EDIT: I wrote this approximately 6 hours before the American tour was officially canceled. Thank you, Miyavi's staff, for coming to the same conclusions and canceling his tour.

"I know, they told us not to film in any way, but i know how happy some people are, when they see that i upload THIS special moment. I just wanted to say something to this vid. Because of all the camera light, Miyavi was so confused that he was nearly before a mental breakdown. so please don't use your cameras with flash light in the next shows, kay?"

I would like to let you all know that I am no longer affiliated with Masa Karasu. 

As my father said, "Things change, people change, things change people." It's as simple as that, in the end. It's called Life. I love mine, and all of the wonderful people in it that have been supportive of me.

For all of you who have read my translations through Masa Karasu, thank you, and for all of you who have enjoyed my live reports over the years, please rest assured that when Miyavi goes back out on tour, I will be there to bring you all updates from the front lines!

Much love to you all,
Stevie

Dear My Friends

I was planning on sitting down and writing a show review today, but after trying to take my usual approach of covering the facts and practicalities of Miyavi’s performance at Anime Matsuri, I’m finding that I just can’t do it. I can’t write a normal old show review about this weekend, and just leave it at that. Instead, what I want to do is give you guys an overview of the most amazing weekend that I think I have ever had in my life, bar none. I will never be able to say everything that I want to about it – include every last detail, or describe every last emotion – but I’ve got three hours here in the Newark airport, and I’m going to try my best.
First of all, I want you guys to know that we’re busting our asses to get official show reviews and press conference materials up on the MK website and MySpace; we were lucky enough to receive press passes for the event, and we attended a press conference with Miyavi on Friday, during which he gave us A LOT of exciting news and a lot of very kind, honest words to pass on to you guys. We’ve also got some amazing pictures from the event, and I know that our fearless leader Cynthia is in the process of writing up an official review of the concert for all of you. For now, though, let me just give you a rough breakdown of the weekend that the entire Masa Karasu team had at Anime Matsuri 2009.
The entire weekend was hectic for us – we all got in on Thursday night, and it seemed like all evening, we were bumping into Miyavi and his crew left and right! Steff ran into him in the airport, Eluna bumped into him as she was checking in to the hotel, and later that night I ran smack into him on the street outside of this completely random restaurant. I have to say, that was one of the nicest moments of my life – he actually recognized me after all the shows I’ve been to, and he spent five or so minutes chatting with me and the rest of the crew that I was with. I’ve always been of the attitude that musicians are just people and so I can’t say that I was nervous or starstruck at all – just very glad to see him, and very touched by what a sweet, friendly person he is. He was very relaxed and seemed to really enjoy chatting with us, and we all had a couple of laughs together before the girls and I headed off to find somewhere to eat (we’d been planning to eat at the restaurant he’d been to, but he warned us off of the place, so we had to make backup plans on the spot.)
None of us got much sleep that night – we were all much too excited and anxious about the events scheduled on Friday. The press conference was at 3pm, the public Q&A panel was scheduled for 6:30, and at 11:30pm, we had the Masa Karasu fan event to run. We were all up really early and the whole day was definitely hectic, but also entirely worth every bit of stress and every moment of business. Miyavi himself requested that the press conference be moved to a smaller and more intimate venue than the main Q&A room, and didn’t want a microphone or translator for the event. He was also kind enough to let us take some photographs before the questions started. We’ll have the full transcript up on the site soon, including some awesome pictures, but for now I’ll just say that he was very excited and eager to talk about his family, and to open up about the events of the past month or so. We were told not to ask him any personal questions, but after he brought the subject up himself, things became very relaxed and open. Basically, what he told us was that he wants to be very open and honest with his fans about his new family, and that he started J-Glam Inc. for the purpose of doing just that; he feels that he can be more open and inclusive with his fans now that he is independent, and he’s very excited about not only sharing the love of his new family with us, but about sharing the love between his fans and himself with his new family. He also gave us some exciting news about his upcoming musical plans, so keep an eye on the website!
The public Q&A had an entirely different feel to it; I’ve got to say that there were some pretty selfish requests rather than actual questions floating around, but Miyavi handled it all with grace and compassion. He signed a girl’s guitar for her, and hugged some other chick. He also accidentally (or maybe just mistakenly) stole some chick’s sunglasses after she asked him to wear them for her – put them on for the rest of the panel session, then walked offstage in them afterwards! So either he thought they were a gift to him, or he just plain old forgot that he was wearing them. When asked who his ultimate hero was, he replied without a second of hesitation, “My Mom”, and when asked how he felt about his fans, he simply said, “Of course, I love you guys!”
And he really does. After spending an hour up close and personal in a press conference with him, I can honestly say that Miyavi is absolutely in earnest when he talks about how much his fans mean to him – you can see it in his face, hear it in his voice, and find evidence of it in the fact that really, when all is said and done, he rearranged his entire life and undertook this brand new challenge of starting his own company just so that he could continue to share with us and grow closer to us. I’ve never seen someone so earnest and caring towards humanity in general as Miyavi is, and when it comes to his fans, he seems absolutely unwilling to let his relationship with us weaken. It also seems like he and Melody have a great understanding about that – from the way he was talking this weekend, and from her most recent blog entry directed to his fans, it seems like she is excited about including his fans in her world as well, and cultivating a deeper sense of love with all of us. I LOVE how she referred to herself as ‘the newest CoMiyavi’, and how she said she’s excited to be ‘part of our family’, and I really feel like this woman is going to be not only one of the best things ever to happen to Miyavi, but also one of the best things to happen to Miyavi’s fans. It’s clear as day that she makes him incredibly happy, and that neither of them plan on hiding each other or their lives together away from the world. I’m absolutely touched by the inclusive, honest attitude that they’ve both taken, and I am SO EXCITED to move forward together with them in one big bundle of love and good vibes for years go come.
I mean, seriously – can you guys even imagine what a wonderful life this baby is going to have…? It’s not even born yet (and he said that he doesn’t know whether it’s going to be a boy or a girl!) and already, there are thousands if not MILLIONS of people sending love and good vibes to this brand new budding soul. I can also say that Miyavi seems entirely ready for the challenge of being a father; when he was talking to us about removing his piercings, he said something like, “And you know, when I’m holding my baby, I don’t want them pulled out” – and as he was saying it, you could just see the anticipation of that moment in his face, and hear it in his voice. It’s truly beautiful, how much he’s grown up and into himself as not only an artist, but as a human being, and I’m absolutely ecstatic for him.
As for the Masa Karasu fan event – HOLY SHIT!! YOU GUYS FUCKING ROCKED OUR WORLD, DO YOU EVEN KNOW?!?! The whole team from MK that attended the convention was practically in tears afterwards, we were so moved by the AMAZING response that we got from you guys. AND WE HAD SO MUCH FREAKIN’ FUN!!! To Nikki, to Kristy and Jamie, to Jala and Lourdes and all of the amazing people that I met in line for the show, to Zack (you’re amazing, baby boy, and don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise), to Angie and Flip and all the girls from the MYV_USA fan project – meeting you guys seriously made this weekend for me, and I’m not even kidding. To me, that is what Masa Karasu is all about – not just about the relationship between Miyavi and his fans, but between the fans themselves. I wish that I could have hung out with every single one of you for the entire weekend, and I feel like those of us who met and talked formed some amazing foundations of friendship that I really want to cultivate from here on out. When I started going to Miyavi’s shows in 2005, there was no real foreign fanbase to speak of, and this was the first time that I’d ever had a chance to meet a bunch of Miyavi’s western fans in person. It’s also the first time that I got to talk to a lot of people from MK. YOU GUYS FUCKING RULE. I’m so serious about this. I love you guys!!!
The concert itself was on Saturday night, and I have to say that the crowd vibe could have been a lot better where I was standing – I think that lots of people might not have just wandered into the show from the convention in general, because the crowd really wasn’t as into sharing the love with Miyavi as what I’m used to back in Japan. It was still an amazing show, though! He played lots of stuff including Ippiki Ookami Ron and Girls Be Ambitious, and he pretty much cried his way through Kimi Ni Negai O after making the announcement about his company and his family onstage. It was a short set compared to his full-length concerts, but packed with energy. And he had Ryo from the KAVKI Boiz with him! What an awesome drummer and an awesome guy, seriously! The rest of his band was really cool and the show was a good mix of all his music across the eras. He dropped the microphone a couple of times and we all had a good laugh about it, and seemed a little disappointed that more people hadn’t brought their tour towels with them for Shouri no V-Rock, but we all made the best of some really weird circumstances for a concert, and ended up having a blast anyway!
And to Cynthia, Steff, Sylvia, Mari, and Angie – and to Flip of Flippin’ P&R, as well – you guys are just fucking amazing. I don’t even have to say it here, I’ve said it all to you in person, but I really want you guys to know that spending the weekend with you guys. The bonds that we formed in a few short days are going to stick with me for a lifetime, and I will never forget a minute of the time we spent together. AND I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU ALL AGAIN SOON!
To all of you that couldn’t attend the event, as well, I just want you to know that we had you all in mind the whole time, and we spent tons of time talking, this weekend, about just how amazing we find the whole crew of you to be. I seriously wish that I could have met ALL of you, and that we all could have been there at the show together. As I said – we’re going to be putting TONS of stuff on the website and myspace over the next few days, because we really do want to share every last minute and every last memory from this convention with ALL OF YOU. You guys are some of the most wonderful, friendly people in the fanbase, and I really do believe that MK has one of the most chill vibes around when it comes to people being friendly and supportive – both of Miyavi, and of eachother. Thank you one and ALL for an amazing weekend, whether you were there in the flesh with us or not, and I promise you that we’ll share every last drop of the love and good energy that we experienced down in Houston with you all.
But now it’s time for me to get on a plaaaaane! (GOD I hate Newark airport!) I’ll write again soon, and if any of you have any questions / comments / ANYTHING AT ALL about the convention – email me! Message me! It doesn’t matter if we’ve never talked before, I want to share this with you guys! Anything I can tell you, I will, an anything that I have to share with you is all yours!

Love to one and all!
Stevie

Dear Miyavi,

Congratulations on a bright and brilliant new future! Here's wishing you nothing but positivity, progress, and personal growth in the next stage of your life, both artistic and personal. You have my support, 100%.

Love,
Stevie

 
。。。そうしよう。。。

[To Be Continued]

So I have been wearing the same clothes for about forty-eight hours now, and I haven't had a shower, and they only just allowed us to check into our stupid hotel - but the great news is, we made it to the show! I honestly wasn't sure until the very last minute if we were going to be able to get tickets or not; I saw Miyavi live at MACANA in Sendai in 2005, and I already knew that the place was TINY, so I figured that it would most likely be sold out and that our chances of getting tickets at the door were slim to none. Nevertheless, a few new buddies of ours encouraged us to give it a shot, so we did, and I'm happy to say that we not only got into the concert, but had a pretty good view the whole time as well!

I thought that this time, I'd talk about some of the things that the KAVKI Boiz have been doing to make this tour really special and unique. Miyavi isn't the only one up there putting on an amazing show. As I've already noted, the Teddy Loid Fucking Super-Duper Remix Show is seriously beyond amazing; the kid is so talented, and he's got such a great vibe up there onstage, and he should seriously put out a CD of that stuff.

Each night, Miyavi and Saro have a little guitar/rhythm battle, with each of them trying to get the last strum/tap in - Miyavi tries to think up things that Saro can't mimic, and the two of them end up laughing by the end of it. Usually, Miyavi wins, but Saro has topped him a few times, and they seem to have a great time playing together.

Tyko and Miyavi rock Kimi Ni Funky Monkey Vibrations together, just guitar and beat box, and Miyavi spends a lot of time repeating the words 'funky monkey' over and over again in all these silly voices, from hardcore to super-girly and 'sexy', and gets the whole crowd mimicing him. They also have this great little routine where Tyko is the sound effects for Miyavi tip-toeing, then stomping around stage, peering out at us, then cocking back and shooting us with his fingers. It's hard to describe without hearing it, but for every move Miyavi makes, Tyko has a perfect sound effect. He also does has this little interlude with him tapping on imaginary drums and turning an imaginary dial to adjust their tension before he busts into a beat box riff, which ends with a cute little sung tune that goes :

One-two-three
T-Y-K-O on the microphone
Everybody in the house ですよ。
今日は雅の Live Show.

It's short, sweet, and goes through my head all day XD

Miyavi spent a lot of his MC tonight talking about how he pretty much bruised his ass when he spun around and dropped to the stage in Sapporo - yet during the encore, he was strutting around the stage with his guitar up and over his shoulders as usual, and pretty much asked to get groped by shaking it right in the faces of the people up front. He also repeated the contents of his blog about Tyko's daughter - whose name is apparently Sindi, or something very close to that. (EDIT : I'm not sure how kavkilove is so brilliant, but she cleared it up for me - it's actually せんり。）Then he went through listing off all the places that his foreign fans had come from, again, and made Lyse and I help him with the list as he can not for the life of him seem to remember 'Estonia'. He also kind of made a comment about how we've been around forever at his shows, and it was really touching that he acknowledged that onstage, albeit in passing.

All in all, it was another wonderful show. I can't believe that we only have three more to go. I want tour to last forever! Right now, though, I need a shower, and a few hours of sleep in a real bed for the first time in a couple of days - couches and internet cafes seriously aren't cutting it anymore, and I'm surprised that you guys can't smell me all the way from America and Europe. >.< If I have time in the morning, I'll post another picture blog for you guys on my friends list (I've got some good ones!)

でも今、仙台からお休みなさい！

The City : Sapporo is, by far, one of the most beautiful cities in Japan, and Hokkaido in general has an entirely different atmostphere in general than Honshu - the weather was refreshingly cool, the scenery was too beautiful to seem real, and we arrived on the day of the Sapporo summer festival, so there was lots going on. Before the show, Lyse and I strolled around enjoying the festivities, and got lucky enough to catch an amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazingly talented street guitarist who Im sure would have impressed the hell out of Miyavi (pictures coming soon, when Im on my own computer). It was a refreshing break from the fast pace and the humidity on tour so far, and the day was relaxing.

The Venue : Air conditioning-wise, this place was... how to put it nicely... CRAP! Its a basement club, and I think that the fact that we were underground was the only thing that kept us all from roasting alive. The crowd was moderately sized, and wonderfully enthusiastic, and even though it was one of the `rougher` shows Ive seen so far as heat, crowd density and crowd movement went, it was definitely one of the most high-intensity enthusiasm-wise, as well. It seemed like no one in the place was standing still, and the KAVKI Boiz fed off of our energy to an amazing degree, creating a wonderful energy that eclipsed the heat and and the insanity out on the floor.

The Show : By this point, Im getting used to the routine, and Ill try and post the set list after sendai (we still dont have tickets, but theres still a decent chance that we may get some). It was a small stage, so  Saro once again played the little taiko riff on his electric drum instead of Ryo pounding on the real thing. TYKO seemed under the weather but never missed a beat, and Teddy was, as always, amaaaaaaaaazing. That kid has an amazing stage presence to match his skills with turntables, and his fifteen minute remix show - The Teddy Loid Fucking Super Duper Remix Show, as its called - is honestly one of the highlights of every show. Miyavi was a bundle of energy as usual. Hes played a different song solo for the encore at each show - in Fukuoka it was Aishiteru kara hajime yo, Kyoto was Coo Quack Cluck, and last night, he played us 徒然なる日々なれど. At one point he was climbing up the rigging for the stage lights, and I was once again scared that he would fall, or worse, pull the entire thing down on top of himself, but there were no accidents or injuries and he pulled off another amazing stage show. He has taken to asking us where we`re from at every show, now, and I finally figured out that even though he knows damned well at this point, he does it to use as a lead-in to his MC about going on world tour. He spoke a little French to Sonya (his pronunciation was impressive!) and bullshitted with us in English again, to the point where we actually had time to inform him that the chick that he listed in his blog as being from Lithuania was actually from Estonia. Then he asked us where Estonia was, and nearly blew a gasket in excitement when Lyse explained it to him in Japanese instead of English.

Some of the fans at the show printed up these adorable little *We Are Hokkaidos Ko-Miyavi* flyers, and Ill take a picture of one and post it once Im on my own machine. Crowd-wise, these were some of the sweetest, friendliest girls around - outgoing, inclusive, and easy to laugh with. Part of what makes tour so amazing is the fans, honestly - at every single show, we meet at least one or two awesome chicks, make friends, and have a bitchin good time all together. 

But now I have to catch a nap before tonights concert. Heres hoping that we get in, but even if we dont, its no big deal at this point - we had an amazing ferry ride back from Hokkaido, and three more amazing concerts lined up for sure, and Im sure that everything will work out just as its supposed to.

I learned a long time ago that there is no such thing as a bad Miyavi concert, but I've finally come to the conclusion, after twenty-three shows, that every single one I go to will be The Best Show Ever. Miyavi's there? It's awesome. Simple as that.

The Venue : Electric Lady Land is one of the larger clubs that he's played at, capacity-wise; I've seen him up in Koriyama with only about eighty people in the entire club, including the band, but tonight there were over six hundred tickets sold for the show. Not everyone likes to be up front and in the thick of things, though, so it wasn't hard to get close to the stage, and two awesome chicks that we met before the show scooted right up there with us. The air conditioning was SPECTACULAR in this place, however, and even with the dense crowd no one overheated.

The Show : There were a TON of foreigners there tonight, and I'm sorry to say that a lot of them were just straight up obnoxious, all vying for Miyavi's attention and screaming at him during his MC, when he had actually asked us all to quiet down and listen to what he was saying. Nevertheless, he seemed to have fun speaking English to everyone and asking everyone how far they'd traveled to get there. Unfortunately, it almost turned into a my-plane-flight-was-longer contest between a lot of people, with Miyavi looking slightly bemused by the whole thing. After the show, as we were waiting in a thunderstorm for Miyavi to leave, a bunch of them were standing around with cameras, pretending not to understand the security guards who were asking them to please put them away and move off to the side, and the security guard actually noted to us that they didn't seem to have any common sense.

Come on, guys! Let's all be respectful and have fun together, and show Miyavi how great his foreign fan base really is!

That aside, though, the concert itself was absolutely amazing, as usual. Miyavi was a little hoarse, but didn't seem detered in the least by his ailing voice, and put 110% into every song. He played Boku Ha Shitteru solo for us, and forgot the words twice, and was royally embarassed, ducking away from the microphone and laughing and stopping twice to try and remember the lyrics. None of us minded, however - he's only human, after all, and expects more of himself than his fans expect of him anyway. There was also one point where I swore to god that he was going to fall right off the speakers he'd climbed onto, but his sense of balance is truly spectacular, and there were no Miyavi-plunging-head-first-into-the-crowd accidents in the end.

I have to say that in three years, he's really grown up and into himself to an amazing degree - his confidence onstage is tenfold from what it was on the first tour that I went to, and he's much more playful and comfortable with his fans than ever before after the world tour. He's not afraid to get right up close and personal with everyone, and even tease us good-naturedly. It's amazing to see the self-proclaimed Ugly Duckling growing into a swan in his own right; he actually played Coo Quack Cluck for us in Kyoto, and it nearly had me in tears. His voice has matured so beautifully, right along with the rest of him, and I consider it a priviledge to have watched him learn and change and grow so beautifully over the course of three years and twenty-three shows. 

But now it's nearly midnight, and we've got to be up by 5am to catch an early Shinkansen up to Hachinohe, after which we have an eight hour ferry ride to Hokkaido. And I still have to translate his most recent blog (oi vey!) Here's wishing Miyavi a good night's sleep (he and the KAVKI Boiz all seemed exhausted and a bit stressed out after the show) and a smooth trip up to Sapporo!

 The City : Kyoto is HOT. Kyoto is humid. Kyoto will oppress just about anyone in the middle of the summer; I adore hot weather, and even I was starting to get sunstroke as Lyse and I walked around looking for the venue. Let me also just mention as a sidenote that our accommodations in Kyoto did not include a back wall to the building, much less windowpanes in the windows, or air conditioning, or a bathroom that didn't get soaked whenever it rained. And oh, did it rain. There was a giant thunderstorm just before the show, in fact, so I spent half the day heat stroked and the other half of it standing outside in a thunderstorm, holding a metal stick (ie, an umbrella) and risking death by dehydration and electrocution just to get inside the venue.

(Yours Truly, at the dentist. I have a front tooth again. Yay!)

...And on a completely unrelated note, I've forgotten to mention, all this time, that Miyavi can, indeed, beat box pretty damned well! We all found this out in Koriyama. I'm chalking the incident in Morioka up to stage fright XD.

ワアアア、あのライブは最古だった！

So. I just spent about an hour and a half writing what I thought was a pretty bitchin' review of the show tonight in Morioka, but due to the fact that I wasn't connected to the internet while drafting it in LJ, I lost the entire thing as soon as I signed back on. Color me thoroughly fucking pissed about that. ....No, like *really* pissed. But anyway...

I really didn't intent to review any more shows on this tour; the set list has been pretty standardized for the past three shows, and the Kavki Boys' onstage antics haven't really differed that drastically from the first night in Shibuya - but today's live was an entirely different experience from anything else on this tour so far - or anything that I've seen so far from Miyavi, actually.

We got into town at about 4pm, today, after a four hour Shinkansen ride from Tokyo and a whole buttload of uncalled-for inconvienances on the way. Let me just say for the record that Morioka is not exactly what one might call a bustling metropolis; it's a little boom town tucked away in northern Honshu that is, so far as I can tell, almost completely devoid of foreigners; Jess and I aside, there was one lone middle-aged foreign chick that I saw in the liquor store, who gave me a really, really funny look through the window, almost as if she'd forgotten what other white people look like.

I thought I'd really lucked out with my tickets, this tour; I had number 38 for the show in Mito, which rocked, because it was packed, and I've got ticket 31 for Koriyama tomorrow. Tonight I had ticket number 29. Jess decided last minute to come to the show, and had to wait at the very end of the line to buy a ticket at the door; so needless to say, I was surprised when she bounced up behind me only about ten minutes after I'd made it through the door, and informed me that there were only four people behind her - which brought the grand total of people in the club up to approximately 70, including the band, and the bartender, and the chicks at the merch table. We were all practically standing right on top of the band - he stage was only about three feet high, and there was no guard rail. One of Miyavi's roadie chicks had to crouch on the stage for the entire show and keep his mic stand from getting knocked over by the chicks in the front row, who couldn't help but bump into it, and Yorke was having a hell of a time spinning his umbrella around since the ceiling was so low to the stage. There was only one air conditioning vent in the entire place - which was, as Miyavi gleefully pointed out to us, directly over his head - but there just weren't enough of us in the building for the temperature to get out of hand, so he didn't really get to gloat about it.

The atmosphere at Miyavi's shows is usually super-charged and damned near explosive, but tonight the vibe was completely different - very calm and chill. Of course, we all rocked out for songs like おっさんおっさん俺なんぼ and Are You Ready To Rock?, but things were much more low-key and relaxed on the whole. The small crowd, coupled with the nature of the venue, made for a super-relaxed and intimate setting; there was no pressure on the band, and subsequently they didn't worry too much about accuracy or showmanship, and instead spent the two hours having fun with both the crowd and eachother. Saro was one big rainbow, alternately whaling out on a bongo drum and dancing his ass off, and Tyko - who is a B-Boy to the core - headbanged right along with the rest of us for a song or two. Yorke and his artwork got relegated to the side of the stage tonight, but he seemed to be having a blast painting anyway, and took breaks every so often to bounce around the stage twirling his umbrella and shower Miyavi with silk flower petals. Miyavi himself was all over the place, bouncing off the drum set and holding his microphone out to the crowd - which was a nice gesture, really, even though he unplugged the thing in the process, didn't notice for about a minute and a half, and then made Saro fix it for him instead of doing it himself. He didn't take much of a break tonight - Tyko only had about three or four minutes to MC for us (he raps in a combination of Japanese and English, and sweeps the floor with any American MC I've heard in the past decade) before Miyavi came sneaking back out onstage (quite literally - he spooked his bassist in the process), and rejoined the madness in earnest. And speaking of Miyavi's bassist, he really came out of his shell tonight; when Miyavi introduced him, instead of playing a little solo, he decided to sing the Japanese national anthem, which had those of us who've seen him at a bunch of shows now and/or have played a bunch of shows with him laughing our asses off in pleasant surprise. Later on, Miyavi tried his hand (or his mouth, really, as the case may be) at beatboxing like Tyko. I'm proud to say that his failure was definitely something short of miserable. ...No, really, he wasn't too bad! Tyko must be teaching him, or something, because he didn't make a complete ass out of himself, the way he did in Mito when he tried tapdancing with Saro and kicked his own foot out from under himself. But he really isn't as hopeless as I make him sound - anything but, in fact; this tour is absolutely phenominal. Miyavi's talent and stage presence never ceases to amaze me, and he did a phenominal job tonight as always.

The set list was pretty standard, but with a couple of twists - no We Love You, tonight, but he played both 明日天気になあれ and 明日元気になあれ, instead.

The only regret I have is not getting to Morioka last night instead of this afternoon; Miyavi said that he put on a street performance outside a McDonalds here earlier today, but no one really quite knew who he was or why he was there. ざんえんだよ。

Tomorrow night is Koriyama, but for now - live from Morioka, it's Tuesday night...

Ashita, tenki ni naare :)

The Setting : Club Lizard, Yokohama; a short walk from the station, but surprisingly difficult to find, at first. Usually, it's easy enough to follow the proverbial trail of CoMiyavi from the station to the venue, but due to the decidedly vague and unhelpful nature of the map that came with our tickets, none of us seemed to know quite where we were going at first; Jess and I definitely weren't the only ones wandering around in the rain and going, "...Wait... this can't be the right way..." After a bit of teamwork and some lucky guesses, however, we managed to find the place in plenty of time; Miyavi and his band were still warming up when we went downstairs to check out the tour goods.

My first impressions of the venue itself were good ones - a small, intimate venue that provided a decent view of the stage from every angle. Waiting for the show to start, I couldn't find a thing that I disliked about the place. In fact, Club Lizard's great downfall didn't become apparent until about the third or fourth song - by which time the temperature inside the venue was approximately seventeen billion degrees. I lost count pretty quickly of how many people fainted; Miyavi paused more than once while girls were carried out. Both the band and the club staff did their best to run damage control - alternately dousing and spraying the crowd down with water from the stage, while security fanned everyone from the speakers with big pieces of cardboard. We were a pretty hearty bunch all in all, though, and most of us managed to have a blast despite both the heat, and the fact that a lot of people couldn't see the stage thanks to the density of the crowd.


The Set List : ... At least, we're pretty sure it went something like this; I'm sorry to say that, despite the fact that this was the second show I've seen in two days, I still don't remember the exact order of the songs. We put our heads together, though, and sounds about right to both of us; I'll pay closer attention in Mito, and make any necessary corrections.

Selfish Love
Kabuki Danshi
Groove With The Tap Dance Guy (more on this later)
Ossan Ossan Ore Nanbo
Ame ni Utaeba
Itoshii Hito
Sakihokoru Hana no you ni
Are You Ready To Rock?
Kimi ni Negai O
Aho Matsuri
Girls Be Ambitious
New Song!! XD
Shouri no V-Rock
We Love You
Aishiteru Kara Hajime Yo

There was a break between Sakihokoru Hana no yo ni and Are you ready to Rock?, during which Miyavi changed his clothes, the Tyko the beat-boxer spit out some amazing rhymes, and Jess and I made friends with some cool people in the bar/lobby area while getting something to drink. All in all the show lasted for about two hours, without an encore - to come back out onstage after the amazing finale of Aishiteru Kara Hajime Yo would have been anti-climactic to say the least.

The Summary : I've seen a lot of Miyavi shows, now, and each tour is different. After the completely avant-guard and dissimilar shows he put on for the five days birthday lives, I went into the fan club show on the sixteenth in Shibuya expecting everything and nothing all at once - I had a feeling that whatever he had planned for this tour would somehow coincide with the performance he put on at J-Rock Revolution in May (which, incidentally, I didn't attend), but with Miyavi you can't ever really be sure, anymore - he's reinventing himself by the minute, or so it seems, and so I was ready for anything this time around.

The show he's putting on this time around is a little more in keeping with what I'm used to from his shows; an energetic, interactive performance in small-scale club settings. The Kavki Boys are definitely amazing; Miyavi's always good a talented back-up band with him, but these guys aren't a 'back-up' band in any sense of the word; they're an intricate part of the performance, and each of them brings something really special to the stage with them. York, the painter, absolutely shines - during the five days lives, he was off to the side of the stage on his own, but this time he was up there with the rest of them. When he wasn't busy painting, he was dancing around the stage with an old-fashioned umbrella, showering Miyavi in flower petals and playing with the musicians and the audience alike. The drummer and bassist didn't have as much liberty, but they kept it real while Saro the tap dancer and Miyavi squared off in little battles, guitar versus tap; at one point, it seemed almost as if they'd forgotten about the audience, they were having so much fun jamming out face-to-face. The DJ was set up in the back of the club, and had a veritable crew of his own at the show - the whole time he was spinning, this crazy friend of his was jumping around and rocking out right along with the audience in the booth beside him, and even had a towel to spin for Shouri no V-Rock.

And Miyavi himself was, of course, fantastic; his energy onstage is absolutely contagious, and he does his best to make sure that every single person in the place is enjoying the show, including his own band. He felt bad that a lot of people couldn't see very well, and sort of apologized, and he did his best to douse us all with water and keep us cool from beginning to end. It's obvious that he really, really enjoys not only making music with his band, but being around them as well - they had an amazing dynamic onstage, and the sense of camaraderie between them spread to the audience; we all held hands for We Love You, sang together with both him and each other for Girls, Be Ambitious, and basically had as much fun interacting with each other as we did with Miyavi and the band. All in all, it was an absolutely amazing performance full of great energy. I can't wait to do it all over again in Mito!

So tonight was Miyavi's birthday live; the concert was held in Ikebukuro, at this big hall that looked like a movie theater. My seat was row M, #5 - a great view, though a little far to the left of the hall for　my taste, but beggars certainly can't be choosers.

I wasn't sure what to expect; I've seen quite a few lives so far, but each tour is different. Whatever I was expecting, however, this certainly wasn't it. First of all, it was hard to tell when the show actually started; the PA music went off, and this funky drum beat struck up behind the curtains - at first, I thought it was simply the drummer warming up, but after a few minutes I realized that, wait, this is a real little jam, not someone testing out his drumset.

The stage was hung with a translucent screen that seperated the band from the audience; and as the lights went down, the word `Individualism` was projected onto it, followed by a whole bunch of kanji that I couldn`t read, but have since translated; and in the background was a soft, melancholy accoustic guitar riff. The audience wasn`t quite sure how to react at first; usually Miyavi bursts onstage like he`s been shot out of a cannon, but he was nowhere to be seen. When he finally showed up, it was on a platform that rose out of the stage. He stood there jamming, and at the same time, a video of him was projected onto the screen; Miyavi layers, if you well. Needless to say, I ignored the video footage and kept my eye on the real thing. Usually, the second that he appears, the crowd erupts into screams; but this was so surreal and so enigmatic that no one moved, much less spoke. We simply watched in silence, taken aback at this new poised, calm, mature Miyavi.

The first five songs came in quick succession, and he didn`t speak a word between them - no `oresama dare da`s or the usual quicker-than-lightening banter that he shoots at us. The stage was set only for him - no drums, no band; just a small, circular platform with his drum machine and a couple of guitars. His percussion section changed from song to song; for one tune, the beat was done entirely by a wicked good tap dancer, and for another song, by a human beatbox. He also had this CRAZY little chick with dredlocks with him who`s a God with a bongo drum in her hands. The whole thing was very avant guard; and throughout the entire concert, he had a painter off to the side of the stage literally painting out his songs for him; visual music, if you will.

He played about five songs - including an amazingly toned down yet phenominal version of Are You Ready To Rock, then promptly disappeared for about ten minutes to change his clothes. An intermission. Miyavi? Intermission? Unheard of! Usually he goes for two hours straight, but tonight he was so calm and so mellow that it wasn`t as surprising as one might have thought.

He came back out in much more casual clothes - an unbuttoned white shirt and a funky hat, instead of his suit and hot pink scarf. About three songs into the second set, he was like `Why the hell are you all sitting down? Get on your feet!` He didn`t have to ask twice. From there, things became more upbeat, and more what I`m used to from a Miyavi live. He played mostly new songs; however, he broke up the set with an amazing rendition of my FAVORITE song, Fuminshou no nemurihime. We all clapped along and screamed at him, and the more energy we projected, the more lively he became; soon enough he was dancing around with his guitar, grinding his stool like a stripper and teasing his band as usual.

He only paused to talk to us towards the end of the show; thanking us all for coming out on his birthday, and telling us how he`d thought long and hard about how, and with who, to celebrate his 25th, and how he finally decided that there was no other way he`d rather spend it than with the KoMiyavi. He thanked us quite formally for coming, and told us to also pass on that thanks to those who weren`t able to attend the show tonight. Finally, he introduced his band members - a DJ, the Bongo Chick, the tap guy, a drummer and the human beatbox. They all jammed together for the last few songs.

Miyavi talks so damned fast onstage that it`s hard for even native speakers to catch everything that he says, so I can`t recount his talks word-for-word; however, he DID say something about going to America, to which everyone yelled `ganbate!!!`. I@ll try to catch more of the speech at tomorrow@s concert.

What an amazing show. What an amazing night. To be with MYV on his birthday was a truly special experience, one that I`ll cherish for the rest of my life.

But for now? I need some sleep. I`ve got this internet cafe booth for six hours, and I intend to make good use of it; for the next four days I`ll be at the concerts, and I need all the rest that I can get.

Live From Kudanshita, it`s Friday Morning.

Ashita, genki ni naare...