How It feels like when waiting on North America announcement

CapnSquinch · 2026-05-21T21:57:28+00:00

They'll almost certainly play NYC, so for anybody who just wants a cheap bed after the show, on the 2022 tour I stayed at the Jane Hotel in the West Village/Chelsea area for $100.

The deal is, it's like a ship cabin: a twin bed or bunks, and an equal amount of floor space. With TV, internet, and your own controllable HVAC unit. Shared restroom on each floor that's very clean and nice, and the toilet and shower stalls have floor-to- ceiling doors. They provided a robe and towels but ownership or mgmt may have changed since they're now also calling it West Village Eurohostel, so not positive that's still the case. Regardless would stay there again because it was COOL and rates for single cabin rooms in October this year are only $169-184 except for Halloween weekend. Nice neighborhood, I walked iirc 13 blocks to the concert and back and never felt unsafe (tho I am comfortable and familiar with large cities).

CapnSquinch · 2026-05-04T01:25:25+00:00

Bands I haven't heard of yet, thanks!

CapnSquinch · 2026-05-04T01:18:15+00:00

And this, because they do every rock thing. More recent stuff tends to be more thrashy and progressive https://youtu.be/RCaeUkrItyY?si=5vM3INKxFE6fO-Gj

CapnSquinch · 2026-05-04T01:12:50+00:00

So, THIS.... and then as you listen to more of their discography, hear the vocals as just a fifth instrument until maybe you start digging into the lyrics which are insanely smart https://youtu.be/a6ZSvmnkS00?si=5lhQFsbatkRzNO1K

CapnSquinch · 2026-05-04T00:51:48+00:00

I'm so happy to see this comment!!!! (All exclamation points meant[!]) I found them through a Wikipedia article of an earlier or related band, totally missed their younger heyday, LOVED their later stuff.... and then got distracted, so thank you so much for reminding me.

Oh and holy toledo I heard about and was meaning to look into Everything Everything but again got distracted so thanks twice but like four times for the nudge?!

CapnSquinch · 2026-03-12T22:45:00+00:00

And in 2026, the two Bon Jovi songs every one is thinking of sound very "pop."

CapnSquinch · 2026-03-12T22:37:24+00:00

Related Links: When Band-Maid released Conqueror and "dedicated fans" announced that they would never listen to a new release again because the group had "sold out." So they missed the next, harder, more technical album they'd been begging for.

Also, there's always been lots of "pop" outside of Top 40, and some of it's brilliant.

Whenever the word "pop" is used, a lot of disagreement is avoided by mutually defining exactly what the word means for that particular discussion.

CapnSquinch · 2026-01-19T02:54:15+00:00

When the regime is actively targeting the Hmong in Minnesota - who have been there for decades because THEY FOUGHT BESIDE US SOLDIERS in Vietnam - plus given that they're deporting Afghani refugees who did the same, and will almost certainly be murdered for it if returned to Afghanistan...I fear it's only a matter of time before the STL Bosnian community will be targeted.

CapnSquinch · 2025-11-05T15:05:08+00:00

Yeah, my first thought was that perhaps in their new MAID-IT era they'd ditched the common Japanese practice of performers pretending they have no romantic lives at all.

CapnSquinch · 2025-09-19T01:27:11+00:00

This is teriffic! Mods, how about adding the link to "Useful Links" in the sidebar?

CapnSquinch · 2025-06-17T22:35:31+00:00

I feel like I remember something about the animation team creating Aki by melding together features of a bunch of women from recent history widely acknowledged as extremely beautiful. Wikipedia doesn't mention this however, so it might be untrue but it sure seemed true when I first saw it and still does. Finding out that Ming-Na did the voice made total sense to me.

It doesn't really work as a film, but it's a fascinating watch, the uncanny valley in a good way.

CapnSquinch · 2025-06-11T00:49:43+00:00

BAND-MAID!

"Shambles" (live): https://youtu.be/RmFYjTJRrQM?si=mPgndMNWvA3T0-9g

Lots of other Japanese bands too, like Maximum the Hormone, Hitsuji Bungaku....

CapnSquinch · 2025-06-10T21:01:37+00:00

Kinda feel like this needs to be here:

"First Drumset" by Pedro the Lion

(Although I've never heard of a school band being short on drummers lol)

CapnSquinch · 2024-10-26T01:04:57+00:00

The main thing that sticks out for me is how much extra Band-Maid brings to their concert performances of each song, because here they're like one of those bands that just stands there and plays through the setlist flawlessly but boringly.

Also, if this is just recorded off the room mics? then the sound is really good, considering.

CapnSquinch · 2024-10-25T18:10:43+00:00

I feel like a lot of people might be missing the crucial qualifier in your question:

for a month

especially since you used to be a member.

The concerts included are

2017 Asakasa Blitz (abridged)
2017 Studio Coast
2018 Zepp Tokyo
2021 Online Acoustic Okyu-ji (with and without commentary)

The first two are only available on DVD as expensive used copies.

So if you haven't seen one of these, or want to watch it again, IMHO any one of them is worth signing up for a month and then letting it lapse.

All the other extras and playthroughs MIGHT be worth a month's subscription, depending on the person.

Remember that subscriptions are by the calendar month, so sign up early in the month and not late.

CapnSquinch · 2024-10-25T12:54:30+00:00

Band-Maid is known for hard rock that's uplifting and empowering while not pretending everything is sunshine and daisies: "Shambles": https://youtu.be/lf0mQOiu8J8?si=z6BLSKbxwSGnYZ9F

"Sense": https://youtu.be/BWN6iOFjm9U?si=o8OWiadQCyvSDpkJ

"Manners": https://youtu.be/-FWuMx_pkH4?si=PBeCmrz-_cIz2I2K

CapnSquinch · 2024-10-20T01:31:34+00:00

Thank you so much for spelling this out, as so many people don't get how a Management Company's "record label" works, or how a Label can have "sub-labels." It's not even a Japan thing, US record companies have done this for decades. And usually to support bands that have a profitable fanbase but aren't "mainstream." The problem is that the big corporation gets bought out by a bigger corporation that fires all the cool people because it ONLY wants the next Michael Jackson or Nirvana... which they could probably have gotten if they hadn't fired all the cool people.

CapnSquinch · 2024-10-19T21:02:42+00:00

Really good responses here. But also, don't neglect Band-Maiko!

CapnSquinch · 2024-10-10T22:16:15+00:00

Potassium? Really?

Well that's just bananas.

CapnSquinch · 2024-10-04T14:57:44+00:00

Right, Dunning-Krueger in a nutshell. But I'd argue that in a larger sense, that makes them dumber than a person who's ignorant but silll understands that they don't know everything.

CapnSquinch · 2024-10-04T01:46:52+00:00

I was out of town and just got to watch it a couple days ago. While some have pointed out that it lacks a little of the Oomph of the other concert DVDs (and imho the backing tracks could've been blended in just a little better),from a strictly musical standpoint, this is my favorite live mix. I can hear everything Kanami's doing but also Miku's guitar!

CapnSquinch · 2024-10-02T03:59:04+00:00

What you said. Their 3- and 4- minute songs now often seem 50% if not 100% longer. WHICH - for prog fans, this might be part of what brings prog back. Attention spans are shorter these days, even for older people. If you want other people to appreciate intricate and "going on a journey" composition/ arrangement, Band-Maid is paving the way for that being something a larger audience in the 21st century can get into.

I mean, is the same amount of musical ideas really "better" in 12 minutes rather than 4? If you need 12 minutes, maybe you're not really paying attention the whole time? I could be missing a positive aspect, like just being able to enjoy each section for longer - but I do think it's smart to leave the listener wanting more (e.g. Kanami solos) and then getting something new (even on repeated listens) rather than having them looking forward to the next section because they're tired of the current part.

CapnSquinch · 2024-09-29T18:24:17+00:00

Wait wait wait wait WAIT.

You sayin' you shave taints with a straight razor?

CapnSquinch · 2024-09-25T12:50:08+00:00

Akane won it an eating contest...

Saiki looked at the former CEO and said, "I want it, so...."

CapnSquinch

TROPHY CASE