I visited Marie Antoinette’s palace in 2004 and it was a ghost of its past opulence; a mere shell of the Rocaille. But the court didn’t fall with the Bastille – it’s simply moved to Tokyo and reincarnated itself through Visual Kei band Versailles (now known as “Versailles -Philharmonic Quintet-” in the US for lawyerly reasons).

Last evening, I was honored to be received by the royal court (okay, granted a guest pass to Versailles’ Shibuya-O-West show). The curtains parted, revealing a swirly gold “V” banner and amplifiers draped with red roses. “We-LOVE-Ver-SAILLES!” chanted the mostly-female audience. Five 18th century aristocrats floated out with flourishing hand gestures before strapping on electric instruments.

I always associate Versailles with Queen, and not just because Hizaki (above) looks like Marie Antoinette shredding a red guitar. His sound has a Brian May quality to it, especially in finger-flying duets – or how about “heavy metal fugues” – with guitarist Teru (below left).

Visual Kei is often more about looks than sound, but Versailles strikes gold on both fronts. All are expert musicians and charming performers; vocalist Kamijo (right) is Castiglione’s perfect courtier, flipping his cape and bowing with one knee bent after each song. The 45-minute set included “After Cloudia” and “Aristocrat’s Symphony” from their first full album Noble, and multiple heavy tracks for the headbangers. The musicians spun around in unison, showing off their gorgeous stage outfits, and were the only band to slap hands with their fans. “En-core-ay!” they cried, but le coucher had already taken place.

Rentrer en Soi was the headliner but Versailles stole the show. (“I was in exstase,” whispered my friend.) The other Visual/J-rock/metal bands didn’t make as strong an impression, although I was slack-jawed at Black:List singer Kyoutarou (formerly of Eight) – he of the blue lips, natty dreads, tarantula legs, and Jamiroquai quick-step.

Royal visitors should dress to impress, but most concert-goers wore non-descript Shibuya-style clothes. There were some Lolitas, and one girl rocked a bunny purse similar to mine. Two fabulous cosplayers mimicked Teru and Jasmine You down to the black feather on his index finger.

When you’re surrounded by frills and neon gasmasks every day, you sometimes just want to wear a plain black T-shirt (Sex Pot Revenge, $18 from Marui Young). I compensated for my sartorial minimalism by going Rococo with hair and makeup.