Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Posted by Melissa Costa | File under : ,

Part III – Ikebukuro CYBER [ABSOLUTE ZERO], 5-8-2011

Line-up:               biz cloud / 6->7 / Egoist / Orgil / LouiNess / Brat Note / A / NEOPHILIA / Secret Band (dolore)

This time, barely a week had passed since the previous time I walked the by now familiar route towards Ikebukuro CYBER. Again I had travelled to this district straight after my classes, but this time I knew I did not have to wait that long before I could enter the venue. Today was a Free Live with a total of 9 bands playing, so the doors would already open early in the afternoon. In the end, it was the longest live I took part in: in all I spend close to 8 hours inside. Quite demolishing, but great fun.

I didn’t know any of the other bands who played, but went to watch their sets anyway. The “Secret Band” on the ticket had me wondering for a moment but as soon as I entered the hall I saw a section of the Merchandise table was dedicated to dolore. So much for the surprise (laughs). The other bands were quite entertaining though none stood out a lot, and some made me wonder if they could even be called a band in the first place. Talent clearly isn’t always a requirement within the Indie-scene, let alone in whole Visual Kei…

The length of the sets and breaks began to be quite exhausting but when it was finally A’s turn, I revived myself and chose a center-spot, looking around to see if I could spot Yuki anywhere. I had expected the small girl to come see her favorite band again, especially now it was free, and it would be fun to enjoy another live together with her. I didn’t see her and felt a bit disappointed when the lights already dimmed, but right then I saw her enter the hall together with a friend. I quickly beckoned her and she and her friend happily came to stand at my side. I grinned, as now the feeling was complete and the live could truly start for me.

After their by now familiar intro and us happily greeting them with our screams, A took their positions and began their set with their latest single, Black Butterfly.

5-8 Setlist (Taken from Toshi’s blog)

1 Black Butterfly
2    バニラスカイ
3 GODDESS
4 Viva la Casta
5 残酷な天使のテーゼ

Due to the filled schedule they were only allowed a short set like before, but as always this band knew to charm their fans from the very beginning till the final note. Yuki and I thoroughly enjoyed the set as I now knew most of their songs, jumping all the way through Vanilla Sky, though GODDESS was new to me. Despite the vocals being very challenging in the chorus, Nimo pulled them off well and the sultry rhythm as well as the powerful head-banging united all the fans in one movement. They continued with the jazz-sensation of Viva la Casta, taking us all on a swift but entertaining journey from the hot Indian desert right towards the banks of New Orleans.

After a short MC, they played their cover of Cruel Angel’s Thesis. I knew this song from the anime, but their version is definitely more entertaining than the original. Rookie played the intro on his fiddle with unmistakable grace before the drum tapped off and the dark choir-vocals blasted from the speakers, the entire hall dipping into darkness as the stage-lights dimmed, before Nimo’s low grunt ensued some real heavy head-banging. The positive lyrics however were perfectly brought forth by the Captain’s dazzling smile and voice, and during the chorus there was not a single person who didn’t wear a smile. Till the very end, band and crowd were one as everyone gave it all, A leading their set to a spectacular finish before leaving the stage thanking us all with their usual gratitude and energy.

As they left the stage, slight melancholy overtook me as I suddenly realized this was possibly the last time I had seen them perform. I would leave Japan in less than a week and didn’t have another live of A planned after this one. As Yuki and I retreated back into the hall to wait for A’s members to make their appearance, I felt like I needed to tell them goodbye already. I was certain Toshi and Nimo would appear soon, but I still hoped I would be able to thank Rookie Fiddler and Mucho Gracias as well.

It indeed didn’t take long for Toshi and Nimo to appear behind their merchandise, but suddenly I was distracted by a figure walking right towards the middle of the hall. As if my thoughts had been read, Rookie Fiddler was making his way across the floor, before standing still and looking around the hall. Suddenly I found myself almost nailed to my spot; I had come to admire this musician greatly over the past weeks, and though I wanted to let him know I now found myself almost too intimidated to talk to him. Despite the fiddler’s short statue, he was impossible to overlook. Not just by his long silver hair or his short leather outfit, but his large eyes continuously scanning the hall were both a little creepy as well as captivating.

Finally, it was Yuki who persuaded me to go talk to him, much like I had persuaded her before with Toshi. Bashfully I approached him, thankful for Yuki for striking up a conversation with him, looking a lot calmer than I was. Rookie obviously recognized her as well but I immediately noticed how his eyes barely focused on her; they continued traveling along the hall and the floor, as if he was too shy to make eye-contact. He did the same to me when I finally spoke up to thank him for the live, his lips parting in a beaming smile but his eyes never at rest. As I told him I had come to like his band a lot he only smiled and nodded his head, before suddenly his eyes did seem to focus on Yuki and me together. He almost interrupted me as he spoke up out of the blue: “Hey, are you two friends?”

Yuki and I looked at each other before giggling and saying we had met each other at a previous A live, and we had become friends since then. Now we seemed to have Rookie’s full attention as his eyes remained focused on us, his smile broadening even further before he all of a sudden closed in and began poking my arm, meanwhile chattering excitedly. “Oh wow! … That’s so great! … So nice! … Lovely!” With every pause, he fired a rather painful poke my way, obviously meaning no real harm but I was frozen in the spot, uncertain of what to do. Too timid to start a poke-battle with him, I quietly stepped out of his firing-range, rubbing my painful arm with a sheepish smile. Maybe it was best to stay out of the fiddler’s reach even when he was off-stage and didn’t have his fiddle, too.

After that slightly awkward (and painful) conversation, I went to find a member of A who was less likely to give me bruises. Luckily I soon found Toshi in the hall, chatting to fans. We greeted each other the usual way and I thanked him for another amazing live, making the slightly timid bassist grin and bow humbly. We chatted for a while before I finally told him I was leaving Japan soon, and that this had probably been my last live of A. To my surprise, Toshi looked almost genuinely shocked and he blurted out: “You’ll leave? But – you’ll come back, right?”

I replied: “Uh, sure I’ll come back! It probably won’t be before next year or so… But I will be back! I still have to get better at Japanese after all!

Then Toshi said, with a completely serious face: “Ah, so you’ll be back to study here? Good, then… Next year, you have to teach me Japanese. Because my Japanese is so bad.”

I stared at him and waited for him to start laughing to imply his joke, but he kept looking back at me expectantly. Finally I was the one who burst out laughing first and we both laughed it off before making the agreement by bowing, Toshi bowing the deepest as he now called me “sensei”. Still unable to find an answer to his logic, we kept grinning at each other giddily for a few seconds before we both turned into different directions at the same time. Another awkward but entertaining goodbye.

I didn’t have to look long to spot Nimo, who was standing in front of the backstage-entrance next to Mucho Gracias. I wanted to walk right up to him, but somehow Mucho’s presence held me back. The tallest guitarist had such an intimidating air about him, his eyeliner-topped eyes glaring ahead into the hall, I actually didn’t dare to go up to him. Before I could turn away however, Nimo had already spotted me and had apparently noticed my hesitation, for he came walking up to me instead. Feeling pretty lame, I told him the same thing I had told the others, saying I’d head back to Europe very soon.

Nimo responded with a few sympathical noises as I said I didn’t feel like leaving, before he said he still wanted to go to Europe as well. “So you’re still planning to swim?” I asked, making him laugh before he contemplated: “Maybe I will, although I think by airplane I’d be there faster.”

We joked a little more about Europe and swimming before I made the point he had to practice his English more if he wanted to use it in Europe. So, for the final part of our conversation I switched back to English, telling him goodbye and shaking his hand. Nimo nodded and, suddenly surprisingly fluid, said: “I hope, we will meet again.”

At that moment, it struck me again I was really leaving soon. A little dazed and melancholically I went to watch the final bands perform (after finally having dared to bow to Mucho at least). As I was waiting for the last “Secret Band” to perform, long knowing it was dolore, I suddenly noticed Rookie Fiddler sitting on the small “side-balcony”, a higher platform coming from the back of the hall towards the stage. He was sitting cross-legged on a bench, fanning himself some cool air with a paper fan. He too was watching the stage, but right then he looked down and our gazes crossed.  I gave him a friendly smile, but Rookie’s eyes doubled in size before he quickly hid his face behind the fan, then peeked from behind it with a mischievous grin. Next, he started pulling a set of funny faces he altered every time by covering his face with the fan before showing me another of his creative expressions. Highly amused, I played along with his version of peek-a-boo by covering my face with my hand, mimicking his faces, which made the fiddler giggle and bounce in his seat with glee. We kept it up until the lights dimmed for the final set and we both returned to watching the stage, sharing a last conspicuous glance before dolore began their show.

When I finally walked out into the warm night again, dizzy with fatigue and hunger, I still felt regret slowing my steps. I didn’t want this to be the last time I saw A, despite it having been another satisfying event. I still had one week left, so possibly there was still an option…?

Back at the mansion, I immediately checked Visunavi for the upcoming events. And, it seemed my A-experience would get one more final addition…

Exhausted but utterly satisfied, I fell asleep.


To be continued in the final Part 4! Thanks so much for reading m(_ _)m

Sorry there’s not a lot of “live” in this report but since I described a lot about their performance in the previous one, it felt a bit unnecessary to repeat it again. ^^; So, here is a lot of post-live stuff about the guys, showing once again what kind of awesome goofs they are.

I hope you will all be able to make your own memories with these guys one day.


Continue to Part 4

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