LooP OF HEAVEN EPISODE 10
2002/01/28, Shibuya On Air West
 

Loz'a=Veria
I don't think anybody knew who these guys were. If they had any fans there, I couldn't see them. Nevertheless, they gave it their best shot and I felt kind of bad that they weren't getting any kind of real crowd support. Being the first band they seemed good enough while I was watching them, but in comparison to the ones that followed they weren't nearly as polished. The vocalist's puppet movements could have been a lot better. Their music was okay but not outstanding. Emmet thought they had a really good bassist, which is kind of funny because there was no bass player visible... He kept telling me to write "Bring your bassist onstage!" in their enquete. ^^;

Sinkro
I really liked this band! I'd never even heard of them until I came here and then only as a name on the ticket I had. They were a really nice surpise. Their sound is heavy enough to be fun at a live, yet melodic enough to be catchy. So their music was good, their performance of it was good, their image was attractive, and they had a lot of energy to draw the crowd in. Plus, they looked like they were having fun! Maybe I'll be able to see them again. I hope so. ^_^ I bought their CD "Etcetera", so if I see them again I'll know the songs.

As'REAL
Heavy visual by pretty boys. Best way I can describe this band. They're on the aggressive side musically and got quite a few people in the audience doing the hand moves (parapara?), but neither Emmet nor I warmed up to them. The feeling I got was that their image was too cool for them to look like they were enjoying themselves... *shrugs* I liked their song "Carnation" (heard on MP3 only), but they didn't play it and I didn't think any of the new ones were as catchy.

Plastic
This band was Emmet's favorite. He likes perky happy music. ^^ They were a bit too light and cheery for me, though. They kind of reminded me of GLAY, actually. The bassist especially looked like a GLAY composite -- he had a face like Teru and Jiro-like anime hair. One thing definitely working in this band's favor is that they have a lot of personality. They were the only band that had me watching all the members because each of them was so good on stage. Usually there are only one or two members of a band that grab my attention (see the next review ^^;), so I was very surprised by this.

Hanoru
I think this was Hanoru. I can't imagine who else it could have been, because all the other names on the ticket are accounted for. ^^; However, the flyer in the live packet says there are only 4 members in Hanoru and this band had 5. Anyway, whoever it was... they're a rock band. And they've got 4 members who I can't remember at all, and one seriously visual and cool-looking guitarist with bright yellow hair who looks like he was borrowed for the day from Matina. (Well, since the flyer says Hanoru only has 4 members, maybe he was... ^^;) During the first guitar solo, the other guy did something cool, then it was the blond guy's turn and I didn't hear anything that sounded like a decent solo... I wondered if he was all looks and no talent, but he then he suddenly ran offstage. ^^; He reappeared near the end of the song to cheers from the audience and this time he sounded good. Actually, I'm not sure if he was really all THAT visual, or if it was just the laid-back image of the other guys that made him stand out so much. ^^;;;

MERII
I didn't get into this band either. They're heavy, they're aggressive, they seem influenced by DEG... All the members were dressed in black suits and all had black hair and the creepy style of makeup. The vocalist had one pale contact lens and two light streaks in his hair. He had a good voice but screamed too much for my taste. After this band, I found myself becoming puzzled about who was supposed to be playing and who had played (after 6 bands that you're largely unfamiliar with, it's bound to happen!) and pulled out the enquete packet to see who was at the event. And I was instantly very unhappy because I found an enquete for Phobia, who I'd been interested in seeing because I liked some of their old stuff even though I haven't kept up with them. I was sure that the most recent band was Merii, but didn't remember well who'd played before and thought I'd seen Phobia already that night without knowing and had somehow entirely forgotten what kind of performance they'd given. Wouldn't that suck?! So I went back in the livehouse all depressed (after moping during my cigarette break -- I took cigarette breaks between each act), and found that the next band was...

Phobia
Yep. Definitely. They looked a little different than I remembered, but there's no mistaking Kisui's voice. Plus, when audience members scream "KISUI~!" between songs, that's another dead giveaway. And when they break into "Kamen Butokai", that settles it! I was SO happy to hear "Kamen Butokai" because that's by far my favorite of all the Phobia songs I've heard. Unfortunately the hand movements for this were way too complicated for me to even try to participate in... I'm so clumsy... So I just bounced instead. Kisui's singing has improved a lot since that song was recorded -- he had a good voice before, but he sounded very strong live and did a lot of strange vocal things (Kyo-like) that impressed me. I didn't buy anything of theirs because I'm not sure how likely I am to listen to music this aggressive at home, but I'd definitely like to see them live again!

By this time both Emmet and I were getting tired... None of the bands had played more than 4 songs each, but when you add it up that's a lot of time to be standing around. Emmet was a little suspicious of Aioria, because from his point of view the bands had been alternating between good and bad. And since Phobia was good, Aioria would therefore be bad, right? I didn't have any idea what to expect since I'd never heard anything by Aioria. All I knew was that Michiru had been in L'ysenore and I liked his Michiru Project song "Nemure Hime". And he has cool costumes and is apparently popular among Lolitas. And he's generally an important person. Anyway, by the time they came on a lot of people had left after seeing their favorite band, so I moved forward until the way was completely blocked. This was the second row on the right. Okay, nice spot. Then the band comes out... and I remember that Michiru is a guitarist... and stage left is where the important guitarist guy always stands. I'm right under Michiru's nose. I don't know any of the songs or do para-para (like, never), yet I'm wearing a frilly black blouse and cross necklace so I look like a huge Michiru fan. ^^;;; Uh-oh. *massive sweatdropping* Anyway, on to the review...

Aioria
So Michiru comes out in just the kind of EGL costume you'd expect, twirling a parasol, and I start praying that I'm going to like this band at least a little so I don't feel completely awkward standing right where he's going to be looking. And then he turns to the crowd with the cutest sweet smile and the twinkliest sparkly eyes, and he's just SO CUTE! You wouldn't know it from photos, but he's ADORABLE up close in real life! I didn't think anybody could compete with Emiru when it came to cuteness, but Michiru is just so cute! So cute! So CUTE! Ahhh~~~! *falls over*

*coughs* Ahem. Well, the music started and as it turns out, Aioria has a gorgeous romantic sound reminiscent of Malice Mizer and Lareine. I instantly want to go out and buy every Aioria CD I can get my hands on. And just as you'd expect, everybody around me is doing para-para, guided expertly by Michiru who's leading the dance in full "What, play guitar? I have a guitar?" mode. I have no choice. I must do para-para. The music is wonderful and I love it, and I cannot stand there like a rock looking like I'm not appreciating it just because I'm uncoordinated, especially not when I'm right smack in front of Michiru. So... I did the para-para. I can only hope that nobody was paying any attention to me because I'm sure I did it exceptionally badly. Emmet does it better and he didn't do it at all during the live! (>_<;) Nevertheless, it was fun... ^^;;; And I'll do it better next time I see Aioria. (Oh yes, there will be a next time.)

I forgot to mention... Aioria has 3 other members. ^^; I didn't see them much... Emmet said that most of the people in the audience were paying attention to the vocalist, except for the people around me who were all totally focused on Michiru. Like, we were so fixated on Michiru that when it was the vocalist's turn to lead the para-para because Michiru took a break to play guitar, we all screwed up because none of us realized that we were supposed to be following the singer. ^^; On the other hand, he also said that Michiru wasn't paying any attention to the rest of the audience, just the group right in front of him. I suppose that didn't encourage any of us to watch the others... It's that cute smile and those twinkly eyes! Sometimes when I'm really close to the stage and I know the band members can see me, I feel a little awkward. There's something about the way Michiru looks at the audience that makes it really comfortable to be there, though.

Two of the songs they did were "Fantasia" and "Ibara no Mori". I couldn't make a set list at the time of course (because I'd never heard any of the songs before), but I just heard some MP3s (thanks Rin! ^_^) and spontaneously burst into para-para during these songs. I bought the one Aioria demo tape that wasn't sold out but I can't listen to it because I have no tape player... ;_; (So thanks again Rin! ^_^)

 

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