2002 LIVE Report ARCHIVE 4
Fri/Mar/2002 17:20
2002 Live Reports Vol.4
Circa 2002
2
/22/2002 @ Shibuya On Air East Breed True To Type 001
:Featuring: Transtic Nerve,Blood,Lapis Lazuli,J*Jenius, and Jurassic.
This was an interesting show and one that other promoters should try to do. Vocalist M from J*Jenius and a Drag Queen(Name unknown) were the host for the night that had 3 comedy acts in-between the bands. The drag queens was funnier than most of the comedy acts but the last group called hummm...Naname 47 or something like that was very funny. However, the key was giving the people something to do while the bands were setting up on stage. There was a another side stage for M and the acts. I had a good time just enjoying the comedy. However, the bands came first and unfortunately, I missed the first couple songs from Transtic Nerve! They were added late and I did not know they were going to play! However, the songs I did hear were great. They sounded really good and clear. I will go to one of there up-coming shows. As for the next band BLOOD, hummm... they needed a little work! Actually, the vocalist Suzuki who used to be in CRAZE has a great voice but it is his attitude that needs work! He tries to have that tuff boy image but it comes off as being too mad!!! They had this crazy Roady(a stage staff member) who wore a bright red sweater and he keep on trying to fix the drummers kit while they were playing. After the second song, the drummer really let into the guy and after that the Rudy was pretty still for the rest of the night until the guitar players guitar went out and he did a good job replacing guitars. However, there where other mishaps with Mr. Suzuki's microphone. It stopped working and he got a little angry. This shows how immature he is and that is probably the reason why he is not in CRAZE now. He seems to want everyone to know that he is good and if we do not respond then he reacts badly. I don`t see BLOOD going far without a few changes.
After the worse comedy group of the night and Blood, we were ready for something good and upbeat. Lapis Lazuli provided the perfect spark!!! They came out smiling and having fun on stage and that makes us(the fans) have fun too. Each band had a good 6 or 7 song set which is much better than most shows that have 3 or more groups. Vocalist Hirosy, who is almost a dead ringer for a young Toshi from X-Japan, is a great front man. This band seemed to bring a lot of fans with because all of the woman rushed to the front and where dancing and head banging the whole time. However, once the band finished, many people left!! That was not fair to the rest of the bands, but there was still a lot of people in the end. Row-Kun on guitar seems the be the favorite with his good looks and kind of reminded me of Ex. Duran Duran Warren Cuccurullo with strong chiseled body! Anyway, the Drummer KODO is a Big dude!! I think he likes to eat a lot of Hamburgers!! However, his playing is good. He also used be in A-Chief and does supports for various J-pop acts. The Bassist IKUO is real lively and adds good back-up vocals. Maxi-Single "Never Die" is the theme song to an animated TV show called [Babel 2]. Check them out if you have a chance.
After the last comedy act came J*Jenius and M is a very sexy type vocalist with a strong voice. However, he has more of a low tone than high. The set was good but their songs all have these J-Pop type chorus`s that I don`t like but many people do. Takuya was solid on guitars and boy does he have a serious Guitar Rack System! Anyway, after a good set it was time to announce the winners of the Comedy competition! Oh, I forgot to mention that this was a competition between the 3 groups, however, we the audience, were the real winners because the winning comedy troop selected at random from the voting ballots which person who win a trip to DisneySea for 2! After the winner was announced then came the batsu game. This a game that they play in Japan when people lose, they must do something bad or have some bad happen to them!! This night was the Slap in the Face!! It was great and I felt sorry the the guy to took the hit because the last slap put him on the ground!! Anyway, the last band was Jurassic! I think between them and Lapis Lazuli it was pretty even on fans and reaction. They had a solid hard rocking set and they should be sitting pretty because Siam Shade is calling it quits and Jurassic has a similar style to them. I think Yuki`s voice maybe stronger than Hedeki`s. On drums is Crazy Shingo and he really seems to have fun playing the skins. So I hope they can make it to the next level because the guys are really cool(meaning nice guys). I have met them a couple of times at Loudness shows!
Well that was all for the night! I did notice that the crowd was a little older than usual. That is good for me!!! I don`t feel so strange being among people closer to my age. Some of the shows, the girls are really young and they look at me like" What is this guy doing here!!!"ha,ha.
Live Report#2: A big event was at Shibuya AX with CRAZE, BUG,LAID,and DAIGO on April 13 th 2002. I went to this show and let me tell you, BUG kicked some serious butt!!! I was a little late and little did I know they were up first!!! They sounded kind of like Die in Cries but with a heavier edge to them. They also did a cover of the Billy Idol song "Rebel Yell". It was pretty good. However, I did notice they used a lot prerecorded tracks as background music. It seems many bands are doing this these days. I don`t really like it but what can you do...... Anyway, they played a great set and had everyone up and dancing around. Then came DAIGO. He is a guy who thinks he is cute and dresses like a girl or a drag queen. However, he did have a cool blue suit on. However, his music is nothing special and he tried to do to much and it turned the crowd off. Anyway, the next band was LAID who I did want to see but they only played four songs and I wanted to hear more. However, the vocalist has a good voice but it is not too powerful. He reminds me of Kawamura Ryuichi with his looks. I was not too impressed with them but they are solid strait forward rock n` roll with pop choruses. As for CRAZE, they came out sounding a little off. It was not good sound and I could not hear the guitars good. The Shibuya AX is a great looking place but the sound doesn`t seems to be good there. I didn`t stay for the whole show but Craze is a good band but not on that night. It is funny that all of the members in BUG and Craze are a mixture of some of the best Japanese 90`s bands(ZI:KILL,Die in Cries, and D`erlanger ).
Pierrot: May 8-10, 2002 @ Budokan
Amu was their for two days and it was good and bad. On the 9th, we went to film a little but after arriving too late, we were chased out by a Disk Garage staff person. So I was able to shoot a little bit. On the 10th, it was raining so I was glad not bring any equipment. I tried to get in backstage but no good. So I bought a ticket and enjoyed the show. I had great seats right dead center and after kicking some girls out of my seat I was able to relax. I sat next to this nice lady who turned out to be a relative of Miyabi from Due`le quartz and a member from Baroque. She said that she really liked Kaggra so I will see them on June 16th at Shibuya On Air East! Anyway, back to Pierrot. They did a total of 16 songs and then 2 anchors of 3 song each. It started at 6:54 pm and ended at 9:13 pm. Now this is my second time seeing Pierrot by themselves. They put a lot of money into a strange stage set of lighting that surrounded the center and on four separate panels in the background. They used little lights that an image could be seen through them. It was nice but just a normal screen would have been better in my opinion. They started the set with a new song off their latest CD"Heaven". It was a heavy "Heaven" laden set with about 12 songs from the CD. I don`t have the new CD so I don`t know the names of the songs,however, most of them had a J-pop edge to them and they are moving away from their darker songs and trying to become more accessible. I really believe they are looking for a hit song like Glay,Gackt, L`arc,etc. However, Kirito's voice is good but not mainstream enough for the masses. It is similar to Laputa(meaning hard to break out into the open market). This show was being filmed for Sky Perfect TV and I think Kirito didn`t want to speak to much. The last Pierrot show I went too was crazy and a lot MCing and nasty words and sexy dancing by him and the fans. It seems they have calmed down a bit but I am sure they were holding back. They will be taking two months off before a long summer tour starting in late July!