What Makes a Good Live Report

I've read quite a number of live reports. I'm sure all of you have found also that while some reports are powerful, intense, and gripping, others are simply... bland and mediocre. What separate the fantastic reports from the so-so ones?

I present two case studies. These are two reports that floored me with their passion and earnesty, the best I've read in a long time.

One, Gazette's Nameless Liberty Tour at Fukuoka on April 11, 2006, written by shirann of LJ. Some parts that really stood out to me:

Sometime during this song, I think Ruki's ring or maybe the mic cut his face open just beside his nose, but he didn't even seem to notice. He seriously looked delerious with... something... as he sang the slow part, and then he exploded into madness again for the chorus! I don't think I've ever seen anyone get that much into a song. I didn't really watch the others a lot during this, mostly because I couldn't tear my eyes away from Ruki. He just... I fell in love with his raw power. His emotion is right there, swirling in giant currents around him and over everyone else.

...

During the bridge, I think there was more orchestrated hand movement, but by this time I was seriously too lost in the experience to notice the crowd much anymore. Uruha was smiling at the crowd a lot during this song. At one time I looked at him, and I think he spotted my FUCK wristband, cause he smiled at me again! One thing stands out very prominently in my mind for this song, though. At one point, Reita was relatively close to the edge of the stage, playing to the crowd and looking over us a few times, so... I flipped him off. OMFG, I GAVE REITA THE FINGER! I don't know what made me do it, but it just kind of... happened. Anyway, he definitely saw it, because he kind of blinked, then looked down my arm and paused for a second on my face. And I'm sure I must have had this "OMFG PLEASE LET ME JUST DISAPPEAR" look on my face because he smirked slightly, and went back to backstage. I feel so bad! But maybe he was amused by it. I felt like facepalming, but I couldn't because I seriously couldn't get my hand to my face at that point, it was so crammed.

Take a deep breath and sit back. Here's the second live report. alice nine.'s 2nd Oneman Tour (Zekkeishoku) at Fukuoka on May 20, 2006, written by direngrey_ of LJ.

This was the only song of the night where 将 [note: Shou] was off a bit. The beginning `Shishiza wa ~` was clearly off key, and I saw him look to the side after he sung it and grimace, like "Get yourself together, 将!!"

The rest of the opening was a better, but still a little off...

After the opening, he nailed every note.
 
But, I`ll never forget that look on his face. A while back on his journal, 将 wrote about how painfully embarassing it is for him when he can`t perform perfectly as a vocalist. He`s come such a long way, but I still feel 将 often doubts his ability. I touched on this in my letter to him, as well...

I hope 将 can completely believe in himself one day, and embrace his unbelievable talents without doubting himself. He deserves that...

...

沙我 [note: Saga] did something totally random during 暁 [note: Akatsuki]. I had my hands out, and so did the 2 girls to my left. 沙我 walked a little closer, licked his finger... and then drew it accross my left hand.
I was dumbstruck.

That got a total `Wow, YAY!!!` in my head, but I was also like `沙我, you`re SO RANDOM!!`.

And yes, I`ve washed my hands MANY times since then, so no one ask me to clone him XD I REFUSE!

Reading these leave a huge smile on my face. What is it about these two reports that I absolutely love?  I find that I really enjoy details on band-audience interactions. The interactions, I believe, are the heart and soul of all lives. This is why we pay to see our favorite bands in concert. Nothing else can capture the magic of attending an actual live. The DVD recordings completely pale in comparison to being a member of the fired-up crowd, headbanging, moshing to the music. When a band member actually makes eye-contact and/or smile or wave at you, you feel your heart stop and all blood rush to your face. That moment of intensity simply cannot be found anywhere else.

Another factor that really weighs in is that these two writors of the reports obviously love, love the bands whose lives they attended. They worship the bands and they're not afraid to bare their souls and put their love into passionate words. They're sincere and earnest.  On a certain level, the readers are able to attend the concerts vicariously because they can so easily relate to the writors. It was a pleasure, a true pleasure and honor, for me to share their experiences. shirann and direngrey_ will probably never see what I have written here, but still, I want to thank them.

Thank you sincerely for bringing the concerts alive to us readers and allowing us to experience those magical moments with you. You guys are the best.