Versailles

On Sunday night I went to a J-rock concert! The band is Versailles, they are visual-kei, and they are incredible. These are literally the costumes they wore on stage. The first picture has the outfits they wore for the first half of the concert, then they changed into the outfits in the second picture for the second half of the concert. The concert went on for about 2 hours. The lead singer, Kamijo, had the blonde hair like he does in the second photo. And yes, They are all men, I'm pretty sure at least, haha. The concert was in a venue very much like an American one (but no smoking) kind of clubish and smallish. Lots of people dressed up, some not, and a lot less chaos than at an American live, because Japanese kids are polite... until the music starts. At American concerts everyone is doing there own thing, some people head bang, some people have their arms in the air, etc. However, at a Japanese concert (as with everything) it is a collective experience, and everyone does the same thing. It is a really good feeling actually, you know you are feeling the same way as a large group of people around you, even if you are one of the 3 gaijin in the entire crowd! Everyone would surge forward at certain key moments in the music, creating a sort of wave of people, it wasn't quite moshing but it had a similar push and pull, like a current in the ocean. Also, I also felt like some visual-kei music made me want to have seizures, or seizure like movements, well apparently Japanese kids feel the same way, the rate at which they head bang is crazy. Having a room lit up red, surrounded by convulsing Japanese people, with intense music... surreal. The best is the Lolitas that headbang and convulse in their fluffy dresses and head bows. Also, I'm convinced Japanese kids are born with inate ability to do the growling gravel rocker-yell, because everyone around me seemed capable... either that or they were Lolis yelling "Kami-sama!" in the squeakiest voice ever. I was not dissapointed in his voice either, he could sing just as wonderfully in real life as on the CD, and his screaming was actually better in person. Its like the court at Versailles suddenly turned into vampires and picked up instruments. How they kept their hair up like that though, I don't know, Japanese hairstyles are still a mystery to me, although I am figuring it out slowly. It is good I don't live here, I would have no money, concerts are expensive!!!!!!! My entire body hurts, which is a sign that it was a good concert, and there are bruises on the backs of my legs from being pounced on my small Japanese girls. Good thing: at Japanese concerts it doesn't matter where I stand, I can always see! Overall, I am so happy.