Punk Kaya

Went to another Kaya/Kaleidescrope live tonight. His lives are always interesting. For one, you never know which "Kaya" you're going to see. Will it be "boy Kaya" or "girl Kaya"? I have seen him as a boy so seldom, I always secretly hope for it, at least for a few songs (he often changes clothes in the middle of the concert).

However, I absolutely didn't expect what DID happen. The band members came out one-by-one and there was a half-hearted response, fans calling out their names in greeting. When the drummer, bassist, guitarist, and keyboardist were in place, someone else came out, and I was like "who the hell is that?". Much to my surprise, the fangirls next to me started calling out "Kaya!" My eyes about fell out of my head. As a "girl", Kaya wears lolita-style, super elegant, lacy, elaborate dresses with matching hair accessories and usually a rose somewhere on his person. Even when Kaya dresses as a boy, he is very cutsie and sticks to cute clothing, like flowy poet shirts or silly school uniforms... THIS Kaya was one I had never seen before. He was dressed head to toe in Algonquins!! (a Japanese punk brand). He had on a long sleeve tan-ish t-shirt with writing scrawled on it, a really hideous, open, loose black zip hoody with a pho-leopard fur hood and pockets (doesn't sound punk until you see it), SUPER tight red pants complete with studded patches and fashionably shredded holes (thus solving the mystery of wether boy Kaya shaves his legs - NO), and grungy hightop sneakers with the tops folded over to reveal the plaid red inside. The only thing that wasn't awful was his hair, which was slightly red in color, permed, and flipped to one side of his head, where it had been pinned, sprayed, and braided into submission until it hung in nice frizzy curls over the right half of his face. Seeing Kaya dressed like that -in PUNK!- was like...Obama showing up to give a national address in a 1980s bubblegum, puff sleeve prom dress. Let's just take a minute to picture that, shall we?

...

...Anyway, it was still adorable because Kaya made it extremely obvious that he felt no more at home than he looked, wearing such clothes on stage. He kept asking if he looked alright. When his adoring fans told him he looked cool ("かこいいですよ〜！"), he didn't believe them because he kept saying, "Really? Really?" He sighed, "It's so hard being a boy," and we all laughed because, for him, it was so true. He was trying to figure out how to stand and look "manly" with the microphone, and finally just sort of slung his arm over the microphone stand and slumped like a bum, saying "Like this, right?" to the general hilarity of all (apparently the key to being a boy --> look like a slob). For a split second he did his usual girly, twinkle-toes microphone posture, and the contrast was so vast is was painfully funny (I think there were tears in my eyes). Of course, he might have just be fishing for compliments, because one of the fans said, "You're so cute!" and he gave that amazing million-dollar smile of his and said, "I know!" (Ah, there's the Kaya we know and love)

It wasn't until he actually pointed it out and said this was an "Algonquins live" that I noticed the other members were also all wearing the same brand. It looked normal on everyone else!

The performance was different from any other of the lives I went to, with no real soft or particularly jazzy stuff, but he had redone some of his old songs in the Kaleidescope style. Honestly, I wasn't super into the music, but I enjoyed watching the members. I noticed that Kaya never seemed to actually look at anyone in the audience. He looked off to the side, or up at the ceiling, or at a point at the back of the room... But I was standing in the first row, three feet in front of him, and he never once looked at me. It was bizarre. Is he shy? He doesn't usually look at the crowd when he talks either, but usually looks behind him to the other members. I always thought that was really odd. I got a lot of looks from Shingo, the bassist though. He is such a pleasure to watch because he is always smiling and honestly looking like he is enjoying himself.

The members were all pretty cute, personality wise. The leader of the band was clearly the drummer, but he was way awkward too and usually began his talks with a grunt, and [the Japanese equivalent of a] "umm...", "yeah..." or "so..." which was just generally adorable to all, including the other band members who were all too shy to say anything at all (except for Shingo, of course, who revels in the spotlight). There were two guest artists as well, a guitarist who looked about 17, and a keyboardist playing a hand held synthesizer that could have been stolen from A Flock of Seagulls. I don't think anyone there was old enough to have seen one in action before, so everyone was impressed. After they played one song, he admitted it was his first time playing it! Even Kaya seemed shocked.

The whole concert was very laid back and kind of funny. They kept poking fun at each other and having these little discussions between songs that were clearly unrehearsed (or, that they had talked about saying something... but never decided WHAT to say). Considering the minuscule venue and small number of us there, the easy atmosphere made sense; more like two dorms rooms shoved together than Tokyo Dome.

The stage was really tiny and didn't really fit the five members comfortably, yet with the guest artist, they sometimes had up to seven people on stage! Kaya almost smacked straight into the bassist when he turned around (the girl next to me gasped and reached out her arm, as if she could somehow throw herself across the stage to save him). When Kaya went offstage, the other members would take turns standing center stage. Most of them didn't really like the limelight, so Shingo was more than happy to soak it up on their behalf (lol, I adore that man).

It was a strange and unexpected experience. I hope I get to see him and Kaleidoscope play together a few more times before I go home. Since they seem more like a group of friends than a real band, I doubt they will ever make the journey together overseas.

Cheers,

'Addict' Baer