Kaleideoscope /Kaya concert

I haven't written a blog in a while, so, if you are interested, I wrote about my concert experience last Saturday in Tokyo. I went to Tokyo solely for the purpose of seeing this concert, and headed home the same day.

The show was held at the Ruido K3. This was actually my first concert in Japan, not counting V-Rock Fest, so I had no clue about the venue, setup, crowd, anything. When I arrived, I was shocked to the see how small the building was. It was no longer strange to me that it didn't show up on Google Maps. There was a very small crowd of about 65 nicely dresses, mostly lolita-style, girls standing around outside, (I was defiantly the only foreigner) so I knew it was the right place. A staffer guy started calling out ticket numbers, which was a surprise to me. I knew my ticket had a number, but I thought it was all standing room. To facilitate an orderly entry once the doors opened, the staffer lined us up more or less in numerical order. Except, the entry was in the basement and the building was so small, we lined up by winding around the stairs going up the inside of the building.

After the doors opened, we slowly wound ourselves down into the basement. I was really shocked (again) to see how small the room was were the concert would be held. They had filled the standing room with folding chairs, which explained the ticket numbers, but I am pretty sure we could have held the concert in my 1LK apartment. Honestly, I was thrilled to see the arrangement. It guaranteed that no matter where you were, you had a good seat and could see Kaya and all the band members. I was super happy to get to sit down for the next hour and half as well.

The band members came out first, took up their places and, minus Kaya, began to play. I liked it immediately. It was a jazzy sort of rock/pop that I could tell immediately would suit Kaya to a T. Even without Kaya, I would have gone to see this band play, as they were quite good, and quite fun to watch. I thought the Bassist, Shingo, was particularly cute, as he was clearly having fun; he kept sticking his tongue out and would sometimes silently mouth the sound of the other instruments (which cracked me up).

After the first song, the band paused, and Kaya blew onto the stage. He was dressed in platform boots, a black high-waisted pants, a white shirt, a short black jacket with looong coat tails, and a short white wig. I was a little disappointed he didn't just stick with his natural hair. The wig was definitely a little weird, and I know he looks gorgeous as just himself... ah, but anyway, he was very quiet, reserved, did a simple little bow, and sat down.

The first couple of songs were the same jazzy stuff that the band had been playing as a warm up. It was not very fast paced, just easy, relaxing. Kaya sounded even better with them than I could have imagined. From the first time I heard his music, my fantasy of him has always been to have him sing at private jazz club/restaurant, without big crowds and where one could dance. My fantasy was somewhat fulfilled; I think, if he ever did such a thing, this is what it would sound like. I wanted to sit there and listen to them forever.

However, after the first couple of songs, the lights came up and so did the band members. Kaya, Shingo, and... the guitarist (he was cute too! I just.. can't.. remember his name...) had all been sitting down, but they popped up and suddenly the mood changed. Kaya laughed and started talking. I have no idea what he said after "Good evening!" so don't ask me. They started playing without much talking, but it was a faster pace, not as mellow, though it still had that jazzy edge to it. After they played for a bit, Kaya whisked away off stage while the band kept playing. I assumed he had gone to change his clothes. The band played a full song, and when Kaya had still not reappeared, they continued into a... rotating solo. Shingo went first, the spotlight shinning down on him as he showed off with his bass. The guitarist went next, then the pianist, then the drummer. They did this about 5 times until Kaya swept back on stage again. He had indeed changed his clothes, now a blouse and skirt. As the girls next to me burst into a quiet round of "Kawaii~!", Kaya summed up the transformation himself: "I'm a princess!" He then apologized (I think... don't quote me on the translation!) for taking so long because he couldn't get his clothes on! Everyone laughed at both comments.

The fast paced music continued for the rest of the show. They did pause for about 15 minutes to do a "Talk Show Corner", where Kaya read from cards collected from the audience. I could only read the second half of the question on my card, so I didn't fill it out; I think it was asking where we wanted to go with the Kaya Express, but again, don't quote me. I grew a bit bored from not being able to understand. Watching Shingo was fun though; at one point, he was too busy checking himself out in mirror and fixing his clothes, that he didn't even hear Kaya ask him a question, which he got teased mercilessly for.

I floated out of that venue on a cloud. It was such a good show on every possible level. The band was amazing, Kaya was amazing, and venue was perfect, and even the sound was great. I was really sad that I hadn't bought a ticket for the 2nd show of the night, but I did have to make the last train home so... till next time Kaya.

I have two more concerts in Tokyo this weekend, ha ha. I don't think they will be as amazing (the venue is much bigger) but I will let you know!

Cheers,

musical Baer(s)