[PUBLIC] GACKT's Best of the Best Vol.1 Reports 6/18, 6/21, 7/4 2013 → 4/4
GACKT Concert Reports for 6/18, 6/21, 7/4 2013
I wrote down all I could about each of the concerts. Since my memory is kind of fail, they're not going to be quite as detailed as I wish they were, but I'll do my best describing what stood out.
6/18 Tochigi, Utsunomiya-shi Cultural Center
WILD setlist (not in order)
Doomsday
Death Wish
Dispair
Flower
Sayonara
Claymore
Until the Last Day
Ever
U+K
Koakuma Heaven
Mirror
Missing
Another World
Jesus
Jounetsu no Inazume
Kimi no Tame ni Dekiru Koto
Sakura, Chiru...
Our seats were the third balcony, first row against the barrier, but we were nearly center and could see the whole stage. If you've watched the WOWOW Birthday Live broadcast, you can see just how badass the introduction video was. Holy balls, I was impressed by it's awesome, I was so pumped by it. I remember the show started off with Doomsday, which I think was a decent choice. I thought Death Wish or Jesus would have been a better choice since they have a lot of energy to get the crowd going. Flower was the song that made me tear up, since it's my favorite. I saw it performed in Tokyo a few years ago & was worried I wouldn't see it again, so I guess hearing it again pulled a bit at my heartstrings haha. My favorite of the performances was Claymore. Since I got barely any sleep the night before, I kind of zoned out thanks to Gackt's hip shake (I was literally sitting there with my fingers pulling my lip in a daze of lust) at the same time the full pv, which was my first time seeing the whole thing, playing in the background. My exhausted self could barely handle sitting through Sayonara. Not to say he didn't perform it beautifully, he did, but it being not one of my favorite songs & dragged on, I started to get sleepier than I already was.
[SPOILER, the videos were cut out of the broadcast, so don't read if you don't want spoilage]
Once the song was over, a video of the members, dancers & other people I can't remember were dressed in Camui Gakuen uniforms. Since I don't understand Japanese, bear with me with what was going on, since we were trying to figure out what exactly the fuck they were doing (I'm sure there are other concert reports up that explain the videos way better than I do. So yeah, sorry). They did a short clip in a classroom, from what I gathered Gackt wanted Sato to call him Saito Kaicho because he kept calling him Gackt. & I guess Saito Kaichou was reviewing over a best Gackt role -- they showed a clip from Moon Child, which I was assuming supposedly being an ego trip on his 'good acting' but they just showed the part of him choking on rice. It cut to a challenge where the members were handcuffed and suspended in the air while hot/spicy food was being shoved into their mouths. For this show, they showed Kei and Gackt's run through of the game. Kazuya was the brave show that shoved the extra spicy food in Gackt's mouth (the look on Gackt's face when he was powerlessly handcuffed while the food was made hotter was priceless), which he kept spitting out at him while he was spinning & suspended. It appears all this was being watched on tour!Gackt's computer screen, laughing. His security told him it was time to perform and Gackt stood up without his pants, giving us a nice reflection of his great asscheeks in the mirror. & then his security sniffed his pants, that was kind of creepy.
[END SPOILER]
The member introductions were all in English, which I thought was kind of odd since.. I doubt most of the people there understood (I've always wondered this with the past introductions too). They were the same as showed on the broadcast; Kei's the youngest, Sato oozes with sexy, Chacha is the legendary 'Blonde Bombshell', YOU has the smile that makes the ladies scream & Gackt has an ego trip by being the most talented & exciting musician on the planet. The MC... sigh, the MC. He came out cute as ever in the kitty ears, dressed in red (top) & black & the members in blue (top) & black. Me being exhausted really didn't help, he talked so much that I felt like I was going to pass out; he had to be talking for at least a good 45 minutes at least to maybe even an hour, including the band members having their own parts.
Mirror is also really long, as we know. I can do without the twenty minutes of screaming (personally, I think it would benefit him if he did it less) but it's better live than home. I do find it strange though that when he faints at the end, people were laughing at each show. I'm not sure if they laugh because they feel it's an act (since it does happen at every show, at least the three I went to), or.. that's all I could think of. U+K sure was uplifting after the long MC. If you think it's fun watching on video, it's a happy party live. It went right into Koakuma Heaven afterwards, which is fun & I think an obvious crowd favorite to dance to. If you want to really be exhausted, that went into Jounetsu no Inazume, which had a ddr like dance just like Koakuma Heaven. Since I was half dead, I didn't do either dance, which I kinda regret. Sakura, Chiru... was beautifully memorable & a great way to end the show. There were a few voice cracks through the night, but it didn't stop him from being any less amazing.
6/21 Aichi, Nagoya International Convention Center
MILD setlist (not in order)
Emu~For My Dear~
Mirror
U+K
Kimi ga Oikaketa Yume
Papa Lapped a Pap Lopped
Last Song
Redemption
Ghost
Journey Through The Decade
Stay the Ride Alive
Koakuma Heaven
Faraway
Graffiti
White Lovers
Hakuro
Sakura, Chiru...
Our seats for this show were even better than the first one (picture in first week post). They were on the second balcony, a few rows back dead center. It doesn't sound great, but it was a closer view of the whole stage than the prior concert. White Lovers is one of my favorite songs, but I don't think it's a good opening song. It was performed beautifully, but the opening video gets you so pumped & brings it down once the music starts. But that was possibly Gackt's intention with the 'Mild' setlist. Redemption isn't quite one of my favorite songs, but after seeing it live, it's grown on me (though I still really hate when YOU is forced to do that awkward lip-syncing part haha). Ghost is fantastic live. Just when the music alone starts you feel so much energy. I don't know how he does it, he's so in-sync with the pv on the screen behind him, which I found great. Emu~For My Dear~ was my favorite of the performances. It's the re-recorded version, & if you think it has emotion on the recording, live it's mindblowingly emotional & beautiful. Out of the piano songs, I prefer Last Song way more than 'Wild's' Sayonara. It's long & slow, but it's performed so beautifully that it doesn't even matter if it's long & slow.
The intermission Camui Gakuen video remained the same, except for instead of Kei's video of doing the challenge, it was Sato's. The introductions of the members were the same as well. For 'Mild's' setlist, Gackt wears white (top) & black, & the members wear all black.
Papa Lapped a Pap Lopped is fun to watch live, the I really don't know how Gackt can do such dances & sing at the same time, it's tiring just to watch. Mirror & the MC was, again, forever lasting. Gackt let a fan in the first row pull a straw out of his mouth & he gave such a bitch face haha. But other than that, I still have no idea what he was talking about. This time, I danced to Koakuma Heaven since I was a little less tired. It's a lot of fun. I wasn't a really big fan of Graffit before the show, but the performance & Gackt's little fun monkey dance made me really enjoy it overall. At the end of the night, I couldn't decide if I preferred the 'Mild' or 'Wild' setlist more.
7/4 Kanagawa, Yokohama Arena
MILD setlist (see above)
We didn't have the best seats for this show. We were pretty much in the nosebleeds, all the way in the back of the top balcony & Gackt & the members looked really tiny, right in the middle again. That being said, I didn't mind at all & was more than happy to be at his Birthday Live. The songs were the same as the 'Mild' setlist I wrote above from the other show. The only difference was he didn't sing Kimi ga Oikaketa Yume & sang 'Dears' instead. The intermission video was the same Camui Gakuen one, but instead of Kei's or Sato's challenge, it was Kazuya's & Gackt's again.
[SPOILERS cut from WOWOW broadcast]
Of course, I still had no idea what was going on in the MC, which was fine. But I guess it felt less lengthy because of his birthday MC. A bell chimed & a birthday cake was presented out to him. The arena went dark & everyone got out their glowsticks and sang Happy Birthday to him. Baby teared up.
A video for his birthday started to play. The beginning was a play off of 20th Century Fox movie introduction, but instead, it said '40th Birthday Gackt'. It went into birthday messages from Shou (who ended up showing up on stage soon after), Shinya, Jon & U:ZO, Miyavi, Hyde, Manatsu Kimura &.. I think there was one or two other people, I can't remember. After Shou showed up, the members spoke & presented with gifts. I forgot what Chacha gave him derp. I don't quite remember the other two either, I think Kei gave some kind of charm & Sato a book about dealing with being senile, from what I remember. Their gifts weren't quite as memorable as YOU's because my little fangirl heart got happy over my otp dreams. YOU tied a red ribbon around himself & gave Gackt himself as a gift. Gackt looked very hesitant to pulling the ribbon to 'open his gift'.
[END SPOILER]
This show was definitely the most fun for me. I was way more awake than the other two shows. I had my kitty paw on the whole time & danced to U+K, Koakuma Heaven, Faraway & Graffit. I was moving to most of the dances that weren't slow, but those were the most fun haha. The only thing that sucked was that we had to leave before Sakura, Chiru... or we would miss our train from Yokohama to Tokyo & have to get a hotel again, which I didn't want to do. We weren't the only ones though, unfortunately, we were running out with a lot of people (dammit, Gackt, talk less & start your shows earlier!). We were so happy we got to see the other performances of it at the other two shows.
My only disappointment overall was that I didn't get to see all the performances. Vanilla & Black Stone were cut out of the setlists before I got the chance to see them. But I can't complain, since I was thrilled I got to see both the 'Mild' & 'Wild' setlists. I still can't decide which setlist I prefer more. I think 'Wild' had songs that were more fun to move to but I liked the look of 'Mild' more, if that makes sense. Both setlists had their share of songs that were some of my favorites, so it's hard to decide. I also got everything I wanted: the tour pamphlet, both tour shirts, the cookies, one of the posters, Jean got me a kitty paw I didn't want haha, both Mild & Wild Gackt chibi keychains, the Birthday Live kitty paw Jean decided to buy for me too for some reason, & the Gackt figurine (when it comes out).
Jean, thanks for going to the shows with me & buying a lot of Gackt shit for me for my birthday, you are the best. I hope you had as much fun as I did.
Gackt, thank you for the amazing shows! I was so happy to be there no one has any idea how much being there meant to me. It was such a wonderful experience.
Friends, both that I met at the shows & that were online, thanks for hoping I would have fun! You were all there with me in spirit! You will get your chances to see Gackt live one day. Keep those spirits up!
WEEK ONE
WEEK TWO
WEEK THREE