ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL 2019 - The GazettE Experience
1:15 PMROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL 2019 Saturday, August 10, 2019 THE GAZETTE @ SOUND OF FOREST STAGE For the summer of 2019, I was enrolled...
1:15 PM
Saturday, August 10, 2019
THE GAZETTE @ SOUND OF FOREST STAGE
For the summer of 2019, I was enrolled in my university’s
study abroad program from August 4 to September 7th 2019. The
classes were for Religion and Spirituality in Japan, and the program took place
in Kyoto. August in Japan had lots of music festivals and concerts happening,
so I gladly took advantage of that during my stay in Japan!
Evening of August 9, I headed out to Tokyo after a day of
hiking at Kiyomizu-dera and an exhausting walk around the Gion neighborhood.
The August summer heat in Japan is brutal so for me, I just had to stand
outside in the humid heat, and I’d be wet from sweat (so imagine hiking at noontime
up to Kiyomizu-dera, jeeze…😰). There’s a reason why I’m mentioning
this, I promise!
My hotel is super conveniently located right across the
street from Kyoto station, and as a foreigner, I took advantage of the JR Pass
available to purchase, so I was able to just walk on over and hop on the
shinkansen without incident right after a full day excursion with my study
abroad class.
I stayed at a hotel that was like a 15-minute walk to Tokyo
station. On the next day, Saturday, festival day August 10, I checked out of my
room. I only booked for one night, and I planned to leave the festival in the
late afternoon to travel back to Tokyo, pick up my bag at the hotel, and ride
the 9pm shinkansen back to Kyoto. I had it all planned out.
Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that the trains would be
hella full of other Rock in Japan Fest goers, so I ended up having to stand up
squished with other people for the entire 1-hour train ride from Tokyo to
Ibaraki. There was a lady with large bags who got on like half way through the
ride and bull-dozed right past me, knocking me over other standing passengers
(I was already giving way for her and she still did that. Ugh so rude that
lady!)
Check out my RIJF Vlog here!
I arrived at the Ibaraki station, bought some bread since I
had nothing to eat all morning, and lined up to the festival shuttle ticket
booth with thousands of other people. It took probably 20 minutes to buy
roundtrip shuttle tickets, and another 20 minutes to line up to get in the
shuttle. There were so many people, but it was well-thought out and organized,
using the city’s local busses as festival shuttles.
Soon enough, I arrived Hitachi Seaside Park. Entrance was
smooth and took only a minute or two when they took my ticket and gave me a
wristband. I got the Sound of Forest Stage, where the GazettE would be
performing later that day. It was still early, around 10:30AM and staff were
setting up for the band Lynch’s performance. I was able to get a spot near the
front, surrounded by a bunch of Lynch fans in their merch outfits. My spot was
pretty much in the middle of the stage, but a little to the left. I sat on the
carpeted floor and just waited under the sun, hiding under my cap and sunglass.
I had big-ass almost-a-gallon water bottle in my backpack, and the bread that I
bought from the station, and so I just drank and ate a bit to help me survive
the heat a little.
I knew about Lynch, but haven’t really heard of their songs
before, but DAMN! The singer HAZUKI is FIREEEE🔥. In my section, people constantly would
scream for Yusuke, whom I guessed was the guitarist that was right in front of
my section. Damn, he was hella FIREEE too~🔥. I didn’t know any of their songs, but it
was easy enough to know when to head bang. The sun was too hot and blinding for
me, so I just kept my cap on, but with my sunglasses off, and just headbanged
like that (LOLZ). If you see a pink cap vibrating among the flailing hair in
the crowd of people headbanging in Lynch’s RIJF Instagram videos, that was
me!^^
Time passed by and two other bands went on to play. They
were okay but didn’t really interest me much. I just stayed there, at my spot
under the sun, waiting for hours until the GazettE would go on. A funny detail
with those smaller, less popular pop bands, is that the actual artists would go
on stage during sound check and test out their instruments and microphones.
After that, they would go back and hide backstage and then they’d have their
formal introduction on the screens at the top corners next to stage, and just
go back on stage and proceed for their performances. I’m not naming them, but
they were kinda (really) awkward (ahahaa), but I’d hear these middle schoolers
swoon, “Kakkoii…”
You go little kids~ GET ITTT, yeet.
By the time the staff of the GazettE were on stage doing
their prep, I had already finished my gallon of water, and was already a little
dehydrated. I couldn’t help it, I was sweating all the water I drank, I’m not
even kidding. By that time, it was already 2:30PM and I was dying of heat, and
I had no water anymore. A huge crowd formed, and people started to squish
together. The GazettE fans previously hiding from the heat under the shade,
finally came out to squeeze in to the crowd to get the best possible spot they
can.
I would see these women surrounding me wiping themselves with
some type of wet-wipe and spraying themselves with a spray from a bottle which
reminded me of just an Evian water spray bottle. Little did I know that those
were specialized popular “tools” sold in Japan to survive the hot humid
Japanese summer heat. The wipes were cooling wipes that literally made you feel
cold wherever you wiped them on your body. The spray was also a cooling spray
with the same function as the cooling wipes, that can be used anywhere on the
skin.
Had I only known! I would have had filled my own backpack
with those summer survival supplies😭. It was only gonna be my first week in
Japan and I had yet to learn about those things about 2 weeks after the
festival took place…
Back to the GazettE! As soon as the staff rolled out Kai’s
drum set, you could hear the crowd swoon at how massive the thing was! It was
literally hella intimidating like a fortress compared to the drum sets of the 3
other bands that went before them. Like DAMN, THAT A HUGE BITCH😮👏🏼💖.
I took off my hat and sunglasses and redid my makeup (it
melted off from the humidity sweat lolz). I also managed to get a railing, so I
had the perfect view of the center of the stage, and ideally all the band
members. I say ideally because of what happens next:::
The same introduction song played from the World Tour
started playing (99.999) and everyone became all hyped up, including myself; I
forgot all about my dehydration and ignored the fact I was being squished by
the crowd. The GazettE men finally came out at the left of the stage one by one
I the typical fashion: first Kai, then Uruha, Reita, Aoi, and eventually Ruki.
As soon as the members started walking in, OMG THE CROWD!!!!
LIKE OMGGGG. I’ve been to rock concerts in America before. Several GazettE
concerts, and DIR EN GREY ones, but this… this was the first time I experienced
something that scared me.
First of all, let me say, OH. MY. GOD. KAI!!!😍🔥💖
He had the same hairstyle and clothes as the World Tour 2019, but his hair had
grown out a lot longer, and IT LOOKED SO GORGEOUS WITH THAT SWIRLY SPIKY HAIR
STYLE! He was wearing this extremely flowy chiffon(?) kimono cardigan/scarf, so
it looked like he was gliding across the stage as he walked to his drum set.
DEAD. I DIED at how handsome KAI was 😍🔥💖 His face and makeup was
so on point, and his SMILE!🤩 Like seriously so handsome, and I’m not
saying this because he’s my bias, but that’s just really how he looked! So, I
am actually genuinely baffled on why in the hell does he look like such a tired
old man in all the press videos and photos they took of him that day…🤔?
Like seriously, the photos and videos did not do him any justice whatsoever.
URUHA… Hehehe… I just kinda giggled at the fact that he
still wore his blonde weave to the concert, when his real hair is so obviously
black. Like I get why they always have to put it on his head, to keep the
concept constant… but it’s just so awkward that his hair line constantly
changes hahaha, and we all obviously know that’s not his real hair. Weave or
extensions or whatever, he didn’t need it… He brought back the feels though,
from the recent World Tour 2019 😍💖 so jumpy and all hyped, it makes
everyone else hella hyped!
REITA came out looking like his usual NINTH self, all
covered in black leather mask and jacket… First of all, WHY ARE YOU WEARING
THAT IN THE HOTT HOTT SUMMER?!?!? I’m already dying from the heat in my dress
and leggings, but seriously a leather mask and long sleeves? I don’t know
anymore. I’m part of #TeamNoseband so I miss his old look when you can actually
see his face and not just his tongue peeking out of his face once in a while. Yeah,
I never liked his masked look cuz his face is always covered, I can’t see his
face at all unless I was right in front of the stage In World Tour 2019 and he
would come over and bend forward to make weird faces at us. And how come he doesn’t show off his arms in
his iconic biker vests anymore now that he’s all buff and swol from the gym?
Needless to say, he created very large puddles of sweat on
the floor that day, the staff had to come in once in a while to wipe it up.
AOI… This is when the chaos
happens… AOI walks out in his fabulous and godly form… and hell breaks loose.
So my section is pretty much in front of REITA and AOI, but since I managed to
get the side railing that bisects the middle front of the crowd, I have an
absolutely clear view of Ruki, Kai, and Uruha, if I turn my head a little to my
right. Also, I only had like 2 other people in front of me before it got to the
front railing. Very convenient, right?
However, as soon as AOI walks out,
looking like he’s in the best mood ever with a bright and gleaming smile on his
face… A stampede happened… We were already squished, but oh my god, I had to
hang on to my side railing for my dear life because people started bulldozing
their way to the front and pulling people to get out of their way. It was to the
point that it looked like people were doggy piling themselves, one on top of
the other in front of AOI… to the point I can no longer see him and REITA, whom
were both just a few feet away from me on the stage… It crazy.
It was quite horrific, because it
stayed that way the entire 20 minutes that the GazettE performed on stage, but
I managed to lose myself in the music. It was horrific also because the heat
became worse now that bodies were on top of each other, and so I had to
constantly use my fan and face towel to keep me alive the entire time. My fan
as in just a fan that I have to fan myself with, made out of cloth. If they
post up a video of the performance and you see a purple fan being waved around
near the front of the stage, that was me!
RUKI… As you can hear in my video
vlog, he was loved by all, as usual~ The most surprising thing he did was wear
a new velvet suit! His usual NINTH suits he wore previously were purple and
dark blue. In the festival, he came out with RED VELVET💋 Chest
exposed an all~ And I loved his hair! Like Kai, RUKI’s looked a bit longer and
bigger than when I last saw him in the Dallas concert of WT19 earlier in May
this year.
SETLIST:
1.
Filth in the Beauty
2.
INSIDE BEAST
3.
Vortex
4.
UGLY
5.
ABHOR GOD
6.
Tomorrow Never Dies
In this part, I will use bullet points. This is only because
I am writing this a little more than a month after the festival took place,
and so much things have happened in my life between now and then, I don’t
exactly remember every single thing I want to mention 😔
·
I was surprised that they started with a finale
song like Filth in The Beauty, but it was epic anyway because that means the
set started out with so much head banging! I have to admit, I got very dizzy
because the unbearable heat made it difficult to stay composed.
·
In the MC, Ruki introduced them formally and
said something along the lines of “Hi new people watching us for the first
time! Oh, don’t mind these people in the front banging their heads hella hard
in a choreographed manner, they’re the veteran fans and they be crazy bitches
so don’t let them scare you.” (I mean that in a casual way 😂)
·
They also promoted their Yokohama Tour Final
concert, which I remembered well because I silently questioned why they weren’t
promoting their PHASE#05 Yokosuka Concert happening in 5 days… (More seats to
fill in Yokohama Arena).
·
For the entire set, I couldn’t see much of AOI
and REITA, but I did have one opportunity for a minute or two. When I was able
to see AOI clearly as he watched the crowd with his happy bright closed-mouth
smile still on his face, I waved my purple fan at him. I think he looked a bit
cuz he turned his head towards me, but I’m sure the sun was too bright for him
to actually see my waving at him like HIIII!!!! ^O^ It was brief, and I tried.
·
I barely saw REITA… because of the fans piled on
top of each other, in addition to his face mask.
·
I ended up watching RUKI for most of the set
again, just like in the World Tour 2019 LA & Dallas concerts I went to 😂.
·
In the beginning of the set, it looked like RUKI
recognized me for a bit… like I kinda saw in his eyes when he turned to the
crowd in my direction, it looked like he saw me and there was this like “Oh!”
look on his face for a second… Then again, it might have just been my imagination
lolz (but watch my LA and Dallas GazettE World Tour 2019 concert vlogs to see
why there would be a small possibility ahaha).
·
URUHA! Was being his usual awesome hyper self,
headbanging, pointing at the crowd, flipping his blond weave left and right. I
wanted to watch him more, but my angle was super awkward when watching him.
Whenever I would watch URUHA, it looks like I’m watching the staff member that
was right next to him, whose body was directly diagonal and facing mine. Haha.
So as much as possible, I looked elsewhere. The staff member I’m talking about
is that famous GazettE manager, Kusaka. He’s the guy in every documentary with
the band, and always (at least in music festivals seen in videos) would be at
the side of the stage with his arms folded looking like an intimidating
bouncer. Senpai, please do not notice me melting under the sun.
·
I had a moment with KAI sama! In one of the
songs, I think it was in Vortex. I had turned my head to KAI and he was already
facing towards my side of the audience. I cheered him on like WOOTTT YEAHHH
KAIII SAMAAAA😆🤘🏼🔥 And I think he
saw, because to me he responded back with WOOT YEAHHHHH😤😆🔥
(his face and mouthing out YEAHHHH and then hella smiling) while hitting his
drums harder and banging his head towards my direction. AGAIN, it might be just
be my imagination~ It looked like it happened, but who knows, I’m no one
special and maybe I’m just crazy HAHA.
·
I was really hoping and expecting them to play
NINTH ODD SMELL… but they didn’t. It was still a fun set^^
·
I got emotional during TOMORROW NEVER DIES,
which was weird because even during the recent WT19 in LA and Dallas, I didn’t
feel that way when they played it. I think it was because I was thinking to
myself, “I am one crazy bitch to come to Japan, spend almost $200 on just the
ticket, travel from Kyoto to Ibaraki to wait hours under the sun, just for to
see this band just for 16-minutes; I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!” Yup, those were my
thoughts. I know there are other fans who would do more, and more often than
what I have done that day, but this was a new level for me lolz. New level of
fandom haha.
·
They disappeared from the stage too quickly
:<
·
BONUS! KAI sama was a little excited~ when he walked
off stage ;) looks like it was a successful mini-concert!
It ended waaaay too soon. I waited under the sun for like
4-5 hours for a 20-minute set! Actually, I heard a fan time it, it was only 16
minutes. Lolz.
After that set, the large crowd dispersed and I walked away feeling the adrenaline running through my body. At the same time, I was thinking, "WTF is wrong with me, coming all the way up to Ibaraki from Kyoto and spending all this money just to see my favorite band perform for 20 minutes..." To be honest, I'd feel less guilty being there if I didn't procrastinate on my homework and projects due the next day. My bad! Lolz.
As I walked further on, the adrenaline went down, and I could feel the heat and pain from the squeezing in the crowd affect me (it also took a lot of energy to hold onto my spot and push back against the other people in the crowd).
Long story short, I started shaking and felt like seriously fainting so I bought myself two bottles of Pocari Sweat and a smoothie to recover. Before leaving the festival, I stopped by the stage close to the exit to watch the rest of Sayaka Yamamoto's performance (former NMB48, yes I also was a fan), and then hopped on the next shuttle to the station.
I only left early because I wanted to make it on time to ride the 8pm Shinkansen back to Kyoto, because I still had the homework and projects to work on. I really wanted to stay and watch all the other amazing bands and make the most out of my day pass ticket! I promised myself that next time, I'm going to stay the entire day and maybe the whole weekend. However, life happened and I left my Shinkansen pass in the Ibaraki station.... So after arriving Tokyo Station, I was told to take another hour trip back to Ibraraki... then I was back after almost 3 hours. When I arrived, that was when festival goers were on their way back to Tokyo again because the festival had already ended for the day, and once again, I found myself standing on the train back to Tokyo for one hour.
I spent about 4-5 hours in a train that day, and missed my Shinkansen ride back to Kyoto, so I had to stay overnight in Tokyo anyway! I COULD HAVE STAYED AT THE FESTIVAL THE WHOLE DAY😭 Well... lesson learned. NEXT TIMEEE!🔥
I hope you enjoyed reading about my experience! Let me know on here or on my youtube video if you guys are interested in reading more about detailed stuff like this, because I did A LOT happened over the Summer 2019^^
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