Babymetal Live at the Intuit Dome - Weekend Review

Six years ago, I made the trip from Florida to California to see Babymetal live at The Forum. Six years later, I made that trip again to see them at the Intuit Dome in LA. This time, however, I made a bit more of an adventure of it.

The day before the show, I met up with a few friends from the Babymetal community, Andrew, Marcus, and Zackamania. We started things off by making the trip to the pop up shop, which was about an hour north of the venue. It took us some time to find it, but it was worth the effort, and it was nice being able to get our merch prior to going to the venue. I typically only allow myself to get a single shirt at a given event, but this time my decision on which one to get was hard. I was tempted to get at least two, but I managed to stay strong, and I grabbed their shirt that resembled the Hollywood sign, as that would tie in with our exploring that was still soon to come.

Anyways, I signed the big wall, then next, it was off to the movies to catch the Halloween weekend screening of KPop Demon Hunters. Despite being a sing-along event, our audience didn't sing or even cheer throughout the movie, but it was still great getting an opportunity to see this film on the big screen, and a fitting movie that certainly set the stage for what was still to come for us.

The One invades KPop Demon Hunters.

After the movie, we picked up another friend from the airport, Brian, and then it was back to the hotel to enjoy our chips party before calling it a night.

Chips party!

The following day, we made a second trip to the pop up venue so that Brian could pick up his merch, and we met one of the Babybones while we were there. Our next stop then brought us to the Hollywood sign, and gave us an opportunity to represent the Babymetal fandom there.

Babymetal goes Hollywood!

With our sight-seeing out of the way, it was finally time to hit up the venue. It was cool meeting other people from online, as well as people who I had met previously at The Forum in 2019.

Once we made it inside the venue, our group split up, as we all had different seating arrangements. I was seated to the left of the stage (Momo's side), which turned out actually being in the center of the venue, and felt reminiscent to the set up from their Budokan shows. As we awaited for the show to begin, one of the songs they played over the loudspeakers was Golden from KPop Demon Hunters, and the crowd in attendance did a much better job singing along than we had experienced in the theater the previous night.

My view of the stage.

Before Babymetal would hit the stage though, Jason Richardson opened for them, who had previously opened their shows on the Babyklok tour back in 2023. I mentioned how his performance as a sole guitarist on stage felt awkward back then, but somehow I really didn't experience that awkward feeling watching him this time around. He had a thirty minute set, and ended with a metal rendition of the Harry Potter theme song, and was an all around solid act.

Up next was the reason that had brought us all the way across the country, as Babymetal marched to the stage for a ferocious performance of Babymetal Death. This was followed up by From Me To U, which works wonderfully as an early set hype song, though I couldn't see my favorite part of the choreography due to the smoke that would billow up around them throughout the song. Then came the first big surprise of the evening, as we saw the return of Distortion, and I had a grin from ear to ear.

I was once more an active participant during Pa Pa Ya, and I was able to put my newly purchased American flag towel to good use as I swung that sucker through the air all throughout. We were then treated to a slew of tracks off the new album Metal Forth, including my first opportunity to see Sunset Kiss and KxAxWxAxIxI in person.

I made sure to pull my phone out and record the next song as soon as My Queen cued up, and we were treated to our next big moment as Spiritbox's Courney LaPlante came on stage to perform the song with the band.

One of the Babybones came out next sporting a baseball jersey and hyping the crowd up for an electrifying performance of Ratatata. Then after they played Gimme Chocolate, they left the stage and left us all chanting for more. And more they would deliver, as they came back out for their encore with a return of The One. I've seen them play this song before, back when it was still regularly toured, but prior to arriving at the venue, I learned that nobody else in the group I was with had ever seen them play it live. So I was quick to hop on the group chat and hype them up for what they were in store for, and thrilled for my friends' opportunity to finally experience this song live for themselves. This was certainly an emotional high point of the show.

They followed this up with Headbanger. Apparently there was a moment where Momometal fell down during the performance, but I didn't even notice. What I did notice though was Moa and Momo pranking each other during the bowing portion of the song, and that sight brought another big smile to my face.

They closed the show proper with Road of Resistance, but even after the song ended, I wasn't fully convinced they were through yet, despite having played a fifteen song set already. Perhaps it was my own fault for hyping myself up at the prospect of maybe getting to see Ijime, Dame, Zettai, or even the debut of White Flame, but no, Road of Resistance was the final song, and then they sent us home.

This did leave me feeling a touch let down, which was the first time I had ever experienced that feeling at a Babymetal show, but that's not to say that it wasn't still an excellent show all around. We were treated to an hour and a half of great music on a unique stage set-up, with all the spectacle and effects that we've come to expect from these bigger shows. And we got to experience some truly great moments, such as the returning Distortion (my personal highlight of the evening) and the special performance of My Queen. And since The One has become a rarer song in more recent years, I've come to realize that that was our show's Ijime, Dame, Zettai, which the band had played at their previous special arena show at the 02 Arena.

To compare it to my experience with The Forum, I would personally say The Forum was a significantly better show all around, and I'd even toss in my most recent outing at Tampa as being a better all around show. But like I said, Babymetal always delivers, and they certainly did that at the Intuit Dome, even if the show perhaps didn't quite meet my admittedly high expectations of it. Was the trip still worth it? Absolutely! It was great meeting some of my friends from the fandom in person and going out on our little adventures leading up to the big show. And it's always a treat seeing Babymetal no matter at what cost, and I already look forward to the next one. See you!

Life as a Cat - Now Available!

Springing at you like a sneaking cat is the new short story collection, Life as a Cat! Featuring fantastical tales that follow various cats, some of whom you might remember from the Velcro the Ninja Kat and Ninja Kitties series, and others who are being introduced for the first time here. They say that a cat has nine lives. What if that were more than just a saying? Order your copy today!

www.VelcroTheNinjaKat.com

Ninja Kitties Insight

The new children's illustrated chapter book, Ninja Kitties, has recently released, and now I'd like to take a moment to talk a little more about the project. For those of you who have finished the Velcro the Ninja Kat series, you'll already know from the series' final scene that I was setting this story up well before Velcro even ended, as that's where these characters were first introduced. I had the initial concept ready at that time, and I had put together an outline for their spin-off story, though it wouldn't be until last year that I was finally able to sit down and write the story out in full.

Focusing on a younger cast of characters, I wanted to similarly write a story that felt more age appropriate for our cast, so it was written with a younger audience in mind as compared to the main Ninja Kat books. It was certainly fun returning to this world with that mentality, and these characters were definitely a blast to write. As with the original books, the characters are based on real life animals, pets that we had acquired in the years since Velcro's passing, and the book aims to capture their unique personalities and bring them to life in this world.

I also collaborated with Christine Celenski for the artwork again, who returns after having previously done the original cover art for Polluted War, The Egg Hunters, and Kip. I gave her the manuscript and worked with her on character designs, but outside of that, I really wanted to give her free reign to do her thing, and to not be as much of a dictator as I can sometimes be in these collaborative works. I was very pleased with the end result. I definitely feel her art helps really makes these characters pop off the page, and I hope that readers will be just as pleased as I am.

Early readers have all enjoyed this little adventure so far, and I hope your little ones will similarly find joy in it as well. I like to think it has a genuine heart and a positive message, in addition to fun characters for the family to enjoy. Pick up a copy of Ninja Kitties for your family today!

www.VelcroTheNinjaKat.com

KPop Demon Hunters - Movie Review

I typically don't have Netflix, but every once in a while they release a movie that piques my interest enough to subscribe to it for a month. Most recently, that movie was KPop Demon Hunters. Granted, I would've much preferred to have seen this movie get a theatrical release, because it would've certainly made for a great theater experience, and one that I would've likely gone back to revisit multiple times at that, because this movie was absolutely fantastic.

First I want to discuss how this movie works as a musical. I always love it when musicals really integrate the musical aspect organically within the movie's world, and that's certainly the case here, as it's the power of our heroes voices while they sing that gives them the ability to fight off against the demons throughout. And not only that, but it's just really cool seeing full blown fight sequences play out during many of the musical numbers, which is something I've always wanted to see in a musical.

We follow a group known as Huntrix, who in addition to being demon hunters, are also a massively popular KPop group. As such, the music in the movie definitely has that KPop feel to it, but lyrically is where the movie really impresses me.

When you're listening to a regular song on the radio, its lyrics usually tend to be more poetic in nature, whereas in a musical, the lyrics are often more narrative- or dialogue-driven instead. Regular songs don't really translate well into musical form for this reason, since their lyrics don't always tell a straightforward story and can oftentimes be up for interpretation. They're more about creating a mood. But in a musical, the music serves to help either move the plot forward or tell us more about the characters, and so the lyrics have to be a little more straightforward in their storytelling as a result. This movie, however, manages to incorporate pop songs with lyrics that definitely work like regular songs, but which also tell a straightforward story and don't feel awkwardly out of place during the movie's various numbers. This is not an easy balance to achieve at all, but this movie finds that balance, and it works beautifully, and makes for an outstanding and unique (and incredibly catchy) soundtrack for the genre.

Oftentimes, foreign music will randomly insert English lyrics into their songs. Being an American made film, the movie is already in English, as are its songs. But it does the opposite with its songs, inserting random Korean here and there, which I thought was a nice touch.

I also appreciated how the movie handles the topic of using your art to make the world a better place. I have my thoughts on certain artists that put out very ugly and negative messages with their art, and I often find this practice pretty off-putting. This movie actually explores that direction though, as the group are putting together a takedown song, but its ugly lyrics and nasty message winds up driving a wedge between the group. Ultimately, it's a song that serves to divide as opposed to unite, and it's not until they come together to create a different song full of a more positive and uplifting message that they're able to rekindle things and pull their fans back in as well, and I think this is a wonderful message that speaks volumes.

Beyond its musical aspects, I also loved following this cast of characters. The movie is incredibly silly, with lots of visual gags that take full advantage of the animated medium. But there's also a serious depth to the characters, as they're each dealing with their own insecurities that they have learn to overcome. I liked how the demons in the film feed off of people's insecurities and shame, and it felt relatable in a way that was somewhat reminiscent to Frozen (though I wouldn't quite say this film goes to nearly such depths as those movies do). I was particularly drawn to the character of Rumi, and I liked the realistic ways in which the film shows how she goes about keeping her secrets hidden.

I was also a fan of the film's setting, and how the story plays out very similarly to a number of classic Eastern fantasy stories, but in a more modern backdrop. And being a huge fan of the band Babymetal, who get their origins from idol roots, I was certainly able to appreciate how that whole aspect and the fandom surrounding it was incorporated into the film as well, which certainly felt true to life.

Colorful, vibrant, beautiful, catchy, and clever, this movie has a lot going for it, and it delivers in spades. It features great music, great characters, and a great message that definitely hits home. It currently sits as my favorite movie I've seen this year so far, and I'd say that it's well worth subscribing to Netflix for at least a month to watch it.

Ninja Kitties – Now Available!

Sneaking up on you like a ninja, the new children's illustrated chapter book, Ninja Kitties, is now available!

Four sibling kittens are enamored by the stories of the legendary Velcro the Ninja Kat, and go out to play a game where they act out the Ninja Kat's adventures. But then the game becomes real when one of the kittens is catnapped by the villainous Fox Spirit, and it's up to the others to track their sister down and save her.

Pick up a copy for your little ones today!

www.VelcroTheNinjaKat.com

Babymetal - Live Review from Tampa, FL 2025

Going to a Babymetal show makes me feel like a kid on Christmas. Babymetal tour season truly is the most wonderful time of the year. And wouldn't you know it, it's that time of year again already, and I most recently caught them at their show at the Yuengling Center in Tampa, FL.

Going into the show, in addition to my typical tour t-shirt, I was planning to purchase a Babymetal hoodie as well. And so, I went to the show sporting one of their past tour shirts instead of my usual black hoodie, until all was well again after I secured my purchase.

I got my hoodie!

I had great seats, just off to the right of the stage. There were two opening bands this time around, and first up was the rap/metal band from New Delhi, Bloodywood, who put on a bloody fantastic show. Of all of Babymetal's openers that I've seen over the years, Bloodywood has got to be an easy favorite of mine, and they tore the house down in their allotted timeslot.

Next up was Black Veil Brides. Going into the show, I was unfamiliar with this band. And while I wouldn't say they were bad, their style just wasn't for me, and I personally found myself a little bored by their set. But there were plenty of fans in the crowd who knew them and were singing along to their songs, and for those fans it certainly appeared like they were left satisfied.

But now, onto the main show, Babymetal! And while the venue may not have been as big as The Forum, this would technically count as my second time seeing this band put on an arena show, and boy did they ever bring the spectacle. They started off with Babymetal Death, and we were treated to a show of fire that would continue throughout the evening. Even from my seat, you could feel the heat. They followed up with Megitsune next, and I was left dancing along in my seat with a stupid grin from ear to ear.

I may not have had a towel with me on hand for Pa Pa Ya, but I did have my new tour t-shirt I had bought before the show. So I folded it up and twirled it around as they performed the song next, and I saw at least one other person in my section who was also twirling something around in the air throughout.

BxMxC got the crowd pumped, and I had a great view during Metali of said audience getting low and hopping back up to their feet on Momometal's cue. (I also had a great view of one guy in the pit dressed as a shark, and another dressed as Spider-Man.) Then up next is when the big surprises of the evening started.

Babymetal may not have joined Bloodywood on stage earlier in the evening when they played Bekhauf, but that didn't stop Bloodywood from showing up during the band's other collaboration, Kon! Kon!, one of their new songs that has a more Indian vibe, and which has choreography that's reportedly inspired by the Naatu Naatu dance from RRR. And this was the first time the guys came out for this song on this tour (and, well, ever, for that matter), so seeing them be part of the live performance, as opposed to just seeing their faces plastered onto the big backing screen, was certainly a great treat.

But that's not all. We would be treated to an even bigger surprise up next, as Alex Terrible of Slaughter to Prevail came out on stage to perform Song 3 alongside Babymetal, which is perhaps the band's heaviest song to date. He wasn't even advertised as being a part of this show, so I don't think anyone expected him to show up on this evening. It was surreal seeing him there, but he brought the goods, and I really dug his two-step dance moves.

I was actually so excited by what had just transpired that I rushed online at this point to share in the excitement with fellow fans. I would've perhaps shared in the excitement with those around me, but my neighbors didn't appear too interested in mingling any. This has been a relatively common occurrence I've found from fans at their Florida shows, as opposed to the much more open and inviting fans I've met at shows elsewhere, so I sorta felt a little lonely, and just wanted someone to share the joy with. In doing so, I missed the very beginning of Headbanger, but it's okay, and they put on another banging performance.

One of the Babybones came on stage next, filming the crowd and hyping them up for Ratatata. Then from one fan favorite to the next, they teased a send off with Gimme Chocolate, which probably got the loudest ovation from the audience of the evening.

The band left the stage at this point, and we were left chanting their name, clapping our hands, and stomping our feet in anticipation of their inevitable return out. And some minutes later, return they did, with a performance of another one of their new hits, From Me To U. Given the surprise appearances earlier in the evening, I half-expected Poppy to show up for this performance. But this song has become a favorite of their new songs for me. I love the cheerleader-esque choreography, and I love the contrast between the song's melody and its lyrics, and it was awesome hearing everyone singing along with this rage inside of me. This was honestly one of the songs I was most excited to see in person, and it more than lived up to my hopes for it.

Karate has been brought back as a full-time staple for this tour, and it really is great hearing this song live again. And of course the moment where Su-metal asks the audience to shine their cell phone lights always makes for a beautiful sight to behold.

They ended things proper with an epic performance of Road of Resistance, and we were left pumping our fists in the air and singing along until their final note. They then busted out their flags featuring the American flag emblazoned over the band's logo, and waved them as they sent us off for real this time, and I couldn't have left on a higher note.

The Forum set a high standard to meet when I attended that show back in 2019, and though Babymetal has put on some excellent shows since then, none of the ones I've attended have ever come close to The Forum. Until this night. Babymetal live in Tampa may very well be the best show of theirs that I've seen live, from the spot on performances, to the awesome surprises, and every silly moment in-between, such as Moametal constantly coming over to our side of the venue and waving at fans (I waved back every time, though I doubt she saw me). They not only delivered, they managed to outdo themselves with this show, which is something I'm consistently amazed that they're still able to do at this point. But this show was excellent, and well worth the road trip down to see it.

Will they somehow be able to outdo themselves yet again still? There's only one way to find out, and I can't wait to see them again as soon as the happiest season of all rolls back around. And in the meantime, if you'd like to hear more of my Babymetal adventures, you can check out my new book Down the Fox Hole. See you!

Inside the Fox Hole

So I recently released my new book Down the Fox Hole. It's my first non-Ninja Kat book, and being a collection of short memoirs, it's certainly a departure from my usual fantasy fiction that I'm more known for writing. But it's so far been receiving a relatively positive reception, which I'm certainly relieved by, and so now I'd like to take a moment and give some creative insight that went into the project.

At it's core, the book was inspired by my passion for Babymetal. I initially started off with two primary stories, those being Beyond the Rising Sun, which chronicles my fall down the titular fox hole that is the Babymetal fandom, and the other being The Tattoo's Heat Haze. My initial inspiration for writing Beyond the Rising Sun actually goes back to 2019, when Babymetal held their return show titled The Sun Also Rises, which may or may not be a nod to the classic Hemingway novel by the same name. Well, I decided to give the novel a read, and I started toying with the idea of somewhat of a modern day update to it, only instead of following our cast of characters off to see the bullfights, we'd be joining our cast as they followed along Babymetal on tour. Cut to several years later when I was finally in a place where I was well enough to write again, and I finally sat down to work on this update.

I first played with a fictionalized version of the story, but there always felt like there was something missing in every iteration. So eventually, I just decided to write the true story instead, and base it on my own personal experience discovering the band and following them on tour. And it's been unanimous from those who have read all previous versions that the true story was the best one.

But seeing as I was telling the true story, I now had to decide what all to include, and where to cut it off. For instance, I technically followed them to one more show on their tour from where the book leaves off, that being their show at The Forum in L.A., but at what point am I just included details for the sake of it, and rendering the story redundant as such? Besides, I liked the place where it left off, and thought it made for a nice closing note that tells a concise story without perhaps overstaying its welcome.

This ties in to how I tried writing with Hemingway's “iceberg theory” in mind, where he theorizes that a story grows stronger by the details you leave out, just so long as you actually know what those details are. Those omissions represent what's submerged under water holding the rest of the iceberg afloat. Maybe there's something to it, and maybe the story was elevated by it? I don't know for sure, but it was certainly something I had in mind while I was writing it.

The other primary story in the collection is The Tattoo's Heat Haze. This story was quite literally inspired by my tattoo removal experience and everything that came with it. I went home later that night and thought it'd be cool to share the whole story of my tattoos, and how they all come together to help tell the story of my life and passions. And once again coming back to Babymetal, the band certainly played a big role in this story as well, and I wanted to reflect that through the story's title. This was one where I actually spent a lot of time thinking about what to call it, and had a number of working titles before finally landing on the final title. The Tattoo's Heat Haze actually came about by playing with one of the band's songs titled Kagerou. This song originally had the working title of Tattoo, and the word kagerou translates into heat haze, which also comes into play in the actual story. So, The Tattoo's Heat Haze came about as such, and I've been satisfied with it ever since.

So then, I had my two primary stories, and early drafts that I sent out to test readers contained just these two intact. However, feedback told me that something felt missing, and I was given the suggestion to round the book out with other short stories that explored some of my other fandom passions, such as those brought up in the tattoo story. And so I went to work doing just that. First, I had another short story titled A Memory of Snow, which was originally a fictionalized version of the story of me and my nephew building a snowman together, in which we were both portrayed as anthropomorphic elephants. I repurposed this story, once again telling the true version of it instead, and tying it in to the theme of the book, and it really came to life better than ever, and served as a perfect closure for the book as a whole.

As to the rest of the stories, I spent quite a bit of time thinking about what angle I should address each one. For Road to Mania, I had a number of options, but ultimately chose the time when myself and a friend made our venture out to see WrestleMania 23, as the journey there turned out being quite a story all its own. And then for both Anime Inspired and The Snow Queen Compilation, I wanted to focus on the impact that our passions can have on us, and so I told the stories of how not only I, but others, can be creatively inspired by our passions, which I think certainly shows in the finished book. So now that I had my other short stories to round the book out, my test readers read this new version, and they all agreed that this was the way to go, and that I had found what was missing from the prior version.

And this also leads into the final title of the full collection, Down the Fox Hole, sort of a play of the phrase falling down the rabbit hole. Like with the tattoo story, there were a number of working titles beforehand, but once I got the suggestion that reshaped my book into the collection it would become in its final form, the name just hit me all of a sudden. My friend who I was speaking with at the time loved it, and other test readers thought it worked well, too, seeing how even beyond Babymetal's fandom, foxes had a tendency to tie in to a number of other stories in the book as well.

So there you have it, and now with a little more insight, I hope you'll give Down the Fox Hole a read and experience the true stories within, and see if you can't find something you relate to as it regards your own passions and hobbies. Order your copy today.