DOES concert

So tonight I went to the concert of DOES, my current favorite Japanese band.

When I arrived, I discovered that I had to queue outside the venue depending on the number written on my ticket. A guy kept shouting numbers (a bit like when you board a plane) and people followed the instructions even though it was freezing. And this is how it looked like for the lucky numbers 1-20...(note the blue bin to put your umbrella before coming in)

I was number 148 but it wasn't too bad. I was amazed at how polite the people were, no skiving: the newly arrived were asking "which number are you?" to the people in the queue so they could go at the correct position. And I thought that the English were the masters at queueing...
After a while we started moving quickly...nearly there...

Once you pass the door, you have to buy a compulsory drink voucher for 500Y (exchangeable at the bar for soft drinks or beer), then you can rent a locker for 400Y and go in the venue.
On the left, the traditional merchandising including tshirts, cds but also a plastic stuff to put your coins and a mini-towel...yes I bought it, so cute isn't it? (It's still under wrap because it's a present.)

On the right, a little stage where you can smoke and the bar. There's a tv showing the gig, in case you don't want to get your ass in the actual concert, which is just behind a curtain.

So straight on, after the black curtain, the actual venue, small sized.

Doors opened at 17:30 and it started at 18:30 on the dot. No support band, straight into the main band, who played until 20:30ish, 3 encore included.
The weird thing is people clap between songs but only for a short while so it soon becomes quiet. Bit unnerving...
But the weirdest thing when you're used to gigs in Europe is that nobody took photos at all (not with their camera, not with their mobile). Apparently gigs are filmed and they're pretty strict on exclusivity. So being the only gaijin in the venue I thought, of course, I could sneak these 2 shots. They're horrendous, I know but it's just to show you how it looked liked.(the hand in the air and jumping are the big things here).

The concert was amazing: everyone jumping around, the band getting better/warmer with each new song, we had 3 encore (same word in Japanese) including "the Modern Age" by the Strokes (DOES new album is called Modern Age). Click here to get a taste of what it felt like.

Conclusion: it was my first concert in Japan and I couldn't have chosen a better place to start.