review: sakashima end roll (part 2)
finishing up the review ^^
dvd side: live clips (mostly of mozart hall)
the camerawork is excellent here. you can see shots of each member, closeups of their instruments, their facial expressions and actions, and at times the adoring fans.. also the hall is very, very beautiful - there's a chandelier hanging from the ceiling, glittering lights, red curtains and not to mention a very spacious stage. the backdrop changes every few songs too - during kuroi niji, it was all black and dotted with thousands of little lights, even the ceiling; R-246 - an orange sunset floods the hall; and aikoku koushinkyoku - a screen is drawn up to reveal the japanese naval flag. all very nicely done and adds a great atmosphere to the concert.
clearly enough gara is the frontman of the show.. he is crazy and way too energetic. he screams and hops around the stage, microphone in hand, climbs onto his desk, has seizures, etc. he goes mad during the faster songs but gets so emotional during ballads, it brings tears to your eyes. anyway the point is, he's highly interesting, sometimes what he does is just so funny XD
told you the camerawork was good!! okay kidding *gets shot*
no prizes for guessing which band's FC logo is this ;D
nero looks very good during lives. he has a LOT of stage presence, although he's hidden behind the drums - he's a whirlwind of energy, very enthusiastic and always grinning. his drum-playing is amazing - his hands are a blur all the time and he never, ever seems to get tired. he clearly enjoys what he's doing and during some songs he looks so happy as if he's on crack, hahaha.
kenichi bounces and stomps around the most, especially during the faster songs. he's energetic and ultra cool, giving the crowd the finger, tossing his picks out.. also he tends to move to the front of the stage a lot more than yuu or tetsu and can't be bothered with staying at the microphone and doing the chorus XD he's really fun.
tetsu looks simply gorgeous. he's tall and very, very attractive onstage (offstage too?), clad in killer black boots, shirt half-open, and especially when he tosses his longish hair out of his face - maaaan! i say no more! @@
yuu is very calm, i would say more professional, but mostly static - he doesn't move about much at all. (i guess his guitar parts are pretty complex so that's understandable..?) though he does have his moments when he headbangs, moves towards the front, etc.
the best song has got to be the final one at mozart hall - hi no ataranai basho. they're all so.. enthusiatic! :0 during the solo bit kenichi bounces to the other end of the stage towards yuu, and both guitarists lean as close to the edge of the stage as possible and face each other, fingers flying along the fretboards of their guitars. the camera captures it all, close-up from a low angle. soooo awesome :0 when the song ends all of them wave to the crowd, thanking them, and toss any remaining picks out and exit the stage with a little wave.
aikoku koushinkyou gets top prize for craziest song. everyone just goes mad here, and it's very, very cool to watch all the fans BANZAI! and salute on cue.
merry sounds great live. they never miss a beat, driving through every song tirelessly. though i wish they'd included more songs off modern garde in this dvd, lost generation in particular :|
the closest thing to fanservice you can get from merry! though there have been other instances ahaha.
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cd side (3 new songs)
i think the songs have been put up for d/l somewhere already so you folks have heard them for yourselves and can decide ^_^ but i'll just review give personal opinions on them too, to be fair?
the single starts off with soshite, tooi yume no mata yume, an acoustic intro which sees the electric guitars coming in very nicely a little later. it's a little poppish, great song, gara's voice is very sweet here.
my personal favourite has to be track 2, mado. the guitars are aggressive, the drumming fast, yet the song retains a melodic quality, typical of kenichi's compositions. gotta love this song.
track 3, omohide sunset, is the classic retro merry. can never miss out out on one of these ^_~ there's a strong guitar lead, nice and swingy, not too slow or fast. kinda along the lines of R-246 but with its own unique sound.
overall, excellent new material - typical of merry's sound but still very fresh ^^
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thusly this concludes the review! it was fun. :D moral of the story is, get this if you haven't, because it is awesome and very worth your yen :DD
dvd side: live clips (mostly of mozart hall)
the camerawork is excellent here. you can see shots of each member, closeups of their instruments, their facial expressions and actions, and at times the adoring fans.. also the hall is very, very beautiful - there's a chandelier hanging from the ceiling, glittering lights, red curtains and not to mention a very spacious stage. the backdrop changes every few songs too - during kuroi niji, it was all black and dotted with thousands of little lights, even the ceiling; R-246 - an orange sunset floods the hall; and aikoku koushinkyoku - a screen is drawn up to reveal the japanese naval flag. all very nicely done and adds a great atmosphere to the concert.
clearly enough gara is the frontman of the show.. he is crazy and way too energetic. he screams and hops around the stage, microphone in hand, climbs onto his desk, has seizures, etc. he goes mad during the faster songs but gets so emotional during ballads, it brings tears to your eyes. anyway the point is, he's highly interesting, sometimes what he does is just so funny XD
told you the camerawork was good!! okay kidding *gets shot*
no prizes for guessing which band's FC logo is this ;D
nero looks very good during lives. he has a LOT of stage presence, although he's hidden behind the drums - he's a whirlwind of energy, very enthusiastic and always grinning. his drum-playing is amazing - his hands are a blur all the time and he never, ever seems to get tired. he clearly enjoys what he's doing and during some songs he looks so happy as if he's on crack, hahaha.
kenichi bounces and stomps around the most, especially during the faster songs. he's energetic and ultra cool, giving the crowd the finger, tossing his picks out.. also he tends to move to the front of the stage a lot more than yuu or tetsu and can't be bothered with staying at the microphone and doing the chorus XD he's really fun.
tetsu looks simply gorgeous. he's tall and very, very attractive onstage (offstage too?), clad in killer black boots, shirt half-open, and especially when he tosses his longish hair out of his face - maaaan! i say no more! @@
yuu is very calm, i would say more professional, but mostly static - he doesn't move about much at all. (i guess his guitar parts are pretty complex so that's understandable..?) though he does have his moments when he headbangs, moves towards the front, etc.
the best song has got to be the final one at mozart hall - hi no ataranai basho. they're all so.. enthusiatic! :0 during the solo bit kenichi bounces to the other end of the stage towards yuu, and both guitarists lean as close to the edge of the stage as possible and face each other, fingers flying along the fretboards of their guitars. the camera captures it all, close-up from a low angle. soooo awesome :0 when the song ends all of them wave to the crowd, thanking them, and toss any remaining picks out and exit the stage with a little wave.
aikoku koushinkyou gets top prize for craziest song. everyone just goes mad here, and it's very, very cool to watch all the fans BANZAI! and salute on cue.
merry sounds great live. they never miss a beat, driving through every song tirelessly. though i wish they'd included more songs off modern garde in this dvd, lost generation in particular :|
the closest thing to fanservice you can get from merry! though there have been other instances ahaha.
----------
cd side (3 new songs)
i think the songs have been put up for d/l somewhere already so you folks have heard them for yourselves and can decide ^_^ but i'll just review give personal opinions on them too, to be fair?
the single starts off with soshite, tooi yume no mata yume, an acoustic intro which sees the electric guitars coming in very nicely a little later. it's a little poppish, great song, gara's voice is very sweet here.
my personal favourite has to be track 2, mado. the guitars are aggressive, the drumming fast, yet the song retains a melodic quality, typical of kenichi's compositions. gotta love this song.
track 3, omohide sunset, is the classic retro merry. can never miss out out on one of these ^_~ there's a strong guitar lead, nice and swingy, not too slow or fast. kinda along the lines of R-246 but with its own unique sound.
overall, excellent new material - typical of merry's sound but still very fresh ^^
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thusly this concludes the review! it was fun. :D moral of the story is, get this if you haven't, because it is awesome and very worth your yen :DD