A lot of posts appeared in the time that I was writing mine. ^^;;;
The "don't stand in the front the whole time" thing that Minako mentioned is not actually applicable to these big Midi:Nette events, but it should probably be cleared up because I'm sure at least a few fans will be going to some other shows while they're here.
This is an important rule for small-ish to medium-ish concert events with multiple bands, like the ones that O-West and Area often do. The vast majority of Japanese fans attend those events for one band in particular. If it's not "your" band playing, you should stand a little back and give way to that band's hardcore fans who want to come forward. After that band is done, their fans will move back and be replaced by the next band's fans. It doesn't really matter what your ticket number is for these events because everyone moves around so much. If you've come to see one special band, you can go to the front for them along with all their other fans; but be careful of the jouren (regulars).
Jouren are fans who go to EVERY show the band plays. They are the core group of that band's supporters and in the indies scene, they expect some privileges in return for their extravagant support. There is a ranking system based on how much loyalty you've shown, in which they decide who stands where on the saizen (first row). If a band is very new/young and doesn't have an established saizen yet, of course anyone who wants to go close can stand in that empty space regardless of whether they've seen the band before or not. However when it comes to the bigger indies bands for which there's competition for the saizen, it's a privilege that you're supposed to earn over time by attending many shows and showing a lot of support. You do NOT walk in as a newbie and expect to stand saizen in that competitive situation, no matter where you came from. From their perspective, even if you came from far away, it's still your first show and you don't have as much right to stand there as a jouren who's given up huge amounts of money and time to loyally attend dozens of this band's concerts.
So when an overseas fan who's in Tokyo for a week comes to one of these crowded multi-band shows, not so much because they LOOOOVE any particular band as just to see all the bands they can before going home, and takes advantage of their size to bulldoze their way to the front row and then stands there all the way through the show, plainly ignorant of most of the bands, not knowing the music or the fan choreography, so tall that no one behind them can see a thing, without ever letting any of the dedicated jouren through... there are problems. ^^;;; This is the #1 situation that results in foreign fans complaining that when they went to a show, they had a horde of Japanese girls rudely targeting them for especially violent and painful lunges, attacking elbows-first. And yes, it IS rude for the jouren to do that, but in fact the rudeness was begun by the tourist.
If you'll be going to a typical O-West, Area, Rock May Kan sort of show with many bands, please keep this in mind. m(_._)m
At a ONEMAN it's different. You enter the livehouse based on ticket number and then go stand behind the fans who've already assembled there. You do NOT push through them unless you have a friend up ahead who has "reserved" a space for you and is waving to you to come forward. Once you've established yourself in that spot and are waiting for the concert to begin, depending on how crowded the venue is you may be able to leave it for a short time to do things like go to the toilet/coin locker/bar. (If you don't have a friend to hold the spot for you, you can leave some item and ask the person next to you to watch it.) But don't push forward until the concert is actually beginning. When the lights go down and the intro music begins, everyone will move forward and you can do it too at that point. After that it's a little tricky to move... If it's a super-crowded concert where everyone's going totally crazy and shoving each other, you can probably wedge yourself further forward. (Well, unless you get knocked out of the way by "tiny Japanese girls", which is not improbable because they're often stronger than they look) But if it's only crowded and the fans aren't shoving and squeezing like crazy, you can't push forward either. The only time you can move forward in that situation is if a band member comes over and presents himself to be reached for by the audience -- THEN you can squeeze forward to try to reach his hand. You might have to move back to your original spot right after that, though. ^^ Depends what other fans are doing. ^^
I'm only 158 cm so I don't need to worry unless I'm in my very highest cosplay shoes, and all that does is make me the height of a Japanese cosplayer in platforms. It's exactly the same. ^^; But when I cosplay I do try to make sure that poor little 140 cm girl isn't stuck behind me, and if I find her there I'll trade places with her. ^^ I'm not so generous as to do it for normal-height fans, but it's just too sad when I look back and find a tiny unhappy-looking girl who can't even see over my shoulder. ;_;
At last year's Dis Inferno, the M10M fans did NOT give Lareine or Fatima fans a break. I was there cosplaying Kamijo with a Japanese Mayu cosplayer -- it was screamingly obvious whose fans we were, there's no mistaking my long blond hair and sequins and Shiyuri's purple costume and our roses and lilies for anything except Lareine cosplay. It was actually kind of embarrassing how conspicuous we were, Shiyuri and I were the only fans who'd dressed to support non-Midi:Nette concert participants. (The rest of the Fleur were nondescript in gothloli style except for carrying flowers, and if Sanaka had any supporters they were totally undercover) But even though it was so clear that we were bigbigbig Kamijo and Mayu fans, there's no way the Mana fans would have let us forward when Kamijo and Mayu came onstage. There were just too many people who ALL wanted to be close for everything. Luckily for us it didn't matter because we had really good tickets, so Shiyuri got to be front row and I stood right behind her. ^^ We never could have gotten close otherwise, though.
The "don't stand in the front the whole time" thing that Minako mentioned is not actually applicable to these big Midi:Nette events, but it should probably be cleared up because I'm sure at least a few fans will be going to some other shows while they're here.
This is an important rule for small-ish to medium-ish concert events with multiple bands, like the ones that O-West and Area often do. The vast majority of Japanese fans attend those events for one band in particular. If it's not "your" band playing, you should stand a little back and give way to that band's hardcore fans who want to come forward. After that band is done, their fans will move back and be replaced by the next band's fans. It doesn't really matter what your ticket number is for these events because everyone moves around so much. If you've come to see one special band, you can go to the front for them along with all their other fans; but be careful of the jouren (regulars).
Jouren are fans who go to EVERY show the band plays. They are the core group of that band's supporters and in the indies scene, they expect some privileges in return for their extravagant support. There is a ranking system based on how much loyalty you've shown, in which they decide who stands where on the saizen (first row). If a band is very new/young and doesn't have an established saizen yet, of course anyone who wants to go close can stand in that empty space regardless of whether they've seen the band before or not. However when it comes to the bigger indies bands for which there's competition for the saizen, it's a privilege that you're supposed to earn over time by attending many shows and showing a lot of support. You do NOT walk in as a newbie and expect to stand saizen in that competitive situation, no matter where you came from. From their perspective, even if you came from far away, it's still your first show and you don't have as much right to stand there as a jouren who's given up huge amounts of money and time to loyally attend dozens of this band's concerts.
So when an overseas fan who's in Tokyo for a week comes to one of these crowded multi-band shows, not so much because they LOOOOVE any particular band as just to see all the bands they can before going home, and takes advantage of their size to bulldoze their way to the front row and then stands there all the way through the show, plainly ignorant of most of the bands, not knowing the music or the fan choreography, so tall that no one behind them can see a thing, without ever letting any of the dedicated jouren through... there are problems. ^^;;; This is the #1 situation that results in foreign fans complaining that when they went to a show, they had a horde of Japanese girls rudely targeting them for especially violent and painful lunges, attacking elbows-first. And yes, it IS rude for the jouren to do that, but in fact the rudeness was begun by the tourist.
If you'll be going to a typical O-West, Area, Rock May Kan sort of show with many bands, please keep this in mind. m(_._)m
At a ONEMAN it's different. You enter the livehouse based on ticket number and then go stand behind the fans who've already assembled there. You do NOT push through them unless you have a friend up ahead who has "reserved" a space for you and is waving to you to come forward. Once you've established yourself in that spot and are waiting for the concert to begin, depending on how crowded the venue is you may be able to leave it for a short time to do things like go to the toilet/coin locker/bar. (If you don't have a friend to hold the spot for you, you can leave some item and ask the person next to you to watch it.) But don't push forward until the concert is actually beginning. When the lights go down and the intro music begins, everyone will move forward and you can do it too at that point. After that it's a little tricky to move... If it's a super-crowded concert where everyone's going totally crazy and shoving each other, you can probably wedge yourself further forward. (Well, unless you get knocked out of the way by "tiny Japanese girls", which is not improbable because they're often stronger than they look) But if it's only crowded and the fans aren't shoving and squeezing like crazy, you can't push forward either. The only time you can move forward in that situation is if a band member comes over and presents himself to be reached for by the audience -- THEN you can squeeze forward to try to reach his hand. You might have to move back to your original spot right after that, though. ^^ Depends what other fans are doing. ^^
Minako wrote:The height is definitivelly something to consider. Even more if you are also wide. The 140cm 40kg japanese girl doesn't apreciates being stuck under the 170cm 80kg gaijin... (or under the 167cm 58kg gaijin -that'll be me-)
I'm only 158 cm so I don't need to worry unless I'm in my very highest cosplay shoes, and all that does is make me the height of a Japanese cosplayer in platforms. It's exactly the same. ^^; But when I cosplay I do try to make sure that poor little 140 cm girl isn't stuck behind me, and if I find her there I'll trade places with her. ^^ I'm not so generous as to do it for normal-height fans, but it's just too sad when I look back and find a tiny unhappy-looking girl who can't even see over my shoulder. ;_;
Minako wrote:^^; even for bands like lareine and fatima? It's kinda surprising...
At last year's Dis Inferno, the M10M fans did NOT give Lareine or Fatima fans a break. I was there cosplaying Kamijo with a Japanese Mayu cosplayer -- it was screamingly obvious whose fans we were, there's no mistaking my long blond hair and sequins and Shiyuri's purple costume and our roses and lilies for anything except Lareine cosplay. It was actually kind of embarrassing how conspicuous we were, Shiyuri and I were the only fans who'd dressed to support non-Midi:Nette concert participants. (The rest of the Fleur were nondescript in gothloli style except for carrying flowers, and if Sanaka had any supporters they were totally undercover) But even though it was so clear that we were bigbigbig Kamijo and Mayu fans, there's no way the Mana fans would have let us forward when Kamijo and Mayu came onstage. There were just too many people who ALL wanted to be close for everything. Luckily for us it didn't matter because we had really good tickets, so Shiyuri got to be front row and I stood right behind her. ^^ We never could have gotten close otherwise, though.