I had nothing in particular planned so I spent the morning journalling, eating breakfast in stages, and just generally enjoying the warm confines of my bed.
Eventually, though, I got dressed and was ready for an excursion. It turned out that Akihabara was about a twenty minute walk from my hotel so I loaded up a map and set out in its general direction. I took a few detours out of curiosity for the area I was staying in, but eventually found my way.
It was a stroke of luck that I ended up in an area of Akihabara I was already familiar with: a towering Yodobashi Camera, which also contained a very particular TOWER RECORDS. I made my way inside, rode the escalators all the way up to the 7th floor, and then, there it was…
ALICE NINE. 聖地 — Holy Land
The ALICE NINE. display that the staff of TOWER RECORDS Akihabara continuously curates is impressive, to say the least. And given that they had only just a couple weeks earlier held an instore event to celebrate the release of GRACE, there was even more signage than usual. I took quite a bit of time reading messages that the band members had written during the course of several events, as well as messages that staff of the store had written to promote their releases. As a fan it was very heartening to see so much love for them concentrated in one place.
I already had my copies of GRACE so I didn’t buy one there, but I did buy the latest ROCK AND READ (vol 103) which has a band interview about their anniversary live, side projects, and the new album in it. A companion to the album, so to speak.
With the magazine in hand, I perused the rest of the shop, picking up the latest NIGHTMARE single “With” and one of NUMBER GIRL’S concert audio CDs that wasn’t on streaming services… partly because of the excellent 2-disk tracklist, and partly because said tracklist was mostly handwritten, with each track getting its own graphic style (very punk, which I was down with).
I’ve been a fan of NIGHTMARE almost as long as I’ve been a fan of ALICE NINE., and since I wasn’t able to attend any of their performances on this trip, picking up With seemed like a good middle ground (it’s a great single).
On the other hand, NUMBER GIRL is a band I learned about by reading a magazine. Hévn vol 20, to be exact. In it, there was a questionnaire section featuring ALICE NINE., one of the questions being about music they’d recommend, and Saga answered Stolkholm Syndrome by MUSE (a longtime favourite song of mine, so I knew I could trust Saga’s taste) and then also added SAPPUKEI by NUMBER GIRL, who I’d never heard of before. I liked it.
Voilà, an excerpt of the interview in question.
After I’d gone back to admire the ALICE NINE. display one more time and paid for my music and reading selections, I left the shop and went in search of a very particular floor in Yodobashi Camera: the one containing all the games, toys, and plastic models. The board games drew my attention right away, and believe me, I was tempted (the fact that I wouldn’t really have anyone to play them with in Japanese stayed my hand). I was delighted to remember that Love Letter, a longtime favourite icebreaker game of mine, was actually created in Japan. I have a version featuring characters from The Hobbit. I also recognized some of the amusing board games ALICE NINE. played during their DICE NINE episodes.
I took my time admiring all the adorable Rilakkuma goods… and then exercised my willpower not to buy a Gundam plastic model because there is no space for it in my suitcase. It’s been years since I built one… I would often buy one a year whenever I went to comicon; they’re so much fun to build.
As I was descending the escalators to leave, I came upon a floor with an enormous Star Wars display.
Dayum.
Akiba doesn’t mess around when it comes to geekery lol. I knew that, of course, but it was still kind of a delight to stumble upon the elaborate display.
I left the incredible tech and toy department store and went in search of the Book Off I remembered was nearby. I got to the right street and began walking along it… but the Book Off was nowhere to be found. In confusion, I turned around, and there, in the distance, was the huge Book Off sign, wrapping around the top of the building it was in.
I felt sheepish, and walked back the way I’d come… I had crossed a street right away without thinking and had passed right by it! If I’d just turned the corner at that point instead, I’d have saved myself an extra walk.
But it was no matter.
I went up to peruse their CDs and found a good handful… including lynch.’s The Avoided Sun which, like Kagrra.’s 雫 is a fairly rare CD I search for alnost every time I visit Japan. I was so happy to finally have my own copy! It’s part of the collection of CDs that make up my Visual Kei roots (i.e. ALICE NINE. CDs, NIGHTMARE’s the WORLD Ruler, the GazettE’s NIL and STACKED RUBBISH, D’s the name of the rose and Neo Culture, Kagrra,’s san… and so on… I still have several more to collect).
I also found PIERROT’s FREEZE, LUNA SEA’s IMAGE, Lillies and Remains Transpersonal, and lynch.’s GALLOWS to add to my collection at home. I gave away a lot of CDs and books in the course of my two last moves and it was necessary, but a part of me still feels a pang of regret. There’s something soothing about picking a CD off your shelf and deliberately putting it on, compared to just queuing the songs up on an app. Both have their place — I love streaming for discovery and convenience. But The Avoided Sun, for instance, isn’t available to be digitally. Neither is a large chunk of ALICE NINE.’s discography (containing many of my favourite works of theirs).
But I digress.
I then went looking for music magazines. My main goal? To find a specific issue of BASS MAGAZINE that Saga had appeared in! No luck at that location, though… perhaps it’ll be at another.
I did all my wandering to the sound of ALICE NINE.’s GRACE album (which should be treated like one long song, as explained in their extra-detailed online interview with Decolum). But for all the energy listening to those songs gave me, eventually I felt tired and so took the long way back to my hotel.
When I say the long way, I mean that I tried to consult the map as little as possible, and that, while I did take another wrong turn, my feet did more or less remember the way back to the building. Outside in the sun, it was fairly warm, but when I got in, I cuddled into my Groovy Chiko / Visual Saga hoodie, pulled on some thick socks, and before I knew it, I had given in to sleepiness and tucked in for an early evening nap…
I had to take a later shinkansen than I’d intended because of weekend crowds or delays (I’m not certain which) so got to the livehouse with just a couple minutes to spare. Fortunately, this was not my first time going to a live in Saga’s hometown of 郡山, so I didn’t get lost at any point along the way.
I have such fond memories of this livehouse, being the first cozy-size one I attended back in 2019 for Saga’s birthday. As if the main set and encore hadn’t been amazing enough, Saga and Hiroto returned onstage a third time and played すべてへ, with Saga singing on acoustic guitar. Thankfully, he uploaded a part of it on Twitter afterwards, because it was such a joy to listen to that night, and listening to the clip now just brings those memories right back.
That was a special live in and of itself, one that is forever imprinted in my memory, and this live will be too. They rocked. We were all so happy to be able to raise our voices with them again!
Unlike in 新潟NEXS, 郡山 Hip Shot Japan didn’t have any areas demarcated on the floor, so it held more attendees and we weren’t as restricted in our positions on the floor.
Since I arrived later, I was more towards the back at the foot of the steps (which was still incredibly close to the stage), and thankfully on the 下手 side! But I ended up dancing my way sideways to having a clear view of Saga, so I got to enjoy seeing (and feeling) all those gorgeous, badass bass skills in action all night.
And hold my arms out to cheer Saga on
＼(^o^)／♡♡♡♡♡♪︎♪︎♪︎♪︎♪︎｢沙我！！｣
Saga gave 焔ちゃん’s neck so many kisses and raised that bass up to such honorable heights ❤️🔥💋
The lighting at 郡山 Hip Shot Japan was denser, more brilliant, and included lasers, which was so cool! They also had some smoke machines going at points.
Living Dead is a song with a marching beat, but it also feels like you’re tunnelling through the earth, in a way. That contrast in feel is really frickin’ cool. They played Answer next, whose texture I really love, and everyone in the audience was dancing to the brightest sections of the music. This led into an even brighter classic from 2007. I felt so happy when I heard them start TSUBASA.! Ohhh, the memories… It is one of those rare singles of theirs that didn’t actually end up on a subsequent album, and is such a great song.
From there, the mood got a little darker, a little more luxurious, and they began to play the delectable, the danceable, the gorgeous… 華! The live arrangement, in constant evolution, is SO GOOD! Every time! AHHHHHHHHHHH I was so happy that they played it! Next up was Moondance, made even more of a pleasure due to the fact that we’d been warmed up dancing to 華 first (delightful setlist pairing by Saga).
But man, FIVE JOKER then folded the coolness factor into the mix. I thought I was hearing a slightly different arrangement, but either way, I love the bass in this song and I was groooooving to it. After which, 界 began, and we embraced a more sombre atmosphere in order to worship once again at the temple of アリス九號. Together with the members of the band, we we sending out a prayer to the gods of rock, with this night of musical revelry as our sacred offering 🙏
Yes. It’s that good.
Envy, which followed, really filled the room in its own particular way, with Saga’s very clear plucking of the strings ringing out. It builds slowly, with patience, to an incredible climax.
INSOMNIA is a song that I really love, but for whatever reason, I hadn’t ever expected to end up at a live where they would play it. I was so surprised and in awe when it started… Saga kept playing acoustic guitar for the length of the song too. I’d never seen or heard a live rendition before, so I don’t know how they’d normally perform it, but having the acoustic guitar in the mix was captivating. And as ever, the way the vocals crest and fall in the song was beautiful. Then the tail end of the song faded, and four members left the stage…
At this, Nao got up on the front podium, and like the night before, he got the crowd riled up, clapping and calling out in time with his Drum Solo. Very fun, and his drumming, as ever, sounded great! The others returned to an energized audience and they all jumped into playing Roar. During yesterday’s after talk, Show and Saga suggested an adjustment to the furi for the Love-love Hate-hate call sections, and today we tried the new way and it did emphasize the energy of the song much better. Even without the rap section, this song is badass, but the rap takes it to the next l e v e l.
But oh, what a thrill of excitement I felt when PHOENIX started. It marked ALICE NINE. returning from their hiatus, and turned into music the sense of triumph we all felt upon knowing they were back. I was so amazed by this song when I first heard it, and every time I hear it now, I still feel such pride in them. This song was the lead track on their re-debut EP (as A9) whose recording they crowdfunded for, and my name, along with everyone else who backed it, is in the booklet. Pretty amazing, to have been a little part of their musical history in that way. Saga’s bassline is kickass in this song, and I love the vocal melody Show sings in it. The energy was incredible during this performance and I just let my body flow along with the music. Bliss.
We all worked up a reeeeal good sweat dancing to RAINBOWS, doing the A-jump, and giving all our love to this amazing classic. They rock so hard and make this song sound so damn good every time! Next up was Funeral, and it sounds SO wicked cool live. It truly does. I love Saga’s ribbony bass line in it, the solo was nice and gruff/grungy in this performance, and really, everyone’s parts sound so cool with everyone getting their moment to stand out in this song. Exodus: deepened the mood in the room with its contrasting growls and softer melodic sections, and that led into… 開戦前夜! We all let loose during the course of the song, getting wild together just before the end of the main set. And as was becoming customary during this tour, they again ended their main set with Farewell Flowers so that we could all catch our breath and be soothed by the song.
Shortly after they left the stage, we started clapping and calling out for an Encore in waves… again, I meant it when I cried out ‘En-co-ru!’ with every fiber of my being! We love you, come back, let’s rock some more!
Thankfully they heard us an obliged, the stage lights gettong bright again as the members returned to the stage. It was Re:Born that they played first and ‘oh my god’ was the thought that popped into my mind first. I wasn’t expecting this song, and it just… I felt so very alive and so much joy being in the room to experience it. I remember hearing the premiere of the song during their 13th anniversary live broadcast on NICONICO and being completely blown away by it. It was like breathing fresh air at that point in my life. Hearing it was like breaking a curse that I hadn’t realized I’d been under, and after that, I went back to my 居場所, my happy place, fully. And this particular performance definitely upheld and added to this song’s particular magic.
What came next was 春夏秋冬 and I went absolutely wild for this one. I’m sure I heard this song before at another live, but much like VELVET last night, this particular performance was so euphoric, so filled with glee and nostalgia and happiness that ALICE NINE. still rock the room as hard as they ever have, that this is the version now most prominent in my memory. These classics have such energetic, well-defined furitsuke as well, so that there’s no space or need to dance in your own way. It’s extremely fun to dance along with everyone else. And dance, we did! Then, of course, at the end, they all gathered together at the front of the stage and played with a foot up on the podium there, shoulder to shoulder (Nao guarding their backs)… my younger self would never believe that I actually got to experience that fundamentally aliceniney song live, in person. What a delight.
In a short MC after they finished performing 春夏秋冬, I believe Show admitted that in their early days, they added in the oioioi/fist-pump section during the Tora solo because they thought it’d be cool. Had everyone in the audience giggling over it. Hey, it’s there to stay, we love it, and it’s part of アリス九號.’s long and storied history!
To follow in the footsteps of a band sound classic, they played their classic-in-the-making of a different feel, Grace. This song sounds so complex–and it is–yet when they play it live, it comes together so beautifully, so naturally, and lights up the room. I love this song… the sound is so dynamic, so full of vitality, the way it soars and dives.
I’m so glad I found their music by chance.
Saga’s beautiful, cool, and unexpected compositions continue to enchant me, and rock my world.
It’s incredibly fun to see bands you love live in concert… but it’s life-affirming to go see your favourite band in person. After so long… what a joy.
I did hang around outside for a bit after the live ended, but it was a getting chilly and drizzling, so I eventually just said a silent ‘see you next time’ to that beloved livehouse (and a certain musician still in it), and made my way slowly back to the station, stopping or wandering down a side street as I liked each time something caught my eye, each time I experienced a sense of déjà vu.
It is a strange feeling to know that a place you wanted so badly to go and see for yourself, a place that you stare around in wonder at, is as everyday and as commonplace as it gets to just about everyone else that surrounds you. Saga grew up here, in Japan, in this city, and probably dreamed of visiting somewhere else at some point too. I’m glad I got to walk these streets again.
It was relatively dry but chilly as I leaned against a wall to wait for the shinkansen to pull up to the platform. And then the train carried me back to Tokyo, memories of the incredible live I’d just attended replaying in my head…
I worked up a serious sweat… before the live. I legitimately got lost trying to find the right exit out of the Niigata station. I knew which direction I needed to head in, looking at my map, but every exit I tried led in the wrong direction and I was really worried I wouldn’t make it. At one point, I truly thought there wasn’t enough time left before the performance started. But I finally found the right hallway, it led me out in the right direction, and once on the street, it was easy to go the rest of the way.
I was so relieved. A… tiny bit sheepish too.
Of course, later I realized I would likely have been able to get in even after the live started, but that’s not something I would want to do if I could help it.
The livehouse was small and cozy with clear squares marked on the floor in tape for attendees to stand in. I got a square in the back right corner near the door, and stood diagonally so that I could get a clear view of Saga. Definitely a good idea to have worn my platforms, otherwise I would have been a shorty struggling to see past the people in front of me. I had a clear view of everyone on the stage, though.
I know I’m probably going to say this every time, but… the setlist was excellent.
I’m such a nerd, I had to actually hold my glasses in my hand while headbanging to prevent them from flying off into the crowd やばかったよw (’twas crazy lol)
The classical SE they began using earlier this year (Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony) is so epic, and is right on par with how elated I feel when they do a live. Everyone clapped as they took to the stage to the triumphant swell of the music, and then… they began to play.
Opening with organ music and dramatic lighting, Living Dead feels as emotionally heavy as the weight of the steady march that characterizes the song. I could hardly believe my eyes, that my favourite band was right there living, breathing, playing right in front of me. As I watched, swaying to the music in a daze, elated, following along with some of the dances, they transitioned into playing Answer. The venue started to heat up along with the tempo of the song and reality was starting to hit. I was really, truly there.
The next song, Show explained, was for all of us — WHITE PRAYER! I thought I was going to lose my mind, I was so excited. I love the live arrangement of this one, along with Saga’s flowy bass line in it. 懐かしいいいいしか言えない！Again, with this song, the whole room was thrumming with movement, dancing together to a song that is such a classic in their discography. Then they started playing the opening notes of 百花繚乱, and things got really wild! As an older song, it also had a very well-established dance, and the whole room was moving together furiously excited… I was one happy, nostalgic 九組! It was so much fun!
As Moondance began, Show definitely showed us how the くねくね dance was supposed to be done… this was something Saga explained in his GRACE Commentary livestream before the start of the tour — that everyone should move their hips and sway to the song in a sexy way. It sounded so good live, and was indeed a pleasure to dance to. I love Saga’s bass line in this song, and that was what I was following as I moved and reveled in the sound. When the song ended, Saga took up position, bracing himself in order to play BABYLON‘s opening bass line and slap… this was my first time experiencing the song live, and it was utterly cool to fall into and be immersed in the music for this one.
In the echoing ending notes of BABYLON, the mood shifted.
The stage went dark, and after a long, low tone, 界‘s sutra began, booming through the room, transforming it with sound. Saga had explained how the song was meant to evoke the sense of coming to worship in the temple of ALICE NINE. in an interview… and that description is bang-on for how I felt, listening to it. While Saga’s deep voice rang out, repeating the sutra, I put my hands together in prayer and felt like I was being put into a trance. The livehouse was our place of worship. Music, the deity we were supplicating. Sound from vibration that conveys scenery, emotion, memory…
When that powerhouse of a song finished, Saga set down his red bass, Homura, and picked up his blue acoustic guitar. So began Envy. The song felt so beautiful live, with slow, deliberate plucking of the acoustic guitar’s strings, and slow, intentional singing from Show. The sound was so full in the room and I just swayed with the flow of the song, carried away, hand over my heart.
Saga put his red bass back on and after a quiet pause to accommodate the switch, 昴 began. Not only was it absolutely beautiful, the fact that we as the audience could actually sing with them made it even more meaningful. 幸せだった。The song really unfolds fully live, with Saga singing backup and the audience joining in too. I’ll never forget the intense sense of beauty and of longing that I felt when I watched the live footage from Untitled VANDALISM. And how beautiful it was when I heard it the first time during the FC trip I took, in a planetarium live. But after all the restrictions, after all the waiting… being able to sing it together this time in particular was a singular experience that I won’t soon forget.
Be as one…
Some piano began to play as all the members aside from Nao left the stage. He got up as well, but in order to come to the front podium. First, he got us all clapping, then he got us all shouting in unison, and then we combined the two actions. Nao returned to his drum set and started srumming to the beat he’d gotten us started on, and from there he whipped us all up into a frenzy of shouting, clapping, and hand-waving along to the Drum Solo… the drumming throughout the live was crisp and on point too!
Finally, the other four members of the band came back onstage in order to start playing Roar which is a total powerhouse of a song, and incredibly melodic to boot. The drum-rap-bass solo section is crisp, sharp, and then velvety-soft. Which brings us to ヴェルヴェット itself. When this song started playing, I was ridiculously excited. The energy in the room for this song was just awesome. Everyone fist-pumping together and getting wild for this classic… this might even have been my first time hearing it in person! But even if it weren’t, something about this performance really put it at the top of the list in my memory.
As if that hadn’t been enough nostalgia for one 九組 to take, they started playing RAINBOWS, and I was elated. Elated! The stage lights cutting through the darkness of the room in every colour imaginable gives the song an incredible air, and there’s no question that we were partying out hearts out. Saga gave the middle finger when everyone was doing the A-jump. Badass. Show hit the high note at the end and it was awesome. That song always takes me back and is one hell of a good time at lives.
In a change of pace, they played Funeral next, and its forward momentum and many layers of detail and sound texture sounded amazing. This was followed by Exodus:, which took us further into the depths that Funeral had pulled us into. Next came 開戦前夜, which I was experiencing live for the first time; it was epic. An incredible release of tension in the room. Made me wish I wore contacts so I could headbang with even more wild abandon! To finish their main set, they played Farewell Flowers, which Show described as a song filled with the utmost amount of love. After serenading us with it, they put down their instruments and left the stage to to sound of our applause.
It wasn’t long before, in the dim light of the stage, we all began clapping and then chanting ‘encore!’ in waves. This was only the third live since early 2020 where concertgoers had been able to raise their voices during performances, so it must have been a huge relief (and pleasure) for the band members to hear fans actually calling out ‘encore!’ again instead of just clapping. I was certainly happy to say it. I sure as hell meant it! We kept up our call for a while, and then the stage lights brightened for the Encore, the members returning to the stage to even more of our delighted applause.
I was so happy when they began playing Ray… I love that song, both in terms of its sound and of its gorgeous lyrics. It was so pretty live. They followed this with Daybreak, which is such an uplifting song, and I was totally mouthing the words behind my mask, so grateful to be there in the moment! Finally, to end their set on an even higher note, they began to play Grace. I was completely in the zone for this song, in my bliss, following the furi most of the time, but also waving my hands and fingers in my own way along to the beautiful complexities of this song’s sound. It’s amazing live, a true beauty in their discography.
I felt at peace when the song ended, clapping as the members again set down their instruments, and made their own exits off the stage.
Saga gave 焔ちゃん’s neck a kiss of appreciation before putting his bass down in its stand, and then blew a kiss to the crowd as well, waving and leaving with a quiet smile.
I felt a bit dazed, but so happy as I left the room as well to go outside and line up for the after-live Talk Event. I decided to use my ticket on this particular night in order to attend Saga and Show’s talk, and after a short wait, the staff ushered us back inside, checked our tickets, and then directed us to go back inside the event space and sit on the floor.
Here are a few highlights:
Show prompted Saga to talk about his job-quitting amnesia excuse story (originally told during an Alice9Channel episode), which was a preface to them discussing the fact that Saga actually has an extremely good memory… for instance, he remembered everyone else’s lines from NUMBER SIX. when they were filming that movie. Meanwhile, Show’s memory isn’t quite as good and he really has to work hard to remember lyrics and things, but has found that sometimes writing them down in full helps.
They brought up the fact that they noticed someone dancing during Grace as if conducting an orchestra. Show had apparently discussed with Saga that it would be good to make a song with that sort of air, but they were surprised someone had actually danced to it that way.
They discussed the Love-Love Hate-Hate call section of Roar, both agreeing that, so far, it hadn’t had the oomph they’d been imagining. They suggested that for future lives, we should put emphasis on the echoes of Love! and Hate! by raising our fists with the repetition of each word, to give the pairs a strong finish. (Edit: In subsequent lives, we actually began jumping up with hands raised to emphasize the echoed words!)
Saga explained that something about the initial bass phrases in BABYLON were tricky and frustrating, but in the moment, I didn’t understand the specifics… afterward, I came to the realization that BABYLON was tricky for this tour because Saga’s stage outfit includes arm restraints. So given that Saga decides the setlists, he was kind of poking fun at himself for including a song that would be extra-difficult for him.
The crew were packing away the stage behind them, and eventually someone on their staff called out from around the corner to advise them to wrap up the talk and make their exit, which they did, seeming slightly miffed at the staff rushing them along.
The entire live, the subsequent talk event, that moment of sitting and listening to them chat — all of it felt surreal to me. It had been years since I’d been in the same room with them… it felt so damn good to be back.
I didn’t originally buy a ticket to this performance because I had worried my flight might get delayed and I wouldn’t get to Japan in time (anxious thoughts are so often far-fetched that way), and I also worried I might get terrible jet-lag and not feel up to going anywhere the day after arriving. Well, I’m happy to say that that definitely wasn’t the case, and I was incredibly excited to head out to attend this live, meaning I’d be attending all four remaining performances on the tour.
This also turned out to be my first time buying a same-day ticket (当日券), and I’m strangely happy that I now have that sort of ticket to add to my collection! It was certainly an experience (read: a stressful albeit somewhat comical one) to get so lost and turned around in the station but to still make it in time anyway.
I’m glad I did. What an amazing performance to kick off this trip with.
I love アリス九號.
They really fucking rock.
.
No longer in a rush, I walked back the way I had come, my body still filled with the trailing notes of the live, warm at the memory of feeling Saga’s bass line fill the room firsthand… at experiencing all of those songs in concert.
Knowing I would get to do it three more times before the end of the month…
幸せだった。
P.S. When checking Google Maps just to make sure I could take the exact same route in reverse to get home (since it was late), I accidentally pressed the walking route option, and apparently it would take nearly three days. I almost burst out laughing in public.
Yeeeeah, I skipped that route… riding the shinkansen was more than scenic enough an adventure for me that evening, thank you very much.
Though I set my alarm early, I didn’t get much sleep at all before leaving as I woke up after a few hours to keep fiddling with the contents of my suitcase, spend extra time with Scout, and try to tidy my apartment a little more both for Scout’s sake and for those coming to take care of him.
Scout tried his best to help me pack both by sitting on the suitcase and by bringing me the drain plug from the bathtub. What a cutie. What a weirdo. I love my cat so much.
I didn’t accomplish everything I’d wanted to before I left, and I was so excited, nervous, and worried about leaving Scout that I burst into tears just before zipping up my suitcase to leave. Scout knew I was going off somewhere, and seemed kind of annoyed with me, but he was completely okay when I went to Toronto, so I had to have faith he’d be fine this time too. I said I love you, have fun, I’ll be back, and いってきます, and then I finally left to catch the train and the bus to get to my parents’ house. There, I would be dropping my apartment key so that they could take care of Scout for part of the time I was away (my spare key went to my friend Stephany, who will be doing most of the caretaking of Scout while I’m away).
We’d had out first big snow the day before (which I’d been delighted about) but it also made the sidewalks snowy, slushy, and kind of slippery.
Hmm… what sticker should I add to my suitcase this time?
When I finally arrived at my parents’ house, there was a package sitting on their front porch… the memoir my mom had been writing via Storyworth, and which I had helped edit at the end. It was a relief to see that project come to a close, and the book was of incredibly good quality.
My parents gave me a direct ride to the airport, which I was very grateful for, after lugging my suitcase on and off public transit, and then… it was time.
I checked my suitcase and, feeling much lighter, I went off to go through airport security. They’ve completely updated security for domestic/international flights at Ottawa Airport, and moved it to a new location. It was a very smooth experience, probably because there weren’t many people there at that time of the morning.
A did a little bit of walking around but then just stayed put, buzzing with anticipation. I still couldn’t believe I was actually going back to Japan again after over two and a half years of postponement. My purse and bag were of course decked out in アリス九號. お守り and other things that I like , which made me feel centered every time I looked down at them.
I travelled in style. Well, a style, anyway!
Finally it was time to board the plane for the flight to Montréal, and when I went to present my ticket and passport at the gate, the agent paused, frowned, and then asked his fellow agent if she had a pen. She handed one to him, and he said, “you need to sign your passport.” I felt kind of ridiculous, but it was a huge relief to know that that’s all the hesitation was for. I signed my passport and he sent me on my way. Which is to say, I almost went down the wrong hallway (following the person in front of me who had also turned down the wrong way) and then the person coming behind us called out with a bit of a chickle, “I think it’s this way!” and they were right. We both course-corrected and were back on track.
It was a full flight and we were on schedule… until we got to the runway and the captain suddenly came on the intercom to tell us that we were returning to the gate to pick up a ‘must-fly’ passenger. I was kind of dumbfounded at this, because I’ve never experienced that happening before… luckily, it was this short flight to Montréal, and not the one to Narita! So we did turn right around and go back to the gate. I think we ended up being a good forty minutes late, all told. I felt a bit annoyed, but it didn’t impact me being able to make my connecting flight in time, so I let the annoyance slide when we were finally in the air.
I’ve taken this flight path enough times in my life now that it felt normal, like I was a bird on its annual migration; I had to keep reminding myself that I hadn’t done a trip, any trip like this in the air for nearly three years. Aside from wearing a mask, enough of the heightened health measures had relaxed that the experience really didn’t feel all that different from how I’d remembered it.
My trip to Japan still didn’t feel real. I walked around the international terminal until it was finally time to board, and then made my way to my seat without fanfare. I didn’t start feeling sparks of excitement until I saw TOKYO-NARITA written on my personal TV screen. And then again when I changed the language of the interface to Japanese. And then again when I watched a movie in Japanese and imagined myself back in similar settings, similar landscapes.
The in-flight food? Let’s just say, my digestive system wasn’t enjoying it. I watched some pretty good movies, though.
Get Out was chilling and clever; it deserves all the hype it got. KODOKU~孤独~, a short film, was a collaboration between 3 family members, shot in both Japan and Canada. 家族のはなしが素敵だった。感動しましたよ Cyrano featured a beautiful performance by Peter Dinklage. I loved the musical numbers… and the final scene between Roxanne and Cyrano was so beautiful. Cue me crying discreetly in my seat. Le Renard et L’oisille was a lovely short without any dialogue, just expressive animation.
I believe I started watching another film but didn’t finish it because I kept nearly falling asleep. I’m pretty certain the only reason I was awake for landing was because I was busy trying to beat the last passenger’s high score in Bejeweled. Which I did.
But before you feel impressed, you should know that the previous passenger’s score was… not very high. Still, for someone trying very hard not to nod off, I didn’t do half bad
Getting through customs definitely took much longer due to the extra steps involved, but I’d registered all my information online beforehand, so I was able to bypass a few of the checkpoints. Aside from the additional waiting, the whole process was well organized and before long, I was officially past customs and out on the other side. Of course, I still had to figure out how to pick up my JR Pass; something I’d never done before. It was after hours so the desk clearly marked for that purpose (in person and in my instructions) was closed for the night. Thus began another long wait in a line up for what I hoped would be the place to pick it up after hours. Thankfully, I guessed right, and the agent behind the counter set me up with both that and ticket on the NEX to finally, finally get going to my hotel.
The one good thing about heading to the hotel so late was that I didn’t have much commuter traffic to deal with once I arrived at Tokyo Station. I did, however, walk in a big circle while lugging my suitcase, before I realized that the next train I needed was just one platform over from where I’d gotten off the NEX… it was a short, simple ride once I’d figured that, out, though.
I did need to haul my suitcase up several flights of stairs though, because the elevators only went so far in the underground. I was sore, I was tired, I was grimy from travel… so after checking in, taking a hot shower, and enjoying an onigiri, I finally relaxed, and let myself start to imagine the アリス九號. live I would be treated to the next day.
For breakfast, I was really intent on eating, well… doughnuts. The shop I wanted to try had amazing reviews and was supposed to be open, but when I actually went there, I couldn’t get in. The door was locked. I couldn’t even find the backup café I’d been intent on getting a rainbow latte from. So I turned around and headed the opposite way up the street, towards the café I had intended to go to later in the afternoon.
Yeah, my brilliant plan had been to hang out in cafés until mid-afternoon, sample treats, translate ALICE NINE. lyrics, and do some edits to my mom’s memoir.
I did that… well, um, kind of.
More on that later.
On the way early to my intended afternoon café, I picked up some cookies from a bakery to make up for the missed doughnut opportunity earlier, and with a bag of cookies in-hand (practicing a herculean amount of self-control in not eating them immediately), I took the long way to my destination. The scenic route.
Rooster Coffee was all incredibly tall windows and beautiful industrial design on the inside, with quirky little details to pull it all together. The sign in front of the order counter implores you to believe in magic. To the right is a bowl of kibble to treat the four-legged friends that must wait outside. A pride flag hangs from the second floor railing, and the lids for coffee mugs come in an assortment of colours.
I ordered a mocha and a savoury scone, then climbed the sunlit steps to the second level, where an entire section of seats lay empty. I settled in, munched, sipped… all the while, checking the new photos and information my mom had sent me for her memoir. I was astonished, faced with photos of her I’d never seen before, back when she had worked for radio stations and hosted morning shows. It’s one thing to read her recollections of such or to hear them growing up, but quite another to see photos. She’d sent a photo of her and my grandparents together when she’d graduated from nursing school too. I’d seen her class portrait, but never the photo of her with my grandparents.
The mocha was almost done by the time I switched to translating, getting GRADATION done, as well as some kousai STRIPE, and then I got it into my head that I wanted to see if I could get a compact wireless keyboard ahead of my trip to Japan in mid-November. I researched and found a keyboard that fit what I needed, and the store it seemed to be in stock at was a fair walk, but close enough on foot. So I gathered my things and set out.
What I didn’t realize until I got there was that it would take me right past the Eaton Centre, which was the first place my Aunt JG took my mom and I when we went to visit her together for the first time. She took us on the subway from Scarborough, and then brought us up to a restaurant that might have been Milestones, and we had lunch before going into the mall to window shop.
This time, I was excited and rather surprised to notice that a full size MUJI shop had sprung up in the square, a well-known store which originated in Japan. If I hadn’t already had my trip to Japan planned, I would have been hanging out in all the Japanese shops and restaurants I kept seeing… there certainly weren’t nearly that many when last I’d visited! It was a rather comforting sight.
The keyboard, by the way? Somehow the site had glitched or shown be the wrong page, because when I arrived I found out that the keyboard was completely sold out. Still, the walk itself was interesting so I wasn’t too upset in the end.
I headed back to my room, cookies still safely in my purse, and given that I’d have to head over to the concert rather soon after, I decided to pick up a bit of pizza for supper. Yep. Pizza and cookies. Quite the indulgence!
I scurried all over my room trying to put together the right outfit for the concert after I finished eating and washing up. I must have re-done my lip makeup three times… which was extra silly considering I wouod be wearing a mask the whole time (with the Japan trip coming up in November, I have no interest in taking unnecessary chances!). Finally, I arrived at a style that felt pretty good, cuddled into a favourite cardigan, and a cool, visual Saga t-shirt.
It was painless to get to the venue via the subway, and I strolled around the entire circumference of the area before going to get settled into my seat. I had an incredibly clear view of the stage.
Before long, Poppy made her entrance and warmed up the crowd with a high-energy set, playing guitar for some of her songs. I’d only heard a few of them before the concert, so I went in not knowing quite what to expect. I loved her shrieks and screams, that was the main thing that stuck out to me!
What I hadn’t known beforehand was that Jane’s Addiction had had to cancel the Toronto tour date (along with a few others) due to injury to allow for recovery, so Our Lady Peace, from right here in Toronto, had stepped up to the plate in their stead.
It took me a good minute to catch on to what had happened, but then I started recognizing the songs they were playing and, man… that took me back. It took me back to when I’d spend weekends tuned in to MTV to get caught up on the latest music, Our Lady Peace’s song among the music video mixes and countdowns. They put on a great set.
Somewhere in the middle, the frontman explained that when he’d been a teen (definitely too young to be going into some of the venues), he’d gone in to see Jane’s Addiction and the music had blown his mind. Thus, as a tribute to their recovering fellows, they played a cover of a Jane’s Addiction song.
We applauded as they ended their set and left the stage, and then the lights brightened again so that the stage could be configured one final time for headliner The Smashing Pumpkins.
We waited, shifting with anticipation, some concert-goers dashing off to get last-minute drinks.
At last, the lights dimmed again, and the room sparked with the excitement of everyone in the audience, me included, of course. Before the band took to the stage, the stylized image of a moth hovered on an LED screen as an instrumental began to play, and we all waited, entranced.
I’ve been listening to the podcast Thirty-Three with William Patrick Corgan since it began airing alongside the tour, and hearing all of the details that have gone into each song on the new album, the story that it tells, the way that the songs tie in to past songs and albums, and all of the topics that he discusses with fellow hosts and the guest they welcome on to the podcast each week really heightened the anticipation I felt going in to the concert.
As to why I wore a shirt with Saga on it to the performance, aside from quite simply loving Saga, he’s also the reason why I became a fan of The Smashing Pumpkins in the first place. Though I’d been familiar with and liked 1979 and their cover of Landslide by Fleetwood Mac growing up, I hadn’t ever gone further than that. After all, these were the days before streaming, when you could possibly find the songs to sample online, but it was tricky. You had to be lucky to catch a song on the radio, catch a music video on TV, or just bite the bullet and buy a CD without knowing what it was like. It was slow-going for music videos to get uploaded on Youtube, and before that, you’d have to find them here and there in pockets of the internet. In its own way, it was fun.
So I didn’t take a chance until I came across a translated interview of Saga’s that cited The Smashing Pumpkins both as a favourite band and as an influence. And indeed, you can hear that influence in some of Saga’s compositions! Given the fact that I already knew some of their songs and had faith in Saga’s taste in music, in December of 2007, I got a copy of the Pumpkins’ greatest hits.
That, and a copy of ALICE NINE.’s newest album at the time, Alpha (whose first track was inspired by a track from Zeitgeist!)
That December, we were headed out east to visit family for Christmas in the Maritimes (Nova Scotia, to be exact) so I ripped both my new CDs, loaded them onto my trusty old MP3 player at the time, and took those with me. Those CDs got me through the holidays. And beyond — I wrote SO much while listening to those CDs, and of course CDs of theirs that I bought later, too.
I was glad to bring Saga with me to the concert, even in that small way.
Once the moth had blinked out of existence, we were treated to an utterly psychedelic starburst of a display on the LED screen. It felt surreal. There was a playful lilt to the concert that I hadn’t at all expected going into it, and that I really enjoyed… not that it took away any of the gravitas from the more serious songs they performed. The setlist was a mix of older classics and their newest fare, and though I truly enjoyed the concert in its entirety, a few songs did stick out in my memory in particular.
I lost my mind a little bit when they started playing Bullet With Butterfly Wings, and then even more for Ava Adore. There’s something about that song that has always pulled me in, and to hear it live was such a pleasure.
The dual-accoustic version of Tonight, Tonight, prefaced by some really warmhearted banter between Billy and James, was probably the prettiest performance of the night. Pretty is the word that comes to mind, with the way the LED screens twinkled behind them with stars. Of course, with scarecrow-like props behind them, the performance also had a slightly absurd, even spooky tinge to it, which seems very on-point for them. I certainly appreciated the contrast and the end of the song left me in a beatific state of mind.
Stand Inside Your Love is a song I have a deep attachment to, and hearing it live was so much different than listening to it through my headphones. There was a power to it, standing in the audience, that I hadn’t expected. The sound filled the room and it felt grounded, the way the words and the music sank into my consciousness.
I of the Mourning is another favourite — something about the music and the lyrics just captures all those times in my life that I’ve felt weighed down by depression, but still go out into the world anyway, holding close the things that still tether me and make the next step feel possible.
I can’t recall which song Jimmy’s drum solo was in, but it was awesome.
Zero is another song I have always had a particular attachment to (like many listeners) and it packed a hell of a punch. A song with bite. But even so, Billy made room for a bit of levity, if I remember properly, to interject “WPC — that’s me!” at some point, which gave me a good chuckle.
But Disarm was the song that really made me feel emotional. It was cathartic to hear that song fill the room and I cried, glad to be in that moment, experiencing it.
It was an amazing (weird, psychedelic, surreal, romantic) night, and I’m glad I got to be a small part of it, off in the stands.
I made my way back to my room, feeling at once lighthearted, at once pensive.
Yesterday morning, a Saturday, I packed up a bag and headed to Toronto via train for a short vacation, its ultimate purpose being to see The Smashing Pumpkins for their Spirits on Fire tour. It was to be my first time spending a night away from Scout since adopting him last spring and despite my excitement at taking this vacation, I also worried about how he would handle it. More than that, I would miss my boy!
He was in good hands, though; My brother and his girlfriend agreed to care for him while I was away. I gave Scout his breakfast and a big cuddle, then I set off for the train station just in time. That in itself was an interesting experience, because the last time I’d taken the train (from Montreal to Ottawa) had been nearly 15 years earlier, so I truly had no recollection of the area. I had the sense, as I was walking up to the station, of already being in a different city.
My short long-weekend adventure had begun.
The train ride itself went fine, and we arrived at Union Station on time, but not long into the journey I began developing a migraine and it only got worse with every passing hour. The sun was piercing through the window (of course I had taken a window seat, right in the path of the sunbeam) and though I closed the curtain over the window, there was nothing for it: the migraine was intent on developing. I spent most of the ride breathing through the discomfort, returning messages, and tinkering with projects on my phone.
I… also had to use the bathroom at one point, and the amount of swaying that the train did made some ordinarily simple business into a comical and tricky balancing act. While nursing a migraine.
Suffice to say it was An Experience.
Thankfully, after the train arrived at the station getting to my accommodations simply meant a short subway ride and then a brisk, rather straightforward walk from the subway station, right along Church street, through the heart of Toronto’s gay village.
I had to do a double-take when I passed by a record shop because when I had glanced in the window, I had noticed the shopkeeper trying to wrangle a flailing pigeon in the window display. When they noticed me trying not to laugh, they gave me a sheepish look, still trying to catch the music-loving bird, and I went on my way.
It was a relief when I stepped into the house I had booked a room in. Quiet, the entry hall dark. Considering that the migraine was starting to get nauseating, the dim environs were a blessing. I climbed a narrow staircase, reached an equally-narrow landing, and let myself into my room.
It was all dark, heavy wooden furniture, elaborate embroidered art pieces, and grey walls with an electric fireplace. I was charmed.
I changed out of my travel clothes, freshened up a little, and tried to pluck up the nerve to go out and eat, but simply couldn’t. The thought of eating made me feel sick, and my head pounded like hell unless I covered my eyes and curled up in a ball, so I ended up unintentionally falling asleep.
I woke up well after dark, and while my migraine had almost entirely dissipated at that point, and some restaurants would still have been open, I decided to well and truly call it a night and just get into bed.
The next day, I vowed, I would truly feast.
.
When I woke this morning, despite my gnawing hunger, I felt a whole lot better. I double-checked the map on my phone, put on an outfit, and set off on a walk. As is sometimes my habit when I’m in a new urban area, I found the restaurant I wanted to order from right away, but kept walking past it at first in order to explore the street I was on a little more. And on Yonge street, there was certainly plenty to see, both in terms of the types of shops I found, and in terms of the graffiti that urban artists had scrawled in the margins of the buildings everywhere.
On the way back, I happened to walk up to an enormous gathering of pigeons and instead of scattering and waddling away from me like Ottawa pigeons normally do, they all rushed over to me, some on foot, some flying, and cried out for food. I was more amused than alarmed by them… but I certainly wasn’t about to share my delectable sandwich. I kept on my way and they let me.
The egg BLT sandwich on Japanese milk bread was almost too good to be true. Soft, fluffy, flavourful… I was in heaven. Their house-made hash brown stuffed with seasoned mashed potato was utterly delicious too. It was just the sort of rich meal that my stomach had needed.
I had intended to go on a Haunted Walk tour in a pioneer village, but the only time slot that worked for me sold out before I could buy a ticket. There was a later time slot available, but there was no way in hell I was going to return to my hotel alone near midnight after experiencing the (delightful) creepiness of that place.
I shook off the small disappointment and once again headed out, this time to another part of the city but despite having looked the shop location up on the map, I… got lost. I got off at the right stop on the subway, but upon exiting, I lost my internet connection, and so for a bit just wandered up the wrong side of the street I was on until I finally reestablished connection and had to do a big U-turn. Even then, I accidentally missed the shop, tucked away off the main street as it was, and when I finally did find the place, I was a little tired but incredibly relieved.
Members Only Waffle House
A little waffle house that deals exclusively in salacious puns.
That is, in waffles shaped like penises and vulvas.
And just in case you’re wondering whether it is simply a gimmick, it’s not — the waffles are cooked and topped to perfection. Firm on the outside, velvet-soft on the inside, the one I was saddled with was an absolute delight to eat.
The staff were extremely attentive, guiding me through the ordering process with a plethora of euphemisms, double-entendres, and puns. I left a satisfied customer.
Instead of loitering around the shop to take my first mouthful, I walked a little further down the side-street until I eventually found a little park. There, I sat, admired the perfectly-garnished member, took a few selfies with it (of course), and then finally enjoyed my glorious treat.
Ahem.
I returned again to my room sometime before the sun began to set, and after a bit of hemming and hawing decided to try a pub that had intrigued me the night before. A certain Storm Crow Manor.
Only problem was, I hadn’t thought to bring my trustiest D20 with me. But it turned out alright and we’ll get to that.
Even going there as late as I did into dinner service that evening, I almost didn’t get a table. Despite how much I enjoy quiet places and keeping to myself, a packed restaurant or concert hall offers its own sort of comfortable anonymity. And being among so many other nerds was great too. Come to think of it, I hadn’t been in that kind of atmosphere since before the pandemic started, when I’d gone to my last board game café night with friends, or attended a comic convention.
They had to search through their seating charts for a bit but eventually found me a table and led me on what felt like a labyrinthine path through the manor to get to a room on the upper floor. The Star Wars room, as it turned out. Just across from where I sat, overhead, was a model of the Millennium Falcon suspended from the ceiling, surrounded by an small field of asteroids and a plethora of smaller ships approaching from somewhere above my left ear.
There were many things on the menu that interested me (including a Dragon Ball themed noodle bowl!) but none more so than their signature customizable burger made by rolling a D20 and filling in a character sheet for it. When the server asked if I needed an explanatiom for how to roll and fill out the character sheet, I held up a hand with a chuckle and said, “no, I’m good, thanks.” Mercifully, they provide a D20 to all patrons that need one, as not everyone carries a D20 everywhere, but I sorely missed my dice collection in that moment. Still, the die I was given served me well, and I rolled several crits!
For the most part, I did just go with the roll of the dice, but I admit, there were a few instances where I made some adjustments. In the case of alignment, though, I was kind of annoyed when I rolled a crit and had to choose my own instead of being saddled with one. I selected Chaotic Neutral at first, hesitated, scribbled it out, and selected Chaotic Good instead. Chaotic Neutral behaviour. Ha! It reminded me of my old character Helecretia, though. She was possessed by a chaotic god (or demon) and so whenever I had to make a choice, I would roll a D10 to determine what her alignment was in that moment. I would also change how I spoke during the session whenever I changed alignment. My group… was not particularly fond of that playstyle choice. Heheheh…
But I digress.
The burger turned out pretty tasty, all in all! Though the side salad was so enormous, I could only eat about half of it in one sitting. I named the character (burger) The Sagacious Gunner… but if you look closely at the photo of the character sheet, you’ll notice I misspelled Sagacious.
Alas. I am incorrigible.
At one point when I was partway through eating, the lights in our room suddenly turned red, and The Imperial March started playing. A very familiar voice then filled the room, as a harried server scurried past our tables holding the speaker’s helmet aloft. The music ended. The lights turned back to normal.
A table had ordered a Darth Vader themed bowl of punch.
Man, it was frickin’ awesome.
There were individual bathrooms dotted throughout the establishment, but the majority were down in the dungeon so after paying for my surprisingly entertaining meal, I made a beeline for the bathroom area. I simply had to see it for myself.
After descending multiple flights of stairs, I reached one covered overhead in skulls, and figured I must be in the right place. I found the sign saying ‘CONTAMINATION PROTOCOLS ACTIVE’ to be rather a comforting one. At the bottom of the stairs was a concrete-covered landing with tons of doors, all of them looking like they were out of horror, science fiction, or straight-up zombie apocalypse scenarios. The message spray-painted at the end of the hall gave me a chuckle. I loved everything about it.
I selected decontamination chamber 0005 and, well, decontaminated.
It appealed so well to my sense of humour, it almost didn’t seem real.
It was the type of place so filled with attention to detail that you could go five times, be seated in different rooms, and have completely different dining experiences each time. Which is to say, I would definitely go back if I ever visit the city again.
Last night I made my way to Red Bird on Bank in order to attend Moonfruits‘ album pre-release party, with an opening act by harpist and singer Éveline.
The music venue and school is a rather new one in the city of Ottawa, having opened its doors just earlier this year, but it is a warm and well-thought-out space, perfect for the sort of intimate folk concert that Moonfruits and Éveline regaled us with last night.
I was so engrossed in site maintenance yesterday evening that I barely gave myself any time at all to throw on an outfit and fly out of my front door in order to catch my bus. But catch the bus I did. And, as luck would have it, I made it on time and was able to settle into an empty seat towards the back of the room before the lights dimmed in order for the show to begin.
Éveline, une artiste montréalais, made her lone entrance onto the stage, sitting down and pulling her harp close. She quietly explained the significance of each song, frequently switching fluidly between French and English mid-sentence, mid-thought. Though she usually plays with a band, yesterday night, it was just us, her, and a plethora of pedals to create effects when needed. She admitted she felt a little dressed-down without her fellows, a little nervous — but she had nothing to fear.
There is something utterly enchanting about the sound of a harp.
Her soft, raw singing, along with the twinkling fullness of the harp’s many chords transported us all to the setting of each song. Coupled with the dim lighting, it would have been enough to lull everyone into a peaceful, dream-filled sleep.
We gave her a big warm round of applause when she finished her set, and then the lights were raised again to allow everyone to mingle and chat while the stage was prepared for the main act. Though I didn’t particularly participate much in the conversation, the three people who had sat down on either side of me had some very interesting connections to one another. One person was the brother of Alex (one half of the folk duo, Moonfruits). The other two people were a chef and a baker who found out right then and there that they actually followed and were fans of one another on Instagram. It was kind of a magnificent coincidence. The chef was there with Alex’s brother, and the baker works at a bread shop that Alex and Kait often frequent, which is why she began going to their shows and how she became a fan.
When they asked me how I was connected to Moonfruits, I had a comparatively boring answer: I saw them perform once in 2016 alongside Georgian Bay at LIVE! on Elgin for their Ste-Quequepart Tour and became a fan of both that night for their beautiful folk harmonies.
Eventually, the lights dimmed again, everyone quieted down, and Moonfruits took to the stage, along with eight other musicians for support, Éveline among them. All of them settled into their positions, and then the main act began. They played their upcoming album Salt, Alex and Kait taking their time to set the scene for each song, delighting the audience with anecdotes (both funny and endearing) while they tuned between, well… tunes.
It was an intimate, soulful performance.
They invited us to join in on some of the choruses (We all do well when we all do well), and filled the room with their warm, personal songs, rounding out their performance with a soothing lullaby, Moon Cradle (the video, below, crafts such a down-to-earth and mystical atmosphere around it). We gave them a standing ovation at the end, and were delighted when they almost immediately returned to perform an encore for us.
The final song they played for their encore, their own rendition of the traditional folk song À la claire fontaine, was for them a song with deep significance. Before they began playing, they explained that they had performed it for Alex’s father at his bedside shortly before he had passed away. They invited us all, before taking up their instruments again, to join them in singing along. It was not a surprise that most people in the room did add their voices, though as soon as we got to the refrain, I was so overcome with emotion that I started crying quietly in my seat, finding my own meaning in the words and the melody of the song. It was beautiful.
Il y a longtemps que je t’aime, Jamais je ne t’oublierai.
Long has it been that I have loved you Never will I forget you.
Though Moonfruits do not have a version of this traditional folk song online, the following cover, performed in a much different setting, can give you a sense of how beautiful it sounded.
When, finally, the band left the stage after accepting another standing ovation from us in the audience, a loud buzz took over the room as everyone discussed what a good performance it had been, mingling with the musicians and filing toward the merch table to preorder the album and buy the coffee blend and homemade pickles that were on offer.
Salt is set to release in early October, and I look forward to listening to it again.
It was late, and I had to slip out quietly in order to catch my bus, pensive in the wake of the performance. The bus trundled up the street, picking up other late-night event-goers returning home, like me. And as I disembarked and walked the rest of the way to my apartment, I reconsidered and stopped on the sidewalk of a quiet street to admire the harvest moon, bright and full as it was.
Scout was rather dejected when I got home, this having been the first time I was out nearly past midnight since adopting him this past spring. But he soon perked up with my reassurance and was back to his usual, playful self by the time I turned off my laptop and prepared to go to sleep.
Listening to musicians performing songs in person is truly an experience that has no replacement.
Their next album, titled GRACE, will be released on the 2nd of November 2022, and will kick off a nationwide tour that same month, which will end in a grand finale to be played on the 24th of December 2022. They also announced the commencement of preorders being taken (through the fanclub only) for the limited edition of their new album, which will include all 10 tracks of the album on a CD, along with a Bluray disc containing the album’s two music videos along with the entirety of their finale performance for the Brutal Revelation tour this past spring.
As if that weren’t enough great news for one day, they also unveiled their newest music video, which promotes the last track on their new album.
Grace
The album name is in uppercase, while the title track is in lowercase. And yes, it does share the name of a compilation album they did a limited release for back in 2016, but this deeply-significant word and concept clearly deserved a revival.
One of Saga’s influences going way back was Jeff Buckley’s album Grace, and just last year for their 17th Anniversary live, in which they played the entirety of their GEMINI album, they played the Buckley track Grace in the livehouse while fans were still finding their seats and waiting for the concert to start. I’ve made no secret over the years of how much I love and have been inspired by ALICE NINE.’s album GEMINI so being able to watch that performance as it happened, even from afar, was in all honesty a dream come true for me. It was bliss. That being said, I am also a fan of the album Grace, which I started listening to because of the fact that Saga blogged about it years ago, and it’s continued to influence me over the years as well. Thanks, Saga! 🙂
I don’t know if the new album title (or the title of this lead track) had already been decided, even back then, but I thought that was a beautiful connection. A little premonition of what was to come, back when Saga first tweeted a hint that a very significant album for ALICE NINE. was on the horizon.
Grace is a Saga composition, and one that has been in the works since early 2020, though Saga tweeted to say that it wasn’t originally meant to be released as an ALICE NINE. song, which is why there are vestiges of Saga in it (that is, Saga sang extensive harmonies with Show in it). I’ve included the translated tweets below. If you compare the still cover image used on Funeral to that of Grace before you watch the video, you’ll note that Funeral features only Show on it, while Grace features a still of the entire band mid-playing. That contrast in initial presentation alone in the context of the album is very interesting. But the songs themselves also sound incredibly different in feel and atmosphere. I’ve already written at length about how much I love Funeral, so I’ll just get right into my love for Grace.
March 31st 2020 In times like this I make songs I’m making one right now
By the way, this isn’t related to the album or to the band (Saga uploaded a clip of the song-in-progress, which we now know is Grace, and was referring to their album NIGHTLESS CITY EDEN)
September 9th 2022 I’ve had Grace since then, you know. I had neither the intention of making it the lead track of the album nor of doing it with the band, but That’s why, as a sort of relic, I’m singing in it.
As as soon as you press play, it is immediately apparent that Grace is tied to a classic, well-loved ALICE NINE. song: the beautiful name.
A prélude, maybe, or else a companion piece, an homage.
Is this perhaps the long-held idea that Saga mentioned in the last album-related tweet? An idea that Saga then began making a reality in early 2020? We’ll have to wait for interviews and talk events to learn more.
With the long, quiet lead-in, the anticipation builds to an incredible point; I wonder if the long lead-in and outro is just for the music video, or whether all eight minutes are part of the recording on the album proper. Grace is wonderfully layered and complex with a beautiful, uplifting melody; those harmonies between Show and Saga feel like an updraft, continually pulling the song skyward.
Grace is expansive, but it takes its time to unfold.
No rushing. A steady march to take in the glorious scale of the music.
The way that the music bursts with light at 5:47 is nothing short of magnificent.
I am in awe.
This song is a thing of beauty and grace.
The アリス九號.
And in the video, at the end, they all huddle under furs, snow falling over them, waiting for the arrival of spring. Which, of course, is their joy-filled classic, the beautiful name.
The end of the voyage and the day to be graced.
Incorporating lots of slow-motion shots, along with the lengthy intro and outro ending on a shot of a door standing before an ocean, the music video further underscores the epic scale of the music.
Show revealed in a tweet that 武瑠 Takeru (through Akubi Inc Tokyo) was the artistic director of this music video, following his previous work on their CYAN video released in the summer of 2020. Just like the last time, 武瑠 Takeru framed them in a way that hadn’t really been done before. There is something to be said for having a fan take the reins!
Show, September 9th 2022 “Grace” Into irreplaceable days, we load love
I can’t say everything I want to about all the thoughts I have, so please let me talk about them another time. Thank you.
武瑠 Takeru, September 10th 2022 Following CYAN, I’ve been afforded the chance to produce an MV. “The アリス九號.” as a theme was big here, so the idea took some time to think of, but the slow motion staging opened up the creative path in one go. As did the homage to a past song. Once again, congratulations on your 18th anniversary.
Show replied again to Takeru this morning to say, very warmly,
“While busy with an overseas live and his own activities, I got a deep impression from Takeru, who didn’t compromise one bit on the direction of the project or MV. I’m truly grateful he undertook it with us.“
They managed to get trending on Twitter as well both before and after their live, which was all the more significant due to the fact that it coincided with the appearance of the harvest moon. Auspicious.
Grace is the sort of song that doesn’t need you to fully understand it right away. It is the type of song that sounds better with each listen, becoming fuller with each new detail of the sound strata you take notice of. I am going to be very excited to delve into the minutia of the lyrics on release day. Grace must have been spectacular to hear live, and I’m sure it will just become more beautiful as it is played and listened to, as time goes on. A classic in the making.
I think it may also be significant that in the 18th anniversary live, they played Waterfall just before Grace, a song which leads the listener into the beautiful name… those three songs together form quite a breathtaking flow of emotion. I love that they are all being woven together that way. I think it may also be safe to think, at this point, that “Grace” is the beautiful name.
Another element in the アリス九號. mythology given shape.
For the moment though, that’s just my own personal interpretation. We’ll have to wait and see whether they expound on this in interviews and comments in the coming weeks and months. Slowly, the world their music inhabits deepens, unfolds further.
As a longtime fan, I am so proud of them, and am very much looking forward to listening to the entire album, start to finish, when it comes out in two months.
This soundscape, this mindscape is worth the wait.
Saga is well-versed in the art of building anticipation.
With just over a week to go until their 18th anniversary live, Saga tweeted to reveal another detail regarding their next, as-yet-unnamed album, nearly a year to the day after first teasing the news that they were about to embark upon the creation of another deeply significant ALICE NINE. album. The very fact that they aren’t rushing with this release already marks it as being something different from usual, and I have no doubt that the wait is going to make it all the better, more meaningful.
For such a small message, the tweet manages to make a spectacular reveal. Not only did Saga create yet another song suite like their first groundbreaking experiment GEMINI, the latter half of this nearly twelve minute suite makes use of an idea that Saga had been holding on to for over ten years. What was the long-incubating idea? A melody? A sound texture? A technique?
沙我三昧！╰(*´︶`*)╯
I can only imagine, and am so very excited to find out, in time.
August 29th, 2021. Thank you for 17th theatre While I do think that GEMINI is a work that each person has an emotional attachment to, it is, as you might expect, an album with particularly deep significance for ALICE NINE.
It’s unclear whether it will surpass GEMINI However I get the sense that the time has come Where we must create an opus that wholly reveals Everything that the band is.
August 31st, 2022. Although a year has gone by, It’s unclear whether it surpassed GEMINI, but I created a song suite this time that approaches twelve minutes in length with an idea that just about surpasses GEMINI jammed into it The latter part of the song suite is an idea from over ten years ago
Yesterday afternoon, I went to meet with a friend from university at the Galerie Lee Matasi Gallery in the Byward Market where she was showcasing her artwork. The last time I’d seen Stephany was at the same place this past June for the vernissage of the Ottawa School of Art’s graduation art exhibit, to which she’d contributed several pieces, having just completed her program. That evening, the place had been sweltering and positively stuffed with guests, so we’d had very little time or space to have a proper chat, especially since so many others had come out in support to see her work.
In stark contrast to that first meeting, the gallery yesterday had been quiet and cool, virtually empty of guests other than us. When we’d exchanged hellos, she led me through the front doors and then turned off to the right side, ducking into a bright corner room with high windows and an exposed ceiling. With the afternoon sunlight giving the entire room even, natural lighting, and the soft yet bright colour palette of the pieces she had put up, the space felt effortlessly warm and inviting.
My gaze was immediately drawn to one watercolour in particular, however, and it took some effort to look elsewhere. The piece she had called Affection was just that beautiful.
Though Stephany is an interdisciplinary artist, she has a particular affinity for watercolour, a medium she has been passionate about painting in since I first met her. All of the experience she’s had in painting with it, cultivating her talent over the years, really shows in her pieces.
We had the little space to ourselves when we arrived, and Stephany was kind enough to oblige me with in-depth explanations on the meaning of each piece in the room; I took a picture of her artist statement when we arrived, but I didn’t read it until later that evening. The artist statement feels appropriately professional and left plenty of room for the viewer to form their own impressions of each piece.
On the other hand, Stephany’s in-person explanations for Re-connect were deeply personal, as she had a warm, sometimes humorous anecdote to tell me for each piece. The exhibit as a whole is a tribute to her mother, who passed away. In acrylic paint, a medium that her mother loved, Stephany reproduced four photos that her mother had taken and shared on social media for family — photos of things that represented elements of who she was as a person.
For some paintings, she took extra care to make colours true-to-life (a particular brown bowl that her mother had always made a certain Cambodian salad in represented the taste of home), while for others, she embellished the subject of the photograph, paining it the way that her mother’s aura had felt (in Bloom an ethereal flower is held up for the camera in her mother’s hand).
The piece she had called Crabapples had sort of stumped me when I had first seen it in the graduation exhibit; as pretty a painting as it is, I just hadn’t been able to guess at the significance behind it. Yesterday, I got the answer. Stephany explained that whenever they’d gone to parks and come across crabapple trees, her mother had excitedly gotten out a plastic tub of a container and they’d picked the best specimens to bring home to be made into a spicy dish that Stephany assured me is very tasty. I couldn’t help but laugh in surprise, because I’d grown up believing they weren’t edible. Her anecdote completely changed the way I viewed that painting, especially with the way she described her mother’s enthusiasm.
The watercolours, meanwhile, were Stephany’s recreation of three family photographs that held particular significance for her, each transformed through the aesthetics of her soft yet vibrant colour choices.
When she’d answered my (many) questions, she let me finish admiring the watercolours — that is, until she let out a sigh of annoyance, punctuated by a short laugh. When I asked what was wrong, she showed me how someone had rearranged her business cards so that they no longer went in the order they had been meant to go in. Originally, she had arranged them so that taking one card (the Witch in the foreground) would reveal a different card (the Familiar in the foreground), each with her name and contact information on the back. I snapped a photo of her artistic vision once she’d rearranged them. I was laughing at her being particular about the setup, but only because I know I would have had the same reaction.
I took home a card with the pensive Witch in the foreground, in case you’re curious.
When everything was back in order, we left the gallery and headed for La Catrina, a small family-owned churreria/café in the Market, whose fare I have thoroughly enjoyed several times now. We both decided to try their churro ice cream bowls to cool down, and they were exactly as delicious to eat as they sound.
Though… we got chased out of the restaurant courtyard by a very insistent wasp soon after we started eating. Luckily our churros were entirely portable, so we took it as a good excuse to walk through the Market and then over into Major’s Hill Park, the good weather having attracted plenty of locals and tourists alike.
We considered crossing over the bridge into Gatineau once we reached the little lookout over the river that gives a clear view of the Parliament from the back, but it was getting hot and we were both in need of a cold drink. So we headed back the way we had come in search of iced tea.
At the tea shop, we both immediately set our sights on their jasmine tea, of which there were two varieties, and had a laugh with the worker behind the counter when we asked what the difference between the varieties was and he admitted he wasn’t certain. Flavour-wise, one was just a bit more strongly scented than the other; the other difference was that one variety was the type of leaf that has been carefully rolled by hand (that is the type that I have at home, that I drink on special occasions).
I first tried jasmine tea when I went to Japan in 2012, and had lunch at a Chinese restaurant there. It was a good meal, but easily overshadowed by how much I had loved the delicate fragrance of the jasmine tea. It remains one of my favourites, still. Stephany explained that it is a variety that she drinks often because it was a fragrance her mother adored (she grew a jasmine tree and used to pluck the blooms and tuck them in Stephany’s hair). It was a cool coincidence that we both immediately gravitated to that particular tea.
We decided to take a walk around the terrace of the Rideau Centre as we sipped our iced jasmine teas, and by that time, it was late afternoon so the sun was turning a golden orange and preparing to set. Even though I have lived most of my life in Ottawa and went to the Rideau Centre often starting in my teen years, it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I realized you could actually go up onto the roof and that there was a nice, quiet terrace up there.
We’d covered so many topics by that point in our conversation that, finally giving in to sitting down on a concrete bench, we got out our phones and began exchanging photos and anecdotes about our cats (hers, Marcel, is a grey tabby that, like Scout, gets into a great many shenanigans). We laughed. We talked about family, creative pursuits, developing a good work-art-life balance, and about web design. And then we parted ways and went home.
To be brief: it was a really good afternoon.
.
You can find Stephany Lay’s portfolio, shop, and socials [ here ].
