12.8.20

The National Tour that Wasn't, and other news

Back on September 21st, 2000, the 13th anniversary of Buck-Tick's major debut, the band embarked on a tour entitled "Phantom Tour," to promote the album One Life, One Death, which had been released the previous day. They followed this eight-stop tour with a second seven-stop tour, entitled "Other Phantom Tour." If they only knew what lay in store... little could they have anticipated, back then, that the actual phantom tour wouldn't arrive for another 20 years.

Much as we had a feeling that something like this would happen, that doesn't really make it any less of a letdown. Buck-Tick will not be canceling their fall 2020 Abracadabra tour - they'll be converting it into an actual phantom tour, in which the band themselves will not appear onstage. Instead, some sort of concert film will be screened at each of the venues at which the band were to have played, and each screening will be held twice at each venue (or most of them at any rate) - an afternoon session and an evening session - due to the fact that the government's social distancing requirements mandate that venues operate at no more than 50% capacity. Fans will be seated in every other seat, so there will be an open seat between each person, and kids, much as we may have longed to not be smooshed up against the flabby upper arms of some very stinky fangirl shrieking her head off at Acchan-chan in a faux baby voice (unfortunately a real and true occurrence)... if we had to choose stinky screaming fangirls or post-apocalyptic phantom Buck-Tick, we would brave the fangirls. How times change!

Then again, as far as the fangirls go, this is exactly what they wanted. They've been on a campaign for years to attack and shame anyone at the shows who dares to look like they're having fun. Someone dancing too much? Shame them on 2channel. Two guys drinking beer and screaming "Buck-Tick are the BEST!" from the back of Pacifico Yokohama? Go and aggressively shush them up. The trend among the fangirls over the years has been strictly NO dancing, NO cheering, and especially NO SMILING. So we've no doubt they're overjoyed that the rules for the Abracadabra Plague Phantom Tour are as follows:

- Wear a mask so as to keep your offensive, shameful, and era-inappropriate smile well hidden.

- Disinfect your feet on the mat at the door so that if you should dance, you won't give the venue floor coronavirus while doing it. (Yes, they are having fans disinfect their feet before entering the venues. Why? Are my Acchan cosplay Christian Louboutins going to get the virus, too??)

- Register with the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's contact-tracing app so that if you dance, the government can publicly shame you about it.

- Submit your personal information, and the personal information of your companions, to masked, gloved, face-shielded Plague Storm Trooper venue staff or be denied entry to the venue. 

- No cheering in loud voices because even though you're wearing a mask, cheering spreads coronavirus. So do joy and happiness.

"Yaaaaaaaay!" cheered all the fangirls (soto voce, so they don't spread coronavirus). "No more pesky people enjoying themselves! Virtual Acchan belongs to us at last!" For, after all, on-screen tour promises many more close-up shots of garters than a man on a stage 30 rows of seats away from you when you're stuck in the back of the venue. It's a win-win-win!

In fact, there many more rules and warnings than those we've listed above - the above was just a sample. Yet amid all that fine print, they neglected to tell us what we really want to know: is it going to be the same movie at every single stop of the tour, or are they going to change the content at some point? The reason many of us attend multiple shows is because they're different every time. While there definitely a lot of Buck-Tick fangirls who would pay 4500 yen per ticket to see the same Buck-Tick movie ten times, some of us are short on cash and short on patience with this whole ludicrous charade. Tell us, Buck-Tick's management? Is it actually worth it for us to attend this more than once, or can we just go to Kokusai Forum, feel creeped out by the misery of it all, see closeup shots of Acchan's garter belt on a giant movie screen, call it an anticlimax together, and go home? Are you going to do something to make it worth it? Holograms? Live action Rocky Horror actors? A baseball pitching robot repurposed to shoot guitar picks and water bottles at the crowd? (Just kidding, guitar picks spread coronavirus). Robots that play Imai's guitar and forget the lyrics? A rain machine that rains on the audience instead of the stage, just to rain on our parade a little more than this year already has?

On the bright side, at least y'all overseas fans, who are currently barred from entering the country, don't have to feel bad that you're missing out. Of course they'll release the thing to DVD. It's been a DVD from the very beginning (unless it's a collection of holographic Rocky Horror actors and guitar-pick spitting baseball machines). The only difference will be not hearing the music over the venue sound equipment, which, given that Pacifico Yokohama has the worst sound of any music video we've ever visited, might be a bonus, if you have a nice sound system in your very socially distant home.

Of course, the band members are almost certainly at least as disappointed about this as the fans. Touring musicians is what they are by profession, but also by the divine calling of their souls. Live performance is where they really shine - you haven't truly heard them until you've heard them play live. When they're in top form, their live shows are overwhelming, theatrical, transcendental experiences. To sit at home every weekend, thinking, "tonight we were supposed to be playing in Hiroshima... tonight we were supposed to be playing in Sapporo..." how must that feel? At least the fans have somewhere to go and something to do, even if they're not allowed to have any fun while doing it.

It also certainly seems silly that with all this concern over the virus, they're still having fans congregate in large groups in one place. If the band members won't appear on the stage, why bother? Money, kids. The thing that's been fucking up absolutely everything since it was invented. They have to make money on this tour somehow. They can't reschedule it, not only because a tour of this scale has to be scheduled more than a year in advance, but also because of the uncertainty of the virus situation. Touring is where they make most of their money, and it's far from just the band members themselves - it's the tour promoters, the whole staff team, and the venue staff, too - nobody wants to lose their jobs and go bankrupt. Buck-Tick's tickets are already hard enough to get even for venues operating at full capacity. No doubt the band members decided that playing for crowds half as big as usual would be too unfair to everyone who would surely miss out, and it's not possible for them to play two back-to-back shows per day over the course of an entire national tour. So they've tried to compromise. We're certain it wasn't their idea or their preference, but it is what it is.

At the same time, they could still do a live stream that the overseas fans could watch. Wouldn't you love to see them do that? Maybe if y'all write to the management and suggest it, they'll do it. After all, they've taken our suggestions before.

It seems sort of pointless to post the tour dates since most of y'all are not in Japan and are legally barred from attending, but we'll do it anyway, just for posterity's sake. Look how many of them there are! Scroll fast and try not to cry.

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2020.9.26 (Sat) Tokyo: Tachikawa Stage Garden
Early Show: Open 12:00 / Start 13:00
Late Show: Open 17:00 / Start 18:00

2020.10.3 (Sat) Fukuoka: Fukuoka Sun Palace Hotel & Hall
Early Show: Open 12:00 / Start 13:00
Late Show: Open 17:00 / Start 18:00

2020.10.4 (Sun) Hiroshima: Hiroshima Ueno Gakuen Hall
Early Show: Open 12:00 / Start 13:00
Late Show: Open 17:00 / Start 18:00

2020.10.9 (Fri) Gunma: Takasaki Arts Theater, Large Theater
Early Show: Open 11:30 / Start 12:30
Late Show: Open 17:30 / Start 18:30

2020.10.11 (Sun) Tochigi: Utsunomiya Cultural Hall, Large Hall
Early Show: Open 12:00 / Start 13:00
Late Show: Open 17:00 / Start 18:00

2020.10.18 (Sun) Shizuoka: Shizuoka Municipal Cultural Hall, Large Hall
Early Show: Open 12:00 / Start 13:00
Late Show: Open 17:00 / Start 18:00

2020.10.24 (Sat) Kanagawa: Pacifico Yokohama National Large Hall
Early Show: Open 12:00 / Start 13:00
Late Show: Open 17:00 / Start 18:00

2020.10.25 (Sun) Tokyo: Showa Women's University Hitomi Memorial Hall
Early Show: Open 12:00 / Start 13:00
Late Show: Open 17:00 / Start 18:00

(Whaaaat... Buck-Tick were going to perform live at a women's university, and we're missing it!?!? Fuck you, coronavirus! You've ruined our chance to see Buck-Tick dropping some college-student panties!)

2020.10.31 (Sat) Miyagi: Sendai Sun Plaza Hall
Early Show: Open 12:00 / Start 13:00
Late Show: Open 17:00 / Start 18:00

2020.11.1 (Sun) Tokyo: LINE CUBE Shibuya (Shibuya Kokaido)
Early Show: Open 12:00 / Start 13:00
Late Show: Open 17:00 / Start 18:00

2020.11.3 (Tue/National Holiday)
Kyoto: Rohm Theater Kyoto (Kyoto Kaikan) Main Hall
Early Show: Open 12:00 / Start 13:00
Late Show: Open 17:00 / Start 18:00

2020.11.7 (Sat)
Aichi: Nagoya Lots of Kanji Forest Hall
Early Show: Open 12:00 / Start 13:00
Late Show: Open 17:00 / Start 18:00

2020.11.8 (Sun) Hyogo: Kobe International Hall, International Katakana Hall
Early Show: Open 12:00 / Start 13:00
Late Show: Open 17:00 / Start 18:00

2020.11.12 (Thu) Satiama: Omiya Sonic City, Large Hall

Open 17:30 / Start 18:30

2020.11.21 (Sat) Okayama: Kurashiki Municipal Hall
Early Show: Open 12:00 / Start 13:00
Late Show: Open 17:00 / Start 18:00

2020.11.22 (Sun) Kagawa: Sanport Hall Takamatsu, Large Hall
Early Show: Open 12:00 / Start 13:00
Late Show: Open 17:00 / Start 18:00

2020.11.27 (Fri) Tokyo: Nakano Sun Plaza Hall
Early Show: Open 12:30 / Start 13:30
Late Show: Open 17:30 / Start 18:30

2020.11.28 (Sat) Tokyo: Nakano Sun Plaza Hall
Early Show: Open 12:00 / Start 13:00
Late Show: Open 17:00 / Start 18:00

2020.11.29 (Sun) Chiba: Chiba Prefecture Cultural Hall, Large Hall
Early Show: Open 12:00 / Start 13:00
Late Show: Open 17:00 / Start 18:00

2020.12.4 (Fri) 
Hokkado: Sapporo Municipal Education & Culture Hall, Large Hall
Open 17:30 / Start 18:30

2020.12.6 (Sun) Tokyo: Tokyo Kokusai Forum Hall A
Early Show: Open 12:00 / Start 13:00
Late Show: Open 17:00 / Start 18:00

2020.12.11 (Fri)
Nagano: Hokuto Cultural Hall, Medium Hall (Nagano Prefecture Citizens' Cultural Hall)

Open 17:30 / Start 18:30

2020.12.12 (Sat) Ishikawa: Honda no Mori Hall
Early Show: Open 12:00 / Start 13:00
Late Show: Open 17:00 / Start 18:00

2020.12.19 (Sat) Osaka: GranCube Osaka, Main Hall
Open 17:00 / Start 18:00

2020.12.20 (Sun)
 Osaka: GranCube Osaka, Main Hall
Open 17:00 / Start 18:00

2020.12.26 (Sat) 
Osaka: GranCube Osaka, Main Hall
Open 17:00 / Start 18:00


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What about the Budoukan you ask? For now, let's not think about it.

Fanclub tickets for this tour are on sale, and will remain on sale until Tuesday, August 18th, at 2PM, Japan time. Tickets cost 4500 yen apiece, which is really a whole lot for not seeing a band and not cheering while breathing through a mask for two hours in a hall half-full of fangirls wearing smugly disinfected shoes. But Victor needs to wring some money out of their 33-year-old cash cow somehow. General ticket sales start on Saturday, September 12th, at 10AM Japan time.

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In other news, which we should have posted earlier but totally forgot about in the flurry of many announcements in Buck-Tickistan, Buck-Tick will be releasing the long-lost, long-awaited Fish Tanker's Only 2011 to DVD and BluRay. To our abiding chagrin, this is not the show at which Mr. Sakurai displayed his erect hair and "free man in tights" spirit to the world, it's the show that was rescheduled due to the Great East Japan Earthquake and held at Zepp Tokyo on December 9th, 2011. However, we really had fun on this tour and it had been a source of enduring disappointment to us that they never saw fit to release it. Now they need money, so here it comes. What else are they sitting on? The Six/Nine tour? That show where Buck-Tick opened for Marilyn Manson at Shinkiba Studio Coast? The Cosmic Dreamer show where Mr. Sakurai threw a hissy fit, threw the microphone, and stomped off the stage in a huff? Where's that At the Night Side blooper-reel spirit? Please, guys. More back catalog video.

As usual, the release comes in both limited and regular versions. The limited edition includes a live CD, booklet of photos from the tour, and special packaging. The prices for the various editions are as follows:

Limited Edition BluRay: 13200 yen, including tax
Limited Edition DVD: 12100 yen, including tax
Regular Edition BluRay: 6600 yen, including tax
Regular Edition DVD: 5500 yen, including tax

Fan club members can reserve the limited edition versions up through September 30th. The video will be released some time in early December. Those of you not in the fan club who are interested in purchasing this release, shoot us an email.

The track list is as follows:

1. Empty Girl
2. ...In Heaven...
3. Gekka Reijin
3. Razzle Dazzle
5. Kyouki na Deadheat
6. Mugen
7. Django!!!
8. Tango Swanka
9. Hamushi no You ni
10. Love Letter
11. Madman Blues
12. Voo Doo
13. Dokudanjou Beauty
14. Baby, I want you
15. Memento Mori

~en. 1
16. Kuchizuke
17. Yougetsu

~en. 2
18. Zekkai
19. Tenshi wa Dare da

~en. 3
20. Alice in Wonder Underground
21. Rendezvous

This is one of the only shows at which the band ever played "Voo Doo" live, and the last time they ever performed "Yougetsu" (really wish they'd revive that one). "Empty Girl" and "Madman Blues" aren't also songs they play every day, so our verdict is, very worth it! Plus you get to see Imai in an ugly red plastic jacket. If our memory serves us correctly.

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And last but not least, the music video for "Moonlight Escape" has been posted in its entirety on YouTube. Wow, what is this? Giving us the whole music video for free in advance of the release, instead of some measly 30-second clip that shows the part of the song that sounds the worst when taken out of context!? It's almost like we're back to the days of MTV, or something! We're not going to take a crack at translating the lyrics or analyzing the video till we have the lyric booklet in our hands, so you'll have to wait two weeks for that. But who cares what the lyrics are about when you get to see... Acchan-chan with long hair! Isn't this the only reason anybody likes the band? Isn't this what y'all have been waiting for since he was 28 years old and y'all were either disembodied souls floating in the cosmos waiting to be conceived into a willing uterus, or entirely unaware of Buck-Tick's existence? Kyaaaaaa! Yeeeeek! Did you say "willing uterus"? The uterus is willing and the soul is yeeeeeeek! (Is the internet broken yet? Is it broken? Please tell us it's broken. No more Zoom calls, and it's all Acchan-chan's fault. You have nobody but him to blame.)

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8 comments:

  1. Well, this post made my day, thank you so much cayce! a live stream would be terrific, i am pretty sure it would be worth the money too. i would definitely tune in for that. Yes, long hair Mr Sakurai would definitely break the internet on earth (and the moon, mars, jupiter and any other comet transiting the lonely universe)

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  2. "The Cosmic Dreamer show where Mr. Sakurai threw a hissy fit, threw the microphone, and stomped off the stage in a huff?"

    Thanks for your work Cayce.
    I wondered why is the reason of the hissy fit? I tried to look for in the archives, but no match :\
    Thank you

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    Replies
    1. He threw a hissy fit because he was annoyed by technical difficulties during the show. It was quite amusing. You can read our live report of this incident here:

      https://sites.google.com/site/lyricsyndrome/articles/live-reports/bt-2013-cosmic-dreamer-tokyo

      Delete
    2. Thanks a lot, it's very interesting :)
      I will probably ask you to order the bluray FT'11, do you know if their previous FT are still available? I would like the FT'13..

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    3. Unfortunately, FT Only 2013 is no longer available, though it seems 2014 is still available. Sometimes they surface on second-hand sites but the prices are steep because they're so rare.

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  3. Too bad, I'm looking for the FT'13 since a while, but not under the YAJ prices... I will continue to watch it in streaming, I think it's better than the Tour Yume miru Uchuu. I hope a day they will reunite all the FT Only under a box.
    I write you by mail for the FT'11.

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  4. I was a bit disappointed when I read in the Fishtank emails about this 'tour'. It can't be helped that proper concerts still can't be held (at least I've saved money this year- as concert going is my hobby). However thank you for stopping me from feeling like a bad fan- I have decided not to go to the Abracadabra live screenings for all the reasons you mentioned- I'll just buy the DVD whenever they release it.
    The FT 2011 DVD however does tempt me- mainly because of Voo Doo!

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  5. Well, not sure this is the right post to make this comment but it just dawned on me during today's youtube stream. Remember how Cayce commented at one point how BT should make videos with just them without the then-customary western lady acting as ghost/ demoiselle/etc ? Seems the management have taken this to heart (and we get more close ups with them and send the interned crashing along...) I have to admit the youtube streams are kinda (a lot) of fun since there are also lots of international fans too :) (and guilty pleasure, it is kinda nice to act a little bit girlfan-ish now and then, especially since we are stuck at home)

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