Here is the second half of our coverage from quaff’s appearance at the Middle Tennessee Anime Convention held just earlier this month on May 1st. Along with the interview with quaff that we had posted just the other day, our field reporter also had the chance to see them perform live and provide us with a live report! As photography was not permitted during the live, all photos included are from quaff’s Official MySpace Blog. Be sure to check out the band’s, “thank you” post here, for more live photos!
Saturday May 1st, 2010 @ Middle Tennessee Anime Convention in Nashville, TN.
Reporter: Paisley Rojas
At around 6 o’clock is when the line for the concert began to form. The most eager fans seemed to beam with pride that they were so close to the head of the line; almost assuring themselves good spots to enjoy the concert once it began. As time passed, the line grew. A variety of people waited together for the chance to see Quaff perform; girls dressed in lolita attire, anime cosplayers young and old, parents and their children, middle aged women and men. Many people were holding Quaff merchandise, some evening wearing a Quaff tour T-shirt which the band had designed themselves as part of their new fashion label– QUAFFIZM.
The line of people pressed against one side of the long hallway, allowing for many other con-goers to get by. The halls were almost always crowded, making for some unique entertainment for those waiting in line. Walk-by hugs, high-fives and shout outs became an often occurrence . And every few moments, there was always an interesting costume to catch my eye.
Every so often, someone would stop and ask everyone standing in line what the line was for. When they only got the answer “Quaff”, they would either ask what a “Quaff” was or just simply say “Oh, okay…” and then walk away. This was as much to my amusement as it was a disappointment. I would have surely thought that people would not be clueless of such a fantastic band playing right there at the con they were attending. Then I realized that once the show began, and people heard their music from the hall, they would definitely want to check it out. This thought gave me hope that Quaff would have a full room of fans for their show.
When 9 o’clock came around, which was when the concert was originally supposed to begin, there were a few complaints to be heard from the now very long line. Everyone was wondering what was holding up the show, as there was no official word as to why things seemed delayed. There were soon sounds of drums and guitar riffs coming from inside the concert hall, getting everyone excited all over again. Many people listened eagerly to the rehearsal and sound check, hoping that the show would soon start. A few times, a small chant of the band’s signature phrase “QUAFF OR DIE!!” would build up, slowly dying away after a while, only to start up again moments later.
Finally, around 10 ‘o clock, everyone was allowed inside the concert hall. In a matter of mere seconds, the front row around the stage was filled with fans, rushing to find a place to stand that would make them as close as possible to the band. More and more people trickled into the large room, which was dark except for the bright neon colored lights from the empty stage. It must have only taken 5 or 10 minutes before over half the room was filled; the once large empty space behind me was completely gone, replaced with the mass of people chattering. Soon enough, more chants began from the growing crowd. “QUAFF OR DIE!!” would start as a loud, roaring cheer, before it slowly faded after a while. This amused me as well, since the chants would die off as Quaff was still yet to appear on stage. Thus, making “QUAFF OR DIE!!” a pun of some sort.
It took a bit more time, however once the members of Quaff finally took the stage, it made the long wait well worth it. As each member made his appearance, audience members clapped and called out the names of their favorites. They soon went into the first song, which was the familiar tune of the theme song from the movie, “Ghost Busters”. This seemed to immediately get everyone into the right mood for the rest of the performance. Quaff’s next song, however, was one of their own– “Alien’s attack”, which is also the first track on their new album “Unknown From Overseas”. Seiya would get pretty close to the audience as he sang the lyrics, “I love you. I like you. I want you. I need you,” causing many female fans to scream and reach out for him. It seemed like Seiya could be quite the tease.
The show flowed into another song, “Destiny-00″ and then a brief M.C. before “Metropolis “SAIHARA”" and then “more than blue”. I was eager to hear “more than blue” live, and Ukisemi’s rapping impressed me even more at the show then on their CD. He truly has a talented tongue for this. There was another M.C., followed by the song “Deep Space Network”. By this time, the audience, including myself, were in an almost constant state of bouncing and swaying.
Following this, there was an M.C. and then suddenly Quaff went into a new beat, pumping the audience back up for their special song for introducing the band members. First, the audience is asked if they know each member’s name. And one by one, each member’s name is called out by the audience, amongst playful gestures by the bandmen. There were even signs held up with their names written of them for each introduction. I’m sure for those who didn’t know the members by name, this was a neat and easy way to learn them. I kind of wish more bands did things like this with their audience– it was pretty fun.
After all the introductions were over, they jumped into a new song, “BOOTS & JOKER”, which is the third track from their latest album, followed by a fourth M.C., then the songs “Silent Devil”, “Love is” and “Place of Love”. Their final M.C. came next, as well as their last song of the set, “JUDGE MAN”.
Throughout the show, from beginning to end, the members would toss roses out to the crowd. There were only a lucky few who were able to snatch one up, and from my position it seemed there were a few mild squabbles for possession of the flowers. Despite this, it was a heartwarming gesture from Quaff and I’m sure those who were able to obtain a rose will cherish them greatly. Other moments during the live that I found notable were Makito and Takuma’s shoulder-to-shoulder duel guitar playing, Ukisemi’s playful hip-thrusts at the audience, Hal’s energetic beating of the drums, Shingo’s cool attitude, and Seiya’s teasing behavior. An instance being when he asked if the audience wanted water from his water bottle but instead of spitting or tossing water out at the crowd, he only grinned and said “too bad”. Each member of Quaff showed their unique personality, bringing the whole show to life even more.
After “JUDGE MAN”, Quaff left the stage, the lights becoming dim. However, the stage didn’t remain empty for long. The new chants of “QUAFF OR DIE!!” seemed to work their magic this time when the members all came out again to cheers and applause.
Their encore began with a cover song of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”, which was almost immediately recognizable from the first few chords. This got everyone excited all over again, and I even noticed a few people starting to dance. From the looks of it, this song has become an fan-favorite for encores. Even Quaff seemed to have a lot of fun performing it, as they moved around on stage, smiling. In the middle of the song, all the members even formed a line, side-by-side, and moved in a synchronized fashion along with the music. It was pretty Michael Jackson-esque, causing many in the audience to cheer. “SHAKE YOUR BOOTY!” was the final song in the encore, and quite a fitting song to leave everyone in a happy, party-like mood. As the title would suggest, its a song about… well, shaking your booty! And it had almost everyone doing just that, even I myself found it next to impossible to keep from dancing along.
Quaff is one of the most energetic VK bands I’ve seen in a while. Their performance gives off a certain glow– happy, fun, and loving. It was a warm and pleasant atmosphere and by the end of the show, it almost felt like we were all friends– or maybe even some form of family. As the live ended, I couldn’t help but notice all the smiles and laughs, and even a few happy tears. This caused me to leave with a sense of happiness of my own, as well as an eagerness to see Quaff perform live again someday soon.
This isn’t the end of our coverage from quaff’s appearance either! Keep an eye out for an upcoming video-comment and contest for your chance to win an autographed photoset from the band!
