The BUZZER BEAT FESTA2012 took place at the Chelsea Hotel in Shibuya. Doors opened at 5 and the event started at 5:30. fade wasn't slated to play until at least 8:30, but we wanted to see the bands before them anyways, because, hey, concerts are fun! After standing around until 5:30, we finally asked when the B section tickets were being called, and they told us that the concert had already started and we could go in. Whoops. The confusion was because I guess there was an event at the Star Lounge, which is in the same building as Chelsea Hotel. lol silly gaijin (for those of you who don't know, "gaijin" is slang for "foreigner." I use it a lot).
The venue is small. The merchandise tables took up a lot of space on one side because, well, there were 6 or so bands playing that night. It was definitely...comfortable, though (I don't really know how to describe it, haha). Probably 8 people could fit across the barrier to the stage, but it was easy to see whoever was playing from anywhere in the venue. I guess another word to describe the atmosphere that night was laid back. People from other bands came out into the audience a few times to either chat with fans or just to watch the show.
So yeah, I hope I get to go back to Chelsea Hotel. :D
The other bands that performed, though, were:
SUN OF A STARVE
REAL REACH
The Hitch Lowke
GEEKS
fade
Shonen Kamikaze
Even though I didn't know the other bands, I do have to say that they seemed really fun. This was my first Japanese live experience, so I had heard a few things like there isn't as much constant screaming as there is at concerts in the US; there are usually coordinated movements for certain songs and the fan somehow automatically knows them (it's a mystery, I tell you); and you're not really supposed to sing along. I think the last one was a lie, though, because there were definitely people singing along
lol nope. One thing that surprised me right off was that there was moshing. It wasn't as intense as some stuff I've seen in the US, but I definitely was not expecting it and I didn't want to be a part of it, so I backed off. The crowd itself was also really friendly. The shy people stayed in the back, the energetic people stayed in the front, and I pretty much hung around the merch table whenever there was moshing because it was situated off to the side in the middle of the two extremes. Sometimes you could even catch band members sneaking behind you, because the backstage area was right behind the merch tables. I caught Kansei (from fade) before he ducked behind the table, lol.
My friends and I were looking at our tickets to figure out the order in which the bands would play, and we thought it was going in order because we didn't know the other bands. So, after the 3rd or 4th band, we went up to the very front because fade was supposed to be next and got all excited while they set up, and...it was not fade. xD embarrassing. Instead, it was GEEKS! They put on a pretty good show, though I think one of my friends said they reminded them of Green Day (their appearance and such).
Okay NOW IT'S TIME FOR FADE.
This is going to be a personal account...this isn't meant to be a professional live report or anything. I'm just sharing my experience because it was FUNNN.
I'm just going to post the setlist now so I can put this in a somewhat chronological order in my head.
1. Ever Free
2. Beautiful
3. From the Heart
4. In the End
5. Cosmicalism
6. One Reason
7. Close to You (Eng)
1. Ever Free
So, I saw fade in NYC 6 months ago and they played this song. It was brand new to everyone, so no one knew the words. We only knew when to say "WOAH-OH!" It was so. liberating. to know the words to this song now and be able to sing along. It's a great, uplifting song.
2. Beautiful
Also great. It's never been one of my absolute favorite songs, but it makes me wonder whatever happened to that fan collaboration video that was supposed to be made
3. From the Heart
I do not know the words to this one, but I think I need to now. I'm only familiar with most of fade's newer stuff. It was definitely one of the more emotional songs. I may or may not have seen Jon tearing up a bit? Maybe it was just the light.
4. In the End
omgomgomgomg you guys I love this song and ever since I heard it on TEN, I thought, "I NEED TO HEAR THIS LIVE" and I did and it was awesome and I acted a bit goofy but the band liked it so it's okay. :D
5. Cosmicalism
I wasn't really paying attention to the Japanese fans, because my friends and I formed a little gaijin line against the guardrail. I think they must have been pretty angry at us for a while. I haven't had much communication with the Japanese fans, either, so I don't know how much of the lyrics to fade's English songs they know, but Cosmicalism is in Japanese, so I hope they enjoyed this one! I know the lyrics...for the most part. There are a couple of spots I don't remember.
6. One Reason
This is where it gets personal. I heard Black Hearts and Dollar Signs before I heard One Reason, so that is the version I know and that is the version I like better. I'm actually really stubborn about it, so I do nooot know the lyrics to One Reason, despite it probably being their most well-known song, thanks to Deadman Wonderland. Sorry, guys! I'm going to keep liking BH&DS better. :P Either way, it was great to hear live.
7. Close to You (Eng)
See how I put the (eng) in there? That's because they performed Close to You in English for the first time ever. I remember my friend telling me that she didn't know the Japanese lyrics for Close to You because she only listened to the English version...I guess she got her way, haha. I like the English lyrics a lot better than the Japanese ones, tbh. It still would have been fun to hear the Japanese version either way, because I think the chorus is a bit goofy ("SOU KIMI WA EX GIRL, IMA DEMO EX GIRL").
fade definitely stole the crowd. My friend heard the other bands complimenting them or complaining about how they took all of the energy. I felt a bit bad for Shonen Kamikaze (who played after), because the tension dramaaatically lowered after fade was over with. Honestly, I think it seemed like fade had the most energy because all of us gaijin were ignoring all of the rules and being loud. Sometimes we were a bit too loud, and this resulted in me saying "STOP YELLING" loudly right when it became silent. xD Whoops.
There were lots of little things that made this performance one of the funnest I've ever been to. Since I was front and center and knew most of the lyrics to all of the songs, Jon and I sang together a few times. I even got godo to smile once or twice (I think). Noriyuki was pretty stoic as always, but he gave my friend a nice smile. :P Kansei is always one of the more engaging band members, but omg the faces he makes. hahaha. I tried to catch rui's eye a couple of times, but he was in the drummer's zone. At the end of the show, I honestly almost felt like crying because I didn't want them to stop playing. Jon handed out extra water bottles, I almost got Kansei's pick but it fell down the space between the guardrail and the stage (NOOOOO), and my friend got rui's broken drumstick...which scratched me right under the eye, haha.
After the show is always the funnest part, because fade is one of those bands that actually talks to their fans for a bit afterwards. It was also nice to be able to talk to a band in English, unlike that Moran in-store event where I was too shy to use Japanese, lol. My friend and I got our merchandise signed for the street team project we had been planning (a giveaway! It's on the Facebook page if you want to check it out). When we went to say goodbye, Jon told my friend and I to stick around for a bit and we talked a bit about how our lives have been in the 6 months since we saw them last, haha. Then the clock struck twelve and the magic was over. :P
Despite not knowing the other bands, it was fun. Fade was the highlight, no question about it. It was so good that I can't really help but go to their show in October. I promised myself I wouldn't go to any more concerts than I'd already planned so far, but that just got thrown out the window. Thanks, guys, haha.
No comments:
Post a Comment