Where Are They Now? / ギブス (GIVUSS)

GIVUSS was formed by Shou and Tora back in 2003 and disbanded in March of 2004. Its members by the time of their last maxi single release 能音楽、無生命。 (no music, no life.) consisted of Shou on vocals, Tora on guitar, Tsunehito on bass, and Yuu on drums. I wouldn't be surprised if you recognize the names. After the breakup, the band members' music career continued and now, they're...

Shou is now in alice nine., with much improved vocals and appearance.

Tora is also part of alice nine.. God, what the hell was he thinking with that awful makeup in the GIVUSS photo?

Tsunehito actually joined SCISSOR after GIVUSS. Upon SCISSOR'S breakup, he became the new bassist of D in 2006. I think he looked much cooler in GIVUSS. Now, I get the impulse to stab him in the eyes because he always look so startled in photoshoots.

Yuu's not-really-current band 華族 (Kazoku) broke up just last month. I know nothing about them.

Music Review: アリス九號. / ブループラネット (alice nine. / Blue Planet)

Either due to the bad quality of the original mp3 (128kbps at iTunes Japan), or Shou sounding like he forgot his vocal training over the past year, I can't say I love this song. I dislike the synthesized vocal effect and feel that it just cheapens the production. Honestly, what happened to the magic of alice nine.'s Zekkeishoku album? The two post-Zekkeishoku singles NUMBER SIX. and Blue Planet are mediocre compared to a lot of songs on their full-length album released earlier this year. While this song is quite decent, it can't hold a candle to their early 2006 releases. I think I've begun to hold alice nine. to higher standards. I feel let down.

Rating: Tolerable-Good

SID + alice nine. + pasta = ♥

So, according to Shou and Hiroto of alice nine., they visited Aki of SID ("the charismatic bassist Aki", wrote Shou) after their Shibuya Kokaido live and brought him souvenirs from Okinawa. And Aki made pasta for the two of them. Then, Hiroto and Aki went to a near-by park and talked deep into the night. And then, both of them fell sleep until it was morning! I assume right there in the park!

It's odd how all these bands on different labels know each other, isn't it? What's interesting is, they can't just be casual acquaintances because I would never buy things for people I don't really know and go out of my way to bring the gifts to them, especially if this is right after a big concert and I'm probably dead exhausted.

Aki apparently is a good cook, too.

News: アリス九號. (alice nine.) / HELLO, DEAR NUMBERS [2007.01.24]

Artist: アリス九號. (alice nine.)
Release: HELLO, DEAR NUMBERS Tour Final at Shibuya Kokaido Public Hall (live DVD)
Label: PS Company
Date: 2007.01.24

Limited Edition
Concert disc + bonus disc (making of, interview)
Catalog Number: KIBM-90129
Price: 6,090 yen (tax in)

Normal Edition
Concert disc
Catalog Number: KIBM-129
Price: 3,990 yen (tax in)

I'm surprised how affordable this new live DVD release is. It's only 2/3 the price of Gazette's Nameless Liberty DVD. Now I'll actually consider buying it. Or should I wait another year or so until alice nine. performs at Budokan (actually, knowing alice nine., it'll be probably be less than a year)? But by then, the band will be way too famous/popular for their Budokan DVD to be as affordable as this one.

New alice nine. Blogs!

alice nine. members now have their individual blogs. The new blog designs capture each band member's personality and style pretty well, I think.

Shou is down-to-earth.

Tora is cool and badass.

Hiroto is youthful with a dash of punkiness.

Saga is all about making fangirls' brains explode with his sexiness.

Nao is innocent and fanciful.

Together, they're alice nine..

I prefer Shou's personality the best, actually. I like those who have their feet planted firmly on the ground. They're the ones whom I can relate to. Shou is focused, hard working, and yes, very real and sensible. This is the type of guy a girl wants to take home to show to her parents.

Cutie Nao

Nao's 09/28 diary entry (translation credit to Miyabi_Melody of Batsu J-Rock Forum):

I was at bookstore today and saw 2 mothers (who seem to be friends) reading Korean artists books. They were talking peacefully among themselves and I saw them picking up the magazine with alice nine. on cover!!! Just when I was thinking "OH?" at the moment, the 2 mothers said:...

"Ah, new Korean artists♪"

I ran out.

At this point, I broke down and laughed my head off. Ahh my dear Nao, what will the world do without your lovable innocence?

PV Review: アリス九號. (alice nine.) / NUMBER SIX.

Supposedly, the NUMBER SIX. PV continues the story told in 春夏秋冬 (Shunkashuutou). The alice nine. members are all high school buddies and they have a startup band. They run into conflicts, have shove fights, get broody, then make up and have group hugs. Awww... we're all friends again!

Does this sound like a cheesy high school drama to you?

Because it sure does to me. I lose count how many times I have facepalmed because the PV is literally dripping with syrupy sap. Guys, even though you have a youthful image, most of you are in the mid-twenties. Dear god, if you must pretend to be high school band kids, you should at least tone down the mushiness. Not to mention, this kind of plot is pretty damn trite. We see it in dramas all the time; must you also inflict it upon us in your PV, too?

Had I been say... 12 years old, I'd have found this love-dovey-ness cute and endearing. alice nine. group hug, yay! But sadly, I'm not. So this PV gets a...

Rating: Tolerable

Update:

I heard rumors that Tora was the one who directed wrote the storyline for this PV. If this is true... well, I apologize to him for not liking his work. It really isn't to my taste. I'm only talking about the PV, not the music here. I know for a fact that he composed the song. However, I still haven't formed an opinion about the song yet. I'll have to digest it some more.

What Makes a Good Live Report

I've read quite a number of live reports. I'm sure all of you have found also that while some reports are powerful, intense, and gripping, others are simply... bland and mediocre. What separate the fantastic reports from the so-so ones?

I present two case studies. These are two reports that floored me with their passion and earnesty, the best I've read in a long time.

One, Gazette's Nameless Liberty Tour at Fukuoka on April 11, 2006, written by shirann of LJ. Some parts that really stood out to me:

Sometime during this song, I think Ruki's ring or maybe the mic cut his face open just beside his nose, but he didn't even seem to notice. He seriously looked delerious with... something... as he sang the slow part, and then he exploded into madness again for the chorus! I don't think I've ever seen anyone get that much into a song. I didn't really watch the others a lot during this, mostly because I couldn't tear my eyes away from Ruki. He just... I fell in love with his raw power. His emotion is right there, swirling in giant currents around him and over everyone else.

...

During the bridge, I think there was more orchestrated hand movement, but by this time I was seriously too lost in the experience to notice the crowd much anymore. Uruha was smiling at the crowd a lot during this song. At one time I looked at him, and I think he spotted my FUCK wristband, cause he smiled at me again! One thing stands out very prominently in my mind for this song, though. At one point, Reita was relatively close to the edge of the stage, playing to the crowd and looking over us a few times, so... I flipped him off. OMFG, I GAVE REITA THE FINGER! I don't know what made me do it, but it just kind of... happened. Anyway, he definitely saw it, because he kind of blinked, then looked down my arm and paused for a second on my face. And I'm sure I must have had this "OMFG PLEASE LET ME JUST DISAPPEAR" look on my face because he smirked slightly, and went back to backstage. I feel so bad! But maybe he was amused by it. I felt like facepalming, but I couldn't because I seriously couldn't get my hand to my face at that point, it was so crammed.

Take a deep breath and sit back. Here's the second live report. alice nine.'s 2nd Oneman Tour (Zekkeishoku) at Fukuoka on May 20, 2006, written by direngrey_ of LJ.

This was the only song of the night where 将 [note: Shou] was off a bit. The beginning `Shishiza wa ~` was clearly off key, and I saw him look to the side after he sung it and grimace, like "Get yourself together, 将!!"

The rest of the opening was a better, but still a little off...

After the opening, he nailed every note.

But, I`ll never forget that look on his face. A while back on his journal, 将 wrote about how painfully embarassing it is for him when he can`t perform perfectly as a vocalist. He`s come such a long way, but I still feel 将 often doubts his ability. I touched on this in my letter to him, as well...

I hope 将 can completely believe in himself one day, and embrace his unbelievable talents without doubting himself. He deserves that...

...

沙我 [note: Saga] did something totally random during 暁 [note: Akatsuki]. I had my hands out, and so did the 2 girls to my left. 沙我 walked a little closer, licked his finger... and then drew it accross my left hand.
I was dumbstruck.

That got a total `Wow, YAY!!!` in my head, but I was also like `沙我, you`re SO RANDOM!!`.

And yes, I`ve washed my hands MANY times since then, so no one ask me to clone him XD I REFUSE!

Reading these leave a huge smile on my face. What is it about these two reports that I absolutely love? I find that I really enjoy details on band-audience interactions. The interactions, I believe, are the heart and soul of all lives. This is why we pay to see our favorite bands in concert. Nothing else can capture the magic of attending an actual live. The DVD recordings completely pale in comparison to being a member of the fired-up crowd, headbanging, moshing to the music. When a band member actually makes eye-contact and/or smile or wave at you, you feel your heart stop and all blood rush to your face. That moment of intensity simply cannot be found anywhere else.

Another factor that really weighs in is that these two writors of the reports obviously love, love the bands whose lives they attended. They worship the bands and they're not afraid to bare their souls and put their love into passionate words. They're sincere and earnest. On a certain level, the readers are able to attend the concerts vicariously because they can so easily relate to the writors. It was a pleasure, a true pleasure and honor, for me to share their experiences. shirann and direngrey_ will probably never see what I have written here, but still, I want to thank them.

Thank you sincerely for bringing the concerts alive to us readers and allowing us to experience those magical moments with you. You guys are the best.