November 2013 VA feat. Ruki's Favorite Music

Ruki, once again, reveals his very...unique and eclectic tastes in his monthly VA column!

REDMAN October 21 Live Report

Continuing in our Satoshi vein, we bring you a live report of REDMAN's Tokyo live in the small indies house, Takadanobaba Club Phase!

RR049 feat. Satoshi (Girugamesh)

Satoshi lays it all out in the open, revealing all the obstacles that Girugamesh faced and overcame to stay together as the band they were and the long journey to becoming the band they wanted to be.

RR049 Preview feat. Ruki (the GazettE)

Just when you think you've got him figured out, Ruki becomes the most dangerous and alluring looking rabbit ever.

One Ok Rock Frolicking in the Sun

Summer is starting, and that means a visit to the beach. Tomoya is just your man, reporting live from the beaches of Miyakojima!

9.22.2012

Utahiroba Jun: Even if this is a VK fanboy's blog, you can't call it that.

Fangirls are a dime a dozen for the VK industry, but what fan boys are a tiny bit harder to come by.

Celebrity fanboys seem to be things of legend.

So, now, we bring you another Kishidan Banpaku-related story.

Golden Bomber's Utahiroba Jun fanboys about meeting the GazettE's Reita backstage on his Ameblo blog.

Translation was requested by Denise Mello on Facebook :)




It was sudden, but the other day at Kishidan Banpaku, I was given the chance to speak to the GazettE's Reita-san.



I've already known about the GazettE, onesidedly, for about 10 years now, and by chance, I saw them at an unimaginably tiny live house. After that I spent most of my school years with the GazettE's music, so I was really excited to perform together, and I was doki doki the entire time.



I really respect everyone in the GazettE, but I especially like the bassist, Reita, so this time, after the live, when we went to greet them, I was breathing so hard that I was at the point of hyperventilating and I was sweating so bad that I just barely managed to get through greeting them.

「I really like you!」

when I said that, the Reita himself turned his head and, with a goods towel

「Here, I'll give this to you」

is what he said and gave it to me.



And, I'd already lost my head, and because of that, after the performance, when we got to greet them again, I was thinking, "Maybe this really isn't so good," when I got permission from their manager to ask Reita for an autograph.



And then, he happily agreed and, on top of that, without me saying anything, he added a message.



And, I said to Reita, 「I'm really happy we could meet, you guys really worked it,」 and I got a handshake, but, seriously, like an idiot, I couldn't get anything but "thank you" to come out, at any rate, I still haven't calmed down yet, so even now, I'm staring at the room's wall and grinning.









[Note: Reita's message says, "For the wife...♥"]








I'm sorry I'm all over the place.



Thank you, Reita.



Isn't it so cute knowing that celebrities can fanboy/girl the same way regular people do? If you were in Jun's position, what would you have said/done? Let us know in the comments below!!

Make sure you catch all of MICHIDO's updates with an Email Subscription, on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube!

Also, we are ordering special limited time goods for people, so be sure to check what our SHOP page is offering!

9.20.2012

Kishidan Banpaku Part I - DJ Ozma & Golden Bomber

Olympics was a perfect name to give to Kishidan Banpaku

This music festival, although relatively small, featured some of the biggest names in the music industry.

MICHIDO caught the second day of Kishidan Banpaku and its star-studded lineup up close and personal. The lineup started strong with Golden Bomber followed by Unicorn, the GazettE, Kishidan, T.M. Revolution, VAMPS and Hamasaki Ayumi.

DJ Ozma opened the second day.

The variety of artists in the lineup resulted in an equally colorful audience. Audience members arrived in punk shredded jeans, bikinis and, a personal favorite, Kishidan-esque biker gang uniforms and pompadours.

DJ Ozma opened the second day of Kishidan in his usual outrageous and questionable fashion.

His performance included King and Pancho as they danced with dancers in bikinis. DJ Ozma, Pancho and King sang while attempting to strip their dancers of their bikini tops.

The three men eventually succeeded and the female dancers appeared to be baring their naked breasts to the audience. But upon closer inspection, dancers who lost their tops were wearing flesh-colored skin-tight suits. DJ Ozma then took the show one step further by pulling down the bikini bottoms and showing off his "naked" dancers.

If this weren't quite enough to scandalize more conservative audience members, several men hopped out wearing only black thongs, holding long inflated balloons which protruded from their crotches. The balloons were released and then flew into the sky to open for Spiderman.

Apparently, DJ Ozma didn't think his audience had had enough quite yet. His next stunt was to have a group of men, including Pancho and King, run out on stage naked while dancing with only a large uchiwa to cover their private parts while managing to not flash anyone their fronts.

Their setlist included Happy Song, 超, MATSURI, 気持ちE, Drinkin' Boys, Spiderman, 珍魂歌, 純情~スンジョン~ and アゲ♂アゲ♂EVERY☆騎士.

Golden Bomber then--excuse the pun--bombed the stage.

Kiryuuin, perhaps to not be outdone by Pancho and King's borderline obscene performance, emerged on stage wearing nothing but flesh-colored boxer shorts and a black circle to cover his actual crotch.

Kiryuuin also came in danger of losing his disc of modesty when he was surrounded by other band members as they tried to continue stripping him before the audience.

After opening with the first song, Boku Quest, each member introduced themselves to the audience for the benefit of those seeing the band for the first time.

Kyan Yutaka announced his long lasting desire to join Kishidan and how he felt he needed the pompadour to be a proper member. To achieve this goal, he brought out his ultimate tool.

A cotton candy maker.

The cameras panned out to give a bird's eye view of the stage. Audience members watched in anticipation as Kyan began the first initiation into Kishidan.

The brief silence was broken as the audience let out a collective laugh and cheers of disbelief. Kyan's pompadour was taking shape right before everyone's eyes as he used his head to collected cotton candy around his hair.

He completed the transformation by dashing into the stage's side wings and returning with a long overcoat and a pair of sunglasses to accompany his new and proud white pompadour.

During the next song, band members picked away--literally--at Kyan's new Kishidan identity. Jun and Kiryuuin both took bites out of Kyan's "hair" and, due to the heat, the cotton candy was dropping rather sadly and only went more askew as Kyan dashed around the main and protruding stage.

At the end of the song, Kyan attempted to remove the cotton candy from his hair, but it was too sticky, resulting in him pulling his hair up along with the candy. The air guitarist made another run backstage, later reappearing cotton candy-free, but still wearing the overcoat and sunglasses as water dripped from his hair.

Another Golden Bomber highlight included Dervish Kenji expressing his love for synchronized swimming. Kenji promised that the audience would see the fruits of his training during their performance.

He did not disappoint.

In the usual golden Bomber fashion, Kiryuuin sang as his band mates went wild with their antics. Utahiroba and Kyan pulled a blue tarp to cover the majority of Kenji's drumset.

Kenji then proceeded to "swim" and showed off his legs as he did a perfect synchro swimming split and other fundamental synchro moves. Audience members were reminded of how well built Kenji was as he held his poses without any noticeable wavering.

The Golden Bomber set finished with the classic Memeshikute as the audience cheered and danced along. The band members raced to the side stage and then the protruding stage to ensure that everyone was dancing along before saying thank you at the protruding stage.

The Golden Bomber setlist consisted of 僕クエスト, 綺麗になりたくて, 抱きしめてシュヴァルツ, ICE BOX, 酔わせてモヒート, 成龙很酷, †ザ・V系っぽい曲† and 女々しくて.

While not believing myself to be a rabid Golden Bomber fan, the Golden Bomber segment was certainly one of the better Kishidan performances in terms of audience engagement and interaction.

As Golden Bomber left the stage, the staff hurried on to prepare the stage for Unicorn's set.

That, however, will be left for another day.

To make sure you get Part II of the Kishidan live report, don't forget to follow MICHIDO with an Email Subscription, on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for our latest updates!

Don't forget to also check out our SHOP page for our newest and featured products!

Slider photos were taken from Natalie Mu.

9.10.2012

Vogue Fashion's Night Out 2012

Tokyo has always been a place a hub of fashion, and September 8th was no exception.

Vogue's annual Fashion's Night Out (FNO) made Omotesando the place to be.

Omotesando is a shopping haven for people looking for both haute couture as well affordable, but still trendy street fashion.

All of this came together at Fashion's Night Out, where stars like Tsuchiya Anna, Tominaga Ai and JuJu made appearances at the opening ceremony.

The event as a whole was a celebration of beauty. Despite the official event being run by Vogue, Tokyo was bustling with people on the streets parading their own sense of fashion, from the individuals striding around in designer brands to all the kids on the block who thought to party in whatever they wanted.

Because there were so many venues, it was a little difficult to get a grasp of what was going on where, so our approach on this impromptu attendance was just to walk around Omotesando.

We started at Omotesando Hills, home of designer brand shops, such as Yves Saint Laurent, Dolce&Gabbana, Armani Junior and much more.

Although we barely missed the entrance ceremony, we got the chance to see the world-famous photographer, Leslie Kee, who has photographed celebrities such as Ayumi Hamasaki and Koda Kumi, in action.

Kee picked enthusiastic and stylish attendees to photograph, and their photographs would be featured on the FNO website.


Seeing a professional fashion photographer at work was nothing short of amazing. Within the span of half an hour, Kee and his crew had turned the tiny stage at Hills into an impromptu photo studio and making people he literally picked off the streets into incredible models.
For those who wanting to "get their groove on", there was also a free party, complete with a DJ and bar in the basement of Omotesando Hills.

We took it to the streets of Omotesando next.

There were plenty of sights to see as we strolled down the streets with many individuals wanting to turn "haute couture" on its head.


Many shops were also having their own little parties, including Tommy Hilfiger, complete with waiters handing out drinks, badges, to photos with models against the Vogue backdrop.

Fashion's Night Out was a great experience, regardless of whether or not you had the money to take advantage of the sales and promotions offered by top brands from around the world.

This annual party thrown by Vogue doesn't only take place in Tokyo though. FNO takes place all around the world, so be sure to check the Vogue website for the location nearest to you!

For more pictures, be sure to visit the MICHIDO Facebook. Several of the pictures in this post were taken by our wonderful friend, AppleJays, so skip over there to check out his photos as well!

If you want to make sure you get all our updates about our Tokyo adventures, don't forget to follow MICHIDO with an Email Subscription, on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube!

And, we'll definitely have lots of updates, especially with the Kishidan Festival coming up soon (speaking of which, have you ordered your hooded towel yet?)!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...