25.10.10

Would you like to go on the Razzle Dazzle?

Would you like to go on the Razzle Dazzle?

Would you like to see Buck-Tick perform live, in the flesh?

Will you be in the Tokyo/Yokohama area on November 14th, 2010?

If you are, you might be interested to know that the Blog-Tick Phenomenon is making the once in a lifetime offer of a single ticket to Buck-Tick's Tour 2010 Go on the Razzle Dazzle, to the stop at Yokosuka Arts Theater on Sunday, November 14th. For those of you not familiar with Japan, Yokosuka is located about an hour outside of Tokyo, by train, west of Yokohama (it's even easier to get there from Yokohama.)

There is only one.

If you want it, email me with your offer, ASAP. Ticket goes to the highest bidder, and we will send it to you by mail.

BOLERO Translation



BOLERO
Lyrics: Imai Hisashi
Music: Imai Hisashi

da dubida dubida dida…

Before you and I were born
We must have both been stars above
Yes, I think it’s true
Just look up right there
Near Andromeda

Before you and I were born
We must have both been stars above
With nothing at all
So don’t worry now
Just dream a dream with me

But when I try to hold you
One of them is falling down
And though I smile
I try to smile
I can’t make it stop

And the wind is blowing
Baby your eyes, and your lips, the color of your hair
Slowly fading away
Oh smile for me

While the wind is blowing
I feel that you are there and look up to the sky
Up in Andromeda
Yeah, smile for me

Hey, smile for me

da dubida dubida dida…

Baby your whole life is the wind now
Your precious heartbeat beats a bolero
And this dream is a bud
Opening someday
Into a flower

Even when I hold you
Hold you and don’t let you go
Though I reach
And though I call
It’s time to say goodbye

And though I smile
I try to smile
They just overflow

And the wind is blowing
Baby your eyes, and your lips, the color of your hair
Slowly fading away
Oh smile for me

While the wind is blowing
I feel that you are there and look up to the sky
Up in Andromeda
Yeah, smile for me

While the wind is blowing
Up in Andromeda
Yeah, smile for me

Hey, smile for me

da dubida dubida dida…


Note: Andromeda is a constellation. I think Imai likes the name, since he used it in the lyrics to "Alice in Wonder Underground" as well. Like so many constellations, Andromeda is named after a character from Greek mythology. Andromeda was a princess whose lovely doting parents (at the advice of an oracle) chained her naked to a rock as an offering to a sea monster that was plaguing the kingdom. The hero Perseus had just killed Medusa, eldest of the Gorgon sisters, and cut off her head. Medusa's head was so ugly it had the power to turn anyone who looked upon it into stone, so Perseus used it as a weapon to turn the sea monster into stone, and save Andromeda. Andromeda then fell in love with Perseus, but unfortunately she was already betrothed to another man. So Perseus pulled out that convenient Gorgon head yet again, turned the intervening man to stone, and the two were wed and had seven children. When Andromeda died, the goddess Athena rewarded her by placing her in the sky as a constellation.

The image of a nude princess chained to a rock has been a very popular subject of paintings ever since the story was written, but I don't actually see that the story behind the constellation has anything to do with this song. However, Andromeda does have an important lesson for us, which is that it's important never to pass up the chance to pass off pr0n as "art." If Imai hasn't learned that lesson, Sakurai most definitely has.

You can sing these lyrics in English too :)


BOLERO
作詞:今井寿
作曲:今井寿

da dubida dubida dida...

生まれる前は きっと 俺たちは星だった
たぶん ほら そう アンドロメダ辺りだっけ

生まれる前は きっと 俺たちは星だった
何も無くて 安心して 夢を見て

抱きしめたら ひとつ こぼれた
笑っても 笑っても 止まらない

風が吹いている 君の瞳 髪の色 唇
だんだん 透けてく 笑ってよ

風が吹いている 君の気配を感じて見上げる
アンドロメダで ねえ 笑ってよ

ねえ 笑ってよ

da dubida dubida dida...

君の命は風 愛しい鼓動はボレロ
夢は蕾 いつか開く きれいな花

抱きしめても 離さなくても
つかんでも 叫んでも サヨナラだ

笑っても 笑っても あふれてく

風が吹いている 君の瞳 髪の色 唇
だんだん 透けてく 笑ってよ

風が吹いている 君の気配を感じて見上げる
アンドロメダで ねえ 笑ってよ

風が吹いている 
だんだん 透けてく 

風が吹いている 
アンドロメダで ねえ 笑ってよ

ねえ 笑ってよ

da dubida dubida dida...


BOLERO
Lyrics: Imai Hisashi
Music: Imai Hisashi

da dubida dubida dida…

Umareru mae wa kitto ore-tachi wa hoshi datta
Tabun hora sou Andoromeda atari dakke

Umareru mae wa kitto ore-tachi wa hoshi datta
Nani mo nakute anshin shite yume wo mite

Dakishimetara hitotsu koboreta
Warattemo warattemo tomaranai

Kaze ga fuiteiru kimi no hitomi kami no iro kuchibiru
Dandan suketeku waratte yo

Kaze ga fuiteiru kimi no kehai wa kanjite miageru
Andoromeda de nee waratte yo

Nee waratte yo

da dubida dubida dida…

Kimi no inochi wa kaze itoshii kodou wa borero
Yume wa tsubomi itsuka hiraku kirei na hana

Dakishimetemo hanasanakutemo
Tsukandemo sakendemo sayonara da

Warattemo warattemo afureteku

Kaze ga fuiteiru kimi no hitomi kami no iro kuchibiru
Dandan suketeku waratte yo

Kaze ga fuiteiru kimi no kehai wa kanjite miageru
Andoromeda de nee waratte yo

Kaze ga fuiteiru
Dandan suketeku

Kaze ga fuiteiru
Andoromeda de nee waratte yo

Nee waratte yo

da dubida dubida dida…

22.10.10

Hamushi no You ni Translation



Like the Tiny Insects
Lyrics: Imai Hisashi
Music: Imai Hisashi

Low in the sky, the angels flying
So clumsy, they're smiling
Hanging in the air, longing to transform
That’s the wish of the chrysalis

I love you, I love you
And I don’t care if it’s with fingertips
It’s so easy this way
Just like ashes

Something like love
That isn’t what I mean
Just being alive
Is not enough for me

Something like love
That isn’t what I mean
Like the tiny insects
Just like dust and ashes

Tumbling down like a spiral snail
That’s right, I’m camouflaged now
Reach out your hand, Adriadne (1)
That’s right, I’m camouflaged now

I love you, I love you
Hands and feet, they won’t come out
It’s so easy this way
Just like ashes

Something like love
That isn’t what I mean
Just being alive
Is not enough for me

Something like love
That isn’t what I mean
Like the tiny insects
Just like dust and ashes

Something like love
That isn’t what I mean
Just being alive
Is not enough for me

Begging you please
That isn’t what it is
Like the tiny insects
At my fingertips

Something like love
That isn’t what I mean
Just being alive
Is not enough for me

Something like love
That isn’t what I mean
Like the tiny insects
Just like dust and ashes

Just being alive
Is not enough for me

Like the tiny insects
At my fingertips
Just being alive
Is not enough for me

Like the tiny insects
At my fingertips

Note: When "hamushi" is spelled in katakana, it refers to a specific family of insects, the Chrysomelidae, otherwise known as "leaf beetles." When spelled in kanji, "hamushi" means "winged insect," and refers to all those tiny insects like gnats, midges, and winged ants, that swarm around lanterns at night. The second meaning goes well with Imai's ash and dust imagery.

(1) Ariadne is a character from Greek mythology. She was daughter of King Minos of Crete, who also fathered the monster known as the Minotaur, and kept him imprisoned in a labyrinth beneath his palace. When the hero Theseus came to attempt to kill the Minotaur, Ariadne fell in love with him, and gave him a magic ball of twine to help him find his way into the labyrinth and back out. When he successfully slew the Minotaur and returned, Ariadne eloped with him, but he abandoned her on the island of Naxos while she was asleep. She was rescued by Dionysus, the god of wine, who made her his bride.

This is yet another singable translation.


羽虫のように
作詞:今井寿
作曲:今井寿

天使たち 低空飛行 ぎこちなくて 笑う
宙ぶらり 変身願望 あれは 蛹の夢

好きさ 好きさ 指先でかまわない
楽になるさ 灰のように

愛なんて そこじゃなくて
生きてるだけじゃ 足りなくて

愛なんて そうじゃなくて
羽虫のように 灰のように 塵のように

転がった 螺旋 軟体 俺はカムフラージュ
手をのばせ アリアドネ 俺はカムフラージュ

好きさ 好きさ 手も足も出ないよ
楽になるさ 灰のように

愛なんて そこじゃなくて
生きてるだけじゃ 足りなくて

愛なんて そうじゃなくて
羽虫のように 灰のように 塵のように

愛なんて そうじゃなくて
生きてるだけじゃ 足りなくて

お願いだ そうじゃなくて
羽虫のように 指先で

愛なんて そこじゃなくて
生きてるだけじゃ 足りなくて

愛なんて そうじゃなくて
羽虫のように 灰のように 塵のように

生きてるだけじゃ 足りなくて

羽虫のように 指先で
生きてるだけじゃ 足りなくて

羽虫のように 指先で


Hamushi no You ni
Lyrics: Imai Hisashi
Music: Imai Hisashi

Tenshi-tachi teikuu hikou gikochi nakute warau
Chuuburari henshin ganbou are wa sanagi no yume

Suki sa suki sa yubisaki de kamawanai
Raku ni naru sa hai no you ni

Ai nante soko ja nakute
Ikiteru dake ja tarinakute

Ai nante sou ja nakute
Hamushi no you ni hai no you ni chiri no you ni

Korogatta rasen nantai ore wa kamufuraaju
Te wo nobase Ariadone ore wa kamufuraaju

Suki sa suki sa te mo ashi mo denai yo
Raku ni naru sa hai no you ni

Ai nante soko ja nakute
Ikiteru dake ja tarinakute

Ai nante sou ja nakute
Hamushi no you ni hai no you ni chiri no you ni

Ai nante soko ja nakute
Ikiteru dake ja tarinakute

Onegai da sou ja nakute
Hamushi no you ni yubisaki de

Ai nante soko ja nakute
Ikiteru dake ja tarinakute

Ai nante sou ja nakute
Hamushi no you ni hai no you ni chiri no you ni

Ikiteru dake ja tarinakute

Hamushi no you ni yubisaki de
Ikiteru dake ja tarinakute

Hamushi no you ni yubisaki de


RAZZLE DAZZLE Translation



RAZZLE DAZZLE
Lyrics: Imai Hisashi
Music: Imai Hisashi

ACTION!

Your dreams are overdrive
We’re at the end line
You’re gonna disappear
No you can’t go back
TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT

Whack off to wild ideas
More, more desire
You’re the one teasing me LOLLIPOP BABY
TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT
OH YEAH YEAH YEAH OH YEAH YEAH YEAH

Come on and jump in, evanescent BOYS & GIRLS
Aren’t you happy to be alive?
Like another chapter of the dream
Before the rainbow dawn arrives

TONIGHT TONIGHT
Sweetness and pleasure are what makes a life

AGAIN!

We’re at the Moulin Rouge (1)
On the weekend
Flowers are crimson and people are short-lived
TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT

And baby live or die
Make your heart mine
Dancing the night away
That’s our life tonight
TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT
OH YEAH YEAH YEAH OH YEAH YEAH YEAH

Come on and jump in, evanescent BOYS & GIRLS
Aren’t you happy to be alive?
Like another chapter of the dream
Before the rainbow dawn arrives

Go on and crawl with your killjoy resistance
Is that the way that you have your fun?
And it’s another chapter of the dream
Before the rainbow dawn to come

TONIGHT TONIGHT
Sweetness and pleasure are what makes a life

TONIGHT TONIGHT
Sweetness and pleasure yeah

TONIGHT TONIGHT
Sweetness and pleasure are what makes a life

OH YEAH YEAH YEAH

(1) The Moulin Rouge is a world famous Parisian cabaret. It was built in Paris in the late 1800's and is still in operation today. In the early 1900's it was one of the centers of the Parisian underground, where it fostered such artists as chanteuse Edith Piaf and painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. It was also the birthplace of the striptease.

You can sing these lyrics to the original tune (they also rhyme.) The picture is a Toulouse-Lautrec painting of the Moulin Rouge.


RAZZLE DAZZLE
作詞:今井寿
作曲:今井寿

ACTION!

夢が ほら 暴走 ちょっと 限界
キミが 消える きっと かえれない
TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT

しゃぶれつけ 妄想 もっと 願望
キミは ねだる LOLLIPOP BABY
TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT
OH YEAH YEAH YEAH OH YEAH YEAH YEAH

飛び込め うたかたのBOYS&GIRLS
生きていて うれしいか?
夢の続きの ような 虹色 夜明け前

TONIGHT TONIGHT
快楽 甘美が 人生さ

AGAIN!

キミと Moulin Rouge だって Weekend
花は赤く 人は儚い
TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT

そして live or die ハートちょうだい
踊り明かす 今夜 人生を
TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT
OH YEAH YEAH YEAH OH YEAH YEAH YEAH

飛び込め うたかたのBOYS&GIRLS
生きていて うれしいか?
夢の続きの ような 虹色 夜明け前

這い出せ 退屈なレジスタンス
それなりで 楽しいか?
夢の続きの まるで 虹色 夜明け前

TONIGHT TONIGHT
快楽 甘美が 人生さ

TONIGHT TONIGHT
快楽 甘美が 

TONIGHT TONIGHT
快楽 甘美が 人生さ

OH YEAH YEAH YEAH


RAZZLE DAZZLE
Lyrics: Imai Hisashi
Music: Imai Hisashi

ACTION!

Yume ga hora bousou chotto genkai
Kimi ga kieru kitto kaerenai
TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT

Shaburetsuke mousou motto ganbou
Kimi wa nedaru LOLLIPOP BABY
TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT
OH YEAH YEAH YEAH OH YEAH YEAH YEAH

Tobikome utakata no BOYS & GIRLS
Ikiteite ureshii ka?
Yume no tsuzuki no you na niji iro yoake mae

TONIGHT TONIGHT
Kairaku kanbi ga jinsei sa

AGAIN!

Kimi to Moulin Rouge datte Weekend
Hana wa akaku hito wa hakanai
TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT

Soshite live or die haato choudai
Odori akasu konya jinsei wo
TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT
OH YEAH YEAH YEAH OH YEAH YEAH YEAH

Tobikome utakata no BOYS & GIRLS
Ikiteite ureshii ka?
Yume no tsuzuki no you na niji iro yoake mae

Haidase taikutsu na rejisutansu
Sorenari de tanoshii ka?
Yume no tsuzuki no marude niji iro yoake mae

TONIGHT TONIGHT
Kairaku kanbi ga jinsei sa

TONIGHT TONIGHT
Kairaku kanbi ga

TONIGHT TONIGHT
Kairaku kanbi ga jinsei sa

OH YEAH YEAH YEAH

21.10.10

Django!!! Translation



Django!!! –Django the Dazzler–
Lyrics: Imai Hisashi
Music: Imai Hisashi

Love is a blind old standard
Like a glass slipper masquerade
Ah, for you he’s playing a rhapsody

Thrills in in your temples, it’s illegal
Golden melancholy luxury
Ah, night razzle-dazzling romancer

Welcome into the dream world, a mysterious fantasy
With his brilliance, he’ll mesmerize you, magician Django

Miracle skills, he’s excellent
The gods don’t notice him, he’s overlooked
Ah, the bastard’s a trickster

Moulin Rouge aventure, moonlit night, my lost little kitten (1)
And now he's stealing into your heart while you can’t even see him

You’re my lovely angel
French can-can peek-a-boo (2)
Baby, baby, snap your fingers
BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BOO

Django!

You’re my lonely Venus
Close your eyes now 1.2.3
Count to three, just count to three now
BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BOO

Django!

And he’s there-and-gone, changeable, never the same in the daylight
He’s a daredevil, hurricane, lightning speed, you’ll never catch him

Welcome into the dream world, a mysterious fantasy
With his brilliance, he’ll mesmerize you, magician Django

It’s a tempting pitfall
When you fall in, peek-a-boo!
Baby, baby, snap your fingers
BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BOO

Django!

It’s a tempting pitfall
When you fall in, 1.2.3
Count to three, just count to three now
BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BOO

Django!

You’re my lovely angel
French can-can peek-a-boo
Baby, baby, snap your fingers
BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BOO

Django!

You’re my lonely Venus
Close your eyes now 1.2.3
Count to three, just count to three now
BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BOO

Django!

You’re my lovely angel
French can-can peek-a-boo
Baby, baby, snap your fingers
BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BOO

Django!

You’re my lonely Venus
Close your eyes now 1.2.3
Count to three, just count to three now
BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BOO

Django!

Django! …… Django!

Note: This song is a tribute to the legendary Gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhart. Django, born in 1910 in Belgium, was of Roma (Gypsy) ethnicity and grew up in Romani camps near Paris. A catastrophic fire left his leg and the fourth and fifth fingers of his left hand partially paralyzed, but undaunted, he learned to play guitar without having to use the damaged fingers. He became deeply inspired by Louis Armstrong and jazz in general, and formed a jazz quintet with violinist Stephane Grappelli called "Quintette du Hot Club de France," that became a legendary jazz band. Many of Django's songs became jazz standards and he is now regarded as one of the most influential jazz guitarists of all time. He was also famous for being extremely unpredictable and doing things like showing up to concerts without equipment, or skipping the concerts altogether to sleep late or take walks on the beach.

(1) The Moulin Rouge is a world famous Parisian cabaret. It was built in the late 1800's in Paris and is still in operation today. In the early 1900's it was one of the centers of the Parisian underground, where it fostered such artists as chanteuse Edith Piaf and painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. It was also the birthplace of the striptease.

(2) The French can-can was the signature dance of the Moulin Rouge. It started out as an erotic dance that courtesans used to solicit customers; during the high kicks they would reveal their stockings, legs, and sometimes naughty bits as well. Over time as the reputation of the Moulin Rouge improved, the French can-can developed into a more mature dance form. Toulouse-Lautrec created many posters advertising the Moulin Rouge and many of them featured images of women doing the can-can.


You can sing this translation with the original melody, too! And if I do say so myself, the lyrics to this one fit really well :) Also before anyone tries to accuse me of taking too much artistic license: yes, "mekurumeku" really, really literally means "razzle dazzle."


Django!!! -幻惑のジャンゴ-
作詞:今井寿
作曲:今井寿

恋は盲目 スタンダード グラスの靴で マスカレード
Ah 君のためのラプソディー

スリル コメカミ 非合法 金の憂鬱 LUXURY
Ah目眩ク夜 ROMANCER

WELCOME 夢の世界へ 謎めく FANTASY
鮮やかさ クギヅケさ 幻惑師–magician- Django

奇跡のスキル EXCELLENT 髪が見落とす ノーマーク
Ah ヤツは トリックスター

ムーランルージュ アヴェヌチュール 月夜 迷い猫
貴女のハートに スルリ 忍び込む

魅惑のANGEL フレンチカンカン PEEK-A-BOO
Baby 指を鳴らせ BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BOO

Django!

孤独のVenus 目を閉じて 1.2.3
Just a 3つ数えろ BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BOO

Django!

変幻自在 神出鬼没 白昼常々
大胆不敵 疾風迅雷 電光石火

WELCOME 夢の世界へ 謎めく FANTASY
鮮やかさ クギヅケさ 幻惑師–magician- Django

誘惑の罠 仕掛けたら PEEK-A-BOO
Baby 指を鳴らせ BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BOO

Django!

誘惑の罠 仕掛けたら 1.2.3
Just a 3つ数えろ BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BOO

Django!

魅惑のANGEL フレンチカンカン PEEK-A-BOO
Baby 指を鳴らせ BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BOO

Django!

孤独のVenus 目を閉じて 1.2.3
Just a 3つ数えろ BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BOO

Django!

魅惑のANGEL フレンチカンカン PEEK-A-BOO
Baby 指を鳴らせ BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BOO

Django!

孤独のVenus 目を閉じて 1.2.3
Just a 3つ数えろ BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BOO

Django!

Django!......Django!


Django!!! –Genwaku no Django—
Lyrics: Imai Hisashi
Music: Imai Hisashi

Koi wa moumoku sutandaado gurasu no kutsu de masukareedo
Ah kimi no tame no rapusodii

Suriru komekami higouhou kin no yuu’utsu LUXURY
Ah mekurumeku yoru ROMANCER

WELCOME yume no sekai e nazomeku FANTASY
Azayaka sa kugizuke sa magician Django

Kiseki no sukiru EXCELLENT kami ga miotosu noomaaku
Ah yatsu wa torikkusutaa

Muuran ruuju avenchuuru tsukiyo mayoineko
Anata no haato ni sururi shinobikomu

Miwaku no ANGEL furenchi kan kan PEEK-A-BOO
Baby yubi wo narase BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BOO

Django!

Kodoku no Venus me wo tojite 1.2.3
Just a mittsu kazoero BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BOO

Django!

Hengen jizai shinshutsu kibotsu hakuchuu doudou
Daitan futeki shippuu jinrai denkou sekka

WELCOME yume no sekai e nazomeku FANTASY
Azayaka sa kugizuke sa magician Django

Yuuwaku no wana shikaketara PEEK-A-BOO
Baby yubi wo narase BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BOO

Django!

Yuuwaku no wana shikaketara 1.2.3
Just a mittsu kazoero BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BOO

Django!

Miwaku no ANGEL furenchi kan kan PEEK-A-BOO
Baby yubi wo narase BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BOO
Django!

Kodoku no Venus me wo tojite 1.2.3
Just a mittsu kazoero BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BOO

Django!

Miwaku no ANGEL furenchi kan kan PEEK-A-BOO
Baby yubi wo narase BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BOO

Django!

Kodoku no Venus me wo tojite 1.2.3
Just a mittsu kazoero BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BOO

Django!

Django!......Django!

20.10.10

Kyouki no Deadheat Translation


Crazy Deadheat
Lyrics: Sakurai Atsushi
Music: Hoshino Hidehiko

My urge is gushing and bubbling over
Get Up!
I’m gonna meet you, the one I saw in my dreams
Start!

You’re four or five hundred million times Baby Face
What!?
But every last one of them’s a hairless faceless nightmare girl (1)
No way!!

Goddess making mischief with you
It’s a crazy deadheat
Woo Yeah!

Taking aim for the inside course just barely (2)
So cool!
Keep your courage up when it comes to an out
Oh shit!

It’s not our eyes that met but baby eye to eye your eyes met mine
What!?
One way ticket to whatever could be left of love
No way!!

Goddess she’s too tricky for you
It’s a crazy deadheat
Woo Yeah!

You are… You are my sunshine my only.
You are… You are my sunshine so so sweet
You are… You are my sunshine my only.
You are… You are the sunshine in my sky

The audience all go silent suddenly
Shhhhh…
Into you, yeah the one I saw in my dreams
(Come on!)
Boys and girls are standing up together
Woo!
You and me we’re dripping wet together
Aha~!

Goddess yeah she’s smiling on you
It’s a crazy deadheat
You win!
Goddess yeah she’s smiling on you
It’s a crazy deadheat
You win!

(1) The Japanese word here is "nopperabouzu," which is a pun on "nopperabou" and "bouzu." The nopperabou is a Japanese demon with no face. It frightens people by putting on the illusion of a face and then allowing its features to melt away into a blank mass. "Bouzu" literally means "monk," but in modern slang Japanese it also means "bald," because Buddhist monks are bald. I think Sakurai is referring to a demon with no face and no hair.

(2) The "in course" and "out" are both baseball references. "In course" is an inside pitch (or, if you're Sakurai, it's a pitch that employs an entirely different kind of ball.)

Note: "deadheat" is a term originally from horse racing, that refers to a race where two horses tie. It ties together the race videogame theme running through the whole song (no pun intended.)

And these lyrics are also singable in English! In case you wondered, these singable translations are no less accurate than non-singable ones would be. You know the rules: credit and link.


狂気のデッドヒート
作詞:櫻井敦司
作曲:星野英彦

本能がドクドクたぎる Get Up!
夢に見たお前に会える Start!

400,000,000~500,000,000のBaby face. え~っ!?
どいつもこいつものっぺら坊主 嘘!?

女神の悪戯 狂気のデッドヒート Woo Yeah!

インコース ギリギリ狙え So cool!
アウトから勇気を見せろ Oh shit!

目と目も無いのに目と目が合った え~っ!?
愛の残量 片道切符 嘘!?

女神は気まぐれ 狂気のデッドヒート Woo Yeah!


You are..You are my sunshine my only.
You are..You are my sunshine so so sweet
You are..You are my sunshine my only.
You are..君は私の太陽

オーディエンス 静まり返る Shiiiii…
夢に見たお前の中へ (Come on!)
男も女も総立ちなのだ Woo!
俺もお前もびしょ濡れなのさ Aha~!

女神が微笑む 狂気のデッドヒート You win!
女神が微笑む 狂気のデッドヒート You win!


Kyouki no Deadheat
Lyrics: Sakurai Atsushi
Music: Hoshino Hidehiko

Honnou ga dokudoku tagiru Get Up!
Yume ni mita omae ni aeru Start!

Yon oku kara go oku no Baby face. Ee!?
Doitsu mo koitsu mo noppera-bouzu uso!?

Megami no itazura kyouki no deadheat Woo Yeah!

Inkoosu girigiri nerae So cool!
Auto kara yuuki wo misero Oh shit!

Me to me mo nai no ni me to me ga atta Ee!?
Ai no zanryou katamichi kippu uso!?

Megami wa kimagure kyouki no deadheat Woo Yeah!

You are… You are my sunshine my only.
You are… You are my sunshine so so sweet
You are… You are my sunshine my only.
You are… Kimi wa watashi no taiyou

Oodiensu shizumari kaeru Shiiiii…
Yume ni mita omae no naka e (Come on!)
Otoko mo onna mo soudachi na no sa Woo!
Ore mo omae mo bishonure na no sa Aha~!

Megami ga hohoemu kyouki no deadheat You win!
Megami ga hohoemu kyouki no deadheat You win!

Razzle Dazzle Live Report!

Long report, but it was a great show.

BUCK-TICK Tour 2010 'Go on the RAZZLE DAZZLE'
10-15-10 Live at Saitama City Cultural Center

Ah, the first day of the tour. More exciting than any other day, except perhaps the tour final. So many questions anxiously await being answered. For example, will there be real fire on the set again this time? Will there be a high-tech opening sequence? Will Imai have taken a hack saw to his hair again? What will all these new songs sound like live? And most importantly, will the band have rehearsed and rested enough not to make ridiculous mistakes that prompt me to write a sympathetic but amusingly sarcastic live report that gets me branded as a poison-pen tabloid writer and slanderer of dear little U-ta? Well I’ll tell you up front, ladies and gentlemen: no worries. The first day of the Memento Mori tour may have been a demonstration of how the Buck-Tick members are loveably fallible human beings, but the first day of the Razzle Dazzle tour was a demonstration of how the lovably-fallible-human-being thing was actually all just an act, put on to make sure we didn’t accuse them of having sold their souls to the Devil, when the next tour came around and they were so spectacular that there might have been supernatural powers involved.

I tend to think that if Buck-Tick ever sold their souls to the Devil, they did it back when they were making Kurutta Taiyou, and that it’s a lot of rehearsal, moderation of drinking, and a good night’s sleep that wrought the wonders in their performance this time around. But, since I am a lovably fallible human being myself, I could be wrong.

For all the fans who lamented with the release of Tenshi no Revolver that they wished Buck-Tick would cut the baloney and return to their roots, Razzle Dazzle should be an exciting wish come true. Over all, Razzle Dazzle may be a fresh, surprising new sound for Buck-Tick, but at the same time, it contains many elements that were hallmarks of their music in the late 90’s yet all but vanished post-Mona Lisa Overdrive. I’m talking about the quirky, catchy synthesizers and programming that defined Buck-Tick’s music for a third of their career, and made them impossible to classify into any existing genre. No matter how fine their recent records are, to yours truly, at least, there has always been a little lonely place where all the blips, bleeps, and techno beats once were. With Razzle Dazzle, the electro is back with style, combined with a healthy dose of Seventh Heaven-era straight-faced retro humor. Just like Buck-Tick’s earliest work, Razzle Dazzle is full of musical jokes, and that deadpan musical mocking is just about the closest to Buck-Tick’s real roots as it might be possible for them to get, in this age of slick production technology and superior guitar skill. How could you be serious as a 19-year-old with your hair sticking up a foot in the air? How can you be serious now, as a 45-year-old with only half a set of diagonal bangs? It amounts to the same thing.

But return to the roots or no, the superficially light, glittering tone of Razzle Dazzle may have put off some fans longing for Buck-Tick’s signature darkness darker than darkness. How could any album with a misty pink cover yield a satisfyingly fanged, gothical, hip-thrusting, blood-sucking live tour? But if you worried about this, you are forgetting the most important thing: before anything else, Buck-Tick are a live band, and their live energy is propelled by the singular charisma and stage presence of Sakurai Atsushi. And he may be famous for having the capability to razzle-dazzle every woman he meets into a puddle of cream soda, but he is never, never pink and glittery. The power of his “so goth he shits bats” aura automatically dims the lights of any room he walks into, no matter how much retro pop rock and female backup vocals Imai pulls out of his basement. The result is the ultimate irony: Memento Mori may have been trashy death-themed rock-n-roll where Razzle Dazzle is smooth and shiny dance pop, but turn up the bass and add in all the Moulin Rouge and rotten speakeasy glamour hiding in the techno beats, and the Razzle Dazzle tour ends up being six shades darker. As you like it!

Last year’s tour kicked off in the bustling center of Kawaguchi, but this year Buck-Tick has moved a few stations over, to the Saitama City Cultural Center, located in the nowheresville of Minami-Urawa. An unbroken river of fans tottered in ten centimeter heels past the station bus terminal and down the narrow sidewalks, their black clothing melting into the darkness as the number of streetlights decreased and the shopping district immediately gave way to empty suburban streets, already deserted at the tender hour of 6:00PM. It wasn’t dark for long, however—soon, the fans were gasping and cheering as the growling hulk of the Razzle Dazzle Light Bus drove by at a crawl, with larger-than-life photos of the band members illuminated on one side and the album promo shot illuminated on the other. On the truck’s rump was a blowup of the album cover design. There was no music blasting into the night, but with so few cars on the roads, the driver of the truck could afford to be obliging as the fans chased after with their cameras and cell phones, calling out “wait, please wait!” when their stylish but pathetically impractical shoes prevented them from running fast enough to catch up. For a few minutes, the truck pulled over to the side of the road to “pose,” as the fans furiously snapped as many pictures as possible. Then it was on its way again, lighting the way, leading the parade onward to the venue.

As usual, the lobby was decorated with rows of Razzle Dazzle promo posters, bouquets of flowers from various music industry organizations, the requisite fan club application booth, and goods tables covered with all the tour goods that have been released so far, with the notable exception of the Gretsch Super Toll limited edition t-shirt (who needs Yoshiki and Stan Lee’s musical superhero when you have Super Toll?) Inside, the fans were given a window into Imai’s vision of the world of the album, as they listened to the pre-show set list that ranged from big band jazz to down-tempo industrial. And then the lights went down, and the show began.

The hall was plunged into pitch dark as Imai’s extended version of “Razzle Dazzle Fragile” burst out aggressively from the speakers, the frenetic motion of the music contrasting sharply with the scene that was slowly being drawn on the semitransparent scrim obscuring the stage. Line by line, the various grotesquely beautiful fairytale characters from Aquirax Uno’s album artwork began unfurling in ice-white laser projection on the blackness of the scrim, as if being drawn by invisible hands. As they expanded, they gave off curling plumes of white smoke like liquid nitrogen. The music raced ahead, but the drawings continued to appear slowly, character by character: here’s the exotic dancer, now here’s the cat lady in evening gloves, and now the unicorn princess. The slowness of the animation only added to the building tension. At last, as the band’s logo began burning onto the scrim, the band themselves came out one by one, to wild cheering from the fans. And the next minute, the bank of lights over the proscenium arch of the stage flashed bright white, and the curtain flew open.

“Action!” shouted Sakurai and Imai together, and the band ripped into “Razzle Dazzle.”

Initially, the stage appeared to be quite bare, with no ornamentations save the blue mosaic tile pattern on the front wall of the platform that supported Toll’s drums and Yutaka’s little wiggling butt. But as Sakurai’s voice vaulted up into the Broadway drama of the chorus, the light bank over the front arch of the stage came up flashing with an image of old-fashioned molding, like the proscenium of a classical theater. Broadway and electronics—clearly, the razzle dazzle was all here already. And if the band members seemed a little more focused on their instruments and reluctant to go gallivanting all over the stage right from the start, they made up for it by not making a single mistake.

After “Razzle Dazzle,” the band took the tone back down again. The lights lowered and they moved directly into “PIXY,” giving the audience the first inkling that this show might be heading in a dark direction. Heavy on the red and purple overhead spots, the lighting stayed very dim, with only one large white light illuminating Sakurai from below. It made him look just a little bit like a Puck or Pixy himself, as he cackled between phrases and spun a fey, magical atmosphere, playfully ominous and deeply sensual. He rubbed his thighs, throwing his head back with an expression of bliss, before crouching low over the light on the floor and grimacing at the audience, extending a goblin-like finger to damn his rival in love. The guitar delays and heavy drum beat reverberated through the whole hall, giving the song much more fullness of sound than it achieved on the album.

The stage stayed mostly dark as the band continued with “My Funny Valentine,” a little less meltingly romantic than it has been in some renditions, but still blending perfectly with the tracks from Razzle Dazzle. And if the show had started off a little dark and moody, it was all faster and hotter from here. If anyone was thinking that with the change of a few letters, “Django” would be “Goblin,” well, the band thinks like you—without a pause, they dove straight into “Goblin,” and the crowd went wild. Sakurai mimed the saxophone trills with his fingers, while Imai, warmed up by this point, started kicking and spinning.

With a little more light on the stage, the band members’ costumes became visible. This time, the band was presenting a far more unified look than on the Memento Mori tour, and they were keeping their costumes closely aligned with the themes of the album. Imai was razzling and dazzling in a pair of silver-spangled wide-legged white satin pants, sewn with the crotch down around the knees and balloons of fabric over the thighs. On top he sported a purple satin shirt with a ruffle down the front, surmounted by a gold-trimmed velvet jacket that eventually proved itself to be not black, but dark green. His ironed black hair fell over his shoulders and tossed as he played guitar, the jagged spikes of his angled bangs obscuring most of his face most of the time. Hoshino was playing up the Latin atmosphere with a long, fringed sweater in black and gold, paired with a large neck kerchief tied in a triangle over one shoulder, reminiscent of the “Miu” PV, and particularly flattered by his acoustic guitar. Higuchi has cut his hair surprisingly short, and wore a dark suit with spangled accents, while Toll, trendbreaker as usual, wore a smartly tailored khaki military uniform, with the sharp dandelion points of his hair exploding in all directions through the top of his fedora. Unsurprisingly, Sakurai was dressed in a version of his favorite black coat-vest-ruffles-shiny pants combination, this time with a Spanish twist—shiny, high-heeled boots flared out and folded over at the top, and a bright red rose embroidered on the back of his black vest. He also wore a pleated black kilt around his hips, which tried and failed to disguise the fact that his pants were too big for him yet again (he had to spend half the concert hiking them back up at regular intervals). Sakurai, too, has cut his hair shorter than it’s been since the Six/Nine tour, and wore it slicked back Peter Murphy style with industrial strength hairspray that refused to budge even after two hours of sweating and head-shaking.

But next up wasn’t head-shaking, so much as booty-shaking. For all that Imai claimed not to have enjoyed Lady Gaga, he’s certainly veering close to Gaga and Kylie Minogue territory with all the electro-pop glory of “Hamushi no You ni.” With this song, the whole hall might as well have been transformed into a giant dance club, yet the fans seemed confused, and mostly stood still and refused to get their groove on. I was hoping for disco balls, but it seems this is one of the songs the band will have to develop as the tour progresses. They played it straight, but didn’t take it further than the studio recording. All the members except for Sakurai, that is, who has recovered wonderfully from the vocal problems that plagued him on the last tour, and sang much more smoothly and beautifully than he did on the recording.

“Hamushi” was followed by “Bolero,” led by an enthusiastic Imai who urged the audience to join in on singing “da doo bee da doo bee da BEE da.” Behind the drum set, Toll was looking tired and low on energy, but it is a testament to his skills that he played perfectly anyway.

When the song finished, the stage went dark, and after a moment of silence, the hall was filled with a slow, bubbling electronic interlude, while flower-shaped lights shone down on the stage, changing from deep purple to sea green and then through silver, magenta, and blue, as the roadies brought out freshly tuned instruments and a metallic backdrop slowly came down behind the band members. The backdrop consisted of shiny silver beams, shaped to evoke the drapes of a curtain, and hung with rows of lightbulbs with mirrors dangling behind them, to reflect the lights outward. As the interlude music died out at last, the backdrop lit up with dazzling brightness and up came the infectious mambo beat of “Django!!!”

It’s a show-stopping number and they know it. Hide was fairly tearing the strings off his acoustic guitar as the backdrop lights changed colors along with the proscenium light bank. Imai’s expression never changed, but he kicked and spun enough to make it obvious he was having the time of his life. When the line, “he’s a trickster” came around, Sakurai put on an evil grin and pointed straight at Imai, snapping his fingers like castanets as the fans danced and counted 1-2-3.

After “Django!” came another break, the darkness filled this time with silver spots and eerie guitar noises. The glittering backdrop receded back into the ceiling, but was simultaneously replaced with a full-sized projection screen, just in time to welcome the videogame synth sounds of “Kyoki Deadheat.” And what kind of videogame is it? Just the kind that Sakurai likes, apparently. The lights were back down to their low level, leaving the band members except for Sakurai barely visible, and enabling the audience to concentrate on the 3D computer-animated video that rushed past on the screen behind: a school of shiny silver sperm, rushing down a twisting, cybernetic-looking red and black tunnel in a large cloud. The audience gave a collective gasp and giggle of surprised as the sperm first made their appearance, and Sakurai grinned at Hoshino, squealing “Usoo~” and sounding satisfyingly like an anime girl getting her skirt flipped. Though he had to flip his own skirt, as there was no one there to do it for him. The shots of sperm alternated with shots of clouds, and at last, as Sakurai sang “The goddess is smiling on you/In the crazy deadheat/You Win!” the sperm sailed out of the tunnel and gushed triumphantly into the clouds in a blaze of light. Maybe it’s not quite as good as the buxom Mona Lisa Overdrive mic stand lady, but it’s pretty far up there. Count on Buck-Tick to think of something new every time.

The show was getting hot and heavy now, and next up came “Sakuran Baby,” like an instant flashback to the One Life, One Death era with the heavy, driving bass filling the whole hall and vibrating deliciously in the floor. Higuchi shook his hips back and forth, grinning madly at being able to produce such a huge, intense sound as electronic glissandos poured from the speakers on all sides like meteorites falling from the ceiling. On recording, this song was catchy, but live, it’s stupendous, with the rumble of the bass paired with Sakurai’s perfect voice on the melodic chorus making it one part pop, one part hard club industrial.

Did I say industrial? For sure, Razzle Dazzle has the electronic funk and humorous weirdness that was also a pervading theme on Cosmos, but no one in the whole hall expected what came next. The stage went pitch black, and on the projection screen up came a low-resolution graphic of the folds of brain tissue, followed by a gray version of the Matrix—pixelated gray letters in Courier font, changing and shifting in tight-packed vertical rows all up and down the screen, spreading out over the proscenium light bank as Toll hit the drums and electronic bouncing and buzzing noises ricocheted around the hall, magnified to grandiose proportions by the huge space. The letters on the screen flashed and then up came more letters, giant and red this time, spelling out “SANE,” right over the drum set. The audience roared.

The stage stayed in near darkness as the song began, and Sakurai picked up a large red plastic megaphone wrapped in black tape. As he chanted the lyrics, the megaphone distorted his voice, and the blinking cursor on the projection screen spelled out the words of the lyrics in type, sometimes erasing them to type a new line, other times scrolling down to add more, and from time to time the words short-circuited, flashing and shooting back and forth across the screen at light speed, multiplying into infinity before resolving back into the blinking cursor again, then exploding into the Matrix once more for the chorus. The lights stayed down the whole time and Sakurai stood still, foot on the monitor, cackling into the megaphone while Imai spun through the darkness. Live, the song held much more menace and aggression than the recorded version. It buzzed in the floor, blasting with an artillery of sound, then pulling back again, strobing, pulsing, drawing the audience into its disturbing, world of madness.

When “SANE” was done, rather than breaking the delicious dark spell that had been cast, the band kept it going with “Uta,” blinding white lights flashing until everyone was dizzy. After “Uta,” Sakurai addressed the audience.

“We have a few more songs for you all to enjoy before it’s over,” he said. “I want you all to have as much fun as possible, all the way up to the second balcony!”

He held out the microphone, and the people in the second balcony screamed, sounding very high up and far away to everyone down on the ground floor.

“First balcony!” More screams, closer this time.

“Orchestra!” And the ground floor screamed, clapping, cheering, and shrieking the names of the band members.

“Now we’re going to play a song from about twenty years ago,” Sakurai said. “Imai rearranged it and now…it’s quite different. See if you recognize it!”

The lights went down again, and the projection screen came up with bubbles of eerie silver and green. Lights came up behind the rhythm section platform as Toll pounded out a hard, driving rhythm and Higuchi plucked at the strings of his much-admired standup wooden bass. The heavy rhythm grounded a wailing forest of dirgelike guitar chords in the harmonic minor. There was something distinctly cabaret-style about this arrangement, like Jacques Brel’s “Amsterdam,” infused with a heavy dose of gothic rock. But what song was it? And then Sakurai started singing “Still smiling like I’m freezing…”

Victims of Love!

If Sakurai had had skull-baby with him, she would have fit right in. This is the third time Imai has rearranged “Victims of Love,” and this version is by far the darkest and most full of despair. The graphics on the projection screen reflected the mood appropriately, displaying blurry images of the hands and face of a drowned woman, shining green with corpse-light like the faces in the Dead Marshes in Lord of the Rings. The stage was equally as dark and green, with the band members staying solemnly still, Sakurai crooning into the microphone as though in pain, reaching under the pleated kilt to stroke himself and shiver with an act of repressed, intense erotic feeling. It was just as persuasive as the shamelessly provocative “Climax Together” version, but much creepier.

“That was ‘Victims of Love,’” Sakurai said when the song had finished. He gave a long pause. “For anyone who couldn’t tell.” The audience laughed and cheered.

It was nearing the end of the main set, and it was time to turn the heat back up. Now the lights were coming up, and Sakurai crossed the stage over to where Imai was standing, putting his arms up behind Imai and cackling until Higuchi rolled into the heavy, retro bassline of “Tango Swanka.” Imai pulled out his Sid Vicious beach attitude for his first lead vocals of the evening, his rough spoken-word sections contrasting sharply with Sakurai’s velvet smooth melody. By the time the chorus came around, everyone was dancing and singing along with Imai, who spun around a few times, then came all the way down the left hanamichi. He shuffled back and forth in front of the crowd of women who had rushed up to the edge of the stage to greet him, tossing his hair and making an elaborate show of pretending they weren’t there, while playing a red-hot guitar solo. Sakurai, perhaps feeling a bit ignored, shouted “KISS ME” at the top of his lungs, then teased the fans in the front row.

“Don’t touch me!” he sang, darting up to the edge of the stage, reaching out his arm, then pulling it away as soon as they grabbed him.

After “Swanka” came “Mugen,” as big and cheesy and feel-good as Hide promised, and then the band finished up the set with “Dokudanjou Beauty.”

Okay, I asked for disco balls. And we may not have gotten any on “Hamushi,” but on “Dokudanjou,” they gave them to us, and how. One disco ball of galactic proportions rose out of the floor on the back platform and started twirling, while three more descended from the ceiling. The projection screen in the back came up with an image of scores more disco balls flashing rainbow lights across the screen, as the stage swirled in a dizzy cloud of lights from the real live disco balls, which were all turning in opposite directions. They razzled and dazzled, tangoed and djangoed to a fever pitch as the band played a wonderful rendition of the single mix of “Dokudanjou,” mercifully free of preposterous guitar solos and unnecessary guest vocals. Then, with a few nods and smiles, they were off, and the house was dark again, and unusually, the scrim was back in front of the stage.

It took the venue staff two tries to get the scrim on right—on the first try, they discovered that it was still tied together at the bottom, and had to haul it back offstage and untie it, before closing it for real. After a short break, the lights went up on the stage, and the band members came back out, but the scrim stayed closed. Blurred projections of cherry blossom petals and ocean waves came up on the proscenium light bank and spread onto the scrim, where they warped and danced and resolved into a giant full moon as Hoshino struck the first mournful sounds of “Yougetsu” on his guitar. Sadly, unlike “Dokudanjou Beauty,” the band had decided to play the album arrangement of “Yougetsu” rather than the far superior single version, but live, it hardly mattered. The floor spots were back, and traded off illuminating Sakurai, Imai, and Hoshino as the song focused on their various parts in turn. Sakurai was in his element, commanding every inch of the dark, surreally obscured stage. Once again, he crouched dramatically over the floor spots, calling to mind his brilliant performances of “Gesshoku” on the 13th Floor with Moonshine Tour, and “Shingetsu” at his own solo live at NHK Hall in 2004. The projected moon image sank lower and lower until it filled the whole scrim, whereupon it turned from pearly white to deep blood red, bathing the band members in a crimson glow that remained as the song ended and the scrim was drawn aside to reveal an octagonal lighting apparatus that slowly descended from the ceiling to hang in the air above Sakurai’s head like a gigantic cursed halo.

The other band members waited in the gloom while Sakurai stood majestically in the center of the circle of red light, and the repeated music-box tone of a high A began to drop from the upper speakers like little drops of blood.

If any song in the whole show required the live performance to bring out its full potential, it was “Kuchizuke.” Fans seem to have been quite divided on their opinion of this song, which also served as the opening theme to the anime series Shiki. But if the studio recording of this song was the tiniest bit lacking in gravitas, the live performance made up this lack tenfold. All the whimsy of stylized anime character designs, homely girls dancing on tables and inexplicable burning wheelchairs was gone in an instant, replaced with a thunderous, threatening aria of darkness. The bass resounded through the floor and walls and the guitars scraped through the shadows outside the circle of red light, which remained focused on Sakurai the entire time. It lit up the whites of his eyes as he leered at the audience, singing “I’m going mad in a vicious thirst.” He proves his authenticity by continuing to look convincingly creepy and dangerous in this sadly emasculated age when vegetarian vampire schoolboys dwell on every corner.

As “Kuchizuke” finished, the audience was silent for a breathless moment, before the loud, metallic beat of “Iconoclasm” roused them into dancing action—more joy for anyone who missed Mona Lisa Overdrive, because the band is back to a hard, industrial arrangement full of pulsing strobe lights and Imai making lewd, V-shaped gestures at the audience with his fingers and tongue on “2 for the X.”

The band went offstage again after “Iconoclasm,” to return a few short minutes later, without having changed costumes at all. After a few guitar screeches from Imai, they went straight into “Speed,” the only choice in the set list that might be considered a pointless crowd-pleaser, but at least it wasn’t “Aku no Hana.” It did give Hoshino an excuse to come halfway down the left hanamichi, grin awkwardly at the audience, then flee in terror as a group of girls rushed up under the glaring eyes of the security guards, reaching toward him and squealing.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you’ve been enjoying the show,” Sakurai said as the song finished. “Before we play our last two songs, I’d like to do some band member introductions…” His statement lacked conviction, and a few of the audience members laughed.

“There might be people in the audience who are seeing Buck-Tick for the first time, so…I’ll introduce the band members…on guitar, Imai Hisashi!” Cheers, and Imai struck a single, jarring chord on his guitar.

“On drums, Yagami Toll!”

The lights came up on Toll, and he stuck his tongue out and winked at the audience before starting one of his amusing drum solos—little tinkling drum rolls on the snare, then the cymbals, then a few big crashes, then the plunk of a cowbell. Assuming Toll had finished, Sakurai turned towards Higuchi and opened his mouth to speak again, but Toll drowned him out with a loud crash cymbal, then a few little taps on the bell of the ride. The audience laughed.

“Bass, Higuch—” Sakurai began again, but Toll cut him off again, and Sakurai turned around to look at the drum platform, giving Toll a look that said, “are you done yet?” Toll nodded contritely and Sakurai turned away, then crash crash crash went Toll’s drums. The audience was roaring with laughter now, and so was Sakurai, who tried again to introduce Higuchi but was now unable to speak, he was laughing so hard, so Toll just continued with the drum solo, Higuchi shaking his hips, waving and smiling until Sakurai recovered himself enough to introduce Higuchi, Hoshino, and himself, which he did in his usual embarrassed manner, mumbling “I’m…vocal…Sakurai.”

Then he took a deep breath, and the band started into their all-new fangirl favorite, “Gekka Reijin.” They played it through straight, without embellishment, but the song is more than strong enough to stand on its own and speak for itself.

Naturally, the last song of the evening was “Solaris.” Lyric-wise, this song is thematically related to “Kimi ga Shin…dara,” one of the great ballads of Buck-Tick’s experimental electronic golden age. The graphics on the projection reflected this accordingly, bringing up images of psychedelic butterflies followed by deep ocean blues and Nautilus shells, like a vision of prehistory, or perhaps, the otherworldly ocean the song’s title makes reference to. A little emptier and more solemn than “Heaven,” there’s a beautiful sort of hope in the freedom of loss that this song expresses. It may be Buck-Tick’s first real song, not just about death and the brevity of life, but also about growing older. There couldn’t be a more appropriate ending song, because this song is about endings.

This show, however, was about the beginning of the tour, and far from making the audience lonely, the end of this concert just built up the anticipation for the start of the next one. Another show exactly like this one would be more than enough for any fan, but in the coming weeks, the performance is bound to grow and evolve. And on his blog, Imai promises many new developments to come, so stay tuned!

SE - Razzle Dazzle Fragile
01. Razzle Dazzle
02. PIXY
03. My Funny Valentine
04. Goblin
05. Hamushi no You Ni
06. BOLERO
07. Django!!!
08. Kyouki Deadheat
09. Sakuran Baby
10. SANE
11. Uta
12. Victims of Love
13. Tango Swanka
14. Mugen
15. Dokudanjou Beauty

en1

16. Yougetsu
17. Kuchizuke
18. Iconoclasm

en2

19. Speed
20. Gekka Reijin
21. Solaris