HYDE Acoustic Concert Birthday Live KUROMISA in Tokyo Live Report

HYDE Acoustic Concert Birthday Live KUROMISA in Tokyo 2019.01.24

Entering the concert hall felt like entering a cathedral of the Church of Satan. The arena was lined with red chairs facing a beautifully decorate stage with candles and heavy black curtains. Hanging above is an elaborate picture frame with Hyde’s logo in bright red. Eery church choir music plays in the background as beautifully dressed fans walk in and find their seats. The concert starts at exactly 19:06 (6:66) and Unexpected plays in the background as the orchestra takes their seats. Hyde comes in and sits on a tall stool. They officially start the concert with Jesus Christ. Very fitting considering the aesthetics of the venue.

氣志團万博2018 KISHIDAN EXPO 2018

KISHIDAN EXPO 2018 September 16th

When one mentions an “experience of a lifetime” I can only imagine something as fantastic as Kishidan Expo.

This was my very first music festival of this kind, by which I mean dozens of bands performing on different stages outdoors.

I’ve been excited about this festival not only because of the festival itself but because it meant I would take a bus that will use the Tokyo Bay Aqualine, an underwater expressway that connects Kawasaki city to Kisarazu city in the most direct way. It may sound weird to be excited about something like this, but I just think it’s really cool. Of course, that particular experience ended up being just 25 minutes of a long dark tunnel. I wasn’t disappointed but I did wish there would have been pretty mosaics on the tunnel walls instead of the plain white tiles. Oh well! The most important thing is that it brought me closer (not all the way unfortunately) to the festival area.

This annual festival is a two day event that takes place in Sodegaura Seaside Park; a beautiful area by the sea, perfect for such festivities. To get there though you either need a car or take a shuttle bus, so a shuttle bus we took! We got our bracelets and made our way to the park. The walk from the bus stop to the park was long but necessary to control the crowd.

X Japan Acoustic Special Live Report

X JAPAN WORLD TOUR 2017 WE ARE X Acoustic Special Miracle～奇跡の夜～6DAYS! 

July 16th, Yokohama Arena

When Yoshiki announced that he had to have surgery for his neck, I was sure he would postpone the 6 tour dates he had announced for Japan. It made no sense, after all, to have an X Japan concert without him, but also, he would need a long time to recuperate.

Instead, in true Yoshiki fashion, he threw caution to the wind and announced that while he cannot drum, he can still play the piano so the “regular” concerts were turned into “acoustic specials”.

Miyavi NEOTOKYO15 Concert With Special Guest Daichi Miura Report

Miyavi 15th Anniversary Neo Tokyo 15

June 29th at Studio Coast. Special guests Daichi Miura & KREVA.

This is it. The grand finale. Miyavi has performed 14 shows in the past month and it all culminated in this last concert. Studio Coast in Shin-Kiba was undoubtedly the largest venue in this tour and while the show wasn’t sold out, it certainly felt like it did. The last minute addition of KREVA to the show certainly gave a push for his die-hard fans and they showed up. Props to them for coming to a concert only to hear one song.

There was no lack of Daichi Miura fans either however, the number of Miyavi fans was definitely larger, which makes sense since it’s his concert.

J20th Anniversary Live Tour 2017 W.U.M.F In EX THEATER Roppongi

This year truly is the year of the anniversaries. This time we celebrate J’s 20th solo anniversary.

The last concert of the anniversary tour was held at the beautiful EX Theater Roppongi. The venue blends in seamlessly with the Roppongi Hills nouveau riche area. This made for an interesting juxtaposition with the punk rock concert that was held within its walls.

The fans, clad mostly in black, army boots and band t-shirts waited patiently on the immaculate porch garden for their number to be called. After almost 400 women, the first man entered. After that, a few more men drizzled in. The attendance gender percentage was probably 80-20.

MIYAVI NEOTOKYO15 Concert With Special Guest Crossfaith Report

Miyavi 15th Anniversary Neo Tokyo 15

June 15th at Tsutaya O-East. Special guest Crossfaith.

I wasn’t sure I would write a report about this concert. After all, I’ve already written about the first concert on this tour, so what else can I say?

Well, let's find out.

This was Miyavi’s 9th concert in his NEOTOKYO15 celebration and this time, Crossfaith were the special guests.

Crossfaith, an electric metal band (my own description, not an official one) has been on my radar for a little while now so when I saw that they would be the special guests for Miyavi AND that the concert wasn’t sold out, I jumped right on it and got myself a ticket.

Tsutaya O-East has the same capacity as Akasaka Blitz and yet manages to feel much smaller. Maybe it was because the concert never sold out, or because of the way it’s built, either way, the ambiance was very different.

Although this was Miyavi’s concert, one would think it was a Crossfaith concert with Miyavi as the guest if one looked at the crowd. 80% of the attendees were wearing Crossfaith tshirts. At the ticket check, the bouncers were asking who people came to see and separated the tickets accordingly. The Crossfaith ticket bag was full and the Miyavi one had a couple of tickets. The goods lines were similar too. A long line for Crossfaith goods. No line for Miyavi. This was a bit heartbreaking as this was Miyavi’s concert after all, but if it bothered him, he definitely didn’t show it on stage, and the crowd was all in the entire time.

MIYAVI NEOTOKYO15 Concert With Special Guest THE ORAL CIGARETTES Report

May 21st at Akasaka Blitz.

Miyavi, the man, the legend, the guitar. It's been 15 years since he said farewell to Dué le Quartz and started his solo career; and what a journey it's been! From extreme Visual Kei to a mellow version, back to crazy visual and now, a full blown hippie, happily married, father of 2 girls and pursuer of world peace.

The concert started with special guests, THE ORAL CIGARETTES. Teaching us to never judge a band by its name, these poorly named boys gave a great show! About 30-40% of the audience came to see them specifically and were given a great (albeit short) performance. The singer was all smiles and charm as he sang their greatest hits. They even snuck in a new song! After a 30min jam packed set, I have to say, I wouldn't mind seeing a one-man show by them!

They left the stage and the crowd switched. Miyavi fans at the front, ORAL fans at the back.