Current mood:

groggy

Live Report: 4/1 HEAVEN'S ROCK at Saitama
The live started pretty much on time, with BRAVECROW as the opener. Nobody seemed to have heard of them/be into them except for two girls. The band (especially the vocalist) kept trying to get the crowd into it, but weren't too successful. To be honest I really felt bad for them, but they were good sports about it and didn't seem to take it personally. Actually their music wasn't bad at all and I particularly liked one song named "Requiem", but compared to The ROMEO and THE Utsunomiya ROCK STARS they lack in style and character. After their set if you filled out their enquette you could play omikuji for some prizes. I got middle luck so they gave me a poster of the band, but since I didn't need it I gave it to one of the two girls into them.

Next up was SIDE-3, who fared a little better. I wasn't into their set as much as BRAVECROW's and kind of zoned out thinking about what outfit to wear the next day and work stuff. They're the kind of band where you're happier with the CD than going to a live. Nevertheless I received an enquette so filled it out and got some stickers.

Finally The ROMEO came on, at which point the live really began. DAISHI has his hair dyed blonde, which matched the colour of his tie on the black suit he was wearing. I forget what they opened up with... Maybe "Billy". They played all the new JOKER single songs, "Ginrou" ala PLC days, GOD JAPANESE MONSTER, and one or two others. Each band's set had a 30 min. or so slot, hence the short set. On the single "BLACK BUTTERFLY" doesn't do much for me, but sounds mighty sexy live.

I stood in the second row center and therefore got attacked by the crowd surfers from behind. Crowd surfing is a little weird in Japan, where usually lighter girls will get volleyed up by helpers in the third row and roll over the second and first row towards the barrier where livehouse staff will catch them in the off-limits pit. Then they run back and start it over. A lot of livehouses have no surfing rules, but The ROMEO's motto is "No fucking rule" so it tends to happen anyways for certain songs. I just covered my head and came out pretty unscathed. The helpers made sure everyone covered their heads properly as not to get kicked or injured. After the surf song and set the helpers and surfers thanked us people in the first two rows.

As for the MCs, both were mainly DAISHI. In the first some fan growled something to him to which he replied, "Hey are you on your period?" and as an afterthought, "Hey, any women on their periods raise your hand!" Of course no girls did, and we all just laughed. Then he tried to get Hiroki to talk but Hiroki had lit up a cigarette and was taking a smoke break so DAISHI went on about other and upcoming lives. In the second MC the other members were ragging on him so DAISHI asked if he had any good points and Daisuke answered, "Not really any." and Shingo replied, "None." So DAISHI turned to Hiroki, who said he was nice, and so he cried out "Brother!" and gave Hiroki a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

For goods, they had the usual fare of photosets, straps, shirts, and towels. I really wanted the shirt, which had the The ROMEO skull logo on the front with "NO FUCKING RULE" on the back., but didn't bring a lot of money with me so maybe next time.

Since almost everyone was there for The ROMEO, half the crowd left after their set. I decided to stay and talked with two girls who had stood by me during the set.

Last up was THE Utsunomiya ROCK STARS, who look like a cross between SEXMACHINEGUNS and XJAPAN, save for the drummer who had a KISS look. Their set was fun, with a lot of cute furi. The band has this shuffle movement thing they do which is amusing. Their last song is a drinking song, so the vocalist chugged two cans of beer. And as a finale the drummer mooned us, which got a lot of applause. All in all, I wouldn't mind checking them out again.

This live was the best one I've been to by The ROMEO so far, because the fans had so much energy. I'm definitely looking forward to the 3-day oneman in June.