LAREINE History
LAREINE History
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August: KAMIJO & MAYU's FIRST MEETING
MAYU was late to their first meeting so they didn't get to talk much then. When they finally did meet again, KAMIJO said that he attempted to tell MAYU about his ideals concerning music, but that MAYU didn't listen to him(^^;) November: LALEINE IS FORMED KAMIJO and MAYU formed the band LALEINE (other members are Guitarist Hirono and Drummer Kyouka and one more guitarist??). KAMIJO is the vocalist and used the name SHOKI at that time. They spent the rest of the year looking for a bassist in the classified section of the magazine "Rockin-f" |
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January: FIRST MEETING OF EMIRU & LALEINE
KAMIJO receives a picture of EMIRU (the picture of EMIRU was supposedly taken out of focus on purpose according to EMIRU's wishes, so it looks like a vague figure with red hair and a white ribbon). The band members decide to meet EMIRU. March: MAYU LEAVES THE BAND MAYU left the band because of musical differences with the other guitarist in LALEINE (I don't know what his is name though). The other guitarist was into very dark music that was trendy at that time. MAYU left before ever meeting EMIRU. March 25: EMIRU JOINS & THEIR FIRST LIVE EMIRU joins LALEINE and they have their first live concert. March 29: First DEMO TAPE LALEINE releases their first demo tape "Lu cherie" and it was distributed at a live at the Meguro RockMayKan. KAMIJO said that he received his first fanletter at this live. May: MAYU RETURNS! Since MAYU had left, KAMIJO said he had thought about him a lot. EMIRU was also very interested in MAYU's work as well (he heard it on an old demo tape). So, KAMIJO asked MAYU to come back. MAYU decided to rejoin since LALEINE's guitarist was planning on leaving. July 27 - August 29: 2nd Demo & Tour LALEINE tours around Japan (9 concerts) and distributes their 2nd demo tape "2nd Demo LALEINE" to the people who came to see them. It contained two songs (see discography). During the tour, there was a concert where KAMIJO was so moved that he waved his hand to the audience and said "Let's meet again!" August 22: 2nd DEMO TAPE for sale (^_^) LALEINE puts their 2nd demo tape for sale (it was 500 yen). October: Guitarist Hirono and Drummer Kyouka leave. Hirono (G) and Kyouka (Dr) leave LALEINE. Kyouka goes on to form the band Eliphas Levi. November 19: MACHI joins! MACHI meets KAMIJO at the Shinjuku Loft. KAMIJO said that he felt an instant liking for him and found that they were interested in similar things. It just so happened that their drummer had recently left, and KAMIJO liked MACHI so much that he let MACHI join the band right away. According to KAMIJO, when he first met MACHI, MACHI was wearing a T-shirt and army pants (^^;). After MACHI joined on Nov. 19, the first time he appeared on stage with them he wore such an amazing outfit that you'd never guess that he was appearing on stage for the first time. The other members received quite a big shock! (^^;) December 20 - February 24, 1996: Tour "Pain of Love Story" |
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March: LAREINE created
LALEINE changes their name from LALEINE to LAREINE. They have a short tour. March 26: The Demo Tape "Saikai no hana" released. The Demo Tape "Saikai no hana" was made as a 1 year anniversary single. This demo tape was distributed at the tour final at the Shinjuku Loft. June: SynG Akira Joins & Tour "Tsukiyo no Kageki" Akira joins LAREINE and they begin a tour called "Tsukiyo no Kageki" (Opera of the Moonlight Night). There are 4 shows total. July 13: Demo Tape "Tsukiyo no Kageki" is released. According to MAYU, this is a song KAMIJO actually wrote a long time ago, while he was still in highschool. July 19: A memorial event This event commemorates the release of "Tsukiyo no Kageki." It was held at the Shinjuku Loft. July 29: A second memorial event Another free concert event to promote sales of"Tsukiyo no Kageki." It was held at the Shinjuku Loft again. If you bought a copy of this Demo Tape at the free event, you'd get a commemorative black and white postcard. If you reserved your copy before going, you'd get a color one. You had to call their fanclub "Lucherie" to reserve it. Speaking of which, I'm not sure when that fanclub was created..x_x; August 1 - August 24: Tour "Queen of Opera Dance" They did eleven shows for this tour. October 30: Halloween Party LAREINE does a halloween party in Meguro. December 24: "Blue Romance" Album A special limited edition of the mini album "Blue Romance" is available for purchase through mail order. |
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January 1: BLUE ROMANCE mini album (ordinary version)
The ordinary version of the mini album "Blue Romance" is available for purchase. January 11: First Oneman Live LAREINE has their first Oneman Live in Meguro (a oneman live is a concert in which only one band is performing). Why is everything they do first done in Meguro I wonder...? Did they all used to live there or something..? (^^;) February 14 - March 27: Tour "Romancia" There were 18 concerts total for this tour(including the three "final stage" concerts). I think they distributed tickets for the "Romancia Final Stage" concerts throughout the tour. The "Romancia Final Stage" was a series of three free concerts celebrating LAREINE's 2nd anniversary. However, it was not the true final concert of the tour (^^;) April 27 & 28: Romancia Tour "Real Final," Akira leaves, & "MIST" & "Romancia" demo tapes This was the true tour final. On April 27, they distributed the demo tape for "Romancia" to the people who attended the concert. Akira leaves LAREINE on April 28. For MACHI, this was the first time he ever experienced anyone leave the band and he said that he experienced many deep feelings during that live. They gave away the demo tape "MIST" at the April 28 live, which was a song that Akira had written the music for and KAMIJO the lyrics. (I'm not sure, but I think that MAYU also helped write music too). September 7: The full album "Blue Romance" released. It contains 8 songs, whereas the mini-album only contained 5 songs. October 9: Live "Higeki no Asa (Morning of Tragedy)" "Higeki no Asa" (Morning of Tragedy) was the first in a series of three promotional live concerts for the "Blue Romance" album. It took place in Meguro at the RockMaykan. October 30: Halloween Party (^^) November 29: Live "Kagami no Ma" The second promotional live concert. It was also held in Meguro. December 25: Live "Unmei no mayoi" The last promotional live "Unmei no mayoi" |
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March 14 - April 15: Tour "Fleur - Le printemps -"
There were eight shows total. They sold a prologue CD single "Urei no hana ga chiru ai" at each of the shows. April 21: Official Fanclub "Fleur" is created & Fleur CD released May 3: Tour "Fleur - Le Printemps" Final This final show was held at Shibuya On Air West. The video "Fleurir" (contains Fleur PV) was distributed to all guests here. Footage from these concerts was put onto another video called "Fleurir ~mode estivale~" that was distributed later in August during the "Fleur 1998 Hakuchou to Tsuisou" tour final. August 8 - August 27: Fleur Tour "Hakuchou to Tsuisou" The summer tour for 1998. The tour included 10 shows. The video "Fleurir ~mode estivale~" was distributed. September 27: Fleur 1998 Tour "Hakuchou to Tsuisou" FINAL "Kotei ni Nemuru Eien no Hanazono" The grand finale show of the Fleur 1998 Tour. The video "Fleurir mode Estivale" was distributed to everyone who came to see the concert. It contained the Fleur PV, an interview with the four members, and live footage from the "Fleur -Le Printemps" Tour (music of Romancia is used in the background). Also, a special limited edition of the Lillie Charlotte Visual CD book was sold, which included a serial number (it was limited to 500 copies, and the LAREINE members kept issues 1-4 for themselves, so issue #5 and on was sold). October 1: Lillie Charlotte Visual CD Book is released. October 17 - November 15: IMAGE CONCERT TOUR "Kohan ni nokosareta ai no chouzou" LAREINE's fall tour. It included 7 shows total. The shows were a combination of a talk/autograph event and live concert. At the talk event, LAREINE had their old costumes on display. December 18: Maxi Single "Metamorphose" is released. December 25: Fanclub Christmas Party This party was limited to 400 participants and held at the Ring Shibuya Factory. Fleur that attended received a Christmas Card present and light refreshments. KAMIJO & MACHI cut the Christmas cake together(^^). Each fleur took a commemorative polaroid with LAREINE. At the end of the party, the four members of LAREINE lined up at the exit and shook hands with each of the guests ( I really wish I could have been there...;_;) There was also a mini live performed at the party. |
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January 8 - January 19: Tour "Metamorphose"
First tour of 1999. There were 5 shows total. MAYU & MACHI both did solos. EMIRU did a DJ solo :) Guests received "imitation tatoo ~gisei no hana~." I'm not really sure what that was... but it sounds like a fake tatoo. March 26: Romance Kakumei (Romance Revolution) & Tour Metamorphose Final "Aoi tori no yukue" This was held in Shibuya and is probably the most memorable event in LAREINE history. Before the show, LAREINE advertised in magazines, etc. to come to the Romance Revolution wearing haute couture, so everyone dressed up (^^). This concert was recorded and released as the little video that came with the 1st press of "fiancailles." The final concert was recorded and released as the video "Chantons l'amour ~Lillie kara no tegami~." This concert was their last indies live concert before going major with Sony Music Entertainment. May 26: CD single "fiancailles" released This is LAREINE's major debut single. The 1st press came with a video that had clips from their past tours and also from the Romance Kakumei. This song means "engagement" and signifies that the members of LAREINE had become engaged to their fans. KAMIJO wears a ring to signify this at concerts. June 2: "fiancailles" 12cm CD released (ordinary version) July 11 & 25: Performance at Shock Wave Illusion 1999 LAREINE performed at Shock Wave Illusion 1999 with several other bands. It was their first outdoor performance. They sang three songs (fiancailles, metamorphose, and emeraude). July 18 - August 13: Tour "Le Vent Express" LAREINE's summer live house tour. There were 6 shows. August 22 & 23: Tour "Le Vent Express" Destination The final shows to the summer tour "Le Vent Express." The first day was "Umi ni miserarete" (charmed by the ocean). EMIRU did a magic solo (^^;) on this day called "Fairy Kingdom: The wish the ocarina delivers". The second day was entitled "Kare no shuchakueki" (His last train station). This was the day that MACHI performed his famous dance solo with his other self "Bourbon." The title of the dance solo was called "Timeless Rose Garden." I wish I could have seen a video of this... why didn't they release this on video..??? After this concert, they stopped live concert activity to work on their new album. August 25: 2nd Single "Billet ~osanaki natsu no binsen~" released & Live concert video "Chantons l'amour ~Lillie kara no tegami~" is released. September 5: Tower Records event in Shibuya October 17: Shinseido event KAMIJO and MAYU couldn't make it due to work they were doing on the new album, so only MACHI & EMIRU were there. They were supposed to wear personal wardrobe rather than costumes. Even so, EMIRU wore a pink gingham check dress and MACHI wore a yellow kimono (^^;). It was a talk and hand-shaking event (since EMIRU doesn't talk in public, I guess it must have just been MACHI talking). December 15: 3rd single "Fuyu Tokyo" released. The third single "Fuyu Tokyo" is released... on my birthday ^_^ What an awesome coincidence. December 24: Offical LAREINE website opened. December 26: Return to Activity Party "Retrouvailles no bansan" A free live concert to celebrate the release of their new album "Fierte no umi to tomo ni kyu." The live was limited to 800 people. December 26: Fleur Christmas Party "Seiya no kokuhaku" Held at Tatou Tokyo in Roppongi. Like at the last Christmas party, all the guests got to have a commerative photo taken with the four members of LAREINE, making it a "5 shot." There was a question and answer corner with MACHI as the MC. On the way out, the members shook hands with all the guests. These fanclub parties sound so wonderful... (;_;). |
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February 9: 4th single "Bara wa utsukushiku chiru" released
February 12: 1st story album "Fierte no umi to tomo ni kyu" released (1st press).Video Clip Collection "Fierte no umi to tomo ni kyu" released. February 23: "Fierte no umi to tomo ni kyu" normal version released. August: Miss CARMILA commemorative box released. August 2, 3, 6: Final Tour "Miss CARMILA" This was the last tour with the four members together. It was kind of depressing, but it was also very exciting since it was my first time to see LAREINE in concert. Everyone who attended received a little gift from LAREINE. The gift was a set of mobile phone ringtones of some of their songs (^^). I've put some detailed reports of these concerts in the live report section of this homepage. August 6: MAYU, EMIRU, & MACHI leave LAREINE MAYU, EMIRU and MACHI all leave LAREINE. Simplifying their messages from the fanclub newsletter: EMIRU left for musical differences. After EMIRU decided to leave, MACHI decided that he didn't want to continue LAREINE if it wasn't going to be the four of them. Finally, MAYU wanted to be involved in a band that also had a bassist and drummer, so once EMIRU and MACHI decided to leave, MAYU followed. It was so sad and depressing... October: New LAREINE Homepage "Unvogue" opened. October 12: First press of "GRAND PAIN" CD single released The first edition came with a PV video that was filmed in Vienna. Though you couldn't tell that they were in Vienna since it was filmed in the dark (^^;). October 18: Regular edition of "GRAND PAIN" CD single released November 1: 2nd album "SCREAM" released. Limited edition of album "VAMPIRE scream" released. November: 1st issue of Little Magazine GRAMMAR released. GRAMMAR is a kind of newsletter that KAMIJO published and is providing free of charge to the fans. What a wonderful guy! December: 2nd issue of Little Magazine GRAMMAR released. |
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January 5: "Stranger in New Days" Live Concert
This was held in the Shinjuku Liquid Room. February: 3rd issue of GRAMMAR released. June: machi starts a new band Chanton L'amour. MACHI has changed his name to machi (lowercase), and has started a new band called Chanton L'amour. He's also opened an official homepage called "Ainsi Soit il." There is a link to his homepage on the links page. I'm excited about the new romance that he's talking about. ^_^ June 20th: KAMIJO stops (postpones?) LAREINE activity and starts a new band with MAYU. KAMIJO sent a special DM (direct mail) to all subscribers of GRAMMAR and former members of LAREINE's old fanclub "Fleur." In the DM he said that he has decided to start a new band with MAYU called NEW SODMY. He will still be always be LAREINE though. As stated in the DM, KAMIJO says that now he's come to the point where he can be proud of LAREINE. (Note: Recently (March 2002), KAMIJO mentioned that Applause Records, which produces LAREINE's works, is still very much alive. He didn't mention anything about continuing LAREINE activities at that time, but I guess we'll have to wait and see!) |
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April 1: MAYU leaves NEW SODMY.
MAYU has left NEW SODMY because of musical differences & private troubles. I hope he comes back soon! June: EMIRU forms a new band. EMIRU has formed a new band called "Ribbon." Ribbon has also opened an official homepage. Please check the links page for the link. August: KAMIJO leaves NEW SODMY. KAMIJO decides to leave NEW SODMY because of musical differences. He's reopening the homepage for Applause Records, which makes me wonder if he'll be working on LAREINE again? Guess we'll have to wait and see. The link to Applause Records is up in the links section. October 18: Applause Records HP Re-opens. The Applause Records Homepage has reopened today. Yay! It is the official site now for information on LAREINE and also machi's solo-project, Chanton L'amour. The link to it is posted in the links section. October 30 & 31: Applause Records presents Halloween Party. This was a Halloween Party that was held by Applause Records. Both days took place at the Meguro Rokumeikan (Rock May Kan). On the first night, the guests who performed were LAREINE (KAMIJO as well as former members MAYU, EMIRU, and MACHI!), SEPHIROTH, and some other bands (sorry, I don't remember who else was playing! ^^;). The second night LAREINE (KAMIJO only), Chanton L'amour (MACHI's band), RIBBON (EMIRU's band), Aiorosu, and others played. They were selling some character badges of characters that KAMIJO designed. There are seven different characters (there may be one more though), and there is currently a contest to think of names for them. If you bought a premier pass for the event, you got a CD present that contained messages and/or song samples from the artists who participated in the event. Everyone was encouraged to dress up for the event, but for those who just couldn't, supposedly they were selling a Halloween Party 2002 Original Mask (^^;;). You could also get the mask if you bought a CD or video or something of one of the artists who was participating in the event at participating stores during the month of October. November 27: "Chou no Hana" CD single is released. This is the first single that LAREINE has released after two years. It includes "Chou no Hana" and another song "Lesson" on it. It comes with a trading card. Former members MAYU (G), EMIRU (B), and MACHI (Dr) participated with KAMIJO in it's recording! (^^) It's so great that the four of them recorded the two songs together! (*^^*) According the the advertisement for it, "Lesson" is fast-paced song full of sorrow and "Chou no Hana" deals with the beauty and transient nature that a flower holds. December 22: LAREINE Premium Christmas Event A special Christmas event limited to 100 people. Participant names were randomly drawn from those individuals who had sent in their applications to join the fanclub, Fleur, by Dec. 6. The event took place at the Meguro Rock-Meikan. KAMIJO wore the same outfit that he's wearing on the cover of the Chou no Hana single. KAMIJO talked at the event and there was also a question and answer session. Then KAMIJO sang Romancia. After that, each fan got to take their picture with him on the same sofa that is on the cover of the "Chou no Hana" CD single. December 25: Mini-album "Etude" will be released. LAREINE's new mini-album. It was released on Christmas day. Former members MAYU (G), EMIRU (B), and MACHI (Dr) participated in the recording of this album. First press comes with a special red velvet case! There was also a bonus message CD if you bought it at Third Stage (other stores my have had other bonuses). |
