Miyavi Live @ Avalon

[chiisanahito]

the post i know a lot of you have been waiting for.
yes, my dream of watching the one and only Miyavi's live show for myself, BECAME TRUE. 


i've been hoping for this for a long time. okay, not very long, but it's a dream nonetheless.
let me start with a brief intro of how i got to know this talented and unique artist. 


i started listening to Japanese songs since I heard the ending song of Rurouni Kenshin, The Fourth Avenue Cafe, when i was 12 if i'm not mistaken. since then i'm weirdly attracted to Japanese songs, especially of Jrock/Jpop genre. and mingling myself with the many popular songs and artists, i saw Miyavi's name a couple of times.
and one day, in the middle of May, i got bored and wanted to try out some new Japanese songs (after Gackt, L'Arc~en~Ciel, Orange Range), and i remembered Miyavi. so i randomly searched for his name, and his first song that i listened to was Senor Senora Senorita.
i was instantly attracted.
since then, i became a Miyavi fan.
and woot, it's one year since i heard Senor Senora Senorita!! anniversary~ (May 21 2007)


alright, on to the report.

MAY 16
THIS IZ THE JAPANESE KABUKI ROCK 
Miyavi World Tour 2008

today i got back my Engineering Materials exam paper, and my marks really exceeded my expectations. wasn't excellent, but above the class average by 2 marks at least. yay me!!
so i'm going to the show not just for fun, but for celebrating my tiny success~
also a kind of my post-birthday celebration, heheh. 



enuff said, LET'S GO!! 


I'm really indebted to Cher Hao, Badri, Shanida (my small band of friends who like Miyavi as well -- well, Cher Hao is just there to experience his first Miyavizm ever) because they've rented a beautiful, sleek car for the weekend. they brought me to Avalon (somewhere in downtown Hollywood?) safely albeit parking difficulties. the traffic wasn't as bad as i'd expected, thankfully. we arrived there around 20-30 minutes before the start. 



random pic of a building while looking for parking. 



Capitol Records building -- looks like a building back in Malaysia named Komtar in Penang.
Badri couldn't accept the fact that American architecture is similar to Malaysian's. 


outside Avalon, while we were looking for a parking spot, we saw a really loooooong line at the entrance. i was thinking : "aw man...they're damn lucky to get in early...they can be at the front of the stage..." 


oh, an interesting look at how the line was HOURS before we even got out of Village (my housing area) : 

even Miyavi posted the link to this video on his blog (yes, i read his blog, even when i don't understand anything). 


after we secured our parking, we found out that there's no line anymore. lucky.
but we didn't get the floor, sadly, but ah heck. i'm not the type to be in the middle of a crowd sandwiched between people higher than me (i'm short, yes.) we got a place on the railing/balcony/whatever. still a good view, really. 



Cher Hao didn't get to be in this pic cuz of his height.
me, Shanida, Badri, Kris, Cynthia. 


after this pic, we were told that we cannot use a camera or even a phone-cam in Avalon. haha. so unfortunately there are no pics of Miyavi performing or how the club looks like. Avalon is awesome, honestly, very beautiful.
by the way, Miyavi told his blog readers that he'd appreciate it if they don't flash the camera while he's performing too, so we actually did what he wanted. yay us!!

for those unfamiliar with Miyavi and his crew, introducing
Miyavi and the Kabuki Boiz :
Miyavi
vocals, guitar
Tyko
beatbox
Saro
tapdance
Ryo
drums
Hige-chang
bass
Teddy
DJ
(wasn't sure at first, but i think i got them all right) 


setlist for the night,
more or less the correct arrangement, and might've left out a few songs :
JPN PRIDE
21st Century Tokyo Blues
Kabuki Danshi -Kavki Boiz-
Hi no Hikari Sae Todokanai Kono Basho de
BOOM-HAH-BOOM-HAH-HAH
2 be wiz U
21 Seikigata Koushinkyoku
Pop is Dead
Shouri no V-ROCK!!
Aho Matsuri
Kimi ni Funky Monkey Vibration
Ossan Ossan Ore Nanbo
Are You Ready To Rock
Senor Senora Senorita remix
Freedom Fighter remix
Sakihokoru Hana no you ni (encore)
Subarashiki kana, Kono Sekai (encore)

more detailed happenings during the songs : 


JPN PRIDE
when the lights all go out, we could see a few people moving onto the stage with JPN PRIDE as the background music (the bass was awfully loud, apparently only to me alone), and, this one figure, without mistake, is the one and only, Miyavi.
when they put on the lights again, i screamed as loud as i could, as hard as i can. now i know why all fangirls scream uncontrollably when they meet their favorite celebrities. really, i know the feeling. i became one myself. *cough*
neways, the first song is JPN PRIDE - and i got to sing along!! seriously, the rush of singing together with the REAL PERSON was very unbelievable. all this while singing with iTunes, imagine being able to sing LIVE. 


21st Century Tokyo Blues
before the proper song starts, they did a little skit, and Miyavi somehow became a robot (the intro to this song is a kind of robotic). very entertaining~ 


Kabuki Danshi -Kavki Boiz-
before the song starts, Miyavi introduced the Kabuki Boiz and each of them did a solo. i think the ones that got the most 'approvals' are tap Saro and DJ Teddy...haha.
(trivia!! : did you know that DJ Teddy is only eighteen? yes EIGHTEEN.) 


Hi no Hikari Sae Todokanai Kono Basho de
was hoping Sugizo would somehow be there, but well. you never know, Sugizo doing a special appearance cuz he is the featured artist on the song. but nope, no Sugizo. they cut this song a bit, leaving the slow part at the beginning, then straight away got into the fast part til the end. i sang along (proudly too) to this song. 


BOOM-HAH-BOOM-HAH-HAH
oooh, this one got hand movements, and Kris was struggling to follow them. hands up to beatbox Tyko and tap Saro!! 


Pop is Dead
-- i couldn't believe he's bringing some of his earlier songs into this show!! aaaaaa~!! i LOVE it!! 


Shouri no V-ROCK!!
earlier songs gak, and this he sort of split into two : in the middle he meshed in a few songs, then countinued the ending to Shouri no V-ROCK. i couldn't really remember the 'in-between' songs and its sequence, but they're not fully played - more like excerpt or so. 


Aho Matsuri
I LOVE THIS ONE because i know the dance moves *insert insane laugh here* hahahaaa~ even Tyko and Saro did the moves, and regretfully i must say that not everyone caught up with their lead. but oh well, some of us did~ and it was UBER FUN!! i always wanted to see Miyavi perform this song live~!! 


Kimi ni Funky Monkey Vibration
also i couldn't believe he;s bringing this old song into the show. cool~ 


Ossan Ossan Ore Nanbo
an old song, and i shouted back together when he gave the cue~
Miyavi : "Ossan ossan --"
audience : "Ore nanbo~!!"
the feeling was awesome. 


Are You Ready To Rock
this one he dragged it long a bit, to see the audience's reaction. i think this is the song in where Miyavi told us to "bang your head!!" but i didn't cuz when i tried to, i got a headache. eheh. but those in front of the stage was really into it, seriously. 


intermission
not really in the proper sequence here...this is somewhere earlier actually. but during the intermission, Miyavi did some sort of MC-ing with the audiense, prompting us to shout louder, saying stuff live : "I can't hear you!!" like he really wanted us to lose our voices there and then. neways, there's a guitar solo, then he and tap Saro did some sort of a 'duet', after that also a duet with beatbox Tyko. in short, Miyavi really knows how to entertain a crowd. this point can be vouched upon by Badri and Cher Hao. 


remixes
this is also played somewhere in the middle of the show, during intermission. DJ Teddy went onstage and took his place while the others did something backstage. he entertained is with remizex of Senor Senora Senorita and Freedom Fighters. i think there are other songs too but i can't remember much, sorry. but one thing's for sure, the remixes are all the ABSOLUTE COOLNESS. this coming from someone who doesn't like remixes much, so it's really good. my favorite ever is Freedom Fighters -- try listening to the sample here. 


after the songs, they all left the stage. the us, the audience, called them all out again and shouted "one more song, one more song" again and again.
then the lights came on again, and there they were, in traditional Jrock manner : in their tour Tshirts. 


before the encore, Miyavi gave a little speech, and at the time i'm really impressed with his English. it wasn't the usual Engrish, you know, the mixed-up Japanese-slang-English. he could speak English kind of well. 


encore : Sakihokoru Hana no you ni
i think he played this song somewhere in the show too. 


encore : Subarashiki kana, Kono Sekai
before beginning this song, he gave a little speech too, and what i could remember : he said "unfortunately" a lot of times (i almost died) -- the he said something like "i'll remember this" -- and basically his speech was something about not giving up and stuff, and telling us that he got where he is now by not giving up his dreams. 


by the end of the song, i couldn't remember well enough but the feeling of excitement and amazement is still there. 


after that, we got out of the hall and there were a huge crowd at the merchandise booth -- we got button badges and had to push people out of our way to get out. seriously, packed to the max. 


then we hung out outside of Avalon, chatting and stuff...then, all of a sudden, we heard people screaming, and i thought Miyavi was coming out, then me and Cynthia (literally) dashed between the other fangirls, and we realized that the person they were all screaming for is Yoshiki, X JAPAN's frontman (Yoshiki is one of the many big names in the Japanese music arena, and probably international music too). when i saw him i immediately screamed along with the others, then with a bit of guilt reached out and touched his shoulder together with Cynthia HAHAHA. yeah i was disrespectful. i admit, i was shameless. 


then comes the part that Badri dan Shanida might be waiting for :
when me and Cynthia returned to our spot, it seems that Badri and Shanida went to Yoshiki at the end of the fangirl-line, approached him without interruptions, and got to shake hands and exchanged a few words with him. oh i was envious.
ah well, at least better than Kris, he missed his chance to meet Yoshiki THREE times including this one. try harder, Kris!! i'll be with you XD 


anyways, after Badri and Shanida finally got control of their excitement, we tried to wait for the performers to come out of Avalon. then Badri said : "eh, isn't that the one on stage...?" (not exact sentence, but you get the idea.)
i turned around and looked at the person Badri was talking about, who was walking towards this one white van parked beside us. me with my big eyes said out kind of loudly, "Tyko...Tyko?!" and yes, that IS the beatboxer of Kabuki Boiz. and i think inside the van with him there's also Hige-chang, with their family i guess, or their crew.
after the van took off, me with over-high emotions exploded internally. 


then we waited some more, because we know Miyavi will come out sooner or later. at the time there weren't many people, but still, the line forming between the club and the road is still gonna require a bit pushing here and there.
and we waited.
there were a lot of speculations as why he's late, like "maybe he already left here, we didn't notice hime driving behind us" or "i think he's in the luggage there" or "maybe he got diarrhea" and other stuff.
it was absurd, our minds. 


AND THEN.
THERE WAS ANOTHER WHITE VAN PARKING BESIDE OUR SIDEWALK.
THEY CAME OUT OF THE SIDE DOOR.
AND WE suddenly FORMED A DISCIPLINED LINE.
minus the fangirl screams of course. 



-- tap Saro came out, smiling politely -- 



-- DJ Teddy with excitement and still energetic -- 



-- and Miyavi came out with a huge smile and a 'peace' sign~!! 


LET ME SPAZ OUT A BIT HERE~ *spazspazspaz* 


i got to be in LESS than one meter radius from Miyavi~!!
(pictures ala paparazzi credited to Badri.)
before closing the van door, Miyavi did some sort of a final wave...and suddenly i felt really sad cuz i couldn't meet him like this easily anymore. he'll perform in San Francisco later, then Brazil, Chile, Europe, then Asia, and finally back to Japan, if i'm not mistaken. 


then, everyone hungry and thirsty (i screamed and yelled and shouted with all my heart, okay), Kris brought us to this one pizza place. there wasn't many eateries there, except for a Mexican food place beside the pizza. 



Shanida
(still crazy over Yoshiki when this was typed.) 



Bad
(also crazy over Yoshiki.) 



Cher Hao
(found out Miyavi could play guitar really well.) 



the people who got to get griendly with Yoshiki and rubbing it into my face for a while. 



Cynthia dan Kris.
apparently it's hard to get a picture of them both. 


after eating we got out of the shop and the smokers lighted their cigarettes. we just stood there and talk and stuff. 



who's the shortest? 



again, who's the shortest?
(Badri's on his tiptoes, really. i think. must be.) 



me with the tour Tshirt, Cher Hao, Badri. 



again, promoting the tour Tshirt mwahaha. 



then a friend of Kris' came (i never knew he had a lot of friends in the area...) and they talked while we just stood where we were, staring at them (sorry bad description). then we decided to join in their conversation. 


Kris' friend then asked us where we're from, then we said "Malaysia." we discovered that he's from Indonesia. (Malaysia and Indonesia are neighboring countries.) i was honestly very surprised cuz his face could've passed off as a Chinese, Japanese, somewhere around that region. 


his name is Alfred, he's friendly. we even got to talk about the similarities between Indonesia and Malaysia, especially ghost stories. which was weird. then someone mentioned the name Rusika, and i remembered the flyers distributed at the Avalon entrance before we got in. the flyers were promoting a band named Rusika. i quickly got the flyer out of my back pocket, read the name of the drummer, which is Alfred, and his face -- 


-- yes, it's the same person.
i was stunned. to anyone interested, they're a local Jrock band, and information on them can be found at their MySpace page. 



see how Jrock-ish he is? (the one with the stripes, not the other short one.)
(btw, Alfred is his real name, not his stage name or anything.) 



our turn~ 


then we said goodbye and took our own paths home. 



last pic of the day, of me and the couple. 


with a sad but hopeful feeling, we left the venue that wouldn't be forgotten for a real long time. i hope there will be more Miyavi shows that i can go to~ 


oh, for a feeling of how the show was, here i post a short video of the encore : Sakihokoru Hana no You ni (last song of the night) - enjoy.




(ah, i took this video 'sneakily'...haha.)
actually we weren't as far as this video gives out to be. we could see Miyavi's feminine beautiful sexy face clearly from where we are. really. 


ah, anniversary of my first Miyavi song~
this post is dedicated to that moment.
"EGOISTIC na oretachi ni CHEERS" -- Miyavi, Selfish Love

ps : this is a translated post from my other blog. sorry for the loooooong delay...gomen gomen. the original post was dated May 21, btw.

ps2 : for a more accurate report, visit JRock Revolution : Miyavi Live Reports. i know i messed up the setlist and sequence of it. haha.

Comments

[harakanraakku.livejournal.com]

I...did...it...! Read the whole entry. I had browsed it earlier but heck, I told myself to read it well, not haf-assedly and give a proper comment. So, here I go.

I can feel the excitement of yours poured into this entry. Yea, honestly, obvious or not. Lives are always awesome because they are far more intensive than listening to recorded stuff instead or something else-- it's the whole thing; the person in flesh, possible mistakes... so luring and great. I myself didn't go either of Miyavi's gigs (2nd and 3rd of July) but I won't drop the hope to see him later in future-- this just wasn't my time to see him, I think. Also, I'm not a big fan of his (but still like him in some ways) so I don't take it as the biggest loss of my life. But in case he'll come back later, I'm hoping for the change of seeing him and feeling his energy.

Myv's English is far more developed than one might imagine-- most Japanese artists stumble and have a really heavy Japanese impact on their speech but he has managed to progress further. He really has taken streghtening his Japanese purposefully.

Alfred is a fine-looking lad, eh. I'm just visiting his band's MySpace. So I suppose the singer could be a Japanese, correct? Either way, this guys are rather ok as in sound.

[chiisanahito.livejournal.com]

I AM SO THANKFUL FOR YOUR PATIENCE AND PERSEVERANCE!!
you read til the end, and you even commented!!


yeah it was uber-awesome!! you should go see him live someday, even if you're not a big fan -- his sense of energy is extraordinary. even my friend (Cher Hao) said so, him not being a Miyavi listener ever.


about Rusika -- the singer isn't Japanese, if i'm not mistaken. haven't been to their MySpace in a long while, so i kind of lost track of how their music sounds like (yeah, i lose interest quickly sometimes). but they're pretty cool.


sorry for not reading/commenting on your LJ much, my mind's been disorganized for a really long while, dunno why...even now, too.