Yesterday, you heard one account of V-Rock Fest. Today, Yukiro Dravarious shares his thoughts on the world’s most glorious Visual Kei extravaganza — which took place near Tokyo, Japan last weekend. (All photos courtesy of V-Rock. Above: ALI Project, D’espairs Ray, Moi dix Mois singer.) I hand the microphone to Yukiro…

THE VENUE
The festival started around 10 in the morning, a two hour ride from my place to the station Kaihin-Makuhari (same Keio line as Tokyo Disneyland, so it was really crowded). There were 2 big and 2 smaller stages. And there were no conbinis in the close neighbourhood; inside were a lot of different stands that sold Japanese speciality foods like yakisoba and takoyaki. They had stands that sold goods both inside and outside, and one information desk were you could get info in English, Deutch, Japanese and Korean.

ALI PROJECT
After meeting up with Comte de Sang and friends, my first concert was Ali Project. They always have a very good stage performance and the songs are catchy and popular (because most of them are featured in famous animations like Rozen Maiden). They always have spectacular outfits, and this time was no exception. They only played for like 30min and that was the only negative part I could think of. I realized that every act was only going play for that long since there were so many bands.

D’ESPAIRS RAY
After that, we saw D’espairs Ray. I’ve seen them some years ago when they were in Sweden and I really liked their performance then. However this time their sense in fashion had really taken a bad turn. Like normal, unattractive black clothing and clean makeup! But their music hadn’t changed much in three years so it was still a good live.

(Above: Penicillin and Mana of Moi dix Mois)

MOI DIX MOIS
Then we went to see Moi dix Mois at the same stage, so we tried to get as close as possible. One of my friends had never seen them before so she was really impressed, but I could see that Mana was in a really bad mood. And their concert was extremely short and they had a lot of (making the audience scream) actions that were a bit unnecessary. But since it’s Moi dix Mois and Mana wore a Lolita outfit for once, it wasn’t a bad concert. The singer switched from microphone to masks and was really active.

MARILYN MANSON
Marilyn Manson’s show was amusing because he made jokes about Japanese culture and played very much on sex jokes. He also had his guitarist to abuse and they played like they were a married couple. The song selection was VERY GOOD because he had a good mix between old and new songs, and there were a lot of fireworks etc for the audience to enjoy. (See yesterday’s post for a song list.)

(Above: SuG)

THE NEXT DAY
On Sunday, there were almost as many people and I soon realised why: the GazettE was going to end the festival. The previous day, I had killed my feet by wearing my Demonia 15cm shoes, which made me 205cm and like 10cm taller than the longest person there ^~~^, so I could see really well. But today my feet were dead and I went in my moonboots. The day began with a lottery and the prizes were mini-guitars signed by famous musicians such as Koji, Mana, LMC, Despairs Ray etc. I almost bought a ticket but my senses told me to give up; I didn’t want to walk around with it all day anyway.

VIDOLL + SCREW
I was there just in time to see Vidoll, who I have never seen live before, if you exclude DVDs. Their show wasn’t very memorable and their fashion sense had also gone from very good to normal and boring during the years. Like so many other bands. =( After that I checked out Screw and they had good fashion sense but the singer was not able to take the pressure or something because the tunes he sang were not from this world, I tell you! And that was more then I could stand so just after some songs I sneaked away. I went to see a Japanese old glam rock band that was pretty good. I don’t remember the name though.

KERA FASHION SHOW
Directly after, Kera had their Fashion show. It wasn’t very impressive and you could see a big difference in famous superidol 青木 三沙子 Aoki Misako and some really bad new ones in their walk. The displayed brands were: Algonquins, Angelic Pretty, Atelier Pierrot/Chantilly, Black Peace Now, Malkomalko, Metamorphose temps de fille, Monomania and World Wide Love.

LMC
Against my own intentions I went to the big stage to check out the rising fanbased band LMC, which I thought was going to be crap, but I was mistaken. The singer was really annoying and kept on saying (Boys SCREAM, Girls SCREAM) (EVEN IN THE SONGS) which I despise. Despite that, the music was surprisingly good and when the singer shut his trap and sang the lyrics it sounded acceptable. They also had a huge balloon guy on stage, which made the show more interesting. The lyrics were as expected but the melodies were somewhat catchy even though they were monotonous.

(Above: Versailles. See last year’s live report here.)

VERSAILLES
It was finally time for Versailles and I managed to get to the third row by waiting and waiting. It was so amazing, I can’t describe it with words… if you were there, you know what I’m talking about. When the stage went black and the four band members went out on stage, without the recently passed away Jasmine You, in new spectacular outfits suited only by Marie Antoinette herself, I couldn’t stop my tears… it was too much. All of a sudden a mysterious new fifth Japanese guy entered the stage in Jasmine’s place. The audience stopped the screaming and held their breath… how was this guy — in normal clothing and not so much makeup and a bass in his hand — how could he be the replacement??

No one knows, and he wasn’t even presented throughout the concert. He was just a live stand in and not a new member. [Carmina’s note: the bassist for Versailles that day was 燿 ~yo~ of 摩天楼オペラ (Matenrou Opera).]

It seems like they will go on as a foursome now. Kamijo entered with Jasmine You’s guitar embedded with red roses. He stood it on the spot were Jasmine You used to stand (in front of the newbie~~^^); the music started and the show was on again. After a few songs Kamijo said some beautiful words for Jasmine You’s soul in heaven and everyone started to cry again. The show was as good as I’m used to, although there certainly was an empty space after Jasmine. But Hizaki, Teru and Kamijo gave 120% energy and spun around on stage more then ever to fill up the space. And they did it with bravura. I was emotionally cracked after the show… it was a sensation beyond this world. All the sorrow, joy, good music and lest we not forget PASSION overflowed in the venue. At last, Kamijo lifted the stone out of everyone’s chest and told us that they’re not going to split up, they’re going to continue and to begin with, there will be a memorial concert the 4th of January in Shibuya. The audience went wild again and demanded an encore but the evil stageworker said that they had a time schedule that they must obey… Hmmpf!

(Above: Versailles. See last year’s live report here.)

THE GAZETTE
After I caught my breath and took off my lashes, I head-banged away during the last show for this legendary festival. The GazettE was very good looking and professional, sexy and hot. The singer shook his hips like he hadn’t done anything else in his life but perform. And the music was all right — not of my liking but it was respectful and I can see why they are the biggest VK band at the moment. Their fashion sense has always been good and today wasn’t an exception. After the concert, I got out with a smile in my heart and I couldn’t stop thinking: “We are Versailles, Are Still Alive.”

Big round of applause for Yukiro; thank you for the heartfelt report! What’s on your mind? What do you predict for the future of Versailles?