I didn’t really know what to expect from The Masquerade. I was like: “I will go, be pretty and worst case I will drink all night at the bar”.
After having put my nice red dress, black laces gloves and taking my sparkling mask with me, I ended up early at the event. There was already a lot of people waiting outside or making the line for goods. They were all dressed differently: Halloween costumes (Disney Princess), Gothic lolita, beautiful gown dresses. At that time I already knew that it would have been a wonderful night.
I bought goods for my friend and like usual they give us gifts (two pictures from halloween concert). After that I was waiting outside. For me this is always the worst part, waiting outside alone… But I met a girl that I talked with last time and we decided to pass the evening together (you never really stay alone for a long time when you are surrounded by fan).
5:20 PM
We got in the waiting line. Since we are in The FC we didn’t wait too long. The venue was at the 5th floor. After finally got there they gave us red bracelets because we were FC, but not VIP. There were 5 or 6 colors for these bracelets. We got down the stairs and took a drink. It was a big room with a dancing floor. There was some ballroom dancer where veryone was standing around the room to give some space to the dancers and I guess also because everyone was too shy to dance.
6:30 PM
The light get off. The staff was wearing white masks covering all their faces. When the lights get off, six people came in the center of the room carrying a coffin. After a while they put it on the floor and opened it. A blue light came from the coffin and we all thought that KAMIJO was about to come out of it, but instead he appeared on the balcony, welcoming us to the ball and asking us to enjoy every moment when the lights go off. He was impressive with his huge black and gold mask with feathers. As I suspected, he was wearing his blue jacket from sang tour. When he got out of the room, the first story begun. Some actors and dancers were telling us the cinderella’s story. He was trying to find, in the crowd, the girl who lost her shoe.
Around 6:45 PM
We got out for a cigarette and we missed 2 minutes of something, but when got back down the stairs to the place, just aside of the bar, I saw a really imposing person ordering a drink. It was KAMIJO. He was so close: 30 cm away. Oh my god!! He walked throught the crowd and everyone was: “KAMIJO さま、 KAMIJO さま“. He was smilling to everyone. After that, the actors and dancers came back, but this time the story was ” The phantom of the opera”. At the end, KAMIJO came back and picked a girl from the crowd and dance with her. I was so jealous!
7:10 PM
A woman (Yu Emao) appeared, in black, wearing a gold mask. She was walking around the place with 4 or 6 staff’s members (I don’t remember exactly how many they were). She did that for at least 5 minutes. Everyone was like: “What is she doing?”. Then KAMIJO appeared on the stage and she joined him. They talked for a while, but unfortunately my japanese is not good enough so I didn’t get everything, but he was welcoming her and they talked about a theater piece she played in. He thanked her and she left. Then he asked us to get closer to the stage for the next guest. An old small man in red appeared. JAGUAR. He sang an 80’s song. At that time KAMIJO went off the stage and started dancing with everyone. I could’nt move. It’s always like that: when he is close to me, I freeze. He was walking right in my direction. He stopped by me and showed me his hand… And a girl took it!! He then turned around and gave me his hand again and made me turn. I was dying. He did that for all the song and got back on stage, thanked the man and left the stage.
7:40 PM
The staff members came back KAMIJO was following. He passed right in front of me and I couldn’t stop watching him, but my eyes caught something on the other side of the room… HIZAKI!! They danced together, it was amazing seeing them happy together.
After that, Yu Emao came back and sung a song and then it was the final act.
Marie-Antoinette appeared laughing and running all around the place. She was looking to the men in the room, trying to find the perfect one. KAMIJO was there standing in the center of the room. She turned around and saw him. They greeted each others and he showed her the buffet and she was so happy. Then the staff got in the room and took Marie-Antoinette away. Her yelling…
The end.
It was about 8:00 when they asked us to leave the room.
We didn’t know what was happening, we just followed the instructions, we waited at least 30 minutes, then they started calling people by the colors of their bracelets: Blue, Red (Us) and the other ones. I don’t think someone was expecting what was about to happen after. We got up the stairs, maybe three more floors and we saw “STAGE” written on a door. We got inside and there was a stage with everything! CONCERT!!!! I could’nt believe it and we were so close. We waited a 30 minutes or more.
9:00 PM
The concert started with “Dead Set World” followed by “Theme of Sang“. All the musicians got on the stage with their usual costumes, but with a gold mask. KAMIJO was still wearing his big mask, but he changed his blue Jacket for the black one. After the first chords of Nosferatu he removed his mask. He was so happy like usual. The crowd was insane, maybe because no one was really expecting this. After they played “Emigre“, “Bloodcast – Interlude“, “Castrato” and “Bastille“. There was fun moment, like KAMIJO singing again with Anzi and almost removed his mask and tryied to fix it.
Then everyone left the stage on “Dead set world” then “Vive le Roi“. Marie-Antoinette appeared on the screen and told us a story that unfortunatelly I couldn’t understand. The band came back, their mask removed. Next songs: “薔薇は美しく散る“, “Delta – Interlude“, “Sang I” and “Sang II“. During Sang, KAMIJO had much difficulty with his voice: he couldn’t reach a really high note and he hit his head with his finger like: “Stupid what are you doing!?“. He was drinking a lot of water, maybe he drank too much, but l guess that he was just a bit sick like everyone in Tokyo these past 2 weeks.
MC: “この世で一番美しい薔薇よ” and “Louis – 艶血のラヴィアンローズ“. Everyone left the stage.
It was time for the ENCORE. Everyone started to sing “Vive le Roi“. KAMIJO came back and thanked eveyone, specially his musicians because most of them were around Japan the day before and they came threre for that crazy last minutes decision. He after told us that Kakeru from Scarlet Valse and David were there tonight and they will be part of the “ 暴燃會“. Finally he announced the “Symphony of Vampire” (that means more money spend!).
Then came the last few song: “Moulin Rouge” in Halloween version – トリックオアトリート, “Dying Table” and “Vampire Rock Star“. He left the stage on “Dead Set World” singing with everyone on the soundtrack.
10:35 PM
It was over. It was one of my best night with KAMIJO, except the last Tokyo Bastille concert in Shibuya that was amazing. Being able to see him having so much fun was a real bless. Overall, It was a success. The event lasted almost five hours and I couldn’t ask for more. I can’t wait to see the next idea that gonna come out of this amazing man. Wathever he does, I’ll be there.
Note: I tried my best to remember everything in the good order, but maybe I made some small mistakes. The hours are approximated.
Report: Christina Laprise
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