Back in Japan Again - this time as a COSMIC DREAMER

So, I promised a few people I would try and post something while I'm in Tokyo again for Buck-Tick's COSMIC DREAMER TOUR 2013, and while I'm utterly rubbish at reviews (I'm no NOT Greatest Site!) I thought I'd just check in with a few impressions.

It's Friday 1st March here today so I have the two shows at Akasaka Blitz under my belt, and four more (Tokyo Dome City Hall and Shibuya AX) to go.

Akasaka Blitz is a nice, smallish venue (around 1200 capacity, I think) and it's dead easy to get to which makes all the difference in enjoying concerts - nothing worse than stressing out about finding the place. Akasaka itself is kind of upscale, so rocking up to the venue early on Tuesday and watching from Starbucks (I know, but give me a break - there's not a lot of choice in that area) as the plaza outside filled up with a sea of black was kind of amusing - especially since the fan-influx coincided with sunset, which is kind of JUST HOW IT SHOULD BE, if you're a goth of any stripe.

The merch stall and box office opened at around the same time on Tuesday, so I only had time for a cursory look at the former since I had tickets to collect and people to meet who I had not seen since I was here last, and well.. priorities :) But, it looks like a nice spread of stuff this time - the shirts have some great designs, and Hide's sticker set seemed to be selling well - I saw a few people walking around holding them just before the show. There were B-T Movie posters pasted up inside the venue as well as some nice flower arrangements from well-wishers to the band on display.

On Wednesday, the merch stall only opened at the end of the gig, which was okay as I had my yen stuffed down my socks, so I picked up a tour shirt and a tote bag. Sadly, I'm not sold on the quality of the Imai "galaxy" top. I got to cop a feel of one inside the gig while squished up waiting for the show to start and failed to be impressed. On the other hand, the bag in the same design looks better than I expected and I might treat myself later, if budget allows. Admittedly I'm not a huge merch buyer at the best of times though as I prefer to spend my cash on beer afterwards /laughs Hopefully someone else here who has attended the tour can be more detailed about that stuff.

My ticket numbers for the dates I am seeing on this tour are a bit of a mix, but the best two on paper were definitely for the Blitz and I made good use of them. The first night me and a friend managed to be only four or so rows back just over to Mr Imai's side (my favoured side, I admit it). Being relatively tall, this is quite nice for any looming by Mr Sakurai or solo-guitar spots by Messrs Imai and Hoshino, since you get the full benefit of it, especially if they're leaning into the crowd.

Mr Imai is currently sporting a bleached hair, minimal make-up look, which I think suits him just fine. Mr Sakurai seems to be alternating his look so far - Tuesday it was all sharp suit style, while Wednesday was skintight leggings, a mid-thigh-length sleeveless ruffled tunic top and long leather gloves. He's also rocking cuban heels and shorter hair this tour, both of which look great on him, of course. Messrs Hoshino, Toll and Higuchi have very dapper outfits as usual, though I only really got a good look at Mr Hoshino's - he's adding more silver to his black these days and it looks damn fine, let me tell you.

On the subject of Mr Hoshino - he really HAS taken a turn for the Rock Star of late. Last tour he seemed kind of quiet, but this time it seems like he's really going for it, playing up to the crowd like a pro and calling out the balcony and the front rows both. I like this new attitude and I think that I shall now refer to him as "Sex Bomb Hoshino", because the Tom Jones song is exactly what popped into my head during one of these solos where he was being a crowd tease. Good for him :) In appreciation, on the second night I stood on his side.

I can't remember the set list for the life of me, but I can tell you that both nights were a fabulous mix of old and new, and everyone did their best to dance, even though we were crammed in like sardines at the front. Choices of song included both Kimi No Vanilla and Physical Neurose on separate encores "and the crowd went wild", as they say :) Though on that note the moment that amused me most was on Tuesday when Mr Sakurai chose to stand with his back to the audience in the shadows near the drums and basically perform a full pants-adjustment without a care in the world. I wonder how many people thought (hoped) he was actually going to drop 'em, either deliberately or accidentally /laughs, though I'm sure the dudes in the audience were sympathetic - sometimes you just have to re-rack the balls, so to speak.

Oh yes, and in an interesting twist for a standing tour, Mr Sakurai has brought along his own personal goth raincloud to the show, in the form of a machine that rains a circle of water down around him during certain numbers (and no doubt make jokes about getting everyone wet, though since I don't speak Japanese those would be sadly lost on me). I did, however, catch him declaring "SEX!" just before Elise no Tame ni (I think). As you do. And he threw in a couple of "Five for EVERYBODY" during Iconoclasm, though whether or not that was because he had clocked some foreign faces in the front rows, I couldn't say.

After it was all said and done and we all streamed out drenched in sweat and with aches where you didn't know you had muscles from waving various limbs in the air (mostly one's own though you know - sometimes it gets rough down there), it was time for booze and the locker-scrum, one of which is considerably more enjoyable than the other. I freely admit that I enjoy the after-show glow and sharing it with other fans at any gig, and I am lucky enough to have met some very welcoming folks in Japan with whom I can do just that over drinks and food. So both my concert experiences thus far concluded with good company and plenty of alcohol, just as they should.

(Public Safety Note: you should always enjoy alcohol responsibly, kids, and never, never say "SEX!" in public or allow anyone to take your picture while you're posing as Mr Sakurai in a bar.)

Thursday 21st June - Leaving Tokyo (For the First Time)

Taking a break from Takayama's midday sun to catch up on blogging – I started to write an entry last night and then fell asleep at about 10pm, thus failing to take a mineral bath and failing to sample the late-night free special noodles which the lady at the front desk was very keen to recommend to me when I arrived. General fail all around. Still, I fell asleep because I had a long day and was still fighting off the edges of jetlag, so I can't feel too pissed off with myself.

The day started way earlier than it should have – my alarm was set for 6.00am in Tokyo – just enough time to wash, dress, check out, grab my bags and get over to Shinjuku station for the 7am Super Azusa bound for Matsumoto. But my body clock had other ideas and decided I was getting up at 5am whether I liked it or not – no amount of trying could get me back off to sleep. So up it was, and I was grateful for the instant white coffees that I shoved in my bag in case of caffeine-deprivation emergencies, because green tea just wasn't going to cut it.

 While I was drinking it, I watched the ominous clouds over the office buildings of Shinjuku and sure enough, within minutes the heavens opened and stair-rods of rain descended on the immediate area. It hadn't eased up when I went down to the lobby to check out, and while the receptionist offered to order me a taxi to make the short trip to the station, it wasn't her lucky day as all lines were engaged to the seven companies she tried.

Fortunately, this is where living in the North of England becomes an advantage, because after waiting for 5 minutes until a slight lull in the downpour I just womanned up and set off with bags in tow, calmly resigned to getting wet. And get wet I did, not that it bothered me particularly because by my standards it was quite pleasantly warm despite the gusting wind that whipped around the Southern Terrace complex outside the station. Sure I was soaked at the end of the 3-4 minute walk, but actually I felt a lot better for the experience as it banished any trace of lingering tiredness.

 The train was already in the station, and a helpful guard (who tried but did not quite manage to avoid looking at me in a “what is this crazy foreigner soaked to the skin” way) pointed me to the correct platform, so I ended up being 20 minutes early. I had allowed extra time for getting lost in Shinjuku station, you see – but this time I didn't need it. It did come in handy for allowing me time to dry off naturally, before boarding the train though, which was nice.

It also allowed time for a very alarmed looking lady to rush over to me and offer to give me her umbrella, clearly under the misapprehension that I had been caught unawares, and between my lack of Japanese and her lack of English it took a fair bit of comedic pantomime to explain to her that I couldn't manage both bags and a brolly, to which she laughed and conceded that “eh, that's life”. It was a fun little exchange and I did thank her profusely for the offer (I even risked a bow) and then we parted ways and I hopped on the train ready for the real start of my Japan travels.

 More photos from the latter part of the brief Tokyo stay:

• Shinjuku from my window before the rain set in
• Vending machines are everywhere
• Super Azusa at the station

Today's song: Porcupine Tree - Trains

Tokyo, I Am In You (Briefly) etc.

Well, here we are for real, bringing you real-time blogging from the world's most populated city! As expected, the flight was INTERMINABLE, even though I got lucky all the way through - early into Heathrow, didn't have to go through security again, no-one in the middle seat of the row on the transatlantic leg, early into Narita, no problems with immigration and uncharacteristically delayed N'EX from Narita to Shinjuku which meant I only had to wait three minutes.
Nothing exciting to report from the flights except that I got to observe a highly efficient Japanese mother in action with her two kids for the whole journey, and Benjamin Franklin on the Manchester leg was an absolute sweetie. (It's the best name for a flight attendant ever)!
Once in Tokyo, I dumped my bags at the hotel, then went for a totally unmapped and unplanned walk round the immediate neighbourhood - and guess what, I managed to not get lost, despite coming back to the hotel from a completely different direction and being unable to actually see it. Had a great chat with an Australian couple in the lobby while I waited for check-in time, then got into my room and a long-awaited shower. After that I accidentally nodded off while reading a book and VERY NEARLY missed meeting up with Anna in the lobby at 6pm. Luckily we were BOTH running late or that could have been highly embarrassing. A quick trip out for chat, coffee and a ham sando were a very pleasant way to round off my day - I am so happy that we were able to meet after all - Anna';s schedule is always so hectic :)
What else... oh yes, I have a SUICA card in hand for when I return to Tokyo (the Tokyo version of an Oyster card), and I have also booked my onward train to Matsumoto at 7am (yes really) tomorrow. After checking out the castle I am hopping onto a bus for Takayama, where I'll be staying a couple of nights at the Takayama Ouan hotel. That's the PLAN, anyway, so I'll be falling into bed soon.
I've been posting pics to Instagram (and by the magic of auto-crossposting, to Twitter and Facebook too), but for anyone who missed it, I'll do a digest of today's pics here. I may not be able to Instagram every day as it depends on wireless access, but I will surely upload at the end of the days to Twitpic and here, at least.
So, now I'm sitting here in the Sunroute Plaza Hotel, Shinjuku, still feeling a bit jetlagged and suffering from a sense of unreality about being in Japan. Though if I were ever in doubt I only have to look at the wonder of technology that is the toilet, or the unidentifiable fruit drink from a vending machine which is sitting next to my laptop. It suffers from the worst description in English, but I still bought it.

Way to make a drink sound as unappealing as possible, and also, they're funny looking kiwis.
And that's it for today - here's today's photo haul for anyone who missed it:

• Breakfast of Champions, on the flight from Manchester to Heathrow
• Clouds over London
• Heathrow Terminal 5
• Uh... Alex who now?
• My Plane to Narita
• Over the Baltic Sea
• Hello Tokyo Narita
• On the N'EX
• Rural Views
• In Suburbia
• Urbania
• Tokyo Sky Tree
• Passing Stations
• Shinjuku - Maynds Tower
• Hotel Room and Again (Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku)
• Washlet Toilets
• Hotel at Night
• Shinjuku at Night

Oh yeah, and today's theme song is Japan's LIFE IN TOKYO, because... well.