An Osaka Year

Passes quickly. I came to Osaka last year on November 26th, and already it's December the next year. Somethings feel as though they happened ages ago, like the HETERODOXY lives over summer and tripping to Kobe on that day there was a crazy typhoon. But other things feel like they just happened, like getting my iPhone and doing hanami at the Osaka Castle park.

So here's to a year and many memories. ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

GROAN OF DIPLOSOMIA 01 @ Kobe

So, for the last of my week of "live hell" (this is like a series now) was the GazettE on 10/16 at Kobe Bunka Hall. This was the best show out of the four I've been to so far (I'm off to the two days at NHK Hall next week) and just a generally awesome day. :D

It started simply. I decided that Jiroko would be coming with me to the show, so when she showed up at my apartment for our meet up around noon, I told her she was coming with me and we went.

Kobe isn't far, so we got there in plenty of time and dined on the quality cuisine of Saizeriya. This is Jiroko being excitable.

And here am I, being six years old.

Purikura was taken, as is the tradition. 8D

We finally meandered over to the hall and waited outside in a lively park for a while, watching a bunch of girls in ancient as fuck tour shirts take group pictures and having lulzy chats, until finally it was time to head into the hall.

Jiroko purchased her ticket day of, at which I was enlightened once more to the unprecedented joys of day-of tickets. I got mine from the album insert, so I was in the back of the first floor (still a great view, especially since a bunch of the seats around me were empty; see the photo below), but she actually got first row balcony (though apparently standing was a little dangerous, haha).

As I said before, this was the best of the lives for me so far. It really had a strong feeling of being like the Kansai tour final (I vaguely recall Ruki saying something similar on stage). Lots of good MC, lots of interaction and showiness, and they drug out the encores and the Dogeza for us at the end to, like a proper tour final.

The setlist:

[Diplosomia]
[XI]
DERANGEMENT
GABRIEL ON THE GALLOWS
VENOMOUS SPIDER'S WEB
VORTEX
CLEVER MONKEY
THE SUICIDE CIRCUS
DRIPPING INSANITY
余韻
影踏み
籠の蛹
[Depth]
歪
ヘドロ
MY DEVIL ON THE BED
SLUDGY CULT
HEADACHE MAN
ATTITUDE
REQURDE MALFUNCTION

[EN]
Ride with the ROCKERS
TOMORROW NEVER DIES
VERMIN
Filth in the beauty
COCKROACH
LINDA～candy dive pinky heaven～

[WEN]
関東土下座組合


I was really moved by 余韻 and 影踏み this time around. I don't know what the big change was for sure, but they show the words, basically the grieving process, up on the screen and then cut to an ocean before going into 余韻, and something about this time around I felt myself get a little misty-eyed. It was really beautiful and overwhelming, I thought.

This time ヘドロ was a little more strung together than before, which was a little bit of a disappointment for me, but all that was washed away the second Ruki picked up that cane and MY DEVIL ON THE BED started. Fuck yes. This song. I could just watch it and watch it. We threw down (me and the high schoolers beside me, we had fun moshing into each other) hardcore for this. ATTITUDE was amazing again as well.

I think most of the members spoke at this live for a second, too, which was boss. Even if Aoi only asked us if we'd seen his club Zy article and waved it at us for three seconds before returning to living his life. At one point he sat down to play during the Dogeza, and I found myself musing at whether he was bored, haha. And you already know it, but Uruha was throwing down again. I think you can kind of tell he works out a lot, his stamina is tops.

Other stuff happened, if I remember I'll update this, haha. My memory is shit for my age. :/

Anyway, we finally let out and headed back to Sannomiya for some post live curry rice and fan girling.

Post live kampai for Ruki on the way back to Osaka.

I'm about to fall asleep now, so I'm off to bed and to prepare for 凛-the end of corruption world- tomorrow. Good night ☆

GROAN OF DIPLOSOMIA 01 @ Biwako

The third live of my week of "live hell" was the GazettE at Biwako Hall in Shiga prefecture. This was a really great live for many reasons for me. One big one was that I hadn't preorder tickets. I just suggested to K that if she had nothing to do, we could ride over to Shiga on Sunday afternoon after work and see the GazettE. And it was kind of a joke, but then it became real and we went and bought tickets day of.

BEST. IDEA. EVER.

It was great. I've never been to Shiga before, so we hurried out of Osaka on the JR soon after work just to be on the safe side. We arrived in plenty of time to dawdle and derp about the area, take pictures with the bus and what have you. We even got goods without a problem (except for those damn lighters, they'll never be mine)!

The hall was quite big and located right on Lake Biwa, which we ignored like proper bangya with our live-day jitters. Lots of cosplayers here, more so than I saw at any of the other lives.

This big road that lead to a Parco, where everyone was hanging out before the live. The only Parco I had ever been to before this was in Shibuya, so it was lulzy experience, the country Parco. Lots of uncomfortable, drawn out stares and general anxiety by the people around us, which was a little bit of an awkward reminder of where we were. :D

We took this purikura in Umeda after we got back to Osaka. I don't know why I put it here.

K is unenthused about Mos Burger lunch. Me too, man. I think were both feeling a little ill from nerves and waking up as bitchass in the morning to do morning shift at work.

I was also worried our seats would be crazy bad since we were buying day of, but it turned out we got some really nice tickets actually! This actually happened again with Jiroko at the Kobe show, which has opened my eyes a little to the joys of Day-Of Tickets.  We were on the 2nd floor (aka the second half of the first floor) right behind the tech booths. I thought there lights would disrupt the concert for me, too, but the didn't. It was magical. Perfect, uninhibited view of the entire band and smack in front of Ruki. It was bliss.

This picture was from after the show of course, but a good idea of what the stage was like for us. The hall wasn't so large inside, either, so they weren't so far either.

Anyway, the show itself was excellent! Really smooth going this time, though, it was a little strange getting started because I couldn't shake the weird of seeing the GazettE out in the country side. But this time the transitions were smooth, everything seemed practiced and efficient.

Uruha, again, was crazy playful. Not too much movement from Aoi or Reita here that I can recall, but then again I had my eyes on Ruki most of the time. He really had down his posing scheme with the lights; man knows how to play with his silhouette. In ATTITUDE when they show the lyrics up on the screen, whenever they put up the whispery part

THE IMAGE IS EMBODIED UNTIL DIE

he would throw his arms out and head back and I swear he looked like some becrazed, headless madman. Like a real, honest-to-god Jekyll and Hyde madman. It was brilliant and it will remain on my retinas until death.

I really wish I could recall some more details about interactions. There was some interesting moment between Uruha and Ruki, but I can't even really recall, nothing big. A little more MC here than previous shows, that was nice. XD

The setlist:

[Diplosomia]
[XI]
DEPANGEMENT
GABRIEL ON THE GALLOW
SLUDGY CULT
VENOMOUS SPIDER’S WEB
CLEVER MONKEY
THE SUICIDE CIRCUS
DRIPPING INSANITY
余韻
影踏み
籠の蛹
[Depth]
歪
ヘドロ
VERMIN
FILTH IN THE BEAUTY
HEADACHE MAN
ATTITUDE
REQURDE MALFUNCTION
[Melt]

[EN]
Ride with the ROCKERS
AGONY
VORTEX
HYENA
COCKROACH
LINDA～candy dive pinky heaven～

[WEN]
関東土下座組合


All the bolds, btw, are the performances I liked best from the show. I don't think I mentioned that, haha. But yea, ヘドロ and ATTITUDE and even REQUIRED MALFUNCTION, I feel like they just really tore it up like some grungy rock stars here, I can't even lie. It was at this live when they were playing ヘドロ actually when I felt the heaviness of the new music the easiest, I think, because the heaviness of the new album (imho anyway) is kind of really obscured by the electronic alterations. But hearing them tear it up in ヘドロ without to much editting to cloud them up, it became very clear. I felt even at parts of this song that chords and order were going completely awry and it was 100% amazing.

Anyway, when the hall let out everyone hung around the hall for forever and we were super confused as to why so many people were hanging around and for what purpose, when we realised... Oh yea, we're in the country. People are waiting for their car rides home. Hahahahaha...

Living in the city here will turn your mind into fucking soup. :D

Anyway, when we came out at night and it was dark, we had the most beautiful scenery to look over.

The top is the hall and the bottom are the lights and a giant fountain across Lake Biwa. Really beautiful, kind of like the Florida coast line and resort area from across the water. And stars! We could see so many stars in the sky!

Just behind the hall was the beautiful set up. There was a jazz festival happening, so there was this lovely candle-lit area we walked through for a moment (looked a lot like the lights from the Tokae Festival in Nara). Anyway, with the sounds of the festival activities and other people wandering and the lights, it was really just the most luxurious atmosphere in the world that evening. If K had been a cute boy with nice hair I might have tried something on her, hahaha! Like my standards?

Another great point of this live was that K managed to snatch me up this beauty in the goods line...

dun dun dun

The bear speaker! YAAAAY! I was fucking ecstatic. I was wondering if it was going to be possible at all and now he's mine forever. I love him, but I have to admit there's something creepy about pulling all the wires out the back. Kind of like disemboweling him or something. Kinda creeps me out. D:

That's about all for the Shiga live. Next time I'll post the last of the week of "live hell", the Kobe show. When did this become a live/concert blog? That really isn't my intention here.

Anyway, this came about a week ago in the mail for me! the GazettE x TSUTAYA 「Wear the music!」limited shirt. I ordered the regular version of the album and this baby and sent in a postcard for a chance at winning a special live ticket for SHIBUYA O-EAST on Christmas eve. Of course, there's no way in hell I will win since it's only 1000 people, but had to try and see right? Shirt is fucking adorable.