Vidoll live in Nagoya

On a hot, sticky Nagoya evening in the beginning of July, 282 fans filed up a narrow staircase and spilled out in to the Electric Lady Land club to see Vidoll's second show there for the week. The venue was packed to the gills with excited fans who chatted amongst themselves while they sipped their drinks. At right around 6:05, the lights went out and, in a flash, the band was taking the stage.

Tero was the first to greet the audience, with a little wave and bow before he took his place behind his drum kit, rapidly followed by Giru, who jumped up on the amp on the center front of the stage, and posed dramatically while the fans cheered for him. The next entrance was by Rame, with his customary plastic purse full of candies for the audience. He was followed by Shun, and then Jui, who each in turn stood in the center of the stage and posed for their screaming fans. The band looked stunning in their complimentary ensembles. Midnight blue velvet with gold braid and hints of red trim draped each member including Rame, who wore a matching blue, black and gold plaid skirt.

They kicked off the show with a crowd pleasing rendition of ...San ga Koronda!!. The entire audience thrashed their heads wildly, and did furi (synchronized arm movements done by audience members) along with the music. The Vidoll banner was draped proudly behind Tero's drum kit; black with a white Vidoll crest and text.

Next were nevaeH and Red Cube, which had both band and audience energized. Jui danced and punched out towards the audience while Tero spun his drumsticks in the air. The fans waved their arms and screamed as Jui & Shun got cozy in the middle of the stage. Tero & Giru provided backing vocals, while Jui lunged towards the audience and jumped up on the amp to sing. He ended the song by leaning down towards the audience from his perch and saying "Vidoll Desu!" which led the fans to shriek the band's name.

The evening's show then suffered the first of what would prove to be many technical difficulties, but the band handled each incident like pros, chatting with their audience, making jokes, and generally helping everyone to forget that they had stopped playing for any reason other than to interact with their fans. While techs dealt with the guitar equipment, Jui welcomed fans to the show and discussed the weather.

Then, suddenly, flashing lights, marking the beginning of Hotel Hickey began. The lights went from blue to red and back again, as the audience did a complicated dance involving a jump in unison, then a dive to the side, followed by a sort of half spin. Despite the cramped quarters, the audience performed as though they had rehearsed, and no one mis-stepped or lost their balance.

The amazing interaction between band and audience continued with Olivia and Kuroneko. Jui spent most of the time up on the amps, where even the fans in the back had an excellent view of him, and he egged the audience on by sucking his fingers, licking his lips and sticking out his tongue, while they continued to jump and spin in unison. Shun coaxed hypnotizing sounds out of his beautiful black and blue marble like guitar, and Giru with his recent favored purple guitar backed him up beautifully.

Next was SinAi, which the crowd loved, simply for the amount of interaction the band members displayed during the song. Rame and Shun came to the very front edge of the stage and played back to back, while Jui jumped up on the amp and sucked his fingers (causing fangirl screams that nearly took the roof off). Tero sang along behind his kit, and Giru and Rame moved behind his kit to play with him. Rame then moved in front of Tero and began to make faces and try and distract him, which the audience loved. Tero, never missing a beat, looked away and pretended not to see Rame, till the disgruntled bass player made moves to smack him.

Once again, equipment problems caused a brief pause in the show, but the lights went down and made it almost seem as though there was meant to be a pause at that point. Tuner problems momentarily fixed, Shun moved to the front of the stage and slowly lowered his glittery eyelids, catching the attention of the audience, as he began to play Toumei Nakago.

In sharp contrast with the rest of the show, INNOCENT TEENS and Orihime brought very little reaction from the fans. The former, ending with Shun slowly plucking out the tune under red lights, and the later beginning with heavy bass and backlighting on the stage. Jui ended the song by striking a pose on his amp, which, given the backlighting, was breathtaking.

Jui finally gave the audience the full MC they had been waiting for. "Yesterday was Tanabata, did you make a wish? I spoke English last month, because we had a live in the US, and there were a lot of foreigners there. That was the biggest live we've had yet! Have you seen us before?" The audienced shouted back "YES!" as Jui then yelled "Please listen to our new song!"

Despite having been introduced as a new song, Waisetsu Ningyou was played next, much to the delight of fans, who jumped in unison during key parts of the song. Once it was done, the lights went down completely and Rame's bass rang out eerily in the dark. The fans immediately recognized the bass line of Rope and began to scream, jump, and head bang in time with Tero's pounding drumbeats. Jui, Tero, and Giru literally growled out the song, while the band dashed around the stage, switching spots, dancing, thrashing around, and even blowing whistles. Tero's amazing drum work ended the song, while fans screamed and then struggled to catch their breath.

Chocoripeyes was next, and the frenzied movements of the band and audience filled the venue with a frantic energy. Jui held his mic out to the audience so that they could scream along with Giru & Tero. The fans lunged side to side in unison as Giru & Shun moved to the front of the stage to head bang together. Jui wrapped his arm around Giru's neck and they shared the mic to scream and bark the chorus together. Jui's energy was frenetic, and he lept up onto the amp and leaned forward in a predatory way, looking as though he would leap on the audience like a tiger on its prey. Just as his body seemed to have worked up enough forward momentum for it to be too late, he managed to pull back and jump off the amp to make way for Shun and Rame, who took his place for the rest of the song.

Jui returned to the front of the stage then, and said the words the audience had dreaded hearing; "Last song!". He repeated this twice, then began to work the audience up by screaming "Oi! Oi! Oi!" and having them repeat it. The band began to make hooting sounds together, and all 3 guitarists danced and moved side to side across the stage as one, as they played Shinbun Mass Comm Kankeisha no Kata he..... Jui stalked across the back of the stage while Rame & Giru played back to back. Jui returned to his place in the center of the stage to tease his fans with one last roll of his hips and licking of his lips before jumping over the amp and leaving the stage. Shun put his finger to his lips in a hushing motion, but ended up kissing his fingers, which of course brought the complete opposite reaction from the fans who did NOT hush, but screamed his name as he stalked off the stage. The rest of the band quickly exited, not taking time to work the audience up any further.

As the lights in the venue went out, the audience began to scream and growl for the band. After several minutes of this, they began to chant "En koh rey", begging Vidoll to take the stage again. This continued for a full five minutes before the band re-emerged. As each member took the stage, they hopped up on the center amp and made faces at their fans before returning to their places on stage.

Jui took the mic and once again addressed the audience: The next tour is coming up, and the final will be December 21st, here in Nagoya. Are you gonna come?
Audience: Of course!
Jui: I want to go, so let's go! Let's *@$#in' go! The new fanclub will open on August 1st. Please join to get early tickets for the tour. Let's do it!
Audience: *roars*
Jui: Our next single will be out next week, on July 18th. Please listen to our new song, CLOUD!

The band then threw themselves in to an amazing performance of CLOUD, followed by Gothikaroid. The audience seemed extra excited during these tunes, and they continued to do furi and dance together. Shun & Giru played back to back on top of Jui's amp while Tero spun his right drum stick, still drumming with the left hand. Shun and Rame ran to the very edge of the stage to rile up their fans, and Jui called out to the audience "Thank you!" once more before they all disappeared and the stage once again went dark.

The fans once again took up the call for an encore, and a tired Vidoll took the stage once again. This time, the band re-emerged without their elegant shirts and jackets, instead wearing their own tour t-shirts. Rame had quickly chosen a skirt that matched his purple tour shirt better than the blue and black plaid. Jui addressed the audience while the rest of the band shuffled back out on to the stage.

Jui: Tonight has been really fun! It's been lonely before this, but we'll start again in August. Please meet us again for the next tour, ok? Are you going? Are you going?
Audience: Yes! yes!
Jui: Let's go!

At this point, technical difficulties took over again, and Jui began to tease the audience, and then his band mates, to kill time while the techs fixed the reoccurring problem.

Jui: Are you going? I'm NOT going.
Audience: EHHH?
Jui: What? I can't understand Japanese! (Turning to point at Rame) YOU were watching porn at the hotel!
Audience: EEEEEHHH???
Rame: Don't pretend we weren't watching it together! In Jui's room, there were MEN on the videos!
Audience: EEEEEEHHHH?? ECCHI!! (Followed by roaring laughter)
Jui: NO! I don't watch them, I really don't. But for him I would! (laughing)
Audience: 0_0
Jui: Just kidding!! No! I was trying to change the channel (demonstrates with imaginary remote control), but it was stuck, and I hit the volume instead. I really wasn't watching it! (Rame, with his hands on his hips, gave Jui a fully disbelieving look)
Audience: You lie! Pervert! (TONS of laughter)

Just in time to save Jui's reputation from further damage, the band began to play. Peko-Crash-trap@ had the audience singing along with Rame, as Jui shook his blue tambourine and held his mic out to the crowd. Tero then began to play the second song of the encore... and the rest of the band stopped and turned to stare at him. Tero turned 3 shades of red as Jui chastised him.

Jui: Whaaaaaat? You're the most important one for this song! Play the right song!
Tero: *blush*

The band then began to play the correct song, Karakuri Romance which led to another amazing fan synchronized action. All the fans took the hand of the person next to them, and lunged from side to side throughout portions of the song as they sang along. Rame and Shun switched sides of the stage and spun around, as Tero sang along (to the CORRECT song) in the background. As the song ended, the audience made heart shapes with their hands, while the band members threw picks and water bottles out in to the crowd during their exit from the stage.

Once again, the insatiable crowd began to call for an encore in the darkened venue. After several minutes, Tero came back out and went to Jui's mic in the center of the stage to address the audience, as the rest of the band returned to their positions.

Tero: Because I made such a terrible mistake, I'll play one more song for you. Please listen!
Jui: I told them before the show that if anyone makes a mistake, you have to promise to play one more song. After this one, we're really going, ok? Go home after this!

The band made this last song one worth waiting for, and they all got in to Wagahai wa, Korosuke Nari.... The way Shun suddenly lost himself in his music was an amazing site to behold, and the audience seemed to sense that he was really giving his all. The crowd jumped and thrashed and waved their arms, and Shun ended his solo by leaping off the amp in style. Giru joined Tero on the drum platform, and Rame moved to the front of the stage to be closer to his fans for this last song. The band bowed and stood up straight several times in unison, then, with one last jump and a "Thank you very much!" from Jui, the song was over, and the tired but well-loved band left the stage for the final time.

The audience DID once again begin to call for an encore, but the live house staff immediately turned the lights up and began to usher people towards the goods table, which quickly sold out of posters and tour books. When the live house staff finally began to chase stragglers out of the building, it was a tired but glowing audience that then formed a queue outside, hoping to see the band members leave the building. Vidoll knows how to please an audience, and even spectators that had never seen the band before went away happy, and tightly clutching their purchases.

**As a side note, this reviewer cannot comment as to whether this particularly tenacious audience is a strictly Nagoyan occurrence, or if ALL of Vidoll's fans are this die-hard, but 2 1/2 hours after the show, the line of fans waiting to see the band was still outside the building.

============================================================

Official Setlist
...San ga Koronda!!
nevaeH
Red cube
Hotel Hickey
Olivia
Kuroneko
SinAi
Toumei Nakago
INNOCENT TEENS
Orihime
Waisetsu Ningyou
Rope
Chocoripeyes
Shinbun Mass Comm Kankeisha no Kata he....

―EN―
CLOUD
Gothikaroid
Karakuri Romance
Wagahai wa, Korosuke Nari...

JaME would like to thank Sword Records, the staff of Electric Lady Land, and Vidoll for making this live report possible, as well as Sabrina for acting as interpreter.