#oldcodex concert

Toyosu Pit, January 5 2019

Overview

I’m kind of late on this, but I was busy. The fact is, I’m still not completely over it yet.

Okay basically, @aja154ever (Thank you so so so much) bought me an Oldcodex ticket when I was not in Japan yet, so I came over and took the ticket from her.

Just to introduce a bit of Oldcodex, it’s a band with voice actor Suzuki Tatsuhisa (also Tatsu, Ta_2) as the volcalist which started in 2009. They sing lots of opening and closing of many animes including Kuroko no Basket and Free.

The main member of course is Tatsu, and one more is the painter and chorus singer Yorke, who paints on canvases during concerts. This is a unique concept Oldcodex has that I really admire.

Other members include the drummer Ryo, bass Taizo and guitar Shinji.

Here’re my favourite songs of them: X

Before I move on, let me just say I’m bad at pictures.

Okay so today was the day, I left pretty early to reach there when the door open (at 5 pm) when the real concert start at 6 pm.

When I’m there, let me just say there’re A LOT of people.

We had to line up according to a number on the ticket, which is like our queue to get in. My number was 2096, so I waited for a bit before it was my turn.

The minute I was in, I had to pay 500 yen in order to get a drink (apparently compulsory, I didn’t know this) and so I did, and grabbed a bottle of Aquarius.

In the corridor, I saw canvases with fan’s message on them.

So I entered the stage room when I was ready and oh my, the set they put on stage was awesome. On the stage there was the backdrop with the tour name “Growth to be One” and two canvases painted by Yorke, and those two canvases are to be painted over again during the concert as Tatsu sings.

Everyone was standing and I didn’t know if I was standing at the right place cause there was no marking, so I just randomly stood towards the left, but pretty central. It was only about 5.30 at that time, and I patiently waited with my heart pounding.

Let me just say this: I’ve only been to like two other concerts in my life, one was Justin Bieber when I was like 9, and Taylor Swift 1989 concert in 2015. This was my first ever time to a rock concert, and in Japan, so I was pretty hyped and also really nervous.

And.... it started.

The moment the whole band appeared, the moment the lights came on and Tatsu and Yorke was under the spotlight, the fans went crazy.

Let me just say, seeing Tatsu in real life is amazing. I know he’s hot, but he’s really hot, with the cool black jacket he was wearing on top of his shirt, and his black hair mostly swept to the back of his head. For a minute, I was just frozen with my eyes fixated on his handsome figure on stage, half thinking I was in a dream.

Yorke also looked pretty cool with his dyed red hair at the fringe and blond hair as the rest.

The whole band started playing, and Tatsu began singing. I felt guilty cause I didn’t recognise a lot of the songs, likely because they’re from new albums, but those I recognise include (not in order)

Feed A

Rage On (Free! Opening 2)

Lantana (KnB Ending 3)

美しい背骨

Throughout the whole concert, all of us will put our hands up, rock our heads back and forth, jump when Tatsu asked us to, sing to the lyrics, and basically having fun while he screams on stage. It was chaotic, very loud (my ears were kind of ringing after) and sweaty. Everyone was having fun, and Tatsu was really smiling, so I could tell how much fun him and whole band was having too.

There was one part where they pulled people from the audience to join them onstage. Yorke went down and pulled a few guys and three girls, one of them on a wheelchair and the other who looked like a foreigner.

All of them sang together the final part of the song Feed A, and then Tatsu and Yorke took a picture with them. Both of them then proceeded to hug everyone on stage, and it was an overall warm feeling to watch this moment.

Tatsu and Yorke also talked, and while I couldn’t understand most of it, the sequence was something like this:

Tatsu basically welcoming us and asking us to get high with him (he says this a few times)

Introducing on the band members and Tatsu talking about each of them which unfortunately, I didn’t quite understand.

Tatsu and Yorke sharing where they went during the tour (in Taiwan and I forgot), and talked a little on Osaka cause a fan asked about it.

Tatsu said the okonomiyaki in Hiroshima was the best food he had.

Best food for Yorke was the bubble tea (tapioca) in Taiwan, and it was kind of cute to see such a epic guy who paints and all liking the drink. He even drew a lot of pearls in the backdrop cause he liked it so much!

Tatsu and Yorke being treated well because they were recognised in several places.

One of them was the shop was gonna close, but said would open anytime for Yorke when he entered. Then when the waitress asked for their orders, she was mostly looking at Tatsu XD

There was one part where the staff brought a much bigger canvas which Yorke painted while Tatsu sang. None of the audience moved and just watched as Yorke started painting a rainbow, then buildings and the sun. He even started to cut some parts of it. Then he cut the whole thing and tore it apart to reveal another canvas with skeleton of the spinal painted on.

The whole thing lasted for like two hours, and when they first said goodbye, some people started yelling “OCD” and soon, almost everyone was screaming their names. We kept yelling OCD and clapping and they actually came back for encore.

This time, Tatsu was in a white shirt with all the tour dates at the back, and Yorke wore a cute animal hat that he apparently got from Taiwan.

Tatsu was saying that they didn’t plan for encore at all and literally discussed what to sing on stage, while the other members seem to struggle to figure out how to play them.

After which they sang four more songs, many of which I recognise:

Dried up Youthful Fame (Free! Opening 1)

Heading to Over (Free! Opening 3)

WALK (KnB Ending 3)

During which, Tatsu shared that Heading to Over was meant for a song that tells you to get over the wall everyone struggles with, and it was just really inspirational and emotional hearing him telling us the feelings of his songs. He also subtly mentioned that he really wanted a season 3 of Free because he really wanted to voice Tachibana Makoto again.

It was emotional when they said goodbye for the final time, and Tatsu was yelling “Let’s play again” and “Thank you” to all of us. Yorke quickly added some finishing work to his painting before leaving.

The stage lit up after all members left, and Tatsu appeared with his voice to tell us to get back safely, and thanks us again for coming. Everyone quickly started taking picture of the finished stage.