Bands in order: Cerberos, ARESZ, Amaterase, Smoky Flavor, Bang-Doll

Today I was going with Krys to GIO along with her ugly goth wannabe ex (for a good reason) boyfriend with circus tent colored hair. The entire trip was HELL especially because I had to drag around approximately 300lbs of luggage. JOY! Of course this has nothing to do with the live itself it's just me bitching. Once we get there we meet up with a few of Krys' Japanese friends...'we' meaning just Krys since me and Dan could only just sit around and kill time until the live started.

We spend the next 15 minutes sitting around; Dan being harassed by Japanese girls who are wondering what gender he is (I can't imagine how you wouldn't be able to tell though. It's either a girly guy or a very unsightly girl), Krys' friends playing around on their cell phones (which makes me want one) talking about Manson, and me staring at posters on the wall. Specifically the one for Cerberos. They were probably the one reason I had actually pushed myself to take this trip. I was SO excited to be seeing them. Ever since Krys had shown me a picture of Zakuro from Ka-O-su long ago I was so amused by it that it started something that eventually came to be an obsession. Last year Krys had seen them perform at the Cannabis cup and told me about them and I'd wanted to see them ever since. Ironically I would have to see them on the last day of my trip. Me and Krys noticed these 2 guys going up the stairs and we contemplated what band they were from. I put my money on them being members of Aresz...boy was I wrong.

After sitting around for too long we finally went up to get our tickets. On my last day I seriously have NO MONEY. Yes, I'm broke and I can't afford to buy a ticket to a band I have been DYING to see for the past year. Now most likely I'd be doomed, but I just happen to be going with the most coolest person in the world. Krys bought my ticket! She ownz my soul now. Of course I paid her back so it's not like I'm some heartless bitch that forced her to buy my ticket or anything.

Now I've heard Krys ramble on a many of times about how great GIO is and I didn't think anything special about it, but you can't beat randomly placed chairs and tables to throw your shit on. The first band up was Cerberos. Words can't describe how irritating this is because I just find it really hard to get into the first band that is playing. It didn't matter cause I'd finally see Cerberos and I was damn excited!

I claimed my spot on the left side of the stage exactly where Zakuro would be. While setting up they come out on stage and my jaw seriously drops. To my surprise Zakuro and Akira were the ones I mistook for Aresz members on the stairway earlier. Oh how STUPID. Zakuro looked VERY different though! His hair was dyed blonde with 5-inch roots. Zakuro...a BLONDE! It didn't work out, but he looked damn good. No fishnets on his face either just what looked like lipstick smeared over his right eye 3 times to look like the most cheesiest fake scars you ever did see. He also only had one contact as opposed to two and holy shit I almost died. He was SEXY!

Akira of course didn't look much different...with the corny cat eye contact and blonde hair that literally takes over the rest of his head. I'm not much of a fan for him, but I do understand why he has plenty of girls that like him. He IS hot. Rin who I used to always make fun of for being chubby is...heavens he's SEXY! He's not as chubby as I thought! Either he takes bad pictures or he was on a weight loss plan! Of course he doesn't look skinny or anything and he's about average. He is SO not chubby live, but all pictures and fliers he looks FAT! Of course Rin doesn't look like he belongs in the band. He looks more like a Matina band reject that Cerberos took in. I wouldn't call Rin a reject though he's damn cooler than any Matina band member EVER, but it amuses me so much how he just doesn't fit in.

Eva, their female vocalist, is SO CUTE! She was wearing a black tube top all glittery with something written on it. I don't remember what it was now...some English word much like the 'angel' t-shirts you see at Rave-girl or whatever, except less corny and it didn't say angel of course. Overall Eva looks like a biker chick. Normally that's not cute, but Eva just grins the whole time and it's so adorable how happy she looks and you just can't help but smile too. Overall as a band together they look strange and a little mismatched, but who cares?! They were awesome and that's all that matters.

As for the actual performance I had given Dan my camera and asked him to take pictures of Zakuro specifically. I kinda regret not asking for pictures of the rest of the band...by the end of their performance I had literally 50 pictures of Zakuro alone. I have one of Rin, (his back turned) another of Eva's arm, and a special 2 that include half of Akira's head! At least he followed directions and took pictures of Zakuro. There were PLENTY of pictures of Zakuro... I didn't have room for any other pictures on my camera which was a LITTLE disappointing since I had wanted to take maybe at least one picture of Sugar from Smoky Flavor.

Cerberos' sound is hard to describe...it's simple to describe that they have a heavy metal sound, but it's a little difficult to describe by only hearing them once. They haven't released ANYTHING, which is very disappointing. Of course Sollen 2 does have 'Still now I'm longing for you', but aside from one omnibus they don't have anything! No DT no CD-R it would be impossible to hear them without going to a live or of course buying Sollen 2, but even then you won't get a good idea of the sound from one song. Eva's vocals are...well it's hard to describe. For most female vocals you either have a squeaky voiced or deep masculine voiced vocalist...of course Eva is neither...she doesn't sound squeaky, but her voice isn't deep either. Her voice is pretty damn powerful I can give her that much, but sometimes it just sounds a little bit like she has a growl in her throat. Of course I LOVE her vocals which is rare. I end up hating most girls who are in bands, but the only 2 exceptions I have are for Eva and Mera (Dagashi-kashi vocalist).

Of course Zakuro is damn talented not only with his guitar, but his TONGUE! He sticks out his tongue a lot and at one point looked like he was having a spasm... Oh wow I must admit I LOVE Zakuro! He has such a STRONG stage presence. I was probably watching him the entire time except for maybe once or twice I'd end up watching Eva or Rin. Rin was a little boring though...he's in the back playing his bass looking DAMN sexy and maybe pausing for a few moments to flip off everybody and go back to playing. Normally this would make me think “what a bad-ass wannabe,” but with Rin the only thoughts going through my head are “I can't believe how pretty he is! He's not fat!” Akira I possibly paid the LESS attention to. Of course Akira is awesome! He's hot and is pretty active as in...possibly more hyper than the rest, but not enough to actually be considered a hyperactive little fuck.

Each time Akira and Zakuro would switch sides of the stage I'd always end up wishing Zakuro would come back to the side I'm on NOW. Akira is cool and all, but he's so weird that I can't find myself thinking 'yay!' with him right there. The only thing that bothered me a little was that all signs of human life in the crowd are ignored except by Eva and Akira. Zakuro just stares off at the back wall while Rin doesn't even look like he's aware of a crowd. When Rin flips everybody off it's more like he's flipping the wall off. I wonder if Zakuro and Rin have low self-confidence.

and WOW that was just 3 paragraphs going on about Cerberos...I guess I'll have to wrap this up so I can move on to the next band sometime today. To put things bluntly THEY RAWKED MY SOCKS! Afterwards I felt so dizzy and lightheaded. Not sure if it was because of headbanging so much or being just extremely happy that my brain left me. Me and Krys sat down and I begged her to help me fill out the enquette. While doing so Cerberos comes back on stage to pack up their equipment. Krys decided to try and push me to go talk to Zakuro. My immediate reaction is I want to, but I can't cause I'm too embarrassed. Eventually the chance is ruined (and wow do I ever regret not taking that chance) by the next band which I really can't say I like.

Aresz is a little creepy...their female vocalist is 300lbs with Steve Urkel pants. I had looked up the band's hp before going to Japan because obviously you want to learn about every band you're going to see before seeing them. I remember thinking “wow she did NOT look that fat in the pictures.” Of course they must not have updated their site with new pictures in 3 years, which would be enough time for somebody to sit on their swollen ass and gain an extra unhealthy 200lbs.

I did NOT want to get up for this band. So I just sat down and watched...their music is good...and the vocalist sounds similar to Eva voice wise...except she is 28273987927828x worse. I don't remember much about them except how scary their vocalist was and a question that had been bothering me for the entire 15 minutes they played. What the hell IS their bassist? I mean for most members of a band you can tell easily no matter how feminine or manly they look that it's either a guy or a girl. Their bassist was a mystery. It was either an unsightly man or a manly chubby girl. I couldn't decide for the life of me. Eventually I settled for the fact that it must be a chubby guy. To this day I still have no clue. Thankfully I had Cerberos' enquette to keep me from paying much more attention to Aresz. They're not bad...they're just creepy.

After Aresz the next band was Amaterase aka loserly-looking Hindu band. Now I judge from what I see and from what I saw on the hp I couldn't imagine these guys to be any good. They're not ugly they're just funny looking in this weird way that they have dots on their forehead and wear corny robes. Of course when they start playing I think “wow they're GOOD!” so I decide to get up and watch. They were really REALLY good! The band is only 2 members made up of the guitarist Daishi and the extremely hot vocalist Akira, but wow they're GOOD.

I don't quite remember what happened since I was still very lightheaded and out of it from Cerberos. Hmm nope as hard as I try I can't remember anything about the band except for enjoying them a LOT and them being VERY good. During the MC they mentioned giving out a free MD to whoever filled out the enquette. Awesome! Who can pass up free shit?! The second Amaterase leaves the stage we go back and scribble our names and e-mail ignoring every thing else because we don't care and just want a free MD. So while going back and turning in the enquette it suddenly hits me...I don't have a MD player. Oh, but that doesn't bother me! It's still free stuff! Krys told me that when she turned in the enquette, the monster of a vocalist from Aresz looked at her and smiled. I couldn't help but laugh about that. Damn thankful I didn't see her.

While me and Krys were waiting for the next band I noticed this weird looking guy with long hair standing by the walls near the exit. My first reaction is 'wait...is that...Zakuro?!'. I point him out to Krys (well not actual POINTING but mention it to her) and she tells me it can't be Zakuro cause he's fat. Well of course he didn't look super thin or anything, but he was wearing the most horrible baggy shirt and terrible baggy shorts with *gags* sandals! I couldn't help but watch him anyway even if Krys told me it couldn't be Zakuro. So here I am trying to keep the fact I'm staring at him not noticeable which failed miserably when he gave me this evil angry death glare. Later on I found out it WAS Zakuro. Wow and he gave me such an angry look too. Uhhh at least I can take it in a very fangirly way and say he noticed me.

Sitting down is really boring by this time so we decide to get up to see Smoky Flavor. We decide to take a spot on the far right of the stage. Krys decided to tell me now that after Smoky Flavor girls will probably rush up for Bang-Doll (which they never did) so we should decide where we want to be now. Since we're on the right side we would be where Ikumi was and according to Krys that would be a little boring. So we spend the next 5 minutes contemplating where to go until we look on stage and notice a random band guy in tight tight vinyl booty shorts bending over right in front of us. Initial reaction 'ass....'. So...we decide to stay where we are.

Wow...all I can say is Sugar is...HOT. Smoky Flavor is old as dirt and by old I mean PREHISTORIC old, but WOW they still manage to look so damn sexy! I'm certain they've found the elixir for eternal life or something! Most interesting about the band is mummy man. (which he shall be referred to through this entire report as) Mummyman is your typical 4-foot Japanese guy wrapped up in toilet paper. His point in the band...is completely unknown. Their drummer is this crazy looking homey guy who doesn't fit in (must be requirement for most GIO bands to have a Waldo in the band), but then again I never really notice the drummers of any band enough to give a full description. It's just hard to notice somebody who is behind a giant drum set.

Yoshitaka is...crazy. He comes out on stage wearing these GIANT Mickey Mouse gloves. Sugar has this GIANT fake devil skeleton wingspan that staff helps insert into the back of his shirt and he continues to wear throughout the first song played. Good lord he looked insane. He had some fake vampire teeth to add on to his gothy weirdness and holy shit his guitar is the most fuxxin awesome looking thing EVER. At one point he started hitting the cheesy baby ornaments hanging from the ceiling with his guitar. He is super amusing to watch. During the MC he had sat down with his legs wide apart and a *coughs* very visible surprise. Of course I wouldn't have noticed if Krys hadn't been sick and pointed his crotch out to me. Of course when you point something out to me I'll stare. After us both being all 'crotch...crotch...' I think he noticed because he sat with one leg over the other and then tried to cover himself with his guitar.

Highlight of this performance? In the middle of one of the songs Yoshitaka runs offstage and comes back on a scooter that he rides around on until crashing into Sugar. They're so weird and hyperactive that I couldn't help but enjoy them a LOT. Even if I think Cerberos is the best I have to say Smoky Flavor was the most fun band that night. You really can't beat a band who has a MUMMY that stands around on stage maybe moving just a bit only to fix his toilet paper bandage. Of course most everything about them is fun, but you just can't beat a pointless member like that.

Music wise? I had only heard 2 songs from them before seeing them and I don't think they have released anything aside from what are on omnibus CDs which is depressing because how old are they? They formed sometime back in 1920! They're awesome and if they ever had a CD they released I would sell my organs to buy it. They're REALLY good! <3

After Smoky Flavor had finished I thought I was going to die. My head that at first felt empty now felt like a boulder had fallen on it. I thought it would just roll off my shoulders and fall onto the ground (hopefully continuing to roll and bite the heels of lolitas in the room). My neck was in so much pain I didn't think I would be able to stand much more. Of course my neck wouldn't get to feeling much better since the next and final band was Bang-Doll. Dan decides to come up at this time since this was the only band he is slightly interested in thanks to Krys. So here we are one gaijin sandwich all smushed together. We each decide to move to a separate part of the stage so I decided to claim my spot on the left side where Gou would be.

Now I don't know anything about Bang-Doll aside from what Krys has told me which is probably more than what I would like to know, but I found out for myself that Hiroki is one tall freak of nature. Krys had told me before he was tall, but damn he's the jolly green giant of Japan and to top this off he was SHOELESS. Of course being on stage made him look even taller and then out comes a few other members. Ikumi with...some sort of...unidentifiable pink critter attached to his chin. I'd only assume it was a goatee if I was told so since it looked more like the head of a troll doll to me. Everybody says that Ikumi's pink goatee is ugly, but I don't. It's too bad he shaved it off. I think it would be awesome if he made a comeback with a pink mustache and grew a giant beard like a crusty sea captain and dyed it all bright as fuxx pink!

Next is Ryousuke...in comparison to Hiroki he is a midget...not quite a midget, so much as a dwarf or maybe Keebler elf sized. I wasn't expecting him to be THAT small. I could imagine him riding on Hiroki's shoulders he's THAT short. Now I've also heard from Krys how You's hair looks VERY similar to a houseplant. A houseplant is far from describing this...the best way to describe his hair is...ok...you know how cartoon characters look when they're scared and their hair stands straight up? Yeah I think that's about it. At least they manage to make bad 80's hair look VERY good. They deserve a medal for that. Oh and Gou actually has a mohawk! It's not the cheesy fake retard looking mohawk like it was on the main top image on their hp, but an actual mohawk! OH!! How awesome!

Now that I'm done judging the members like pieces of meat it was time for them to actually start. The first thing to catch my eyes aside from the giant keg sized beer to replace the generic water bottles most bands would have is the microphone pole which is...zebra striped?! How god awful and tacky! I'm certain that Bang-doll is 3 things...beer, big hair, and animal printed crap. I've come down to this conclusion from the microphone pole and most half of what Ikumi has on. Regardless I happen to like beer, big hair, and animal prints so I can proudly say I like them. As for their actual performance the music was...WOW. They're VERY enjoyable! Regardless of not being able to feel anything but pain in my neck I still managed to headbang and damn I think something was put back in place because after Bang-Doll my neck suddenly stopped hurting.

The highlight of the performance in my opinion was probably Ryousuke playing of all things a harmonica...a damn harmonica. What band uses a harmonica?! Along with shoeless Hiroki, Ryousuke's harmonica, and the endless supply of beer they could become a hillbilly band! As terrible as that may sound I find that idea to be super awesome! Overall I can see why Krys likes them a lot. They were VERY good.

Ah but eventually it came to an end and I'm reminded that tomorrow morning I'm leaving. I asked Krys if she could buy me a photoset for Cerberos since like I said I was broke. Being awesome she says she will. Yay! Of course I can't decide so I eventually get Krys to buy me both photosets. <3 Uwaaaaaah! This of course made me super happy. I really regret not having any money with me on the last day. I would have wanted to buy soooo much if I had some (and I probably would have). Of course being incredibly happy before the live I now felt miserable with the idea of going home.

Final thoughts on the live? Every band except Aresz was awesome. That's all.