Thursday July 25
visual show #3
we
go to see visual kei show. Saiya couldn't come but she found a friend of a
friend to meet me, even though the friend couldn't speak any English. the
friend was named layla. she was wearing the cutest outfit of all time-- a
sort of jonny rotten meets sailor moon look. she's 26 and studying to be a
dental hygienist. the language barrier frightened me so I brought Yuko.
. . Yuko started talking to layla nonstop, cracking her up in a way that she could never crack me up. apparently Yuko is somewhat famous for taking photos and being an animal collector. layla was a fan of hers!! so they chat, which is cool . but Yuko doesn't want to translate. which gets old considering that there's 90 minutes before the show starts. and gets even more irritating because they're clearly talking about me!
show review:
These are all the 'old generation' of visual bands, back from when the music actually WAS visual (lots of costumes and theatrics)
re`villes
the most AMAZING band ever. The music is totally pompous, orchestral and decadent.
Opulent strings and harps sound like music from a gothic palace fit for a
king. . . . so it's FUCKING FUNNY that the band is just two guys and a keyboard.
The guys have these fucked up liberache costumes and try to do synchronized
stage moves. One guy has a guitar but he doesn't even play it most of the
time. My jaw hit the floor and stayed there. Oh. . . my. . .fuck. . .oh. .
. my. . . fuck. . .
emmuree
the music was kind of minimal and listless, but the
singer was awesome!! Dressed like a scarecrow with the black plague, he twitched
and skipped and contorted himself. And he had a great voice too. a total master
showman!
gil e cadith
they have the most wickedly fucked-up intro ever. . . 3 minutes of music with the curtain down the whole time. then the curtain comes up and it turns out they're lip-synching. after that they start playing, the singer passes out toy confetti makers to the audience and on cue, everyone shoots their confetti out!
charlotte
Really fun, high-energy performance. The best of visual kei. Wacky costumes
(the guitarist is wearing a white vinyl nurse's uniform with fuzzy white animal
boots and a matching tail) and lots of mugging and jumping around.
velvet eden
the singer didn't show up. So the other guys had to attempt to sing, which was a harsh reality. But they still had the giant fiberglass bat wings.
later, on our way to the station, we run into some Okama (transvestite) hostesses in Kabuki-cho (the hoe district).
That's Michael. I gave him a BUSUCHAN CD in exchange for this picture. I'm wearing a shirt that hangs to my knees, and nothing else.
FRIDAY July 26
dancing with kayoko
eventually I leave to go dancing with kayoko.
she brings her cousin, a darling 19 year old naiif from Yokohama.
the dance club is called TWO FACE .
it has me worried at first-- it's all salarymen. but in fact they aren't dull at all. they dance much more energetically than 'hip', 'Americanized, mtv-loving' Asian Americans. shaking hips and acting goofy.
the hoochies though, still dance really shitty like Asian American hoochies.
there was one girl up on a platform and some businessman guys sitting at a table right behind her not only looking up her skirt, but pointing. which was fucking rad. you dorks are made for each other.
there are two identically dressed 7 foot tall Asian guys dressed like disco stu, complete with afros and sunglasses indoors. they rule the planet, I swear to god. I wish I could have gotten a picture of them.
unlike Asian Americans, Japanese dancers of both genders have a sense of humor. when I was dancing all sick, they laugh at me, but then copy me also!!! they enjoy my difference. despite being supposedly a shy and conformist culture, they are much less uptight than the 'fun loving and individualistic' Americanized Asians.
I made up several new dances because of the inspiration.
a couple of girls wanted to talk to me but I was just not having it. I wanted Yuko to know I'm loyal even though I'm out dancing with kayoko.
they play a techno version of smoke on the water. no kidding. my jaw never left the ground.
also very Japanese-- the dancers have synchronized moves for some of the songs. not like parapara. but like everyone's dancing in their own style and then all a sudden they all go 'hey hey hey!' and fist pump, and then go back to doing their own thing.
I was soaked with sweat. I only danced for 2 hours but drank like over a liter of water and didn't have to pee.