ムック@日本武道館「球体」, and more! (Part II)

Cosplayers galore!

If you bought all 3 versions of the album, you get 3 lucky draw tries... the top prize is free mucc lives for the entire year! XD

Disappointed chap... well at least you get 3 stickers & a phone strap as a consolation prize.
Ding~ding~diiinnnggg~!!! Someone won a big prize!

Congratulatory flowers~
Yea maCoto hair! :D!

haha!!! trick photo! of course this wasn't from budokan lah...

ムック@日本武道館「球体」, and more! (Part I)

It was an impromptu decision to go watch mucc @ budokan this time round. Why? Well, the timing was good, i was looking for a short break and had mileage to claim anyway. The trip turned out to be fantastic. As for the live... well, it was mixed. Don't misunderstand, i enjoyed the 2nd mucc budokan experience thoroughly. But, if you want my honest feedback, i reckon that their 1st budokan performance was better.

Tour Goods!

Arrived at the live venue about 3h before the scheduled start (2h before they start admitting people into the hall), and what did i see the moment i turned left from the main road? The end of the goods queue!!! So freaking long! So without hesitation i quickly joined it... but woa, it snaked like forEVER. Everyone around me kept going "Goodness!" everytime we turned the corner and saw that the line was longer than we imagined it to be.

Check out the queue! At this point everyone was distracted by a show-off between a roaming cat and the resident crow on the roof of the entrance... the crow won in the end. XD

Stood in line for longer than an hour to finally buy those darn goods, by which time the t-shirts were already sold out. Not that I'd have gotten that though. The best goods i bought was not even a tour goods item... it was the mucc 2009 calendar. It was an absolute riot!!! One member draws a picture for each month, usually a picture representing something that month. Miya's drawings are...are... one-of-a-kind, is all i can say!!! XD!

& in addition to the actual Japanese holidays, they've also flagged out special mucc-related dates, like 69day (of course), the members' birthdates (where each member will draw a cake...Satochi's is the funniest... his cake is in the shape of a nose), and weird dates like "Muffler Day", "Corn Beef Day" (yes you read right!) where the sound of the item matches the date... i can figure some out but not all... like "Natto Day" is easy... Na=7, To=10, so that's 10th July. Then there's "Bike Day" on August (ba=8) 19th (i=1, ku=9). Arrgghhhh... these blokes have seriously nothing better to do! XD XD XD

Tour Goods on sale

(to be continued)

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!

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!

Detroit Metal City - Tribute to Krauser II the metal mix

Why did they, of all songs, pick Flight? orz...

志恩 Cont'd

Gosh, I'm not ashamed to say I'm captivated by a single band's music and they're making it hard for me to get distracted by other bands because they're just so darn GOOD!

I don't have anything bad to say about the English lyrics that they've included in the booklet this time round. Translations are subjective but I think it's clear that effort went into capturing the poetic essence of the Japanese lyrics, and it's certainly benefitted me on a personal level... at least it's speeded my understanding of the lyrics greatly, so i'm grateful. It'll also be easier for me to introduce this album to other friends. I'd still prefer if they stuck to ムック and less English in the credits, but it's not as important as the music. I couldn't help noticing "Masaaki Yaguchi" being credited for the programming for tracks 1, 3, 5, 11. Kudos to him, these tracks were quite appropriately programmed.

Lyrics-wise, it's a strong turn-out this time round. My favourites are:
- 達瑯's lyrics for 「アンジャベル」. What a unique way of presenting the theme and message of this song. 101 marks for originality, tatasama!
- ミヤ's lyrcis for 「蝉時雨」 and 「志恩」. Both prove one point: you don't need to have outrightly upbeat tracks like 'Flight' to bring a positive message across. I mentioned in my last post that the album came at the right time. Indeed ... at a tough time at work and home, these songs have given me new strength to carry things through and see life from a new perspective.


シオン=紫苑

Melodies-wise, what can I say. They've been taking turns to stay in my head. At the moment it's 「小さな窓」. Vocals-wise, this is also one of the few songs in the album where we get to hear Tatsu in more raw form, perfect for this song.

Now: Counting down to the next live.

志恩

昨晚接到友人从日本传来的sms，sms开头是: "New album fuckin awesome..."

^O^

今天终于收到CD，不得不blog一下！一下下也好！

Fuckin awesome album indeed! マイ タイプ。第一感觉是民族风强+电子摇滚味道。Like I said before, to have 'Flight' sticking out like a sore thumb in this album can only be a good thing, haha hahaha.

「アンジャベル」果然是ミヤ的作品！「志恩」也是！「蝉時雨」编曲比之前在bootleg CD里听到的还棒。

每首都想听live版本。 The spine-tingling sensation of listening to this album can only be surpasssed, I'm sure, by hearing it live.

话说回来，非得说服那位友人看场ムックlive不可！！！

ps. 他们总是在我最需要的时候出现!

happy new year!

Hm... looking at the setlist and session bands, if "Over the Edge" is going to be an annual event, it'll be a strong reason for me to consider counting down in Japan this year (yup, this year, since it's already 2008)!

看着DVD的「9月3日の刻印」，有感而发

每次看「9月3日の刻印」总是那么的震撼。心都揪紧了。

不过还是希望Disc1每首是完整的一场表演，而不是参杂几场接在一起的表演。感觉没那么好，因为连接性断了。。。看live不就是喜欢看表演者如何现场一次过演示这首歌的吗？

Yes!!! There's No!?

10th ANNIVERSARY THE BRILLIANT

new DVD『MUCC～ライヴ　クロニクル～』

2007.11.28 Release!

【DISC１】
●2004年10月31日 日比谷野外大音楽堂二〇〇四年秋ツアー“騒乱秋興”
蘭鋳/誰も居ない家/遺書/スイミン/路地裏 僕と君へ/未完の絵画/濁空/幻燈讃歌/暁闇/2.07/ガロ/溺れる魚/悲シミノ果テ/絶望/朽木の塔

●2007年3月5日 SHIBUYA-AX ムック06-07ツアー サイケデリックアナライシス 追加公演決定
極彩/嘆きの鐘/キンセンカ/心色/リスキードライブ/ディーオージー

【DISC2】
●2007年3月25日 La Loco/Paris,France MUCC in EURO 2007
極彩/メディアの銃声/最終列車/遮断/月光

●2007年4月23日 SHIBUYA O-WEST HISTORY OF MUCK 『哀愁』『アンティーク』day
翼を下さい/NO!?/ジレンマ/鎮痛剤　暴走ver.

●2007年5月1日　CLUB CITTA HISTORY OF MUCK 『痛絶』『葬ラ謳』day
せの終着/イタイ手紙/暗闇に咲く花/嘘で歪む心臓/背徳の人

●2007年5月9日　STUDIO COAST HISTORY OF MUCK 『是空』『朽木の灯』day
1979

●2007年5月22日　SHIBUYA-AX HISTORY OF MUCK 『鵬翼』『6』day
フォーティーシックス/神の星/茜空/雨のオーケストラ

●2007年6月7日　ZEPP　TOKYO HISTORY OF MUCK　『REAL MUCC day #1』「前夜祭」
アカ/盲目であるが故の疎外感/君に幸あれ/死して塊/極彩PART1/謡声（ウタゴエ）/夢死/リブラ/フライト

●2007年6月8日 ZEPP　TOKYO HISTORY OF MUCK 『REAL MUCC day #2』「Yahoo! JAPAN×MUCC 全世界同時生中継ライヴ」
名も無き夢/断絶

Source: Tower Records Jp
***
So finally, we will be able to get our hands on a decent recording of No!? :)
It's a pity あやとり on『哀愁』『アンティーク』day and ズタズタ on『痛絶』『葬ラ謳』day are not on the track list... those were the two most memorable performances for me during the History of Muck live series. Of course, all of these live performances are gems and muckers, don't even think of missing out on this DVD! :)

ネオ・ビジュアル系 真夏の宴 Vid

After watching the above vid on loop, I've suddenly become obsessed with Mucc's....
...
...
...
Libra!

Yes... after seeing their first live performances of the song during the last Winter tour and after listening to the single as part of my Zen playlist... after so long... this was definitely an unexpected development XD

Is it cos it's just turned Libra month? XD

Anyway, back to the performance... After Flight & Chain Ring, when Libra came on, the whole mood just changed. No doubt their dressing didn't quite sync with the song, but their performance was superb!

Fool's Mate July 07

5 Mucc Songs, as chosen by each member (each chosen song was commented on, but i only included some of the comments here):

Tatsurou:
1. 狂想曲 (he views it somewhat as the first original mucc song, and thus symbolizing the beginning of mucc. also the first time tatsu wrote the lyrics.)
2. つばさ
3. 流星
4. 溺れる魚 (tatsu feels he's injected a lot of what he wants to sing into this song. also a song that he especially likes to perform at a live.)
5. パノラマ (lyrics which are not trying to say "thanks for your hard work", but rather, "the form may change, but we'll still be working hard together from now on".)

Yukke:
1. あやとり (yukke heard it before he officially joined mucc, and he was stunned:"how can high school students make such an awesome song!?!" also the first time he got a taste of mucc's "folkie" music style.)
2. 夜 (first time yukke wrote the melody.)
3. 雨のオーケストラ (yukke's demo for this song was 'cheaply produced' in his own room, so he was really impressed by how the dramatic power of the song increased with the use of an orchestra.)
4. 優しい歌 (yukke feels both the band and himself have progressed because of this song, and that this song proves that language is no barrier in the world of music.)
5. フライト

Satochi:
1. 9月3日の刻印
2. 背徳のヒト (first time satochi wrote the melody)
3. 前へ
4. 優しい歌
5. キンセンカ (first time satochi tried writing lyrics. although it is difficult, satochi says he'd like to challenge himself in the future with more lyric-writing!)

Miya:
1. 断絶 (when miya made the song, it didn't hit him that much, but the first time he played it live, he was moved to tears. At that moment he understood the meaning behind making your own songs. he says: "自分の感情を演奏するって意味で、この曲がなかった今、ムックはないかもしれません。")
2. 謡声(ウタゴエ)
3. アカ (almost symbolic of mucc back then. some sort of retrofeel worldview demonstrated in this song.)
4. 娼婦 (miya believed many people got to know mucc back then because of this song. powerful, fast, yet with a mellow melody. it seemed like a new style then, only recently did he find out that the scales in the song are similar to those found in russian folk tunes.)
5. 我、在ルベキ場所

*****
Scenic's choices... (no particular order)
1. 断絶
2. 9月3日の刻印 (first song in a mucc live that hit me hard)
3. アカ
4. 廃
5. あやとり
...it's too hard to just pick 5 though!

What are your choices? :)

ps. many thanks to BH for helping me purchase this issue! and for listening me out in other matters.. by treating my problems as if they are hers! (in tax-speak, we call it "domestic interest"! XD)

intensity

Already, with the 8 Jun live streaming and the anticipation of what's going to happen on 69day (in the end, they didn't announce their plans for 2nd half 2007 after all...), the last couple of days were illuminated with mucc, mucc, mucc for me. For the muckers attending all 3 lives in Japan, i can only imagine the kind of intensity they were going through.

ギャラリー見たい!
Well, now that the History Of Mucc lives are over, i just hope they'll make some DVD out of it!

Received the Best of and Worst of albums yesterday. Have only listened the tracks briefly once, so may not have caught everything, though safe to say that most of the tracks in Worst of were remixed, but only a handful were remixed in the Best of (Ware, Monokuro, 9/3, Libra and Flight). There's a beautiful 9日 vers in The Best Of acoustic disc. The Worst Of sleeve is in the form of a mini-newspaper :) My first response was great surprise :) but as I read it, it elicited a mix of emotions.

Later...

Real Mucc!

From 2ch and yuj:

http://www.fujitvkidsclub.jp/StreamingTV/tv_U/chottomi.html
MUST watch this! (i can't stop watching it, hahaha!)

It was only after i watched it that i realized the REAL meaning behind REAL Mucc day. XD XD XD OMG, they are so corny!

To see real mucc rockin' to フライト is so amusing!!! :D Especially with those eyes and a mouth that is perpetually open (which Yukke stuck his head into when he hugged it... er... should i call it a 'it' or a 'he'??)

How do you convert this streaming file into a video file for keeps? For that matter, did anyone manage to record the Zepp live into a video file? Or the other 4 History of Mucc live videos on the Mucc Yahoo page as well?

add: looks like rock-mucc has left an impression on furry-mucc! :D
http://gachapin.fujitvkidsclub.jp/#sixapart-standard

ムックの日おめ!

rushed home from work but by the time i launched the video player, it was already about 15-20 min into the live already! still, it was a close-to-3 hrs worth of live streaming, shiok!

& the members were in top form!　ムックの皆さんカッコいい～ね！

the streaming was smooth, audio was great, had great company on msn, what more could i have asked for? :) :) :D

they had mostly newer songs in their main setlist... highlights for me were パノラマ, 1979 (first time for me seeing played using Yukke's upright bass, and it was solid!) & 25時の憂鬱. but it was the setlist for the 1st encore that made me jump! 断絶 and 9月3日の刻印 starting it off! i haven't seen 9月3日 for a long time, so it was really wonderful i got a chance to see it again ^~^

kudos to them for adopting the live streaming idea! 本当に、ありがとうございます！

Go to DMC! ~T-shirt Collab

It's the most outrageous manga i've read in a while! XD XD

While waiting for the 3rd volume of the manga to get translated, here're some pics from the launch of the 3rd volume @ Shibuya Tower Records from 27-29 April 2007

Entrance of Shibuya Tower Records

haha.. that chap looks like he's posing with Krauser II XD XD

Entrance to the exhibition at B1.

Message by YUKKE!


Maybe I'm biased, but i think Mucc's collab Tee has got the most innovative idea! It's a coupling tour for DMC & Mucc!!! *dies laughing... & they've drawn themselves in DMC-manga style, with make! arrrr... *dies some more. The first stop of their tour is Rock Maykan :) & making a twist out of their recent "Psychedelic Analysis" Tour, they've named it "Satanic Analysis" Tour.. orz... XD

I only managed to get myself to the exhibition on 29 April, and by that time the S and M sizes for the Tee were already sold out... but after i came back i ordered the tee online... cos i just couldn't resist the baka-ness of it all! :P

Punk'en Ciel's collab Tee design

zealous fans, woot! :)

Krauser-san!!!

Final pic:

D'ERLANGER NIGHT「薔薇色の愛と死と恍惚」

Because of this live, which i got to know only 2 nights before i was supposed to fly to tokyo, i changed my entire accomodation plan for this trip! O_o;;; Thinking it would really be a waste if i missed this live, since i was going to be in tokyo, i changed my hotel to one amidst the host clubs at shinjuku XD XD Cos Shinjuku Loft is smack right in the middle of Kabukicho, and the live starts past midnight at 2430, so it makes more sense for me to stay at shinjuku rather than take a cab back after the live (the cabfare would have cost the same amount as one night's stay at the hotel)

But it's all worth it!!!

The live consisted of performances by a series of session bands, playing tribute to D'erlanger (D'erlanger's live at Yaon was the following day). Miya was in one of the session bands, and Tatsurou was in another. I must confess I'm not familiar with D'erlanger's music, but by the end of the live, I've definitely got acquainted with their style. "La Vie En Rose" was played at least 4 times that night ^^; Tatsurou's session band (called "I CAN'T LIVES" XD), unfortunately played only 1 piece, but wow, it was SUCH a solid performance! It was the only band which had an acoustic performance, so Tatsurou's rendition was literally instrumental in bringing out the piece. I was really happy to hear Tatsurou's voice back to normal! Am so relieved!!! There were lots of english in that song too ^^;

As for Miya, he cosplayed D'erlanger's guitarist, complete with the slicked back hair, '80s eye-lined eyes, and yes, no goatee! The vocalist for his band was Ao-san, and yeah, i reckon most people were there to see this session band, cos i noticed its "cup" had the most ticket stubs stuck into it (for events, when you enter you're asked which band you came to see, and they will stick your ticket stub into this paper cup with the band's name). It was also the last band to appear. The wait was really loooonng. The whole live ended at 4+am! But woa, Miya was a good form too! His guitars held up the band's whole performance, in my opinion! You can see they were really all enjoying themselves. (yeah and there was one part during a song where Ao tried some fanservice and had his arms around Miya... the crowd went mad)

As with most events, all the members came out at the end and sang a final song together (what else, "La Vie En Rose"!) And..and... Daisuke appeared onstage too!!! In the beginning he stayed at the side of the stage together with Tatsurou :) ... Miya emptied a cup of beer at one go (at the prompting of the audience...) ... Then, when they were playing the finale piece, Daisuke went over to Miya's side, and he picked up a guitar and tried to play alongside Miya :) :) Tatsurou was one of the vocalists, of course, and did his part well in making the atmosphere really high. Then at some point during the song, he went over to Daisuke, and the three of them, Tatsurou, Daisuke and Miya, were side-by-side and performing together --- it was GREAT! :D

As the song was coming to an end, Tatsurou did a yasashii thing... he passed the mike to Daisuke, and urged him to sing. So the final "growl" of the song came from Daisuke! Hurrah~

K, gotta go. Have spent way too long at this public computer. Write more later!

In anticipation of 『哀愁』『アンティーク』day!

In anticipation of 『哀愁』『アンティーク』day, I've attempted a translation of 「あやとり」 into English :)

Cat’s Cradle (1)
　
Lyrics/Music: Miya

The Cat’s Cradle strings that we played with
lay torn in the room where
I am weeping… I am weeping
　
On the pillar at the corner of this room
are our names that we carved
Of the two persons under the umbrella (2)
there is only myself looking on and weeping
The calendar wearing too thin
I flip yet another page…

A piece of scrap paper (3) that told all of your deceit
I kept hitting my head against the wall as if I was deranged
The words lining the scrap paper puzzled my heart
Violated by these words
I am unable to call out to tomorrow, merely awaiting the arrival of the morning alone

I want to return to those times...
But I can’t...
If only I can…

Those times when we were together…

Notes:
(1) Ayatori is also Cat's Cradle, a children's game using string looped around both hands. See picture.

(2) Lovers' names are typically carved under an umbrella symbol in Japan.

(3) Am inclined to read it as the same 'paper' of the calendar.

Comments:
The lyrics are simple but sweet (or should I say, bittersweet), with the strings of a Cat's Cradle being alikened to the strings that tie two people together. What I like most about this piece of work, is the haunting melody accompanying the lyrics, you can truly feel the desperation and emptiness oozing out from each note. This song is highly recommended for listening in the late of the night, as late as possible :P

Have not heard this song live before, so it's definitely one song I'm looking forward to hearing on 23 April... i know i'll weep for sure (o´∀`o)☆

real mucc?

发问时间！！！
~~~ old mucc or new mucc?

对，你没看错！
It's now-mucc in then-mucc.

对啊，这不是旧照，是2007年5月的Shoxx写真 ^^
因为是在网上无意间看到的，第一眼就觉得eh!不对！这不是旧照！尤其miya最为明显。
他们长大了。
hey, don't take it too seriously.

不过看了莫名的感动 :)