Before I leave Japan, the last concert I went to (and now I have a beeping sound in my ears, thanks) was Shock Wave Vol.1, featuring Kaya. I wrote an amused report to my friend and I put down the edited version here. Excuse me if it sounds silly, but I had way too much fun and the report was originally intended for my friend only.
Anyway, sooooo! Kaya! The second day, we saw KAYA. Kaya is SPECIAL. Special isn't good enough for him. So, the curtain opens and in a flowery PINK Kimono with blue and red inlay in the sleeves (only Kaya can make it look good) stands Kaya, with an obi bound at the front, twirling a huge purple parasol that is covering his face and upper body, blocking us from seeing him. Upon the beginning of his new single, Oka, he puts the parasol away to reveal his perfectly make-upped self and sing in his dark, hollow voice, his hands dancing elegantly in a choreographed dance. His eyes stare into an imaginary distance and he looks very serious. This, ladies and gentlemen, is Kaya. His black hair (for once not a wig) is parted at the side and in little spikes - as he sweated more they got a little into his face - there is a huge PURPLE BOW on his head holding a long, very long, fake extension-pony-tail in place that falls over his left shoulder. There are also sticks on his head (like chopsticks - at least six of them) holding the little knot that the extension makes (before it falls to his shoulder and back) in place. You stare at him, impressed by this show - the stage that has no more drumset as for the other bands but two paper walls in the back and Kaya's sign (a "k") in the back. There is only this ONE man standing there, taking himself and his dancing completely seriously, right down to walking back and swinging his hips as if he was on a catwalk. That man CLEARLY has the dark voice of a man, but he really moves like an elegant lady. That, ladies and gentlemen, is Kaya. The song ends and you have gotten used to this dark, pleasant, volumeous voice, when suddenly something shy and breathy says "Konnichiwa!" into the microphone - that, ladies and gentlemen, is Kaya. With an awkward smile he starts babbling away quickly about his new single, about how everyone came here and he is happy and how he can see people bought the fan that he designed which will now enable him to eat again because he earned some money. What seems to be girly and shy has apparantly an amazing ability to be amusing because he causes laughter everywhere (making you wish you spoke Japanese). And just when you start thinking that Kaya should maybe stop talking so much and present some more songs, two men in kimonos come on stage, both wearing fluffy red and white feather boas on their heads, both looking about 300% more male than Kaya. And what you perceive to be just another one of Kaya's elaborate hand-movement-elegance dance turns out to be a choreography that his drag queens dance along with - and quite nicely so. I don't know how it happened, but suddenly the drag queens stand there in nothing but boots, short, short, short, TIGHT black hot pants and basically sleeves (the shirts were fishnet and covered as much as their shoulder blades, if even that). At the end of the song, the drag queens move the paper walls together and Kaya disappears behind them, just his shadow remains as he slooooowly undresses himself.
Meanwhile, his drag queens dance (if I remember correctly) and what steps out from behind the walls is Kaya, suddenly in a BLUE kimono (the one we thought was just the inlay of his sleeves) and with a much smaller obi and the red inlay on his sleeves still intact. This is much luck for Kaya who had troubles with the first, huge obi, when dancing because it would slide. At some point he just gave up on it and held it while dancing. Now this one seemed less slide-willing as it was much less heavy and could follow his dancing more easily. Plunging into the next song, Kaya dances and sings in his usual confident, elegant manner when suddenly his drag queens sandwich him - one up front, face to the audience, one behind Kaya - and one drag queen fiddles with his obi. Yes, you guessed right - when drag queen #1 steps away, Kaya takes a step forward and WHOOSH, the blue kimono is gone leaving Kaya only in the red one which is clearly the last layer - because after some dancing, his shoulder is revealed (and that's one sexy shoulder and chest, by the way). Kaya is now much more free with his dancing style and interacts more with the audience (clapping! yay!) and shows of his fish-netted legs - some sexy legs, indeed. (^__^) This, ladies and gentlemen, is Kaya!
Another MC introduces a song that means a lot to him because it is his personal theme song. In his girly, shy, breathy, smily voice he lets people know that it is very important to him, pulls up his kimono to cover the coquettishly revealed shoulder and earns lots of 'KAWAIIIII' shouting from the audience. And then he says "If you know the lyrics in the back, please feel free sing along, but if you're here in the front" - and his language switches from polite to rude, his tone from high pitched to manly "URUSAI!" - and then he laughs, tells us it was all a joke, makes fun of himself for saying URUSAI and gives some of the most genuine smiles on the planet that earn him more KAWAII calls from the audience.
For Glitter Arch, he points to the side of the stage when the song starts and claps in the rhythm of the intro. His drag queens obey and pull a poor guy in a black shirt, who doesn't know how the HELL he ended up on stage, right out there with them and make him clap in rhythm with the audience. And Kaya laughs genuinely and sings and dances and smiles at the poor guy who somehow isn't allowed to go off stage, but clearly embarassed (we actually saw him later by Kaya's merchendise stand and some girls were talking to him and he was STILL embarassed). So, poor guy who is not in drag, but in pants and shirt, is pulled up front by Kaya and has to dance with him until poor guy just ends up falling to his knees behind Kaya and bents over to hide his face and laugh embarassedly. That again, makes Kaya kneel down by his side and pat poor guy's hair and sing to him, which make his drag queens get fans and fake petals (which they had done earlier in the show) and let them fly around the two of them. That, ladies and gentlemen, is Kaya. But is he entirely heartless? - but of course not! Between teasing the poor guy and prancing around on stage and laughing and CLEARLY and GENUINELY enjoying himself, Kaya walks back to poor guy and gives him a hearty hug. It was really, really sweet and I think he was instantly forgiven.
During this happy-fun time of Kaya on stage, he also noticed me and my friend, the obligatory two white girls at Japanese concerts. XD We were standing on the second level (Takadanobaba AREA is really small and has three levels, each having a rail at the front - we were on the second level near the center, second row behind the rail which is close enough to the stage). Kaya pointed at us (might have recognized my friend's bright hair from the signing event?) and winked and smiled. It was really adorable and I got the feeling he was conveying "Hey, I KNOW you guys! (^__^)"
Kaya leaves everyone very entertained, with a smile on their faces and a good workout. The last song's name, before he really leaves, is Rose Jail, holding the line where Kaya screams "WITH ALL MY" and the audience ads "HURTS!" at the end with a headbang. Whoever thought Kaya was nice and sweet and shy and didn't notice it in the other songs before, knows by now, latest - that he IS a techno-rock queen who can SCREAM like any good jrock vocalist can. And even if he seemed shy in the first song, you soon figure out he's quite confident on stage and he leaves everyone who came to see other bads with the imaginary stamped word 'impressed' to their forehead.
That, ladies and gentlemen, was Kaya.
I don't think I could enjoy ANYONE'S stage performance as much as his, seriously. And I have never felt so bad about a report totally being unable to catch the real experience. Memory can't even catch it, which is why I fear seeing Kaya could grow into an unhealthy addiction. XD
I think the best part, still, is that Kaya is flamboyant, but absolutely natural. I can't even begin to grasp how a person like him is real. He's incredibly unique and special!
Anyway, sooooo! Kaya! The second day, we saw KAYA. Kaya is SPECIAL. Special isn't good enough for him. So, the curtain opens and in a flowery PINK Kimono with blue and red inlay in the sleeves (only Kaya can make it look good) stands Kaya, with an obi bound at the front, twirling a huge purple parasol that is covering his face and upper body, blocking us from seeing him. Upon the beginning of his new single, Oka, he puts the parasol away to reveal his perfectly make-upped self and sing in his dark, hollow voice, his hands dancing elegantly in a choreographed dance. His eyes stare into an imaginary distance and he looks very serious. This, ladies and gentlemen, is Kaya. His black hair (for once not a wig) is parted at the side and in little spikes - as he sweated more they got a little into his face - there is a huge PURPLE BOW on his head holding a long, very long, fake extension-pony-tail in place that falls over his left shoulder. There are also sticks on his head (like chopsticks - at least six of them) holding the little knot that the extension makes (before it falls to his shoulder and back) in place. You stare at him, impressed by this show - the stage that has no more drumset as for the other bands but two paper walls in the back and Kaya's sign (a "k") in the back. There is only this ONE man standing there, taking himself and his dancing completely seriously, right down to walking back and swinging his hips as if he was on a catwalk. That man CLEARLY has the dark voice of a man, but he really moves like an elegant lady. That, ladies and gentlemen, is Kaya. The song ends and you have gotten used to this dark, pleasant, volumeous voice, when suddenly something shy and breathy says "Konnichiwa!" into the microphone - that, ladies and gentlemen, is Kaya. With an awkward smile he starts babbling away quickly about his new single, about how everyone came here and he is happy and how he can see people bought the fan that he designed which will now enable him to eat again because he earned some money. What seems to be girly and shy has apparantly an amazing ability to be amusing because he causes laughter everywhere (making you wish you spoke Japanese). And just when you start thinking that Kaya should maybe stop talking so much and present some more songs, two men in kimonos come on stage, both wearing fluffy red and white feather boas on their heads, both looking about 300% more male than Kaya. And what you perceive to be just another one of Kaya's elaborate hand-movement-elegance dance turns out to be a choreography that his drag queens dance along with - and quite nicely so. I don't know how it happened, but suddenly the drag queens stand there in nothing but boots, short, short, short, TIGHT black hot pants and basically sleeves (the shirts were fishnet and covered as much as their shoulder blades, if even that). At the end of the song, the drag queens move the paper walls together and Kaya disappears behind them, just his shadow remains as he slooooowly undresses himself.
Meanwhile, his drag queens dance (if I remember correctly) and what steps out from behind the walls is Kaya, suddenly in a BLUE kimono (the one we thought was just the inlay of his sleeves) and with a much smaller obi and the red inlay on his sleeves still intact. This is much luck for Kaya who had troubles with the first, huge obi, when dancing because it would slide. At some point he just gave up on it and held it while dancing. Now this one seemed less slide-willing as it was much less heavy and could follow his dancing more easily. Plunging into the next song, Kaya dances and sings in his usual confident, elegant manner when suddenly his drag queens sandwich him - one up front, face to the audience, one behind Kaya - and one drag queen fiddles with his obi. Yes, you guessed right - when drag queen #1 steps away, Kaya takes a step forward and WHOOSH, the blue kimono is gone leaving Kaya only in the red one which is clearly the last layer - because after some dancing, his shoulder is revealed (and that's one sexy shoulder and chest, by the way). Kaya is now much more free with his dancing style and interacts more with the audience (clapping! yay!) and shows of his fish-netted legs - some sexy legs, indeed. (^__^) This, ladies and gentlemen, is Kaya!
Another MC introduces a song that means a lot to him because it is his personal theme song. In his girly, shy, breathy, smily voice he lets people know that it is very important to him, pulls up his kimono to cover the coquettishly revealed shoulder and earns lots of 'KAWAIIIII' shouting from the audience. And then he says "If you know the lyrics in the back, please feel free sing along, but if you're here in the front" - and his language switches from polite to rude, his tone from high pitched to manly "URUSAI!" - and then he laughs, tells us it was all a joke, makes fun of himself for saying URUSAI and gives some of the most genuine smiles on the planet that earn him more KAWAII calls from the audience.
For Glitter Arch, he points to the side of the stage when the song starts and claps in the rhythm of the intro. His drag queens obey and pull a poor guy in a black shirt, who doesn't know how the HELL he ended up on stage, right out there with them and make him clap in rhythm with the audience. And Kaya laughs genuinely and sings and dances and smiles at the poor guy who somehow isn't allowed to go off stage, but clearly embarassed (we actually saw him later by Kaya's merchendise stand and some girls were talking to him and he was STILL embarassed). So, poor guy who is not in drag, but in pants and shirt, is pulled up front by Kaya and has to dance with him until poor guy just ends up falling to his knees behind Kaya and bents over to hide his face and laugh embarassedly. That again, makes Kaya kneel down by his side and pat poor guy's hair and sing to him, which make his drag queens get fans and fake petals (which they had done earlier in the show) and let them fly around the two of them. That, ladies and gentlemen, is Kaya. But is he entirely heartless? - but of course not! Between teasing the poor guy and prancing around on stage and laughing and CLEARLY and GENUINELY enjoying himself, Kaya walks back to poor guy and gives him a hearty hug. It was really, really sweet and I think he was instantly forgiven.
During this happy-fun time of Kaya on stage, he also noticed me and my friend, the obligatory two white girls at Japanese concerts. XD We were standing on the second level (Takadanobaba AREA is really small and has three levels, each having a rail at the front - we were on the second level near the center, second row behind the rail which is close enough to the stage). Kaya pointed at us (might have recognized my friend's bright hair from the signing event?) and winked and smiled. It was really adorable and I got the feeling he was conveying "Hey, I KNOW you guys! (^__^)"
Kaya leaves everyone very entertained, with a smile on their faces and a good workout. The last song's name, before he really leaves, is Rose Jail, holding the line where Kaya screams "WITH ALL MY" and the audience ads "HURTS!" at the end with a headbang. Whoever thought Kaya was nice and sweet and shy and didn't notice it in the other songs before, knows by now, latest - that he IS a techno-rock queen who can SCREAM like any good jrock vocalist can. And even if he seemed shy in the first song, you soon figure out he's quite confident on stage and he leaves everyone who came to see other bads with the imaginary stamped word 'impressed' to their forehead.
That, ladies and gentlemen, was Kaya.
I don't think I could enjoy ANYONE'S stage performance as much as his, seriously. And I have never felt so bad about a report totally being unable to catch the real experience. Memory can't even catch it, which is why I fear seeing Kaya could grow into an unhealthy addiction. XD
I think the best part, still, is that Kaya is flamboyant, but absolutely natural. I can't even begin to grasp how a person like him is real. He's incredibly unique and special!
