Buck-Tick PV Filming

And now, an on-the-ground report from a Blog-Tick correspondent who was lucky enough to be invited to last night's PV filming!  For those of you who weren't aware, this PV filming was part of a promotional campaign encouraging fans to buy Buck-Tick's two most recent singles, "Elise no Tame ni" and "Boku wa Miss Take."  Application tickets printed with a "B" were included in the "Elise" packaging, and application tickets printed with a "T" were included in the packaging for "Miss Take."  Fans who bought both singles (and thus who amassed both B and T...get it?) could send in both tickets and be entered into a lottery for a chance to win a coveted ticket to Buck-Tick's PV filming, to be held at an undisclosed location in the Tokyo area on August 5th.

Speculation abounded as to what the PV filming would consist of.  Some Japanese fans insisted that fans would be selected by age, and thus only the very youngest fans would be allowed in, but since the only information necessary for entry into the lottery was your name, address, phone number, occupation, and the name of the store where you bought each single, it's hard to tell how they would have divined the ages of the fans who entered.  Other fans, on the other hand, were convinced that the PV would consist of each fan taking a turn to sit on Toll's lap for two seconds each, as in the PV for "21st Cherry Boy," while still others believed that one stipulation of participation would be that everyone would have to show up dressed as Imai, and anyone without the letters "B-T" painted on their cheeks wouldn't be allowed in.

Cayce, however, predicted that this PV filming would simply take the form of a very small concert, shot in a small live house, and that the fans would be the audience.  Cayce furthermore predicted that the PV in Question would be the PV for Buck-Tick's new feel-good crowd-pleaser song "Climax Together."  Guys, this is why you are reading Blog-Tick: I was right on both calls.  Blog-Tick has Buck-Tick so pegged (and no, that wasn't intended to be a dirty joke.)  

The postcards fans received as invitations to the event contained no information other than that the shooting would be held at Shinjuku Loft, and the time of the filming.  Loft is sort of like two live houses in one, with a larger auditorium and a smaller bar attached.  Though Loft is one of the oldest and most famous live houses in Tokyo, it switched location after the die-down of the Band Boom era, and now occupies a sub-basement beneath a host club with very low ceilings.  The low ceilings and the strange triangular shape may have posed some difficulties where the filming was concerned, but there's no denying that Loft is a historic location, and a much, much smaller venue than Buck-Tick ever normally gets to play.

Reportedly, filming took a little while to get started.  At first, fans were left to their own devices to hang out in the Loft bar, which was serving special Buck-Tick themed cocktails, while the band themselves presumably holed up backstage.  To get the fans pumped and ready for the show, the studio recording of "Climax Together" played on repeat over the speakers.  This is the song with the singalong chorus, and they wanted to be sure the fans had the melody and the words down before the band came out onstage.  Then, at last, it was showtime, and there was another surprise--some of these clips will be on the special extra DVD that comes with the limited edition of the new album.  Buck-Tick didn't just perform "Climax Together" with crowd participation, they also performed "Elise no Tame ni," "Dokudanjou Beauty," "Memento Mori," and finally, "Climax Together" one more time.

While our correspondent never got within buttocks-groping distance of the band members, his final words on the matter were: "so hot."  Though perhaps in the end this PV filming wasn't all that different from a live show or live TV appearance, seeing Buck-Tick perform at Shinjuku Loft at this stage in their career is certainly a special treasure.