Live Reports for 2004
updated Dec 31,2004
Well it has been a long time since I have written a live report. As you know, I was out of the country for four months. Now we will be including indie bands also in these reports!!
D主催「Mad tea party Vol.2」 　　
D/Duel Jewel/phylia/ギミック/12012/
ゲスト GULLET
Feb.18th,2004.
This was at the Takadanobaba AREA which in known for Visual Rock bands.This night was put on by D which is comprised of ex-Syndrome members Asagi and Ruiza. Now Asagi is a great singer so I thought I would check him out but as it turned out, they were upstaged by the guest act of Gullet. Now for D, they really didn't have any songs that really hit me but the opening and second songs were good. Asagi really needs to expand his range because it seems like the songs they are making don't make use of his voice like they should. Gullet on the other hand had a guy who could really use is vocal range to the fullest and it showed. They played about 7 songs and all of them were great even though there was guitar trouble from the get go. They seemed to really think about what needs to be done about sounding different. They also had a good look. Similar to my old favorite band NEED. They wore the black suits with the tough guy attitude. However, the vocalist looked more visual with long hair on one side and with black leather pants. He really looks like Atsushi from Buck Tick!!! So girls, this is the band for you!!!
Now Duel Jewel was the next best band of the night and they really have that go get`em attitude and having fun on stage. That was great to see since these guys apparently played in the US for four tour dates all over the country. I think they represented Japanese Rock well enough to win over a few fans. The songs were average but the vocals and overall stage presence made up for the rest! Now, phylia,ギミックand 12012 were nothing special. I was really surprised by 12012 since they are with Kisaki's new label Under Code Productions and they didn't look anything like the poster and flyers! Umm. Nobody knew who they were and they didn't introduce themselves!! Bad move!!!
 
Kagrra
Shibuya Kokkaido
March 3, 2004
This was a big show for these young guys. Of course I have seen them many times and it was nice to talk to them a bit after the show, however, there are some changes in direction. First, since this was the first show with a major label(Columbia Music Entertainment) the staff was bigger and the promotion was nice. The stage looked like a Hina Matsuri doll set with a red staircase in the back. Know the show started just around 6:58pm. They came out really cool by two's on each side of the stage from below up to the top! Nice touch! Then Isshi came out by himself as the first song started. "Hiyakki Yakko" was a great song to start out with. It is one they usually do at the end of a show and this got everyone into it. The only problem with this show was that is seemed as if the sound engineer had problems mixing the sound and thus sometimes it was too loud or not enough. Know I don't want to list every song but let me tell you the first 3 songs were great and the fans appreciated them. The visuals were also cool with Kagrra like Japanese writings ,montages of landscapes,weather, and the night sky. They finally kicked into their new songs around 30 minutes later and let me tell you, they rock hard! I was surprised how heavy the new stuff was! So if haven' t purchased "Miyako" yet, then go get it! Isshi has a cool vocal solo in which he had on a white Kimono with the arms stretched two both sides of the stage. This was a cool effect but his voice was hard to hear at some points. I think they will get the hang of playing bigger places but they did seem a little taken with how big the stage was. They also made a few announcements. On 4/7/2004, the last indies live show at Shibuya AX last Dec. 2, will be released as a live DVD. Also, in the summer, the Kokkaido show will also be made into a DVD. Finally, they will embark on a nationwide tour at then end of summer around august, so look out for them. Also, we will be trying to bring them to Los Angeles for a show in the summer also! Thanks to PS Company for inviting us!
Merryメリー
KudanKaikan Dai Hall (near the Budokan)
July 18, 2004
This was my first time seeing them this year and they had just released their new album"Modern Gaude". So of course the show will filled with new songs! They started out with GARA by myself singing Kuro Hae which was accomplice by small orchestra section!! These guys are always thinking of something new! Next was down with the drapes and the whole band appeared ready for the next hour and forty five minutes of pure energy and fun. Although this live was a little more adult oriented meaning a sort of serious mood to it, none the lest, the fans loved every minute of it. We sent the guys some flowers and they looked lonely since only one other company did the same. After a whopping 19 songs they gave us an anchor of 2 songs I believe. I was sort of tired after standing for the whole show. Anyway, after the show the guys looked good and they were happy and invited me to see the next show a week later at Club Holiday.....
 
メリーMerry
Club Holiday (Shibaura)
July 24, 2004
Now this club is like a disco! It has the mirrored pillars and a small but wide stage. Let me tell ya, the boys really packed them in! Did I mention, at the last show, since it was a hall, the crowd all had seats (except me). Here at Club Holiday, since it is a night club there were no chairs to be found except for me(and the selected few) upstairs!! Umm..... Anyway, These are the shows the fans like the most since that can jump up and down and rush the stage! The whole feeling was different and the excitement was in the air. They starting out with Lost Generation off the new album. It is a great song that got everyone moving. The next 5 songs were all from "Modern Gaude". This is an great second album so pick it up! So to make a long concert short they ended up doing 15 songs with about 3 encores to total about 20 songs. Now that is what I call giving the fans what they deserve. However, this was the first time I have not seen NERO do a drum solo! I asked him about it and he said that usually at the Hall's he does one but in the smaller places he sometimes does or not. I gave the guys of rough edit of their part in the film and I hope they liked it. Anyway, if you want to see Merry outside of Japan then watch the new film" Deru Kugi Wa Utareru" out sometime in 2005. We will try to bring the guys to the US as soon as possible.
Kagero
Club Holiday
August 27, 28, 29.
Now after trying to get the permission to use Kagero's song in my film, I was invited by their management to see the guys play live. It has been a long time since I have seen them so I was happy to attend. I went on the last day which I hear was not the best. I really couldn't tell since I heard many new songs and they seemed tight to me. However, I guess I could tell that Daisuke's voice was a little tired after two days straight by the middle of the set. They have grown in the past two years and their songs showed a new flavor. They could be called funky in a beat since and that made them easy to groove to.... To be continued..
 
 
Anthem
Kawasaki Club Citta
September 4, 2004.
Well it has been a year since their last show at the same venue and they have not lost a step. The set featured many new songs from their latest"Enteral Warrior" album. However, like last year`s show, they pulled out some oldies and those really rocked the house! Here is the set list from Akio Shimizu:

ONSLAUGHT
ETERNAL WARRIOR
SOUL CRY
NIGHT AFTER NIGHT
CRYIN' HEART
ROUGH AND WILD
Bass Solo～DISTRESS
Jam～Guitar Solo～OMEGA MAN～Drum Solo
LIFE GOES ON
DEMON'S RIDE
GRIEVE OF HEART
OVERLOAD
BOUND TO BREAK
RUNNING BLOOD
EN. 1
LET THE NEW DAY COME
BLEEDING
EN. 2
SHADOW WALK
GYPSY WAYS(WIN, LOSE OR DRAW）
EN. 3
LAY DOWN
ROCK'N'ROLL SURVIVOR
WILD ANTHEM
EN. 4
GOTTA GO
WARNING ACTION
Now they did almost the same thing last year by leaving and then coming back to do more encores. However, the fans really cheered and wanted more and more. 6000 yen is kind of a high price but it was worth it with all those great songs and memories. Thanks Anthem!!!!!

Kagrra
Liquid Room (Ebisu)
Sept. 9th, 2004
Well the guys have just come off a 10 stop country wide tour. They all looked healthy and sounded good. Ishii had mentioned that they were all safe but a little surprised at the earthquake that happened on Sept. 5th while there were playing in Nagoya. The said the lights started shaking and people new an earthquake had occurred. However, everyone was okay. So in tonight's show, they wanted to have there own "Earthquake" with the fans through their music! It was a great show that featured many news songs and a few old ones too. As you know, the Kagrra song names are hard to read and sometimes hard to understand since they are like stories but they did do the two songs that will be in my up coming film" Deru Kugi Wa Utareru" Makeki and Sakura Mai Chiru Ano Soko de". Both songs were done in the encore 1 and encore 2. To be continued...
 
Buck Tick
Yokohama Arena
Sept.11, 2004
First of all, this was a strange day for the Shin-Yokohama area. Two big shows were taking place and both venues were close to the station. I had no idea why so many people were on the trains until I realized Mr. Children and Buck Tick had shows on the same day and time! All things aside, it was a great show. Thanks to Ms. Aoyama, I was given another great seat. Now this show had some really great lighting, pyro, and visuals throught out the show. It was well choreographed. Now, unfortunately, I had not gotten a hold of their latest CD so they did a lot of new material. However, the songs are solid and although they show growth, they are still in the vain of the new BT sound. However, they did pull out some oldie but goodies like: Candy, Jupiter, Psysical Neurose and of course Cosmos which always seems to be their last song!
 

Kagrra
Shibuya Kokkaido
Dec.20, 2004
Well, this was an interesting show. I of course was running late and I got there just as the first song began. However, during the end of the second show, all Hell broke loose!!!! Well maybe I am exaggerating a bit but the band was rushed off stage.... Then the lights came up......Then the smoke began to fill the Kokkaido......Oh, my goodness is this a fire..... Nope but is sure looked like it. We were all told to leave the building and wait outside. A few people suffered from smoke inhalation and maybe a one or two girls were really in bad shape. So we all ended up waiting over an hour before the smoke cleared and the show resumed.Oh a Shout out to Mari San!!! Much to our dismay, they didn't start the show over.... They started into another song and they had to cut the show short because of the time delay. Now the explanation was some pyrotechnics that didn't seem to quit after they went off at the begging of that first song (Which I missed of course). Now naming all of the Kagrra songs is a chore I don't want to do. I am sure they have it on their web site however, like always they ended strong with Sakura Michiru no Oka de. The crowd really responded and everyone was really loud with the audience participation part! The band was even surprised! Now there was a rumor of them breaking up but Nao said that was not true and they are looking forward to their next tour which will start in April 2005. They will have two new single out in February and of course the will have their annual Hima Matsuri(Girls day) Girls only Live show in March.
These are the Live Kagrra Songs!! No they did not do them all but these are what they choose from! 鬼遊の唄 魔笛 鵺の哭く頃 混沌 しみめゆきさあ 白い魔手 桜～再会の華～ 碧の葬列 妖祭 沙羅双樹の子守唄 幻惑の情景 眩暈 神謌 徒然なるままに 刹なる言葉 百鬼夜行 輪廻黙示録 夢イズル地 西遊記 傀儡の躁鬱 悲文 罪ト罰 戯園 案山子 いろはにほへと 恋綴魂 桜舞い散るあの丘で 妖しの光 諷説 異邦境 鬼戦 秘慥 幻憶 骸の砦 悲恋鬼談 命 終焉の季節 春麗ら 嘆きの詩 乱 月下想葬 あまふらせ たんまいな 奇祭 桜花爛漫 じゃじゃうま姫伝 逢魔ヶ刻 母へ･･･ 七月七日 愁 戀 華 京 幽現の人 咒 闇に散りけり･･･ 涅槃経 冬幻境 源平闘戰譚 螺旋 徒然謌 凛 祀 詠 憶 滅 葬
 
Beauti-Fools Fest -the last one-
Featuring, Merry, Kagrra, Kagero, Plastic Tree, Saiko ru Shamu(Psyho le Cemu), etc.
Dec.26th, 2005
I missed the show last year because of my father's death.... But I am back in Japan and this should be a good show!
Okay, so I get up there around 2:00pm and unfortunately, I miss ed....メリー-Merry-,KLACK,Rentrer en soi,Phantasmagoria, and just got to see the last two songs of Kra. I must say, the vocalist from Kra is a good singer. Now just my luck, Kagrra was next! However, this time there were no special effects mishaps. They played about 5 songs which seemed the limit on all bands the whole night except Plastic Tree. Now the crowd seemed to enjoy Kagrra, however, they played only their latest single and mostly slower tunes. However, they started out with "Mateki" which was great! Next up ガゼット-Gazette- Now out of all of the bands(that I saw) these guys really seem to have the crowd enchanted. However, they left me with the impression of a Dir en grey rip off band. I saw the show last year on tape and they were completely different. Also, this was my first time seeing them live and I felt bad because I could not really hear the songs clearly. They need to turn down their amps a bit and play clearly so us virgin listeners can understand what they are trying to do. However, they were a head banging bunch!!!Next was...Psycho le cemu.. Ummm.... What the heck. No drums!!! Oh, know.. It's the dancing Psycho le cemu boys!!!! They didn't nothing but the goofy dancing and their dance number type songs. However, they pulled it off and most people seemed content! You know, it just goes to show who can really play in that band anyway. Lida and Seek!!! The other guys are just filling in! Next..蜉蝣 -Kagero- Well, they looked and sounded good. Daisuke is still a fan favorite and the songs were solid. The boys will be touring in France for the first time in Feb. 2005 so that should be exciting for them. Oh, they also gave everyone a CD containing a video of their history and future. Next up was シド-Shed- Now this was my first time to hear these guys and they are a lot different than there looks. They have a jazzy 50's style pop-rock sound. They really are good musicians and although people were taken by surprise, I am sure they gained some new fans. Count me as one! Oh, they only played 3 songs by the way but they are a new band and I am sure they have more ready for there next live. Next up was Plastic Tree. Well, I had not seem them in over a year so I was interested in any new songs they had. They played, however, my favorite.. Psycho Gun. Whew. That did it for me. So that made me want to see them again at the Shibuya Kokkaido, Tuesday Dec. 28th. Check out that report below. Next up was the last band of the night; none other than ムック-MUCC- Wow these guys blew the Roof off the place. There songs are so heavy and deep sounding. I was sitting dead center on these risers that everyone was a little worried because they shook so much. I was prepared for it to collapse but alas they did not! Whew!!! They only played a 5 song set and they were gone .....quickly too....Next up was Metallica!!!!!!! Well, their song"Enter Sandman"anyway played loudly in the background as they tried to clear out the place. It was jamming so most people stayed until they cut off the music. Now getting out of that place was a nightmare. It was at the same station as Tokyo Disneyland! So you could image a Sunday night with Disney customers and Visual/Rocker freaks on the same trains and monorails!!! It was funny! All in all it was a good show but I wished I had seen the other four bands. Oh, well!!!!

Plastic Tree
Shibuya Kokkaido, Dec.28th, 2004
Well this was there last and tour final for 2004. They did not disappoint either. They played a solid set with a few visuals in between. However, let's talk about my ticket luck. Since seeing these guys a two days before, I wasn't feeling this was a must see show but I wanted a full Plastic Tree show. So if I could find I discounted ticket, I would go. It turns out that the place that I saw the ticket earlier in the week for 3,500 yen had two tickets for 500 yen each!!!! Wow, boy was I lucky. Bought them both thinking I could sell one since the show was sold out!!! Bad move.. Lesson one! When trying to sell an extra ticket, it is good to have a sign telling people. You have to compete with the low level Yakuza ticket gangsters and they don't like you to do so. So I was wondering around for 30 minutes in the cold trying to sell the ticket. At the last minute, I was just going to give it away. Hey only 500 yen!!! So I saw this young lady running up the the ticket window since they still had same day ticket's available(for 5,500 yen). So I asked her if she wanted my ticket. She looked at my like a was crazy. Then while she was thinking I said.. Okay, free no charge. I just want to get rid of it. my friend didn't show up" I said. She then asked.. "Are they both side by side" and I replied yes. So then she said... Oh, no thanks... What!!!! Would anyone not having a ticket turn one down? For free? I was a little angry but I held it in and told the ticket guy to give the ticket to somebody else...Of course he was not allowed to do this. So I ended up with a nice place to put my coat and bag while enjoying the show. There latest CD[cell.] was a feature for the night and they did every song I am told. My favorites were the 4th and 5th song. Then the 9th song was cool and at about the one hour mark... It was time for -24-! Well a parody of the popular American TV show which is suppose to take place in real time. Well, there version was not too clear to me but it took up about 10 minutes to give the guys some rest. So make a long report short, they banged out another 10 songs which were mixed from their past few CD's and they also had some cool visual effects like the traditional Japanese writing of the lyrics in the background from Down to Left position. This was very cool however, I have seen similar at a Cali & Gari show a few years ago. Of course my favorite Psycho Gun was played last before the encore song which nothing more than the band jamming and screaming out the last years frustrations and head banging! It was fun! Next up however was Buck Tick the next night!
 
Buck Tick
Nippon Budokan
Dec. 29th, 2004
The Day in Question: Day 3!
Well, they have expanded their "Days in Question" show to two other locations in other parts of the country. However, the Budokan show is always a great one. They did not disappoint starting out with "Iconclasm" which is one of my favorites by the way. Then another good one "Speed". Before you knew it, 16 songs had passed and the show was over......Encore time! Yes, this was a nice extra 6 songs in total and the fans keep on screaming for more. The good thing about this show was that they were not promoting any new albums but actually, Atsushi Sakurai on vocals did a song for a movie soundtrack which is called [The Last Supper] and the name of the song is [Rebirth] which the ending theme song. So this was a good end to the year 2004. They will have a new album out in April 2005 and a tour to follow right after! Thanks again to B-T and Ms. Nomura. Oh, interesting enough, after the show I met up with Merry! The guys seemed to enjoy the show and they will be having a big show at the Shibuya Kokkaido in March. More about that in the news section! Oh, a shout out to Chika(my good old B-T buddy) Yuuki (008)and Jun ex. 008 and her friends Makoto and Hijiri.
Set List:

01.ICONOCLASM
02.スピード
03.GLAMOROUS
04.Tight Rope
05.M・A・D
06.MY FUCKIN' VALENTINE
07.キャンディ
08.ドレス
09.SILENT NIGHT
10.Sid Vicious ON THE BEACH
11.LIMBO
12.唄
13.幻想の花
14.Baby, I want you.
15.極東より愛を込めて
16.鼓動
Encore Set's one and two
1.タナトス
2.悪の華
3.LOVE ME
1.JUST ONE MORE KISS
2.BRAN-NEW LOVER
3.JUPITER
That is all for 2004!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now on to 2005!!!!!!