i got the setlist, AND caught manabes pick. sweet!



and even if i hadnt, the show was worth it just to hear juns "WAAA!" when he saw GRs shirt..

Manabe pick buddies rofl.

Droopy, eh? How was it? Damn, has that even been played in Japan? If not, that's too bad ass.

Along with New Animal (which I'm not sure how often that's been played in Japan), there was a new song with English lyrics they've played a few times.

How were you lucky enough to score the setlit, you just asked for it?

Also what was your distance that you caught the pick.

[quote="Marekenshin"]What was the encore?

HOW WAS TOKYO BABMI LIVE?[/quote]

Encore 1: One Life (by request of someone in the front row)
Encore 2: Advice (SURPRISE )

also: fucking awesome.

Nice, they weren't planning on playing One Life and got it by request? That's freaking awesome. I guess they're more likely to play requests from us Americans.

I wish they played longer sets and had more stops on their American tours, but this is still some good stuff.

Warning, this post is long. If you went to the show at Club Motor, please be sure to read my long-winded rant. Thanks a bullion.

[quote="cynic"]There was someone right next to me with a blue-lettering Fragments shirt... was that you?[/quote]

Indeed it was. Who were/are you?

So yeah, mini report...
picture of the setlist Judy left in my car (!):
[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y99/stormysoup/The%20Pillows/Photo92.jpg[/img]
Encore was, as stated, One Life and Advice. Here's the weird bit...One Life was a REQUEST. A full on, 100% request. Sawao even articulated it, something like: "He...has requested a song...has ordered..." then One Life. WTF mate?

Pretty standard stuff, Manabe looked like he was having a kickass time playing. Sawao mentioned how fond he was of Seattle, saying "Seattle...is my home", or something along those lines. Very nice. Shin was good, with the standard "I am ENJOY! ...Let's ENJOY!"

Tokyo Bambi sounded better live, without the horns for some reason. No wonky special effects in the solo, Manabe's speedy little fills...good stuff.

The new song "Droopy" (Judging by the chorus, I'd guess the song is gonna be called "Mr. Droopy" or "Mister Droopy") was pretty damn good. I'm not really one to latch onto fresh songs played live, especially when you can't really pick out the details...but I could tell this one has promise. It reminded me a little bit of Go! Go! Jupiter in places, though that was probably just the pace of it. The vocal melody was good, the lead line was good...but the chorus was the main strength of it. Manabe and Jun came in with a super-catchy "bah ba-ba- bahbah, bah ba-ba- bahbahbah..." sort of thing which I realllly dug. Unfortunately, Sawao will probably just use HIS voice in the recording of it...Seriously, they should just let Manabe and Jun handle that chorus bit. Anyway, solid song, like it more than Tokyo Bambi or Go! Go! Jupiter.

Oh yeah, and I got interviewed (Judy's friend Nicole did too) in the line before the show by a pillows cameraman and a translator...basic stuff "are you excited?" "what is your favorite song?"...to which I could only stumble, and then finally pull out Patricia, Strange Chameleon, and Kanojo wa Kyou. I think I mentioned "a lot of their older stuff"...so, sorry for not praising Wake Up! 3x, Sawao. ;_; I sort of hope I don't get included in the next DVD...

And mad props for Judy's friend responding "Secret Slogan" to "favorite song?"

The Stereo Future played a really great (last) show. To the lurkers who are reading this, PM me or something and I can send you some of their music that's not online. It was really disappointing to a great band die pretty much right before your eyes. They're so precise with their stuff, from the careful use of delay, to the glassy sounding tremolo in the softer spots. I just know that people hearing them for the first time could really feel it. It'd be impossible not to. Anyway.

I really like Noodles, but eh...I guess they sort of just fall short live. I think it was mainly song choice. Cover Me, Shakespeare and Lemon Grass Foo Foo sounded great, as they're great songs. She, Her was solid. But the rest of the tracks were pretty much a handful of the more forgettable tunes from Shakespeare and Metropolis. Unfortunate. Ingraid said is good though...

I guess the highlight for me was when I saw Jun and showed him my shirt. He seemed really surprised/happy. I asked him when the new album is coming out, he said he's working on it, and sometime this year.
[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y99/stormysoup/The%20Pillows/Photo96.jpg[/img]


[size=150][u][color=red]---BREAK FOR RANT---[/color][/u][/size]

Hey lurkers. People who went to the Seattle show. I had a good time, it was a great show, wasn't it? But I have something else to say.

That show had a lot of jerks in it. A lot. I don't even know where to begin, maybe I'll make a list.

Everyone goes to shows to enjoy the music. We love the pillows, we want to see them play live, we want to sing along, we want to praise them, we want to jump up and down sometimes. Cool! But what sucks is when people get in your way of doing that. When you can't just smile up at Manabe playing guitar -- you're too busy trying to guard your head from some dumbass crowd-surfer's shoe. You're too busy trying to push back against the crowd, because the surge of people is actually MOVING THE FUCKING STAGE.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not some uptight concert bitch. But PLEASE be more aware of the people around you, even if it doesn't look like your huge push to the front isn't hurting anyone: that stuff has unintended consequences. I was right behind my friend (a small girl just over 5 feet, who had a cold), TRYING to show her a good time, but she had to move to the back of the room about halfway through the pillows' show because it was too rowdy in the front. There are times when this type of craziness is to be expected...but don't go out of your way to be an asshole.

Oh, and to the two obnoxious girls who were freaking out to my left I hope you enjoyed the elbow.

Aside from the physical aspect of it, we have...

The incessant shoutouts. Ok, some stuff works. I heard a good deal of things like: "Yoko aishiteru!!" or "SEATTLE LOVES THE PILLOWS!". Cool. Fine!

But put your self in noodles' place for a sec. You hear some voice shout at you: "AYUMI YOU'RE SO SEXY, LET'S HAVE BABIES!!!" They have no idea what the hell the person just said, so they just have to assume it was something nice. Even still, it's an awkward situation to be in. There's nothing they can say to respond.

Another thing:
[b][size=150]KEEP 4CHAN OUT OF MY MUSIC VENUE[/size][/b]
Here's something that should strike fear into every one of you: Someone shouted "RICK ROLL!" during the show. Seriously.
Get this: there's a time and place for shouting memes from /b/, if you must. It was February 10th and March 15th at the Scientology Protest, organized by Anonymous. Otherwise, keep that shit on the internet. Yes, some of us unfortunately "get it". That doesn't mean you should incorporate it into the real world.

In conclusion, although this was a huge rant, I'm really not some hardcore concert-Nazi. I just want to have a good time and let others have a good time. But there was a ton of (justified) eye-rolling going on between me and the people around me.

I guess the moral of the story is this:
Don't be a dick. Stop crowd surfing every chance you get. Don't sit on someone's shoulders - there are MANY PEOPLE BEHIND YOU WHO CANNOT SEE THE SHOW! Stop crushing into the people in front of you -- if you're in the back, face it, you're not gonna touch Manabe - you should've lined up earlier. Stop referencing 4chan. Stop shouting intimidatingly at Japanese girls who don't know what you're saying.

And last of all...please stop lurking, and start posting! I know it wasn't just me, AWP Judy, flarpo, and cynic that were the only Instant Music members at the show. Were you one of the assholes that I called out? Sign up and defend yourself. It's the next day, I'm really tired, and I'm still very irritated with you. But mainly it just would have been nice to hear people planning to go.

Bonus points have been given to:
- AWPJudy for asking me "What obscure pillows sideproject t-shirt are you wearing this time?" (last time it was NINE MILES, next time it'll probably be Spiky Brothers)
- The dude wearing the yellow Ging Nang Boyz shirt. I was gonna tell you I liked it, but I got distracted.
- the pillows, for soundchecking with "cherry".
- Club Motor staff, as they seemed to have pretty laid back staff. It was a good venue.
- Custom shirts...I know I saw a few non-legit Buster shirts...

Points have been revoked from:
- The girl cosplaying as Haruko.
- People who enjoy the whole "Hey! Let's fuck this crowd up!" type antics.
- The unwritten rule that every venue ever must start every show late.

--
I had a great time. Thanks.
more pictures to come later.

[quote="GoldenRhino"]rant[/quote]

Amen to that. I spent half my energy keeping my girl from being crushed by assholes at the SF show.

Sweet report bro, and mad props for the Jun love. Did they remember you from Kyoto?

Word. I remember last NY show, the crowd surfers pissed me off a lot. One time this girl actually hit the mic stand and hit (If I'm not istaken) hit Sawao in the mouth or almost...

I'm hoping to get closer this time, and yet, I'm hoping that my cameras's wudio quality holds strong that close.

[quote="Marekenshin"]Did they remember you from Kyoto?[/quote]

Indeed - the camera man mentioned it to the photographer, and I got immediate nods from Sawao and Manabe.

[quote="GoldenRhino"]- the pillows, for soundchecking with "cherry".[/quote]

HELL YES That made me happiest from your report. Someone at the NY and Boston shows should try requesting it if Sawao really is taking requests.

But yea, good report GR, and I can relate to assholes at pillows' concerts. Obviously there were plenty at the ACEN one. Then at the Chicago show in '06, I remember two guys behind me actually trying to get another mosh pit going (there was one earlier in the show) during One Life. Frigging One Life. Luckily it took them about thirty seconds to realize they looked like jack asses while everyone else had their lighters up. But how that thought could cross anyone's mind is beyond me.

By the way, was (Mr.) Droopy in full English from what you could hear? It sounds intriguing though with all those bahbahbahs.

[quote="GoldenRhino"][quote="cynic"]There was someone right next to me with a blue-lettering Fragments shirt... was that you?[/quote]
Indeed it was. Who were/are you?[/quote]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cynic573/2 ... 174108502/ <- ME

I thought I recognized you from the last show, too.

BTW, the moshing was a little ridiculous. My fianceé and I both have bruises across our thighs from being squished up against the stage so hard that the stage moved back a foot or so.

It was still an amazing show, and well worth the almost 2 hours we spent waiting in line. (We even saw them dart into the club from their orange taxi... haha)

[quote="cynic"]BTW, the moshing was a little ridiculous.[/quote]

Yeah, I generally want to be watching the show the entire time a band is playing. I don't want to have to check whose leg is hovering over my head and see how to avoid it. I don't want to have to determine what or who to grab a hold of in the case some douchebag slams me off balance. Sigh.

I went to two shows at small venues in Japan comparable to the stuff the pillows have been playing here, and the crowds were WAY nicer (one was the pillows, the other was The Back Horn). It's kind of depressing when you expend more energy keeping your girlfriend from being crushed than you do rocking out to Manabe's solos.