[REVIEW] Chemical Parade DVD - MUCC
MUCC released their new Chemical Parade DVD on November 23, 2011, featuring footage from live shows they performed during their latest tour of the same name. I had been looking forward to this DVD since I first heard the news about its release, especially since a large number of the songs performed were from the band’s Karma CD. It was an easy decision for me to put this DVD on pre-order.
PACKAGING
The DVD packaging itself is gorgeous. The 2-disc DVD set comes packaged in a reflective silver book-style folding case, with a reflective silver-clad photo book, all encased in a plastic slipcover. The slipcover is a simple black plastic cover that features an exploding disco ball, which is sheer so that the reflective covers of the book and case inside show through. The cool thing is that it’s so simple, yet so pretty.
Photo Credit: SBEEC
The images in the 24-page photo book are also excellent quality black and white photos that include a nice variety of close-up and full-action shots of the boys in action, and one rather inexplicable shot of someone’s shoe at the end.
Photo Credit: SBEEC
EXTRAS
DVD footage focuses largely on MUCC’s performances at Hibiya Open Air Concert Hall at the beginning of the tour in October 2010, and their final concert of the tour at Nippon Budokan on May 21, 2011. The gem with this set is the extra material included on the second disc, and it shows why documentary footage is vital in adding to a fan’s overall understanding of what goes into a concert.
Image Source: http://hibiya-kokaido.com/
The Hibiya footage is a prime example of why extras like this are priceless-MUCC performed in the middle of a honking typhoon! During the performances in the DVD, viewers don’t really notice the rain, especially if the band is accomplishing their goal of capturing their listeners’ full attentions. However, behind the scenes gems show that it was raining cats and dogs before, during, and after that show at the open-air stage. SATOchi ran offstage, damp and shivering, dried off, changed into a tour shirt, and ran right back out for an encore. There’s devotion to fans right there.
Along with footage that shows exactly what an obstacle the weather can be, fans are treated to scenes that show what goes on backstage, from styling and planning to practicing and playing around. Most of all, it shows that these awesome performers are real guys with real personalities. Before the live, you get to see SATOchi jumping up and down to warm up, YUKKE shaking and wringing his hands, Tatsuro either meditating before a vaporizer or doing a strange pee-pee dance to amuse the stage hands, and Miya intensely concentrating on perfecting his look. Plus there’s proof positive that any time you give a guy a beer and put him in a small, dorm-style room with a bunch of other guys to celebrate a birthday (YUKKE’s), he will turn into a half-naked roadie with a wedgie.
Goofing off aside, viewers get a clear understanding of how much this band cares about its audience. During each show of the European and Asian leg, each member attempted to compose and speak a message to the fans of that country in their native language. Who wouldn’t melt at hearing SATOchi proclaim, “I was German in my previous life. I love sausage!” or Miya mangling French so badly that the audience was left scratching their heads? As Tatsuro said, “French is very difficult.” The point is that they tried, and it shows.
CONCERT
The concert footage can best be summed up by the words written on the big screen before the band took the stage: “Welcome to the Party. Ladies and Gentlemen, Let’s begin circus.” What follows is a great sampling of what MUCC does best-performances full of energy, passion, and variety. They make full use of the stage setups, with special effects on big screens, laser light shows, and stage props.
Image Source: http://www.jame-world.com/us/articles-75678.html
The lighting used during this tour was brilliant in setting the mood for most songs, and it’s something you might not notice if you were getting caught up in the moment of attending the live in person. “Ranchu” featured flashing red lights and encouraged lots of synched headbanging by band and audience alike, then they switched to cooler green tones for “Freesia.” They also made great use of an effect that looked like lighted confetti dancing over the audience-very calming and charming after the last raucous number.
I consider “I Am Computer” to be a standout performance on this DVD, and it contained one of the best examples of lighting used for effect. The song starts with a looped digital track playing over a darkened stage. When the lights do come, they are like confetti falling around a band standing very still onstage. The effect is unearthly. The band continues to perform with very minimal movement, the lights dancing around them, the motion and color emphasizing their stillness. The band explodes into action after the hook, now jumping and playing with energy to match the light show that has been going on around them. Pay particular attention here to Miya, who previously stood eerily still and emotionless, as he unleashes a guitar frenzy and gives voice to the instrument with silent screams. The screen behind the stage reads “The Last Warning” as the song ends in feedback.
Those screens were also put to good use. Look for a cool scene of skeletons playing brass instruments during “Circus,” and the word “kirai” spelled in a variety of ways during the encore performance of “Daikirai,” where you witness the band’s only nod to fanservice as Miya kisses YUKKE’s neck.
Other performances of particular note include:
“Fuzz”--Tatsuro brings out his harmonica; YUKKE grabs the upright bass; SATOchi offers excellent momentum; and there are some intense screams and singing sequences from Miya.
“A.”-This is a personal favorite of mine, since they chose to use footage from the rainy show in Hibiya. There is no fancy lighting, just Tatsuro’s perfect vocalization of pain and emotion as he sings in the rain. The weather added an unusual sense of loneliness and loss to the open-air performance, and the cameramen added some great angles that caught the city lights illuminating the dark over the crowd.
“Corruption”-Recommended as a song where Tatsuro and SATOchi shine in particular. SATOchi’s subtly jazzy drum lends a lonely nightclub feel to the song, and Tatsuro follows like a jazz club singer with an excellent English lyric.
“Ageha” and “Yakusoku”--Drum and guitar fans should love these performances. I think MUCC is a unique band in that many songs pair the drum and guitar rather than the drum and bass. In these songs, the drum becomes just as important to the melody as the guitar. The band knows it, too, especially as they crowd around the drums in “Ageha.”
IMPRESSIONS
I ended up watching this DVD set twice, catching new elements and expressions during each viewing. This band is fascinating to watch because each member is truly in a class of his own. My only quibble with the DVD is that I kind of wish it had featured more, if not all, of the Budokan footage. The staging and instrumentation quality for that show was top notch, as anyone would expect from a Budokan performance. However, after watching the bonus features, I understand why including that footage from the opening show at Hibiya was important. With all the trouble that the rain must have caused them, they truly made that show a labor of love from the band to the audience. The point of this DVD is to feature the Chemical Parade tour, not just a single performance. It’s a show about the journey, not the end.
Tracklist:
[Disc 1]
Chemical Parade
Falling Down
Zeroshiki
Chemical Parade Blue Day
Fuzz
A.
Circus
Corruption
Ageha
I Am Computer
Polaris
Feather
Yakusoku
Namonaki Yume
Howling
Lion
[Disc 2]
Daikirai
Ranchu
Freesia
Akatsuki
Karma
Tour Documentary