live report: lynch. 4th Anniversary Premium Live @ Nagoya E.L.L., 12/27
lynch.
4th Anniversary Premium Live, "The Consolidated Ideal"
Nagoya Electric Lady Land 12.27.2008
An absolutely amazing night. lynch. outdid itself. I am so, so happy. :)
I was number 122, and when I got to E.L.L. a little after 5pm, I realized how smart I was to preorder. The place was soldout and the line outside was sooooooo long. I got in pretty early, which meant an hour of waiting (ugh), but I got to be 3rd row central, slightly shimote (yay). About 15 minutes just before the start time (6pm), suddenly the set-up music cut out and you could hear the intro music from their radio program, the Owari-Nagoya one. So all the fans gasped and over the PA, you could hear Hazuki's voice and the same creepy/high-pitched one we heard at the April oneman, chatting radioshow-style. Maybe it's Professor Tompa's voice, I don't know. They mostly just talked a little about etiquette and Hazuki joked about how he was nervous. It stopped five minutes to 6pm.
At 6pm sharp, the house lights went out and the SE filtered on... but it was sleepy flow! The lights flashed to the beat, and the band members all came out in black suits!
Main Set
SE: sleepy flow
1. unknown lost a beauty
2. rew
3. 59.
4. stuck pain
5. an illusion
6. melt
7. lizard
8. quarter life
9. anemone
10. mujun to sora
(reo on acoustic)
11. new song #1
12. rasen
13. untitled ("enemy" bonus track #3)
~Asanao drum solo
~Hazuki on bass w/ drums
14. roaring in the dark
15. the universe
16. I'm sick,b'cuz luv u
17. vernie.
18. DOZE
19. discord number
20. pulse_
21. Latinmeria
EN1.
(session band)
22. STARZ
23. enemy
EN2.
24. new song #2
25. a grateful shit
26. Adore
EN3.
27. alien tune
28. pulse_
Main Set
The only thing that puzzled me was that they didn't play Ambivalent Ideal, but maybe they thought they promoted it enough during the regular leg of the tour. Otherwise, I really don't think I could've asked for a better setlist. So many old songs off of "greedy dead souls"! So many B-sides! I was ecstatic. It kind of felt like the show was divided into two parts... up to song 13, it was very mysterious, moody and eclectic (helped by the guys in suits) and after that, it was back to more heavy songs (they changed into their usual clothes at that point).
When they came in, you could tell everyone was in a high mood, and Hazuki was at his best. He said, "It's a special occasion, so we're all wearing suits!" Reo looked like a hot salaryman in one. Yusuke looked way uncomfortable (he's too skinny and lanky to pull the look off, I think) and eventually took the coat off. Junji had his neck-bandanna on and still managed to look "scene", haha. Asanao was wearing his old hat, the fedora. And Hazuki was dressed to the nines, with a steel blue tie, black shirt underneath, and really shiny patent leather dress shoes. Definitely a good look for them. :D
I was sooooooo happy they played stuck pain, and unlike the only other time I've ever seen that performed, the audience was so into it. They shouted the heavy parts. I've never seen E.L.L. this packed and lynch. fans this cranked up. They screamed and shoved for just about everything. Not typical Nagoya behaviour! But, probably a lot of fans travelled to see this show. Everything was superb for this show: lighting, sound, planning, etc. At one point a little after, Hazuki said, "I bet you were surprised to hear stuck pain. Junji doesn't get to play it much. Was it okay?" and Junji laughed and said, "Daijoubu!" Hazuki continued, "Well, you guys will be further surprised tonight. We have lots in store for you."
After mujun to sora, which was absolutely beautiful live, Reo switched to an acoustic for the next three songs. The first was a new song, but it didn't sound like either of the ones I heard at Gifu Club Roots last month and I'm sure Shadows was not played at all tonight. This new song had Reo playing a fast acoustic line (mostly strumming) while Yusuke took care of the electric. It was mid-tempo, but had an almost carefree sassy quality to it. Hazuki sang a lot of English that nobody understood. It could've been entirely in English for all I know. There was a lot of high vocalizing at the beginning and end, and a Yusuke solo. Anyway, of the two new songs played tonight, I liked this one more... it was kind of introspective without being dark, but not a ballad really. Then they moved into rasen. After that, was a real treat. A chair was set up for Yusuke, the stage went dark and Junji and Asanao left. Two spotlights picked out the shapes of Yusuke and Reo, across the stage from one another. Yusuke played a very haunting, lonely little lead-in and Reo supplied a steady slow strum... and I realized it was the untitled track from the "enemy" single! A third spotlight lit up in the centre and Hazuki stepped into the pool-- when he vocalizes with minimal accompaniment, it's just too beautiful. His voice was simultaneously polished and raw. The song was extended beyond the recorded version... I don't know the full lyrics, but at the end of the vocal section, the last word was "mabushii..." and as it wavered out, Hazuki covered his eyes and slid out of the brightness of the spotlight. Yusuke and Reo kept on, with Reo providing rhythm as Yusuke picked out a sad little Spanish-sounding melody (lots of tremolo). Then the guitars faded to nothing and the stage went dark.
After a short while, a background noise filtered over the sound system-- a mix of the rush of roaring air, and static. Asanao alone came back for a drum solo. As he built up to a menacing industrial kind of beat, the red and blue lights flashed in turn. Suddenly, Hazuki burst onto the stage, in his usual outfit with the sleeveless trench... with a bass! So of course, there was lots of screaming because we never get to see him play! He first joined Asanao for the badass industrial beat but then segued into a nifty little jazzy rhythm and a little solo. It was awesome. I have to admit, though, that Junji looks a lot more comfortable performing on the bass on stage. Which is natural. Hazuki was a little stiff, but certainly very competent, and he is a performer at heart, so the charisma he puts into vocals also went into his bass performance. He reeled about the stage like he was born to play to bass and made lots of flirty faces at us. Haha. So glam.
They came back for the second half of the show in their more normal clothes. Yusuke looked so much more comfortable out of the suit in his sleeveless black shirt thing, and Junji was in his ruffled black shirt with snazzy suspenders. They did roaring and after that it was a jungle! All these fast and heavy songs. At DOZE (that song is killllerrr), the crowd smushed even more and the girl behind me somehow wound up beside me and basically I was squeezed between four other people. It got so hot, and so intense! I think the climax came at pulse_ when everybody crammed in to scream, "yaritai yaritai yaritai!!!" That song always gets the audience blood up. Finally, they launched into a ballad. It was so familiar for me but I couldn't place the name... until I finally realized at the chorus it was Latinmeria. They didn't do the new live version full of reverb; it was the old one, so I had a hard time recognizing it. After that, the main set was over. This was ~7:40pm, which is a pretty long set for them.
Encore 1
After some chanting by the fans, Asanao again took the stage... alone. He came to the left side and stepped up the mic, and everybody cheered because Asanao! Talking!
He made a few false starts because we were cheering so loud, and finally he made a little embarrassed gesture and we all held our breaths. "Good evening everyone," Asanao says. Lots of screams. He thanked us for coming, said some other stuff, all very shyly and sweetly. Then he said, "Tonight, we will have a very special session band." Shouts of delight. "I shall be on drums," (I guess because nobody else plays drums.) "I will introduce everyone else."
- "On shimote guitar... Junji!" And Junji comes out BEAMING and took Yusuke's usual position. He is so short and dimply, it's too cute when he smiles. Even with the piercings and red eyes, haha.
- "On bass... Reo!" We all gasped as Reo takes up the bass and comes up front to show us.
- "On kamite guitar... Hazuki!" Ahahahahaha, so of course Hazuki strolls out with the swagger I usually associate with lead guitarists.
- "And on vocals... YUSUKE!" Oh my god, this was so good. Yusuke comes out in his sleeveless shirt, and he is only a little shorter than Hazuki but so skinny! And he clambers onto the riser, shakes his fists at us and roars, "STARZ!!!" And everybody screamed his name. I've never heard so many Yusuke screams all at once, haha.
So the "session band" blistered into STARZ, which is probably one of the easier songs to play, but it still sounded completely different with different people playing different things. Something about the mix was just new. Maybe more emphasis on one area that wasn't there usually, etc. Of course, it was really exciting and everyone had a huge smile on their face as they crushed together. Yusuke did his best, and even growled passingly well, hahaha. Not bad at all! But I realized that Hazuki must usually have a lot of control over his voice to get the volume needed for some of the heavier songs and the dynamics required for each song. I think Yusuke got really into it and even did some vocalist-y mannerisms. He then shouted out, "Enemy!!!" I saw Junji grinning all the way through, while Yusuke and Hazuki came together kamite-side and Hazuki played up the whole sexy-guitarist thing, hahaha. Those two songs were definitely the highlight of the night. Then they left again.
Encore 2
Encore #2 was them back in their positions. It started with a little MC, but there wasn't as much talking as I expected, which I'm kind of glad about. The guys definitely made tonight all about the music, and showed their appreciation and celebration that way. Hazuki asked us who we wanted to talk first, and of course everyone screamed, "ASANAO! ASANAO!" So Hazuki hands the mic over the drums, but the girls started chanting, "Mae, mae, mae, mae!" Asanao relented and walked out around the drums and came to the front. He made a short speech about how he was really happy to have been able to be in this band for four years. Then the fans cheered for Yusuke. The mic was passed on and he said, "So it's been four years for lynch. Everyone congratulate us. I've been doing this kind of thing for maybe ten years now, and I'm so glad to have had the chance. I just want to be able to continue like this, happily, into the future. I hope I'll be able to." I thought that was the nicest, simplest speech. Then the mic went to Reo, who was probably feeling a lot of emotions (hopefully happy) because he kept repeating himself and how it's been four years. He's usually more coherent, so I guess he was very moved. It was really sweet. Then Hazuki finally talked, and he said, "Well, everyone's said something, I'm not sure what else to say. Only that it's been four years for lynch. and that we couldn't have lasted this long with your support-- thank you so much." He said a bit more, but kept it terse. Finally, Junji walked up to the mic and I swear, he is ALWAYS genki. Loudly, he proclaimed, "It's lynch.'s birthday, so everyone, let's give them an 'omedetou'!" and the crowd obliged very, very loudly.
Hazuki explained that since today was special, they'd do another new song. New Song #2 started with a slow simple piano line drenched in reverb, and then the instruments joined in. Definitely something new for the band. Of the two songs tonight, I preferred the first, but this one was also pretty cool because they were definitely experimenting with different sounds. I caught some English. Overall, it was laid back and had a feminine quality to it. A heavy ballad, I suppose. They finished with a grateful shit and Adore, which were great crowd-pleasers. That was the end, and Hazuki shouted his thanks and the band waved goodbye. Hazuki did NOT dive, as I expected (the crowd could have easily supported him), but... he took off his Adore coat... and threw it into the crowd!!! I saw a group of girls several rows behind me snatch it, but I have no idea how they're going to divvy it up. So the house lights went up, but the audience shouted for another encore.
Encore 3
The band reemerged in tour shirts and towels. It was a shirt for just tonight's "Consolidated Ideal" live (which I later bought). Hazuki said, "the last two encores were blocked onto our set list as part of the schedule. They were kind of encores we had to do. Shou ga nai encores, you know? But you called us back for this third one, so thank you!" They played alien tune and pulse_ a second time, because I don't think the "yaritai yaritai yaritai!" ever gets old. Then they said goodbye again, and everyone threw picks and water bottles (didn't catch any... the downside of being really close to the stage, I guess). And Yusuke was the first to strip off his shirt-- meaning we saw his giant butterfly tattoo on his back again!-- and threw out the shirt into the crowd. So Reo followed, and even Asanao, although he was wearing something underneath. They also threw towels. Hazuki alone didn't strip, but I guess he'd already given out a whole frigging coat that day. So he threw a personal plain towel and the saizen girl in front of me got it.
And then it was done for real!
I'm so happy I went. It's been one of the best lives I've ever been to. Maybe the best, dare I say? I went to buy the limited shirt, and here's the front and back, in bad quality photos. I didn't want to get my proper camera out. There were also cameras in front filming stuff... so I wonder if there'll be a DVD...!
Front. A giant "four" and geometric lines behind it.
Back. Live information.
highlights:
- Anything off of "greedy dead souls".
- Drum & Bass solo.
- "Session" band.
- Yusuke being my personal star of the night. :)
4th Anniversary Premium Live, "The Consolidated Ideal"
Nagoya Electric Lady Land 12.27.2008
An absolutely amazing night. lynch. outdid itself. I am so, so happy. :)
I was number 122, and when I got to E.L.L. a little after 5pm, I realized how smart I was to preorder. The place was soldout and the line outside was sooooooo long. I got in pretty early, which meant an hour of waiting (ugh), but I got to be 3rd row central, slightly shimote (yay). About 15 minutes just before the start time (6pm), suddenly the set-up music cut out and you could hear the intro music from their radio program, the Owari-Nagoya one. So all the fans gasped and over the PA, you could hear Hazuki's voice and the same creepy/high-pitched one we heard at the April oneman, chatting radioshow-style. Maybe it's Professor Tompa's voice, I don't know. They mostly just talked a little about etiquette and Hazuki joked about how he was nervous. It stopped five minutes to 6pm.
At 6pm sharp, the house lights went out and the SE filtered on... but it was sleepy flow! The lights flashed to the beat, and the band members all came out in black suits!
Main Set
SE: sleepy flow
1. unknown lost a beauty
2. rew
3. 59.
4. stuck pain
5. an illusion
6. melt
7. lizard
8. quarter life
9. anemone
10. mujun to sora
(reo on acoustic)
11. new song #1
12. rasen
13. untitled ("enemy" bonus track #3)
~Asanao drum solo
~Hazuki on bass w/ drums
14. roaring in the dark
15. the universe
16. I'm sick,b'cuz luv u
17. vernie.
18. DOZE
19. discord number
20. pulse_
21. Latinmeria
EN1.
(session band)
22. STARZ
23. enemy
EN2.
24. new song #2
25. a grateful shit
26. Adore
EN3.
27. alien tune
28. pulse_
Main Set
The only thing that puzzled me was that they didn't play Ambivalent Ideal, but maybe they thought they promoted it enough during the regular leg of the tour. Otherwise, I really don't think I could've asked for a better setlist. So many old songs off of "greedy dead souls"! So many B-sides! I was ecstatic. It kind of felt like the show was divided into two parts... up to song 13, it was very mysterious, moody and eclectic (helped by the guys in suits) and after that, it was back to more heavy songs (they changed into their usual clothes at that point).
When they came in, you could tell everyone was in a high mood, and Hazuki was at his best. He said, "It's a special occasion, so we're all wearing suits!" Reo looked like a hot salaryman in one. Yusuke looked way uncomfortable (he's too skinny and lanky to pull the look off, I think) and eventually took the coat off. Junji had his neck-bandanna on and still managed to look "scene", haha. Asanao was wearing his old hat, the fedora. And Hazuki was dressed to the nines, with a steel blue tie, black shirt underneath, and really shiny patent leather dress shoes. Definitely a good look for them. :D
I was sooooooo happy they played stuck pain, and unlike the only other time I've ever seen that performed, the audience was so into it. They shouted the heavy parts. I've never seen E.L.L. this packed and lynch. fans this cranked up. They screamed and shoved for just about everything. Not typical Nagoya behaviour! But, probably a lot of fans travelled to see this show. Everything was superb for this show: lighting, sound, planning, etc. At one point a little after, Hazuki said, "I bet you were surprised to hear stuck pain. Junji doesn't get to play it much. Was it okay?" and Junji laughed and said, "Daijoubu!" Hazuki continued, "Well, you guys will be further surprised tonight. We have lots in store for you."
After mujun to sora, which was absolutely beautiful live, Reo switched to an acoustic for the next three songs. The first was a new song, but it didn't sound like either of the ones I heard at Gifu Club Roots last month and I'm sure Shadows was not played at all tonight. This new song had Reo playing a fast acoustic line (mostly strumming) while Yusuke took care of the electric. It was mid-tempo, but had an almost carefree sassy quality to it. Hazuki sang a lot of English that nobody understood. It could've been entirely in English for all I know. There was a lot of high vocalizing at the beginning and end, and a Yusuke solo. Anyway, of the two new songs played tonight, I liked this one more... it was kind of introspective without being dark, but not a ballad really. Then they moved into rasen. After that, was a real treat. A chair was set up for Yusuke, the stage went dark and Junji and Asanao left. Two spotlights picked out the shapes of Yusuke and Reo, across the stage from one another. Yusuke played a very haunting, lonely little lead-in and Reo supplied a steady slow strum... and I realized it was the untitled track from the "enemy" single! A third spotlight lit up in the centre and Hazuki stepped into the pool-- when he vocalizes with minimal accompaniment, it's just too beautiful. His voice was simultaneously polished and raw. The song was extended beyond the recorded version... I don't know the full lyrics, but at the end of the vocal section, the last word was "mabushii..." and as it wavered out, Hazuki covered his eyes and slid out of the brightness of the spotlight. Yusuke and Reo kept on, with Reo providing rhythm as Yusuke picked out a sad little Spanish-sounding melody (lots of tremolo). Then the guitars faded to nothing and the stage went dark.
After a short while, a background noise filtered over the sound system-- a mix of the rush of roaring air, and static. Asanao alone came back for a drum solo. As he built up to a menacing industrial kind of beat, the red and blue lights flashed in turn. Suddenly, Hazuki burst onto the stage, in his usual outfit with the sleeveless trench... with a bass! So of course, there was lots of screaming because we never get to see him play! He first joined Asanao for the badass industrial beat but then segued into a nifty little jazzy rhythm and a little solo. It was awesome. I have to admit, though, that Junji looks a lot more comfortable performing on the bass on stage. Which is natural. Hazuki was a little stiff, but certainly very competent, and he is a performer at heart, so the charisma he puts into vocals also went into his bass performance. He reeled about the stage like he was born to play to bass and made lots of flirty faces at us. Haha. So glam.
They came back for the second half of the show in their more normal clothes. Yusuke looked so much more comfortable out of the suit in his sleeveless black shirt thing, and Junji was in his ruffled black shirt with snazzy suspenders. They did roaring and after that it was a jungle! All these fast and heavy songs. At DOZE (that song is killllerrr), the crowd smushed even more and the girl behind me somehow wound up beside me and basically I was squeezed between four other people. It got so hot, and so intense! I think the climax came at pulse_ when everybody crammed in to scream, "yaritai yaritai yaritai!!!" That song always gets the audience blood up. Finally, they launched into a ballad. It was so familiar for me but I couldn't place the name... until I finally realized at the chorus it was Latinmeria. They didn't do the new live version full of reverb; it was the old one, so I had a hard time recognizing it. After that, the main set was over. This was ~7:40pm, which is a pretty long set for them.
Encore 1
After some chanting by the fans, Asanao again took the stage... alone. He came to the left side and stepped up the mic, and everybody cheered because Asanao! Talking!
He made a few false starts because we were cheering so loud, and finally he made a little embarrassed gesture and we all held our breaths. "Good evening everyone," Asanao says. Lots of screams. He thanked us for coming, said some other stuff, all very shyly and sweetly. Then he said, "Tonight, we will have a very special session band." Shouts of delight. "I shall be on drums," (I guess because nobody else plays drums.) "I will introduce everyone else."
- "On shimote guitar... Junji!" And Junji comes out BEAMING and took Yusuke's usual position. He is so short and dimply, it's too cute when he smiles. Even with the piercings and red eyes, haha.
- "On bass... Reo!" We all gasped as Reo takes up the bass and comes up front to show us.
- "On kamite guitar... Hazuki!" Ahahahahaha, so of course Hazuki strolls out with the swagger I usually associate with lead guitarists.
- "And on vocals... YUSUKE!" Oh my god, this was so good. Yusuke comes out in his sleeveless shirt, and he is only a little shorter than Hazuki but so skinny! And he clambers onto the riser, shakes his fists at us and roars, "STARZ!!!" And everybody screamed his name. I've never heard so many Yusuke screams all at once, haha.
So the "session band" blistered into STARZ, which is probably one of the easier songs to play, but it still sounded completely different with different people playing different things. Something about the mix was just new. Maybe more emphasis on one area that wasn't there usually, etc. Of course, it was really exciting and everyone had a huge smile on their face as they crushed together. Yusuke did his best, and even growled passingly well, hahaha. Not bad at all! But I realized that Hazuki must usually have a lot of control over his voice to get the volume needed for some of the heavier songs and the dynamics required for each song. I think Yusuke got really into it and even did some vocalist-y mannerisms. He then shouted out, "Enemy!!!" I saw Junji grinning all the way through, while Yusuke and Hazuki came together kamite-side and Hazuki played up the whole sexy-guitarist thing, hahaha. Those two songs were definitely the highlight of the night. Then they left again.
Encore 2
Encore #2 was them back in their positions. It started with a little MC, but there wasn't as much talking as I expected, which I'm kind of glad about. The guys definitely made tonight all about the music, and showed their appreciation and celebration that way. Hazuki asked us who we wanted to talk first, and of course everyone screamed, "ASANAO! ASANAO!" So Hazuki hands the mic over the drums, but the girls started chanting, "Mae, mae, mae, mae!" Asanao relented and walked out around the drums and came to the front. He made a short speech about how he was really happy to have been able to be in this band for four years. Then the fans cheered for Yusuke. The mic was passed on and he said, "So it's been four years for lynch. Everyone congratulate us. I've been doing this kind of thing for maybe ten years now, and I'm so glad to have had the chance. I just want to be able to continue like this, happily, into the future. I hope I'll be able to." I thought that was the nicest, simplest speech. Then the mic went to Reo, who was probably feeling a lot of emotions (hopefully happy) because he kept repeating himself and how it's been four years. He's usually more coherent, so I guess he was very moved. It was really sweet. Then Hazuki finally talked, and he said, "Well, everyone's said something, I'm not sure what else to say. Only that it's been four years for lynch. and that we couldn't have lasted this long with your support-- thank you so much." He said a bit more, but kept it terse. Finally, Junji walked up to the mic and I swear, he is ALWAYS genki. Loudly, he proclaimed, "It's lynch.'s birthday, so everyone, let's give them an 'omedetou'!" and the crowd obliged very, very loudly.
Hazuki explained that since today was special, they'd do another new song. New Song #2 started with a slow simple piano line drenched in reverb, and then the instruments joined in. Definitely something new for the band. Of the two songs tonight, I preferred the first, but this one was also pretty cool because they were definitely experimenting with different sounds. I caught some English. Overall, it was laid back and had a feminine quality to it. A heavy ballad, I suppose. They finished with a grateful shit and Adore, which were great crowd-pleasers. That was the end, and Hazuki shouted his thanks and the band waved goodbye. Hazuki did NOT dive, as I expected (the crowd could have easily supported him), but... he took off his Adore coat... and threw it into the crowd!!! I saw a group of girls several rows behind me snatch it, but I have no idea how they're going to divvy it up. So the house lights went up, but the audience shouted for another encore.
Encore 3
The band reemerged in tour shirts and towels. It was a shirt for just tonight's "Consolidated Ideal" live (which I later bought). Hazuki said, "the last two encores were blocked onto our set list as part of the schedule. They were kind of encores we had to do. Shou ga nai encores, you know? But you called us back for this third one, so thank you!" They played alien tune and pulse_ a second time, because I don't think the "yaritai yaritai yaritai!" ever gets old. Then they said goodbye again, and everyone threw picks and water bottles (didn't catch any... the downside of being really close to the stage, I guess). And Yusuke was the first to strip off his shirt-- meaning we saw his giant butterfly tattoo on his back again!-- and threw out the shirt into the crowd. So Reo followed, and even Asanao, although he was wearing something underneath. They also threw towels. Hazuki alone didn't strip, but I guess he'd already given out a whole frigging coat that day. So he threw a personal plain towel and the saizen girl in front of me got it.
And then it was done for real!
I'm so happy I went. It's been one of the best lives I've ever been to. Maybe the best, dare I say? I went to buy the limited shirt, and here's the front and back, in bad quality photos. I didn't want to get my proper camera out. There were also cameras in front filming stuff... so I wonder if there'll be a DVD...!
Front. A giant "four" and geometric lines behind it.
Back. Live information.
highlights:
- Anything off of "greedy dead souls".
- Drum & Bass solo.
- "Session" band.
- Yusuke being my personal star of the night. :)