#also no one ever talks about The Shuttle which is a shame bc it is fantastic and years ahead of its time

[hime-guma]

takanori (inazuma) saturday 💖

i just got back from Shiga and I need to put down everything in my brain before I forget it! (It will mostly be me yelling about TMR and finally seeing him live)

Sorry that it's looong, I'm on mobile and I can't seem to add a read more!

Unfortunately tomorrow is canceled because of the typhoon ☹

it literally rained all day. not heavily but constantly enough that my clothes were completely soaked through. umbrellas aren't allowed in the live area so i brought a collapsible raincoat but it didn't help much lol. i did end up buying a giant raincoat/かっぱ (CHEERS, learnt a new word 2day) later when i saw them selling them at the venue, but it was a bit late... already soaked.

when i got to the platform for biwako line I was like "wow I'm actually goin... GOIN' what a good song" (not knowing how relevant this would be later)

i was impressed with all the organisation of it? everything had been thought of in advance. like we all got off at kusatsu station to walk down biwako road to the shuttle bus stop, and there were IRF staff on the streets helping to direct traffic so we didn't annoy all the shiga residents (there were a LOT of us haha)

i want everyone to know there are cans of shoushuu riki in all the toilets.

i accidentally went in the "goods for each performing artist" queue first, not realising that T.M.Revolution doesn't fit into that category because he has surpassed all the mortal artists to become a god. my bad.

eventually I ended up with one TMR shirt and towel, 3 IRF shirts and various bracelets. yeah i went a bit wild...

it was nearly 12 so i wandered around looking for the live area entrance. i think this was the only time i got a bit lost bc you had to queue along a footpath which was kind of secluded/off to the side/hiding behind stalls? anyway you then had to find the queue for your block - I was B1.

they started calling us in by ticket number then, mine was like 1540 or something. i was rly glad i knew japanese so i could listen for my number lol

when we got in i was shocked at how close i was to the stage despite being in a B block! Also the stage and live area somehow seemed smaller than they do when they televise IRF. it was really surreal seeing the stage as well.

they had some radio hosts MC'ing for the next hour or so, introducing all the artists performing for the day, reminding us of the rules (take ur trash to the trash area and sort it! alert medical staff if u feel unwell! don't take photos of perfornances! if you see someone doing it please dob them in to staff!)

at one point the MC said "so i was supposed to have a part here where i warn you about heatstroke and how to prevent it but uh.... nevermind. stay hydrated tho" she also went through all these leg stretches we could do to keep our circulation going while we're standing all day, cheers!

the opening act was kankaku pierrot, a group from osaka i think? the singer was at inazuma in the crowd in 2013 and he couldn't believe he was standing on the stage in 2017. he said something like "i thought the distance from the crowd to the stage was massive, but here i am four years later on the same stage!" you go buddy, chase ur dreams!!!

when it came up with FIRST ARTIST: T.M.REVOLUTION i was still not believing i was actually about to see him! they had people squeegee-ing (?) the rain off the stage before he came on and i was like damn he is totally gonna do thunderbird it's perfect conditions for it

when his set started i swore i heard a bit of "We Make Revolution" and i was like NO WAY... and then it segued into JUST A JOKE and Promised FORCE and all these album instrumentals???

he opened with AMAKAZE and he was in a black shirt with "T N" on the front and "FEAR OF BUDDHA" on the back (internet tells me this is a parody of the brand Fear of God?)

I could actually see him on the stage from where I was standing, unbelievable tbh. when the staff were wiping down the stage some people behind me were saying "I wonder if Nishikawa is gonna run around like he usually does..." but he totally ran all over the stage and I got to see him from the left side! I couldn't see his face that well but I could see him grinning!

at the end of one of the songs he got down on the stage and started doing pushups ALRIGHT TAKANORI WE GET IT YOU LIFT... after another song he just lay down on the stage in the rain #big mood

He played Pearl in the shell second and I started crying a bit lmao... I remember Pearl in the shell was the new song he debuted at IRF in 2010, and it was the time just before CLOUD NINE came out and everything was exciting because we were getting new all these new TMR songs for the first time in ages! Pearl in the shell is also one of my faves and I've loved it ever since I heard the first live version of it in 2010. Anyway it kind of hit me all at once that I was seeing it live NOW and I was actually at Inazuma and TMR was not only right in front of me but also a Real Person?

Then I heard the synth riff from ウルワシキセカイ and I could NOT believe my ears. No way is he playing this obscure album track from 2004 that is one of my faves?? BUT NO HE WAS ABSOLUTELY PLAYING IT. he could have ended the live there and I would have been satisfied

Then he played Juggling, Goin', and Pied Piper!?!?!!!!?? As someone who knows his discography back to front I was absolutely beside myself. I expected to hear his popular anime songs and a couple of his singles (which I'd be very happy to hear too!) but here he was playing B-sides and album deep cuts. Also Pied Piper totally goes off

The last song was Wheel of Fortune which is also the first TMR song I ever heard, so that was weirdly fitting. (he played it 4 me obvs thx m8)

His voice is amazing and he sounded so good live!!! At one point he was being extremely extra with the vibrato on purpose to make everyone laugh. And he has so much stage presence. it was just a REALLY GOOD TIME and it lived up to all my expectations.

He tweeted later that he chose songs with special meaning in relation to today's IRF performance, interpret that how you will!

After he left I headed to get food and Keytalk came on next, blasting WHITE BREATH as their entrance music which I was living for since that's my fave TMR song

I hung around the free area for a bit and caught migimimi sleep tight's performance which was really fun and had good basslines! I swear the vocalist kept making eye contact with me hahahaha

Later I went back to the live area to catch Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas. I'd looked up some of their stuff on youtube and they seemed like a lot of fun (great synths, dance beat BUT ALSO SCREAMING). I really enjoyed their set! I love that they seem to have simple choreography to each of their songs (at least I thought so, I was copying everyone's hand movements?) But then you get these metalcore screaming sections so you gotta start thrashing around. It was an experience! Gonna try to pick up their album while I'm here.

I thought about staying for UVERworld but I only know their Bleach song and I thought I had better conserve my energy for tomorrow... (I'm sure they were great though!) I made my way out of the block and tried not to get stuck in the mud as I walked to the exit gate...

When I got out someone approached me with a camera and introduced himself as someone from a TBS program. I said something super brief like "oh wow really" in japanese and he was like "ah so you can speak some japanese? is it okay if I interview you?" me: 😂😂😂 sure you can but my japanese is not that great...

we talked about where I'm from, why I'm at the festival, what I like about TMR, fave things about the festival, did you know Nishikawa-san did all this what do you think about that, wow you came from Australia all by yourself but people in Australia mustn't know much about TMR, what made you get into him? Also I went on about the setlist lmao

Afterwards he said it was for an IRF special and apologised that I probably won't be able to watch it in Australia "but maybe Nishikawa-san will see it!" We thanked each other and I walked off to the bus in total disbelief. (Also later I thought of more things I wanted to say but didn't in the heat of the moment 😭)

wow. I was supposed to see him again tomorrow but the typhoon says no! Such a shame. But I'm so grateful that I got to see TMR live just once! FINALLY 😭

I'd love to go back and see Lake Biwa in nice sunny weather - it was very foggy and hard to see today. I also want to come back and see TMR when he tours again at some point! 😊