Category Archive for Tokyo + Japan
ALAMODE NIGHT AT CLUB CRAWL SHIBUYA: DJ SISEN, TAKUYA ANGEL, CHIHIRO, TETRA, KANON. TOKYO GOTH INDUSTRIAL GABBER CLUB MUSIC.
The last two times I went to Alamode Night, the Gothic dance party was at StudioCube326 in Tamachi. (Previous coverage here and here.) The event has now moved to the more conveniently-located Club Crawl in Shibuya (map and directions are in my Tokyo club guide). I wore…
Lolita dress with kitty-cat print: Innocent World, from the renovated Closet Child Harajuku. I can’t believe I got it for $98 – less than half off!
Purse: Kiyo “Kawayi”, from Hong Kong
Hair flowers, face stickers: Daiso
Black tights with silver skulls: Hong Kong
Remember my Death Cookbook duel with Hungry Ghost? He came back from limbo with only half a face. In the summer heat, I think he’s a Thirsty Ghost!
We’re fans of this D’s Valentine event because it is DJs-only (no mediocre spooky bands). Starting at midnight, we danced to DJs Kanon, Tetra, Sisen (on the left, who came with Robert on the right), Takuya Angel, and Chihiro (minus his ghoulish facepaint). Poor DJ Caesar ended the party at 4:45am with an anime set that made everyone leave the room!
Now THIS is Tokyo alternative/club fashion: DJ Kanon lit up the room with her feathery eyelashes and green mermaid wig. Her Lolita rocking horse shoes, lip piercing, Goth necklace, and Fairy Kei accessories span several style tribes.
Many Japanese girls take inspiration from Lolita and let their imaginations go wild: Wa meets Kawaii… Goth and neon… there ain’t no rules in this playground.
And how about some Japanese Goth boys? That’s DJ Tetra in the middle; I have video of all the sets coming up, including your beloved Sisen! Newly-hired Trend Scout Carmina says gabber/industrial/hardcore are on the rise in the club scene; I missed Tokyo Hardcore Construction but there are more parties coming up. Expect to hear pounding tracks such as:
Song of the Day #158: Neophyte – Army Of Hardcore
SHARE & COMMENT
GACKT VIDEO: LIVE REPORT! J-ROCK VISUAL KEI CONCERT AT TOKYO SAITAMA ARENA, JAPANESE MAID CAFE COSPLAY COSTUME.
Japanese teens go crazy for Gackt-o! Gackt-o! at his Saitama Arena concert in Tokyo! La Carmina and friends report on the live experience – cosplayers, merchandise, screaming girls – at Gackt’s “Requiem et Reminiscence II” show on July 11, 2009. Watch the video below; I guarantee you’ll burst out laughing.
(We were at the noisy Electric Town subway exit, so if you can’t hear all the words, there is a transcription below. Check out this and this post for more photos of concert-goers.)
(Lauren filmed the video; you can hear her cracking up at times. Here we are at the Akihabara 7-Eleven prior to visiting the drag maid cafe, Hibari-tei, which you can see in my Theme Restaurants book.)
JAPANESE TEEN GIRLS: Gackto! Gackto!
CARMINA: Hi, it’s La Carmina! I’m in Akihabara with…
SEBASTIEN: Sebastien!
CARMINA: I’m wearing the skimpiest maid outfit possible. I think it’s based on an anime character’s outfit but I don’t know.
SEBASTIEN: I don’t know either.
CARMINA: Yeah, we’re not otaku enough.
SEBASTIEN: And you bought it for someone special.
CARMINA: I did not! Shhh!
SEBASTIEN: Oh, sorry.
CARMINA: I did not buy it for someone special, shhh! Anyway… we’re going to talk about the Gackt concert.
SEBASTIEN: YES!
CARMINA: You weren’t there! But we’re going to talk about it. It was quite the experience. I got last minute tickets from my friend, Count de Sang. He called me up and I had 15 minutes to get ready. So I quickly put something on, ran to the station, and we headed off to Saitama Arena. On the subway, we saw all sorts of girls… Lolitas, girls holding Gackt bags and wearing the T-shirts… they were obviously on the way to the concert. Every time we got lost, we’d follow the Lolitas. We got there, and there were girls all over the place – cosplayers, who did some really good outfits, Gackt from different eras… The military look that he currently has is extremely hot. He has the red arm band, the military jacket; it’s very Nazi-like. We lined up for merchandise… did you see the pictures?
SEBASTIEN: Of the flag?
CARMINA: Yes, that’s right! There was a red flag. The cat paws were sold out. Rowr.
SEBASTIEN: Were there cat paws too?
CARMINA: There were cat paws! Because in every Gackt concert, he features cute little kitties. They go, wah wah wah wahhh. And you wave the cat paws.
(Cats waving)
CARMINA: He started with the song Jesus…
(Gackt performing Jesus)
SEBASTIEN: My Personal Jesus?
CARMINA: No! Visual Kei Jesus!
SEBASTIEN: Oh, sorry.
CARMINA: The thing is, you’re not a girl.
SEBASTIEN: No.
CARMINA: And you’re not a teenager.
SEBASTIEN: That’s right.
CARMINA: You have to be a teenage girl to fully appreciate Gackt-O! We almost lost our hearing because these girls were screaming, GACKT-O!!!!
(Japanese teen girls screaming)
CARMINA: The concert was 4+ hours and the entire time, they were screaming in our ears. I think we lost hearing after a while.
SEBASTIEN: Heh heh.
CARMINA: Yeah, you would have loved it.
CARMINA: Gackt always does a call and answer where he goes Wah wah wahh! And the girls go Wah wah wahh!
(Gackt yelling)
CARMINA: Or he’ll say Okaeri! And they’ll go, Tadaima! Okaeri! …
SEBASTIEN: … tadaima?
CARMINA: Right, exactly.
SEBASTIEN: Sounds very exciting.
CARMINA: It was exciting for ten minutes. But then the screaming… and I’m not exaggerating a jot here. It went on for over an hour.
(Gackt screaming)
CARMINA: So the screaming went on and on. Finally, he launched into song again, and I must say, he is a fantastic performer. He has a voice that carries, he’s so alive on stage…
(Gackt performing)
CARMINA: The concert ended with the movie; it didn’t really make sense. My friend Yukiro hated it…
YUKIRO: It was really really terrible. Much worse than I could have ever expected.
CARMINA: Why? What was so bad?
YUKIRO: I mean, the worst part was that he screamed at the audience for over one hour…
(Gackt screaming)
YUKIRO: All of a sudden it turned really really bad. He switches his clothes to some junky style and it was so terrible, the music went from the top to the bottom. Yuck!
CARMINA: And how about the movie at the end?
YUKIRO: It was pathetic. We laughed so hard. The worse part is that I can’t even hate it because some parts of the concert were so good.
(Gackt performing)
YUKIRO: It wasn’t all bad but it was way too long.
CARMINA: Now we’re off to a drag maid café.
SEBASTIEN: Yeah? Ok.
CARMINA: So we’re off. Bye bye.
JAPANESE TEENS: Gackt-O!
Song of the Day #157: Love Hina – Chase – Flight (the upbeat song used in our video. Please subscribe to my YouTube channel!)