The other day i went to Osaka for the second Opeth gig since i’m in Japan (the first was back in 2009), and it was awesome. Although back when the Heritage album came out, i wasn’t exactly happy with it, since then it grew on me, and i didn’t mind all that much that many of the songs at the show were from that album.

It was nice to have more quiet songs, songs when the people around me didn’t want to mosh (i don’t think Opeth is the kind of music you’re supposed to mosh to), but when i heard the first sounds of Face of Melinda, Heir Apparent or the Grand Conjuration, my heart skipped a beat. Ghost Reveries is still my favorite Opeth album, so i was very happy that they played at least one song off it.

Sunday was the day of my first real gig in the year, Helloween with guest Stratovarius in Namba Hatch, Osaka.

Getting there was a bit troublesome, because i started out late and i also forgot my ticket at home so by the time i got there, Stratovarius were already in the middle of their first song. Shame on me.

The Stratovarius tracklist was pretty amazing. They played great songs, like Legions, Twilight Symphony, Forever and Hunting High and Low among others. The only problem was it felt way too short, they played “only” for an hour or so.

After a break came Helloween. I couldn’t really enjoy the first two songs (both from the most recent album), because some guy behind me was screaming into my ears like a madman. Later however i let a six-or-so years old little boy sit on my shoulder so he could see at least one song.

The Helloween tracklist wasn’t as good as i hoped, but it had many of their classics, and also a medley of their longer songs like Keeper of the Seven Keys and Halloween. Even after the so-so start with recent songs, later the show turned great. The japanese seemed unfamiliar with the “happy happy Helloween” chant, so i showed them that too.

To put it short: fun!

Dear AC/DC, you should seriously contact Metallica. Because what they did this sunday, that is what i call a show. Unlike yours. The two opening acts, The Sword and Fear Factory played for the usual “opening band” duration, not too short but not long enough to get fed up with it either.

And then, and then, and then, Metallica came on stage. Although i wasn’t in the standing-moshing crowd, because i could only buy a seat ticket to the opposite end of the arena, it still sends shivers down my spine when i think about it, and i have to say this wasn’t my first metal gig either. Although i think there were problems with the sound during the opening acts, the whole performance of Metallica, the whole show of Metallica, the whole concert Metallica gave, it was, to put it short, perfect. (Except for a bit of the background screen that died midway.) They played great old songs as well as newer hits, and though i didn’t know just like half of the songs (the Great Old Ones—although they didn’t play the Call of the Ktulu), it was fantastic, i didn’t even have time to space out.

Not to mention the feeling of looking down at the pit, for example during the Master of Puppets and seeing four meatgrinder moshpits swirling in the crowd. I so much wanted to be down there.

Do you listen, AC/DC? This is how you do a great show. You should’ve been there, it was epic. They even invited one guy, for whom this was his 100th Metallica show, on stage. Amazing. Now i understand why so many people have been there both days. I wish i was one of them.

Friday afternoon there was a really nice punk rock party at the B♭ (B-flat) live house in Otsu, just about an hour by train from here. It was organised by Spike (スパイク), a local (?) punk band. Because i had an exam in the afternoon i was roughly half an hour late compared to the official start time, but actually i just arrived a few minutes before the first band would start to play.

The problem is, that except for Saboten and Spike, i had no idea who are playing at the moment. Apparently mostly everyone in the crowd knew all of them, so they didn’t see the need to introduce themselves—i only recognised Saboten because in an mc the (ex-)bassist-vocalist (he apparently has problems with his wrist so he stopped playing the bass) referred to themselves by name, and Spike because every other band said Spike’d be the last, and they were.

Most of the bands played fast and energetic punk rock. There were eight bands altogether, Saboten, Garlic boys, Shachi, Tac, Spike, the all-(cute-)girls Kurikinton (くりキントン), Lagoazul and Highmount 40. From six pm, they played straight till eleven, so by the end i was pretty tired, but it was really fun. (Also i’ve seen ads that Maximum the Hormone will be playing there in august, naturally in the few days when i’ll be at Okinawa. Just my luck.)

June 22, 7 pm was the start of a great event at CLUB QUATTRO in Nagoya. Although due to school schedules i was late by roughly twenty minutes, i could still catch a few songs of the support band Supe. They played the same kind of music that Story of the Year played later, but i simply don’t know its genre. It’s a great genre for sure, a mix of In Flames and Sum 41, or something along those line, i hope you get my drift. The thing is, gigs of this kind tend to be great. Great. Although Rancid is not of that kind, their speedy music is what made their live in Tokyo so great, and i probably need not say how fantastic In Flames was.

Even though i had no idea what Supe was, after their performance i was seriously considering buying their album as an act of good faith. They played great.

And after a short brake came the main event of the night, Story of the Year. To be honest, i don’t know Story of the Year but for a single song (Wake up).

A while ago the punk of the university, Daizo told us about a gig to come, mostly organized by him, with a few punk bands performing, including his. The date was yesterday, and it was a quite good gig, and a definitely great night. Four bands performed, none of which i knew, and we were also a bit late on the first. Yet, the party started up soon, and it was quite fun. There were classic punks with mohawks as well as “otaku punks”. The latter played the highest quality music there, but i just couldn’t get the crowd to move. Daizo’s band is him, another japanese guy and two foreign students. They played last, and least. Lots of chatting, and very few good tunes (and lots and lots of mistakes). Not the best ending after the previous bands, leaving a bad taste. After that we (Kang, Rado, Thiwanka and me, out of which i think it’s safe to say i’m the only “punk”) had a still not-that-great dinner at Matsuya (the best don is still Sukiya), but then came the change with discovering another Aladdin shisha bar there. Stayed there till the last train. Just when we arrived back i met Paul who called me to play dota. We won, but in a lame way (zero kills, 26 death). Yet the evening ended up great, and i get the feeling that today might be just as good.

I had high hopes. AC/DC is not one of my favourite bands, because most of their songs are the same, but i still know all of their old albums, and even listened to Black Ice—once, and that was more than enough. Still, as old school rock’n’rollers, i expected them to deliver a frenetic show, making me want to jump all the way to the stage and sing full power. Tremendous fail.

First, there was no show. At all. Hardly any visual effects, the lights were way too simple and/or not matching to provide any real experience, most of the projected effects were simply lame, the stage equipment, such as the intro train, the sickly disgusting Rosie doll, with the exception of the cannons for the finishing song For those about to rock (which, in my sense, should’ve come first), looked totally low quality and off. Bassist Cliff Williams and rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young were standing all the time beside the drumset, playing, only going in front to their mics when they had to for backing vocals.

Today after an afternoon of pretending to practice the songs (it wasn’t going nowhere as well as i wanted to, though i can play most of it, just mess up the rhythm all the time, and considering i’d be the rhythm guitar, that’s quite troublesome), having a really filling lunch and watching the seventh episode of the fourth Skins season, which i must tell you all, is very shocking, like very, but i’m not ms Scoledario (i was surprised that she dated O’Connell irl as well) to spoil everyone, you should just watch it, so after all this, i hurried off for Shibuya. I didn’t know where that Club Quattro was, but after finding it, i realised i’ve been in that building (although in the bookstore of the first floors) earlier.

This was my second High and Mighty Color concert. Since the last time, i got to know more of their songs, so in the roughly ninety minutes they played tonight, there was hardly a song i didn’t know. The show was great, the setlist was very powerful with a bunch of new songs, according to band members some songs having been written just for this gig. Of course they played their greatest hits (Pride, Ichirin no hana), and some that are not so much of popular hits, but are closer to me. The atmosphere was good as well, lots of jokes and laughs, which with the music, made this show what it was: great.

One thing that surprised me a lot was that both guitarists played on seven-stringed guitars. I hope they have transcribed for six-strings as well.