Wow, I haven't updated my journal in ages, but I guess, now's the time since things are starting to get exciting again.
1st there's gonna be yukino's first concert on Feb 14th, I'm really looking forward to it especially since ex-Kagerou Kazu and Hibiki will be joining him.
2nd, it seems like aie and Daisuke are definitely going their separate ways. aie's gonna performe at the end of the month, I'm not sure whether he's on his own or with other people, anyway, that should be interesting. And Daisuke's about to start a solo career! Yes, you've read it right. See the studs' official website for more information but he'll be doing his solo debut in April...
The studs might be in the past already, and that might be for the best actually, but the important thing is, its members are continuing!

I'm lost in the middle of piles of clothes and boxes and suitcases! I hate packing! There's just way too much stuff I need/want to take with me...

But the most important thing is I've got my visa and my plane ticket, and a job and a flat waiting for me in Japan. I'll build my life there. もう決めたんだ！Nothing stands in the way anymore.

Anyway I'm sorry I haven't been around lately, I wasn't dead, just super duper busy with all the stuff I had to do (still have to). And I don't think I'm gonna be around anytime soon actually, at least not before I'm all settled. But I just wanted to share my joy with a few more people 'cause yukino's session band's gonna be awesome with Hibiki back on drums, Kagerou's Kazu on bass and yuki-chan singing and playing guitar... I'm soooo looking forward to it...

Ah! a new start in life and new expectations!
Now's the perfect time for a little prayer for 2010, may it be a less nerve-wracking/dramatic than 09 but just as rich and exctiting.

I just found this twitpic.com/qpo2x/full on twitter

Saki looks really cute in a dress... lol...

I've recently fallen in love with a lot of songs, it really helps at times like this when your life just plain sucks.
And I wanted to share my love a little and maybe give some people a desire to check out those songs.
So my n°1 love at the moment is the very jazzy: 怪盗ネオン（Kaitou Neon） by SID. I might OD soon but for now, I'm crazy about it. It makes me wanna dance!
It's closely followed by another jazzy piece: リリカルナイト（lyrical night） by Daizystripper. I'm into Jazz these days, I've been listening to a lot of Nat King Cole and old times Jazz and it's been very nice and very helpful. This song also makes me wanna dance.

On a heavier note I absolutely LOVE the new Sel'm single: VOICE and especially 浮雲（Ukigumo）. Brilliant song, Sel'm is such a promising band! And I'm also really really into DELUHI's new mini album, 星のない夜に（Hoshi no nai yoru ni） is so beautiful.

Less recent, but still, love is love. I've been listening to a lot of GULLET recently (and a lot of 9GOATS as well, Ryo's voice is very much needed I guess, btw "How long are we gonna have to wait for a new 9GOATS release?!") and I've been rediscovering Blast, 嗚呼！所詮、嗚呼！無情、（aa! shosen, aa! mujou,） is a killing song!

Finally, I never thought I'd say that, but I deeply fell for a Kagrra song. Most of you guys don't know that, but I'm really not a Kagrra fan. I tolerate some of their songs 'cause musically they're great. But I can't stand Ishi's voice and most of the time I just wish the song was an instrumental! Well not this time. 四季（shiki） is one of the most peaceful songs I've ever heard. It's like a stream of flowing water, it's simply just blissful.
Plus the PV's awesome!

Ah! I listened to the new NightingeiL as well but I was slightly disappointed. The first song starts great and then... the chorus, WTF happened there?! But I do love the guitar and the awesome bass line on 君の為なら, and as for HumanshapeCase well it's the kind of song you should hear a least once, it's pretty interesting...Anyway, it's not the best they've done, and not the best they can do. Let's see what will come next.

... I'm so looking forward to Awoi's first mini-album. I really like them at the moment...

Just found out that our beloved Tsukasa is gonna play drums in the PV of Gackt's new single. Lmao when I saw the news, Gackt and Tsukasa just don't fit together. But I'm actually looking forward to it, it should be pretty funny. There's also gonna be Shun from Duel Jewel on guitar and Ni-ya from Nightmare on bass. I reckon it's gonna be an interesting PV.
Official news over there:
www.jame-world.com/uk/news-57983-details-on-gackt-s-upcoming-single.html

I managed to Pigg myself on ameba, lol! *Wish I was that cute in real life*


But what do you do next?!?! I'm so confused with ameba, I don't know how to make friends or talk to people...

My friend Hideko and her husband Tim just had a baby, they called him Kaito (or simply Kai, which is so cute!), and he's adorable. I want to go to London to see her and her baby boy!
I wanna go to London, I wanna go to Nagoya (Tokyo would be fine, but I'd rather go to Nagoya!), I wanna go to Shanghai where my sis lives, I wanna go to Seoul 'cause she just went there and said it was a beautiful city... Man, I've gotta make up my mind! I can't go everywhere! (or can I?)...

My god, last week was hectic. I went to lives and live events on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday (my ears are still buzzing from all the loud music, lol!), half of those I wasn't  supposed to attend originally, but it all got decided spontaneously during the week.
I have to write 2 live reports for JaME (Thursday and Saturday's lives) so I'm not gonna talk about those here, but I'm gonna talk about the other two.
Starting with the studs, which I saw last night in Nagoya.
I was supposed to take the night bus to Nagoya on Saturday night, but Noriko sent me an e-mail on Friday night asking if I could cover Megamasso's live the next day at Daikanyama Unit and I said yes. So, I ended up taking the day bus at 11am on Sunday morning. I knew this would be pretty tight because the bus was supposed to arrive at Nagoya Station at 5pm and the doors were opening at 5:30 for the live to start at 6:00.
In the bus I was praying for us not to get stuck in the traffic jam, but unforntunately, in the periphery of Nagoya, the highway was really crowded and we were moving super slowly. All I hoped, was to arrive before 5:40 because it takes more than 15mins to get from the station to the venue (and thank god I knew the way!). But we arrived at 5:45, and so I was almost 10 mins late. Good thing was, they didn't start right on time, so even though I arrived at almost 10 past, I hadn't missed anything, bad thing was, I was so completely at the back! I was against the back wall!
But there's good in every situation right ? and I sure could find something good out of that situation. Simply because, guess who came to support them ???.... lynch. my friends, lynch. was there and not just one of them, all of them, like 5 meters away on my right. I couldn't help staring at Hazuki, who was wearing a black jacket and sunglasses and looked damn gorgeous.
In Fits ALL, the guest area is located at the back of the venue on the far right, but this place kind of sucks. If it was higher, like on a step or something, that'd be fine, but it's the other way round, the step is after the guest area and the space in front of the bar, which means that the people standing there are at the lowest and really can't see the stage well. I felt bad for them and for myself because I was standing in front of the bar, and if it hadn't been for a clear diagonal which enabled me to see my beloved yukino, I wouldn't have been able to see anything.

When I arrived, the venue was so packed that there wasn't a single chance I could move into the audience and try to find a spot there. So I stood in front of the bar hoping I'd be able to see something. Then I looked on my right and immediately recognized Asanao, he's pretty recognizable right? with his cap, his really long hair, his tattoos. He looked exactly like in the comment videos. And just behind him stood Hazuki, who, as I said before, looked so beautiful. Suddenly I realized that this was bad, because if he stayed there I'd never be able to focus on the studs live! But luckily, he left after three songs (passing right in front of me *Oh Joy* ) and didn't come back. I was actualy glad he'd left because he would have seriously prevented me from trying to watch the stage, trying to watch him instead! Later I realized that Reo and Yusuke were also there in the guest area... at that point I started to fantasize, imagining the guys going out all together after the live, having dinner and drinks somewhere in Nagoya, probably in Sakae-ku, I know it's aie's favorite district of Nagoya, maybe reminiscing the good old days, when half of them were in Kein!

Now about the studs, 'cause that's what I'm supposed to be writing about. The fact that I was so far away wasn't that annoying actually, because of that clear diagonal ! Thanks to it, I could see yukino perfectly so I looked at him and at him only for the whole concert (minus the occasional looks in Hazuki's direction for the first 3 songs). It might have been a little unfair to aie and Daisuke,  but then I remembered the instore event at Brand X during which they had been the only two I could see, so I thought it was normal and fair to look only at yukino this time. And as usual he was worth it.
The only thing is, I don't have much to say about their performance because nothing unusual happened. No troubles with aie's guitar this time, no jokes (now that Hibiki's gone, there's no one to make fun of anymore!), very little MC and whatever Daisuke might have done to entertaine us (the usual water bottle ritual, toughing his crotch and so on, which I'm pretty sure he did) I couldn't see! Plus let's face it, apart from playing bass really well, and looking heavenly good, yukino doesn't really do anything on stage. So I enjoyed the music and the sight (yukino's) letting my thoughts wander to what they'd do with lynch.'s members after the gig and it ended up simply being an excellent concert.
But it ended so quickly! They played for more than 1hour and a 1/2, which is a very decent live, but I felt like it had only been half an hour. I could have stayed there and listened to them for 2 more hours (but they probably don't have enough songs to play that long!). After the second encore no one even tried to call them back. I know that when they play that song from the Dead 60's it means it's over over, but still, I was thinking "maybe, if we call them very loud, they'll come back", but no, as soon as the background music started, people started to leave or go to the bar to get a drink.
About the set list, as you can expect they played all the songs from alansmithee plus a few songs from [and hate] and a few from their first mini album. I was pretty satisfied with the playlist. I must say that the new songs sound good played live, and they fit well with the old ones. My favorite moments were when they played grieve 'cause I really like this song these days and danmatsu. The latter sounds so good live, all due to yukino's bass. Really, it's incredible, it turns your insides upside down, like only the sound of a bass can do. I was listening to his bass and I couldn't hear anything else. I really loved that part. Then I got a little scared during the second encore, because they often only play two songs then, and the 2nd song they played last night was missing vain. Now, I love that song, I really do. And I love it when they play it live, but I thought it's way too sad to end a live with it! I really didn't want them to leave after missing vain I would've cried! But luckily they played niji no iro after that...
... and then they were gone, unlike some bands *despa*, they unfortunately don't linger on stage after the last song, they throw a pick, a bottle, maybe both and they leave. 

So that was it. After that I had to wait a couple of hours before I could catch my bus back to Tokyo. Yes, I spent 12 hours in one day on the bus, just to go see the studs and stayed in Nagoya for only 5 hours!
Since I'm not sure I'll be able to go to either the tour final at daikanyama Unit, or the live at the Liquidroom in August, this might very well be my last studs concert. I don't know if they'll come back after their break, but there's a chance that they won't and I need to get prepared for that.       

Set List:

01 after this introduction
02 ナタリー (Natalie)
03 スパイダーネスト (Spider nest)
04 dread
05 unsightly stupid
06 贖罪の羊 (Shokuzai no hitsuji)
07 grieve
08 月に溶け始めた終幕 (Tsuki ni toke hajimeta shumaku)
09 置手紙 (Okitegami)
10 あの音 (Ano oto)
11 断末 (Danmatsu)
12 false the skin
13 闇のち雨 (Yami nochi ame)
14 クリーピークローリー (Creepy crawly)
15 警鐘 ( Keishou)
16 disclosure
17 advance insane
18 thursday
-en1-
01 瀟洒傀儡 (Shousha Kairai)
02 吐血 (Toketsu)
-en2-
01 raindrop
02 missing vain
03 虹の色 (Niji no iro)

A tiny little entry (well I think it's gonna be a small one but you never know those things for sure), (don't ever count your chicken before they hatch!!!)  about the studs instore events.
I attended the Brand X and the Like an edison (Tokyo branch) ones and I do have a few things to say about both.
1) The Brand X instore event:
First of, they made us wait for like 30 mins outside in the cold before they let us in. Not cool at all! (except for the wind!)
Then when we finally got into the tiny little shop, I got pushed really far to the left. Now, one could think that I should have been happy about it because the left side is where Yukino stands, yes, except that on that particular left side of the shop there was a huge shelf right in front of me! which means that I had to watch diagonally and could only Aie and Daisuke. I couldn't see Yukino at all *bou hou* and since he mumbles most of the time, I barely even picked up when he was talking... Not the greatest instore event I've been to.
But anyway the main interest of the evening was not Yukino but Daisuke. He was either drunk or under the influence of speed or something coz he was super hyped! and kinda behaving like a 12 year-old. I had never seen him like this before. He started acting out because of the CD player that was on his left. He must have been very intrigued by that CD player 'cause he kept staring at it, and at some point he asked the staff member hidden behind  the curtain if it was ok to touch it. The guy must have said yes because next thing you know, Daisuke is pushing the CD player open, and when it opens he acts all "Ouh, magic!" so we were all laughing in the audience (may I mention that this happened while the 2 others were talking ?! Daisuke kept on disturbing them!). Then there was the gum thing, he had gum with him and kept on giving gums to the people around him, the staff guys, Aie..., and the water thing! He wasn't happy with his bottle of water, he wanted to drink something else (wonder what ?!), but the guy behind the curtain told him to quit acting out and focus (later on he must have managed to get hold of a drink he liked 'cause he disappeared under the table to drink his thing! Gee, I wonder what he was drinking ?!?!?!). The worst part of all it that he kept on talking quite loudly when the others were talking, Yukino even had to tell him "You're being loud!" (well the exact words were : "Shut up!" but he said it in a very nice and sweet voice, so maybe more like "will you shut up ?!"). I think the guy behind the curtain got quite pissed because he was the one who had to watch Daisuke, who even got kinda scolded 'cause he said the word : "kono yarou" at some point which means "this bastard"! so the staff guy kinda like shaked his arm and then he was like "I can't say that, right ?" so Aie told him "no you can't. 
Well long story short, he kept on acting like that for the whole talk show, he was quite unstoppable and although it was very funny to watch, and I wouldn't have liked to be that guy behind the curtain on that particular evening.

Next...

2) Like an edison:
I was late for it. Can you believe this! I was late!!!!
You don't show up late for an instore event, especially not in that particular shop, everybody sees you! The band sees you! and they see that you're late!
See, the shop is quite small and everyone in the audience is sat down, and the band is right in front of us, so if you come walking in the middle of sat people, you're bound to get noticed cause it's really not very discreet!
I was this close to actually not getting in, but then I thought, " if I just stay at the back, I won't draw attention and no-one will see me".
Good plan, except the girl working there suddenly comes up to me and asks me to move "at the front"... "What! but that's even less discreet!!!" So, in all my shame, I move as quietly and as low as I can to go sit down at the front, luckily there were like 3 people in the way, so I didn't have to go at the front front, but I still felt like the people around me were watching me in all my tardyness! 
After that it was really hard for me to concentrate on what the guys were talking about. I know one of the questions was about funny/interesting experiences, and Daisuke told us about how he got to kiss the fans when they were in France because that's what French people do. And at first he didn't want to, but his bandmate next to him did it, so then he was like "ok desu!". But anyway I wan't listening closely and I missed lots of stuff, and  I was hopping they'd talk about their upcomming hiatus, but they didn't (Or maybe they did, but then I missed it!). 
One thing I did though, was to stare intensly at the guys. And I noticed that,
1: Aie's collar bones are showing way too much for this to be healthy.
2: He was wearing blue contacts.
3: His skin is really perfectly white and even (Kinda jealous here!)
4: Daisuke really dresses nice on stage, but not so much in the real life.
5: Yukino was wearing a very classic outfit, beige trousers, a V-necked dark green sweater over a white T-shirt. Those clothes made him look so fatherly! LOL ('cause that's exactly how my dad dresses, except that yukino looks way sexier in those clothes than my dad, of course)
6: He has mentionned it in his blog last month but you could really tell at the event, he does have a bad skin condition these days.  Well, if he slept at night instead of going out drinking with Kazu and Jun and then writing in his blog at 4 in the morning! But his real problem might be all the make up he has to put on his face when he goes on stage. If he has a sensitive skin, then make-up certainly doesn't help... and wow, I'm actually talking about Yukino's skin condition! gee, you know you're a fan when you start being chatty on those matters!  

D’espairsRay’s live @ Kyoto Muse – May 10th 2009 – « Psychedelic Parade » tour

Live report by me

D’espairsRay’s Kyoto live from their « Psychedelic parade » tour took place at the venue called Muse, a rather small venue (much smaller than I expected) on Sunday the 10th of May at 6 :00pm. With my ticket number C1, I honestly thought I’d be against the back door with hundreds of hysterical fans in front of me, but due to lots of people being late (they went from calling tickets number A something, directly to tickets B’s and C’s !), I ended up watching the concert from a very nice spot : on the left side, Zero’s side of course, against the bar, under the bar lights so I could see my notebook and take lots of notes.
The band was a tiny little bit late – 15 mins – but worth waiting for.
When the lights went off, a red spot lighted the curtain and the intro started (loud ! ! !). The fans instantly clapped in their hands calling for the band like maniacs until the curtain raised. The band, already on stage, was ready to kick off …       Karyu and Zero looked so gorgeous… Their outfits looked like they usually do these days, nothing particularly special, but the all looked very good, very down punk-rock style in my opinion. The only thing worth mentioning was Zero’s T-shirt (or maybe it was a tank top) which had a very low neckline (at that point I think I can call it a cleavage even though it’s a guy’s T-shirt). This lovely piece of clothing enabled us to see the upper part of his torso that got all sweaty half-way through the concert *naughty naughty naughty*

They started their performance with Lizard and the audience headbanged immediately also jumping during the chorus and raising their fists. Zero was jumping too and OMFG ! he was smiling ! pretty much all the time. They went on with Redeemer, Hizumi was calling out « Kyoto ! ! ! »  Karyu was looking at us with his killer gaze, and Zero was shaking his head from left to right in a really cute way (he did that a lot too!), still smiling. Unfortunately I could absolutely not see Tsukasa from where I was standing, sorry about that, Tsukasa’s fans. Redeemer was followed by Desert to the sound of which the fans kept the usual trilogy – headbangs turning into jumps tuning into fits in the air – going on. At that point, watching Karyu and Zero agitating their heads like crazy, I started to wonder whether their very structured hairstyles would hold their shapes until the end. But I didn’t have time to ask myself such existential questions any longer as I could hear the intro of one of my favorite songs : Reddish. Everyone was kinda dancing during the verses and then singing along or screaming « Hey, hey, hey ! » during the chorus. There was also a disco ball lit above us, matching perfectly the atmosphere of the song.
At that point Zero had discovered the little podium on the left corner of the stage (my left but his right), just underneath the speaker, and decided to climb on it so that he ended up playing just above the first rows of fans in that corner (they must have been happy, especially since he repeated this action numerous times).
The excellent SixtyNine was next with its great funky start, it was one of the few times I could see Tsukasa who really kicked ass on that song (kicks ass, I should say, ‘cause I know he always does !). They continued with Kohaku and then played Lost in re :birth which was so powerful that my insides were vibrating. Oh and Zero does backing vocals on that song  - loved it. After that they played Brilliant and I swear Hizu’s voice sounded off key on that song, I don’t know if something was wrong or what but it was kinda weird. It didn’t prevent us from singing along though. The next song was Damned and it was damn good (sorry for the bad word play), it’s also one of my fav’s and I started to think that the set list was very much to my taste – silly me, how could it not be ? It would have been perfect with Yami ni furu kiseki – classical white ver. but I knew they couldn’t play it as it wouldn’t have ruined the atmosphere.
During Masquerade, the following song, Zero climbed back on his podium and he was once again smilling, showing his lovely dimples all through the song. For the next song Mirror, Zero transformed into a spinning top for a moment and he must have loved that podium ‘cause he kept on going back on it. 
Then the mood changed. Green spots suddenly lit the stage, giving a dark and sick sensation to it, and they played Paradox 5. I thought it sounded much more powerful than on the CD and I really loved those voices you can hear, they sound heavenly don’t you think ?  This song is very intense live, almost painful, but very beautiful as well. 
After this surreal moment they played Trickster and Zero who had nothing better to do during Karyu’s solo, thought it’b be fun to throw his picks at the fan and he mischievously did so. They played Horizon next and before moving on to the following song, Hizumi  spoke to the audience for a short MC : « You’re hot Kyoto ! you’re the best ! Please listen to our last ballad » and so they played R.E.M. – fuyu no genjo. Everyone let themselves being filled with emotions and they clapped as Hizumi ended the song on a  hoarse and powerful « Arigatou ! ».   They continued with Bullet during which Zero tried to make eye contact with absolutely everyone in the first rows ! And of course he was still smilling.
As the played Yozora, the next song, Karyu, who had rushed spinning into Zero’s space, litteraly forced him to go to the other side of the stage, Zero obediently moved there with a smile on his face, always !  And then it was time for the last song of the main act : Heaven’s color. Everyone had their fists in the air, enjoying it to the fullest. At the end of the song, Karyu and Zero threw their picks at the fans and Zero decided to refresf the first rows, spitting water from his bottle on them – how thoughtful of him ! All this time Tsukasa was waiting patiently behind his drums, making faces at us. He eventually left, after the others had done so themselves.

Of course, the audience immediately started to scream for an encore, except that instead of yelling « encore » they were yelling « DespairsRay ! » in unison.  The band naturally came back, but only three of them showed up, wearing the love parade T-shirts and they played an instrumental song called : Love parade (now I understand why this T-shirt represents the band without Hizu, oh and he was wearing a different T-shirt ! poor Hizumi, being excluded like that much be harsh). But our beloved vocalist eventually came back and together they played Hollow. They guys kept on exchanging places which means Zero was, at some point, rocking the center of the stage… Did I mention he was still smiling, still flaunting his dimples, still shaking his head in the cutest way ?!?!
After Hollow the played Subliminal and then did : « the members’ MC ».  They each talked for a rather long time and said some funny things (I guess since everyone laughed, but I couldn’t catch it all, it went to fast). They more or less all said the loved Kyoto, that it had been a long time but they liked playing there, and they each added some more stuff. The last two songs of the encore were Cocoon and Fuyushita risou. At some point during Fuyushita risou, Zero, who had climbed back on his podium, held his pick in his mouth and bent above the fans so they could get it straight from his mouth (I’m suprised they didn’t rip off his lips ! lol !).
By the end of the encore,  the show had turned into pure madness and the fans and the band were unstoppable. The guys kept on exchanging places, playing for everyone and being 200% into it until the very last note.
Although we knew it would have to end soon, we also knew it couldn’t end without picks thrown at us by Karyu and Zero, lots of handshakes from Hizumi and drumsticks offered by Tsukasa. The guys naturally satisfied the needy fans we are and took their time saying goodbye their own way… But was it really good bye ?

After they had left the stage the audience started to scream for an encore one more time and the fans’ voices were so loud that the band had to come back for one more song.
A few minutes later, Tsukasa, Zero, Karyu and Hizumi came back and as they were getting ready for Kamikaze, Karyu took the mic to tell us a few words : « Love you all ! Aishitemasu… zehi aishitemasu ! (I love you, by all means I do !).  Hizumi then introduced the song, saying how it represents Japan, and so they played it, having the fans singing along. However this time it really was the last song and they would be no more come back. The ritual of bottles of water and picks flying above us until caught took place as it must, but after saying thanks and goodbye, the guys left, for good and the lights came back.
Buzzing ears, itchy throat and aching limbs reminded us of the blast we’d just had ! And what a blast it was ! « Viva D’espairsRay ! YAY ! » was all I could think as I left the venue, that and aslo : « Wow, my first despa’s live, first but surely not last ! »

… Oh and btw, I got Zero’s pick ! (should I get it tested for DNA or prints ? ! ? lol).
 
Set list :

1 : Lizard
2 : Redeemer
3 : Desert
4 : Reddish
5 : SixtyNine
6 : Kohaku
7 : Lost in re:birth
8 : Brilliant
9 : Damned
10 : Masquerade
11 : Mirror
12 : Paradox 5
13 : Trickster
14 : Horizon
15 : R.E.M. - fuyu no genjo
16 : Bullet
17 : Yozora
18 : Heaven’s color

Encore 1 :

19 : Love parade
20 : Hollow
21 : Subliminal
22 : Cocoon
23 : Fuyushita risou

Encore 2:

24 : Kamikaze

So today started as another day of laziness...
I woke up super duper late (something past 12) and watched I-don't-even-remember-what on my computer (wait I think it was Twilight... yeah that's it, now I remember... Robert Pattinson ! ahhh *drools ungracefully * ). Then I worked on Zero's blog translations and struggled once again because my vocab is really not what it should be (I finished the ones for yesterday but I'll post it later, I still need confirmation on one word...). And then I went to teach my first lesson of the week, I'm probably only gonna have 3 this week! wow 3 hours of work!!! Don't tell me I'm lucky, all this free time is nowhere near good for me, nor for my wallet.
I want to work more but my visa issues prevent me from doing so, and giving private lessons is actually against my tourist visa, but as Nicole Kidman would say  "A girl has got to eat, or she'll end up on the street" (Doesn't mean I'm going to trade my body for food or money!!!lol!). Anyway, as I wanted to finish the day on a positive note (I say finish although my day only started like 10 hours ago!) I went to lawson to buy some concert tickets.
And that's how I brought joy to my heart... Friends, close friends, not-so-close friends, friends I've actually never talked to but who are listed on my friends list : I'm gonna see D'espairsRay in 3 weeks!Yatta! I know I already made half of you jealous but think about this, I've already been in Japan for a year and haven't yet seen them, this in itself is a crime.
And silan_dalel  I really intended to wait for you dear but the thought that I might have to leave Japan without having seen them was simply unbearable. If I can stay in Japan, and if you can come in September, we will go to their 10th anniversary concert, I swear!
But since D'espairsRay alone couldn't quite fill my heart with love and pleasure (although they did great of course ...) I also bought tickets for Sadie at Shibuya-ax on May 2nd, 9goats Black out at Takadanobaba-something on May 16th, and of course my beloved studs, in Nagoya on June 14th. If those are my last months in Japan, there're definitely gonna be the best ones! By the way I'm going to see D'espa in Kyoto, which is gonna be my first trip outside of Tokyo since Nagoya last November, about time!
So after spending only 16000 yen on concert tickets for incredible bands, I really thought my day couldn't end in a better way.
How wrong was I !!!!!! For tonight, my dears, I got the best news ever since I came to Japan.
As of now, you're officially looking at a member of the JaME team as... wait for it... a freelance concert reviewer!!!!! If you think I'm happy you're wrong, I'm beyond happiness. If you think I shouldn't brag about it, you're damn right!!! But honestly, I couldn't help myself, I was hoping for this to happen for so long. I wasn't even thinking about it anymore, and then completely out of the blue the UK and US manager contacts me and ask me if I'm still interested. Well, I sure am m'am (or sir actaully I don't even know if it's a he or a she but I suspect a she)
I had to send them a live report as an example and I was so scared they wouldn't like the one I sent they would actually not ask me to join, but apparently it did the trick.  Thank God!
However, and unfortunately for me, that's all I'm allowed to brag about. I'm not supposed to talk about my assignements, so I won't 'cause I'm taking this job really seriously. This is a dream come true so I hope you guys will be happy for me... you know I've had some very very difficult moments in Japan and I believe in Karma so I think I may have deserved it, but that's also why I'm not ashamed of being very happy today, 'cause I know that if this has happened it's 'cause I deserved it too.

Somehow now, that song I used to sing with kids at Berlitz is stuck in my head : "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands... if you're happy and you know it...♪" ah jeez ! now it's gonna stay there all night! 蜉蝣 at the rescue! (Daisuke always helps me getting rid of songs that got stuck in my head!)

Jaa ne.

this is the comment  I found about Mako while watching Deadman pv's on youtube today,  it was under This day this rain :


So now not only did one wife died, but both of them did ! Does he kill them or what! (that was mean, sorry...). I'm actually 100% sure that something tragic happened to him while he was in deadman (The man did lose like 20 pounds!) and whatever happened, it was probably the reason why the band broke up. But I would never, not for one sec, pretend to know for sure what happened to him (although, I have suppositions like everyone else), because we DON'T KNOW FOR SURE! I guess I'm just, as usual, pretty upset about reading false rumors about him. I will never stop will it ? why can't people just let him be in peace wherever he is (most likely in Nagoya) and whatever he's doing ("trying to be an actor, while raising his child on his own since his wife (wives ?!) died, and trying to make ends meet by being a salesman or a priest, or both ?" sounds weird to you too ?! wow, I wonder why ?!!!!)

I wish he'd come back too, and I miss him too. But to the people who spread those silly rumors : does it really give you comfort to believe that ?! If I was gonna spread a rumor about him, here's what I'd say: "He is fine and happily living with his family, doing something that brings him joy!" (Now that's a comforting thought, no ?). Anyway the song that he released in June last year was kind of his way of saying  "stop worrying about me, there's nothing to worry about" right ? I'm not the only one who interpreted it as a "I'm fine, thank you for everything, Good-bye!" song, am I ?

I'll never stop being affected by this I guess. Maybe I should go to Nagoya, chase him down and ask him what he's doing now so I could finally bring an end to all those crazy rumors! (and in the same time, ask him what the lyrics of "kagi wo kakenai heya" are! hey, great plan!!).
Or, leave it this way and let him become a legend...

I went to see the studs two nights in a row. Feel free to tell me I'm lucky bitch. lol!
I went on Friday and Saturday, respectively in Shibuya and Kashiwa. I really had a blast and there are a few things that I'd love to share. But first, let me say this. I'm not gonna write a proper live report. Mainly because it's too much work and I'm lazy, but also because I think I've been doing this a lot, and I'd like to try to be a bit more original. So this fasle live report will be divided into  2 parts : the fun and the not so fun.
If you're interested in things like set lists, my friend shade_graves is working on Manager Sakura-san's blog entries for those two lives so please check the thestuds_blog for updates (notice how I just cleverly adverdised the comm! lol).

So let's start, shall we...

The FUN

   I've got a lot to say here.
   First of all, and for the first time since I've been in Japan, I met someone at the concert on Friday. I didn't know her (By the way, if you read this Sophie, "Salut!"). I thought I would be the only foreigner like usual and then this girl arrives, and we're waiting next to each other so we start to talk and everything. So for the 1st time of my life I wasn't alone at a studs' concert (we ended spliting up coz she's the headbanging type and I'm not, but it was great to have someone to talk to at the end of the gig!). Then during the performance I was standing on Yukino's side and like always it was great to be able to stare at him (I didn't have the choice anyway coz I couldn't see the others, but I'll talk about it in the not so fun part!) he was so charming!
   Even though I couldn't see aie on Friday he didn't leave un-noticed. He had a problem with his guitar again (is this becoming a habit?!) but this time he could fix it before starting the song. However some time later he was exchanging a few words with Hibiki about the coming song and as they started to play he fucked up his entrance! It was quite funny especially when Daisuke commented "He's gonna give Hibiki 1000 yen for this afterwards!". But on Saturday it was Hibiki's turn to mess up. He got carried away with the tempo during Creepy Crawly and Daisuke stopped the song saying  "Wait I can't keep up!". It was hilarious. He was like "You're playing too fast man! Well I messed up the lyrics anyway so let's start again. But more slowly ok ?! (Yukkuri ne, yu-kkuri!). Hahaha.
   What I also really appreciated was the fact that they played shakunetsu ha reido, it was my 1st time hearing this song live so I was entranced! I was so happy. It was really beautiful, and followed by Ano oto on top of it! Man, what a great live moment!
   They started the show with a new intro and they played 2 new songs "Grieve" and "瀟洒傀儡" (Don't know if it's read "shousha kugutsu" or "shousha kairai" and I don't remember what Daisuke said). 瀟洒傀儡 is quite heavy, a good follow up to toketsu. And Grieve! My god Grieve! I can't wait for the album just because of this song, it's a ballad but it's so beautiful. I'm already in love!!!!! 
   Now the last thing that was great about those lives was Yukino. I was standing on his side both nights because I had been on aie's side for the Creepy Crawly tour final, so I had promised myself I'd be on Yukino's this time. But I really didn't regret it. On Friday he was being really intense, glaring gravely at the audience, then he started to be a bit playful, smiling seductively at the front row fans (my God, there must have been faints there! lol!), inclining over their heads to let them touch him (Sophie did, but she just told be he had put too much hairspray on and his hair felt like straw, but for to get such a beautiful and stylish hairdo, no wonder he had to use a lot of hairspray!). Then on Saturday it was like, an absolute fan's dream. To begin with, fans kept yelling "Yukino", at first I thought that because I was on his side I felt his name was being called more and louder, and that if I had been on aie's it would have been the other way round. But actually, the audience was really acclaiming yukino more than the others, so much more that Daisuke got jealous. lol! Many fans were screaming "yukino, yukino" so Daisuke took the mic and said "I'm sorry,  I've forgotten my name"... so every one went "DAISUKE" and he laughed and said "Yeap, that's it!".
Also on saturday yukino was interacting with the audience a lot more and he jumped in the crowd in the end, which he doesn't often do. Daisuke always get quite touchy with the fans, but aie and yukino usually don't. Well in kashiwa they did! My god, they were all so great!!!!
   Finally, I really enjoyed the encores, they came back twice both nights, and they really made the most of it.
Even though Hibiki's leaving, and obviously everyone knows about it (they barely mentionned it, aie just said on Friday "as you probably know Hibiki will leave at the end of the tour, this is our last time as a quattro so let's have fun!"). No need to go on and on about it I guess but they really seemed to have  fun all four of them together. So they either know how to keep up appearances very well, or there really are no hard feelings at all (depends how you wanne see the glass!) but in any ways they gave us everything they had both nights!
I'm really thankful for that


However everything about those lives wasn't great. There were a few things that really annoyed me!

The NOT so FUN   

Why the hell would people built a stage that's so fucking low!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
At Shibuya "take off" it was a nightmare. The stage was, what, barely 50cm above the floor, what's the point ?! Even though I wasn't far from the stage (like 4th row or so) I could barely see the band. Well I could see Yukino's head, and Daisuke's if I was getting on the tip of my toes and really looking up (that's why on Saturday morning I had such a painful neck!), but I could barely see Hibiki and I couldn't see aie at all! I swear, on Friday I didn't see him for the whole live. It was soooooooo annoying. I was so happy that in kashiwa the stage was high and I could see them all because, sincerely, otherwise it would have spoiled the whole thing!
And then... Daisuke's hair. What the fuck went through his head to dye his hair like this! It's light brownish, and it really doesn't suit him! (yeah I know I'm a superficial bitch, but I can't help it. I also couldn't help but notice that his armpits were only half-shaved! but that falls under The FUN section! lol!). I also got water spit on me by Daisuke, it was the first and hopefully the last one! Didn't particularly enjoyed it!
Also I really expected more songs from the upcomming album. They played only two new songs, I guess they don't want to spoil the surprise but I was really hoping for more.
And to finish with, they were filming the lives both nights (I guess for the DVD that's gonna be released with the new album), and although this is good news, on Friday the guy who was filming totally got in my way. I felt like saying "get out man, you're invading my vital space!", I guess I shouldn't complain about the lives being filmed but that guy just really pissed me off.


Well that's pretty much it really, but I'm enjoying the studs' concerts so much you know, it's always full of surprises. I feel so lucky that I could come to Japan and that I get the chance to see them quite regularly. They truly are one of the most awesome bands in the Japanese music scene right now.  And with the new album and new tour without Hibiki coming soon, we're gonna have a lot of things to hold our breaths for. Let's just hope everything works out for the best. 

So that's it hopefully until next time...

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... thought I'd share...

Aren't they adorable. "Mini studs"!!! (lol)

Oh My God... What should I say, how should I start...

I just came back from Nippon Budokan where the concert was held. It was soooo freaking amazing, I had one of the best live experience of my life tonight !!!!

I'm not gonna give a detailed report though, not as detailed as I always do for the studs anyway. The main reason for that is I don't know Mucc as well as I know the studs. I didn't recognize most of the songs (doesn't matter though, they were all great, 't's all that counts!) because, unfortunately, I hadn't listened to the new album before the gig (and of course they played all the new songs), so I won't be able to give any set list or anything like that. But now I can't wait to get my hands on the album, 'cause the new songs are soooo freaking GREAT. Now the songs that I did recognize were the last two singles, as well as Libra and Yasashii uta (I was looking forward to this one, 'cause during a live, this song is just THE perfect union between the band and the audience!). Apart from Libra and sora to ito, they actually didn't play any of my fav songs (like 25ji no yuustu or zutazuta) however, I won't complain because the set list was so harmonious, it was perfect the way it was. And some of the songs I heard have become new favorites' like Sanbika, my god this song is so beautiful!!! I was so moved when they played it !!!! They managed to build a special atmosphere and kept it through their 2hrs and a 1/2 performance (yes, they played for 2hrs and 1/2, and I'm NOT including the waiting time for the encores!).

I'm trying to remember all the things that impressed me, it's still quite fresh in my memory of course but it's also quite disparate too...

Well, to start with,  the setting was beautiful, there was a big sphere above, on which drawings and lights were projected. We had some fireworks as well (lol!). There were huge sceens too which was great... Oh yeah I forgot to say, I didn't have such a great place, or so I thought at first, but it actually turned out to be great. I was standing at the back on the middle west side. At first everybody was sat so I could see the stage, but I was thinking "Hold on, when the concert starts and every body stands up, I won't be able to see anything anymore!" but actually, I could climb and sit on the fence just before me. I ended be being comfortably sat and able to watch the concert perfectly. Great, ne.
Then their looks, well nothing so original here actually, they played bare-footed as usual. Tatsurou was beautiful with his black long hair (I'm crazy for men with black long hair! Forgive me!), he was wearing white, while the others were mainly wearing black.

One of my favorite moment was when Yukke played the guitar (Miya was playing an accouctic guitar), everyone was like: "Wow!!!". And then for Hanabi, Tatsurou started a capella, Miya was on the piano and Yukke was still on the guitar before they both went back to their respective instruments. That was a great live moment
There was also Satochi's drum solo which was awesome. After that we had a bit of a humorous episode. Yukke came back on stage, Satochi and him started playing together and at the same time they showed us small videos that each members had recorded. They were quite funny, especially Yukke's and Tatsurou's. By the way Tatsurou did a lot of MC, I appreciated it 'cause it made me work on my listening comprehension but damn it he speaks fast! 

They played two "official" encores. During the second one they played yasashii uta and after that they said goodbye so we thought it was the end. Then messages started to appear on the screens, telling us that they would release a new single (but they didn't say when), that they would have another coupling tour (didn't say with who! Playing with our nerves those bad boys!!!) and finally that they were going on a "Japan Tour" in May and June (They gave us the dates for this, thank god!). And after that, quite unexpectedly, the band came back, for one last song! And I don't know which one! lol! I'll venture a guess and say it's the new single, it would make sense to me, but I'm not sure.


Anyway this concert was great. I'm definitely gonna go see them again. I wanna go see them in Nagoya or Kyoto and Tokyo as well of course ( well assuming I can stay in Japan! But that's another topic!)


Well, that will be it I'm afraid. Hope you're not too disappointed with my report, I know it's missing a bit of accuracy. I'll do a better job on my upcoming Studs concerts.
Looking forward to next week!

I asked myself over and over again, torturing my soul to figure out, whether I should go or not to the Gazette's concert.
I found a dozen reasons not to go (too far! too expensive, work early tomorrow, such a beautiful day today to be inside... too far!!!!...) and only 1 to actually go (It's The  GazettE for heaven's sake !)... Until I realized that I was only worrying myself like this because I didn't want to admit what the real reason was. Truth is I don't love The GazettE as much as I used to and I don't really think they're worth the trouble to go to fucking Makuhari! Had they played in Tokyo, I'd have gone for sure. But to make us go to that remote place ! And for what reason? because it's their anniversary they want to play in a freaking international convention complex! A little too arrogant  for my taste!
I mean I love what they used to be, back in the "Nil" days, and before that, but let's face it, apart from Guren and the new single, they've really pulled out some crap lately and I haven't quite forgiven them their last "mistakes" yet. Plus, they're acting so proud these days, to me it seems that they've lost what made them unique at first. I mean they originally named the band Gazette which was derived from "cassette", because it conveyed the meaning of homemade and authentic, well there's nothing much homemade and authentic left about them, if you ask me.  So I think I need them to get down from their little pedestal and then I'll be ready to go to there their gigs again. How likely is this to happen, eh ?
Well, I'm hoping to see them in a smaller venue, something intimate, something a little rougher and not so polished, where I can see them sweat and stop treating them like they are some kind of Gods!

Anyway, my next concert will be Mucc, which I'm definitely looking forward to. So I'll tell you about that, next week.
Until then, I'll be hunting down yukino's blog, in desperate hope of an update (hasn't be one in more than a month, "What are you doing, yuki-chan ?!?!")

So, I bought my ticket for Mucc's concert on the 15th, and my tickets for the studs, which I'm gonna see twice this month, on the 20th and 21st. After spending so much money on concert tickets I sorta re-considered going to the Gazette's one. Here's the thing, they're playing in the middle of the week (have to wake up at 6 am the next day) and in a very remote location (it actually only takes a 1/2 hour from central Tokyo, but still!). So I thought, maybe it's not the right time. I'll have plenty of other occasions to see them. So that was my state of mind until last week when I heard their new single...
Seriously those guys are on a rollercoaster. Only one release out of two is good and the other one is an unnamable crap!  But then the good one always turns out to be soooo good, that it makes you forget how bad the last one was. Guren completely had me forgive them their "stacked rubbish", and although I hated "Leech" with a passion (the  single, the B side and the PV), well... "Distress and Coma" made me fall in love with them again. Despite the fact that Ruki is once again wearing a carpet in the video (but at this stage it's pointless to comment on his clothing style anymore), he looks really good, and they all look damn good. And the song, MY GOD, the song is great!
So now I'm once again re-considering going to their live, especially since it's their 7th anniversary live, and I still haven't received my certificate of eligibility which means I'm not sure I'm gonna be able to stay in Japan. But the concert is expensive and it's gonna be hard to make it to the venue just after work... Am I just trying to find lame excuses here ? どうしよう ?
I'm gonna stop overthinking it, and probably just go there on an impulse after work tomorrow. .. Good plan!

The studs, next month, new tour...　私、幸せ！

SOOOOOOOOO freaking happy !!!!

... I finally bought my Mucc concert ticket. They'll be playing at Nippon Budokan on March 15th, I can't wait to go. Even more so since I absolutely love the new single. In my opinion "Sora to ito" is much better than its predecessor "Ageha", which was good but slightly disappointing. So anyway I'm looking forward to the show!
And...
... and I'm gonna go to The GazettE 7th anniversary concert, on March 10th. The tickets aren't sold yet, but I'm definitely gonna go. Ah, geez, the GazettE's new single's gonna be released on March 25th, I can't wait. I hope it's gonna be good (it can't be worse than Leech anyway!).
So many things to look forward to.
Ah impatience! 

...About Sadie.
I was watching the PV for "Ice Romancer" earlier this evening when it struck me. Does Mao have some repressed feelings about  wanting to become an actor ? Recently he's really been palying a part in the videos. I mean look at the last 3 PV's especially "Crimson tear" and "Ice romancer", those are nothing but short movies! Of course there's nothing new or unusual about J Rock bands releasing such dramatized, very arty videos but Sadie does push it further than other bands these days and Mao is quite an intense performer.  It also seems that recently he likes to strip down, don't you think ?
Anyway, I love Sadie, I love all their singles, I love Mao ! Long live Sadie!!!

Yet I need to listen to new bands, I was thrilled when I found out that someone had uploaded the PV for boogieman's new single "new wolrd", I've been waiting for a release from them for months and I can't wait to listen to the CD. I love the single so I hope the rest of the CD's gonna be good. But I liked all the songs they played when I saw them live, so it should be good. However it's not really a "new" band (I mean the members aren't new).
I checked Deluhi and I really liked what I heard, but that's not enough, I really need some new inspiration. And I have to stop listening to deadman for hours every night, it's depressing !!!!