live report: THE DECADE
Note: I've seen people quoting what I remember from the MCs on tumblr and twitter and whatnot, but please don't trust my memory too much on this. My Japanese isn't that good and keep in mind that this was written 5 days after the actual live too...
/edit
So I'm back in Norway from my short trip to Japan, and I present to you: the shittiest live report ever written. I usually don't do live reports, but I promised nekoyuki I would this time, so here you go. ( ´_ゝ`)
I went with _hakushi and we_can_dive, and later met up with quarrions, make_me_ramen, six_ugly, yoroshikubitch, inuashley813 and some other people. Thank you all for a fantastic day ♥
We got up around 7 and took the 8 train to Makuhari. The first thing we saw when we got off at the station was this sign (〃∇〃)
The weather was cold and rainy and overall disappointing, but we were really hyped up for the live, so despite not getting much sleep and kinda rushing on the train, we didn't feel too bad (even though we queued for goods for almost 3 hours).
It was my frist standing live with them in Japan, and I couldn't have asked for a better first-standing-gaze-in-Japan experience. Usually I'd be rocking out and doing furi, but there was no space so I was more or less forced to watch the stage for once (haha), but it was nice to see what was going on for a change.(And hopefully it'll make this a tad more interesting than what it would've been if I hadn't paid as much attention to the stage.) (´・ω・`)ノ
My ticket was A-block 193, so I got into the venue pretty early. They started calling the first 100 numbers in 5's, then they went from there in 10's. I don't know how it went after I went inside. The venue was divided into A and B block, and the front of the A-block was forked out in 3 blocks - one in front of Aoi and Reita, one in front of Ruki, and one in front of Uruha. I was a bit indecisive at first since I really wanted to be in front of Reita, but in the end I decided that the middle block had the best view, so I went there.
Since we were let in so early (they opened the doors at 15:45, the live was scheduled to start at 17:00), we had to wait for about an hour before the live started, but it really didn't feel like that long at all.
The backdrop was their logo, and when I turned around to look at how full the hall had gotten, I saw that they had a huge banner in the back of the hall with their old ガゼット logo. It was really cool. There was one screen on each side of the stage, which was probably good for the people further back. I didn't notice them at first since I was so close and had to bend my head backwards to see them properly. The stage also had two extended parts going out towards the crowd (a bit like in yoko ari), one on each side.
A little past five, they did the usual announcement that the live would start soon and asked us to be careful with pushing and headbanging as to not hurt other fans. The crowd roared with excitement when the announcement ended, but I think the one most excited was their live manager, Kusaka. He was standing on the side of the stage, throwing his hands in the air and screaming. I've seen him a couple of times during the VC tour too, doing hip thrusts(!!) and whatnot, but he looked really excited this time, haha ψ(｀∇´)ψ Shortly after, the lights went out and the SE started playing. It was a classical piece, really nice.
Images of the members from 2002 and up til 2012 started flashing over the screens in time of when they came on stage - first Kai, then Uruha, Reita, Aoi, and finally Ruki. It was really nostalgic seeing their old pictures, and I think seeing the pictures like that made me realise that it's actually been 10 years (it doesn't feel that long at all).
I didn't take a picture of my poster before I sent it, so have a picture of the front page of MASSIVE vol. 5 instead to get an idea of what they looked like:
The picture doesn't really show it well, but Kai's hair is really light. We thought it was blonde at first, but it's just a light brown. It looks nice on him.
I personally really love Reita's half/half look, and black hair really suits him. Aoi was being flawless in his swishy ensemble again and Uruha looked stunning as usual. Ruki looked really young.
The SE ended and they all got ready for the first song.
Setlist:
-SE-
未成年
赤いワンピース
春ニ散リケリ、身ハ枯レルデゴザイマス。
-MC-
舐 〜zetsu〜
Psychedelic Heroine
SWALLOWTAIL ON THE DEATH VALLEY
ガンジスに紅い薔薇
菫
枯詩
Cassis
-MC-
THE $OCIAL RIOT MACHINE$
RUDER
VORTEX
VERMIN
HEADACHE MAN
IN THE MIDDLE OF CHAOS
FILTH IN THE BEAUTY
-EN-
RIDE WITH THE ROCKERS
Nausea & Shudder
十四歳のナイフ
泥だらけの青春
-MC-
貴女ノ為ノ此ノ命。
関東土下座組合
LINDA ～candy dive pinky heaven～
-EN2-
-MC-
別れ道
春雪の頃
-END MC-
[Announcements]
Picture from club-zy.com.
They. Started. With. Miseinen.
★ It took me (and the crowd, I think) a good couple of seconds to realise it was actually happening, then came all the emotions, and a massive surge towards the front. (Miseinen was my first gazette song and is also my all-time favourite, the timing of them kicking off their 10th anniversary with my first and favourite song was just too unreal.) Since I was so close to the stage, most of the streamers flew over me, but I caught a small one. ヽ(・∀・)ノ
The band seemed really hyped up from the start, and since it was at the beginning of the live Ruki was actually able to sing most of the song (lol). They all did the song perfectly, I think it's the best live version of it I've heard so far.
Reita came up on the middle stand for his bass solo as usual. (ﾉ〃∇〃)ﾉ So cool~
Aoi was dancing around and showing off as usual (gotta love him). Uruha seemed pretty hyper, and Reita kept sticking his tongue out at us (he's been doing that a lot lately, idk why but it's adorable anyway). Regrettably I didn't see much of Kai, and Ruki was just being his usual fabulous self. I swear. That man. (`∀´)
★ It was both uncomfortable and kind of amusing to be squashed up to the front since nobody had space to move (I couldn't even put my arms down), but everyone wanted to dance. During Aka wanpi we swayed from side to side and got the hand roll going, but didn't really manage much more, haha. (´ω｀;)
There was some joking around between Reita and Aoi at the very beginning of the song, and they both got low when Reita played the first bass note.
Aoi, Reita, Ruki and Uruha both moved up closer to the edge of the stage when the guitars and bass started playing. They moved around on stage a bit more during this song compared to Miseinen. There was a bit of bromancing between Reita and Uruha.
Aoi and Uruha came up to the middle stand and swayed back and forth together for the middle part of the song (you understand which part I mean if you listen to it, you can hear it haha). They were both grinning like crazy ♥ Overall I think it was pretty obvious they all enjoyed themselves a great deal.
★ Haru ni chirikeri.
Oh. My. God.
I heard this song while I was waiting outside, so I knew they were going to play it, but I still felt so excited when it started. Ruki's little dance at the start/during the song didn't make it much better.
I think it was during this song that Reita came up to the front and sat down next to Ruki while playing his bass. So cute ♥
★ I think most people found it pretty given that they'd play lots of old songs, but everyone still seemed equally surprised and extatic every time a new song started playing. I think by far, the biggest 'shock' was Zetsu. The crowd went completely nuts. ∑ｄ（●`∀´●）
★ The first riffs of Psychedelic Heroine started playing and the hype from Zetsu just carried on through this song too. When we heard Ruki's "odoro ka?" there was nobody standing still anymore, everyone screamed and jumped around. It was insane.
Ruki did his usual hipthrusts + touching himself lol. Uruha and Aoi were jumping and dancing.
★ Psychedelic melted quite perfectly into SWALLOWTAIL ON THE DEATH VALLEY. More jumping. ヽ( ´∀｀)ノ
★ The lights went out and Ruki's platform lit fire. He held a rose and walked closer up towards the burning platform when the beginning of Ganges ni Akai Bara started playing.
I was actually quite surprised they chose to play this song at the anniversary, but it also felt right because it's the one song Kai has composed (haha). It's a nice song live, and it was a good bridge between a somewhat hyper start and the more calm part of the live.
★ Next up was Sumire. I've always wanted to hear this song live, so when they started playing it I just felt so incredibly grateful. It was just as good as I'd always imagined it would be, and I'm just so hapy I got to hear it live.
★ After Sumire was another song we'd heard during rehersalals (ok I'll stop picking on you Ruki), Kare Uta. Despite knowing it would come, it took me by surprise. This song has always been special to me and I think it just in general carries a lot of meaning between the band and the fans.
★ I also knew they would play Cassis, and it amused me a little at first because six_ugly has always said she'll die if she hears it live and there it was. I've heard it live a couple of times before and while I think it's a nice song, it was never that special to me, until now. I'm not sure what happened, but Cassis has just become immensely important to me, haha. (´ω｀;)
I think most of the foreign part of the audience had really hoped for this song, because they all cried and screamed along, something that might've been touching it it wasn't for the fact that they completely deafened Ruki out (at least for me). (Also, shouting 'wooooooh!' during a quiet part of a song is just embarrassing, seriously).
★ There was a short MC before they kicked us right back into the live mood with THE $OCIAL RIOT MACHINE$. The logo backdrop disappeared and up came the old Disorder logo. I was so thrilled to see that, it was so cool and fitting. There was another unison shove up towards the front (I was surprised it was physically possible to get even closer - of course on the cost of air, though). As everyone knows this song is comletely crazy. The crowd did their best to jump and headbang despite having so little space to move. The band was totally rocking out on stage too, though no hip thrusts from Ruki (lol).
★ Next up was Ruder. Complete Mayhem. I don't think I caught that much of what was going on on stage here because we had some room to move and people were just going crazy. ψ(｀∇´)ψ
★ Right after Ruder came VERMIN. So much excitedness for this song, it's so great live (though more fun in a seated live hall imo). We all jumped and shouted along to the "fall down!" parts.
★ IN THE MIDDLE OF CHAOS was next. I was really confused by this seemingly (to me, at least) random song choice, but it was fun nevertheless.
★ Everyone's favourite furi mosh song, HEADACHE MAN, came up next. Somehow the crowd managed to headbang and do the furi mosh part without killing eachother. It looked like the band was having fun too, lots of headbanging from them as well.
★ VORTEX was great, as always. We all shouted along to "countless bug!" and "I don't want to become a fucking garbage like you". Fun times.
★ They finished the main part of the live with FILTH IN THE BEAUTY, to much excitement from the crowd.
After the song ended, they left the stage. I couldn't believe the main part was over so fast. I could keep going forever (as always at gaze lives, haha). ヾ(¯∇￣๑)
Picture from club-zy.com.
★ Some people left during the encore call due to having been beaten around too much, and people seemed to generally step back a little to get some more space to breathe. It was quite nice. There was a small push up towards the stage again when the crowd lights went out and the stage lights came on right before Kai and Reita came on stage for RwtR, but we still had a bit of space to move.
It might just have been me, but the RwtR sounded exactly like the one from the VC tour. I wasn't really disappointed seeing as they've been busy with recording a new album and prepping for the live ++, but it was a bit surprising too. It's one of my favourite RwtR's, though.
When Aoi and Uruha came on stage they had white backlights and no front lights, so we could only see their silhouettes at first. Then the main stage lights went back on and they started rocking around the stage.
★ When Ruki came in, they all went up to the drum set and we all knew which song was next (I heard it during rehearsals too so.... orz). Nausea & Shudder is such a great live song. And it was nice to have some space to do furi for it.
★ Kai started beating the drums in a familiar beat, but I couldn't quite put my finger on which song it was until Reita started playing the first bass lines for Juuyonsai no knife. So much excitement. We all clapped and danced along. Ruki danced a lot (so cute!) ( ´∀｀)
★ Doro darake was another song I've really wanted to hear live, so I was so happy when they started playing it. All the members jumped around and swung from side to side (like in the PV). They didn't do any poking, but us fans did, haha.
At the end, Reita changed the last couple of bass lines, and he looked so accomplished. Everyone laughed and he grinned. ♥
★ There was another MC, then they started playing Anata no tame. We always sing this at karaoke, so me and my friends went crazy along with the rest of the crowd. The furi was so fun ヽ(●′▽‵●ヽ)( ノ●′▽‵●)ノ
★ When Anata no tame was over, Ruki did the kind of talk he always does right before Kantou, so I was just waiting for his 'welcome to hell' before finding some girls and throwing ourselves at the ground. I have no idea how we had the space to considering we were so close to the stage, but we managed anyway. We didn't stay for long though, so I watched most of the show on stage.
I'm not entirely sure what happened when (if this was part of other songs or what), but the general rule of thumb with their lives seem to be that if something happened between the members and you're not sure which song it's from, it's probably kantou.
At some point Reita was standing next to the middle platform and Ruki was leaning against him with his arm on his shoulder.
Aoi and Reita sat down on different platforms to play, and a little bit later Reita was standing on Uruha's side and Aoi walked up behind him and pulled at his noseband. Reita startled and Aoi laughed.
Uruha hit Kai's drums, Ruki spat a lot of water, and the members generally just ran around and joked with eachother. It's so great to see them like that ♥
We threw ourselves on the floor for the last part too. ( *｀ω´)ゞ
★ After Kantou, they played Linda. Aoi clapped along. Reita did his spin and Uruha looked at him kinda like he was looking after him (so he wouldn't bump into anything), and when the spin was done Reita looked at Uruha and they smiled at eachother (thanks _hakushi for this observbation!).
★ Even more people left/moved back during the second encore call, so we got more space. I was standing quite comfortably at this point, not brushing against anyone even though I was 4 rows from the stage.
When the members came back out again they held another MC I honestly can't remember much of, but Ruki kept saying through the whole live that 10 years passed a lot quicker than they thought and that they were really happy. He started this MC with saying something like "10 years ago, in __, the GazettE was formed. This guy-" at this point he put his arm around Kai's shoulders, "was at home at the time, but he's been with us all along." I was really touched that he made it a big point that Kai is an important part of the band too, and he really made it feel like Kai's been there since the beginning. Kai seemed pretty grateful too.
Then Ruki talked about the next song they were going to play, and that it was an important song to the band, that it held a lot of meaning (to them), and that he wanted us to listen closely. Then they started playing Wakaremichi.
I had been quite back and forth with this song, if I wanted them to play it or not. It would be weird to have a 10th anniversary without playing their first song, but at the same time it is a breakup song and it is very sad. (I heard it during rehearsals, so I knew they were going to play it, but I guess I didn't really believe it til they actually announced it and started playing it on stage).
At this point there were some girls behind me who were talking quite loudly in English......... I guess they were translating or whatever, but seriously, if you understood what Ruki said (actually, even if you didn't), that is extremely disrespectful. They kept talking for a little while into the song.
The song itself was beautifully performed, I feel like they really put their heart into it. Ruki stuck to the low key notes. Some of the fans linked their pinkies and held their hands up.
At the middle part we all knew what was coming, and when Ruki moved the mic away from his mouth we all sang along to the chorus. He held his hand un on front of his mouth during the first part of it and looked like he was about to cry. We sang it 2~3 times, then they resumed playing and finished it.
★ We all thought that was the last song, but then suddenly Ruki went 'last!', and Shunsetsu no koro started playing. I was so surprised and overwhelmed (still not recovered from Wakaremichi and then they threw that in our faces, hi). We sang along to the 'day of blue graduation' part, and some of us held hands. Then they suddenly started showering us in white and light pink square-shaped confetti. It looked like snow and/or sakura petals, and it was really beautiful (even though it got everywhere and was kind of annoying lmao [I also couldn't see much of the stage because it was so much of it]). It never seemed to end (and when we left there was a 3~4 cm thick cover of it on the ground!). (・ω・)
Some of the fans were crying and most of them held hands and/or stood close to eachother. The members gathered on stage and Ruki leaned on Reita's shoulder again. Reita put his arm around Ruki's waist, but Kai slapped it away LOL. He also slapped Uruha's and Ruki's butts (idek what he was doing). Ruki had the mic, but he said that he, and probably the fans too, would like to hear what the other members had to say. Then he handed the mic to Uruha. Sadly, I can't remember what Uruha said, but he was grateful to the fans and his band members. I think he also said it didn't feel like 10 years at all.
He then handed the mic to Kai, who handed it to Reita when he was done speaking (I don't remember whathe said either, but I think he said something like it felt like he'd been with them from the start and that he also was grateful). Reita tried to hand the mic straight to Aoi, who looked suprised, then they played janken over it and Aoi lost (paper to scissors) and had to talk first. He talked really long LOL. At some point in his mile long speech he was like 'ah, I know I've talked for a long time, but...' and looked at the band, who all looked at him and laughed. He teased the fans a lot and was generally being sweet and dorky as always. ( ´∀｀)
He finally handed the mic to Reita and Reita seemed to hesitate a little, though Ruki nodded at him and was like 'speak up, man' lol. Reita's speech was really heartwarming. He is usually the biggest cheese of the band imo, and uses pretty simple Japanese so I can usually understand all of it (Reita ilu, your blog entries are so easy to translate lmao). He certainly was cheesy this time too, saying that even though they're old, they'll continue to their 20th and 30th anniversary etc. He thanked the fans and the band, and gave the mic back to Ruki who more or less contined off from where Reita left. He said it's all happened so fast and that he couldn't really believe they were there (at their 10th anniversary). He then said with a smile that they will keep working towards a 15th, 20th, 25th, 30th, 35th, 45th anniversary, at which point all the members looked at him like 'eeeeh?!' and we all laughed. So cute ♥ He really seems to want to keep going forever. (´・ω・`) ♥
In the end Ruki asked us to hold hands with the people next to us, and then dared us to do the highest jump in their 10 years. He said that therefore we should crouch properly. We all laughed and did as he said, and then jumped.
They joked around on stage a little more before they threw their picks, water bottles and drum sticks and left. Aoi came back on stage with the bath towel they sold that day and teased us with it, making us think he'd throw it, but then he just turned and left the stage LOL.
Ruki was the last one to leave, drinking some water before throwing his bottle to the crowd and spitting some water.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
✯2012/07/04～08/09
STANDING LIVE TOUR 12
-HERESY PRESENTS-
「HETERODOXY」
✯2012/08/29
NEW ALBUM RELEASE
「DIVISION」
✯2012/10/08～11/29
LIVE TOUR 12 -DIVISION-
「GROAN OF DIPLOSOMIA 01」
おまけ
Ruki tweeted a couple of days later about their guitars (that they used on 10th) would be on display in a store in Akihabara, so me and _hakushi decided to go there the last day I had left. I took some pictures:
We could leave them messages in a notebook they had there:
We also went to Harajuku and found this:
/edit
So I'm back in Norway from my short trip to Japan, and I present to you: the shittiest live report ever written. I usually don't do live reports, but I promised nekoyuki I would this time, so here you go. ( ´_ゝ`)
I went with _hakushi and we_can_dive, and later met up with quarrions, make_me_ramen, six_ugly, yoroshikubitch, inuashley813 and some other people. Thank you all for a fantastic day ♥
We got up around 7 and took the 8 train to Makuhari. The first thing we saw when we got off at the station was this sign (〃∇〃)
The weather was cold and rainy and overall disappointing, but we were really hyped up for the live, so despite not getting much sleep and kinda rushing on the train, we didn't feel too bad (even though we queued for goods for almost 3 hours).
It was my frist standing live with them in Japan, and I couldn't have asked for a better first-standing-gaze-in-Japan experience. Usually I'd be rocking out and doing furi, but there was no space so I was more or less forced to watch the stage for once (haha), but it was nice to see what was going on for a change.(And hopefully it'll make this a tad more interesting than what it would've been if I hadn't paid as much attention to the stage.) (´・ω・`)ノ
My ticket was A-block 193, so I got into the venue pretty early. They started calling the first 100 numbers in 5's, then they went from there in 10's. I don't know how it went after I went inside. The venue was divided into A and B block, and the front of the A-block was forked out in 3 blocks - one in front of Aoi and Reita, one in front of Ruki, and one in front of Uruha. I was a bit indecisive at first since I really wanted to be in front of Reita, but in the end I decided that the middle block had the best view, so I went there.
Since we were let in so early (they opened the doors at 15:45, the live was scheduled to start at 17:00), we had to wait for about an hour before the live started, but it really didn't feel like that long at all.
The backdrop was their logo, and when I turned around to look at how full the hall had gotten, I saw that they had a huge banner in the back of the hall with their old ガゼット logo. It was really cool. There was one screen on each side of the stage, which was probably good for the people further back. I didn't notice them at first since I was so close and had to bend my head backwards to see them properly. The stage also had two extended parts going out towards the crowd (a bit like in yoko ari), one on each side.
A little past five, they did the usual announcement that the live would start soon and asked us to be careful with pushing and headbanging as to not hurt other fans. The crowd roared with excitement when the announcement ended, but I think the one most excited was their live manager, Kusaka. He was standing on the side of the stage, throwing his hands in the air and screaming. I've seen him a couple of times during the VC tour too, doing hip thrusts(!!) and whatnot, but he looked really excited this time, haha ψ(｀∇´)ψ Shortly after, the lights went out and the SE started playing. It was a classical piece, really nice.
Images of the members from 2002 and up til 2012 started flashing over the screens in time of when they came on stage - first Kai, then Uruha, Reita, Aoi, and finally Ruki. It was really nostalgic seeing their old pictures, and I think seeing the pictures like that made me realise that it's actually been 10 years (it doesn't feel that long at all).
I didn't take a picture of my poster before I sent it, so have a picture of the front page of MASSIVE vol. 5 instead to get an idea of what they looked like:
The picture doesn't really show it well, but Kai's hair is really light. We thought it was blonde at first, but it's just a light brown. It looks nice on him.
I personally really love Reita's half/half look, and black hair really suits him. Aoi was being flawless in his swishy ensemble again and Uruha looked stunning as usual. Ruki looked really young.
The SE ended and they all got ready for the first song.
Setlist:
-SE-
未成年
赤いワンピース
春ニ散リケリ、身ハ枯レルデゴザイマス。
-MC-
舐 〜zetsu〜
Psychedelic Heroine
SWALLOWTAIL ON THE DEATH VALLEY
ガンジスに紅い薔薇
菫
枯詩
Cassis
-MC-
THE $OCIAL RIOT MACHINE$
RUDER
VORTEX
VERMIN
HEADACHE MAN
IN THE MIDDLE OF CHAOS
FILTH IN THE BEAUTY
-EN-
RIDE WITH THE ROCKERS
Nausea & Shudder
十四歳のナイフ
泥だらけの青春
-MC-
貴女ノ為ノ此ノ命。
関東土下座組合
LINDA ～candy dive pinky heaven～
-EN2-
-MC-
別れ道
春雪の頃
-END MC-
[Announcements]
Picture from club-zy.com.
They. Started. With. Miseinen.
★ It took me (and the crowd, I think) a good couple of seconds to realise it was actually happening, then came all the emotions, and a massive surge towards the front. (Miseinen was my first gazette song and is also my all-time favourite, the timing of them kicking off their 10th anniversary with my first and favourite song was just too unreal.) Since I was so close to the stage, most of the streamers flew over me, but I caught a small one. ヽ(・∀・)ノ
The band seemed really hyped up from the start, and since it was at the beginning of the live Ruki was actually able to sing most of the song (lol). They all did the song perfectly, I think it's the best live version of it I've heard so far.
Reita came up on the middle stand for his bass solo as usual. (ﾉ〃∇〃)ﾉ So cool~
Aoi was dancing around and showing off as usual (gotta love him). Uruha seemed pretty hyper, and Reita kept sticking his tongue out at us (he's been doing that a lot lately, idk why but it's adorable anyway). Regrettably I didn't see much of Kai, and Ruki was just being his usual fabulous self. I swear. That man. (`∀´)
★ It was both uncomfortable and kind of amusing to be squashed up to the front since nobody had space to move (I couldn't even put my arms down), but everyone wanted to dance. During Aka wanpi we swayed from side to side and got the hand roll going, but didn't really manage much more, haha. (´ω｀;)
There was some joking around between Reita and Aoi at the very beginning of the song, and they both got low when Reita played the first bass note.
Aoi, Reita, Ruki and Uruha both moved up closer to the edge of the stage when the guitars and bass started playing. They moved around on stage a bit more during this song compared to Miseinen. There was a bit of bromancing between Reita and Uruha.
Aoi and Uruha came up to the middle stand and swayed back and forth together for the middle part of the song (you understand which part I mean if you listen to it, you can hear it haha). They were both grinning like crazy ♥ Overall I think it was pretty obvious they all enjoyed themselves a great deal.
★ Haru ni chirikeri.
Oh. My. God.
I heard this song while I was waiting outside, so I knew they were going to play it, but I still felt so excited when it started. Ruki's little dance at the start/during the song didn't make it much better.
I think it was during this song that Reita came up to the front and sat down next to Ruki while playing his bass. So cute ♥
★ I think most people found it pretty given that they'd play lots of old songs, but everyone still seemed equally surprised and extatic every time a new song started playing. I think by far, the biggest 'shock' was Zetsu. The crowd went completely nuts. ∑ｄ（●`∀´●）
★ The first riffs of Psychedelic Heroine started playing and the hype from Zetsu just carried on through this song too. When we heard Ruki's "odoro ka?" there was nobody standing still anymore, everyone screamed and jumped around. It was insane.
Ruki did his usual hipthrusts + touching himself lol. Uruha and Aoi were jumping and dancing.
★ Psychedelic melted quite perfectly into SWALLOWTAIL ON THE DEATH VALLEY. More jumping. ヽ( ´∀｀)ノ
★ The lights went out and Ruki's platform lit fire. He held a rose and walked closer up towards the burning platform when the beginning of Ganges ni Akai Bara started playing.
I was actually quite surprised they chose to play this song at the anniversary, but it also felt right because it's the one song Kai has composed (haha). It's a nice song live, and it was a good bridge between a somewhat hyper start and the more calm part of the live.
★ Next up was Sumire. I've always wanted to hear this song live, so when they started playing it I just felt so incredibly grateful. It was just as good as I'd always imagined it would be, and I'm just so hapy I got to hear it live.
★ After Sumire was another song we'd heard during rehersalals (ok I'll stop picking on you Ruki), Kare Uta. Despite knowing it would come, it took me by surprise. This song has always been special to me and I think it just in general carries a lot of meaning between the band and the fans.
★ I also knew they would play Cassis, and it amused me a little at first because six_ugly has always said she'll die if she hears it live and there it was. I've heard it live a couple of times before and while I think it's a nice song, it was never that special to me, until now. I'm not sure what happened, but Cassis has just become immensely important to me, haha. (´ω｀;)
I think most of the foreign part of the audience had really hoped for this song, because they all cried and screamed along, something that might've been touching it it wasn't for the fact that they completely deafened Ruki out (at least for me). (Also, shouting 'wooooooh!' during a quiet part of a song is just embarrassing, seriously).
★ There was a short MC before they kicked us right back into the live mood with THE $OCIAL RIOT MACHINE$. The logo backdrop disappeared and up came the old Disorder logo. I was so thrilled to see that, it was so cool and fitting. There was another unison shove up towards the front (I was surprised it was physically possible to get even closer - of course on the cost of air, though). As everyone knows this song is comletely crazy. The crowd did their best to jump and headbang despite having so little space to move. The band was totally rocking out on stage too, though no hip thrusts from Ruki (lol).
★ Next up was Ruder. Complete Mayhem. I don't think I caught that much of what was going on on stage here because we had some room to move and people were just going crazy. ψ(｀∇´)ψ
★ Right after Ruder came VERMIN. So much excitedness for this song, it's so great live (though more fun in a seated live hall imo). We all jumped and shouted along to the "fall down!" parts.
★ IN THE MIDDLE OF CHAOS was next. I was really confused by this seemingly (to me, at least) random song choice, but it was fun nevertheless.
★ Everyone's favourite furi mosh song, HEADACHE MAN, came up next. Somehow the crowd managed to headbang and do the furi mosh part without killing eachother. It looked like the band was having fun too, lots of headbanging from them as well.
★ VORTEX was great, as always. We all shouted along to "countless bug!" and "I don't want to become a fucking garbage like you". Fun times.
★ They finished the main part of the live with FILTH IN THE BEAUTY, to much excitement from the crowd.
After the song ended, they left the stage. I couldn't believe the main part was over so fast. I could keep going forever (as always at gaze lives, haha). ヾ(¯∇￣๑)
Picture from club-zy.com.
★ Some people left during the encore call due to having been beaten around too much, and people seemed to generally step back a little to get some more space to breathe. It was quite nice. There was a small push up towards the stage again when the crowd lights went out and the stage lights came on right before Kai and Reita came on stage for RwtR, but we still had a bit of space to move.
It might just have been me, but the RwtR sounded exactly like the one from the VC tour. I wasn't really disappointed seeing as they've been busy with recording a new album and prepping for the live ++, but it was a bit surprising too. It's one of my favourite RwtR's, though.
When Aoi and Uruha came on stage they had white backlights and no front lights, so we could only see their silhouettes at first. Then the main stage lights went back on and they started rocking around the stage.
★ When Ruki came in, they all went up to the drum set and we all knew which song was next (I heard it during rehearsals too so.... orz). Nausea & Shudder is such a great live song. And it was nice to have some space to do furi for it.
★ Kai started beating the drums in a familiar beat, but I couldn't quite put my finger on which song it was until Reita started playing the first bass lines for Juuyonsai no knife. So much excitement. We all clapped and danced along. Ruki danced a lot (so cute!) ( ´∀｀)
★ Doro darake was another song I've really wanted to hear live, so I was so happy when they started playing it. All the members jumped around and swung from side to side (like in the PV). They didn't do any poking, but us fans did, haha.
At the end, Reita changed the last couple of bass lines, and he looked so accomplished. Everyone laughed and he grinned. ♥
★ There was another MC, then they started playing Anata no tame. We always sing this at karaoke, so me and my friends went crazy along with the rest of the crowd. The furi was so fun ヽ(●′▽‵●ヽ)( ノ●′▽‵●)ノ
★ When Anata no tame was over, Ruki did the kind of talk he always does right before Kantou, so I was just waiting for his 'welcome to hell' before finding some girls and throwing ourselves at the ground. I have no idea how we had the space to considering we were so close to the stage, but we managed anyway. We didn't stay for long though, so I watched most of the show on stage.
I'm not entirely sure what happened when (if this was part of other songs or what), but the general rule of thumb with their lives seem to be that if something happened between the members and you're not sure which song it's from, it's probably kantou.
At some point Reita was standing next to the middle platform and Ruki was leaning against him with his arm on his shoulder.
Aoi and Reita sat down on different platforms to play, and a little bit later Reita was standing on Uruha's side and Aoi walked up behind him and pulled at his noseband. Reita startled and Aoi laughed.
Uruha hit Kai's drums, Ruki spat a lot of water, and the members generally just ran around and joked with eachother. It's so great to see them like that ♥
We threw ourselves on the floor for the last part too. ( *｀ω´)ゞ
★ After Kantou, they played Linda. Aoi clapped along. Reita did his spin and Uruha looked at him kinda like he was looking after him (so he wouldn't bump into anything), and when the spin was done Reita looked at Uruha and they smiled at eachother (thanks _hakushi for this observbation!).
★ Even more people left/moved back during the second encore call, so we got more space. I was standing quite comfortably at this point, not brushing against anyone even though I was 4 rows from the stage.
When the members came back out again they held another MC I honestly can't remember much of, but Ruki kept saying through the whole live that 10 years passed a lot quicker than they thought and that they were really happy. He started this MC with saying something like "10 years ago, in __, the GazettE was formed. This guy-" at this point he put his arm around Kai's shoulders, "was at home at the time, but he's been with us all along." I was really touched that he made it a big point that Kai is an important part of the band too, and he really made it feel like Kai's been there since the beginning. Kai seemed pretty grateful too.
Then Ruki talked about the next song they were going to play, and that it was an important song to the band, that it held a lot of meaning (to them), and that he wanted us to listen closely. Then they started playing Wakaremichi.
I had been quite back and forth with this song, if I wanted them to play it or not. It would be weird to have a 10th anniversary without playing their first song, but at the same time it is a breakup song and it is very sad. (I heard it during rehearsals, so I knew they were going to play it, but I guess I didn't really believe it til they actually announced it and started playing it on stage).
At this point there were some girls behind me who were talking quite loudly in English......... I guess they were translating or whatever, but seriously, if you understood what Ruki said (actually, even if you didn't), that is extremely disrespectful. They kept talking for a little while into the song.
The song itself was beautifully performed, I feel like they really put their heart into it. Ruki stuck to the low key notes. Some of the fans linked their pinkies and held their hands up.
At the middle part we all knew what was coming, and when Ruki moved the mic away from his mouth we all sang along to the chorus. He held his hand un on front of his mouth during the first part of it and looked like he was about to cry. We sang it 2~3 times, then they resumed playing and finished it.
★ We all thought that was the last song, but then suddenly Ruki went 'last!', and Shunsetsu no koro started playing. I was so surprised and overwhelmed (still not recovered from Wakaremichi and then they threw that in our faces, hi). We sang along to the 'day of blue graduation' part, and some of us held hands. Then they suddenly started showering us in white and light pink square-shaped confetti. It looked like snow and/or sakura petals, and it was really beautiful (even though it got everywhere and was kind of annoying lmao [I also couldn't see much of the stage because it was so much of it]). It never seemed to end (and when we left there was a 3~4 cm thick cover of it on the ground!). (・ω・)
Some of the fans were crying and most of them held hands and/or stood close to eachother. The members gathered on stage and Ruki leaned on Reita's shoulder again. Reita put his arm around Ruki's waist, but Kai slapped it away LOL. He also slapped Uruha's and Ruki's butts (idek what he was doing). Ruki had the mic, but he said that he, and probably the fans too, would like to hear what the other members had to say. Then he handed the mic to Uruha. Sadly, I can't remember what Uruha said, but he was grateful to the fans and his band members. I think he also said it didn't feel like 10 years at all.
He then handed the mic to Kai, who handed it to Reita when he was done speaking (I don't remember whathe said either, but I think he said something like it felt like he'd been with them from the start and that he also was grateful). Reita tried to hand the mic straight to Aoi, who looked suprised, then they played janken over it and Aoi lost (paper to scissors) and had to talk first. He talked really long LOL. At some point in his mile long speech he was like 'ah, I know I've talked for a long time, but...' and looked at the band, who all looked at him and laughed. He teased the fans a lot and was generally being sweet and dorky as always. ( ´∀｀)
He finally handed the mic to Reita and Reita seemed to hesitate a little, though Ruki nodded at him and was like 'speak up, man' lol. Reita's speech was really heartwarming. He is usually the biggest cheese of the band imo, and uses pretty simple Japanese so I can usually understand all of it (Reita ilu, your blog entries are so easy to translate lmao). He certainly was cheesy this time too, saying that even though they're old, they'll continue to their 20th and 30th anniversary etc. He thanked the fans and the band, and gave the mic back to Ruki who more or less contined off from where Reita left. He said it's all happened so fast and that he couldn't really believe they were there (at their 10th anniversary). He then said with a smile that they will keep working towards a 15th, 20th, 25th, 30th, 35th, 45th anniversary, at which point all the members looked at him like 'eeeeh?!' and we all laughed. So cute ♥ He really seems to want to keep going forever. (´・ω・`) ♥
In the end Ruki asked us to hold hands with the people next to us, and then dared us to do the highest jump in their 10 years. He said that therefore we should crouch properly. We all laughed and did as he said, and then jumped.
They joked around on stage a little more before they threw their picks, water bottles and drum sticks and left. Aoi came back on stage with the bath towel they sold that day and teased us with it, making us think he'd throw it, but then he just turned and left the stage LOL.
Ruki was the last one to leave, drinking some water before throwing his bottle to the crowd and spitting some water.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
✯2012/07/04～08/09
STANDING LIVE TOUR 12
-HERESY PRESENTS-
「HETERODOXY」
✯2012/08/29
NEW ALBUM RELEASE
「DIVISION」
✯2012/10/08～11/29
LIVE TOUR 12 -DIVISION-
「GROAN OF DIPLOSOMIA 01」
おまけ
Ruki tweeted a couple of days later about their guitars (that they used on 10th) would be on display in a store in Akihabara, so me and _hakushi decided to go there the last day I had left. I took some pictures:
We could leave them messages in a notebook they had there:
We also went to Harajuku and found this: