It's Chie Kajiura's Birthday Again...

[Gubaba]

...and I just got back from an AMAZING concert.

She did two today, one at 3:00, one at 7:00. Tochiro went to both, Renato went to the 3:00, I went to the 7:00.

She promised, via Twitter, that there would be no repeat songs throughout the day, that it would be two totally different sets. As such, I was sad to hear that she did some of my favorite Mylene songs during the first set.

But first off, the venue was TINY. No, tinier than that. No, really...only FORTY-FIVE people could fit in this place. TINY.

Going in, we were asked to spend ¥1000 more to get two drink tickets. This was not optional. Then we were asked if we wanted to spend ¥1800 more to get a special Chie Kajiura glass, in order to toast her for her birthday. This also meant we would get to stick around longer after the show. Tochiro and I did so, but got a warning beforehand that the glasses were not actually used for the toast, but instead, we had to buy a separate drink, so we shouldn't use our second drink ticket until after the show (we failed to heed that warning).

So yeah, the show...very few Mylene songs during the main set, just "Love Song" and "Pillow Dream," which, in another odd bit of Chie synchronicity, were the two songs that I earlier told Renato that I didn't care if she played or not. There was one new song, one cover of Kate Bush covering Donovan, one of the songs from "Overload," a few songs from "Loophole," and a hell of a lot of songs from "Confusion."

The most amazing thing, I think, was her band. She had a keyboard player, a guy playing tablas (!!), and a trumpet player (!!!). And mostly, that was it. She brought out guitarists for two or three songs, but mostly, it was this odd trio.

After the concert proper, we had to go outside and line up again to come back in for the toasting. We came back in, everyone ordered another drink (and I owe Tochiro ¥500 for that), and we waited. Finally Chie, her band, and the two guest guitarists came out and played an amazing, six- or seven-minute version of "My Friends," while she introduced the band. Stunning.

We toasted her birthday, then she came down from the stage and just mingled...going from table to table, talking to everyone. Tochiro did most of the talking when we met her, but she did sign my "Guvava" sticker.

So yeah...awesome night.

Edited July 21, 2012 by Gubaba

[BeyondTheGrave]

so no nc-17 version? *

seriously that sounded like a great experience. Question about the drinks: You weren't allowed to buy more?

*kidding

Edited July 22, 2012 by BeyondTheGrave

[Gubaba]

so no nc-17 version? *

seriously that sounded like a great experience. Question about the drinks: You weren't allowed to buy more?

*kidding

Oh, we COULD buy more drinks...we just didn't WANT to. The thing was expensive enough as it was...