A small part of the crowd after the show.
And there are some guys! Like, rare!
I arrived, eventually, at The Liquidroom, bypassing it
completely but fortunately being able to save myself by getting a
small water at a corner store, which was in itself a good idea.
Then
I made my way back, got my ticket (where is it now I wonder?) after
showing my email order printout, Passport, social security number,
blood sample and handing over a bribe. I was The Last of The Gaijin
to pick up their tickets. The place was quite full, some other group
must have played as people not in black and white, with occasional
bits of blue (like Mana's new-do) and red and one guy in green with
a white face-mask that a lot of people wear here against bird flu or
the pollution. There were are least two excellent Mana-a-likes and
even some guys, or people who looked like guys. We all waited around
till five when row numbers were called out, in Japanese, by a guy
with a speaker not loud enough to get over the chatter. My Standing
Seat Ticket was A61, pretty damn good. The other Gaijin gang were
close to that too so we all must have ordered at the same time - as
soon as the email came in telling us that it was possible. There were a few
other single-jin, one a girl who fainted briefly in the push at the
front where we all were. Maybe about 10-12 in total. I met one,
Inertia, two days later at O-West.
Emplaced, two Japanese school girls, one
on her second Dix, her converter a third, wanted a pic with the
Gaijin gang, me taking photo with a mobile which didn't work at all.
There was no light and five heads don't fit well into a mobile's
arc. I chatted with them as one had pretty good english. We talked
about when we became fans, who else I listened to. Eve of Destiny?
How old is that Hara... hara guy? I think he's dead I replied. He
does look that old in my camera's flash. We had to take up an hour,
standing I had very uncomfortable shoes and by the end of the night
got blisters. Argh. Pain. Some girls behind added to the
conversation all about when we were going to shove the front ranks
to their doom against the railing and trample their lolita carcasses
to the floor. HAHAHAHA! 'Where are you from?' says she, 'Australia'
says I, 'Crocodile Dundee' says another. Yes. Paul Hogan is famous
everywhere, still, Australia doesn't know him anymore. The girls
talk in their own group: 'She has padding on her chest' says one
girl, 'is your friend japanese, she doesn't look it' a reply. Rowr!
I was classified as 'Hot' by said girls. Ah yes, they have such good
taste, too bad they were all so young. Adding two of them together
would only just have... ENOUGH!
And then...
The clouds part!
Lo,
behold! Sauron the Dark Lord, Lidless Eye and Scourge of Middle
Earth...
No, it is Mana-sama.
And the push begins. I am tall
enough to see over heads. I am just off the middle (not a very wide
venue the Liquidroom, 500 or so attendees) and Seth, serpentine
Seth, is in front of me and has my attention for most of the 1 1/2
hours (sorry Mana, but a French girl was in the road, sacre bleu!).
Manasama was to my right, K to the far left. New bassist and
drummer boy at the back. I don't remember their names. Manasama, K
and Seth all looked so tall, like giants. Or Gods, for they were
being worshipped by Us All. Gods that hath returned to the land.
Gods changed but have not forgotten the source of their power: their
Worshippers.
It began
with a new song and Seth holding forth a mega-delacroix-phone!
Sound! Loud! The madness begins. People have complained about the
drum machine on the CD (mine aren't playing on my laptop... maybe
because I'm on a weird LAN) but that is no problem live. It is good.
My legs don't hurt any more, a least for half the show. They go into
old numbers, Seth writhes around the mic, he should be poledancing.
He is a serpent. He and K are sorta in the outfits Mana designed for
them, lighter versions for the work at hand. We are all sweating and
I am soaked through again by the end of the live. Seth sweats, he is
putting all that he can into his first and it is appreciated. A
Lolita behind is trying to crush through me... I am crushing two
tiny ones in front. Can they see? The band is announced. Yays to
everyone.
Gaijin-lead section is definitely the best. We lead,
those around us follow. Screams of Se-san (the lollies have
difficulty with 'th') and Mana sama. Poor K..?
why is he left out. He can sing too, more than the grumbles last
year. He should do the ballads. He and Mana switch like its been
rehearsed... no. Then back again.
Half time, Mana walks off. Seth
says we must sing Happy Birthday for Mana. OK. We practice and then
have to shout Mana back. "MANASAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"
That was it for me, my voice isn't for handling long conversations
or yelling a lot. My arm will still hit the sky despite it the
strain. K yells at us for not being good enough. Ah, K, you've
become comic backup already. It doesn't do your hard-ass image any
good. You should have killed someone, that would have made a real
impression.
Mana comes back on. We sing again, well, as well as
Japanese can sing in English. Team Gaijin leads again!!! The cake is
brought out. All white, rich, sugary and creamy. A box... names to
be drawn! Ah, the tension, the palpitations of the heart. Four fans
will get to have some cake (did they? It must have been afterwards
or something because we did not see. We clapped for the lucky ones,
all with high ticket numbers (one wasn't there). Maybe the jealous
didn't clap like the loilies at the mmm store in shinjuku I went to
earlier. The Taliban weren't that cold. But then, we all could have
had guns and an altercation would have been messy in that distant
land. K lights the 6? candles (I think it was how long dix has been
around). Its hard work. A fan is blowing on the cake, some onto the
crowd or misted water would have been great too because we were all
sweating and compacted. I'd never been intimate with so many girls
all at the same time before. @_@;; Mana takes two goes to blow out the candles,
mouth shielded (from us?) and he takes a taste on one finger. We see
into his mouth. That is truly what Beyond The Gate is. The cake is
rolled away. Time for Act II.
More of the new stuff, haven't heard
the CD yet, much more electronic. OK stuff. No reason to complain.
Bits borrowed from other songs. Some of the songs have had their
manner altered to the way Seth sings them so I got caught out trying
to follow along. What, is this karaoke? The tempo has been changed,
not the words or chords..
Mana does crowd stuff, touches some front
row hands. I'm sure that was all that was left of the front row, the
rest of them just squashed flesh and broken bones kept up right by
those behind. Seth does crowd stuff.
We do hand stuff. My arm
wants to drop off. So do my legs. I continue to elbow the shorter
people in the head in front of me. I'm glad their shorter. The
French girl (or one of?) tries to lacerate my eyes when its head
bang time - the last songs were the hardies, which is good, best.
Ending on a slow note is... a slow ending. I recall one song is
poppy.
They head off. Disorganizsed attempt at encore begins with
fans calling out for Manasama. One of the girls I'd talked to
earlier has a pair of lungs. Team Gaijin gets into it too. One too
smart person tries to get a Moi dix Mois chant. It doesn't work.
Getting an encore simply means not leaving to the Japanese.
Dutifully they return. Hooray. More songs, more sore arm, more
headbang.
Why doesn't Mana sweat? K barely. Seth is just like us,
the sheen of a racehorse.
That's why he's OK, a Citizen of the san coulottes faction.
Mana
throws a few guitar pics into the crowd over the duration of the
event. Nigh impossible to really tell where they ended up. He gave
each of them a swish through the air and a kiss before the flick (I
had been imagining a direct hit to the eye and collapsing). They'll never be washed again.
Back to clothes... Mana
is in the same digs as Europe and before with a thick leather collar
added. The bassist has some sort of head brace and makeup scar
across the face. The Dummer has red plait/dreads that is in fashion
with a lot of VK bands now. I still can't remember their names.
But
it has to end. The clouds close and finally a chant is established
but it is for no use. The silly hall organisers tell the people at
the front to leave. Hey, what about the rank upon rank of people who
can't hear you BEHIND us? One lolly I talked to has lost her head lacy thing
and out comes the mobile to light up the floor. Someone found it
further back. I start to dry out. My hair, I learn later, is a mess.
So That's why all the stares from them regular folk on the way home.
In
conclusion: if people think Beyond the Gate isn't polished... Mana
should simply only release live versions. The crowd was great, not
super great like Guitar Wolf, but certainly had an impact on the
evening which can only be a plus. Dix was great too. Seth was
drowned out a bit by the guitar work, he'll break through after a
few more tries. He is a good performer, deserving a serpentine label
and certainly kept my attention even with Mana not far away. But
looking at him too much is like stalking. Stalking's easier over the
internet. Expect a more progressed live each time. Too bad I can't
make Shibuya-AX. The dates is crazy and I must work. September would
be fantastic and a string of shows like dix's launch instead of a
handful. It's what all the other bands do and practice makes better.
I will definitely return in the second half of the year if anything
is doing. Dix Infernal or its nextgen at least and run into the
lollies again.
My Managear! A moi-meme-moitie
leather bag (nice leather!), left over
shirt from the concert and CDs
