Category Archive for Visual Kei + Music
DJ SISEN & GPKISM PARTY, J-ROCK BANDS AT 2ND STREET JAZZ, HARLOW GOLD BURLESQUE SHOW, DANCES OF VICE TROUBLE IN TOYLAND.
While most of the world is snoring, fops and dandies are out doing what they do best — being 24 hour party people! Here’s a round-up of recent nigthcrawls, with help from La Carmina’s roving reporters in Tokyo, LA and New York.
Last Saturday, Tokyo’s Artism Festa raged from two in the afternoon… to five in the morning. As you can see from Yukiro’s photos, the spooks remain on top of their fashion game. Do you recognize the fantastical horned bride on the right? Yup, it’s your beloved DJ SiSEN! Yukiro says: “SiSEN was once again clarified as my god with the best outfit ever <3. His horns were to die for!”
Yukiro reports: “The performances at Artism Festa were very good. Aural Vampire played only their best songs. I didn’t arrive until 9pm and just missed SaTaN, which I really wanted to see (I’ve adored their style for a long time). Takuya Angel was there DJ-ing, and he and Chihiro had a DJ duel at the end. Selia was the guest singer in one of GPKISM’s songs; really nice harmonies when Ken’s bass voice went down and Selia’s up. Seileen (Selia and SiSEN’s duo) debuted some new songs and wore all white clothes.”
While in LA, the Adventure Team saw several J-rock bands play at Matsumoto’s 2nd Street Jazz. We had a grand time rocking out to Rusika’s set. Lemon says: “I enjoyed how well they connected with the audience. They didn’t take themselves too seriously and were very personable.” Ementhy concurs: “I really liked how much much they seemed to enjoy performing. Musically, it was everything you would expect to find in such a small venue, but quite surprising how well they sounded even with that small of space.” The hour-long set included “Cage” by Dir en Grey and a couple L’arc~en~Ciel songs (“Stay Away” and “Honey”).
Rusika has several upcoming gigs in LA; be sure to check them out. Isn’t drummer Alfred a J-rock/Visual Kei hairstyle chameleon? I wonder what color he’ll rock next..
Jazzminshroom, Atsuyuki Kono’s band, performed next with a new female singer. (Above is one of their signature melodic rock songs.) The new CD, “Livin’ in’ Caleuphoria” is now out — you can hear more tunes on MySpace.
Bordello Bar in downtown Los Angeles invited me to check out the Sunday burlesque show. My goodness — the space is amazing; the red seating and dramatic decor were made for Goth flappers (if there was ever such a thing!). The bartender tailored a cocktail to my taste (“manly liquor such as gin, rum or whiskey, with a touch of citrus, but not at all sweet.”) It was perfect, cost $10, and got me plenty tipsy!
The Harlow Gold burlesque troupe began with a peekaboo: gartered and high-heeled legs spreading and kicking behind curtains. Then a variety of sexy retro acts: 1920s dancing, hula hoop stripping, crooning into a vintage microphone. The corseted ladies never lost my attention; the show was a classy, well-conceived tip of the hat to old-time burlesque. Bravo! (You can watch Harlow Gold every Sunday night at Bordello.)
My NYC crew nightcrawled at Dances of Vice, “a world-renown monthly series of parties featuring a new fanciful theme every month mixed on top of a constant decadent 1920s theme (live swing band! Burlesque! Awesome hats!).” (Also check out my Halloween report here; photos above by Shichi.) The theme was Trouble in Toyland, “where daily dolls go missing, and the toy soldiers have gone quite deranged…” Once again, a surreal mix of music, fashion and foppery. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love stuffed animals worn as headpieces.
I’ve been churning out work for CNNGo. My latest articles are about Wolverine getting an anime manga makeover and DIY Asian designers: 10 unique handmade gifts you’ll be happy to give. You may also like my Who Mattered Most in Hong Kong 2009 profiles, a primer in Cantonese celebrity scandal and political drama. All of my articles are listed on my CNNGo contributor page, which you can bookmark.
Have you been on any good nightcrawls lately? What are your favorite local parties? (You never know… I might stop by one day!)
Song of the Day #260: Marlee – Independance Day
SHARE & COMMENT
THE TRAVELLING ALICE & THE PIRATES PANTS! JROCK VISUAL KEI MALE FASHION, BOYSTYLE & JAPANESE MEN'S GOTH ARISTOCRAT CLOTHING.
Thumbs up… to raiding Carmina’s suitcase and trying on her clothes.
Ementhy immediately threw on my leather jacket and rifled through my pockets (he found a Japanese manga cafe tissue pack). Lemon dropped his jeans and got into my Alice and the Pirates pirate pants with the butt ruff.
All of us could fit into each other’s pants, like in that chick flick. We joked that we’re the Travelling Group of the Pirate Pants! Like in celebrity magazines, I’ll ask: who wore it best? (Let us know in the comments.)
Everyone recognizes Yukiro’s pink Cheshire Cat wig, which he wore in the Andrew Zimmern Bizarre World episode. It can double as a Visual Kei shoulder ornament.
Can I tell you how happy I was to fit into Ementhy’s tiny ripped-up jeans? The tradeoff spiraled out of control: the pirate pants are mine (worn by Ementhy), the white pants are his (worn by me), the red pants are Lemon’s (worn by Ementhy). To add to the confusion, many of these mens pants are actually for women.
I wanted to steal Lemon’s red pants. We like the color red; how about you?
Boys, do you buy and wear women’s pants? (Many of my male friends prefer the fit.) Girls, do you enjoy getting into guy’s pants? (Oops, that came out wrong…)
Song of the Day #253: Blur – Girls and Boys (Love the bassline and the lyrics are perfection.)
LA CARMINA
