27th
November 2003, Meguro Rock MayKan
Let me begin by
saying I hate MayKan. Words cannot describe how awful this venue is and why
it’s still in business is a mystery.
So why D opted to
play their first OneMan here I shall never know. Perhaps since it’s small they
managed to save some money on production costs for the free CD of Alice they had
given out to everyone through the door. Perhaps they’ve never been in the
audience there themselves. Perhaps it’s the only venue they could find with
the word Rock in the name. Who can say?
Whatever, I fight my
way in and get no further than the crowded and already sweaty back area: we can
all see bits of space at the front but there’s no way to get there past the
mood-killing theatre seats in the middle. I’m right under the sound desk and
feeling squished. As I wait for D to come out-late-I engage in thoroughly
irresponsible emailing with a friend in Quebec, to the effect that we decide
their lateness must be due to them all searching desperately for their missing
backsides before they come out.
When they eventually
do come out (bumless as ever), first thing I notice is that, due to my red &
black pvc-based outfit I have unwittingly come as a D cosplayer. They’ve
obviously been stalking me. Damn them.
Anyways, they rock
straight away (not a band that need any warming-up, as far as I’ve noticed),
all red and black and big riffs with matching hair. During the main set they
play all the tracks from New Blood-risky, thinks I, since those are the only
songs we all know as yet. Everyone is very genki and bouncy, grinning from ear
to ear non-stop. Bless ‘em. The one moment of lost momentum is before (what I
later learn is) Angelic Blue, when they play almost an entire Enya track by way
of introduction-nice idea, but too long for any atmosphere to be retained. I,
for one, am quietly amused to see the huge ‘D’ banner attached to the back
wall floating up due to air-con and, ahem, somewhat…vigorous drumming from
Friend Hiroki and landing square on the boy’s head a number of times before
someone has the sense to tape it down. Said Hiroki attempting drumstick-twirling
(Rikki Rokkett-style) but dropping it instead also raises a bit of a snigger.
Whoops.
Come the end of the
main set, I’m freezing-some bugger switched on the air-con right next to me.
After a relatively short ‘Ankooru’-call they lope back on for some
talking-they’re about to launch into Night-ship D, and so a request goes out
for us all to run out to the goods stall and get some lovely lovely flags to
wave. We all laugh at the unlikelihood of anyone being able to budge through the
blatant fire-hazard of a hall. Hiroki then leads the audience in a game of
janken (that’s Scissors-Paper-Stone to you and me) to see who gets a special
big Band-Sized pair of flags-and promptly loses the first round to the entire
audience.
Then comes the Grand
Debut of the Nightship D Dance. I’m sure a lot of people think this looks
cool, but I have to say, Asagi, you really do look as if you’re trying to
guide a plane in to land… (another private giggle for me) Anyway. They play
this and something else off New Blood again before pissing off to check the
dressing room in case their bums have turned up in the meantime.
Coming back on for
another encore (not bad for a band with 4 songs to their name), we’re told
that it’s HideZou’s birthday, so the obligatory birthday cake is brought on
(some of the audience are still a bit unsure of the new boy’s name so the
serenade of Happy Birthday loses its way on line 3, but never mind) and we’re
told that Ruiza can’t write properly-the cake itself wishes a happy birthday
to MideZou. All very silly, and nobody cries (unlike, say, Hiroki when ~his~
cake was brought out in July…). Dangan and Lost Breath are (probably) played
again, and the band are gone.
Asagi having
announced the second OneMan in January, we all form an orderly queue up the
stairs to get our advance tickets. Now I see one small advantage of being stuck
at the back; I’m ticket-ed up and out of the hideous hideous live house in
minutes.
I jump on the train home, remove my corsetry as subtly as possible and head home to listen to the lovely new CD they gave me, nearly as grinny as they are.
Note: I wrote this over 7 months after the gig, so if the details are a bit off, apologies. That’s what I remember of it!