L'Arc~en~ciel 20th L'Anniversary Live 5/28
This is going to be a really quick and brief L’Arc~en~ciel review (by my standards anyway) because I can’t remember what happened in each song or how it all fit together. It was just two plus hours of absolute awesomeness.
The lucky and very shiny ticket!
My photos aren't very good due to the pouring rain and dark skies. Sorry!
Ajinomoto Stadium is huge. Seriously huge. I think the capacity is around the 50,000 mark? Maybe higher? It seemed noticeably bigger than the Tokyo Dome. It’s a football stadium usually so you can imagine how large the arena floor was and also that there was, of course, no roof. If you were seated in the arena like I was, then you got wet. There’s a typhoon blowing through Japan at the moment and it ensured that it didn’t stop raining once throughout the whole weekend.
I don’t think anybody cared though.
The stage set
The stage set was both simple and awesome. There were two large screens either side of the stage, an impressive lighting rig that also included some lights in the stands and another screen behind the drum kit. This screen was really tall and seemed to be made of individual metal strips that fanned out like a peacock’s tail. It was really impressive.
The show started about twenty minutes late and with a video compilation of clips and images from their first ten years (I didn’t spot any Sakura though).
The band made their grand entrance by driving into the venue in a freaking Hummer. Now, that was cool. It parked right at the back of the arena floor and the band exited one by one and walked to the stage. Ken and Tetsuya walked down the left hand side (Tetsuya’s usual side) and Yukihiro and Hyde walked down the right. I’ve never been so glad to be seated on the right hand side, haha.
I hate to get all superficial, but Hyde looked really good. Far better than during his last few months with VAMPS or the Good Luck My Way PV. His hair is all braided on the sides and he has long, braided extensions in blond and black. It was kinda Jack Sparrow-esque in a way and really suited him. I love Tetsuya’s hair cut too!
They started with In the Air. For a band that haven’t played live together for a long time and haven’t played some of these songs for an even longer time, they sounded great. There were a couple of strained notes from Hyde early on (mainly when adlibbing between verses), but he sounded fantastic as the show progressed. It’s difficult to get a good sound set up in open air concerts as the lack of a roof always wrecks havoc with the acoustics but they did a good job of making things sound good.
Streamers shot across the stadium during Caress of Venus. They managed to cover the stadium pretty well with these although they missed my little patch of crowd and instead fell the other side of the barriers where we couldn’t get them. Thankfully, the stadium staff was helpful and they were running around picking up the streamers and giving them to us.
The glowstick says "Celebration 20th L'Anniversary Live L'Arc~en~ciel"
I did get more than that but I was in a generous mood and gave some away to fans who couldn’t get any.
It all kinda becomes a blur after this, to me. The show was just such a well planned combination of music and lighting effects that it all flowed together so seamlessly. There were fireworks, jets of fire, lots of brightly lit balls for the crowd to play with and just an amazing set list. There was a little break and a video was played of several famous people singing Winter’s Fall. I remember seeing Yasu (Janne Da Arc and Acid Black Cherry), MAO from SID, DAIGO (Breakers) and a few more I recognised but can’t remember and lots I didn’t know, haha. It was cute.
Ken’s MC in the middle of Blurry Eyes was amusing as he was talking about spices and being slightly rude with it. I never realised he’s so cute and goofy as he always looks so cool during their PVs and the few performances I’ve seen (*is bad L’Arc~en~ciel fan*). He was doing his MC and cracking jokes and the screens quickly switched to Hyde who was standing there with the most serious and slightly unimpressed look on his face. It made the whole crowd laugh and left Hyde looking completely confused. Cute. Blurry Eyes was a real stand out.
After Blurry Eyes was Lies and Truth and Flower. What is it about songs called Flower that makes them so awesome… Hyde had his harmonica out for it and it was towards the end of Flower that the balls were released to the crowd to play with. There were even more for I’m So Happy and I remember Hyde screaming “I love you” with the same raw passion that there is in the recorded version. A storming version of Shout At The Devil was the last song before the band left the stage.
During the wait for the encore, there was a huge Mexican wave that kept going around and around the stadium. It was mainly the stands doing it but it went through the arena a couple of times.
Eventually, a piano version of Anata begins to play. Slowly, the crowd starts to sing along as they wave their multi-coloured glowsticks in the air from side to side. The stage is bathed in blue light and the song begins properly. This was beautiful, it kinda choked me up a little :-/
The next two songs were Milky Way and Voice, and then it was White Feathers. I love this song anyway, and I love it even more now. There were feathers falling on the screen behind the stage and real feathers falling from the sky (well, the lighting rig probably). I remember the backing vocals being really strong on this. Good job Tetsuya!
There was a Tetsuya MC after Anata and Hyde has a MC after White Feathers. Hyde didn’t really say much, he seemed to be struggling for words a little whereas both Ken and Tetsuya were both very free and genki with theirs. Hyde introduced the last song and hoped he wouldn’t cry. The last song was Niji, and he kinda did cry, haha. The screens focused in extreme close up on his eyes, especially his right eye, as there was definitely some moisture there. Bless. Niji sounded awesome. Hyde exited the stage quickly after it’s finished but Tetsuya stuck around a little with his sparkly banana gun and told us all he’ll see us later.
The show finishes and the screens show the date of the WOWOW broadcast (July 31st… hope the download is out before I head to Europe for GACKT) and the release of Good Luck My Way. They play the PV for that and everyone stays, still waving their glowsticks about.
Set list (I grabbed this from a Japanese blog... any errors are theirs XD)
In the Air
Caress of Venus
Vivid Colors
Hyde MC
the Fourth Avenue Cafe
夏の憂鬱 [Time to Say Goodbye]
風の行方
As if in a dream
DUNE
Winters Fall
ガラス玉
Fate
Flood of Tears
Blurry Eyes
Ken MC
Lies and Truth
Flower
I'm so Happy
Shout at the Devil
-encore-
あなた
Tetsuya MC
Milky Way
Voice
White Feathers
Hyde MC
虹
ENDING MOVIE GOOD LUCK MY WAY PV
It was such an amazing show. I wish I’d gone to both nights but I wasn’t sure I’d have been able to go to the Sunday show and make it home in time for work on Monday. As it happened, I would have had the time so I’m gutted I passed on a Sunday ticket. But, I’m glad to have been a part of the 20th L’Anniversary, if only for one night. As soon as the DVD is announced I’m pre-ordering it!
The lucky and very shiny ticket!
My photos aren't very good due to the pouring rain and dark skies. Sorry!
Ajinomoto Stadium is huge. Seriously huge. I think the capacity is around the 50,000 mark? Maybe higher? It seemed noticeably bigger than the Tokyo Dome. It’s a football stadium usually so you can imagine how large the arena floor was and also that there was, of course, no roof. If you were seated in the arena like I was, then you got wet. There’s a typhoon blowing through Japan at the moment and it ensured that it didn’t stop raining once throughout the whole weekend.
I don’t think anybody cared though.
The stage set
The stage set was both simple and awesome. There were two large screens either side of the stage, an impressive lighting rig that also included some lights in the stands and another screen behind the drum kit. This screen was really tall and seemed to be made of individual metal strips that fanned out like a peacock’s tail. It was really impressive.
The show started about twenty minutes late and with a video compilation of clips and images from their first ten years (I didn’t spot any Sakura though).
The band made their grand entrance by driving into the venue in a freaking Hummer. Now, that was cool. It parked right at the back of the arena floor and the band exited one by one and walked to the stage. Ken and Tetsuya walked down the left hand side (Tetsuya’s usual side) and Yukihiro and Hyde walked down the right. I’ve never been so glad to be seated on the right hand side, haha.
I hate to get all superficial, but Hyde looked really good. Far better than during his last few months with VAMPS or the Good Luck My Way PV. His hair is all braided on the sides and he has long, braided extensions in blond and black. It was kinda Jack Sparrow-esque in a way and really suited him. I love Tetsuya’s hair cut too!
They started with In the Air. For a band that haven’t played live together for a long time and haven’t played some of these songs for an even longer time, they sounded great. There were a couple of strained notes from Hyde early on (mainly when adlibbing between verses), but he sounded fantastic as the show progressed. It’s difficult to get a good sound set up in open air concerts as the lack of a roof always wrecks havoc with the acoustics but they did a good job of making things sound good.
Streamers shot across the stadium during Caress of Venus. They managed to cover the stadium pretty well with these although they missed my little patch of crowd and instead fell the other side of the barriers where we couldn’t get them. Thankfully, the stadium staff was helpful and they were running around picking up the streamers and giving them to us.
The glowstick says "Celebration 20th L'Anniversary Live L'Arc~en~ciel"
I did get more than that but I was in a generous mood and gave some away to fans who couldn’t get any.
It all kinda becomes a blur after this, to me. The show was just such a well planned combination of music and lighting effects that it all flowed together so seamlessly. There were fireworks, jets of fire, lots of brightly lit balls for the crowd to play with and just an amazing set list. There was a little break and a video was played of several famous people singing Winter’s Fall. I remember seeing Yasu (Janne Da Arc and Acid Black Cherry), MAO from SID, DAIGO (Breakers) and a few more I recognised but can’t remember and lots I didn’t know, haha. It was cute.
Ken’s MC in the middle of Blurry Eyes was amusing as he was talking about spices and being slightly rude with it. I never realised he’s so cute and goofy as he always looks so cool during their PVs and the few performances I’ve seen (*is bad L’Arc~en~ciel fan*). He was doing his MC and cracking jokes and the screens quickly switched to Hyde who was standing there with the most serious and slightly unimpressed look on his face. It made the whole crowd laugh and left Hyde looking completely confused. Cute. Blurry Eyes was a real stand out.
After Blurry Eyes was Lies and Truth and Flower. What is it about songs called Flower that makes them so awesome… Hyde had his harmonica out for it and it was towards the end of Flower that the balls were released to the crowd to play with. There were even more for I’m So Happy and I remember Hyde screaming “I love you” with the same raw passion that there is in the recorded version. A storming version of Shout At The Devil was the last song before the band left the stage.
During the wait for the encore, there was a huge Mexican wave that kept going around and around the stadium. It was mainly the stands doing it but it went through the arena a couple of times.
Eventually, a piano version of Anata begins to play. Slowly, the crowd starts to sing along as they wave their multi-coloured glowsticks in the air from side to side. The stage is bathed in blue light and the song begins properly. This was beautiful, it kinda choked me up a little :-/
The next two songs were Milky Way and Voice, and then it was White Feathers. I love this song anyway, and I love it even more now. There were feathers falling on the screen behind the stage and real feathers falling from the sky (well, the lighting rig probably). I remember the backing vocals being really strong on this. Good job Tetsuya!
There was a Tetsuya MC after Anata and Hyde has a MC after White Feathers. Hyde didn’t really say much, he seemed to be struggling for words a little whereas both Ken and Tetsuya were both very free and genki with theirs. Hyde introduced the last song and hoped he wouldn’t cry. The last song was Niji, and he kinda did cry, haha. The screens focused in extreme close up on his eyes, especially his right eye, as there was definitely some moisture there. Bless. Niji sounded awesome. Hyde exited the stage quickly after it’s finished but Tetsuya stuck around a little with his sparkly banana gun and told us all he’ll see us later.
The show finishes and the screens show the date of the WOWOW broadcast (July 31st… hope the download is out before I head to Europe for GACKT) and the release of Good Luck My Way. They play the PV for that and everyone stays, still waving their glowsticks about.
Set list (I grabbed this from a Japanese blog... any errors are theirs XD)
In the Air
Caress of Venus
Vivid Colors
Hyde MC
the Fourth Avenue Cafe
夏の憂鬱 [Time to Say Goodbye]
風の行方
As if in a dream
DUNE
Winters Fall
ガラス玉
Fate
Flood of Tears
Blurry Eyes
Ken MC
Lies and Truth
Flower
I'm so Happy
Shout at the Devil
-encore-
あなた
Tetsuya MC
Milky Way
Voice
White Feathers
Hyde MC
虹
ENDING MOVIE GOOD LUCK MY WAY PV
It was such an amazing show. I wish I’d gone to both nights but I wasn’t sure I’d have been able to go to the Sunday show and make it home in time for work on Monday. As it happened, I would have had the time so I’m gutted I passed on a Sunday ticket. But, I’m glad to have been a part of the 20th L’Anniversary, if only for one night. As soon as the DVD is announced I’m pre-ordering it!