ROCK MAY KAN Memorial Live Mana Translation

 

Souvenirs de ROCK MAY KAN 

Meguro ROCK MAY KAN, a nostalgic rock hall of fame

My memories of Meguro ROCK MAY KAN go back to my teenage years as a high school student in Hiroshima, when I used to read the music magazine "Rockin'f" until it was worn out.

At that time, many Japanese metal bands performed at Meguro ROCK MAY KAN, and it was widely recognized as the holy land of rock.

After some time passed, I formed MALICE MIZER in 1992, and I remember being deeply moved to be able to perform my first live show at Meguro ROCK MAY KAN. I was able to watch the senior band that was playing against us that day from the second floor level, and it was a great inspiration.

Meguro ROCK MAY KAN is an important live house where I have performed many times since then.

I am very grateful that I was able to do many unique and special things at this rock hall of fame, such as dancing without playing the guitar and performing theatrical performances.

It is no exaggeration to say that MALICE MIZER's direction and foundation were established here.

And when I heard that Meguro ROCK MAY KAN would be relocated in 2023, I really wanted to perform at the Meguro ROCK MAY KAN stage one last time.

It will be sad to see ROCK MAY KAN disappear from its former location due to the relocation.

That place is where we, MALICE MIZER, grew up, and it is a big stepping stone to Tokyo Rock.

January 10, 2024, when we will perform at Meguro ROCK MAY KAN for the first time in about 30 years with special guest Közi, will be a special day.

Mana

ROCK MAY KAN Memorial Live Yu~ki Translation

 

A place to awaken to performing ~ Meguro ROCKMAYKAN Meguro

Meguro ROCKMAYKAN has a unique, tense atmosphere that is different from other live music venues.

This is probably because it is full of history, with many musicians aiming to stand on that stage as a gateway to their dreams.

The image of people standing on the dark, narrow, steep stairs leading from the dressing room to the stage, with the smell of smoke and pounding hearts, is still burned into my mind.

There were many times when I caused trouble for the audience, such as spitting fake blood on stage, but all of these are the history of MALICE MIZER and my precious memories.

And personally, it was the place where I became convinced of the importance of sticking to the performance and vowed to continue exploring it.

I am grateful for the generous treatment.

I was also inspired by watching my friends' wonderful performances from the seats on the second floor, and the hallway leading to the dressing room gave me the opportunity to greet and meet many musicians.

Unfortunately, this time they will be relocating, but I hope that they will continue to be a unique place that serves as a gateway for musicians chasing their dreams.

Thank you Meguro Rokumeikan for your hard work!

Thank you for a wonderful time!

Yu~ki

ROCK MAY KAN Memorial Live Pamphlet Közi Translation

 

One Day at Meguro ROCK MAY KAN - A Memory with a Scary Senior

Meguro ROCK MAY KAN, even before MALICE MIZER was formed, I was a roadie for a certain band and it's a live house full of memories that I've been to countless times.

I've played a lot of live shows there. I've seen a lot of live shows there. I've been inspired and moved a lot.

When I think of an incident at ROCK MAY KAN that immediately comes to mind, there were many occasions when I was with scary seniors, but I was sitting on a bench by the basement stairs where the dressing rooms were located so as not to get in the way. Then, from the dressing room in the back, a scary senior came walking up to me.

What? What? Did I do something? The main theme of PSYCHO (1960) was playing in my head.

Chan-chan-cha-chan-chan... He stopped in front of me. 

Scary Senpai: "Could you please step back for a bit?"

When I stood up, Scary Senpai picked up his jacket from his chair and went back to the dressing room in silence.

I was sitting on Scary Senpai's jacket!!

And so, I have so many memories of all those times. Thank you very much.

May Meguro ROCK MAY KAN live forever!

Közi

ROCK MAY KAN Memorial Live 10 January 2024 Pamphlet Translation

 

This was the first flyer we made to announce that members from various bands had come together to form MALICE MIZER.

There was no announcement of a live show, just the purpose of letting people know that an amazing band had been born.

La préface

MALICE MIZER formed in August 1992 and held their first live performance, which marked the beginning of their legend, at Meguro ROCKMAYKAN (October 31, 1992).

The following year, in 1993, they also held their first anniversary live at Meguro ROCKMAYKAN.

The final show of the Cher de memoire Tour 1994 and their second anniversary live were also held at Meguro ROCKMAYKAN in 1994.

And in December of the same year, Meguro ROCKMAYKAN was also chosen as the venue for the last stage performance of the original vocalist, Tetsu.

It can be said that early MALICE MIZER and Meguro ROCKMAYKAN had a strong connection.

In June 2023, it was announced that Meguro ROCKMAYKAN would be vacating in January 2024 due to the aging of the building it was rented from (it was later decided that the vacancy would be postponed).

Upon hearing this shocking news, and remembering the good old days, it was decided to hold an event called "An Invitation to the Beautiful Rokumeikan" by Moi dix Mois and Közi.

And in order to pass on the story of this special night forever, this pamphlet was hastily produced.

A memorable flyer announcing that MALICE MIZER's first live will be held at Meguro Rokugokan.

†††††

Translator note 

In honor of Moi dix Mois and Közi's memorial live on October 10th, 2024, I decided to translate into English the pamphlet for the ROCK MAY KAN Memorial Live, part of which is above. I don't know if anyone has put a translation on line. It's okay to link to it, but please don't copy this and put it online and claim that it is your translation. 

Once again, I'm not a trained translator, just doing this as a fan. Thank you for reading this.

*Photos are from various places online that I have saved over the years. Some match what is in the pamphlet, some are similar and are from that time.

Ryux Kuruchi～Oichi～Video Translation

So it was Mana's two day birthday shows at Pleasure Pleasure in Shibuya on March 19th and 20th. And as usual, Moi dix Mois performed the song "Immortal Madness". As I've blogged about, part of the fun of this song is the band sometimes changes part of the lyrics. One version is "Sexy Pretty Mana-sama" where everyone was suppose to do specific hand motions. Well, it seems that Mana changed the phrase to something else. And at the first show, Seth didn't sing it quite the way that Mana wanted it to be said. So at the second show...well, Ryux put a video of what happened on Twitter. I've attempted to translate what was written in the video. 

Here's the link to Ryux's tweet with the video https://twitter.com/RYU59/status/1505571535276281856

And here's the translation. I've color coded it to match the video, for the most part. If you are colorblind, you might want to copy and paste what is below if you need to change the color.

Seth：Eh～Today, Mana-sama made a complaint about yesterday's Seth.

Well～that's right.

Mana: The way to say "Kuruchi～Oichi～" is different

Seth：When。。。

Ryux: Kuruchi～

Ryux: Kuruchi～

Seth:  No, I laughed too。。。

Come on! And "Oichi" is like this. (During the choreography lecture)

Mana: In the acclaimed pressure point.*

Ryux: It doesn't stop。。。I can't laugh。。。

Seth：Yeah, maybe。。。

Ryux: Congratulations to Mana → meaningless*

Seth：Right now, I think I've got a pressure point

Ryux: It's time for pressure point time, everyone.

Seth：It's a pressure point time. Yes.

Ryux: Please take a look.

Seth：Thank you everyone. This is my first time so far w

Ryux: Kuruchi～Oichi～

Seth：I～Hifu www I'm going!!!!

Come on! Come on!!!!

Seth and Ryux: Kuruchi～Oichi～

Kuruchi～Oichi～

Kuruchi～Oichi～

Kuruchi～Oichi～

Ryux: Kuruchi～Oichi～

Seth：Is it okay to go to the end Mana-sama?

Mana: Mana-sama, I couldn't stand it and left (to) the stage sleeve myself

Ryux: This is an incident!

Also "Je t'aime Mana-sama～🤍"

Do you want to start over?

Mana: "It may be impossible, laugh at that voice." → listening to Seth.

Seth：This is already an incident, so w

Let's get it back!!!

Let's go back to "SEXY PRETTY ANGEL"

Ryux: Oh really?

Seth：This is impossible anymore w

Yes, the end www

Ryux: "Kuruchi～" is over?

"Kuruchi～" is over?

Is it the end of "Kuruchi～"?

Seth：Is no good anymore。。。 Ryo-chan www

THE END

*→ meaningless, I think Ryux was saying there was no reason for him to be doing it, it was just random.

*ツボ, tsubo, has a couple different meanings. A specific land measurement, pot, and pressure point. Pressure point made the most sense here (also because it was written in katakana like acupressure would be written). Just to add for those who may not know it, that since Mana tries to keep a stoic expression, it would be a pressure point to have to try and keep a straight face in this situation. Which is why Mana left the stage for a moment.

"w" is laughing

Because someone asked, "Oichi" is a name given to girls, it can mean "in city" also. Oda Nobunaga's sister's name is one example. As for "kuruchi", it seems to be a place name in Okinawa. I can't find an actual translation. If it is written in katakana it can mean "gulch", which is a ravine. Totally obscure, it can also be the name of the black finish on a knife or sword. I have no idea if Mana was referring to either of these, or he just like the sound of the two words. Oichi who has a black aura? Has Mana been playing Segoku Basura? Who knows?

Edited to add that I received a comment from someone in Japan who said that it could be "painful" for "kuruchi" and "delicious" for "oichi". Both words are normally spelled with "shi" instead of "chi", "kurushi/苦しい" and "oishi/美味しい". They said it is a child's way of saying the words.