to Denny's down the road with Hikari while Krystal stayed in the room. Denny's was pretty enjoyable; conversation with Hikari was fun and interesting, and having warm, cooked food was fantastic. We headed back to the con for the Suicide Ali show pretty late, so I hurried to get in the standby line since I hadn't paid for a wristband. Hikari wandered off elsewhere. The line didn't move until a little after the scheduled time of 7:30, but it moved quickly once it started. I got a spot right behind the wristband-only section of about three rows of people, which wasn't too difficult since the crowd wasn't that large, and some people sat in the chairs in back.
Concert
Vamp Star: After the audience had been standing around for a bit, Vamp Star's scantily clad cat girls made their way on stage. They were followed shortly by the actual band consisting of Rob on vocals, Ali on guitar, and J.C. on bass. While both Ali and J.C. gave fine performances, only J.C. had stage presence. Rob had little more presence than Ali, and his vocal performance was mediocre. The constant perverted lyrics got old fast, and the cat girls writhing around on stage did nothing to salvage Vamp Star's performance. Though a few boys mourned when the cat girls left the stage, it seemed like nobody was sad to see the band go.
Vaeidos: When Vaeidos came on shortly after, they were a breath of fresh air. Made up of Xion (pronounced "Shion") on vocals, Perry on guitar, Gene on bass, and Trevor on drums, the band got the crowd to liven up a bit after they'd gone nearly comatose during Vamp Star. Xion's vocals (almost entirely in Japanese from what I could hear) were strong and impressive, and Gene, Perry, and Trevor played and moved well on stage. I for one really enjoyed their music and spent their entire set smiling. (Psst! Check out their MySpace here, but know that the pictures are unflattering.) This band made me sad to see them go.
Suicide Ali:
Set list (Taken from Yuu's blog)
THIS NEW ORDER
生命線
笛吹童子
MC
レバンデッシュリング
正しい魔法の作り方
MC
箱詰めの胴体
弧を描く病
Representa
MC
Road of the wing
僕という有害な要素
人間の要
Encore
迫害の朝
動脈
Encore 2(サインボール投げ)
Favorite Song
The break between bands was a bit longer this time, and the background music they played got pretty annoying. After being announced by an enthusiastic and pretty-haired Roger**, the main band, Suicide Ali, came on stage. Though Suicide Ali's music generally isn't to my tastes, I enjoyed their performance from the beginning; Goshi's vocals were more enjoyable live to me. The band's experience and comfort on stage were clear--they just seemed more natural (though Goshi's rather bizarre, zombie-like or puppet-like dancing was far from natural, really). Visually, the band looked great and were fun to watch. Every member--Goshi, Yuu on guitar, Hiroshi on bass, and Hisashi on drums--had a distinct presence. Throughout the concert, Goshi tried getting the audience to do some furi***, but the crowd failed at it pretty badly, myself included (though the fact that some were pretty complicated didn't help). Also intermittently, Roger's darting around on stage to film was a bit distracting. A couple of songs in, Goshi brought out this bizarre object that looked kind of like an antique telephone receiver; I never learned what it was, and it disappeared shortly after, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
About half-way through the set, Hisashi's bass drum apparently broke, as Hiroshi told us in basic English, and there was a bit of a break to see to the problem. Hiroshi made a pretty successful attempt to talk to the crowd, and Yuu joined in, though his English seemed pretty limited. Some idiot thought it would would be a good idea to yell, "Yaoi or yuri--which do you like?" in Japanese, to which Yuu valiantly replied, "Both," also in Japanese. The show eventually continued on, and I truthfully couldn't hear anything wrong with the drum, though my judgment probably isn't the best. Once the body of their set was over, they came back for an encore, though the crowd's calls for it could definitely have been better. They again commented that the bass drum wasn't working and made sure the crowd was still okay with that, though again I couldn't hear any difference. I was particularly fond of the last few songs they played.
After the encore ended, Roger told us to go to lobby for merchandise and a signing, but he called us back again shortly after for the band to play another song. With everybody scrambling back in, they didn't care about wristbands, so I got right up front on the right. This was absolutely the best part of the show for me. The crowd's energy was pretty great, and the band really got them going. Goshi kept coming up and pulling audience members toward him, and Yuu kept leaning back into the crowd for them to push him back up. Being up front, I got in on both, though I couldn't reach Hiroshi when he held his hand out to the crowd. When they finished this time, they took their time in throwing signed plastic balls (I got one!), picks, drumsticks, and candy to the crowd.
After Concert - Signing
Once they were done, the crowd headed out a second time for merchandise and the signing. I really wasn't fond of the recordings I'd listened to before, but Suicide Ali put on a great show and more than earned my support, plus I just plain wanted to give their recordings another chance. I bought their latest single and got it signed, letting the band know I'd enjoyed their show. I went and got a poster too after I'd gotten through the signing line and thought about it. I also said a quick hello to Roger, who said he remembered me from the flashchat, though I have no idea how. It was all-in-all a great evening, and I was content heading back up to the room. I was sad to find that Krystal had missed the show, largely due to a miscommunication, but at least she still had another show to look forward to. Reiko got back late after she finished helping with the merchandise and such. I went to bed pretty quickly; I'd need my energy for the Kaya show the next day.
The footnotes are mainly for some RL friends of mine who might not be as familiar with some things.
* Popular Japanese clothing brands Baby the Stars Shine Bright and Peace Now had booths in the exhibit hall.
** Roger is the host/DJ of the Jrock radio show Tainted Reality and has promoted bands including Blood, the Candy Spooky Theater, Versailles, and now Suicide Ali during their US activities.
***Furi are basically motions centered on the hands that go along with songs; I am not well informed on this topic, so I don't want to try to explain further and be wrong.
Day two to be posted shortly!
Edit (11/12): Added set list from Yuu's blog