Tokyo a la Mode. Web Magazine for Japanese Fashion and Urban Culture

Blood

By Bobby /Aug 11, 2006
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Hardcore fans live in their own world. I’ve seen the best and worst of cosplay wandering the halls of Anime Expo.  I’ve witnessed first hand the Pocky-powered hand dances (like line-dancing, but only with your hands and glowsticks) by fans at a Psycho Le Cemu concert.  But I’ve never seen Gothic fans of visual kei in concert before.

So, when I found out that a Gothic band from Osaka, Japan was playing at the Hollywood Knitting Factory, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to check them out.  Then I saw on the terebi a headline from the news about some ‘Goth’ teen murder trial and checked my schedule to see if maybe there was another gig that night.  There wasn’t, and the tix were comped, so what’s the worst that could happen?  A bite from fake vampire teeth should heal up pretty nicely, right?

For a Gothic band, Blood wasn’t as scary as their name implies.  There wasn’t even any red goo squirting special effects or the ritualistic biting of bat heads.  The only thing scary about Blood was how much the cleaning bill on their elaborate gothic outfits must cost after each performance.

The fans weren’t scary either, they were actually pretty tame and dare I say, pleasant.  The crowd in the mosh pit at the 5,6,7,8’s concert would of eaten the Blood fans for breakfast.  But at least the Blood crowd dressed better.  I’m talking some serious elegant Gothic lolita outfits that would make Marie Antoinette jealous.  In fact most of the crowd were young women, no doubt attracted to the good looks of lead singer Fu~ki.

Fu~ki was charismatic and played to the crowd leading them in fist-pumping, clapping and evening jumping for one of the songs.  The audience would of stood on their heads if he led them to.  Besides a solid stage presence, I really liked how the band’s music was varied from some strong rock riffs to ballads to pop pieces.  Nothing I hate more than going to see an unknown band live and then getting bored after the third song because the tunes all sound the same.  The only thing I missed about their performance was a real drummer.  That would of brought more energy to the stage.

So I didn’t spot any vampires.  The only thing red I saw that night was the ketchup that I dipped my In-n-Out fries into after the gig was over.

Blood came to the U.S. for a short tour playing at the Knitting Factory in both Los Angeles and New York on August 9 and 10 followed by a couple appearances in Mexico City.  You can listen to their music at www.myspace.com/bloodofficial.