On the 20th June 2025, I saw JILUKA at Academy 3 in Manchester – my first ever visual kei concert! I had intended to attend their K4RMA 2024 World Tour at the London venue, but found that the higher London transport and hotel costs were incompatible with my budget at the time. It felt lousy not being able to see them in the UK, but after a few days of moping, I moved on.
Cut to March 2025 – JILUKA announced the KVLT World Tour, which included London again and now Manchester. I jumped out of my seat. I made my overexcited, probably annoying Instagram story post. Then I saved my money. I wanted to make sure my first visual kei concert experience was special, so I made sure I could afford both the base ticket cost as well as a VIP upgrade. With the upgrade, I would get a signed poster, a lanyard and arguably the most exciting part, a polaroid with the band! I bought both on the days they were released, although Manchester ticket sales were a lot slower than some other destinations on the tour!
In the leadup to the event, I managed to convince my friend Caoimhe to come with me (thank you, Caoimhe!), secured a hotel and trains with her and coordinated my perfect concert outfit. Each day it got closer, my anticipation and excitement grew – to the point that just about everyone in my life knew I was going to see them.
The day finally came. My excitement was at its peak, as was my anxiety. As a chronic worrier, I was afraid that everything was going to go wrong. The train would arrive late, we would barely have time to eat and get ready and we would end up at the back of the venue. However, that couldn’t have been further from the truth. The day went seamlessly (apart from me almost forgetting the single most important thing before I left the house – the ticket!). The hotel check-in was easy, we had a great meal at Revolution and ended up with just enough time to get our concert makeup looking sharp. We grabbed an Uber ride down to the venue and hopped out to see a long queue of concert goers in the coolest JILUKA-esque outfits and lolita coords. It was a boiling day, even for someone as nesh as me, so I commend everyone who came out in a full coord. You are far stronger than I am!
We approached security and were stamped and let inside quickly because of our VIP upgrade, which was a good job because the guard’s list of names had a huge splodge of bird poo on the corner that attracted a small colony of flies that wouldn’t stop buzzing around our faces. Oh, and it stank. We were then lead upstairs to where the photos were being taken, which is where my nerves kicked in again. I was praying that my photo would turn out well and I wouldn’t completely embarrass myself in front of the JILUKA members. Once again, I was thankful that I was wrong. My photo turned out great and the quick words that I exchanged with the band really made my night. They all copied my pose and were lovely to me! I was so happy with my polaroid and now keep it in my wallet with the cheki I bought on the night.
We had to wait a while longer downstairs after our photos, but we were kindly let up slightly earlier by reception staff to secure our place as Caoimhe has McArdles (GSD-V). I was surprised to see that we were the first two to enter the venue! I made sure to get a place at the barrier, just slightly to the right. It was a good job I did, as moments later, I heard the loud footsteps of everyone running in. I was nervous that we might get crushed in, but at no point in the night was I ever shoved or crushed, which was nice.
Before JILUKA come on, NiNi performed as their support act and helped get the crowd warmed up and ready. They put on a great show, especially Nini herself! I was hypnotised by her electric shamisen playing. I especially loved singing along to their metal rendition of ‘…Baby One More Time’!
After another wait and a lot of sweating, JILUKA began their set. When they took their positions on stage, I was directly in front of Sena, which made the concert even better as a Sena fan. He looked absolutely ethereal and he was on great form, as was the rest of the group. Ricko was energetic, constantly opening the pit and asking for walls of death and circle pits after a note was slid across the stage to ask him to not ask for any more walls of death. Boogie was a little further away, but every time I looked over to his side of the stage, he looked totally in his element. I cheered when he come over to our side of the stage every once in a while, especially when he threw his long hair back! Zyean was obscured to me for a lot of the concert, but his drum solo was where he really shone. Each member had their own shining moment that showed just how key they are to making JILUKA the band that it is.
The setlist was incredible. Seeing BaLa-DeDa and S4VAGE live was a dream of mine, so I am beyond happy to know I achieved that dream. I had hoped they would perform my all-time favourite song, ELIZA, but they didn’t. Maybe next time! Either way, each member put their all into every song and it really showed. It felt amazing to headbang in sync with others in the row and whip my hair over the barrier. I sadly couldn’t learn any furitsuke (choreography) in time for the show, but I still had a lot of fun just headbanging. In future I will try and learn some to feel even more involved in the concert! Maybe a SunKiss furi learning event?
At the end of the concert, I had sweated off most of my makeup, dropped my phone and poster several times and had several strands of thickly coated Got2B Glued hair glued to my face, but I was so happy. I had the best time. Even better than I had thought! I had stood at the front row, looking up Sena, headbanged and sang along, seen people from our Visual Kei Night event back in May and best of all, showed my friend a band that meant a lot to me and got her into their music, too. However, the night wasn't over just yet.
Once JILUKA left the stage, everyone returned back to the merch booth. I had picked up a t-shirt before the concert had started, but the main event in terms of merch started afterwards, as the mystery cheki were now up for sale. Cheki are polaroids of the band members that you can buy after shows. When you buy them, you are given them at random, so you could receive a photo of any bandman. While queueing, I decided to buy five. That way, I would hopefully get one of each member. When I got them, I flipped them over and saw my thinking hadn’t quite worked out – I got one of Zyean, one of Sena and three of Boogie, including one he had signed. A lot of people hung around both inside and outside the venue looking to trade cheki, and I thankfully found someone who was willing to trade one of my Boogie polaroids for a Ricko, which completed my little set. It was a fun little interaction that ended what was a great night. Well, it wasn’t fully the end. Caoimhe and I went to a few bars and pubs after until we got tired, but it technically was the end when it came to being at the venue.
I felt the repercussions of my headbanging and late night the next day, but nothing could take away from the practically perfect experience I had. It's certainly in my top three concerts I've gone to! I never imagined I would attend a visual kei concert in my own country, so the fact I got to is amazing and I am so grateful. Here's to hopefully many more! Please come back to Manchester again soon, JILUKA!
FULL SETLIST:
KVLT
VENΦM
-Mad Injection Shot 1-
BaLa-DeDa
Screamer
-Mad Injection Shot 2-
Bloodshot
Raison d'etre
SUZAKU
-Zyean drum solo-
KUMARI
Lethal Affliction
Biometrics
Obliterator
Ablaze (extended version)
C4STLE
S4VAGE
BLVCK
KILLA
