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bluelovesorangedecided last night to skip the second day of festivities at Anime Expo today, because I am suffering from T.D.O.F.T.S. disease, otherwise known as "Too Damn Old For this Shit." I know some of you are going, "oh no, don't go down that road. You are only 20-something, don't make me come over there and hit you with something, preferably a frozen trout, because you are still a CHILD (and a very immature one at that)" and some of you may be going, "Shit. You're 26? You LIE. What else have you lied about?" and some of you are going, 'WTF ever, tell us about the CATBOYS.'
*silent tears* I'm so sad that I didn't get to see Anna Tsuchiya perform today, but then again, L said we could always plan a trip to Japan to see her on her home turf. Because we are HARDCORE. Seriously though, I will go to pretty far lengths for musicians/bands I love, if the timing's right. Speaking of which, did any one on my FL attempt to see Paul McCartney at Amoeba Records on Wednesday? I know the Macca's not the beloved one (but I still love you!), but still...he's.....Paul McCartney.
Okay, so L picked me up at around 8:30 in the morning, we get there in about an hour - only to be confronted with the line from hell. To better put it in perspective for CA people - let's say the Anime Expo @ Anaheim was like Disneyland. The Anime Expo @ Long Beach is like California Adventure.
The difference is in the lines - AA@A was more self contained, it seemed, and there were a lot more dealers in the Exhibit Hall. AA@LB was this sprawling, mazelike horror that had lines going on for hours - due to some kind of mailing snafu, despite my pre-registration status, my badge was not mailed to me in time, so I would have to pick it up at the con. Sure, no big - and L had to buy her tickets at the door, okay, we'll stand in line together. We separated into two lines after we got to the 'pre-registration pick up' point, and foolishly, I did not tell L where to meet me afterwards. This would prove to be a Very Bad Idea, as L's cellphone was on the fritz, and she was the designated driver.
In all, it took me about 4 hours to get inside to pick up my badge, and it took poor L SIX HOURS to get her tickets. The J-Rock world exclusive showcase featuring Gackt, Miyavi, and Two Other Guys I'm Sorry to Say I don't Remember their Names, but Damn, they Were Awesome? also had a line to get free passes into, but that also looked like a Dante-esque line, so I said well fuck this for a start, and decided to drown my sorrows in the exhibit hall. Where I purchased a six dollar orange mango smoothie with no lid on it, and dropped it OF COURSE, 15 minutes later. I dedicate the smoothie to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
smithereen because I was preoccupied in taking pictures of a Princess Tutu cosplay duo.
It could have been because it was the first day of the con, so not all the dealers were there, but this and the line organization (as in NOT WELL DONE, BOO) and the fact that this con has been around for a while...and I'm not cutting any more slack, the lines sucked, and the refusal to let the con attendees to return from original point of entry - instead herding us like cattle! hot and steamy and PISSED cattle in a circle.....yeah, not fun.
So I wandered around the exhibit hall for awhile, circled the B-Booth twice, leaving messages for L in case she managed to break free from a line and come looking for me, took a few pictures of the cosplayers (I didn't take many real pictures, I mostly catalogued snapshots in my head with the bitchy commentary for youuuuuuuuu) and wondered about what I was going to do with the vast quantities of time I suddenly had on my hands (as line standing had robbed me of attenting the meet and greet panel with Anna, the Viz panel, the Go!Comi panel and some Copic workshops) and I debated going into the JROCK Fandom 101 panel, when a voice from the Fandom Gods announced, "if you haven't gotten tickets to see S.K.I.N. yet please come to the information booth."
What? No Line? Just...giving stuff away? What a novel idea, and at a con, even!
[/sarcasm]
I went and got my ticket and then was herded with the other fencattle to the arena area. I had sort of slumped into phase two of T.D.O.F.T.S., which was, "I'm here, I paid for this, I might as well suck it up and get this over with, but next time I'll be better prepared. Or, THERE WILL BE NO NEXT TIME. Or, at least my arm hasn't fallen off."
The temperature in downtown Long Beach hovered somewhere between the mid 80s and high 90s, and despite my preventive measure of SPF 70 sunblock (it's like Nicole Kidman! In a bottle!), I managed to get sunburned on my nose and scalp. So if I get skin cancer years from now, you were all witness to WHY.
The S.K.I.N. concert was optimisticallly scheduled to take place at 4/4:30 in the official guide, but as the theme of the day seemed to be disorganization and WEB OF LIES, I was inside a cool auditorium at 6:00 and the the concert itself probably ended a few minutes before 7.
I'm a newbie when it comes to J-Rock, my tastes in Japanese music runs to the embarrassingly poppy, or more mainstream - I love Anna, Olivia, Puffy, Monkey Majik, and I like Orange Range, and of course, Utada Hikaru and Angela Aki. But because being in fandom is like having the power of a sponge, I knew of Gackt, Miyavi (or Miyabi), and Malice Mizer and all that oldskool visual kei stuff, and Dir En Grey, and Glay, etc, etc, but aside from a few MVs and singles, I'm not exactly a real fan. A passerby, really.
I went to S.K.I.N. not having many expectations except for the fleeting thought, "I wonder if Gackt will sacrifice a virgin on stage?"
He didn't, but I'm sure if he did, it wouldn't have mattered to the fans, because they would have been lining up for the honor, no, the privilege of being The One.
While I'm sure the other band members had input to the way the visuals were presented on the stage, I kept on feeling that this was very much Gackt's circus, and he was an impressive ringleader, with a lot of charisma and steely Rockstar/God charm. He certainly knew all the poses and the way the strobe would just light him up in the devil's blue - and he would be looking far off into the distance - yeah, he knew what he was doing.
Vocalwise, the lyrics were a mixture of repeated shouting English choruses ("get back!") and Japanese, and as Gackt was the only one speaking/ and speaking English on stage, it made him seem more like the leader than just part of a unit.
Now...real J-Rock as S.K.I.N. presented it, is Loud. And Flashy. And there's incredible musicianship going on - Miyavi was literally shredding his guitar at one point, I think and they are not afraid to make just pure NOISE. It's theatrical, and it's entertaining as all hell.
Is it something I would like to listen to on a daily basis? Nope. I've never been fond of screaming as the base part of a song, and sonically and melodically, they've got it going on - if they were just instrumentalists, I would love them. But vocally, I like it when singers sing. S.K.I.N. is great marching off to war music, stuff to get your adrenaline rushing, but it could never be just background music. And I suppose that's the point - this is really a supergroup, with 4 unbelievably talented musicians and egos, and they're not shy, and I'm sure compromise is something of an insult to them - they know their shit, and it's to get you dancing and thrashing and freaking out.
I think two of the songs were called Killing you softly and Get Back, and the others I'm not sure of, as they weren't accompanied by helpful slideshows with english text. Instead the hallucinatory mix of strobe lights, Japanese geisha prints, and scenes of nature, and then shots of Miyavi wildly dancing with his guitar sort of just pointed out, 'we are not your American feel good rock, we are here to make out with your women, confuse your men, and kick your ASS.'
3-4? songs were played, with a really beautiful interlude, where it was just Gackt and the drummer at dueling pianos (that's another thing about them - the drummer could play the piano, the other guitarist could play the violin (SO AWESOME), and Miyavi was playing what appeared to be a traditional Japanese string instrument, or it could have been a mandolin. I'm sucky about that kind of detail.) and it was music and melody and it reminded me a lot of Moonchild for some weird reason, but it was my favorite part of the concert. You don't always need the sound and the fury.
Then Gackt-sama (I have to say that. He just seems like the type.) re-introduced all the band members, giving props to the unheralded bass player (J-something - kun?), and then basically goading/encouraging each musician into crazier and more awe-inspiring playing with their instrument. The drummer got it the worst though - and at one point was standing up and hitting things furiously.
Miyavi - Gackt said he was like a brother, and an incredible guitarist, the other guitarist - was apparently up until two years ago, someone he absolutely hated, but now they're like THIS, man, best friends, the bassist was a friend he's performed with many times, the drummer...was The Best Drummer in Japan, and then....Gackt-Sama...."Do you know who I am?"
GACKT!!!, was the resounding reply. Really, he does have that entire imposing presence that surrounds stars like David Bowie, Bono, Prince....etc.
And then another run through Get Back with Gackt yelling, "Get Back" and getting it in reply, and then the drummer threw stuff into the audience and (how could I forget, Gackt fountained water from his waterbottle onto Miyavi, who was kind of kneeling so it was like blessing from a Japanese Jesus or something, and did I mention the fanservice J-ROCK and Japanese entertainment in GENERAL does?) and there was much flinging water bottles into the audience from the band and Miyavi was sort of shaking the ladder that's attached to the stage but not actually climbing on it, and it was all very Spinal Tap and incredibly entertaining, and if I was 19 again, I would have totally found myself in the melee of the mosh pit by the stage, yelling, "MIYAVI-SAN! MIYAVI-SAN!"
Eh, Gackt creeps me out, what the hell can I say? But Miyavi - is astonishing, how much he just puts his whole body into playing the guitar, not just his arms, and it's amazing to watch.
So my 26 year old self watched from the balcony and just clapped along.
J-ROCK fandom, in its appearance is sort of like my holy grail of attractiveness about men, if I was being honest and not just "oh, personality and humor and intelligence." Pfft. That's for having long steady relationships. If I was the sleep and leave type, J-ROCK would so be the barboy I picked up accidentally. Check it: tall, slender (but toned and muscley, because all those thrashing windmills and running up and down stages is cardio!) boys with asymmetrical haircuts, close proximity to eyeliner, and arms of gods. We'll have a really good time!
While I was standing in my pre-registration line, there was a group of attractive Asian people in front of me - two girls and two boys, and they were clearly coupled off, and both of the boys were rocking the J-rock look, but the particular one I was looking at, was dressed all in black/shades of grey, had perfect hair, and was leaning down to have his girlfriend apply eyeliner. I was secretly seething with jealousy. There was a lot of, "I WANT A CUTE BOY TO PUT EYELINER ON. I HAVEN'T DONE THAT SINCE HIGH SCHOOL. WHY DO YOU HAVE MY BOYFRIEND?" going on, I'm sorry to admit. So when I'm not having stupid crises on inappropriate feelings on conscience-bait (not jailbait, but still sketchy enough to feel guilty about) coworkers, I guess I just really want someone to play dress up with, as I clearly never got to do that enough as a child. Though I set fire to my Barbies. So maybe this is a good thing. Good for society. And all of mankind.
A|X attendees in breakdown:
Catgirls. Oceans of catgirls. None of them broke out into fangirl Japanese, so I didn't have to have a seizure or anything.
Catboys! Which was surprising - either they were sincere fans of Loveless, or they were the sensitive type and wanted fangirls everywhere to know that they were cool to Yaoi and could roleplay a pivotal scene at a moment's notice, but really, they just want to hold your hand and be non threatening. And cute.
or they thought it was a cheap enough costume to put together.
Which brings me to Naruto Ninjas. And those damn 21 buck headbands.
SO.OVER.IT.
NANA cosplayers - I saw two really cute Shins, one with a matching attired Reira (at least I assumed it was Reira), a gorgeous butchy Punk!Nana in police hat and red jacket, and a J-rock/Gothic Lolita cosplay group who appeared to be Chinese. As they were speaking it and I was a shameless eavesdropper.
Lots, and lots of Death Note group cosplayers. Lots of L's, (boys and girls) Robert Smith eyeliner and lollipop intact.
Two Spikes from Cowboy Bebop, one with Green hair, one with a fro.
No Man!Faye, tragically.
And two Eds with toy Eins from Cowboy Bebop - they made me feel all sunny inside and not just from potential heatstroke - I'm just happy when I see cosplayers doing older animes, because it makes me feel less old. *G*
Two Lincs, a green and blue from Zelda. A bunch of Super Mario brothers, surprising Pikachu variations, and two clever girls cosplaying Skip beat! They had the pink Love Me uniforms.
I hope to see more tomorrow and actually take pictures, but since I'll be Working For The Man, I kind of doubt it.
This post has been brought to you by the wireless in my local library, as the internets is DOWN AGAIN FUCKING TECHGODS WHY DO YOU HATE ME SO? DO YOU WANT TO SEE ME CRY? etc, etc.
*silent tears* I'm so sad that I didn't get to see Anna Tsuchiya perform today, but then again, L said we could always plan a trip to Japan to see her on her home turf. Because we are HARDCORE. Seriously though, I will go to pretty far lengths for musicians/bands I love, if the timing's right. Speaking of which, did any one on my FL attempt to see Paul McCartney at Amoeba Records on Wednesday? I know the Macca's not the beloved one (but I still love you!), but still...he's.....Paul McCartney.
Okay, so L picked me up at around 8:30 in the morning, we get there in about an hour - only to be confronted with the line from hell. To better put it in perspective for CA people - let's say the Anime Expo @ Anaheim was like Disneyland. The Anime Expo @ Long Beach is like California Adventure.
The difference is in the lines - AA@A was more self contained, it seemed, and there were a lot more dealers in the Exhibit Hall. AA@LB was this sprawling, mazelike horror that had lines going on for hours - due to some kind of mailing snafu, despite my pre-registration status, my badge was not mailed to me in time, so I would have to pick it up at the con. Sure, no big - and L had to buy her tickets at the door, okay, we'll stand in line together. We separated into two lines after we got to the 'pre-registration pick up' point, and foolishly, I did not tell L where to meet me afterwards. This would prove to be a Very Bad Idea, as L's cellphone was on the fritz, and she was the designated driver.
In all, it took me about 4 hours to get inside to pick up my badge, and it took poor L SIX HOURS to get her tickets. The J-Rock world exclusive showcase featuring Gackt, Miyavi, and Two Other Guys I'm Sorry to Say I don't Remember their Names, but Damn, they Were Awesome? also had a line to get free passes into, but that also looked like a Dante-esque line, so I said well fuck this for a start, and decided to drown my sorrows in the exhibit hall. Where I purchased a six dollar orange mango smoothie with no lid on it, and dropped it OF COURSE, 15 minutes later. I dedicate the smoothie to
smithereen because I was preoccupied in taking pictures of a Princess Tutu cosplay duo.It could have been because it was the first day of the con, so not all the dealers were there, but this and the line organization (as in NOT WELL DONE, BOO) and the fact that this con has been around for a while...and I'm not cutting any more slack, the lines sucked, and the refusal to let the con attendees to return from original point of entry - instead herding us like cattle! hot and steamy and PISSED cattle in a circle.....yeah, not fun.
So I wandered around the exhibit hall for awhile, circled the B-Booth twice, leaving messages for L in case she managed to break free from a line and come looking for me, took a few pictures of the cosplayers (I didn't take many real pictures, I mostly catalogued snapshots in my head with the bitchy commentary for youuuuuuuuu) and wondered about what I was going to do with the vast quantities of time I suddenly had on my hands (as line standing had robbed me of attenting the meet and greet panel with Anna, the Viz panel, the Go!Comi panel and some Copic workshops) and I debated going into the JROCK Fandom 101 panel, when a voice from the Fandom Gods announced, "if you haven't gotten tickets to see S.K.I.N. yet please come to the information booth."
What? No Line? Just...giving stuff away? What a novel idea, and at a con, even!
[/sarcasm]
I went and got my ticket and then was herded with the other fencattle to the arena area. I had sort of slumped into phase two of T.D.O.F.T.S., which was, "I'm here, I paid for this, I might as well suck it up and get this over with, but next time I'll be better prepared. Or, THERE WILL BE NO NEXT TIME. Or, at least my arm hasn't fallen off."
The temperature in downtown Long Beach hovered somewhere between the mid 80s and high 90s, and despite my preventive measure of SPF 70 sunblock (it's like Nicole Kidman! In a bottle!), I managed to get sunburned on my nose and scalp. So if I get skin cancer years from now, you were all witness to WHY.
The S.K.I.N. concert was optimisticallly scheduled to take place at 4/4:30 in the official guide, but as the theme of the day seemed to be disorganization and WEB OF LIES, I was inside a cool auditorium at 6:00 and the the concert itself probably ended a few minutes before 7.
I'm a newbie when it comes to J-Rock, my tastes in Japanese music runs to the embarrassingly poppy, or more mainstream - I love Anna, Olivia, Puffy, Monkey Majik, and I like Orange Range, and of course, Utada Hikaru and Angela Aki. But because being in fandom is like having the power of a sponge, I knew of Gackt, Miyavi (or Miyabi), and Malice Mizer and all that oldskool visual kei stuff, and Dir En Grey, and Glay, etc, etc, but aside from a few MVs and singles, I'm not exactly a real fan. A passerby, really.
I went to S.K.I.N. not having many expectations except for the fleeting thought, "I wonder if Gackt will sacrifice a virgin on stage?"
He didn't, but I'm sure if he did, it wouldn't have mattered to the fans, because they would have been lining up for the honor, no, the privilege of being The One.
While I'm sure the other band members had input to the way the visuals were presented on the stage, I kept on feeling that this was very much Gackt's circus, and he was an impressive ringleader, with a lot of charisma and steely Rockstar/God charm. He certainly knew all the poses and the way the strobe would just light him up in the devil's blue - and he would be looking far off into the distance - yeah, he knew what he was doing.
Vocalwise, the lyrics were a mixture of repeated shouting English choruses ("get back!") and Japanese, and as Gackt was the only one speaking/ and speaking English on stage, it made him seem more like the leader than just part of a unit.
Now...real J-Rock as S.K.I.N. presented it, is Loud. And Flashy. And there's incredible musicianship going on - Miyavi was literally shredding his guitar at one point, I think and they are not afraid to make just pure NOISE. It's theatrical, and it's entertaining as all hell.
Is it something I would like to listen to on a daily basis? Nope. I've never been fond of screaming as the base part of a song, and sonically and melodically, they've got it going on - if they were just instrumentalists, I would love them. But vocally, I like it when singers sing. S.K.I.N. is great marching off to war music, stuff to get your adrenaline rushing, but it could never be just background music. And I suppose that's the point - this is really a supergroup, with 4 unbelievably talented musicians and egos, and they're not shy, and I'm sure compromise is something of an insult to them - they know their shit, and it's to get you dancing and thrashing and freaking out.
I think two of the songs were called Killing you softly and Get Back, and the others I'm not sure of, as they weren't accompanied by helpful slideshows with english text. Instead the hallucinatory mix of strobe lights, Japanese geisha prints, and scenes of nature, and then shots of Miyavi wildly dancing with his guitar sort of just pointed out, 'we are not your American feel good rock, we are here to make out with your women, confuse your men, and kick your ASS.'
3-4? songs were played, with a really beautiful interlude, where it was just Gackt and the drummer at dueling pianos (that's another thing about them - the drummer could play the piano, the other guitarist could play the violin (SO AWESOME), and Miyavi was playing what appeared to be a traditional Japanese string instrument, or it could have been a mandolin. I'm sucky about that kind of detail.) and it was music and melody and it reminded me a lot of Moonchild for some weird reason, but it was my favorite part of the concert. You don't always need the sound and the fury.
Then Gackt-sama (I have to say that. He just seems like the type.) re-introduced all the band members, giving props to the unheralded bass player (J-something - kun?), and then basically goading/encouraging each musician into crazier and more awe-inspiring playing with their instrument. The drummer got it the worst though - and at one point was standing up and hitting things furiously.
Miyavi - Gackt said he was like a brother, and an incredible guitarist, the other guitarist - was apparently up until two years ago, someone he absolutely hated, but now they're like THIS, man, best friends, the bassist was a friend he's performed with many times, the drummer...was The Best Drummer in Japan, and then....Gackt-Sama...."Do you know who I am?"
GACKT!!!, was the resounding reply. Really, he does have that entire imposing presence that surrounds stars like David Bowie, Bono, Prince....etc.
And then another run through Get Back with Gackt yelling, "Get Back" and getting it in reply, and then the drummer threw stuff into the audience and (how could I forget, Gackt fountained water from his waterbottle onto Miyavi, who was kind of kneeling so it was like blessing from a Japanese Jesus or something, and did I mention the fanservice J-ROCK and Japanese entertainment in GENERAL does?) and there was much flinging water bottles into the audience from the band and Miyavi was sort of shaking the ladder that's attached to the stage but not actually climbing on it, and it was all very Spinal Tap and incredibly entertaining, and if I was 19 again, I would have totally found myself in the melee of the mosh pit by the stage, yelling, "MIYAVI-SAN! MIYAVI-SAN!"
Eh, Gackt creeps me out, what the hell can I say? But Miyavi - is astonishing, how much he just puts his whole body into playing the guitar, not just his arms, and it's amazing to watch.
So my 26 year old self watched from the balcony and just clapped along.
J-ROCK fandom, in its appearance is sort of like my holy grail of attractiveness about men, if I was being honest and not just "oh, personality and humor and intelligence." Pfft. That's for having long steady relationships. If I was the sleep and leave type, J-ROCK would so be the barboy I picked up accidentally. Check it: tall, slender (but toned and muscley, because all those thrashing windmills and running up and down stages is cardio!) boys with asymmetrical haircuts, close proximity to eyeliner, and arms of gods. We'll have a really good time!
While I was standing in my pre-registration line, there was a group of attractive Asian people in front of me - two girls and two boys, and they were clearly coupled off, and both of the boys were rocking the J-rock look, but the particular one I was looking at, was dressed all in black/shades of grey, had perfect hair, and was leaning down to have his girlfriend apply eyeliner. I was secretly seething with jealousy. There was a lot of, "I WANT A CUTE BOY TO PUT EYELINER ON. I HAVEN'T DONE THAT SINCE HIGH SCHOOL. WHY DO YOU HAVE MY BOYFRIEND?" going on, I'm sorry to admit. So when I'm not having stupid crises on inappropriate feelings on conscience-bait (not jailbait, but still sketchy enough to feel guilty about) coworkers, I guess I just really want someone to play dress up with, as I clearly never got to do that enough as a child. Though I set fire to my Barbies. So maybe this is a good thing. Good for society. And all of mankind.
A|X attendees in breakdown:
Catgirls. Oceans of catgirls. None of them broke out into fangirl Japanese, so I didn't have to have a seizure or anything.
Catboys! Which was surprising - either they were sincere fans of Loveless, or they were the sensitive type and wanted fangirls everywhere to know that they were cool to Yaoi and could roleplay a pivotal scene at a moment's notice, but really, they just want to hold your hand and be non threatening. And cute.
or they thought it was a cheap enough costume to put together.
Which brings me to Naruto Ninjas. And those damn 21 buck headbands.
SO.OVER.IT.
NANA cosplayers - I saw two really cute Shins, one with a matching attired Reira (at least I assumed it was Reira), a gorgeous butchy Punk!Nana in police hat and red jacket, and a J-rock/Gothic Lolita cosplay group who appeared to be Chinese. As they were speaking it and I was a shameless eavesdropper.
Lots, and lots of Death Note group cosplayers. Lots of L's, (boys and girls) Robert Smith eyeliner and lollipop intact.
Two Spikes from Cowboy Bebop, one with Green hair, one with a fro.
No Man!Faye, tragically.
And two Eds with toy Eins from Cowboy Bebop - they made me feel all sunny inside and not just from potential heatstroke - I'm just happy when I see cosplayers doing older animes, because it makes me feel less old. *G*
Two Lincs, a green and blue from Zelda. A bunch of Super Mario brothers, surprising Pikachu variations, and two clever girls cosplaying Skip beat! They had the pink Love Me uniforms.
I hope to see more tomorrow and actually take pictures, but since I'll be Working For The Man, I kind of doubt it.
This post has been brought to you by the wireless in my local library, as the internets is DOWN AGAIN FUCKING TECHGODS WHY DO YOU HATE ME SO? DO YOU WANT TO SEE ME CRY? etc, etc.
