[fanreport] L'Arc-en-Ciel concert in Saitama, Day 2 (2011.09.11)
Just had time to translate the report into English now^^
So, after a long "battle" on buying the tickets (joining LE CIEL, applying early bird tickets through LE CIEL, NEXUS, PIA & Lawson, all ended in failure), finally I got the ticket through Yahoo Auction. Though it's twice the original price, but I was sure that it'd be worth. And IT WAS. Never in my life I had a life-altering experience like when I watched L'Arc~en~Ciel by my own eyes, and listened to them by my own ears.
On Sunday, September 11, I went to the venue (Saitama Super Arena) from my hotel in Asakusa using Tokyo Metro Subway, Ginza Line, then transferred at Ueno Station to JR Utsunomiya Line. I arrived at Saitama Shintoshin Station at around 1 PM, and it was already packed by Cielers. I directly took a line, which was already a loooong one, to buy concert goodies.
I bought a pamphlet, a towel, a cyalume (light stick), and L'Arc's Pinky:st figure. The figure was so cute!
After buying the goodies, I took a walk around the venue and even took a nap XD Actually I was still half-unconscious, "Will I really watch them?" It still felt like a dream...
At 4 PM, staff started to announce which gate we should enter. We were told to make neat lines, then they checked our tickets & bags (no cameras were allowed). They also gave us a free magazine with X X X on its cover^^. My seat was at Level 400, Row 16..It was on 2nd floor, but I could still see the stage quite clearly.
At 5:15 PM the concert started! I didn't expect that L'Arc will perform FAREWELL as their first song! Moreover, HYDE sang the first lines of the song without any instruments accompanying. Then all of sudden, my tears were falling...OMG, this was the voice I've been waiting to hear by myself for almost 10 years...I couldn't stop crying even after the song finished and continued to Caress of Venus, Good Luck My Way & 4th Avenue Cafe.
After 4 songs, HYDE greeted the audience. He said, "Laruku is finally 20 years old..It's an adult age. We hope Laruku can become a good adult..But I didn't say that, it's Yukkie who said that :p". Audience laughed. Then I couldn't fully understand what he said, but he called us in Saitama Super Arena as Tama-chan. Cute, isn't it?
Then, L'Arc continued with Fate, Dune (where all Tama-chans were asked by HYDE to sing the chorus), Revelation, Natsu no Yuuutsu ~time to say goodbye~, and Forbidden Lover. After that, Ken showed his skills in solo guitar. It was really amazing, we're like absorbed in his solo performance, then he played the intro and My Heart Draws A Dream was performed.
After finishing MHDAD, Ken did the MC. In this part, he imitated the audience when we sang "Yume wo egaku yo.." with an annoying expression XDD Hahaha naughty Ken!! Then he taught the audience to make a cat's hand movement while singing "Yume wo egaku yo...". Later I realized that it was a gag! Egaku (to draw) has a similar kanji with neko (cat). Ken, you're a genius!!
Next songs were Seventh Heaven, Driver's High, and flower. As usual, HYDE threw his harmonica. Oh I really hoped that I'd get it...He also asked us to sing "Like a flower.." part togather. His bossy expression when checking us whether we sang well or not was really cute!! Then Tetsu did his MC, but I couldn't fully understand what he's talking about (oh my poor Japanese skill...). After that, they performed Stay Away, Ready Steady Go, followed by Yukkie's solo drum performance. Then the concert was stopped for 15 minutes for break. All the audience filled the time by making waves, from left to righ, from front to back, really impressive^^
15 minutes later, L'Arc performed a really graceful Jojoushi on a hanging stage where the orchestra was playing below them. After that, a video was playing on the screen, showing many girls in sexy outfits (without L'Arc members on the video). We were like, "WTH is that??", then a never-heard-before intro was played..It was X X X !!! I like the song though it doesn't have a strong guitar sound. After a big applause for X X X , they performed Winter Fall and LINK. Then HYDE did the MC again. He explained that X X X is read as Kiss Kiss Kiss, not x x x or chome chome chome. Haha...Then he said, "In overseas, this title might be considered as a porn, but I don't want to take responsibility for it. I made this song while thinking of erotic things..Oh, don't open xxx.com, okay?"
Finished talking about X X X, HYDE continued talking about weather. "Oh, today is not raining..It was hot instead! I'm sweating badly." People laughed, remembered the rain when they performed at Ajinomoto Stadium. Then HYDE also randomly commented about the special box-like stage where the orchestra was. He said, "I really want to go inside that box too..."
Still in that MC part, HYDE said that he was wondering "Who is L'Arc~en~Ciel?" when he saw the wristband. "Ah it's my band!" XDD Then Tetsu asked him, "Do you have the towel?". HYDE said, "Yes", but he showed a really old towel with old L'Arc-en-Ciel font. Hahaha..."Not that one!! I mean this concert's towel.." Tetsu said it & threw him a new towel.
Apparently it was the last MC, because after that, HYDE said, "This is the last song...NIJI". Then they said thank you & goodbye. Tetsu threw some bananas & sprayed the audience with banana-shaped water gun. Finally after all members left the stage, X X X PV was shown on the screen! At 7:40 PM the concert ended.
Personal comment:
Watching Laruku live was really a dream came true for me. Four talented men that had saved my life many times with their music & performances, whom I was just able to watch and listen through the DVDs and CDs, finally on that day I watched & listened to them by my own eyes & ears. How charming Tetsu the leader was, Ken's amazing guitar performance, Yukkie's powerful drumming...and of course, the beautiful heavenly voice, the stage performance as if he's melting into it, and the sharp gazing eyes..HYDE. Finally I could see you after nine years. But I can't get enough of Laruku. I wanna watch them again, and again.
So, after a long "battle" on buying the tickets (joining LE CIEL, applying early bird tickets through LE CIEL, NEXUS, PIA & Lawson, all ended in failure), finally I got the ticket through Yahoo Auction. Though it's twice the original price, but I was sure that it'd be worth. And IT WAS. Never in my life I had a life-altering experience like when I watched L'Arc~en~Ciel by my own eyes, and listened to them by my own ears.
On Sunday, September 11, I went to the venue (Saitama Super Arena) from my hotel in Asakusa using Tokyo Metro Subway, Ginza Line, then transferred at Ueno Station to JR Utsunomiya Line. I arrived at Saitama Shintoshin Station at around 1 PM, and it was already packed by Cielers. I directly took a line, which was already a loooong one, to buy concert goodies.
I bought a pamphlet, a towel, a cyalume (light stick), and L'Arc's Pinky:st figure. The figure was so cute!
After buying the goodies, I took a walk around the venue and even took a nap XD Actually I was still half-unconscious, "Will I really watch them?" It still felt like a dream...
At 4 PM, staff started to announce which gate we should enter. We were told to make neat lines, then they checked our tickets & bags (no cameras were allowed). They also gave us a free magazine with X X X on its cover^^. My seat was at Level 400, Row 16..It was on 2nd floor, but I could still see the stage quite clearly.
At 5:15 PM the concert started! I didn't expect that L'Arc will perform FAREWELL as their first song! Moreover, HYDE sang the first lines of the song without any instruments accompanying. Then all of sudden, my tears were falling...OMG, this was the voice I've been waiting to hear by myself for almost 10 years...I couldn't stop crying even after the song finished and continued to Caress of Venus, Good Luck My Way & 4th Avenue Cafe.
After 4 songs, HYDE greeted the audience. He said, "Laruku is finally 20 years old..It's an adult age. We hope Laruku can become a good adult..But I didn't say that, it's Yukkie who said that :p". Audience laughed. Then I couldn't fully understand what he said, but he called us in Saitama Super Arena as Tama-chan. Cute, isn't it?
Then, L'Arc continued with Fate, Dune (where all Tama-chans were asked by HYDE to sing the chorus), Revelation, Natsu no Yuuutsu ~time to say goodbye~, and Forbidden Lover. After that, Ken showed his skills in solo guitar. It was really amazing, we're like absorbed in his solo performance, then he played the intro and My Heart Draws A Dream was performed.
After finishing MHDAD, Ken did the MC. In this part, he imitated the audience when we sang "Yume wo egaku yo.." with an annoying expression XDD Hahaha naughty Ken!! Then he taught the audience to make a cat's hand movement while singing "Yume wo egaku yo...". Later I realized that it was a gag! Egaku (to draw) has a similar kanji with neko (cat). Ken, you're a genius!!
Next songs were Seventh Heaven, Driver's High, and flower. As usual, HYDE threw his harmonica. Oh I really hoped that I'd get it...He also asked us to sing "Like a flower.." part togather. His bossy expression when checking us whether we sang well or not was really cute!! Then Tetsu did his MC, but I couldn't fully understand what he's talking about (oh my poor Japanese skill...). After that, they performed Stay Away, Ready Steady Go, followed by Yukkie's solo drum performance. Then the concert was stopped for 15 minutes for break. All the audience filled the time by making waves, from left to righ, from front to back, really impressive^^
15 minutes later, L'Arc performed a really graceful Jojoushi on a hanging stage where the orchestra was playing below them. After that, a video was playing on the screen, showing many girls in sexy outfits (without L'Arc members on the video). We were like, "WTH is that??", then a never-heard-before intro was played..It was X X X !!! I like the song though it doesn't have a strong guitar sound. After a big applause for X X X , they performed Winter Fall and LINK. Then HYDE did the MC again. He explained that X X X is read as Kiss Kiss Kiss, not x x x or chome chome chome. Haha...Then he said, "In overseas, this title might be considered as a porn, but I don't want to take responsibility for it. I made this song while thinking of erotic things..Oh, don't open xxx.com, okay?"
Finished talking about X X X, HYDE continued talking about weather. "Oh, today is not raining..It was hot instead! I'm sweating badly." People laughed, remembered the rain when they performed at Ajinomoto Stadium. Then HYDE also randomly commented about the special box-like stage where the orchestra was. He said, "I really want to go inside that box too..."
Still in that MC part, HYDE said that he was wondering "Who is L'Arc~en~Ciel?" when he saw the wristband. "Ah it's my band!" XDD Then Tetsu asked him, "Do you have the towel?". HYDE said, "Yes", but he showed a really old towel with old L'Arc-en-Ciel font. Hahaha..."Not that one!! I mean this concert's towel.." Tetsu said it & threw him a new towel.
Apparently it was the last MC, because after that, HYDE said, "This is the last song...NIJI". Then they said thank you & goodbye. Tetsu threw some bananas & sprayed the audience with banana-shaped water gun. Finally after all members left the stage, X X X PV was shown on the screen! At 7:40 PM the concert ended.
Personal comment:
Watching Laruku live was really a dream came true for me. Four talented men that had saved my life many times with their music & performances, whom I was just able to watch and listen through the DVDs and CDs, finally on that day I watched & listened to them by my own eyes & ears. How charming Tetsu the leader was, Ken's amazing guitar performance, Yukkie's powerful drumming...and of course, the beautiful heavenly voice, the stage performance as if he's melting into it, and the sharp gazing eyes..HYDE. Finally I could see you after nine years. But I can't get enough of Laruku. I wanna watch them again, and again.