And thus, just over a year later, I return from my 6th and 7th respective BLOOD concerts. As usual, they were amazing! And my whole experience with this first LES FLEURS DU MAL tour was made even more memorable as I got to travel with the band as a full-fledged staffer. Unfortunately for you guys, this also means my review this time will be relatively short and mostly just cover the concerts themselves. But that's the one part of a BLOOD tour that really matters, right? :P

So, where to begin... first I should say that, beginning in LA, I was able to meet lots of friends that I had previously only known through the internet, starting with the lovely BLOOD Berry webmistress Ai, who traveled all the way from Japan to see BLOOD's American tour. They were also joined by their Japanese agent Miwa, whom I had first met last year in Mexico. I was really happy to spend time with them both throughout the week ^o^ Then after we were settled in LA I got to meet Connie, Krystal, and Reiko-chan, who all rock. <3 And of course we are all indebted to the members of lo:lita, who provided lodging and food and rides and just great hospitality in general for all of us during our LA stay. Huge thanks to you all!

Anyway... I spent the first half of Tuesday in either airplanes or airports before finally meeting Roger, the band, Miwa, and Ai and heading off with everyone to spend the evening taking it easy. Took some of the party to Yoshinoya and later to McDonald's, stopped at various stores and stuff (including Amoeba Records, the CD shop that all the guys had a ball skimming through), did two interviews, got some tacos to eat back at the apartment while everyone just hung out, then gave up for the night and turned in for a few brief hours of sleep. Nice range of tastes between Yoshinoya, McD's, and Del Taco, huh? :P And those interviews seriously put my interpreting skills to the test, and I'm not sure if I passed... ^^;;; But I think it was great practice, at least.

The real tour activity began on Wednesday, when we all loaded up and headed to the LA Knitting Factory in at least 3 separate cars driven by members of lo:lita. We did see some cool Hollywood landmarks along the way, like the Chinese Theater and part of the Walk of Fame (and the previous day we had seen the Hollywood sign in the distance), but sadly there wasn't time to take pictures or anything. We got to the club before the doors were officially open, and the first several moments there were spent meeting people and learning where everything was and stuff... and in my own case, interpreting between club staff and the band members and starting to take a few pictures, as Roger had left me in charge of taking shots with his camera to post on the TR blog (i'm still waiting to see those... :P). Roger and I also took Fu-ki outside at one point to see where the line of fans was already forming, 4 hours before the doors even opened, and were amused but not too surprised that nobody recognized Fu-ki and mobbed him or anything. >.> Anyway, soon enough the band took the stage for the evening's first sound check, which was pretty interesting to a dork like me who had never seen a full sound check before. It was especially cool to me because that was when I heard Les Litanies de Satan from their upcoming album for the first time, and it sounded like a really great song. Can't wait to hear its finalized version o_o

Eventually BLOOD's sound check ended and the time came to set up the merchandise booth while the opening bands went through their sound checks and I ran around taking various pictures for Roger where possible and stuff. The venue provided pizza for all the bands and staff to chew on while we waited around as well. Eventually the band was ready to head off to get into costume and stuff, and then around 5pm the doors opened and fans started filing through and buying CDs, which kept us occupied fairly well until the first (or maybe even second) opening band took the stage. The band whose members were cool enough to give us lodging and rides everywhere, lo:lita, went on first... also happened to be their first show ever, and they went over very, very well. We were really happy for them. ^_^ The next two bands, Secret Secret and The Last Dance, I sort of failed to pay attention to, though they were increasingly popular with the crowd. Plus, somewhere in that time frame, poor Connie lost track of her cell phone T_T, so we spent much of the other bands' stage time looking for it and fretting over it and such. Anyway, I also have to say Roger did a great job in between the bands' sets as the MC/DJ. I think he was surprised that so many Californians knew and loved him so much. :3

BLOOD's turn on stage finally came, though I wasn't expecting much as a spectator since I was pretty sure I'd have to remain sitting behind the booth while they performed. I could see the stage fairly easily from the booth though, so I wasn't too worried. But as it turned out, the lovely Krystal (and Rob, I think) had agreed to watch the booth so Ai, Connie, and I could go watch with the rest of the crowd - and BLOOD and Roger even saw to it that we were escorted right to the front row. o.o In particular I think they really wanted Ai to have a front row position since she had come all the way from Japan for them, but Connie and I were sent ahead as well to keep her company. Not to mention to keep the poor dear from getting trampled by all the rabid American fans twice her size. x.x With no barricade between the slightly elevated stage and the floor, it was a major chore getting to the front row even with Roger escorting us (some guys cussed us out along the way lol), and it turned out only Connie and Ai could squeeze into the front, so I basically stood behind them trying to be their bodyguard... but I could still see perfectly well over their heads. :P;; I also didn't bother taking either of my cameras since I had been told flash photography was prohibited, but as it turned out I had been misinformed or something, and flash cameras were fine at the LA live but prohibited in NY. Oh well... I learned soon enough that it probably wouldn't have done me much good to have the camera anyway, as will soon be explained...

Not sure how much of a live report I can make out of this, actually, since I didn't take pictures and can only provide a setlist (borrowed from Kiwamu's blog). Buuuuut we'll see what happens... and I'll start with the setlist:

1. THE FUNERAL FOR HUMANITY
2. BLIND
3. Unforgiven
4. I remember you
5. Forever lost
6. Awakening
7. VOICES
8. Wings of The Rebellion
9. NEVERMORE
10. VENGEANCE for BLOOD
11. byakuya
12. morphine
13. sweatest disease
14. D.T.M.H.

So, the actual live. Needless to say, BLOOD was received with extreme enthusiasm, and we learned fairly quickly that we might as well have entered a mosh pit. Long story short, it's just a tiny bit of a chore to enjoy a concert when you're constantly fighting to keep yourself and your friends from getting flattened. >.o They still put on a great show though, with only minor problems scattered around like a screwy DVD playback and a shortened setlist due to the discovery that the club would be closing earlier than we had realized. Among the 6 songs they eliminated were all the ones they had planned to do from the brand new album, which was sad... but for the most part, everything went off quite well.

Where to begin with smaller details... the new costumes look very cool, for starters. Much simpler and more elegant than the insane extravagant costumes from the Vengeance era... simple black and white, some ruffles and lace... though unfortunately for them there was also a lot of velvet or something resembling it (the black bits; all the white was more satin-y or something). They were absolutely soaked in sweat within just a few songs. And Kaede couldn't keep his hat on for more than 10 minutes as it kept slipping and sliding and shifting around until he finally just ditched it and went with the wig alone.

And other stuff... hmmm... all the theatrics were pretty much the same as they've always been, with Kiwamu biting Fu-ki during The Funeral For Humanity, Fu-ki taking his revenge in Unforgiven by dragging him around by the hair and then snapping his neck, and easily the cutest: Fu-ki taking a little walk across the stage with Kaede during Nevermore and then starting to do the same with Kiwamu before shoving his hand in his face and pushing him away... as seen in the Live in Mexico DVD, basically. But cuter because unlike in the video Kaede was typically smiley the whole time. :P

Some of the cooler details... of course it was great hearing some of the Vengeance 3 songs live for the first time, specifically all except Caught in the Spiral (the one I was most hoping to hear T_T oh well). Can't really remember any specific entertaining details from them or any other song, though, except the "theatrics" I mentioned earlier. Lots of stage diving during DTMH, of course... ooooh yeah, and it was amusing when Fu-ki announced that their CDs were on sale at the booth and told everyone "You must buy them *growly voice* AAAAALLLL." :P

In general, each of the guys did an extremely good job. Fu-ki's voice seemed to be at the best I've heard it yet in concert, Kiwamu pulled off some sweet guitar riffs and cool slidey effects (like in Unforgiven) and stuff, and as usual Kaede just rocked the house on that bass. Honestly, the energy he gives off when he's playing that thing is unbelievable. And he seems to be coming out of his shell, so to speak, a little more than I've seen in previous BLOOD shows... for example, he actually let fans touch him on several occasions, though he of course didn't go for all the stage diving of Kiwamu and Fu-ki. Also, he actually *gasp* used a microphone. Only to accompany Kiwamu in growling "DIVE! DIVE! DIVE!" in DTMH, and the "Dust, dust, dust" thing in Sweetest Disease, but still, it was new to me. >>

Soooo after an hour and 10 minutes BLOOD's set ended, and we actually found room to breathe and stretch again after being cramped and squished and shoved around for so long as all the fans rushed back to the merch booth for the signing session. So then it was back to the chaos of selling CDs for a while... though that part of the night did go a lot faster than I expected. Was easily the most chaotic though, as fans jostled for positions in the very roughly created "line" to buy CDs and get autographs and take photos ans etc. And early in that time frame somewhere was when I finally had a chance to meet and talk to Reiko-chan, who is an absolute sweetheart. <3 When the CD vending finally settled down we mostly just sat and talked and cuddled while the venue cleared out. :D And also discovered a new kind of fanservice... ^_~

As the crowds thinned out, I learned that the venue hadn't quite sold out, but came close - something like 245 out of 300 tickets sold. Which explained the density of the crowd in such a mid-range sized club. Great for BLOOD, though. :D There were also a couple unpleasant moments in which I or one of the other girls were sitting around waiting for our next assignment when some drunk from the bar (as opposed to a concert-goer) would sit nearby and try to hit on us. Didn't get anywhere though, of course. If they had tried anything Roger and/or Kiwamu would've sent heads rolling. :p

Anyway... things continued to calm down, and I sat on the padded bench thingy next to Kiwamu to take Roger's place as his "backrest" while Roger had to go off to take care of something. Roger's orders. >> Kiwamu apparently decided he didn't need a backrest anymore though. :p Oh well, worked out even better for me because just minutes later Kaede strolled along and plopped himself down in the scant few inches of space between me and Kiwamu, and practically sat right in my lap while leaning against me cuddling and petting my hair and stuff. :P;; Reiko took a picture with Roger's camera, which he will hopefully get to me very soon... *pokes him*

But eventually he got up and life went on >>... so I mostly talked with Reiko and fretted with Connie over her lost cell phone (which, thankfully, did turn up later *relief*) until the time came to pack up and head out. I was set to ride back to Rob's apartment with Krystal, Connie, and Reiko, while everyone else went in a couple other cars, which meant more hanging out and cuddling time with Reiko <3 lol... I think we nearly sent Roger into orbit with our nose-rubbing thing that he interpreted as a prelude to a make-out session... *snicker* Anyway, we all finally got back to the apartment, where I parted ways with Connie, Krystal, and Reiko and prepared for a sleepless "night" of hanging out with the bands and the girls and Roger and etc for about 4 hours, until we all had to leave for our flight to New York.

We had been informed by Razor of lo:lita about the attempted terrorist strike in a London airport and all the delays it was causing in airports around the world, especially in America where airports immediately decided to ban the carrying of liquids in carry-ons. So it shouldn't be a big surprise that we ended up taking to the sky almost two hours later than expected. All the ridiculous security junk actually didn't delay us at all, though; problem was, our flight was overbooked and we had to be moved to one an hour and 45 minutes later. I was surprised at how calm Kiwamu was during this whole mess... here Roger and I were freaking out, but Kiwamu, of all people, didn't seem concerned at all. He even told Roger "Don't worry, baby." :P So finally we got all that taken care of, crawled through security which was of course ridiculously tight, waited at the gate, boarded the plane, and zonked out until we landed in New York City. Well, everyone else did, anyway. I managed about 2 hours in dreamland. I hope I enjoyed it because it would be the second AND last sleep I would have all week until my flight home. >>

Anyway, from the airport the band and Roger went straight on to the Knitting Factory with Kathy of Purple Sky Magazine, another wonderful person/organization we are all majorly grateful to for providing and paying for all our lodging and rides and arrangements, and her very sweet brother came to take the girls and myself there in a separate car. Only in New York does it take an hour to travel 16 miles on the freeway. x.x So after the longest short drive I think I've ever sat through, including passage through part of Chinatown, we finally arrived at the club. There was already a fairly long line at the door... but of course, we were arriving a couple hours later than planned so it was almost time for the doors to open. x.x So we got in and saw that the others had already almost finished setting up the merch booth, and Kiwamu told me they hadn't had time to do a sound check at all. They'd barely have time to do a quick line check right before their turn on stage.

But there wasn't much time to worry about details since the doors opened to admit all the photographers and other press people, and shortly afterward the rest of the crowd started filing in and the CD vending began. Got to see Suz somewhere in that span for the first time in 2 years, which was cool. ^^ The first annoyance we had to deal with in this show was that for some reason everyone just HAD to pay in bills no smaller than $20, which meant we always came up short on smaller bills and had problems giving people change. Apologies to those who had to wait ages for us to dig out fives and ones. ><; But oh well... Ai and I were on our own at the booth for a long while since Miwa had gone back with the band to get them made up and costumed, and Roger was busy running around being the coordinator and MC/DJ (which paid off as, once again, he did an excellent job). Again I didn't really pay too much attention to the opening bands, Ghost Orgy and Annie's Grave, partially because of the CD vending duties and partially because I just wanted to see BLOOD have their turn and be sure that everything would go smoothly despite the VERY tiny stage and cramped conditions and lack of sound check and stuff.

Finally the last opening band finished their set and BLOOD was able to do a quick line check before getting started. Ai and I went to the tiny backstage room to see if any help was needed and make sure it would be ok for us to watch the show from the crowd again; we had already been told that the band had arranged someone to take over the booth for us, but we thought we'd have to settle for somewhere in the middle of the room since the audience was packed into such a tiny space and we were sure we'd never be able to squeeze in close. But the guys were awesome enough to have the security dudes push the front few rows back a few inches so we could just step off the stage directly into the front row. And yeeeeah... right from the start I knew it was going to be a fight for survival. It was actually fortunate that we were right by the wall on Kiwamu's side of the stage, with Ai standing between it and me, so when the crowd got too forceful I could reach my left arm over Ai's head and brace myself against the wall to keep from being shoved around and knocked down. Because given our positions, if I had been knocked off balance, I would've taken her with me, and since she was half the size of most of these American fans I was seriously worried that she'd get flattened. x_x But I guess I did my bodyguarding job well enough, since both during and after the show she told me she was just fine and had no problems at all with the moshpit-worthy conditions.

Soooo finally BLOOD was ready to get started. The first several songs went by pretty much as I've come to expect, and things started out pretty much the same as the previous day's show... not too much to speak of in the way of amusing theatrics (besides the ones I mentioned in the LA report) and stuff. But a bit less than halfway through the set, things finally started to go insane.

Did I mention the audience space was very small? And that of all the 200+ people in the crowd, about 90% seemed to think they had a right to be in the front row, which was wide enough to fit maybe 10 people? Yeah... those security guys were nowhere near enough to keep the pushing and shoving under control. A couple of times they literally threw themselves at the people in the front and center in an effort to forcibly shove the entire crowd back by a foot or two. It worked for about 10 seconds at a time... but apparently not enough. At one point, maybe a little less than halfway through the set, almost the entire front few rows finally bent under the strain and sent a large group of people crashing to the floor, and much of the front row was flung right onto the stage. They literally stopped the show at that point and were considering cancelling the rest altogether. >< But fortunately no one was hurt and things were straightened out so the show could go on. And the first thing that happened upon resuming was Fu-ki asking the crowd "Are you ok?" Thoughtful of him, at least... too bad he and Kiwamu just made the situation more insane from then on by repeatedly stage diving and crowd surfing. >.>

Anyway, suppose this is a good place to throw in the setlist, borrowed again from Kiwamu's blog...

1. THE FUNERAL FOR HUMANITY
2. morphine
3. BLIND
4. Unforgiven
5. I remember you
6. Forever lost
7. Awakening
8. Se lever
9. VOICES
10. Wings of The Rebellion
11. NEVERMORE
12. VENGEANCE for BLOOD
13. byakuya
14. oboro
15. Spleen
16. Le Revenant
17. Les Litanies de Satan
18. Under The Sensual Moon...
19. sweatest disease
20. D.T.M.H.

However, I hate to suggest that Kiwamu was wrong about his own setlist, but I swear I don't remember them playing Under the Sensual Moon. O.o And they definitely DID play Maria. Last minute substitution? I also thought Le Revenant came before Spleen, based on the few lyrics I could pick out, but I could easily be wrong about that... buuuuut oh well ^^;;

Performance-wise... again the guys did an awesome job, especially given the crowded conditions and lack of a full sound check beforehand. Only problem I noticed was that Kiwamu's guitar or amp or something seemed to just disappear a few times, briefly and sporadically. Was sort of worried when it happened right before his big solo in Vengeance for BLOOD since I knew he would be tearing the place down in rage if he couldn't play his solo. x.x But fortunately the crew was on the ball and got it working again just in time. What else to say performance-wise... again, they did play more songs here than they did in LA since they didn't have to shave down the setlist this time. Not as much of it at least, if at all. One of the songs they played in NY but not in LA was Maria (I'm certain of that, dangit >>; ), which was also the only 1st period song they played, and which I was very pleased to see live again. And they did play 3 of the new Les Fleurs Du Mal songs near the end, which was awesome. *_* The band seemed to really get into them as well, which I'll get into more later. :P

As for random little details... already mentioned the usual vampire story theatrics of Funeral, Unforgiven, and Nevermore... and also just like the previous day Kaede seemed to be coming out of his shell and getting closer to the crowd and, again, actually using the mic during those same parts of DTMH and Sweetest Disease, and I think a similar part in Les Litanies de Satan as well. And not sure if they were "theatrics" or just random cool/amusing/dorky moments, but they really seemed to have a ball while they played the newest songs. Such as when Kiwamu and Kaede did a lot of really awesome guitar and bass riffs standing back to back and just totally rocking together. *_* It's always cool to see the guys play off of each other like that... flashbacks to the classic 2nd period days, I guess. And I believe it was during the second of the 3 new songs when Fu-ki leaned out over the crowd as he likes to do, and Kaede strolled up and stood with his back to Fu-ki's and leaned back against him to deliberately push him into the crowd. And since this happened just inches away from me I saw the little evil smirk on his face as he did it. He's such a brat. XD But Fu-ki got his revenge shortly after that by sneaking behind Kaede, jumping onto his back, and just sitting there hanging on his shoulders for a few moments as he continued singing. But Kaede, freaking amazing performer that he is, just WENT ON PLAYING as if nothing was happening. o___o Only difference was it put a smile on his face. :P But dang, talk about a powerhouse...

And by now I can only remember a few other little amusements from the NY show. Such as when Kiwamu picked up a HUGE bottle of water, like 1.5-2 liters, and went to splash the crowd with it... but he forgot to take the lid off first. XD Fu-ki also took off the black overcoat part of his costume sometime in the second half of the show (cause don'cha know all the fangirls wanna see their J-boys strip >.>)... and can't remember if it was before or after that when he came over to our corner and leaned against the wall right in front of Ai while she fanned him with her sensu (folding fan) during an instrumental break of one song. The look on his face was pure bliss. :P There were also a few amusing moments when Roger, from the back of the stage, aimed his video camera at the guys and they put on some very... special faces and gestures for it. Though I know that I also appeared frequently on that video since I was right in the front and literally within just a few feet of both the band and Roger's camera at all times, so not sure how much I'm looking forward to seeing that video if he decides to use it for anything. >.> Anyway... hmmm... can't remember any other specific details right now, so moving on...

The live finally ended, so Ai and I rushed back to the merch booth to sell more CDs and get everything in order for the signing session. Again this part ended pretty quickly and fans started to clear out while the band posed for some photos with people and met the NY street teams and stuff. But that was pretty much it for the night; the club continued to wind down and finally we boarded our separate rides back to our hotel, and that was the end of the US tour. And since it was already past 1am by the time we all got back to the hotel, and since the guys wanted to be out of the hotel on the way to the airport by 4, once again I don't think anyone really got any decent amount of sleep beyond a quick catnap. I know I didn't even bother trying. >>

So after a mere 3 hours in our hotel, just long enough to shower and rearrange our luggage and chill for a few minutes, the girls and I headed down to the lobby at 4am to wait for the guys. It didn't take long after they joined us for their own ride to arrive, and a few minutes later a second car arrived for the girls and me, so we all parted ways with Roger and went on to the airport. I must've conked out for a little while on the way because I seemed to remember hearing that our airport was an hour away but it felt more like 15 minutes. x.x

Anyway, we reached the airport, and I was quite pleased to find that my airline terminal was only two counters down from BLOOD's, which meant I could stay with them right up until they reached the security checkpoint with plenty of time to head back and check myself in (my own flight was almost 4 hours later). They seemed pretty pleased with that arrangement too since, as they put it, if there was any trouble like there had been at LAX the day before I could be their translator and help them through it. >.> Nothing like that happened though, fortunately.

Eventually the massive line through security shortened until I had to go my own way and leave BLOOD and the girls to proceed through to their gate. Again they were all incredibly sweet and gracious right up to the final goodbyes, even buying me a Burger King breakfast, and I headed back to my own check-in counter feeling truly pleased with every experience I'd had throughout this tour. This was my first time really traveling with the band and following them as a staff member, and getting to spend time with Ai and Miwa and all my friends in LA made it all that much more awesome. They all really made me feel warmly welcomed and like part of the family, so to speak. I can't wait to see them all again. :D But best of all, I know for certain that the band and the girls were all VERY happy with their experience here in the states. The girls had fun and were completely impressed with everything even though they didn't get to do any real sightseeing, all the guys commented on how there were no serious problems, and fearless leader Kiwamu had nothing but good things to say about the way everything had gone, and made sure to VERY clearly and frequently express his gratitude to Roger as well as to me. They all did, really. Knowing they were so happy with the experience had to be the most satisfying part of the whole tour, I think. ^^

So that pretty much wraps up my report of the LES FLEURS DU MAL tour in America. I managed to get a longer report out of it than I expected. *laughs* Anyway, stay tuned, because I actually do plan to FINALLY post some album reviews here in the near future... :3