On March 24th, Easter Monday, an event titled
The Spooky Fest took place in Tivoli de Helling in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Next to
The Candy Spooky Theater, the classical tenor
Selia was also supposed to give a show, but unfortunately it was canceled.
When entering the foyer, there were two tables where you could buy JRock merchandise. At the Bring & Buy, audience members could sell their own JRock goods to other visitors. The Japan Bookshop, located in Amstelveen, was also present, and beside selling CDs of Japanese artists they also sold magazines and Gothic Lolita jewelry. After a while the doors to the hall opened and a DJ played music for the waiting fans. He can often be seen at
Visual Culture events in Germany. For the ones interested, the playlist of the evening can be found
here.
Before
The Candy Spooky Theater's show started, there was a lottery. The audience received a lottery ticket earlier that evening, and two staff members drew random tickets to give away signed and other unique items. After that, it was time for the main act! One of the staff members came on stage and made the audience scream for the band members, starting with
Peggy, while the song
This is Halloween from the movie "Nightmare Before Christmas" played in the background. Then it was
Kiddy’s turn, and last but not least,
Jack was called to the stage.
The band members were dressed stylishly and in matching "spooky" make-up.
Peggy had a polka-dot dress on with two pigtails on each side of his head.
Kiddy wore a fishnet shirt and a corset-like choker around his neck. Vocalist
Jack had on a black shirt that looked like it was covered with cobwebs. He also wore a hat.
Of course the band played their more well-known songs,
TRICK or TREAT and
Devilish Kidnapper. A few of the other songs that were heard were
merry go round, Prince of Darkness and
Murder Toy In The Closet. After a few songs,
Tsutomu, the mascot doll of the band, made his appearance on stage.
Jack held
Tsutomu in front of his face so that the fans could have a good view on him, and he did a short ventriloquist act during the MC.
After the last song, the band members left the stage.
Peggy was the first one to come back, holding a pink vibrator and
Tsutomu. He shortly entertained the crowd with his props, holding the vibrator between
Tsutomu's legs. After guitarist
Kiddy came back on stage, the fans started to scream for
Jack. He returned wearing a
The Candy Spooky Theater shirt, which was also sold at the merchandise stand after the concert. They played one songs for the encore: a mix version of
Devilish Kidnapper.
After the performance, the second part of the lottery took place, and larger items, like a signed bass drum, were given away. After that, merchandise of
The Candy Spooky Theater could be bought in the foyer, and right after there was an autograph session with
Kiddy Skeleton, Peggy Giggles and
Jack Spooky. Despite the small number of fans that came to the event, it was nice evening with a great performance.
Setlist:
1. Prince Of Darkness
2. Devilish Kidnapper
3. Strip
4. Present
5. Murder Toy In The Closet
6. Trick Or Treat
--MC--
7. Nejimaki Denkiisu
8. Bordeaux - After Midnight
9. Nemureru Mori no Hanayome
10. Merry Go Round
11. Spook House
--ENCORE--
1. Devilish Kidnapper New Horror Taste Mix
Pictures by Frans van Arkel, Rainbow Eyes Photography.
