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Session Taikai This is gonna be the lamest live report ever! I don't know the bands' names or order, so bear with me. I went just for Luna C-Doll of course, it being Bang-Doll's side band -- a Luna Sea cover/cosplay band. I dragged along Saiya and Leeda. I didn't know or care much about the members of the other bands who were participating. Session lives like this are a New Years tradition at Area, and it's basically just guys from different bands coming together to form temporary or one-time bands, dicking around and doing things they normally wouldn't do in their current bands. Luna C-Doll was the only band that was actually all members from the same band; the rest were mish-mashes of random people. The bands names were listed in various places, except two were "secret" sessions, but the order wasn't disclosed and no one but Luna C-Doll had an enquette. This was my first time at Baba, much to Saiya's surprise. It's a decent-sized place, with an interesting leveled floor and bars everywhere. The middle level was about equal to the stage, while the pit below was average floor height, so you could stand in the middle and see everything eye-level to the guys. The session live was overall confusing and we spent the whole time trying to figure out who was in what band and what band was next. Since NOWHERE was it written, and unless you recognized the guys, you really had no idea. It was confusing in more ways that should have been legal. So most people just stood in the front the whole time. I stood in the middle the whole time. We thought maybe that Luna C-Doll would be first, considering they were the weird band of the night and were totally in the wrong fandom... but they weren't. The first band was a bunch of little dudes in winter coats. They looked awkward and nervous. They played all cover songs, and the vocalist had lyrics written on the floor for a few of them. They did their thing and left, without anyone really caring too much. Next up was another nondescript group, this time putting minimal effort into their look with dress shirts and ties. They only played two songs for some reason, which weren't all too memorable. Hey, I actually know the names of the next one! Number Mouse was a bunch of wacky guys in fuchsia and black striped prison jumpsuits! Five of them, with lots of funny makeup on. A few were really tall and looked quite comical in the jumpsuits. The bassist was short and had his hair spiked up, with a matching hat that the spikes came out of. It was really cute. The drummer was Kazuki from Due le Quartz. The first song they played was a rock version of "Somewhere over the Rainbow", with no vocalist on stage. It was very, VERY catchy and cool. Then the vocalist came out with a bag and started hurling little boxes into the crowd. I got one, and it was... a teeny box of fake poop. I thought it was supposed to be candy but it said on the box not to eat it. So it was just a little poop in a box. WTF is wrong with Japan? Either way, Number Mouse has plans to turn themselves into a real band. Sounds exciting. The next band was the be-all-end-all of session bands. They started off with two guys in trendy sunglasses and a sparkly boa, and they did a hilarious takeoff on Johnny's Junior bands. Very clever, and had everyone howling with laughter. They invited other members on stage, and had a long set that I was a little lost throughout. Apparently they were members of an old band together, and played a song from the old band. The girls were VERY happy about it, but I had no idea who the band was, or even what bands the members were in now. But due to my amazing sleuthing skills, I THINK now that this is the band: Megane to Hige to Boushi to BASS One of them had a bag of "New Years Presents" and threw mikan (Japanese tangerine-like fruits for the new year) into the audience. Most of them were hitting people or sailing past girls' heads, but one came towards me and with a burst of dexterity stuck my hand up and I caught it in the air like I knew how to play baseball or something. Of course I didn't WANT a mikan because I hate citrus fruits, so I put it on the floor and in a few minutes witnessed a bunch of girls fighting over it. Which was funny because they went back and forth trying to give it to the other, trying to be polite while you could tell they both wanted it. So then we think whoever plays next is gonna seem terrible in comparison to those guys, who completely tore up the place. And lo and behold, Luna C-Doll takes the stage. Ouch. Luna C-Doll was of course extremely amusing. Ryousuke had his hair in a totally indescribable way that Saiya made fun of for the rest of the night. It was sticking straight up from the sides and some back parts hanging down, with clip-in extensions and all, while the other members (whose hair is usually totally sticking up) had totally flat hair. Gou was still wearing his heinous buttless crotchless leather pants, but had some Ecstasy Records t-shirt on, WAY WAY too much blue eye shadow and red lipstick, and his hair crimped all heinously. Yes, Gou is heinous. The rest of them weren't very memorable, You's hair was pretty and he had a nice frilly black shirt on. Ryou looked and sounded way too much like Ryuichi, it was kinda disturbing. You could tell he's been singing Luna Sea songs in the shower since he was 10 because he sang EXACTLY like Ryuichi. It almost sounded more natural then his normal singing voice. They were pretty damn good, but no one was really into it because they didn't know Bang-Doll and/or they were too young to be into Luna Sea. Because they played the INDIES of Luna Sea. I am quite a fan of Luna Sea but I only recognized one of the songs. Either way, I liked it. Because the music was much, much softer than their usual stuff, it really showcased their talents. Before the last song, he announced that it was going out to someone special there tonight. We couldn't tell if he was just trying to imitate Ryuichi or it was really the case.
1)FATE So afterward we went out in the lobby-ish area and hung around making asses out of ourselves, waiting for Bang-Doll to come out so we could bother them. There's this nice staff girl from some bands, who Saiya is friends with, and we were talking with her and hearing gossip. After a few minutes Ikumi came darting out with some chick and they ran outside. We waited around for a long time; at one point heard the band on stage playing "Melty Love" by Shazna, and opened the door to get a quick look. That was the disturbing Shadzumo [Vocal: Icchi (Mirufiine), Guitar: Yuma (ex-Hanamuke), Bass: Kazutake (MASK), Drum: Minami (ex-Grimm)] but that was all we cared to hear of them. Gou and Hiroki came out and were posing for pictures together with some person in a 20-yr old celebratory kimono, who Saiya swore was a drag queen. Heh. :X It was suggested to me multiple times to go take a picture with them but umm they were doing gang symbols like the geeks they are, and while it would be rather amusing to pose making gang symbols with Gou and Hiroki, I decided to pass. Yeah so after an hour or so of being loud and silly in the lobby waiting, a bunch of them come out, and the staff girl was like "he's coming he's coming!!" (they were practically making a stakeout out of it) and I was hiding behind Saiya and they were trying to drag me out there. Apparently Ryousuke heard us making a big deal and he was calling my name? I didn't hear him but the rest of them did, so Saiya started screaming in this falsetto voice pretending to be me, but he knew it was her. So we went out the door and he asked if we knew of Luna Sea... x_x; And he was talking 9384903849034 words a second like always and I could barely hear anything he was saying... he gave me a beer though, lol. So we all talked/harassed one another for a while... When we decided it was time to go, we all waved bye, and he started walking back into the building while looking behind waving as us, and totally walked right into the door. Bahahaha. Can you tell why I love this band so much? In general, fun night. Not usually something I would go to see, and maybe I should have paid a bit more attention to the other bands, but I just HAD to see Luna C-Doll. And that's all that matters. |