I first got the inkling of a US debut for Kaya off of the JAME website a month (2months?) before the event. I was both excited and upset. Excited that American fans would finally have the opportunity to witness all that is, the elegance, the pure passion of Kaya. Upset because I had two other trips on the back burner already. Vegas with my sister and my 5 city groupie road trip with Dir en grey. =(
Thankfully my girlfriend convinced me to go by buying my plane ticket and ticket to the event. Unfortunately, she told me due to budget cuts she would not be attending the event with me. Everything went by real fast after that. Next thing I knew I had hotel reservations with someone my girlfriend found on a Kaya live journal for fans.
Then the next thing I knew I was on plane bound for LA. That's when I started to have a serious case of anxiety. SERIOUS!
We had a lay over in Phoenix and I said to myself somewhere near here there's a sad McCain. So that was great. Had airport pizza and boarded my flight to LA. Arrived 9 P.M. Traveling through time.
LAX, not as bad as I'd imagine it be. Yeah it was crowded but not the chaos I would have put hand in hand with LAX. The plan was to stay out at LAX or to stay put at the lobby of the Hilton. After a two hour phone call I opted with the lobby at the Hilton.
Took the FREE(love that word) shuttle to the Hilton. Ever seen that Korean Air commercial. The shuttle was full of woman flight attendants from Korean Air and some Spanish airline. I'm not the kind of guy who gets off on things easily but my lord. It's like the airline only hired super models. You should have seen what I had to put up with on my flight! By the way what ever happened to the free drink on flights!!
So I arrive around 11:30ish PM and the place is in full effect. God I wish I took photos. I hardly took any. One of my regrets. Kids everywhere in full persona. Anxiety. I find an empty table. Try to blend in. Ha! Play Star Ocean for awhile. Can't take this. Must get a room!! So I pull out the plastic and I'm in a room on the top floor. Two more days of this. I can get through this....ZzzZZZZzzzz
I awake and I must get my bearing head to the registration get all my passes and other junk they send my way. What to do. My roomie doesn't arrive till 1PM and Matthew the other roomie doesn't arrive till god know when.
So I head out to hit the blocks of LA.
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THE HILTON
Carl's Jr. Hardee's in Kansas City. Same face but the names change!
Hmmm....Hilton, Carl's Jr.....get it. =(
CHOKE
Nude shop next to The Hilton
Hilton, Carl's Jr., Nude Shop....even better!
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I head back to the insanity in time for the merchandise(GIVE ME YOUR MONEY) room to open.
Merchandise
This was the best
I've had enough already but I must fill in the void before Eugenia's arrival.
What's the safest thing to do: PANELS!!
Think I did the Korean, Ball-jointed dolls, Bandai..some others..what a blur.
Speaking of blurs I thought someone hit me on the head when I walked into the hotels gift store and saw this:
$6!!
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Eugenia calls and is on the FREE(god I love it) shuttle to the Hilton. She arrives, yay company. We do the meet n greet. Get our room and she prepares for the show.
Now I had seen the birth and nurturing of her dress on livejournal so I knew what she'd be wearing when she came back down but oh my god it was absolutely stunning. There were cosplayers who knew they were going to be photographed all day and were expecting it and anticipated it but Eugenia had to of been the one approached not expecting it all day..hands down!!
As she put it this is not cosplay but an inspired work of art.
This is cosplay.
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Then the wait begins
While in line I meet a lovely lady, Diane who would later play a major part in making mine and Eugenia's Kaya experience a little easier.
Roomie Matthew arrived, got him situated and back in line before Kaya rush by and into the hall to perform soundcheck.
While in line someone busted out an acoustic guitar and got the crowd singing I believe was a Backstreet Boys song. There need to be more acoustic guitars broken out in concert lines.
Oh man it's time to go in.
There I am talking to Diane.
LETS START THE SHOW!!
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Please note: Kaya inc. were nazi's when it came to photos so these photos are not mine
A review off of http://www.jame-world.com/us/article.php?id=6348 since I'm no good at these things. Oh yeah, written by none other than Eugenia.
November 8th marked Kaya's first performance in the USA, his first performance outside of Japan, and if his blog entries in the two weeks leading to the event were any indication, he was looking forward to it it as eagerly as his fans, who traveled from all over the United States to see him. In a way, the show started much earlier than the announced 9:30 PM, as boy-mode Kaya, in tight black-and-gray plaid pants and a huge pair of eyeglasses, mouth covered with one hand, made his stealthy way past the unsuspecting line to start sound checks. To everyone's excitement, his strong voice carried beautifully past the ballroom's closed doors and caused an impromptu dance party in the middle of the hotel hallway.
Doors opened at 8 PM, and Heday and Nylon Pink, Kaya's two support acts, each performed a half-hour set. The stage was then cleared of all but a couple of loudspeakers, and at 9:30, the opening tunes of Kaleidoscope were heard, prompting cheers from the audience. Kaya entered from the right side of the stage, his steps small and dignified. He wore the dark version of his Chocolat outfit—an elegant, floor-length black dress with a simple line meant to emphasize the single red rose and elaborate lace on his chest. Kaleidoscope's choreography included many twirls, showcasing the full skirt of Kaya's ensemble.
Walkűre, a danceable and energetic song, followed. Yui and OCHI, Kaya's dancers, joined him onstage in the white, ruffled shirts from the Chocolat PV and black jeans. The dance movements closely followed those that many of the fans had become familiar with from watching Kaya's Salon de Chocolat DVD, both Yui and OCHI collapsing on the floor at one point while Kaya walked daintily around them, skirt-in-hand.
Next, Kaya smiled brilliantly and greeted his American fans, apologizing for his poor English and asking if Japanese was OK. When the crowd cheered an enthusiastic agreement, he joked that surely, they must all be Japanese since they understand the language so well. In spite of this, he kept his MCs shorter and his speech much simpler than the elaborate, amusing mixture of formal, informal, masculine, and feminine ways of expression that are a trademark of his Japanese performances. To conclude the MC, he asked the audience to shout his name, encouraging the already loud cheering with English calls of "Mooo~re!"
The jazzy Masquerade was next, followed by the ballade Silvery Dark, which Kaya performed alone. His voice was strong and clear in spite of the cold he had. At one point, he hid behind his hands and wiped his eyes as if he had been tearing up, the emotion with which he infused his performance moving the entire audience. While some fans believe vocalists sound better in recordings than they do live, such is not the case with Kaya. Recordings don't do justice to the intensity, power, and expressiveness of his voice, which, combined with his radiant presence, creates an enthralling effect.
He did not leave his fans sad for long, though. The next song, Chocolat, the centerpiece of his major debut single, caused the most enthusiastic reaction. Fans sang and followed the PV choreography along with Kaya, who turned the microphone over to the audience, who sang with him in Japanese. He later admitted that the strong support he received for his major debut song moved him deeply, so much so that he was close to tearing up. The intensely joyful mood persisted into Epicurean, another upbeat song, during which Kaya, Yui and OCHI danced with the pink feather-boa fans Kaya brought from Japan as a part of his merchandise.
After that, Kaya exited the stage, leaving Yui and OCHI to dance to another energetic track that the audience didn't recognize, but speculated was the background music to Last Snow, the new single scheduled for release in December.
Shortly after, Kaya returned in an outfit unfamiliar to his Western fans—a kimono-style short dress of white silk with purple roses, combined with a white PVC waist cincher and a huge purple bow in his hair. At the start of the next song, Kagami oni, he sprinkled purple confetti from a paper umbrella-like container over the front rows of the audience, causing everyone to cheer in excitement.
After Kagami oni, Kaya stopped for another MC and asked if the fans thought his outfit was cute. The crowd shouted back, "Kawaii," to which Kaya smiled brightly and giggled, "I know" (in English). During the MC, Yui and OCHI went for a costume change of their own, and re-joined Kaya in their black and grey kimonos from the Kugutsu ~live digest~ PV.
For the second part of the live, during Psycho Butterly, Kugutsu, Kasha and Glitter Arch, Kaya was much more interactive with the audience. He shook hands with his fans on a number of different occasions, trying his best to reach as far back as he could. He even took a moment to hide behind a large loudspeaker on the left side of the stage to sit down and have a sip of water and exchanged quips with the less Japanese-challenged of his fans.
Kaya particularly impressed his fans with a high and strong opera-like moment during Kugutsu. The dance moves mirrored the lyrics of the song; Yui and OCHI were demons who were trying to drag Kaya down. Kasha is a song with a strong, techno beat, during which Kaya invited his fans, in English, to jump during the chorus, making spirits high and perfectly setting the mood for the dance finale of the evening, Glitter Arch. The lighting was brilliant and bright and, during the chorus, Kaya instructed the audience to wave their hands from left to right.
In his final MC for the evening, Kaya thanked his fans and introduced his dancers, who each got an excited round of applause. When Kaya's turn came, he simply patted his chest with an expectant expression on his face, only to have the audience erupt, loudly cheering his name.
Under the soft sounds of the instrumental of Chocolat ~sweet version~, the fans called Kaya out for an encore. As is his custom, he performed Rose Jail, a harder song with heavily distorted vocals during which, people pushed towards the stage in an attempt to touch him. Fans were able to "sing with Kaya" during this song, as well—complete the last line of the chorus-- responding with "hurts" and extending their hands towards the stage to Kaya's "with all my..."
Kaya exited the stage again, and even though the audience kept calling him for a second encore, a serious voice confirmed the end of the performance, telling fans, ready to flock to the merchandise booth, to have a good night.
The magic of the performance stayed with the fans for days. Kaya often says that with his performances, he wants to create "a brilliant dream we would never wake up from." At his debut in the US, he succeeded completely.
Set list:
Kaleidoscope
Walkűre
MC
Masquerade
Silvery dark
Chocolat
Epicurean
SE
Kagami oni
MC
Psycho Butterfly
Kugutsu
MC
Kasha
Glitter Arch
Encore: Rose Jail
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Wow!
After the show in our after concert glow we all went to Denny's to enjoy an all-American meal. We were joined by, I'm sorry I don't remember her name but someone else who also joined in on the room. Eventually fell asleep and awoke the next day late because only thing we had planned for was the Kaya Panel, Kaya Pictures and Kaya signing.
The Kaya panel was sweet. I had heard the panel for SUICIDE ALI was horrible with plenty of bad questions. Even the bad questions Kaya got(few) were responded with very "cute" answers. He even sang a line from Paradise Lost *dies*.
Ah the wait for autographs. Well, I ran into Diane again. OK, so we all learned the previous day that the signing that was supposed to happen at the hotel that day had been moved to Little Tokyo which is in the city which sent a lot of people into panic mode, me included....Well, apparently Diane knew all about the place and even knew the owner of the shop that Kayo was going to be appearing at. Eugene asked if we could have a ride to the place, she agreed. Score!!
So anyways back to the photos $10 bucks a pop. Fucking worth it!
The live journal BUNCH! There's Matthew in the front wearing a tee from the Gazette
Now that I look at this picture I can't keep this to myself. Our penis' are pretty close. Hallmark moment.
Here's the one with the shocker for Mark.
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Onto the signing. Matthew can't risk missing his flight so he can't go. We ride to Little Tokyo in the most Hello Kitty pimp out Honda around. Oh, LA traffic..FUCKING CRAZY!!.This one just like I imagined.
Little Tokyo Historic District
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So we get there and are behind the first one to get there at like noon..its about 7 at night!! Diane disappears and returns with some food. Pork on a stick..it has a proper name that escapes me and mizuyokan, red bean cake...so scrumches!
Finally Kaya inc. arrives..dancers and all...
We are herded in 4 at a time or something..buy some Kaya merch and proceed to him who is sitting on what looked like an uncomfortable chair....but he's all smiles..signs my tour program..shake hands, does a nod, whispers, "thank you."and I'm back outside.
I quickly snap this shot of the other outfit he wore for the concert. I still haven't seen promo shots with it.
We need to skedaddle so Eugenia can catch her flight back to home. Diane once again comes to the rescue and drops us off at Union Station. I want to thank her so much, with out her things would have been more difficult. Sweet lady.
So me and Eugenia wait for a bus that runs 24hrs to the airport. Get on. Realize it's all over and digress.
We get off ...say our farewells and she's off.
I wait for the shuttle. ONE HOUR!! it took one whole hour before one arrived that went to Travelodge where I was staying for that night. Three nights, three different rooms, rock star! Wait I take that back. I waited an hour before I said fuck this and got on the one that went to the Hilton. Fuck waiting, I walked three blocks to the Travelodge...but hey it was a FREE shuttle ride.
Looked over the goods.
The goods
Went to bed ..Awoke..did the continental breakfast...hopped the FREE shuttle to LAX and departed for Las Vegas.
Over the Pacific.
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After writing this I realize how much of a good time I had and could have had more fun if I wasn't being such a weirdo with anxiety!
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Next, the tale of how Joseph lost his shirt in Las Vegas
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