Thursday, September 11, 2008

Live Report 8/31/08, Urawa Narciss: LAVERITE, Cinema Strip, Cheeky, Mistes, CKroll, Baby, Az:Madius, Dorothy

We were 4th out of 8, so here are the bands I didn't see, to get them out of the way:

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CKroll, the scary-looking blue dude is ridiculously nice and down-to-earth

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Dorothy

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Baby, who were excited to catch me and Ryota playing along to Sugar tunes backstage


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before

We took the stage and were pleasantly surprised to see an absolutely full house, and plenty of people up toward the very front ready to rock along with us. They weren't necessarily people who had come just for us, but still, it really helped us feel good. We kept up the energy from the previous live very easily and had a great show. I can't help but grin like an idiot up there, so apparently I've become the "smiley one", which is honestly just fine by me. It's fun up there and I'm not about to hide that.

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almost after

We didn't call out enough people to break even, of course, but still it was a great turnout. A few coworkers came out, coupla housemates, and Bunny came out too, which was really sweet of her because Narciss is far for people who aren't me. There were also a couple of other girls who said hello but didn't stick around long enough to chat! :(

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We sold a small handful of photo sets and were asked to sign them, which is still surreal, and we got presents of snacks from a few girls.
The Closet Child CD sold out way fast, and "Rose mary" is all given out, so the only available Laverite CD is the free Sephirot/Criticism thing in the indie shops.

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By the way, I think I've brought this up before, but it gets asked about a lot, and someone (who?! Thanks!!) kindly explained it in one of the comment threads, but here goes:
We have to pay to play a live.

This shouldn't surprise anyone, but it does. This isn't just a Japan thing, either. Here's how it works.

We enter an agreement with the live house that we'll be able to bring in a pre-established number of people; say, twenty. At the door, everyone is asked what band they came to see, and if they reserved a ticket. We give our reservation list to the front before the house opens. You can also show up on the day and say you're there to see whoever, but reserving gets you a slight discount.

For every ticket we do not sell, we pay for. Sometimes, only 4 people come. Tickets are between 2,000 and 3,000 yen, so you can do the math there. That is, of course, on top of equipment rental and the cost of having a sound and video recording made of our performance.

Back when I was playing in punk and ska bands, however, often times we'd just play for free and if the house made enough of a profit we'd typically get $100 or some chump change, but it was just for kicks and at least we weren't operating in the red so it was all good. I don't know what I'm doing in a VK band, though.

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Okay, other bands. Cheeky was a lot of fun as usual, and their vocalist Sadon and I got along really well, and the backstage almost turned into an eikaiwa for a second.

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Cinema Strip continues to be ridiculously solid, and since Leo and I have similar performing backgrounds we got along quite well too. He had me teach him some psuedo-moonwalkin' dance moves, so I hope he uses them onstage so I can be like "I taught him everything he knows!"

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Mistes are also pretty cool actually, and good dudes. Three of them went to high school with Yue, which we discovered randomly last time we played with them. Pretty neat.

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Az:Madius is three chicks and they're certainly no Danger Gang or Exist Trace yet. But, to be fair, we're not exactly a Lareine yet.

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Another fun show under our belt. The next live is at Takadanobaba Area on 9/24, and we play first. That's going to be somewhat of an 'audition' live for us, because we've never played at Area before. I've never been there before, even.

That's kind of a ways away, so I've gotta find something to talk about until then!
Work is pretty sweet and stuff on the money side I suppose, but it affords me pretty much no more free time anymore, which is why this report is like a week and a half late. Last night I met up with Masaki after work at our respective half-way-home points for drinks and both of us couldn't believe how much work it took to make a plan to chill out.

Welcome to adulthood I guess!

6 comments:

Klisk said...

I'm pretty sure I'm the one who explained how the ticket deal works with playing live, ha. ":3

It can be a real bummer as a new band trying to get off the ground, but sometimes you have to think of it as a hobby. "This investment is towards something I love, so it's not a waste." Type of deal.

Badymaru said...

I love it when you make these posts, its so cool to see this sort of this from an 'insiders' point of view in understandable English .xD

I cant wait till the point where you finally break even with the ticket sales!

So, is there any way for us 'not-in-japan' kids to hear what you guys sound like? I'm curious...

Go said...

i like the pix where you look like you're polishing that cellphone/mirror thing with your chin (no, seriously! the candid shots are always more informative.)

and: pay-to-play SUCKS! although i guess it sorta makes sense when 90% of the people aren't old enough to buy liquor yet. and i guess it incentivizes the whole ticket-peddling aspect.

You guys gonna play in the park in Shibuya now that it's getting cooler out? Or does that require yakuza tariffs?

Anonymous said...

Okay so you have to pay to play which is a sort of a bummer. But I still hope you guys fill up the quotes since your music is pretty interesting and I know a lot of people dig that kind of sound.

But do you ever get payed if you bring more people than you'd stated or you don't get payed at all?

Also I've noticed you mentioning the fact that But, to be fair, we're not exactly a Lareine yet.. Does that mean you're aiming for that kind of sound and style?

I've really enjoyed this post and I like the to-the-core live reports.
Anyway as I always I wish you fun on your performances and a lots of fans who will love and know how to appreciate your music.

Rubab said...

the girl on the right for Az:Madius... is she Japanese?!
Doesnt look like it .. o__o

But yay for moonwalkin!!

you look sooo cute in ur pics too xD weee

Anonymous said...

Yes it's awful when you need to start planning when to relax. :[
Love your live reports, please keep them coming despite how busy you are :] Being the smiley one is great haha. At the very least people remember which one you are :p