Rainy Rave Finale Live - Studio Coast 26 May

My hip bones hurt like hell !
And there are bruises popping out now at strange places !!!
But it was indisputably shiok lah!

Well what happened on the 26th was, unfortunately in an attempt to get the full worth of my JR East pass, i decided to travel out of Tokyo that day... not that i didn't get back to Tokyo with sufficient time to arrive early at Studio Coast... but i got complacent and started dilly-dallying at Shinjuku... and before i knew it, it was fast approaching 6pm! Egad!

So I rushed to Studio Coast, making mental calculations about when I'll reach the live venue... shit, i'll just be there on the dot! No time to change into my platforms! No time to queue for the loo! No time to get an onigiri and drink and fuel up! How??!

So i quickly decided... grabbed an Oronamin C at the Station, drank it in the train just before reaching Shinkiba, decided to skip the platforms and loo, got ready my 500 Yen for the drink ticket, 300 Yen for the locker, sweets to carry with me (to fuel during the live), and of course the live ticket... and once the train opened its doors at Shinkiba station, i russssshhhheeeeddd for the darn venue!

Only to get stopped by the traffic light. uuurrrgghhh. longest traffic light wait EVAR!

Finally reached Studio Coast. Great, 6pm. They have already started calling the numbers! Rushed to the lockers, flung open the doors of the nearest one that's open, stuffed my bags in, then sped to the barricades... the guy was shouting so softly i couldn't hear the number, but i was sure it was already past 72! So i quickly walked towards the barricades. Stupid guy stopped me and wanted to see my tic! But it was all crumpled up in my hand and i was struggling to unfold it to show him the ticket (note this wasn't even the entrance check... this was the guy with the loudhailer!)...

Long and short of it (sorry to have grumbled so much about this pre-live thing so far...), by the time i got in, the closest i could stand to the stage was the 4th row. There I was, beating myself for getting to the venue late when i had such a wonderful entry number, wasn't it silly of me??! But i comforted myself that in Studio Coast, 4th row was already pretty good... and i was at Miya's side, though i wasn't quite sure how much to the side i was...

That was the bad news.

The good news was... once the live started... miraculously... very very miraculously... and up till now i have no idea how it happened... in all that pushing and shoving and confusion once the translucent curtains came down... i ended up in the 2nd row!!! And it was right in front of Miya! I was staring straight at his (snarling) face! And cos the 1st row girls were not standing that close to each other, i could push like my entire head into the hole between their heads... hahaha... it sounds so funny now... basically i was really happy with my view... could see Miya's performance so clearly, Satochi too... Tatsurou if i looked to my left... the only unfortunate thing was i couldn't quite see Yukke unless i stretched my head a little, but that was still possible.

Some random things again...
- The muckers are a cheeky bunch. During the 10min countdown to the live, when the screen came to 6:09, a bunch of muckers shouted out "muuukkkuu!", hahaha! then at 3:08, they shouted "miiiyaaa!!!", hahahahaha.... so people in the audience caught on to this, and when it finally came to 0:38, everyone shouted "miiiiyyyyaaaa!!!"

- All 3 in front were barefoot... oh my, Miya has such cleancut toenails... probably more pedicured than mine! And why do their skin look so good on the stage??! Is it the lighting??!

- Setlist did not, alas, produce any surprises... and yup, they did not play [空忘れ] again!

- Miya's guitar-playing has definitely improved... and his overall performance too. I couldn't take my eyes off his fingers, i tellya.

- I think it was the proximity to Miya... the main thing i remember about this live was Miya, Miya, Miya.

- Otherwise, best band moment for me was one of the guitar solos in [シヴァ]... Yukke & Miya were in the middle playing together, Tatsu was rocking together behind with Satochi... perfect band moment.

- Most high moment was during one of the songs in the encore when Miya was the first one to go round to Satochi, picked up a drumstick and started banging at a cymbal! Then the other 2 got into the action too... Satochi became Mr Popular! But when Yukke first tried to get up to the platform that Satochi's drumset was on, he lost his balance and fell over to the stage... that was at Miya's side of the stage, so he looked over to us and gave a meek smile XD

- When members came out for the encore, some of them did the jump thing with the audience again!

- During the encore, Tatsurou suddenly discovered, the cloth near his groin area... had a hole! The audience went "woooooooooo!!!" He was like "eh! what happened?!".. .and then quickly covered it with another part of the cloth from his trousers...

- Miya got so high at the end... he even went to the back of the stage to grab a bunch of picks to throw at the audience...

- Divers, divers, divers!!! No joke, these divers... luckily i wasn't scathed by them... but a few people around me were, and i realized that the people in the first row have it tough too... sometimes the divers roll down so fast, the people in the first row have to bend their heads down so low just to get these people off... you can imagine how terrible that felt because at the front row you're pressing your body against really hard railings...

- There were at least 4 cameras pointing at the stage... chances of a DVD or television broadcast coming up?

The amazing thing is, after the live, although i was dripping wet (and my clothes were not even dry the next morning), my legs were not as painful as the night before. Maybe it was the trackshoes instead of the platforms. But like i mentioned above, it was my arms and back and stomach and hips that were (and still are) shouting for help... but it's still tolerable, and strangely, in a satisfying way! i was so exhilirated after the live, and i couldn't sleep that night...

Overall my live experiences at the Rainy Rave lives were more enjoyable than the last album tour, i.e. the Psychedelic Analysis ones. Of course not to mention the Houyoku album tour. Looking forward to their next piece of work!

Yuzu 'Wonderful World' - Saitama Super Arena 24 May

The tour's titled after their latest album, which was released this year after a 2+ year wait.

It was a very wholesome live, with a wide profile of people in the audience - the young, old, guys, gals, couples, friends, families... the most memorable was this entire family which ended up in the row just behind me... the parents dressed up their kids (i'm guessing around 4-7 years old) into... what else... little yuzus! XD and these kids were awesome... they didn't kick up a ruckus at all during the show, and could even sing along to some of the tunes... word for word!


Not sure if it's a yuzu live thing, since this is my first time checking out their live, but it starts with the blasting of that morning exercise refrain that i suppose every primary and secondary school broadcasts every morning... so the entire audience stood up and starting doing the morning exercises together... yes... even the old uncles in the audience... so of couse i joined in lah :P


The personalities of the yuzu members are so distinct... you can see why they complement each other so well... overall their performance was v polished, with a good mix of laughter vs touching moments and fast vs slow numbers. Perhaps it was the theme of the album, but curiously i was quite touched at their delivery of a number of songs.

Towards the end when the backdrop and dancers popped out (and the kids behind started singing), it seemed like one huuuuggge family outing. You just gotta give it to the Japanese for the live-going culture.


For the encore, instead of shouting for the encore, the audience started singing the chorus of Wonderful World... on repeat until they boys came out... that was cool too.

Rainy Rave - Studio Coast 25 May

Rained in the day on Rainy Rave day!

- 10 min to the live, a big counter flashed on the screen, counting down to the start of the live. In the background was a rotating mucc symbol that changed colour with every minute... finally the last minute when the background reverted back to its original red colour... the atmosphere was awesome!
- when the translucent screen came down halfway into the first song, woa! a breathtaking backdrop. on the screen, out of a lotus rose a crystal ball, with the mucc symbol on it, and 'mucc' written in english at the bottom of it (though the 'u' looked a little strange...). The crystal ball was flanked by 2 fierce-looking deities, very elaborately drawn... behind Yukke and Miya were standing blindscreens, each with a different flower (lotus) motifs... and the motifs were replicated on each of Satochi's 2 bass drums. Overall, it was a magnificent view! Members were dressed as previously, in the line with the Shion theme.
- There was an extra speaking monologue in the middle of [小さな窓] added during this live
- [蘭鋳] is the song where the band gets the audience to squat down before all jumping up again
- Had an excellent view of Satochi... his drumming was especially powerful in this live!
- Setlist was nothing new from the rest of this tour. Halfway through, during the performance of one of the live favourites, the backdrop changed back to the normal white mucc symbol on black background, and the stage effects focused on the lighting instead.
- When members came out for the encore, starting with Satochi, they had this thing where they would jump with the audience... except for Tatsu though the audience was prompting him to do so XD
- It was Satochi's dad's birthday!
- Live was about 2.5h, shorter than Sendai (3h)
- Congratulatorybouquets included one from D'erlanger
- Saw Seek walking out with a few other people after the live

Tokyo audience was way rougher than the Sendai audience... in the beginning was stuck with a bunch of really aggressive (& short) muckers who was really into jumping, dancing in circles & headbanging... i hafta admit, i actually like the parts when the audience headbangs, cos then i get a full view of all the members! anyway, i think today I'll be in for a hard time if I'm gonna squeeze right in front... went to the front to recce last night and overhead a mucker saying her chest was flattened... 0_o

Best songs in my view for 25 May were [小さな窓] (almost perfect rendition - emotional, yet held in at the right moments, [シヴァ] (Yukke & Miya's solos were v intense) and [流星]. They didn't play [空忘れ] again!

Rainy Rave - Sendai Club Junk Box 23 May 08

Just back from my first live for this trip - Rainy Rave @ Sendai!

It was good!
Is all i can say :)

Very quickly...
I was at Miya's end, had a pretty good view of him and Tatsu throughout the live. Could see Yukke now and then, but I really had to stretch my neck to see Satochi - the stage was so low!
Went over to see his drums at the end of the live... he wasn't using his new double-bass drumset, but his drumming was still pretty awesome, especially in [ゲーム], [1979] and [志恩]. This set had a neat lotus design in line with the Shion theme.

Crowd's reaction was great! You can tell they've been waiting for a long time to see the band.

Miya was in excellent form. Already at the 1st and 2nd songs [梟の揺り篭] & [塗り潰すなら臙脂], he was already deep into it, especially [塗り潰すなら臙脂] since there're plenty of guitar solos in that one. Man... he was snarling at the audience most of the time, hahaa... only time he smiled was when they played [謡声], and towards the end. One song he obviously enjoyed playing (it seemed to me) was [シヴァ] - he does that screech right at the beginning btw!

Just some random things i can remember...
- Opening of [アンジャベル] was different... i expected it to be [ファズ] but it turned out to be [アンジャベル] instead... and Tatsu was excellent in his rendition, it moved me to tears (urrgh i'm so weak)
- During [ファズ], the audience joined in the wow-wow portion... frankly it felt so strange!
- [ゲーム] live is quite powerful. There was a new added portion not in the recorded version.
- Having the programming mix with the live had its good and bad moments... some parts sounded quite natural but for others i think they might have to work on it a bit more...
- They didn't play [空忘れ]... i think? well i can' remember hearing it... hope they play it at Studio Coast
- In the middle of [リブラ], i was thinking to myself, nothing beats mucc-sound. Really, it's that mucc-sound. :)

Okay other non-setlist stuff...
- In the middle of the encore, Tatsu started taking pics of the audience... and then himself, and briefly the people on the stage... then Yukke noticed and came forward to be taken, but Tatsu had already put down the cam... heehee but later on Tatsu went over the Yukke's side and choh-chohed him a bit... and Yukke was obviously enjoying it XD
- During the encore, Tatsu came out with a huge bottle of mineral water and handed it to the audience in front of him... with styrofoam cups... a result of their American live experiences? :) Anyway, the audience was like fumbling with it... so in the end... Tatsu actually helped pour the water into the cups for them XD ... Miya also had some water which he splashed to the crowd... and later on, so did Tatsu... from that HUGE bottle... so everyone, and i mean everyone, got wet! - Was it during Ranchuu?... Can't remember which song now (yuj, do you know?), but they actually got everyone to like... squat down??... in the tiny livehouse!!... and then they talked for a while onstage... and then when the song re-started, the audience like jumped up all at once! I was, of course, not aware of this 'new' thingy XD... so i just followed suit, hahaha

2 more RR lives... 25/5 I'll probably be stuck in the depths of the far end in the audience, since my ticket number is so humongous! But I suppose I'll just enjoy the show from the back since it's at Studio Coast so there's likely to be a good laser show or backdrop screen going on there... as for 26/5, I'm hoping to get to the first row... wish me luck!