Celebrating the second anniversary of the Starwave Records label, BLOOD, Tokami and Misaruka held a free three-man event at Ikebukuro Cyber on February 16th. The live house was packed full with an audience of both genders who came in the snowy weather anticipating an entertaining show.
Misaruka
As the curtains moved to the fairy tale-like SE, they revealed the members of Misaruka in their voluminous costumes, who opened the show with the melodic Merrow -Sin-. Leaning forward to the crowd, rui sang as if to every member of the audience personally, looking over them with an expression of tenderness. As rin came forward with one of his characteristic fluent lengthy solos, the fans knelt down and stretched their arms out towards him in a sign of admiration. The heavier -Tory- with its hard sounds and a symphonic flair followed. “Everyone take each other's hands,” asked the vocalist, and fans followed his advice, joining hands with friends and strangers uniting as one single body, stepping from right to left to the melodic tunes.
In the MC, sawah proposed to teach everyone the dance moves for the next song -FORBIDDEN-, released as a free download on the band's website. As sawah sang, Rui demonstrated the choreography, jokingly complimenting the guitarist on his singing skills. As the song began, fans were prepared to dance together with rui, once again holding hands while moving backward and forward, waving their arms in the air and head banging to the fast beats of the smiley vetchie’s drums. A fast transition into -Gilia- with its speedy romantic melodies, and the crowd went moshing from side to side, the members changing places and urging the crowd to move more.
“Good morning, mermaids!” Rui greeted the crowd, and professed his love to the fans who waited and came to the hall through the snowy weather. Next, he announced the appearance of a guest, the violinist of Rose Noire, Louie. He collaborated with Misaruka on their recordings, and was there to bring his live sound to the audience in the following song. -Jester- started with a dramatic intro, rui reading a narrative leading into the fairy tale-like lyrics of the song he sung softly, telling the story of a pierrot and a witch. The vocalist and the violinist’s duet, which they performed with affection to each other, was followed by Louie’s virtuous solo, the melody of which was caught up next in rin’s solo, the instrumentals building a narration of their own. Thanking the crowd, the violinist left the stage and Misaruka continued, asking the crowd to make this a wonderful gig although their performance was coming to a close. The final song -Rosary- started with a dark intro, rui’s sinister narrative an accompaniment to azami’s prominent bass lines which built the basis of the song. The fans united in head banging, then the front row suddenly knelt down on the stage and the rows of people at the back started moshing into them, pulled by their hands to the front by the vocalist, as the other members urged the fans to go wild. The fans screamed and stretched their arms towards the stage as the five members lined up and bowed to them, saying their goodbyes.
Set List:
SE
01. Merrow-Sin-
2. -Tory-
MC
03. -FORBIDDEN-
04. -Gilia-
MC
05. -Jester-
06. -Rosary-
Tokami
Following was Tokami, a band with a rather dark atmosphere, a teaser of which could be seen in projections on the curtain even before the show started. As the stage was revealed, the members came out one by one to a heavy SE, greeting the roaring audience. “Lets become one until the last song!” Agato announced. “Show me your power!” The audience responded to his words, head banging wildly to the heavy CLIFF EDGE. To the saturated, slower paced but still hard sounds of Ruler of chaos, the crowd screamed in unison as the members fired them on, coming to the edge of the stage and switching places, Ichika patting the fans on their heads.
“We are Tokami!” screamed K, and as the screams calmed down Agato greeted the crowd and announced the release of the band’s best-of album in May. “You’ve warmed up in the first two songs, now it’s time to listen.” The show continued with the quieter atmospheric Fuhai to shinshoku, kurikaesu yami ni toikaketa kotae, the members static on the dimly lit stage. Agato’s strong voice pierced the thick air of the live house, then changed into rhythmic rapping, and K produced one of his speedy solos, which have a new sound to them at every gig as they incorporate improvisation elements. “Raise your fists!” screamed Agato, “Hey, don’t slack off! It’s not enough!” The fans were not given a moment to rest, head banging and jumping to the moving sounds of Vendetta.
Putting his microphone down, the vocalist screamed, “Give me your voice! I can’t hear it!” The fans responded enthusiastically with loud cries. Following Agato’s lead, they danced to the more melodic Crimson Sky. The vocalist sang to Shige, who responded by mouthing the lyrics back to him, but when Agato pointed his mike to the guitarist, he smiled bashfully and shied away. Halfway through the song came an insert of a song, which is only featured in the bands’ lives and always met with enthusiasm from the fans. Fired on by all the members, changing places and interacting with the audience, the fans screamed. They fans then joined their hands and head banged in a circle, standing or kneeling on the floor, moshing and jumping. People from the back of the hall moshed into the fans in the front row, kneeling on the stage, and the generally demanding and harsh vocalist showed his soft side saying, “Just don’t injure yourself, ok?” over and over again. He soon went back to his normal self, as one girl sent a heart sign to him he screamed “Don’t heart me stupid, shake your head!” A smooth transition back into Crimson Sky calmed the hot audience down.
Concluding the set was Crisis in the future, 1000 playing his drums, standing up and firing on the audience. The other members came to the very edge of the stage interacting with the wild crowd, the unrestrained atmosphere of this violent song seeming to blur the boundary between the stage and the floor. “Thank you, you are the best!” screamed the vocalist, and to the cheers of the audience the band left the stage.
Set List:
01. CLIFF EDGE
02. Ruler of chaos
03. Fuhai to shinshoku, kurikaesu yami ni toikaketa kotae
04. Vendetta
05. Crimson Sky
06. Crisis in the future
BLOOD
Members of the final act of the night, BLOOD, appeared on the dark stage that was decorated with skulls and flickering lights, to loud screams of the anticipating crowd. Counting Rhymes kicked off with hard, saturated sounds to which fans moshed from side to side and knelt down on the stage head banging. Already in the first song Hayato lost the first layer of his clothing and more was to come. Madness broke out in the heavy Bathory as the vocalist, embraced by the fans from the front row, started pulling those further back by their hands and a whole flood of people rushed to the front from the very back of the hall.
“Are you doing well?” asked the singer, and the fans responded loudly. “Well I’m a bit tired,” he confessed to their laughter. Kiwamu took over the MC, talking about the band’s tour around the country, the second anniversary of Starwave Records and inviting them to BLOOD’s upcoming one-man show, joking around with the vocalist, who was quickly recovering from fatigue. The show continued with Lost Sky, a calmer song, Hayato’s strong, deep voice enchanting the audience. CHAIN had the fans jump and spin their towels to the dark but catchy, dynamic melodies that could not leave anyone motionless. As Kiwamu, Kazuha and azami jumped together with the audience, firing them on, the vocalist spun his long red braids like a windmill, which impressively would not prevent him from being able to sing flawlessly at the same time. Another heavy song named Sweet Disease followed, the fans once again rushing forward to embrace the band members. As Hayato sang, half-standing, then lying on the fans who held on to him tightly, more and more people came slamming into those standing closer to the stage to the wild, speedy drumming of Dora.
Having listened to the crowd's loud screams, Hayato announced, “It feels good! It’s coming to the end, but do you still have power?” The crowd did not disappoint him, head banging and moshing, then dancing to the melodic sounds of Elizabeth. More head banging to the fast and violent electronic melodies of Unseen the new world with its harsh vocals, and Hayato lost another layer of clothes and dove down into the audience, which enveloped him in its violent movement for a moment. He soon reappeared at the back of the floor, engaging more and more people to mosh. “You guys are hot!” he breathed out back on the stage, “Even me without pants, I’m hot. But don’t look too closely!” Disobeying this, Kazuha sneaked behind the vocalist and took a peak into the laced sides of his PVC trousers, announcing, “He really isn’t wearing any!” for which he got a smack on the head.
Firing the audience on, the band continued onto the last song, Vice, the fans fist-pumping to the fast, electronic sounds with a somewhat symphonic flair. The members of the other bands were invited onto the stage — first vetchie and 1000, then Ichika and azami, who had a busy day playing bass for two bands that night, coming to the front and greeting the crowd. K and rin followed, then Hayato announced, “Now the two funny guys!” sawah and Shige dove straight into the crowd, taking places in the front row, fans from the back moshing into them. Finally, rui and Agato came out on the stage now packed with band members, and Hayato jumped down into the crowd once again, continuing to sing from there. The division between the audience and the stage now seemed to have dissolved completely, the members head banging together with the fans, pulling them by their hands, moshing together with them down on the floor. As the song finished, tired, sweaty but happy, the crowd screamed the members’ names. “I love you!” confessed Hayato, and as he took time to greet the fans, Agato sneaked behind him pretending to pull down his trousers, which seemed to have given the victim a real fright. However Hayato soon recovered and hugged both of the other vocalists, giving them a kiss as well, met with enthusiasm from the audience. Smiling and visibly satisfied, the members slowly left the stage. Putting a concluding remark to this eventful night, to warm laughter of the crowd azami proclaimed: “Having no pants on is dangerous.”
Set List:
01. Counting Rhymes
02. Bathory
MC
03. Lost Sky
04. CHAIN
05. Sweetest Disease
MC
06. Elizabeth
07. Unseen the new world
MC
08. Vice
