I am reposting this from last year's tour, but I find this information may be helpful this time around. For fans in other countries that VAMPS plan on performing in, maybe you could find local hotspots (i.e. popular cafes, restaurants, etc...) in your respective countries and share them with us here.

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HYDE once said this in a "S.F. Weekly" article:

"I grew up listening to American rock ever since I was a child and I still listen to it a lot. So, I think that I'm playing and creating my songs on the same level as American musicians. My ultimate goal is to build my band to have the same status as America bands. We're often classified as a J-Rock band, but that's not how we see ourselves. We think we're comparable to an American band, and we want to be seen as being on an equal level with them. That's why we're here and that's why we're doing our project."

HYDE has a point (a very important one at that): VAMPS music should be comparable to an American band and not treated any differently. I mean, they make the most amazing music and once upon a time, music was supposed to be the "universal language." Let's try to help make this tour as successful as possible, and here's how:


T A C T I C S

I believe, for the time being, word-of-mouth is our best weapon (again, that's just for now). It is a good way for us to get started, and then we progress to utilizing other methods. I've come up with a list of places where we can spread the word over the Internet. The list is a follows (if you have any other additions to the list, please let me know):

A. Spreading the word on the Internet...
1. Music sites - all kinds of different music sites/forums
- MTV.com
- VH1.com
- J-Rock Revolution.com (promotion may already be going on here, but I wanted to list this site anyway)
- LastFM.com
- YahooMusic.com
- Buzznet.com (I created a group for VAMPS here: http://www.buzznet.com/groups/vamps)


2. Social networking sites:

Ok, many of these do not have "forums" per say, but they do have areas where you can post blogs, journals, status updates, etc...and so I think they would be a good resource to introduce new people to VAMPS.
- MySpace
- Facebook (VAMPS now has an official fan page here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/VAMPS/313087471365)
- Twitter
- LiveJournal - please post info about VAMPS on every HYDE, K.A.Z, Ju-Ken, Oblivion Dust, L'Arc community. I tried, but this can't be done alone.
- DeviantArt (On my own personal account page, I only post journal entries with news pertaining to VAMPS/L'Arc/HYDE/Gackt and I also try to post new artwork so I can receive more page hits, which will hopefully result in people reading the journal entries and learning about VAMPS)
- Flickr
- Xanga

3. Online Forums
- J-Rock Revolution
- L'Arc~en~Ciel forums:
- Dive to Blue
- L'Arc~en~Ciel European Fan Base
- D-Addicts.com
- HYDE forums (I don't know of any)
- K.A.Z forums/or fansites
- Gackt forums (it's worth a shot as many fans of Gackt tend to be fans of HYDE)
- Music Banter
- Muzic Forum

4. Video sites
"Video and Music (get their music/image out there! Post videos/playlists on your blogs, in forums, so on)
- YouTube
- Vimeo
- iMixes (via iTunes)"
- Veoh
- MySpace vids
- Google vids

B. Fliering

Ok, so I know we've already done this, but I still think it's helpful in getting the word out. Here are some good places to leave fliers:

1. Hot Topic
2. Music stores (i.e. places where you can buy equipment)
3. CD shops
4. Japanese stores (i.e. markets, gift shops, etc...)
5. Coffee shops/cafes (i.e. The Coffee Bean, Starbuck's, etc...)
6. Libraries
7. Book stores (i.e. Barnes & Nobel)
8. University/college campuses
9. Jamba Juice
10. On buses, trains, planes, etc...
11. Bus/train stations
12. In the back window of your car
13. Leave fliers inside of newspapers/magazines
14. Leave fliers in the stands where brochures are kept
15. Leave fliers in random places inside of shoe/clothing stores


*In regards to posting info about VAMPS in forums, let's try to use "discreet advertising." I mean, if it's obvious that we're there just to promote VAMPS, we could get kicked out of some sites. So yeah, just try not to be too obvious. ;)



More suggestions are welcome of course, so please feel free to respond to this thread. Thanks so much!

Much VAMPS-love,
H.P.

I love that is "that time again" .. I wonder who is working as a promoter or producer for vamps in US right now. Maybe we could try to find out if they are giving away fliers like last year. Would make things easier!

I'll try to work on something with Gabyta ^_^ for Peru, and I still have those pencils :D!