Versailles World Tour 2010 Concert Report ~UK 30.06.2010~
Well, as I promised, I've finally finished my totally authoritative writeup of Versailles in London. It was AMAZING. The setlist is below, and I've put the EXTREMELY LONG report under a cut to prevent spoilers for anyone yet to see them on this tour!
Enjoy, and feel free to comment. ^^
Picture from MusicJapan+. Press photographers were allowed for the first couple of songs only.
Versailles World Tour 2010 -Method of Inheritance-
@ O2 Academy Islington, London, UK
30.06.2010
Setlist:
God Palace
Gekkakou
Zombie
After Cloudia
Prince
The Umbrella of Glass
Aristocrat’s Symphony
Shout & Bites
Amorphous
Serenade
Ascendead Master
Princess
En.1 The Red Carpet Day
En.2 The Revenant Choir
As usual, I was forced to wait until the end of college before coming to join the queue, although I was lucky in that both myself and friend Sarah finished a little early. We eventually arrived at Islington at about 4:15pm and soon found the line of fellow renaissance-styled cosplayers excitedly lined up along the store front (for those who are unaware, the O2 Academy is actually in the middle of a shopping centre).
Although I made attempts to speak with other friends who I hadn’t seen since a.b.s last November and were near the front of the queue, an evil security dude in a bright orange shirt forced us to the back. From now on, if he is mentioned, I shall call him ‘Orange Man’. As you can guess, he’s not my favourite person ever. Anyways, the queue was surprisingly short at the time, so we soon found others who we knew and I took the opportunity to take a few photos.
At 7:00pm when the doors were due to be opened, a sense of anticipation grew along the now expectantly standing line of fans. Ten minutes later, we were finally let in, split into a queue for bag storage and another for direct entry. Taking the fast route, I went upstairs to the merch stand (past an interestingly huge poster of GACKT with ‘Sold Out’ pasted across it). I should also randomly mention that the big sign at the box office said ‘Versailles - Etnry Downstairs’. What Engrish errors. LOL.
The merch stall was obscenely crowded already, but (I thought) very well priced. Bags and shirts were just £20, the same cost as both the CDs ‘Noble’ and ‘Lyrical Symphony’, while ‘Jubilee’ (the newest album) was £30. Posters and postcards were something like £10-£20, and there were also light-up roses for sale. The roses were waved by several fans in time to the slower songs in the gig, as directed by Kamijo. There was also a funny old lady who looked about 50 who was arguing with the merch vendor about prices and stuff (bless ^^). Sadly, my moneys were much reduced after food and transport costs, so I just bought ‘Jubilee’ (which is an absolutely gorgeous thing, btw. The CD is all decorative, the packing and booklet are prettyful, and it comes with a band member card - I got Kamijo :3)
Deciding to just take my bag in, I hastily stuffed the CD inside and, by some lucky miracle, slipped through a crack in the side of the crowd with Sarah and ended up right at the front, by the left speakers! The gap, of course, soon filled up as everyone who was unable to cram onto the balcony packed onto the floor. Then the waiting began. The intro tracks of SOUND IN GATE and PRELUDE were little comfort for the tedious twenty-minutes of standing around while the techies and roadies finished sorting out the equipment, and someone came up with a big poster that had ‘No Photos’ scrawled across it. Eventually though, the lights dimmed, and after much chanting and screaming…
…Versailles appeared onstage. One at a time, they paraded across to their places, surveying and taunting the crowd, to an extended PRELUDE that had been playing for at least five minutes. Yuki strode across, taking his place at the drum kit. Then Teru came out, making the horns at us, to which everyone eagerly responded likewise, before stopping RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. Hizaki followed, the most feminine man human alive, taking his guitar from a roadie and standing at the right end of the stage. And finally Kamijo, in his fifty inch heels (seriously, WTF? How can you walk in those? >.<) emerged with a confident look, letting a smile creep across his face as he met an incredible reception. And with a cheeky raise of his eyebrows, it began.
The first song was the epic 10-minute GOD PALACE. It was daring to use their longest song and namesake of the tour as the opener, but it worked awesomely. Kamijo’s heavily accented English began, before the incredible series of shifts in time, key and solo performances, working up the crowd from the start. Considering the amount of gigs that had come before this, in Japan and elsewere in Europe, Kamijo’s voice was in fantastic shape and this song was even better as a live opener (unless I’m just biased ^^). I noticed Teru in front of me singing along, and realised how little credit he gets compared to Hizaki - correct me if I’m wrong, but half the time he’s the one playing the killer solos. The support bassist Masashi coped admirably - rather than trying to live up to our dear Jasmine You, he’s really his own man, fully in costume like the others. ~In fact, when exactly did he come on stage? He seemed to just appear or melt into the background at will. O__0~ Anyways, it was during this that Kamijo started to take roses from the outstretched arms of the front centre crowd, and even held someone’s hand for a few seconds!
GEKKAKOU, the B-Side to the ‘Ascendead Master’ single, came next. One of the leading songs from the album, it’s one of their harder tracks and got everyone headbanging to the crazy riffs (you might like to note that there wasn’t really a mosh, just sort of everyone united xD). I love this song, and it was also fantastic live. A great one to play early on, the funny part is all of the latin which comes in before the chorus, which, as teriyaki_08 says, is just like Harry Potter spells!
Next came ZOMBIE, which, if this makes sense, is really quite an un-Versailles like song, lacking the beautiful melodies of much of their work. Still, it’s damn addictive and really got the crowd going after GEKKAKOU, following with the heavier theme. The strange, haunting motif came across weirdly on the massive speaker in front of me, not that I cared. It was a great song, a favourite of my friend Chio’s.
After a brief MC from Kamijo (who seemed to struggle to find the right words in English xD) he announced the next song, AFTER CLOUDIA. An awesome song that came almost like a break from the heavier openers, this was when the O2 crew at the front began to hand out cups of water, which, being the lovely bunch we are, was willingly shared out backwards to other JRockers. Luckily, Orange Man wasn’t among them, or I would probably have thrown my cup at him. Anyway, AFTER CLOUDIA was a great piece that got us following Kamijo’s actions all the way.
Then PRINCE started up, an epic fan favourite (along with its counterpart, PRINCESS). An awesome song if ever there was one, the crowd once again became excited and many people sang along, especially at the ending. Fair play to Hizaki - his solo in this is awesome. While I say Teru lacks attention, it’s impossible to deny Hizaki’s skill at the guitar. The only thing that betrays his femininity is the Man Hands™. Still, the princess Hizaki and prince Teru make an epic duet.
THE UMBRELLA OF GLASS came next, which I must say is one of my favourite songs on the new album (along with ‘Catharsis’, which they didn’t play :’( ) and it was awe-inspiring to hear it live. The passion poured into the vocals by Kamijo was amazing, and I sang along with him at the ending (like many others), which fades out on the CD track but was brought to a pretty conclusion in the live performance. I find it to be a very powerful and moving song.
After this, Versailles left the stage, leaving myself and many others to wonder aloud, “can this be the end, already?”. But worrying was unnecessary, as it was merely the end of the first set piece. The soundtrack piece DESCENDANT OF THE ROSE served as the new intro for ARISTOCRAT’S SYMPHONY, which started the second half with a bang. It was one of the first songs I heard by Versailles, and it was a given that they would play it. And, as I expected, it was awesome. The song really sums up Versailles, with epic intertwining guitar melodies and some gorgeous solo work. Kamijo’s vocals were largely overpowered at times, but it was only a minor problem.
Then came SHOUT & BITES, bringing it back to old-school V with a song from their first mini-album ‘Lyrical Sympathy’. Fan participation was at its peak, and this song went down a storm. Teru and Hizaki shared the shouts of ‘Bites!’ before the chorus, accompanied by the 700-strong fans. Another of the somewhat heavier songs, it led into the more ballad-filled ending set.
Which began with AMORPHOUS. Another of the new songs I like, it’s a pretty piece with some more Man Hands™ time for Hizaki. Yes, his solo was gorgeous. The slower pace caused Kamijo to lead the fans in swaying from side to side (as in several of the quieter songs) and hold up the aforementioned glowing roses. It was beautiful. But not as much as…
…SERENADE. This was a truly amazing performance, a tribute to our beloved Jasmine You. Bringing a tear to most people’s eyes, everyone poured their soul into it, Kamijo’s heart truly felt in the vocals. Like most of the crowd, I sang along, surprising myself with how much of the lyrics I knew. At the end, we were all shouting Jasmine’s name, and I believe Versailles were truly touched. They’ve done an incredible job with overcoming the late bassist’s death (last August, I think?) and carrying on, finishing the recordings on the last songs and putting out their first major label album.
And then they finally played ASCENDEAD MASTER, which came much later on than I expected. I really love this song, with its amazing guitar duets as Hizaki and Teru shared the opening melody. The joint solo was to die for, and having Teru right before me I found it incredible that anyone could move their hands so fast! It’s such an awesome song, I could rave about it for ages. I actually arranged it for piano based on their band scores, so it’s incredible to hear the individual parts as well as the complete piece of music. Gah, I love it!
And the last song was PRINCESS. Once again, I adore this song, and new friend Ray behind me was singing along to literally every word. It was a weird blend of the original recorded version and the album version, which worked really well. It’s a fantastic arrangement, and combines aspects of several of Versailles’ earlier songs (with tunes from Aristocrat’s Symphony and others having a re-worked inclusion). Ending the main setlist, they left the stage together, along with a huge Union Jack flag that everyone had signed in the queue, which I think they really appreciated.
After a surprisingly brief period of encore calls, they returned once more for the final two songs, Kamijo now minus his huge embroidered jacket. The first of these was THE RED CARPET DAY, an awesome performance during which Kamijo, Hizaki and Teru alternated positions so we could finally see the others at our end of the stage. Everyone surged forwards to reach out for the hands of Kamijo and Teru, while Hizaki made an attempt to bend down. The three joined in the middle briefly before returning to their positions, and Kamijo took a bouquet from the front of the crowd.
Finally, as I knew it would be, was THE REVENANT CHOIR. I must say, it’s one of my all-time favourite Versailles songs, a piece of truly epic proportions. Now everyone could really sing along to the English vocals, Kamijo leaning out with the mic during the chorus, and Hizaki and Teru played awesomely. In fact, Hizaki fell over during his solo, and while I was slightly concerned for his strength after being on tour for weeks, I’m pretty sure he just tripped over his dress. xD It made us chuckle anyway, but incredibly I don’t think he even played a wrong note. Awe level +1, princess Hizaki.
And with that it had to end, an amazing setlist packed with awesome. Hizaki lifted his guitar high, playing behind his back, and Teru in front of us pointed his at us like a gun, and reached out to touch our outstretched hands, grinning straight at me (I swear, honest to God!). Yuki emerged from the back, appearing round the side of the speaker, causing a minor surge to the left as he reached and waved to us. Kamijo was smiling and blowing kisses, holding our flag high. Then they all lined up, shouting “WE ARE VERSAILLES!”, and did a group jump just like you’d expect at the theatre. Leaving the stage for the last time, Yuki hurled drumsticks, one of which narrowly missed me, and Hizaki and Teru seemed to have an endless supply of plectrums. I joined others in cheering for Masashi, who really deserves some love. Teru took a fluffy red fan from a girl next to me who had been kindly fanning us throughout, and picked up another that was thrown onstage. He looked so happy! Then Kamijo came and wrapped the flag across his shoulders, and they left to the outro of -SE- SYMPATHIA.
It was an amazing night, definitely the best gig I’ve ever been to so far. We all felt so loved as Versailles had brought us into their wonderful world for just a few hours, and it was clearly mutual as they were welcomed with open arms by all of us. They looked genuinely thrilled to have such support, and during the ending band credits, we all shouted out Jasmine You’s name too, to which Kamijo responded by looking to the sky, followed by all the crowd.
Ending comments? Well, Versailles are AMAZING live and I really hope they come back to the UK! On Hizaki - HE’S A WOMAN! Only the Man Hands™ say otherwise xD. Masashi is a talented bass player and did a great job of filling in the missing role in the Philharmonic Quintet, and I have a new love for Teru after having him right in front of me for practically the whole thing! AND, in two weeks it’s GACKT. So that means I’ll have seen all three of my favourite bands - a.b.s, Versailles and then Gackt - in the space of 9 months! WIN!!