-OZ- 「A FACT OF LIFE」UK show
-OZ-
「A FACT OF LIFE」
-OZ-`s first Europe Tour! It took place in January 2011, visiting the countries of Germany, Poland, Finland, France, England, Hungary, Netherlands and Russia. I`m writing this after the gig in the UK which was on the 22/01/11 :D So yeah, they are still on tour while I`m writing this.
The Venue:
The concert took place in O2 Academy of Islington, London. Unlike on the UnsraW gig (see below), this venue was bigger. The stage was much higher, there was barrier in front, so fans won`t snatch a band member or two. :D The bars (for drinks) were in the same place where the stage was and I can say, when I went inside (since I have never been there before) I was impressed. Unfortunately, we were NOT allowed to take pictures. For that, they searched our bags before they let us in and if they did found one, we were forced to give it to them. My friend gave me her camera to put in my bag, but because the camera was black and my bag was black, the security didn`t notice it. She also asked us to give our phones and she didn`t notice that we had ours with us lol. At that moment I was thinking ‘Yeah maybe I`ll be able to ‘ninja out’ a picture or two’, but unluckily the security inside was too much, so whenever they see some sort of light coming out a ‘camera shaped device’, they were pulling the people out, to take their cameras (and probably delete the hard taken picture). Some people did try to take pictures, maybe some succeeded. Of course, some were authorised to do so, which were in the front. I don`t know if it was the band or the venue policy, but also any contact with the band was forbidden (such as handshaking). But enough about that! Time to talk about the actual concert!
The concert:
Ever since they announced a Europe Tour, I could not believe it! I`ve always wished for them to come to Europe and more specifically - to London, so I can see them ROCK OUT live! I was very excited over the concert ! Never believed that they will actually come here. <3
The concert was on the 22/01/11 at 7.30h The venue opened doors at around that time, but the gig itself started at around 8h (I`m not very sure, since I couldn`t check the time, or more like I didn`t care what time it was). When we went inside, the first thing I did was to buy a merchandise of the band. The things that they were selling: Shirt (2 types), poster (1 type), towel (I didn`t see it, but people said they were selling it, I`m just blind), photo set (2 types), ‘Rouge’ and ‘Versus’.
I already own ‘Rouge’ and ‘Versus’ so I went for the photo set, since I didn`t like the poster and I was £5 short for a T-shirt (plus I love the photo sets). I admit, the shirts were cool this time <3 Immediately bought the photo set of ‘Rouge’ (although that look is so not my favourite, but after that I saw that they had one more set with pictures of the ‘Versus’ promo, but it was too late). I don`t regret it though, I still LOVE the photo set. I didn`t want to wait in a long line after the concert to get my merchie`, so it was the first thing I did once getting inside the venue.
Back on the track!
The concert started at around 8h? Maybe 8.30h? Not sure, but it did start sooner than I expected (I remember waiting 1 hour until UnsraW made their intro). As you all can tell/heard, the intro song was ‘Birthday’ from their album ‘Rouge’. Honestly, before the concert I didn`t like that song, but on the concert it was awesome! There was a fan thingy going into the net, about bringing lighters to the concert, especially for that intro song (unfortunately, because I was in a hurry to get out of the house, I forgot to take mine D: ).
First who came on the stage were Nao and Zukki! ‘Boom, boom’ goes ‘Birthday’, while Nao and Zukki put their right hands up, point up the little finger, then swap on to the thumbs and ‘flip’ goes the ligher! The moment the flame goes out their lighters, the crowd does the same. Here I was so disappointed of myself for forgetting my lighter! D: After that à Tama and Aki, who did the same thing according the sounding of the intro song and ‘flip’ goes all the lighters up in the air! It was a great moment. Last, but not least, Natsuki! They all looked amazing. I just have no words to describe them!
The setlist was like this:
1. Birthday
2. Rotate
3. Shangrila
4. Bitter & Sweet
5. BLAZE
6. Zenith
7. PLANT
8. Pressed Flower
9. flood bead
10. Strings
11. Seventh Tier
12. FILMY
13. Nerve[less]
14. Protect:code
15. Enmity
16. LEAD
Encore:
17.ATHENA
18. Butterfly
19. DETOX
Credit for the setlist info goes to: http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/-oz/2011/the-underworld-london-england-13d2d52d.html
Back on topic!
All of them performed in high class of pure AWESOMENESS! I couldn`t peek on Zukki properly, since the stage was too high and he was in the back!~ D: And I really wanted to see more of him! I was on the right side where Aki was and he was really rocking out! xD Natsuki was bringing the mood to the crowd with waving his hand in the air, making all of us head bang, telling us to jump, letting us sing with him. <3 He really has the great stage appearance of a vocal!!! Tama was on the left side so I couldn`t see him properly, unless on special occasions where he and Aki were in the centre of the stage, playing hard on those guitars and one time with Nao, while Natsuki was stage diving. :D
Nao! LOL he`s just one EPIC GUY! From before I know how awesome he is and this concert just gave me the opportunity to see him live. :D Alongside his awesomeness, he is a really sweet and nice person! (more of that when I get to the signing).
I remember Aki spinning round and round and round and round…*gets dizzy* with his guitar, but kill me I forgot which song it was (no it was not ‘Rotate’, I`m sure of that, tho~ it would have been awesome). My friend said that while he was doing that, Zukki was laughing at Aki`s spinning move. xD I totally understand that, because I laughed as well. xD Since I got to see more of Aki, I will just say that he was awesome (lol is it just me or did this word just became my most used one from the whole review?), but yeah he is! My dictionary is too poor to describe them. Hihi.
While we were rocking out, I saw people who were in the front, standing still. Okay, I`m not trying to be harsh here, it is a personal choice and I shouldn`t judge other people, but WTF?! Are you that much of a ‘wood’, not to move a damn finger? Or at least wave your hand in the air, showing some, oh I don`t know…enthusiasm? That you enjoy it and you like the band? Why bother going to a concert, if you`re going to stand still? On top of that in the damn front! Right in front of Aki, who was doing his best to make you move your damn ass and head bang a little. Seriously people, I am very disappointed and I`m sure that the band didn`t feel nice as well, seeing some so called ‘fans’ stand like ‘statues’. Jump a little, rock out, isn`t that what a concert is for? Singing (more like screaming) the shit out of yourself, head banging until your head falls out and jump around with all the energy you got left inside you! Have a good time! I personally did all and at the moment I`ve lost my voice and my neck hurts so badly, but I DO NOT REGRET IT! It was fucking worth it!
Aki was my hero at that moment, seeing him jump around, or said in simple English: rock the fuck out! <3 Just looking him, made me jump and head bang even more. Every time at the ending, he was pulling his guitar far up in the air. Wasn`t that just awesome looking!!? :3
Also I got to see a lot of Natsuki. Before the concert, I always thought of him as a very serious person. Even on album comments, PV`s and offshoot, he`s always been very serious, but on the gig he was smiling so much! I guess he really enjoyed himself (I hope). I honestly lost the count of how many stage dives he did (correct me if I`m wrong, but about 4-5 times?). Security had to pull him out of the crowd. (laughs) At one point fans got so attached to him, that they started rubbing his head, ruining his nice hair (I am sure it is really soft! Lucky!). The 3 or 4 times he was talking in English, were very funny. First time I remember he was trying to say, that he doesn`t speak much English and listening him trying to say that, made everyone laugh, but at the same time he was breathing heavily, because he was tired (singing ain`t that easy!).
‘I don`t….ah…I don`t….ah (laughs) ah…I don`t…speak much English’ - followed by crowd laugh, which made him laugh, which made the whole band laugh - ‘No, no….a little, a little! (laughs)’ - and he showed with his hand, how little he can actually speak, with a adorable smile on his face, which again was followed by a group laugh. The concert had its adorable moments!
When he spited water over us, I felt as if I was again to a ‘UnsraW’ concert…
I remember another very adorable and funny moment, with the technical problem that occurred. Natsuki covered for it very well. I am not sure what happened, I just heard a very sharp sound and then they stopped. Natsuki started singing:
‘Oh, oh we`re in trouble, oh, oh’ -which again brought a very funny mood to it. Don`t know how he came up with it, but it made everyone laugh. He also made us sing along with him (laughs), but I was more like laughing and then I joined it. I wonder if he knows that the song originates from Britain, which was also part of why people laughed so much and still remember this moment as epic. With that no one even cared that they have a tech problem and that they stopped playing, because it felt somehow as if we are really close with them. (laugh) But yeah, everyone will remember that and Natsuki`s adorable smile at that time! <3
Special part: The shirt off. Tell me if I`m wrong, I think it was on ‘FILMY’? Where the band came from a little break and Natsuki suddenly opened his shirt widely and stayed like that until the end of the concert, almost at some point he took it off. Me? I giggled. One second I was rocking out and the other I was with a à O______O face on and then I started laughing. Part of the reason is that it really didn`t suit their style of clothing and that Natsuki seemed really skinny and small (I ain`t complaining~). xD But that didn`t distract me of continuing to rock out. Some fan girls from the back started screaming, which kinda` annoyed me, because I couldn`t enjoy their music and Natsuki`s voice. But meh, that aside, I still can see him like that in my mind.~ He has a great stage act of a vocal (alongside his awesome voice) it is very entertaining to watch him.
I haven`t mentioned Tama? That`s because I didn`t see much of him, along with Zukki *sniff sniff*. I am very sorry. I can only say that Tama is very small, so small that it makes me want to pinch his cheeks. (?) And he seemed kind of shy. (?) As for Zukki, well, my friend said that he was serious (I kinda` saw that), but sometimes laughing. She was standing still, so had a bigger opportunity of checking them all out. She`s always tells me if I miss out something (laughs) when I head bang and enjoy myself I miss out a lot of epic moments.
Guess which song is my most favourite? DETOX! Why? It was my first -OZ- song that I listened to. It took me only one song to truly love and appreciate them (in other words, getting addicted to their music). They are just amazing. I was waiting for them to play it, but I felt how the concert was almost over, so I lost all hopes until Natsuki suddenly shouted:
‘DETOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOX!!!!’
And I was like:
‘WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!’ <3
I rocked out the most on it!!! It was amazing and I was not the only one. Almost all of the crowd head banged on this song! It was amazing! A moment I will remember forever. For me it`s the best part of the concert. I felt so happy and energetic, so that is also the part lost my voice from the shouting. Such enthusiasm in crowd! Truly amazing! Now I love DETOX even more than before. <3 It was the last song of the concert…last…but epic!
Ah…ah…
I felt how the concert passed too fast…or is it just me? But yeah! Starting from 8h to 9.30h? Isn`t that just sad?
Since I already had my thing to get an autograph on, we just went to the toilet quickly. I had to take out my gifts that I had prepared. Usually, I wouldn`t bother doing any gifts, but I really felt like giving something to these guys and I worked hard. I was so excited on giving it to them! Little stuff toys Teddy Bears which I bought (with a London logo, to remind them of the time they were here) and I attached a little handmade card to them. 5 teddies with 5 handmade cards of each band member. I made them in chibi style, showing that each teddy has its owner. (Is it just me, or did I just sound very (?)…never mind). Also I made a special drawing for Zukki. I`m not really good at anything, except for art (even there I fail live drawing), but I did my best and from heart. I spent a lot of time doing it, therefore I couldn`t wait to personally give it to him.
And here, life slapped me a across the face with a BIG disappointment.
Just when we got on the line for the signing, the venue assholes said that we should be very fast, no conversation, no bullshit, coz this had to finish for 30 min. I was alright with that, as long as I was able to see them and give my little gift.
Here they come!
‘Omg…they are so tall!’ -was the first thing that came to my mind. I never imagined that they would be so tall? Except for Tama. (laughs) Every band has their ‘little man’, who is considered the ‘lucky charm’ :3 When my friend saw him, she giggled -> points to him -> and said: ‘He`s so tiny~ <3’ Which made me laugh, which made the people behind us laugh as well. (laughs) But I never imagined Natsuki being so tall! For real~ I kind of imagined him being about my height, but he was at least 7-10 cm above me. I think Zukki might have been the tallest, but I am not really sure.
Back to the assholes from the venue.
They fucking left the guys from -OZ- to stand up!!!!
UNFORGIVABLE! They were terribly exhausted!!! I felt really sorry for them!! D: They squished them on a small tall-like table thing, on their feet!!! Seriously! A BIG FAIL FOR ISLINGTON! They really looked tired. :C
The closer we were getting, the more nervous I was. Hanging on to my presents, in waiting for the moment…Well, here I got slapped with another disappointment… There was a woman standing next to Natsuki, who took my picture so she can give it to him and said:
‘If you have any gifts, leave it in this box’
All my hard work and excitement for this moment went to hell…
That was such bullshit…some lucky people tho didn`t hear it, so they managed to give their presents personally. Lucky them, I`m a little envious. I should have played dumb and continued on to giving them personally. But, that`s what happened, I can`t change the past…
I left my presents and continued to Natsuki. Everything was so rushed, I couldn`t even get a proper glance over him, but he was so sweet and smiled. Then he thanked me of course and I did the same. :3
Next was Zukki (who I was so excited to meet…I really wanted to give him my drawing personally). He was so serious!!! (which made me want to say ‘Why so serious?!’) (laughs) I got nervous and scared…so I didn`t look at him (so stupid I know). After the concert, I asked my friend about his face and she said that he was either very pissed or very tired. I got even more scared o-o;;… I felt as if he`s going to throw that picture at me with his autograph on it, with the words:
‘Here`s your signature….bitch…’ D:
But I get too paranoid. (laughs) He thanked me, even though I couldn`t dare to look at him in the eyes…even in face…I was very, very nervous.
Next was Tama, who didn`t even look at me, because all of them were in a hurry (coz of the stupid venue rush). But he was so cute (laughs) tiny, you know! x3 He thanked me and on to Nao!
Nao! He`s the only one who I looked straight into the eyes. No shyness, no bullshit. Dunno how I got that courage, but it was the best. He took his picture, signed it and when he was giving it back he said:
‘This is for you! This is for you!’ - with a wide smile and proper staring at me. So sweet! Really, he`s a adorable person. Funny and very sweet! Even when I took my picture and thanked back, he was looking at me with that adorable smile on~ <3
Aki time~ normal signing, although at the end he thanked me in Japanese saying:
‘Arigato’ - stupid me! I know a little Japanese, but instead of saying it back in Japanese, I said it in English, which made him feel uncomfortable for saying it Japanese, so he repeated it in English two times. D: I am such an idiot. I was so confused with the rushing, that everything went to hell.
At least I got the chance of getting a quick glance on them. <3
The autographs:
Despite the rushed signing, I consider myself VERY lucky for being able to see and enjoy them live! If you ever get the chance of going to their gig, don`t miss it out. They are truly amazing!
Hope we didn`t disappoint -OZ- as a crowd and hopefully they will come again to London!
We will be waiting!
A quick off topic, about the presents:
They did receive them! Or at least Nao did! On the picture he posted in his blog, of the presents he got from the London gig, in the top right you can see my Teddy <3 I am very happy he got it (and I assume the rest of them got them as well…hopefully), but nothing would have made me happier, thank giving my hard work personally. I hope Zukki liked my drawing. (laughs)
Not the best review I can make, but I just wrote what I feel, thought and remember!
p.s. If I remember something new, I will add it with a sign ‘ＵＰＤＡＴＥＤ’on it. :3