Bandmaid - "Blooming" - First Reaction 

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Still their #1 song for me. The back story is Kanami gave "home work" to each member for parts of the song. She then took their "answers" and blended it into the final version.

Yeah, Yokohama Arena concert "products" will be available sometime in the first quarter '24. It came up on the screen at the end of the show. Expect them to release two or three songs to youtube as advertising, but any content they _don't_ release might be contested and struck because they intend to sell it. They are pretty relaxed for the most part. They'll claim copyright and revenue but won't usually strike _if_ they've released it. There is a bonus track on one edition of the "Unseen World" album called "Youth." There was a fan-made music video (just scenes from the beach with the track) and it was up for quite awhile, then it got struck. That track is not on any streaming services or their youtube channel. It's too bad because it is one of their best tracks! It wasn't released and they took it down. The video made no attempt at "fair use" - it wasn't a review or educational. There were fan-made videos of several tracks from Conqueror ("Flying High" and "Mirage" if memory serves, maybe a few others) and they are gone now. They released two videos from the 2022 Christmas Acoustic ("Catharsis" and "Sayonakidori") but nothing else. There are a couple of bootlegs on youtube but those are at risk. They released it as an album but they've never released a concert video. I know the fans would love it. Most album tracks are available on their youtube channel under the "Releases" section. They have playlists for all their albums and singles, but not bonuses, concerts, or special releases. Most of _that_ is available on their website as a subscription service called Band-Maid Prime. It's relatively inexpensive (¥1,100 monthly or about $7.69, or ¥12,100 annually or about $84.62 as of 12/20/2023). Prime also has a lot of close-ups videos of them playing their songs (so-called "self covers") which are invaluable when you're trying to figure out what they are actually playing. Those are not released and you would risk a strike if you posted them. You _might_ be okay if you cut it up and used it for educational purposes. Band-Maid Prime is separate from the Band-Maid fan club, called "o-mei-syu sama" (¥550 monthly or ¥6,050 annually). The fan club gets you early access and discounts for concert tickets and merchandise. It also has behind-the-scenes videos, social media posts, and other "fan club" type things. I wouldn't care except they are so dang entertaining. For instance, Akane posted a video to instagram of the end of "Domination" (the burnout) which closed all their U.S. tour dates a year ago. As the tour went along she started trying to "fake out" the others on the last big chord. They would laugh when someone played wrong, then Akane started offering her sticks to the others... I dunno. They have a party on stage and we get to come.

"Blooming" is one of my top 3 favorite BAND-MAID songs. Great request! P.S. - Good call on not watching Saiki's piano performance from the Yokohama show yet. I appreciate your level of respect for these bands beyond just their musical abilities. And, as other commenters have already mentioned, the Yokohama 2023 show will be coming out on disc in not too many months.

They don't use autotune perse. They do use vocal effects, even live, but they don't use autotune to correct their vocal pitch. I actually saw a video where a guy ran a BandMaid song through a program where you can see where a vocal has been autotune. They don't autotune.

"Thinking through a song" is one of the main qualities that I love about this band: the music is layered and varied but always fits the clear vision of the song. Also, thanks for respecting the stream archive of Yokohama.

You can thank kanami for that everything gose through her she's the composer but misa and akane submit their parts respectively and minchworks her magic the quiet genius

Great reaction! I always find something new, depending on which instrumental I focus on, so I listen to their song over and over again. As you said, they always have a groove in their sound and that basically comes from Misa and Akane. Besides Kanami's incredible songwriting skills and creativity, these two members are such an important element of their unique sound. A heavy and chunky groove that no other Japanese band can create.

The guitar solo with those galloping drums is pure Gold. By the way, they never use Auto tune. Hey you should check.out Rinne. It is one of their heavier songs. Great reaction 🤘

Saiki uses both a lo-fi filter and distortion effects for some segments on studio tracks, similar to how guitarists will use different effects for specific parts. But definitely no autotune or pitch correction. I attended a live Band Maid show where I was probably 15 feet from Saiki. As a seasoned musician and concertgoer since 1978, I can say that Saiki’s vocals are even better live. She doesn’t need pitch correction. I think she may have come in flat on one or two notes all night. (Daydreaming) The only live vocalists I’ve seen that compare with her pitch accuracy are Steve Perry and Barry Manilow. “Interesting” is a great descriptor for Band Maid’s music! You get it. The songs are catchy enough for casual listeners; however, they put enough effort into their compositions that deep diving music theorists can spend hours studying. “Blooming,” in particular, ought to be used at music universities for students to hear an entire semester’s worth of songwriting devices in a single track.

One of their many brilliant songs, The "wha solo" from Kanami is smokin hot and Saikis vocals are off the chain.. As for the Gorrila's drums with The assasins heavy bass lines, Nuff said.. The Pigeon has put together a force to be reconed with here. Still haven't heard a song I don't like from them... Each song is just... "How is that even possible" LOL It's a great time to be alive, so much music so little time... Take a look at Real existence and Moratorioum live.. Best wishes from France

I strongly recommend you check out one of their songs that didn't get a video. From their album Brand New Maid, YURAGU...............one of my favorites. It is one of their early songs so it was before they were allowed to write their own stuff but still a really awesome song that helped lead to what we all love about BAND-MAID.

🔥🔥🔥such a banger of a song 🤘✌ You never catch everything on the first listen. Their live music is even better. There are great live show recordings available here on YT :)

Thanks RC. Will always be a top 10 song for me. BAND-MAID plays their final concert of the year in about 10 hours in Hong Kong. Hope to see some fancams shortly thereafter. Peace. 1.11

Hiya! Band-Maid don't use auto tune. You can check by running their songs through a music programme. Not sure if you will be able to react to Saiki on piano even after the livestream tickets have ended as they are due to release the whole concert on BluRay/DVD next year. Most of us have seen it on the livestream anyway. I think "Blooming" is a masterpiece of composition and execution. And one of my all time fave Kanami solo's! And those harmonies!

With Misa and Akane in the rhythm section we can travel far!

An absolute masterpiece.

Band-Maid. Blooming Brilliant!

Top 4 song for me

I don't think that was auto-tune. It sounded like a old timey radio mic effect to me!

Song recommendations on a separate comment for you. Depending on what flavor of Band Maid you want: Alt heavy rock: “Moratorium,” live @Zepp Tokyo Classic rock: “Play,” (live, of course) Progressive instrumental: “Onset,” um….LIVE! Alt pop rock: “Daydreaming,” (music video for a change)

No autotune here or in any Band-Maid song. They do sometimes use vocal effects, but autotune is a form of pitch correction and Band-Maid never uses pitch correction. BTW, don't do Saiki's solo piano performance. That's available only in their Yokohama Arena concert stream and should not be on RU-vid. Yes, there is a parasite who posted it on RU-vid, but that doesn't make it okay to react to.

There’s no official live video, but here’s a fan-cam with pretty good sound: BAND-MAID [ Blooming ], August Hall, San Francisco, 14 October 2022 - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-c0RKqEQmwCk.html

❤❤❤❤❤🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘

7:49 Good call...