It's an 8 hour bus ride from Osaka to Tokyo. Thank god there's a power outlet to charge my phone that died just when I needed it to tell me directions to the Umeda Motor Pool. 8 hours in a bus later (which is just about as much fun as you'd think) I arrived in Ikebukuro, just in time for the infamous morning commute. Stuffed into an already packed train with an equally overly-packed backpack is pretty much a nightmare scenario and as I apologized to everyone I was unconsciously bumping into, I sorta of paused to take into account a few things.
1) I'm still in my "Millions" make-up from last night + bright red hair, which means I'm likely alarming at least a few passengers
2) I'm still in my Hesitant Alien blue suit too
Now I'd like to think I'm pretty used to sticking out no matter where I go -- I'm not Japanese, don't look anything close to Asian so pretty much getting stared at is sort of standard fare -- but add in the fact that I can speak/read/write Japanese and things get even more interesting. But I don't usually have bright red hair (that actually matches my bright red coat!) so I'm getting looks like it's my job this morning.
Oh.
And I have...10 hours to kill before G's show.
It's also snowing.
Fast forward 8 hours.
The good news is it's not snowing.
The bad news is it's raining.
When I get to Akasaka Blitz, there's a handful of people huddled under the very limited space under an awning outside the venue. Yeah, it's also really cold. I got to meet some more Twitter followers that weren't in Osaka yesterday, as well as catch up with some who were. Once they start lining us up in numerical order (in the rain -- umbrellas aren't permitted inside the venue either so we're all just getting rained on, yay) I think I've lost feeling in my toes. Today's game plan is the same as yesterday -- ignore the merch and dash to the stage. By the time I get there, I'm met with the same crowd as yesterday, plus this time I've got a spot in the very first row, dead center! This is going to be awesome.
We're all waiting for the opening act, Knock Out Monkey, to start when one of the guys in the crowd from yesterday shoves his phone at all of us. Instagram?
The cellphone reception at Blitz is AWFUL by the way, which is why we're all late on noticing G's post.
...no, no way.
Is that...
Mikey?!
What?? Here?? TONIGHT??
Panic ensues.
Like I said in my previous post, I never had the chance to see My Chem live, so just the prospect of being about to see G and Mikey on the same stage is overwhelming. We're all still freaking out when Knock Out Monkey takes the stage. There's no crush like Osaka (which is a relief) and they end their set precisely 30 minutes later. I should mention that Blitz is like super regimented about their stuff -- things seem a lot stricter than Osaka and the stage is cleared with remarkable speed as we all wait for G.
The second G hits the stage, you can feel this kind of electric tension in the air. It's a very different feel than the Osaka show, not to say that he wasn't magic af at the show, it's just tonight he's fucking ON and the crowd's loving it. He's knocking the mic stand over and flailing the mic cord around -- just really going all out.
But it's not hard to see why -- from where I'm standing I can just barely see off to the wings of the stage.
Mikey.
Mikey's watching G from wings --- he even waved back when I waved my hand at him! Mikey!!
G's setlist was the same as yesterday's and he talked about all the same topics too. I was way too worked up in Osaka to take pictures, but this time, I was (more or less) ready and kept snapping away when I could.
I was kind of hoping Mikey would come out for "Brother" but no such luck. After "Brother" ended, the house lights went up a little bit and G was scanning the crowd before he went into another little speech, or so I thought, until I realized he was looking at me...?
Like I wrote in the beginning of this, I was wearing a blue suit like the one of the cover of Hesitant Alien, and I dyed my hair a really vivid red. It would seem that it wasn't for naught.
"I like your outfit!" says G into the mic. My mind goes blank -- wait, is G talking to me? IN FRONT OF EVERYONE?? What follows is what he said to the best of my memory (I'll check later when vids get posted, bear with me).
"I saw it yesterday too -- y'know the best part is the pink shirt--"
Thank god I picked a pink shirt!
"--I don't have a pink shirt with me this time so I'm kinda jealous!"
Me: (O_O) TH-TH-THANK YOU...!!!
"I haven't been rocking the blue suit lately so--"
Me: I know right!
"And your hair is such a great color, I love that red! It looks better than mine did!"
Everyone around me was buzzing and I couldn't have been happier. G! Noticed me! G!!
He then goes on to ask who was going to be at Budokan for Vampark tomorrow -- "You all know who VAMPS are, rig...? (gives an adorable embarrassed laugh like "duh") Yeah, right -- anyway!" Then moves into the next song. By the time he finishes "Snakedriver" and the band leaves the stage, we all know what's coming next. There's a painfully long wait for the encore and I notice that the bass is missing from the stage --- you all know what this means.
When the Hormones take the stage again, there is a noticeable lack of bassist. G stands in front of the mic with a HUGE smile on his face.
(YouTube User: livelife784)
"So there's a special guest here tonight...and uh, uhm he flew all the way to Tokyo...Mikey (cue screams and G waits for things to settle, still grinning from ear to ear) you wanna come out here? Mikey's gonna play a song with us, it's called 'Don't Try'"
MIKEY FUCKIN' WAY!!! IN FRONT OF ME!!! WITH A BASS!!!
Mikey steps out on the stage full of confidence and a look like "I'm back!" on his face. I'm already crying. Actually this is probably the most I've cried out of both shows. I never expected to have the chance to see Mikey and G on the same stage together, let alone playing together and I really can't keep myself together for it. The way G looks at Mikey with this overwhelming pride and love, the way Mikey's playing bass like a god, and how much Mikey has recovered and how far he's come and everything just hits me at once and I'm crying like an idiot in the front fucking row. They end the song with a long, beautiful hug that makes me want to call up my own brother just to say I love you, and as they leave the stage, G puts his arm around Mikey's shoulder and I'm dying.
(Twitter User: @sum_ns41)
(Found on Twitter but not sure who took it💦)
The show ended with this magical air full of love and kindess --- that's about all I can say about G's shows, they were just magic.
The same staff guy from yesterday starts to clear the setlists. I look up at him and shout, "Could I have one? I fell over trying to get one yesterday --- c'mon, please?" and he gives me this look like oh, alright, here -- and hands me the list that was in front of G! Definitely worth falling over for yesterday.
I didn't get the chance to meet G this time -- no hugs, no autographs, no pictures together. But you know what? That's fine -- because all I really wanted to do was sing with him. Over the past two nights I was able to look him in the eye and just sing with all my heart. And that's enough for me. I was also able to meet so many of my amazing Twitter friends, plus meet more Twitter friends there, not to mention having the honour of watching Mikey perform live, right in fucking front of me. I definitely can't complain.
G said he's be releasing a new album in the fall and that he's be back soon. All I can say is I can't wait to see him again.
落ち着けないままサポートアクト登場。きっちりと30分演奏。その後は昨日と比べてすごく早いスピードでステージが片付けられ、あとはGの登場を待つのみ。ステージに貼られたセトリはぱっと見、昨日と一緒。デカイ文字でPHOTOも書いてあったから今夜もグループ写真だ！やったぁ！と周りのみんなと盛り上がりながらステージが突然暗くなって、Gerard Way Japan Tour第2公演がスタート。
気付いてくれるといいな～と思っただけなのに、まさかライブ中にほめてくれるとは・・・！（；；）周りのフォロワーさんによかったね！！たくさん言われて、笑顔も涙も止まらない。その後はGが〝明日武道館に行く人いるかい？明日はVAMPSが開催するVAMPARKに出るんだけど、あれ？みんなVAMPS知ってるよね・・・？―あっ、当たり前かっ！〟と失笑。その時はなぜかしっかりと目線を合わせてくれて笑った（気がする）。〝Gang〟と〝How's It Going To Be〟を演奏して、自分から投げキッスしてみたら、Gがちゃんと返してくれたことに感動。精神病とうつ病との闘いのお話をしてから〝Maya〟そしてグループ写真を2枚。〝No Shows〟でまたすごい一体感がうまれて、ハイテンションのままで〝Snakedriver〟。
I fell in love with My Chem 13 years ago. I was in high school when "Three Cheers" became a hit, but for me, it all began with the Helena music video. I remember watching the video on a computer at my best friend's house. Strangely enough it was his mom who recommended the video to me and I remember being blown away by the lyrics, the melody, and the aesthetic. It was unlike anything I had heard before. I asked my best friend to burn me a copy and didn't stop listening. "The Black Parade" came out 2 months before I graduated from university, and "Danger Days" would come out after I had been living in Japan working as a translator. I have to admit, I had sort of put My Chem on hold after "Black Parade" -- but I found myself one day suddenly wondering what they were up to after listening to "Sweet Revenge" for the first time in what felt like ages. It was like all the emotions and memories I had of that time came rushing back with the energy of the music and once again, I couldn't stop listening. I was sitting in a hospital waiting room for a twisted ankle when I came across the My Chem wiki page and found out that they had broken up 3 months earlier. Even though there had been a long blank in my personal My Chem fandom history, it was still a shock to find out that My Chem was no more. I just sort of thought they were the kind of band that would be together forever. I never got the chance to see them play live -- and now, I never would. This is why when I heard about Gerard's Japan Tour that I was determined to go, no matter what.
February 16 -- Osaka Big Cat
I boarded a bus from Hiroshima to Osaka at around 9 a.m. I felt sick. I wasn't sure if I was excited or terrified to finally see Gerard play live. It would be another 4.5 hours before I arrived in Osaka -- was going to be a long ride. I have to admit, I spent the whole ride listening to live My Chem shows. By the time I finally reached Osaka and found my way to the venue, I was met with a handful of fans waiting to catch Gerard on his way in -- to no avail though. Shows in Japan are run differently than those in other countries, it seems, in that instead of lining up way in advance to get a good spot, they print what's called "seiri-bangou" on tickets -- numbers to designate who gets in first, second, third, etc, when the doors open. So basically, the earlier you buy your ticket, the better the number. Big Cat can fit about 800 people -- I was fortunate enough to be no. 57. We all took our places in numerical order in line and they called in the first 20 individually before going by 2s and then by 4s until it was my turn. There was a $6 mandatory drink charge (which is pretty expensive). I handed over the $6, grabbed my drink ticket and made a beeline for the venue (I ignored the merch, but there were only 2 t-shirts for sale, one white and one black). I was in the second row, dead center.
Standard milling about before the opening act, Fabled Number, started -- but once they started, there was a giant WHAM of people, basically pinning us all behind the front row. The crush didn't let up until Fabled Number was done with their 30 minute set, and then there was another 30 minutes of clearing away their stuff. The crowd's getting restless. My stomach's twisting up in knots. And that's when James takes the stage, followed by Ian and Matt, and then Jarrod. The opening notes to "The Bureau" get heavier and heavier until finally Gerard takes the stage to the roar of the crowd and WHAM another crush. He shouts OSAKA!! and the show begins.
Gerard's got command of the stage the instant he's on it and after "The Bureau" ends he's right into "Action Cat" jumping around stage. "Zero Zero" follows on the same energy. I was unsure how much talking Gerard was going to do at the show since I had heard from some Japanese fans that Gerard tended to talk less at shows here. But after "Zero Zero" he launched into his speech about support for transgender and non-binary. It was short and sweet -- something along the lines of "You all know what transgender is, right? If you have a friend or someone you know who is transgender or non-binary and you support them, then I love you" and then went on to introduce "Millions" as "a song I wrote about quitting, it's called Millions" -- fantastic energy on this song and the crowd was super into it. "Juarez" opens with Gerard's singing-with-my-eyes-rolled bit that's just awesome and then we're brought down for another talk session.
This time he talks about him and Mikey wanting to leave home -- not because they hated their parents, but they just wanted to escape and see the world. So they started a band and they did just that. Even though he hasn't been back to NJ for awhile, he said that he would never forget things about it, like the way it smelled, which leads into Drugstore Perfume. As an ex-pat living in Japan for 8 years now, I can very much relate to never forgetting certain things about home, especially smells, so this little interlude hit me pretty hard and I was crying for a good bit of this song -- it was really beautiful to see live. He then introduced the next song as "a song that I only released in Japan (crowd goes wild) called 'Stop Leaving'..." and then gave a little embarrassed laugh like "oh wait, actually it's Television All The Time, but oh well" and got the crowd into singing along.
Piano Jam and Brother were another set of songs that really hit me hard. Before Piano Jam, he talked about how he never thought he was going to live past 25 -- how he had this romantic live fast, die young kind of philosophy -- but when he did turn 25, it was like well now what? I've got no idea what to do, and I have pretty much everything I want, but what I needed was love. Love is pretty much all you need. Just love... and when Piano Jam started up, Gerard looked up above and it looked like he was saying something before closing his eyes to sing -- I've seen speculation on Twitter and Tumblr (though I'm not sure if Gerard has actually SAID anything or confirmed anything) that the song is about his grandmother's death and the fact that he wasn't there -- but judging by his actions, it almost looked like he was talking to his grandmother before he sang. I had a very similar experience (being very far away from your loved ones when they pass) so this song pretty much destroyed me. The simplicity of just the piano and Gerard's voice is heartbreaking. Before going into "Brother" he asked us to sing along if we knew the words and the whole crowd was into it all over again. "Brother" is another one of those songs that gets me. Yeah, I know...I cried alot during this show...but c'mon, 13 years in the making...
"Brother" faded into an almost psychedelic intro for "Gang" which was really refreshing to hear after only hearing the album version for so long. Gerard was all over the stage for this one, singing on his knees and screaming into the mic. Wicked. "How's It Going To Be" followed in a similar style and before introducing "Maya", he talked about his battles with depression and about the stigma of mental illness. How he had no one to talk to and was into his 30s before he thought hey, maybe I should get a therapist. How people need a bullet hole or a stab wound before they'll say "oh well he's seriously hurt, we better help" -- just because there's no wound, it's hard for people to understand the gravity of mental illness. He advocated that if you're depressed you should seek help, how it would be worth it. When My Chem ended and his depression was at its worst, he started hearing voices -- "I was like, am I going crazy?" and his therapist told him it was normal for those with depression -- "so this next song is a song about hearing voices." After "Maya", he took a group picture, which was great because I wasn't sure he was going to, and then dove into "No Shows" with everyone singing "oooOOOOoooOOOOoooo" along at the beginning. The last song before the encore was "Snakedriver" and he filed off stage, following by the rest before James put on some noise and left the stage too. It wasn't too long before they were back for the encore "Don't Try". This song -- I've listened to it so many times on YouTube I can practically sing along -- that's how much I love it and I was so fucking happy he was going to perform it here too (happy as in bawling my eyes out again). Gerard blew us all so many kisses and responded to every fan's "I LOVE YOU!" with "I love you too!!" He also said it was like hanging out with all of us and he really liked that about these shows. Also, he thanked us for letting him continue to make music, and that's what he really loved us all. He took gifts from fans at the barrier during the show, including a Japanese flag with THANK YOU G! and messages from fans written on it -- the flag project was started by one of my followers and we were all so happy that he posed with the flag for us before putting it away to sing again. He also turned the house lights up at one point saying "Lemme see your faces, you all look so happy! I'm going to keep you all happy" and shouted out to some fans in the crowd, just interacting with us. After the show ended came the obligatory call for setlists -- the entire first three rows of fans were all jammed up against the barrier to get one. Though I didn't get a copy of the setlist -- actually, the staff guy threw the list out into the crowd and we all tumbled backwards, scrambling for it before losing our collective balance and falling over like some many dominoes...(^^;) I did get a picture of it. Hooray for nice fans!
We all waited for Gerard to come out afterwards, but he ended up leaving the venue by car so we really didn't get the best view.
(This picture belongs to Miyuki @miyuki_uw)
That's all for Osaka -- stay tuned for my Tokyo report! Just to let you know, videos of both the Osaka and Tokyo shows were taken -- I will let you all know when they've been uploaded! He also said that he was going to release a new album in the fall and would be back in Japan very soon!!
20代の頃は〝live fast, die young〟→思うがまま生きて、若く死ぬがモットーだった。ロマンチックだろう？25歳で死ぬんだ、そう思った。しかし25歳になった時、まだ死にたくないと思った。でもどうすればいいか分からなかった。完全にノープランだった。 欲しいモノが全部手に入った。でも本当に必要だったのは愛だった。愛こそすべてなんだ。愛だよ、愛。
Millionsの前に〝コレは辞めることについて書いた曲だ。Millions!〟と紹介した。次にJuarez。Drugstore Perfumeの前には地元の匂いの話をして個人的にすごく心に響く話だったので泣きながらDrugstore Perfumeを一緒に歌う。〝次は日本版のアルバムのみに収録してる曲、タイトルはStop Leaving〟と言ってちょっと笑った（セトリではStop Leavingだけど、本当はTelevision All The Timeで名前を間違っちゃった～みたいな笑いだったww）。
Brotherの前には〝歌詞を知ってるなら一緒に歌って！みんなの声を聞かせて！〟と言う。Brotherが終わるとちょっと長めの間奏があって、アルバムと違う入り方でGet The Gang Togetherがスタート。Gangは盛り上がり、すぐHow It's Going to Beが始まる。Maya the Psychicの前には精神病のお話してからこんなお話もした: 〝マイケミを解散したらうつ病がひどくなって、幻聴が始まった。夜中に声や奇声が聞こえたり、イカれてるんじゃないか心配してセラピストに相談したら彼女が大丈夫だ、よくあることよと説明してくれた。だからセラピストが大事なんだ、話すことが大事なんだ。この曲は幻聴について書いたよ、タイトルはMaya the Psychic。〟その後はお待ちかねのグループ写真タイム〜♪
No Showsがまたアルバムと違った入り方から始まる。みんなでうぅ〜ぅうぅう〜♪して、そしてGが最後の〝It's not love if it's just fucking〟の〝fucking〟をなぜか連呼wwwラストはカバーのSnakedriverで、その後はGが投げキッスしてステージか消える。最後までJamesが残ってノイズを流しながらステージの袖へと消える。
アンコールが始まるまではそう長くない。確かアンコールのタイミングでみゆきさんがみんなのThank You Gメッセージフラッグを無事渡してGがポーズしてくれた。
Toroのデビューアルバムはかなり野心的なプロジェクトだ。 トップクラスのギターテクニックの持ち主として知られてるToroですが、今回はギターのテクニックよりは作曲に集中して、新しい分野に挑戦してる。今回は作曲作詞、プロデューサー、プログラミング、そしてドラムを含めてトラックに必要な楽器の大半を一人でこなしてるため、111回のギターテークをする暇がない。ドラマーJarrod Alexander（Gerard Way and the Hormonesのドラマーとして活躍中）、Tom Rasulo、セッションギタリストTim Pierce、ベースのChris Chaney、キーボードのJamie Muhoberac、そして妻Christaもボーカル（"Look at You Now"）としてタイトル未定のアルバムに参加。この記事の時点で、Toroは"Isn't That Something"と"For the Lost and Brave"（1年前に作曲作詞した曲。トランスジェンダー女性Leelah Alcornの悲しい自殺を知り、リリースすることを決意）の2曲をリリース。
僕もあなたとギタリストFrank Ieroの役割をイメージで決めつけたんだね。僕にとってFrankが1-2-ファックユーのパンクロック野郎で、あなたが繊細なテクニックの持ち主でシュレッドの神だった。その二つのスタイルの違いがマイケミの共鳴音を作り出すカギだと思った。なのに今のあなたの音楽はシンガーソングライターの部分を中心としてる。てっきり初のポストマイケミアルバムがテクノメタルのフュージョンだと思ったよ。一回ね、あなたの楽屋に行ったら、ノートパソコンでAt The Gatesの着信音を作ってたもんね。
Leelah Alcornの悲劇に影響されて〝For The Lost and The Brave〟をシェアした時はすごかったですね。彼女が亡くなる前に収録したらしいが、曲の内容と彼女の苦労が見事に一致しましたね。 Ray: ブログに掲載したように、あの曲は1年以上前に書いた。当時アリゾナ州で起きたことや社会の現状に影響されてね。 歌詞的に僕はトランスジェンダー目線から書いてみたからそんな感じになったんだけど、僕は決してトランスジェンダーの苦労を分かることができない。プエルトリコの男で同じように経験したことないのにえらそうに、みたいな感じにしたくなかった。そうなるのが一番怖かったんだ。でもLeelahの話や彼女の最後のプログを読んだら〝出さないことなんてできない。反応なんて心配してる場合じゃない〟と思った。現代社会がエキサイティングなところは音楽やアートがすごく反応的になってる。1年以上前の曲なのに最近起こったことにすごく繋がってる。僕は自分の声を届けることができたら、少しでもトランスジェンダーの皆さんを支えることができたら、一人でも多くの人の心を開くことができたら、僕はやってよかったと思える。
