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At long, long, long last, we've published our live report of the Lunatic Festival over at This is NOT Greatest Site.
To read the report, click here.
If you enjoyed the report, please leave a comment! We've been so busy these days that we actually lost sleep over this because staying awake late into the night was the only way we could find the time to get it done...so if you enjoyed it, please show us some appreciation! It won't help us feel less tired, but it will make us happy.
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Also, for those of you who hadn't noticed, also at long long last, we have added English translations to the most of the remainder of the songs on Lucy's album Rockarollica II. If you've never listened to this album, go listen to it. It's awesome.
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Thank you, signed (: Loved the background bits about Ka.F.Ka and minus (-), and of course that they performed Mudai. Any hope for a live DVD, like B-T did?
ReplyDeleteEven if there is a DVD, it will surely mostly focus on Luna Sea and wouldn't be much of an investment for a B-T fan even if there were clips of B-T, which there might not be...
DeleteI couldn't care less about Luna Sea, but I'm hoping for someone to leak a performance of Ka.F.Ka after your glowing report, that's all. There is a one-minute clip of Melancholia on the net from some TV something, so fans can kill themselves in wars over Acchan's body (or just admire Imai's gorgeous hair color). I don't get what the fuss is about though - surely he'd have to walk over Mr. Yagi Tomoharu's corpse and then try some more, if he wanted to look anything resembling macho. Them silver shades and black nails (:
DeleteUnfortunately I doubt there will be any sort of video release of Ka.F.Ka's set as they're probably not seen as high profile enough. But one hopes they will release a live video of their own in the future. It's just that Mr. Tsuchiya in his golden years is a bit slow-moving on these things, and his other superstar band members are very busy.
DeleteThanks for the report! Makes me feel a bit like I was there, even though I am in Europe.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the report!
ReplyDeleteLoved the bits about Ka.F.Ka and fanboy-Acchan.
And the fact that their last song of the Festival was Mudai... it's so intense!
Holy crap, that story about Masami Tsuchiya getting Ken and Maki back together is like something out of a sitcom plot! That's amazing, and I need to send that man some flowers!
ReplyDeleteWe could pool our money and put up a stand bouquet outside the venue of his next live show!
DeleteThank you so much! It was great! I really appreciated your descriptions on minus and Kafka. It made me wanna listen to them now! As people whom criticism of music I always value and respect I wanted to ask you how do you see the Japanese rock scene nowadays? Maybe it's a very generalistic question but seeing all these bands in the festival and their music and some others who are younger and popular with the international fans, makes me wonder about this. Thank you again!
ReplyDeleteThis festival was a pretty niche market and not really representative of what's popular in the Japanese rock scene, or even in so-called "visual kei" nowadays. Honestly, the Japanese rock scene is really mediocre lately, since idol groups have eaten up all the money. Most of the new bands on the scene play this kind of really lightweight, generic, hipster feel-good rock, and the visual kei movement is long dead in terms of actually producing anything new or original. It's a big concern among older generations, that they feel there's not enough new talent, but the corporate nature of the Japanese music industry makes it very difficult for indie musicians to take things by surprise. As to why it got that way...that conversation could take all night.
DeleteSo basically you're saying that VK is dead. Yeah, go tell that to the silly international fangirls. I swear these "younger vk bands" have the worst fandoms.
DeleteIt's always a pleasure reading your reviews and comments! Thanks for your dedication!
Visual kei has been dead for a long time, in the sense that the bands that call themselves "visual kei" these days aren't making anything new - they're basically just copying the work of bands who came before. Both the music and fashion have become nearly as formulaic and commodified as Johnny's idol groups, and attract similar fans to idol groups - teen girls more interested in the appearance of the band members than anything else. However, in contrast to idol fans, visual kei fans want to think of themselves as "dark" and "edgy," though in reality, most of them are far less experienced than their parents' generation.
DeleteFor the record, I am not remotely alone in this opinion. Most everyone who was involved in the 90's visual kei scene feels the same way. It had its moment, and now it's over. Unfortunately nothing very interesting has come along to fill the void.
I think you should do an article about this. I mean about J-rock today and VK and this stuff. Like not tiring yourself with lots of historical details etc. but just your own opinion on the thing and why do you think so. Thank you for the article. As usual it was awesome!
DeleteHonestly I've been considering writing such an article for quite some time, but the trouble is, where to even begin? I don't think I could in good conscience eliminate the historical details since so many readers of NGS/Blog-Tick are so new to Japanese rock and haven't got any sort of background knowledge, so explaining the history would be kind of the point. The topic is probably big enough to be a book, though. We'll see!
DeleteWell I really hope you do. You write beautifully and your articles and reviews are always very interesting and funny as hell. I know a lot of J-rock fans will appreciate it! ;)
DeleteJune is absolutely right. Every time I check blog-tick and there is something new, it instantly puts a smile on my face, because I just know it's going to be quality or/and something that will make me laugh. Your writing skills are very envy-worthy.
DeleteI sooooo approve that BT chose to perform those sad ass songs in contrast to the others! In your face fangirls! I'm talking about other bands' fans. Thanks Cayce!
ReplyDeleteAs usual your report was a delight. It's the next best thing to being there in person, plus no-one spills my wine :)
ReplyDeleteI was lucky enough to see KA.F.KA perform live last year, and they really are fantastic. I would encourage all your readers to get hold of their EP but agree with you 100% that they are a whole extra level of awesome on stage.
Love the B-T setlist, and I think Mudai is a great song to end a show on, it has a crescendo composition that to my ear reaches a perfect conclusion.
That was good Cayce but I do believe that was a corset. And it's not even the first time so ...
ReplyDeleteOoh, does this make you a fangirl who's horrified by muscular male bodies, then? A+++ thank you for commenting!
DeleteHahahahah not at all! I got nothing against male muscular bodies ... au contraire. That's why I know one when I see one. ;)
DeleteI report myself as disliking muscular men!
Delete... But I have to admit I have spent many, many minutes staring mesmerized at Sakurai's stomach on a gif that has been posted on tumblr of the Lunatic Fest concert. Pretty damn hot if you ask me.
* Gossip mode on * I am a fangirl who appreciates the effort Sakurai put in his 'physical development' in the last couple of years. I like both the skinny Sakurai as shown on the cover on the 'DIE single' (I read a rumour once that it was him who posed for this, and I think it is true, just look at his arms, they are very recognizable), and his present look. But after his illness in Nepal he is never shown without his shirt off (scars?) and I also read that he had to wear a medical corset for a long time after the incident, hence the high-necked shirts. Anyhow, I don't think he still wears this nor does he wear a corset to hide his expanding belly, he is not THAT fat. So he really must be becoming Mr. Olympia * Gossip mode off * By the way Cayce, your report is great as usual. :-)))
Delete1) No references to gifs without sharing the Gif in Question.
Delete2) No self-respecting goth wears a corset under his clothes. Corsets are outerwear. Go back to goth school.
3) If you were really a real fangirl, you would already know that Sakurai has never once flashed his boobies in public, not even when he was a feckless young'un. Go back to fangirl class.
4) Medical corsets are usually used for supporting the body after bone/muscle injuries. Mr. Sakurai had surgery for peritonitis, an inflammation of the lining of the body cavity - nothing to do with bones or muscles. In fact, surgery for peritonitis is usually necessary when the contents of the gut has leaked out into the body cavity, or there's pooling blood somewhere that has to be extracted. Wow much guts very gross, not so bones. Not very corset. Go back to science class.
5) If you want gossip, please go visit the homepage of The Hisashi Inquirer.
My apologies, Cayce. You can see the gif here: http://birdicatt.tumblr.com/post/122812869414/highlight-of-another-body-part-from-the-total
Delete1: ok
Delete2: I got kicked out of Goth School because I got caught kissing Genesis P. Orridge, so I never graduated.
3: It is really him on the cover of the DIE single: just look at his arms! I DID graduate anatomy class.
4: Sakurai was seen wearing a buttoned-down shirt while he was leaving after a concert a couple of years ago. The top half of what looked like a corset* was therefore clearly visible, some Japanese fans were very upset about this and they mentioned this several times on Tanuki.**
* It was NOT an undershirt.
** Not a reliable source I know, but still a great read.
Huh? What's The Hisashi Inquirer?????
DeleteAnon #1: If you'd actually kissed Genesis P. Orridge, you'd have graduated goth school on the spot. But if you'd actually graduated goth school, you'd no longer be an Anon. You'd have a bloody, spiderweb-encrusted handle like "LucretiasReflection" or
Delete"StigmataMartyrGurl666." If you would like to go back to school to earn your full goth degree, I suggest you start studying the introductory textbook, Dark Entries: a Gothic Primer. See Chapter 7: "Seven Deadly Sins and Putting Them Into Practice In Your Goth Life," subsection 3: Vanity. Excerpt: "All goths are vain...a goth's name, taken upon entry to the tribe, is regarded as an initiation to the blood and a symbol of the individual's originality, affect and style... the goth name is a point of pride, to be worn on one's sleeve like a badge of honor and lofted as a banner of one's authority on all tribal matters... to remain nameless is to go unnoticed and therefore unvalued, as a goth's value is largely determined by his/her/their visible demonstration of presence, esp. among other members of the tribe... an unusual and therefore easily-recognizable name is seen as most desirable..." anyhow you get the idea. Happy studying.
However, I'm glad to know that you at least learned enough in anatomy class that you can correctly identify where the arms are on the human body. As for identification of the mammary glands (more commonly known as "boobies"), I suggest you study the anatomy charts in Dark Entries: A Gothic Primer, Chapter 17: "Death Becomes Her," subsection 5, "How to Dissect a Cadaver."
As for Tanuki, you are indeed correct that everything you read on the internet is true, so I can't argue with you there.
Anon #2: The Hisashi Inquirer is a highly disreputable and sensationalist tabloid newspaper mainly circulated in Buck-Tickistan. For more info, click the tag "The Hisashi Inquirer" on the Blog-Tick sidebar.
DeleteThank you so much for this! I've been looking into buying Ka.F.Ka's CD recently and now I'm even more curious.
ReplyDeleteSounds like the minus (-) show was super compelling as well, which is great to hear. Even more exciting now that I know how unlikely any reunion between Soft Ballet members had seemed! (Your inclusion of the White Shaman video link made me almost inordinately happy—I've been getting deep into Soft Ballet and Ken Morioka is one of my favorite people in the world.) That drummer has caught my interest as well, the way you write about her.
Also, the way you write about anything to do with Issay pretty consistently cracks me up. I can't get enough of that vampire-lord ridiculousness of his. (I love him dearly too, of course. These guys...)
Again, thank you for all the time and effort you put into this write-up. Thanks for the Rockarollica II translations as well—my sister and I are really grooving on Lucy lately.
Honestly, Issay's about as much of a vampire lord as Acchan-chan, but fangirls are wont to look for Byronic anti-love in all the wrong places...
DeleteCan I just say that you are a really good writer? I thoroughly enjoyed reading the report, thank you for putting so much work in it. I loved the background information, all the details (which made the report very lively) and of course your hilarious descriptions. If you ever decide to leave the Buck-Tick fandom, I'm pretty sure I'll cry my eyes out.
ReplyDeleteI'm very curious to go look up Ka.F.Ka and minus (-) now!
No chance of me leaving the Buck-Tick fandom. You're stuck with me forever!
DeleteThanks Cayce awesome report as usual. I am loving the Ka.f.ka cd it would be great to see them live someday. I love the set list from B-T and ending with Mudai very powerful indeed! This has made up for the disappointing NicoNico coverage thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteThanks NGS for your reports! Damn how much I would've wanted a report on the 1st day too! Even though I only cared about BT and 2 or 3 others on the fest (not Luna Sea lol) I would've have wanted to know your opinion on the thing. Love!
ReplyDeleteWell, in brief, here's my opinion on the first day: the only two bands I'd have watched on the first day would have been Dir en grey and Dead End. I probably would have left before X Japan ever went onstage. Sorry, fans!
DeleteHahahahahaha you don't have to say sorry at all. I would've done the same but on the other hand I would've stayed too just to see what would they do. Then again I kinda know...
DeleteBut I'm not sure I can stand Toshi's singing for more than 2 songs and neither Yoshiki being ... well, Yoshiki and even less the ever-present "tribute to hide" (may he rest in peace).
Dir en Grey were their usual self but I'm not a fan of the "zetsubou songs" anyways. I enjoyed DE, Ryuichi fanboy-ing over Morrie and their duet. Although I like the original Serafine most ofc.
Up to this point, I've been a silent reader, but that's going to change. Nevertheless, excellent, excellent writing. -Gotta say that I've always enjoyed your play of words when it comes to writing about our fantastic five!
ReplyDeleteBeautifully written -as always -engaging, informative and full of humour. Reading it, I was transported there! Kudos!!!
ReplyDeleteCayce, logged in to write you I'm outside for the fight, I stand for B-T but also for Luna Sea. Btw, apart from the comment about "Shade", pleasant review.
ReplyDelete