Wagakki Band live report!

I had a chance to attend Wagakki Band's live at Nippon Budokan a few days ago and it was amazing. (Sorry for my limited vocabulary as I'm sure I have used the same word for all the live reports)

New Year Party in Nippon Budokan

~Akatsuki no Utage ~

Many vocaloid and J-rock fans might have heard of Wagakki Band before. First of all, they have a great visual. Wagakki is means Japanese traditional musical instrument but guess what, they are a rock band! That's what make them unique. I knew Wagakki Band before knowing vocaloid and was in love with their verson of the famous Senbonzakura. At that time I actually thought Wagakki Band's one was the original until I found out about vocaloid. As I have said before, I don't like rock. I'm more on the ballad side of music but oh well, there are always certain exceptions, right? The main reason for me to like Wagakki Band is because of they combine the tradition and modern smoothly together. Japanese culture in general is something like that, so there is no way I wouldn't love a band who make use of both of Japan's traditional and modern culture. Beside, their music is very appealing. I love Yuko's voice so much I don't really care if they were playing rock or ballad or vocaloid.
Before attending the live, I love Wagakki Band as an artist, which means I only listen to their music.
I didn't know much about the member but

I love Yuko's voice (of course). If you had a chance to listen to any of their songs, you will know why many people fall in love with her beautiful voice. Her voice when singing live is a little soft, but only for rock songs which have pretty loud bgm. When singing a ballad or my favorite Yoshiwara Lament, my heart went doki doki so many time. Her choreography was also so charming for a moment I forgot that she is a singer.

 Wasabi's coolness. I have been following Wagakki Band for a year now and my reaction every single time watching their MVs is 'OMG Wasabi is soo cool. Such an ikemen <3 <3 <3'. While in the MVs, it is hard to see his drum techniques so I didn't really focus on that. But after the live, I know that Wasabi has wayyyy more than just his look!

Together with Kurona, who plays wadaiko (Japanese drum), these two drummers showed us the most passionate and hardcore (lol) drumming techniques  ever! I absolutely love their duet drum performance during the live.

Kurona may be the coolest man in the world while playing wadaiko but his characteristic is simply baka! And wayy tooo cute!

Asa-san's unique charms. For some reason I have been attracted to Asa-san since knowing the band. I think I finally know why after the live. He is amazing! His passion for music and the way he performs on the stage. And just recently I figured out he wrote Yoshiwara Lament, one of my favorite song on Niconico.

Wagakki Band isn't complete without Kiyoshi, playing the koto. He looked so different in hakama so I couldn't recognize him at first.

Shamisen, played by Beni Ninagawa.

Shakuhachi, performed by Daisuke Kaminaga (the fan and I call him Dai-san in short). My favorite Japanese musical instrument must be shakuhachi. And similar to what Dai-san said "I never thought playing shakuachi on stage in a rock band like this". But I strongly believe, without shakuhachi, Wagakki Band's music will sound very different. 

Machiya, the main guitar and second vocalist of Wagakki Band. The lyric of his solo song 郷愁の空 (Kyoshu no sora) is touching that I would have busted in tears if I didn't go to the concert with my friends. Beside he was the only one who goes on stage with bare feet. 

I love how the whole Budokan stadium turned into Wagakki Band's purple, and the encore chant that their fans known by heart. The last song, Senbonzakura was like a peak. A perfect way to finish such a wonderful live. I think many people know Wagakki Band through their version of Senbonzakura. That maybe why when that song was performed, the audience seemed to be a little more excited than other songs.

Thank you for such an unforgettable night! As Yuko-san said, 'Wagakki Band will always be this 8 people'. And please, don't forget that although the fan base might not be large enough, there are many fans waiting for Wagakki Band in Australia and Vietnam too!

P/s: I wish I could get the fan or keychain too but they were sold out so only got the must-have in all live in Japan, towel!

All stage photo is provided by CoFesta.

TIMM 3rd day~ OLDCODEX~

(taken from my personal tumblr)

*Oldcodex is a rock band with Suzuki Tatsuhisa as the vocalist (Free! and Utapri’s fan should know who is Tatsun!)  and Yorke. as the painter (yup, the painter in a rock band!)

The 3rd and also the final night at TIMM 2015 was OLDCODEX! I’m Tatsun’s fan, so ofc when they said I could go to Oldcodex’s live I seriously was like ‘OMG, BANZAI. Tatsun here I comeeeeeeeeeee’. Rock is definitely not my thing, altho I said if the lyrics are meaningful, i don't care what the genre is…but still, rock hurts my ears too much so (.><.). I know Tatsun as a seiyuu (voice actor), and I listen to some songs by Oldcodex (Free! op for 2 seasons). Anw, the live went wayyyy better than what I’ve expected. The seiyuu Tatsun, the singer Tatsun, the rocker Tatsun….all of those are def the Tatsun that I love <3

Favorite quotes from Tatsun during the performance
“There are buyers from oversea up on the 2nd floor today. I don’t ryl know what’s going on and how thing’s gonna work, but anw, we are here to do what we always do, MUSIC. THAT’S IT”
“There are songs that only we can perform, there are paintings that only us can create, and there is this view in front of me, with you guys there! Have no ideas how we all do it but it’s so FREAKIN FUN! That’s why you guys are our treasure!”
“I don’t care if it’s rock, pop or anime song, music is music, as long as we can do it, nothing else matters”

Anyone who went to a live performance would know that the bgm is super loud. Unless they sing a very slow-pace ballad song, the bgm is so damn loud, and its even worse when it comes to rock. I also went to Scandal/ androp’s live, tbh I hardly heard Scandal’s voice when they were singing. But Tatsun’s voice was so strong and powerful you (or at least I) could hear it clearly despite the bgm. Well, Tatsun is a seiyuu, so obviously his voice has to be strong, right?!!! I was so swayed by the way he sang, the way he poured all his heart into each songs and they way he shouted at the top of his lungs. With that tiny body (he looks too skinny irl, pls eat more Tatsun!), he was able to heat up the crowd with his music and passion! *if I continued here I’ll mostly go on with my voice fetish for Tatsun so yea, move on to the next point*

However, Oldcodex isnt only about Tatsun. A band can’t be completed with out drummer (Yamagata Ryo), bass (Nakamura Taizo), and guess what Oldcodex has a painter too! At the start I questioned what would Yorke. be doing on the stage….like, he will paint…yea so what? Why would you need a painter up there anw?? But after that live, I come to understand the reason. Yorke. simply does what he wants, to express himself through art with (Tatsun’s voice) and Oldcodex’s music. All the paints Yorke. painted had something ryl, idk how to describe since I’m not an artistic person, but they were amazing. Bold and wild, and the contrast between light and dark by his choice of colors. And Yorke. was super cute! Who would have imagined a person, wearing sunglasses, fairly long hair and fringe, in that hip-hop clothes would be so soft and cute <3. Together with Tatsun and the band members, he kinda completed the picture! There is no concrete definition for neither art nor passion!

The fans were…uhmmmmmmmm <3 <3 <3. Like Tatsun said, they are Oldcodex’s pride! You would immediately understand what have a group done seeing their fans. From my observation, all Oldcodex has been doing are simply throwing passion and courage into their fans (like real hard!!!! lol). I know I’m bias bc of Tatsun but you have to see how their fans act!!! As we sat on the guest floor, the fans simply took everyone up there as buyers (from oversea). Tatsun told the fans to turn back when the performance finished so that ppl on the guest floor could see what Oldcodex’s pride look like! And they did, turned back with the most beautiful and loudest cheers ever! After taking a photo w the fans I got too high and screamed ‘I love Tatsun!!!!!! You guys are the best’ like three or four times! That’s something I would never do in when I’m together with some acquaintances….and yet, Oldcodex was able to make me do it!

I’d never forget the ~90mins in side Zepp DriverCity livehouse where I got to see real music and passion! 本当にお疲れ様でした。