It's
been a long weekend; the all-night goth thing on Saturday, Gekkou
on Sunday, a productive band practice on Monday afternoon, followed
by Eyes Mirrorge in the evening. Possibly the coolest weekend of my
life! Already, it feels like it was just a dream -- now that I'm back
at work, in a suit, at a desk, it's got that hazy distance from reality
that I usually associate with half-forgotten dreams, or clouded memories
from childhood... I was beginning to wonder if any of it actually
happened, until Maya emailed me to say hi! And I have new photos of
Gekkou and Eyes, so it must be true! <joy!>
The
band -- we still don't have a name -- got together for an hour at
Gourd (not Gould, as in Stephen Jay, which would've been cool) Studios
in Shimo Kitazawa. Another nice place, and only Y2000 an hour. And
clean! And we ran through a few of Ron's songs, which are catchy.
We were far from perfect, but for a first time it sounded, um, decent!
And after 55 minutes the little strobe light above the door blinked
indicating that time was almost up. Then it flashed again at the "T-minus
2 minutes and counting!" point, an we started to pack up, and
as the "Time's Up!" flashing commenced as 3pm arrived, we
were walking out the door. And turning off the lights and switching
of the air conditioner! Which is like the exact opposite of New York
studios, where you wait til the owner forcibly removes you before
leaving, and you leave all your garbage behind and don't even think
about turning off the AC or lights! See how nice and considerate everyone
in Japan is? Even musicians!
After
that we hit a little jazz bar with a slight Indian subcontinent motif
going on (beads, carpets, and tables the same height as the low chairs...
which might not be Indian-ish at all but sure was awkward!) Some coooool
jazz played in the background as we discussed stuff. Ah, and I gave
out CDr's of my songs (Ron liked emailed me later and said he liked
it, and that I should check out a Japanese band called Ningenshu?
Ningenshi? You get the idea. So I was happy to hear that!
But
that was after the concert at AREA. Ah, AREA, dai suki! "I regret
that I have but one life to give to my AREA!" What a cool place!
I got
there early -- 4:30pm. I knew the first two bands were Halcyon and
Eyes=Mirrorge, and I wanted to see Halcyon after Saya described the
cute female guitarist as... um, nevermind...
But
so anyway, the doors don't open til 5:30. Outside hangs the schedule,
and sure enough Halcyon and Eyes are listed right at the top (meaning
they go first). I wander off, grab an onigiri (those triangular rice
things) at the conbini, hit Book Off (which still sucks), hit Recofan
but (no Dir en grey or Pierrot priced shockingly low today), and a
third store across from Recofan whi--
Oh fuck,
back to the live report!
Oh no,
wait, I saw a dude in a car get pulled over by a traffic cop for the
first time; the cop (on a motorcycle, and in a bright blue jumpsuit
with bright, fat yellow stripes down the leg that inspires about as
much respect as if he had pulled the guy over wearing a Superman outfit)
just pulled up alongside the guy and tapped on his window at a traffic
light. The light turned green and the guy scooted over to the side
of the road, while a bunch of pedestrians watched as they passed by.
The driver got out and amicably, sheepishly, started gesturing about
"back there" and "oh, hahaha" and I got bored.
It was far to amicable!
I get
to Area at 5:35, and the doors are open, the merch tables are up,
there's a few people in the lobby and then a couple dozen in the auditorium
section already, which is a surprise, how'd they get here if doors
opened only five minutes ago?! But already I'm getting ahead of myself,
because today, for the first time, I have reserved a ticket in advance!
Which means I'll only need to pay $25 instead of $30 at the door today.
A couple
weeks ago, I sent my advance ticket request to Eyes=Mirrorge. So I
should be on the list (like I was at Narciss, when Junzo told me to
come by, that I'd be on the list). But I'm not on the list. Maybe
I did something wrong. So I pay full price, apologize for the 20 seconds
of confusion, and head in. No biggie -- I mean, I can at least -learn-
from the mistake, ne?
It turns
out, Saya explains when she arrives about 10 minutes after I do, that
there's a couple different systems. One involves a master list that
the club ticket girl checks your name against. The other involves
you going to the merch table of the band you've requested the ticket
from, and you pay there, then walk the 3 feet to the ticket taker
girl and give her the physical ticket. So later, I apologized (with
Saya's help! -- actually, she did all the talking!) for my mistake.
It always happens that some people don't show up, even though they've
reserved a ticket. It sucks but it happens. In addition, it seems,
Eyes=Mirrorge also benefits financially when I get the ticket through
them, as opposed to getting the ticket at the door (even though I
casted my "Who did you come to see?" vote for them). Um,
so to sum up, when you reserve a ticket, ask at the merch table if
they've got it, and if not, -then- go to the ticket booth. (One last
fact: at Narciss, where they had a master list, the merch tables lay
beyond the entrance. At Area, the merch tables are in front of the
entrance; you can buy stuff without even buying a ticket to see the
show, if you felt like it.)
Right,
so, on with the "live report"... which I should warn you,
isn't going to be exceptionally comprehensive. Because after Eyes
left the stage I spent the rest of the time in the lobby with them
and some of their staff, with only cursory visits to the bar or stage
to punctuate the night. (Special fact number two, which I think I've
mentioned before but just in case: the bartenders, though pretty and
friendly, are not professionals. As a result, if you order a mix drink,
you'll get TONS of booze. Saya got a big Pepsi cup of tequila and
soda that was like, two-thirds tequila and one-third ice. There was
probably four or five shots of tequila in there, instead of the proper
1.5 or whatever. So, just so you know, yanno!) (There's also a Y500
beer machine with a couple American and Japanese brews; Bud and Malts,
most notably. And Pocari Sweat and other soft drinks too, for Y150
or so.)
6:00
comes, and the lights go down, and some pre-recorded tune starts playing,
and Halcyon takes the stage, and the music stops suddenly, the band
breaks into its first heavy song, and the lights open up in a great
big gush of purple and blue and ferocious white. I'm on the right
side of the stage (always! It's where the cooler guitarists always
are... Hide, Sugizo, Aiji, Die...) (Hmmm, although, I think Inoran
is cooler than Sugizo... but Sugizo is definitely the more funner
of the two to watch on stage, ne?)
They're
heavy, and the lead guitar dude is playing a Dean or something (no,
not a Dean, it was smaller than that... a BC Rich somethin' I think
it was), which is the first time I've seen such a model on a Visual
guitarist -- 99% of the time they're on ESPs, with the occasional
Les Paul thrown in. Thank god no ones have taken up on Die's fixation
with those god awful twang-lookin' Telecaster geetars he plays!) Koran,
the chick guitarist, is on the opposite side of the stage, on a Mockingbird
(you know, "a Hide guitar") that might be translucent purple,
or maybe it's just plain old purple purple. It matches her hair color
nicely. And at any rate, the guitar she's playing and her puffed-up
hair instantly bring to mind comparisons to Hide himself, circa Hide
Your Face, but she's not as crazy -- just more headbangy. But
if you squint, maybe you can imagine Hide's ghost temporarily residing
inside her.
Tonight
is the bass player's last gig, so towards the last song of the set,
everyone's a bit weepy. The tune starts off slow and gets heavier
quick, and it's cool, but all in all, the band is nothing to die for.
But as they exit the stage (and not very elegantly, either) I am heartened
to see more girls in visual bands, so I'll want to see them again
(and maybe stand on the -left- side of the stage, just for once, ahem)!
Next
up, Eyes=Mirrorge!
