GACKT / YFC Cologne, 23th July 2011
Even though this show was midsummer again, the weather in Germany is cool and rainy this time. Even inside the venue it was more comfortable than during the hot summer 2010. My position during the whole show was between You and the stage about 10th row.
I was curios about the new line up and the second vocalist. I actually feared it could be bothersome but I have a certain amount of trustfulness in GACKT's decisions anyway. ;-)
The central stage platform where GACKT and Jon perform is quite large (about 3 or 4 meters long) and they change places all the time. Still GACKT was at You's end of the stage more often.
The outfits the band wear are identically to 2010. I heard many complains about GACKT's new hairstyle but I think it suits him very well. I could actually see his face and every facial expression very well. All the rumours about Botox injections are pure nonsense if you watch the mimic you will see for sure that it is all natural.
GACKTs really impressive stage presence that I described last year hasn't changed. The choreography together with Jon was great and made the performance more dynamic than last year. Even if I tried to observe Jon or even You for a while I couldn’t resist GACKT's sheer magnetic attraction.
You had his hair straight and chin-lenght. He lost some weight compared to 2010 and seems to be in great shape. He really is a very attractive handsome guy, nee?
ChaCha had his hair light brown and wore a long bouffant ponytail. His hair was not curled this time and he looked skinny and pretty as always.
The new drummer (Shinya from LUNA SEA) is awesome! He may not be a hottie like the others but he really knows how to play his instrument. From my point I did not see much of him or Takumi anyway. The new bass player U:ZO was close behind You so I had a good few and that guy is cute like a puppy. XD
The first song was one of the new YFC songs - a powerful rock song - to bring the audience in the right mood for the gig.
The performance of Nine Spiral was even more powerful than last year.
Having a second vocalist worked fine with this song and the refrain sounded good as a chorus too.
Just like last year GACKT showed that arrogant rockstar behaviour as part of the YFC show. Autocratically demanding all the audience admiration... Jon in his role as GACKTs twin was out of place at that point.
Did I ever mention how much I love Speed Master? I loved to see it at the last years life but this years performance was way more impressive and GACKT's moves were breathtaking sensual and seductive.
Speed Master was followed by Episode 0 in a more rockish version that I enjoyed a lot. Than they continued with a new YFC song that made me smile when watching the performance. The song itself was cheerful and danceable. GACKT and Jon turned their back to the audience and shaked their butts. The movements were sexy and dorky at the same time and pulled a smile on everyones face. After about the middle of the song G and Jon ripped their shirts apart and threw them into the audience as expected. Jon's skin is so pale compared to Gs. My friend said she likes Jon's body more than Gs. Objective she might be right because Jon really has no ounce of fat. But compared to Jon GACKT looks soft and cuddly and meets my taste much more!
I missed LU:NA - really!!!! Why couldn't they just add their new songs to their last years performance? Leaving out LU:NA was cruel :-(
The highlight of the whole show was Vanilla for sure! The performance was so sweet, hyper and goofy. I just love how GACKT cannot dance! Gackt tried to restrain to grin but couldn't help it! I think he knows very well how dorky that “dance” looks. It's a funny song that cheers up everybody and the moves reminded me on this performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaeBwAlHlHk
Everybody danced and sang along frenetically. The whole audience was just one big smile!
The english version of Mind forest was clearly understandable this time. Of course Jon joined in and this may have helped too. But all in all I think GACKT improved his English a lot. I could understand his MCs much better than last year.
Justified and Jesus are both great songs to perform live. Especially Jesus is a hit song and the audience was just jumping and screaming and cheering during the entire song.
At that point they performed another new YFC song followed by a new ballade. As far as I remember the refrain was “Close your eyes! Show your soul - show your heart!” And it was sung a cappella in the beginning.
All the new YFC songs have a large amount of English lyrics. Is this really necessary to have more international success? I would still prefer Japanese lyrics.
The last songs they played were Kagero and - after a little break - Uncontrol.
At the very end the whole band was coming to the front of the stage so that we could see each of them properly. They all looked pleased and happy with the gig and the audience. GACKT said one German line “Ich liebe Euch alle!” (I love you all) Then he asked: “Do you want me...” And the audience screamed as an answer. He shook his trigger finger and ended the question with “...to come back?” ^.^ He said he would come back soon. :-D During that whole interaction with the audience GACKT was smiling openly and looked really happy. His smile always warms my heart.
Now I'm even more looking forward to the Berlin gig!