The lowdown on the acts from the V Stage on the first day of the visual rock festival.
The V Stage was the smallest stage at the mega visual rock festival in Makuhari. Despite its small size, many of the indies bands that played on it were big names in the scene.
The weekend was opened on the V Stage by the fairly recently formed Toon Factory. Their bright oshare-styled visual kei made for a fun first act: the vocalist in particular walked about the stage with a confident swagger and regardless of their young age, the whole performance was polished. From energetic pop to an interesting metal edge in their songs,Toon Factory played to impress. They played to a large crowd too, filling the small area around the V Stage early on and made a good prelude to SuG, who were about to start on the S Stage.
Set List:
SE
1. Dessert
2. Tiney Planet
3. Aozora Melody
Awoi followed, breaking up the happy pop with their dark brand of metal. Vocalist Otogi's voice was beautifully rich, soaring far beyond the confines of their small stage while his growls were suitably hellish. The headbanging really got going during Sunny Day as the fans violently moved their bodies to the powerful guitars. On stage, guitarist Shou was headbanging energetically, too. Awoi finished up with their popular song, Koe. As Otogi sang the anthemic refrain of the chorus, the fans jumped about excitedly, thoroughly enjoying the fact that their band had gotten to V-ROCK.
Set List:
1. Suzumushi
2. Sunny Day
3. Koe
Velbet, after a short break in the form of Bounty on the S Stage, were somewhere between Toon Koujou and Awoi musically. Their speedy pop punk sound became progressively more aggressive as the performance went on. Vocalist Riuki appeared quite cool and confident in a studded leather jacket and led the fans in the dancing while the other members rocked out around him. There was something quite fun in the Latin beat of Youthful Days, while the heavier Rokujou ikken kakuri uta that followed saw Riuki attempt some rapping. The fans responded with much the same energy too, even starting to mosh from side to side during the final song, chem;cal [R] Gang.
Set List:
1. 3/8
2. Youthful Days
3. Rokujou ikken kakuri uta
4. chem;cal [R] Gang
The mid-point on the V Stage was wrapped up by ViViD, who garnered a big crowd and even elicited screams from some girls when they played the intro to their first song. ViViD made a charming impression; dressed all in white, their bright pop-rock had addictive, danceable melodies that were performed with confidence. IV's bass playing stood out, particularly in Distance of Mind, where his funky bass line got the whole room dancing. The crowd gave a very warm welcome to the group. Vocalist Ryouga worked hard at energising the audience with his dancing, and they responded, jumping about. With the crowd they drew in and the fun character of their songs, ViViD looked set to become bigger within the visual kei scene.
Set List:
1. Take off
2. Distance of mind
3. Kimikoi
4. Dear
Irokui. appeared on V Stage all dressed in black, red fringed costumes, bursting with energy for their forthcoming performance. Their live started with Matenrou no ameotoko, a fun opener that got the crowd moving. Before FANTASTIC DREAMER~Sleeping Beauty~, vocalist Yu-ri gave a small lesson on how to dance properly to the song. After a little practice, they began, and the fans seemed easily able to keep up with the motions for this bright tune. Irokui. ended their set with Kyuuchuu Sanka. As they performed, their fans held hands together to enjoy the song and brought Irokui.'s fun performance to a happy, cute end.
Set List:
1. Matenrou no ameotoko
2. Uragiru Hermes
3. FANTASTIC DREAMER~ Sleeping Beauty~
4. Kyuuchuu sanka
Doremidan was already on stage as the curtains opened with a jazzy SE. From the beginning they got the crowd going with two high powered songs, Time Machine and Seishun Rollover. It was as if a fire had been lit beneath the audience who had been waiting for their live. Vocalist Makoto urged the audience to move, and they kept on moving to the equally upbeat Traveler. During their MC, they mentioned they were performing with only four members because bassist Shinji was not in his best condition to play the bass. Though they were four that day, they resumed with a heavy and exciting line up: Blind and Royde, Rensou game, Wakaba no Kioku, and Hello! Brand new Day.
Set List:
1. Time machine
2. Seishun Roll Over
3. Traveler
4. Blind and Royde
5. Rensou Game
6. Wakaba no Kioku
7. Hello! Brand New Day
