I was told on short notice that Wagakki Band was coming to New York to perform. Immediately I went to Irving Plaza to purchase a month ago. My friend got his for $20 on StubHub which was relatively unknown for a lot of people. Who would have known that they picked one of the worst days of the week to perform. But bad conditions didn't deter their performance.
I say worst because they were not ideal conditions for traveling (since they will be setting for Austin soon). Waiting outside was grueling enough as it was cold, raining, and extremely windy. The forecast for the week was good weather everyday except for the Monday that Wagakki Band was performing; rain, rain, and more rain. I got on line with my friend and we chatted a while. I got there at 6:20pm and the line started to move when it was 7:00pm. When I got into the venue, we still had to wait another hour and half before the actual show started.
During the last half hour wait, there was a live DJ mixing stuff to listen. We had some Japanese styled instrumentals mixed with dance beats, but it quickly transitioned to straight up EDM. It was legit club music, but the crowd was not swayed. Most people just stood there as if it were quiet. I heard some Jay Z, Mary J. Blige, Jason Derulo's "Talk Dirty", Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber's "Sorry", Lil Jon's "Turn Down For What", and a bunch of other stuff. Our DJ got experimental and mixed Papa Roach in it. The line to the merchandise was long and people were on it forever. I decided that maybe after the show would be a good idea.
I don't remember the full setlist, but there were a handful of songs from both Vocalo Zanmai and Yasou Emaki being played, mostly Yasou Emaki though. I believe the show opened with "Senbonzakura". From Vocalo Zanmai, they played "Senbonzakura", "Tengaku", "Yoshiwara Lament", "Irohauta", "Tsuki-Kage-Mai-Ka", and "Rokuchounen to Ichiya Monogatari". From Yasou Emaki, I remember hearing "ikusa", "Hagane", "Hanabi", "Akatsuki no Ito", "Hoshizukiyo", "Hangeki no yaiba", and "Hana furu mai". Don't quote me on this, I may have gotten some songs mixed up.
In between the songs were solo performances. Beni had her shamisen performance first and there were quite a few fans that were rooting for her. Asa and Machiya had their guitar battle. Wasabi and Kurona had their drumming battle too and it was also a segment where the audience gets to participate. I have to admit it was very fun to clap and shout with Kurona. He teased us that our first shout was weak. Then when we shouted even loud, he praised us in English with "excellent", "awesome", and "amazing". Daisuke and Kiyoshi also had their time to shine.
During one of the instrumental, Yuko did a brief performance with a katana and fan. Unfortunately I was unable to see even though I was close to the stage because nearly everyone had their cameras and phones raised. I get that we all want to record a performance for sentimental value, but we are not carrying professional equipment to record with so I don't see the point in doing so. I think you should take most of your time absorbing the live performance while you can because it is such a slim opportunity to be able to see them live.
Encore was inevitable since everyone was shouting for the band. Wagakki Band performed "Senbonzakura" again and the audience was very energetic with the fist pumping, clapping, and shouting. I really liked the crowd that was there that night. The only exception was two guys in front of me that stood like logs the entire night. Irving Plaza is fairly small. If I was VIP I would have chosen to view from the balcony, but there's something about being in the crowd that's very attractive. Compared to Gramercy Theatre, Irving Plaza feels small, but staff was very friendly. The acoustics was bad at some parts and good some parts. I'm guessing staff were adjusting the sound throughout the performance. The bass and drums can be very overpowering at times and music just feels like blaring sounds. Koto and shakuhachi, due to the nature of their instruments, can be overwhelmed by instruments like drums and bass and almost disappear.
It was a very memorable night and I really enjoyed it. It makes me forget that it was a cold and windy night. At the very end, I rushed to the merchandise line. Even though I was close to the front, it took very long because people paying with card took time to process. There weren't enough tablets available to process cards fast enough. Some of the stuff was very expensive like a CD/DVD pack for $200 or so. Even the $30 towel is overpriced. I wanted to get the calendar, but that one was $50. Eventually I settled for the $40 T-shirt. As much as I found it overpriced, I can at least wear it multiple times and have it serve as memorabilia. If you joined the fanclub that day, you get a CD just for fanclub members.
I took a few photos on my own phone, but my friend had some amazing photos on his camera. Check out his stuff. I wish my phone could do better in dark settings.
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| courtesy of Foreth Photography |
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| courtesy of Foreth Photography |
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