Furu Anime Panikku

During my trip, I went for 3 live band performances, 2 of which were quite out of the way for me. It was all totally worth it, both the money and the time. The experience is definitely what I can never get in Singapore, and I’ll explain why shortly.

My very first experience was in Kyoto, where つばき’s live was held in Kyoto Mojo. The venue was really small, barely fitting 200 people, which meant that you could feel every single drum beat and note on the bass throughout your entire body. Also, it meant that you’d be struggling to get your ears back to normal after the event.

There were no lockers so I had to carry my bag throughout the 2 hours, or even longer, if you factor in the waiting time. I came straight from the hostel without unpacking, so I had a laptop and DSLR with me. Not exactly the best things to have with you at such a time.

Anyway, I can barely remember what happened throughout the live concert since I was too engrossed with the music. I didn’t really listen to much of the band’s first and second album before that, so I didn’t know some of the songs. Still, it didn’t stop me from getting immersed. I sang along to some songs I knew, but the music was so loud that I couldn’t even help my own voice.

My second live was Tacica at Shibuya-AX. This time, the venue was much larger, and only the crowd just right before the stage was packed. Other than that, there was lots of space in between people. Still, that didn’t make the live any less enjoyable. The 1000 odd crowd was amazingly responsive towards the band, be it during the performance or short talking sessions.

The vocals are absolutely amazing live. My only regret was that the I couldn’t see the guitarist playing too clearly. Each time the solo portions were played, the guitarist would turn to his right and work his magic on the guitar. I was on his left, so all I could see was his back.

My third and final live experience during my trip was the HIATUS at Zepp Sendai. Yes, I took a 2 hour Shikansen to Sendai, spent the day wandering around before going for for a live, followed by another 2 hours back to Tokyo, all in a single day. I’ve never really listened to ELLEGARDEN before the live, but I somehow picked up the HIATUS’ music and totally love it. I’ve even started listening to ELLEGARDEN as there’s something intriguing about Takeshi’s songwriting. However, I still prefer the HIATUS over ELLEGARDEN.

20 minutes before the HIATUS took the stage

The moment the band took the stage and began playing, I found myself totally captivated by the vocals. It was awesome on the CD, but when it was live, the awesomeness factor shot through the meter. Takeshi’s English pronunciation would put many who speak English as their first language to shame. I was hoping that he spoke in some English though.

The crowd was really insane. While they were doing the normal raise their index finger in the air thing during the slow songs, hell was unleashed during the faster ones. At any point of time during those songs, I could see at least 2 to 3 people who were crowd surfing. It was those moments that I felt glad that I was watching from second floor.

the HIATUS only had a single album released so far, so they played all the songs in the album. 2 songs were played twice, and a new unreleased song was played too. While I didn’t catch the name of that song, it was great hearing the math rock styled drum beats. Just as expected of Kashikura Takashi, toe’s drummer.

Words can’t fully describe how I felt at the lives. It was amazing, so amazing the to extent that I couldn’t actually believe I was there. It was like the same feeling that I had when I paid my first visit to Disneyworld when I was 8.

I think I’m really addicted to lives in Japan. The quality there far surpasses the quality in Singapore. No, I’m not being biased because I listen mostly to Japanese music. Putting the performer issue aside, the one thing that draws the divide would be the strict no photography and recording rule. Why so?

In Singapore, most people would be busy snapping shots on their cameras or trying to record the live audio, most of which ends up as crap. Don’t fool yourself, you can’t expect anything decent out of your 8 megapixel shitty sensor handphone camera. Not in a live house or club with such lighting.

All this brings me to the point of why the live experiences locally suck. When you get people trying to snap shots WHILE the band is performing, the cameras and handphones become a visual hindrance. Dude, I paid money to watch the band perform live, not a bunch of monkeys trying so very hard to snap a decent shot in poor lighting. This ain’t no photography session, it’s a freaking live performance. And lives are about the music, not how many blurry images you can take of the band. We have the professionals for that.

I’ve arrived at the conclusion that for Singapore live goers, enjoyment equates to taking as many pictures home from the live, while for the Japanese live goers, it’s all about soaking as much as you can in the audio and visuals, during the live. It doesn’t take a genius to guess which camp I’m in.

Ripped off from a friend who went to Mr Big’s live in Singapore

This is why I love Japanese crowds as opposed to the local crowd when it comes to live performances. At least they know how to show respect to the bands by actually appreciating the music by the band when they are playing instead of trying to grab some petty shots so that they can upload it on their social networking websites or blogs. Or at least they are skilled enough to hide their devices from plain sight.

Lesson of the day: Show some respect to the band’s music and the other fans attending the live. If you really must, takes pictures when the band isn’t performing.

I really need to go back for more of this drug. It’s horrible that I’m already suffering withdrawal symptoms.