This was one of my very first lives in Japan, and my first time seeing Guruguru Eigakan. I had just arrived the previous day, and my friends Akuriko and Xen did not know the area, so we had to get to Osaka Muse on our own. Located somewhere in the streets of the lively Shinsaibashi area, it isn't that hard to find using the map on the Osaka Muse website. I, however, opted for glancing at the map once, going early to Shinsaibashi (had a few things to take care of), and just... seeing if we could find it. We actually gave up and went inside a convenience store to ask for directions, when I looked up and out the window, and saw it directly across the street. Lucky (*.*) Word of advice, unless you have no way of getting a ticket from the band or Likea in advance (or even better, reserving), don't go for Lawson/Pia tickets - sure, it's convenient, but you end up going in after everybody with a regular ticket.
Osaka Muse... I had heard great things about this livehouse before, and they all turned out true. The escalator takes you up to the second floor, and after another flight of stairs, you find yourself in a waiting area of sorts. 5:30 came, and the girl came out to call the numbers. Some cosplayers. It looked like people were there for the other bands, but then, I had no clue how to spot a Guruguru fan. One girl was actually taller than me (no platforms involved), which wouldn't be too crazy over here, but hardly happens in Japan. (I don't think I remember spotting guys, a bit odd because Guruguru have quite a few male fans in Tokyo.) Finally we went up another flight of stairs, to the same type of area, except with the hall to the left, the bar to the right, and merchandise tables out in the middle. Guruguru were the only band with their table right next to the actual door to the performance space. We went in, got asked which band we came to see (for money division purposes - I was told by somebody that she's never been asked that, but from my experience with indies VK shows, it almost always happens.) Nicely-sized place, pretty big stage, yet comfortably so. The music playing was that of the performing bands, and suddenly "Boku wa tatakawaneba naranai" came on. (I just ..froze ;_;) We picked a spot somewhere in the middle, a bit to the right, then looked at flyers until the curtain opened.
And MASK's vocalist Jin came out. In full costume. (A very nice looking jacket/suit type thing the details of which I don't remember.) Apparently he was only there to announce some things about MASK, and ...teach the audience the hand movements to their new song, 1990nen5gatsu as the recording was playing in the background. "Okay, when I yell 'OH JESUS CHRIST!!!', do this! *move*" followed by disco moves and whatnot. ('OH JESUS CHRIST' is in the lyrics, yes.) When some people weren't doing the hand things, he jumped off the stage, reached into the crowd and actually made people do them! Then he said something like "You know, I'm not the only special guest tonight..." and from behind the curtain comes MASK's bassist Kazutake! In normal street clothes! He just stood next to Jin and together they resumed yelling "OH JESUS CHRIST!!!" (or perhaps this was before the song began... sorry, I don't remember too well.) A few words of promotion, upcoming lives, and they were gone.
Next, was 73shiki, a band I had heard beforehand, but didn't really like very much. Well, this live certainly changed that! I found their music to be a little too laid-back for my tastes, but their live performance certainly adds that missing something. They came out in similar outfits (suits of some kind), and began. And it sounded great. They have talent, and very fun personalities on stage. Nothing too crazy, they were just smiling and looked very happy to be there. At one point the bassist played a really nice solo. (So much more than one can expect from a good chunk of VK.) I don't remember much else, but my notes have "gu. -> dork" written down, which I believe refers to him flipping everyone off every 5 seconds. There was also a geeky moment when the vocalist tried to be all hardcore, playing with this lighter, but that just looked silly :D He just... put it in his pocket when he was done. They played some songs I knew, but wasn't able to name (tempted to say Ai.Ai.Eye was one of them, though,) had a moment of fanservice where one of them played with the other's hair (don't remember who) and were done for the night.
I thought Guruguru would be one of the last few, but then we heard traditional Japanese music coming from the speakers, and guessed that they would be next. And they were. The curtain was lifted, revealing Guruguru posing on stage, to the charming Kamata Koushinkyoku (at the end of which everyone claps once) and the show began. (And I stared like a fangirly idiot.)
Set list stolen from Amano's journal.
1. Doushite kureyou kono elegy
2. Rock'n'Roll wa keiji no shita de
-MC-
3. Nichiyoubi no asa
-Message-
4. Fuan, kita.
-Dr&MC-
5. Daimondai! Saredo kaisei.
6. Kadai Boku wa tatakawaneba naranai
And all but one are favorites of mine. How lucky. I believe the entire thing started with an elegant little skit, and they just started playing. Listening to "Doushite..", it really hit me how much and why I love them. It's just elegant - an interesting, yet perfect choice of a starting song. (Oh man, I'm getting fangirl-y with this.) I wasn't too familiar with the "Rock'n'Roll..." songs before this, and was curious as to why they were playing them at pretty much every single live around that time, since the two only appeared on an omnibus ages ago. Of course, it was because they re-recorded the things for "Yoi koto..." (released three weeks after this live.) I couldn't remember much of the MC if you paid me - I was in a decent *fish-face-staring-at-stage* thing.
Next! Beautiful "Nichiyoubi no asa", which may very well be my favorite Guruguru Eigakan song. Then another I am in love with, "Fuan, kita." Halfway through which, Amano began to do... ACTUAL disco moves. Complete with disco ball. I love the man ;_; Now, most bands have a member intro song they do, to which each member gets introduced, and the audience sort of 'blooms' at the person with their arms (it is a bit hard to explain - a common thing in visual kei.) Guruguru use the drum line to "Daimondai!..." for this. Aniki starts it, and Amano goes around talking about each of them. For Tama-sama, he made everybody call out "Tama-dono~!!!" instead (a higher level of formality than -sama.) 'Aniki' and 'Shin-chan' were the same I believe, and I can't remember what people yelled for Amano. At this point, he showed us the moves we're supposed to do during "Daimondai!...", and everybody mimicked them once or twice before going into the actual song. Here, the atmosphere got much more exciting. Instead of just standing, or little hand movements, the audience gets to jump around a bit. I thought this was the end, but they did 'Bokutata' too, a song I was obsessing over back then :o I've noticed they like to split up their shows like this - at first you have the calmer songs, but towards the end it can get pretty crazy. Finally, they were done.
We decided to go get our drinks here, and look at the merchandise. I got melon soda, I think, and that's so very relevant to a live report. Anyway, we wandered around for a bit, then went back towards the hall to find none other than Mr. Tamakoshi Isao sitting over at the Guruguru merch table with the staff girl. Of course, I was planning to look at their stuff then, but now it was kinda awkward, since he was just sitting there. Luckily (hah), CodomoA went on, and I couldn't miss them, so I went in. Akuri and Xenxen stayed outside by the tables.
CodomoA are fun. They had what looked like most of the people at the show going insane and jumping around, very excited. Eiji was running around, hyper as all hell. Really great show. I obviously wasn't paying as much attention anymore, plus because I wasn't as close, I couldn't participate as much as the girls up front were. The stage was decorated with parasols, I knew some of the songs, the band hugged the entire first row, fun stuff. When they went offstage I went back outside, hung around the Guruguru merch table a bit.
Gilgamesh, not much to say about them. Good show, good songs. I was way in the back for this, so we just left after I heard them play a few songs I knew. The vocalist took off his shirt after a while. After Gilgamesh, Tama was like "Ah wait, here, the DVD might be messed up." and gave me a good DVD (which I later found out was a copy of a perfectly okay DVD.) Ah, all in all, a fantastic time. So fantastic, we didn't bother staying for Scar. (I wasn't looking forward to them too much, anyway.)