So, Inoue Joe's live was Sunday night.

SHIT WAS SO CASH.

The live was at 下北沢GARAGE (Shimokitazawa Garage), which is a live house in, well, Shimokitazawa.  The tickets were ¥2300, plus a ¥500 drink ticket.  Which basically means you have to pay another ¥500 at the door, but you get a drink.  The venue is tiny.  I think it could fit about 75 people, tops.  Tiny.

The whole event was a sort of 'Battle of the Bands' thing, so two other bands performed: the HANGOVERS and Say My Name.  And the opening act was The Jolly Pecker's.

The Jolly Pecker's were pretty good.  They looked about twelve, but they're talented and I think they show promise. 

the HANGOVERS = Pure awesome.  I bought their album.  They're quite good and I highly recommend checking them out.  They were at their merch table after the show and we chatted for a bit.  They're awesome guys and seriously talented.  If anybody wants, I can send links to song downloads.

Say My Name...eh.  I mean, they were okay, but they just sounded like every other emo garage band I've heard before.  Except they were singing in Japanese.  They weren't my cup of tea, but they weren't bad by any means.  

Inoue Joe AJK;SFLJK40'/1FRDP!!!!!!  I was legit five feet away from him.  I could have jumped on the stage and tackled him (that probably would have killed him, though...he's scrawny).  He's a good performer.  And the guys he got to play the other instruments were also really good.  Most of the audience spent the time between songs going 「カッコイイィィィ!!!!」and「かわいいぃぃぃ!!!!」which was kind of annoying, but still pretty funny.  

The set was pretty short, since three bands played.  I was going to try to steal the setlist off the stage (I swear, the first person to quote that 3OH!3 song at me gets 箸 to the 目), but someone either beat me to it or the staff knew somebody was going to try to.  But here's the full/accurate set list, thanks to <lj user="hyuuchiha_miki">, who is way more on top of these things than I am:

1. Closer
2. Lights
3. 風のごとく
4. Into Oblivion
5.世界のかけら
6. Nowhere
7. Hummingbird
6.  GO★ (encore)

For songs like Closer and GO★, there was a computer hooked up to get the synthesized sounds/backing vocals.  Which I thought was pretty neat, I would've preferred if he'd left the backing vocals to the other band members, though.  I think I just prefer the organic sounds of live singing, though.  It seems more genuine.  

Unfortunately, I'm a little annoyed with Inoue Joe.  After the show, he just left straightaway.  I dunno.  To me, a concert is a pretty rare opportunity to mingle with your fans and get to know people.  The fact that he didn't take that chance seems kind of...diva-ish?  Especially since, like I said before, there were at most 75 people there.  It wouldn't have taken very long to sign some stuff and be on your way.  I really don't want to think he's a jerk, because I really like his music and don't want that to be affected at all, but that felt a bit off to me.  Meh.

In summary:

I like Shimokitazawa.
Check out the HANGOVERS.
Short set list was short.
The jury is still out as to whether Inoue Joe is a jerk or not.  
















EDIT:  Yes.  I did buy all of the silly merch things they had for sale.  And I bought the single that dropped today.  And I tweeted it.  And his staff retweeted it.  And I felt special.



A handtowel I bought for my sister.  According to the girls at the merch table, Joe drew the picture himself.



They handed these out at the door.  I've also got fliers for the other acts and various ads.  Sorry my computer decided it would be a brilliant idea to mirror the image.  I just took some quick shots in photobooth.  If you look close, though, you can see that he photoshopped his face onto all the pictures.  And that he does bear an uncanny resemblance to Paris Hilton.



I totally bought one of these stickers, haha.  It was ¥100. 



The new single is good.  There's a 'ケリオキ' version of 「風のごとく」Which I thought was pretty funny, since it's spelled like the American way of pronouncing 'カラオケ'  Oh, Inoue Joe, you card. 

(^^)v ww