Category Archive for Visual Kei + Music
D'ESPAIRSRAY CONCERT REVIEW & LIVE PHOTOS! TICKETS FOR JROCK VISUAL KEI CONCERTS IN USA, AMERICA.
As you know by now, Visual Kei band D’espairsRay will be taking a hiatus after their world tour, to allow Hizumi’s throat to recover. Rose and I now realize how fortunate we were to have seen the J-rockers perform on August 6th, and to have received a photo pass. At long last, here are exclusive images from the D’espairsRay Seattle concert, along with our review.
La Carmina: Rose and I loaded up the Goth-mobile and drove from Vancouver to Seattle. No drama along the way. Before the show, we wandered in Pike Place Market; I fell in love with the healthy Cinnamon Works bakery, especially the spicy soy chai with sugarfree vanilla! Back at the hotel, we ripped, pinned and pasted our outfits together. Here are photos that we took in front of the gum wall.
Rose: We arrived at the Showbox around 6pm and talked to some people in line. Then we headed over to The CanCan Cabaret and I had my first taste of absinthe — and loved it!
La Carmina: Isn’t it funny how all my buds — myself included — are obsessed with the green fairy? Here are photos from the burlesque absinthe bar. (Seattle friends, you must visit CanCan.)
Rose: We returned to the Showbox, and I started to realize how small the crowd was. I was surprised; I was expecting a huge turnout. We chatted with more fans inside, many who recognized Carmina, and I bought a Human-Clad Monsters tour poster at the merchandise table.
La Carmina: The opening band, I’m afraid, did not go over well with the audience. Beat-boxy rock, with awkward singing and dancing… it was as far from Jrock as one could imagine.
Rose: And then, it was time for D’espairsRay! We scurried in front of the barrier where La Carmina was going to be taking pictures, and I was privileged enough to be able to join her. The crowd went insane when they came on stage. If I didn’t know, I would have thought there were ten times as many fans there: so much excitement.
Rose: They opened with the song Death Point, followed by Dope, and Love is Dead. I was impressed with their energy, which they maintained for the entire live. I was so happy when they played some of my favorite songs: Redeemer, Mirror, Garnet. Everyone went crazy for the encores Reddish and Born (two of my very favorites).
I wrote down the full set list in my little notebook: 1. Death Point, 2. dope, 3. Love is Dead, 4. Going On!, 5. Redeemer, 6. 13 -Thirteen-, 7. Abel to Cain, 8. Human-clad Monster, 9. Angeldust, 10. Infection, 11. Crossed Arrows, 12. abyss, 13. SIXty NINe, 14. Devil’s Parade, 15. Mirror, 16. Hollow, 17. Garnet, 18. Reddish -DIVA version-, 19. Born
La Carmina: D’espairsRay appeared in stripped-down, deconstructed black. This isn’t a studio-only group, or one that relies on theatricality. The dark, grungy music hits harder than any gimmick in the Visual Kei repertoire. The terse guitars, thunderous drums, intense singing and headbanging: it draws you in, and holds you captive.
Rose: Throughout the whole show, Hizumi performed with much charm and his voice resounded. Karyu had his hair in little hair ties, and kept lunging and growling at the crowd, very fierce: you couldn’t help watching him. Zero is one of my favorite bassists, and he was very energetic as well, jumping around and smiling constantly at the fans — it was so cute.
Even though the crowd was smaller than I anticipated, you couldn’t tell once everyone was cheering and headbanging. The band played with so much energy and heart, it felt like they were playing to a full house.
La Carmina: After a roaring encore, the musicians left the stage. But they were soon back, and sat down at a table to sign posters. Rose put her poster down to be signed; we said “arigato” and shook hands with each member. It was very funny because she was wearing her taxidermy rat hair band, and as she approached, each J-rocker looked at her head with surprise!
Rose: All the D’espairsRay members were very sweet, and I really appreciated them doing the signing after the concert. Especially after all the energy they just put into the show… I admire when bands make gestures like this to make fans feel special.
Arigato to Sword Records for letting us review the concert. To D’espairsRay, for putting 100% into the Seattle concert. And thanks to all of you who came and cheered your hearts out in support!
Have you ever seen D’espairsRay perform live? What did you think? Tomorrow, I’ll random-select the Gloomth winners, I promise! And I’ll soon announce a scintillating pirate jewelry giveaway and my latest venture…
Japanese Word of the Day: Jishuu = Self-study (Japanese learners can do just that at Smart.fm)
Song of the Day: D’espairsRay – Reddish
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X JAPAN NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES, 2010: YOSHIKI'S VIDEO GREETING TO FANS. INTERVIEW WITH DJ CHIHIRO & DEE LEE OF VANISHED EMPIRE, TOKYO GOTH BAND.
Get ready, pirates… X Japan is setting sail for our North American shores for the very first time in th’ history books! The legendary Visual Kei band will be touring US and Canada, September 25 to October 10 ( join the official Facebook Page for dates, ticket information and updates). Mastermind Yoshiki has just released a video message to his fans:
Why should you see X Japan in concert? Because they’re a monumental band: the LA Times compared the group to U2, but I think that doesn’t do them justice. X Japan’s vision — from their Visual appearance to hide’s guitar work and Yoshiki’s passionate presence — created a revolution in Japanese rock music. And the songs: they hold up. No matter how many times you revisit it, the opening piano strains of Endless Rain will send shivers up your spine.
Moreover, you should get tickets ASAP because… your favorite Jrock bands need you. If we want Dir en Grey, Miyavi and their cohorts to keep touring outside Japan, we must show our support. So let’s give X Japan a huge welcome! You can find out more about their tour on the official site. Of course, I’ll be reviewing one of their shows, so keep checking back.
Speaking of forward-thinking bands… one of Japan’s spookiest spooks, DJ Chihiro, has paired up with Dee Lee and created a dark electro / Goth band, Vanished Empire. Their latest songs and image are based on H. P. Lovecraft’s myth-cycle, Cthulhu Mythos. With the help of my evil minion Kanae, I picked their brains…
La Carmina: What does Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos mean to you? Has it influenced your music?
Chihiro: I entrust the details to Dee Lee, but I have wanted to create music based on sinister and scary things that come from unreal world. Lovecraft’s Mythos is very attractive material for me.
Dee Lee: I started to write new songs since late 2009. Back then, I didn’t specify themes or materials. But while composing I realized “Oh this is Azathoth’s anthem!” After I finished composing, I thought I must compose other songs for other deities from Cthulhu Mythos. This is why I decided make Cthulhu Mythos trilogy.
La Carmina: Lee, what draws you to Nyarlathotep?
Dee Lee: Nyarlathotep is the messenger of outer gods and I wrote the message from outer gods in the songs this time. I think Nyarlathotep took control of me for his purpose.
La Carmina: How did you come up with your band’s name? Is it inspired by the Russian movie “Vanished Empire”?
Chihiro: The name “Vanished Empire” was the temporary title of one of our songs. Back then, we had no band name and I thought the words “Vanished Empire” were really good for our band. I thought these words can express our musical direction. So we used this as our band’s name instead of a song title. Therefore it is not related to Russian movie.
La Carmina: Can you tell me about your process of creating music? Who is responsible for what?
Dee Lee: Usually I make first draft, record a demo version and send it to Chihiro. After, I incorporate Chihiro’s ideas. I always compose music before I write lyrics. But this time I had to peruse Lovecraft’s mythos and make music and lyrics at same time. So I spent a lot of time on the process. While I was making songs for this trilogy (mainly March and April), I was going insane from insomnia and nightmares. I think Cthulhu sent messages from R’lyeh.
La Carmina: Your album was released by Darkest Labyrinth. What made you decide to work with this label? Do you collaborate or perform with other Darkest Labyrinth bands?
Chihiro: I have been associated with Kiwamu (owner of Darkest Labyrinth and member of GPKISM) and trust Darkest Labyrinth as the best in the Japanese Gothic scene. Spectrum-X (they are also a label mate) remixed our song in our first album “Theater Of Tragedy.” There are a lot of talented bands on this label, so I would like to collaborate with them.
La Carmina: What are your goals for this year? How has your sound evolved?
Chihiro: We will release a EP based on the Cthulhu mythos in this year. And if we can, we would like to go to tour with this album.
Vanished Empire’s music will be deeper and darker.
Dee Lee: The title of new EP will be “The Unnamable Symphony”. Our recording work is in progress. I think we can announce release dates and detail soon… I hope! This will be the most blasphemous CD in our history.
La Carmina: If could perform with anyone, who would it be and why?
Chihiro: I love the bands like Alien Vampires, Siva Six, and Leather Strip so I would like to perform with them someday.
Kanae may be incompetent as an evil minion, but she’s mad talented as a visual artist. She created the photo manipulations of Vanished Empire to reflect their new image (and that’s her in the bottom row of the above photos).
Kanae made these spectral images for the Japanese band Despair. They recently played at the Goth party Lunatic Sabbath, where Kenny Creation’s band performed and Yukiro danced.
Kanae is from Tokyo but currently attends school in New York; I think her artwork reflects both sensibilities, from the perspective of darkness and beauty. You can see more of Kanae’s photo manipulations on her website. To hear “the most blasphemous music in history,” check out Vanished Empire’s MySpace.
Who’s getting excited for X Japan? Which songs are currently on your playlist?
Japanese Word of the Day: Aseru = Discolor
Song of the Day: Vanished Empire – Hellfire Within Me
LA CARMINA
