Back from Osaka...
Jul. 5th, 2010 04:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pyroyaleConsider this the abbreviated version of events. A longer version may surface somewhere eventually.
YFC @ Zepp Osaka, 2010.07.04
Firstly, on Saturday I found the little Darkside Inhabitants store and treated myself to a Six Gem Phone Strap. The poor guy who was working the stand looked so bored! After the sale was finished we had a little chat about Gackt and he was really nice so if anyone is in Osaka this week, go and say hello to him!
I got to the venue at around 10am - crazily early but my hotel throws everyone out by 10am for cleaning so it was either wander around Osaka watching the clock... or go to the venue and watch the clock.
There were already people there and there were already people with signs trying to buy tickets.
The tour goods queue got very long, very quickly. This poor staff member was tearing his hair out because no matter how many times he asked everyone to move along, it still blocked the pathway. Eventually he moved everyone.
People were buying so many tour goods (yes, you can get the cards WITHOUT getting the chipz). Some people were buying so many they were just given the chipz still in the big boxes.
There were boxes set out so fans could leave presents for all of the band and there were a steady stream of presents being delivered to the venue for Gackt. I saw lots of flowers, balloons and even 30 magnums of champagne being delivered.
The gakuchis came out to play a couple of times and the venue opened right on time. It's all very well organised.
My ticket was pretty poor, number 1751, and when I got into the venue it was 90% full. But, the Zepp has barricades all along to stop any crowd crushes and these barricades are easy to both slip under, and walk through the gaps at the sides so after a bit of manoeuvring, I go to within the first third of the venue, right in front of You - close enough to see the drops of sweat fall.
There was a voice over before the show started were this man instructed the crowd, cracks some jokes and got everyone yelling "osu!"
Show started less than 10 minutes late. That has to be a record right?
Gackt's hair really isn't that bad. I was on the side that wasn't braided so admittedly, I didn't see the braids that much but they looked okay. He has that half fully braided though, the ends of his hair are in beads instead of being left loose. I wasn't so keen on that! He seemed to have some silver make up on his eyes too.
I didn't hear about his hospital visit until after the show and I never would have guessed he'd been on an I.V. during the day. Looking back, he was a little shaky during Speed Master but other than that he was the bounciest I think I've ever seen him. He was hopping, high kicking, hip shaking and generally running around stage all night.
And I have to say, that I'm yet to see a photo or video that actually does Gackt's body justice. I didn't want to be the kind of girl who'd just spend most of the gig staring at his stomach but damn... It doesn't help that his trousers seem to get lower and lower... Of course he made this worse/better (depending on your point of view) by doing his usual pose of hooking his hands onto his belt buckle during the birthday celebrations and treated the entire audience to a flash of his lovely blue thong.
For Zan he wielded a katana. The fire was present but was nowhere near as hot as the RRII Final shows.
Gackt could not keep his hands of himself during Dybbuk. Whenever hemimed sang the falsetto part his right hand was just wandering everywhere and pulling his shirt up. The song is unbelievably heavy live.
For Speed Master Chacha did his solo lying down on Gackt's little platform. Bless. Chirolyn's bass solo is awesome.
There were no acoustic guitars. At all. The Lu:na solo was done by Chacha on his electric guitar and all of 君が待っているから was done on electrics. It worked really well and that's one remix I'd love to hear recorded. Of course Lu:na saw the shirt ripping and I'm glad that he actually does rip his shirt off and doesn't wimp out by having it stuck together with velcro like strippers do. It's more manly to see the buttons flying off.
I'm pretty sure White Eyes had been dropped and replaced by Ever. Which is awesome. I don't remember them doing both songs. Ever started with just the rhythm section, then the guitars joined in. All of the band were on Gackt's platform and Gackt has successfully managed to get his little hand shimmy over as the action that everyone should do for the song. It's amusing to see the whole crowd waving their hands like that...
Justified sounds great live. Gackt disappeared during his falsetto and resurfaced behind Jun-ji before taking over the drumming and bashing the cymbals. Jun-ji sat there twirling his drumstick in the air instead.
Flower was the highlight of the gig. It started with Gackt singing the chorus line acapella and you could hear every bit of emotion he puts into it. Stunning. The crowd sang along with his acapella and also later in the song. I've always known Flower was one of my top 3 Gackt songs, now it's pushing for number 1.
uncontrol sounds far better live than on record. You can hear the band more whereas on record it's more electronic. Gackt was bouncing around like crazy throughout.
After uncontrol, Gackt spoke for awhile and started the "otoko/onna" chants that he'd been doing throughout the show. There were a lot of men there! The band all left the stage and just as Gackt turned to leave the lights went out other than the spotlight on him, the YFC banner at the back of the stage fell and the curtain opened to show a birthday message to him written on the wall. Happy birthday was played over the speakers so the crowd sang along and it took Gackt an entire chorus before he noticed the message on the wall.
GacktJob came back out with the cake. Chacha and You had lighters but they couldn't keep the candles lit! The table with the cake was lifted onto Gackt's platform and it must have taken four attempts before Job were able to keep the candles lit long enough for Gackt to blow them out. The air conditioning in the venue stopped them from staying lit.
Gackt said a few words of thanks and a crew member came out with a bazooka for him. Which he promptly dropped. Almost on Chirolyn's foot! Gackt managed to get a better hold of the bazooka and after looking confused for a few moments, shot it into the crowd. At the same time two cannons fired and the crowd was treated to streamers!
(Click photos for larger versions)
I managed to grab hold of one, they're in YFC red and black and have the date and venue printed on them. They're also very difficult to photograph so pardon the fingers!
(Click the photo for a larger version)
After the show the cake was put outside the arena so that everyone could take a photo of it. The queue was huge but the wait was made better by having a lovely chat with this wonderful Dear from San Francisco who was on holiday and had caught the live (thanks for keeping away the boredom and don't forget to say hello!)
I can't wait until next month when I get to do this all over again another two times in Sendai. It was a fantastic show, and I hate to compare it to the RRII shows I attended as they're completely different lives but I enjoyed this so much more. It's all over far too quickly though.
And that's the short version?! Eek.
I really need to go food shopping but it's 35 degrees and my apartment has lovely air conditioning. I might open all of those YFC cards instead... I haven't opened one yet. My willpower is amazing me.
YFC @ Zepp Osaka, 2010.07.04
Firstly, on Saturday I found the little Darkside Inhabitants store and treated myself to a Six Gem Phone Strap. The poor guy who was working the stand looked so bored! After the sale was finished we had a little chat about Gackt and he was really nice so if anyone is in Osaka this week, go and say hello to him!
I got to the venue at around 10am - crazily early but my hotel throws everyone out by 10am for cleaning so it was either wander around Osaka watching the clock... or go to the venue and watch the clock.
There were already people there and there were already people with signs trying to buy tickets.
The tour goods queue got very long, very quickly. This poor staff member was tearing his hair out because no matter how many times he asked everyone to move along, it still blocked the pathway. Eventually he moved everyone.
People were buying so many tour goods (yes, you can get the cards WITHOUT getting the chipz). Some people were buying so many they were just given the chipz still in the big boxes.
There were boxes set out so fans could leave presents for all of the band and there were a steady stream of presents being delivered to the venue for Gackt. I saw lots of flowers, balloons and even 30 magnums of champagne being delivered.
The gakuchis came out to play a couple of times and the venue opened right on time. It's all very well organised.
My ticket was pretty poor, number 1751, and when I got into the venue it was 90% full. But, the Zepp has barricades all along to stop any crowd crushes and these barricades are easy to both slip under, and walk through the gaps at the sides so after a bit of manoeuvring, I go to within the first third of the venue, right in front of You - close enough to see the drops of sweat fall.
There was a voice over before the show started were this man instructed the crowd, cracks some jokes and got everyone yelling "osu!"
Show started less than 10 minutes late. That has to be a record right?
Gackt's hair really isn't that bad. I was on the side that wasn't braided so admittedly, I didn't see the braids that much but they looked okay. He has that half fully braided though, the ends of his hair are in beads instead of being left loose. I wasn't so keen on that! He seemed to have some silver make up on his eyes too.
I didn't hear about his hospital visit until after the show and I never would have guessed he'd been on an I.V. during the day. Looking back, he was a little shaky during Speed Master but other than that he was the bounciest I think I've ever seen him. He was hopping, high kicking, hip shaking and generally running around stage all night.
And I have to say, that I'm yet to see a photo or video that actually does Gackt's body justice. I didn't want to be the kind of girl who'd just spend most of the gig staring at his stomach but damn... It doesn't help that his trousers seem to get lower and lower... Of course he made this worse/better (depending on your point of view) by doing his usual pose of hooking his hands onto his belt buckle during the birthday celebrations and treated the entire audience to a flash of his lovely blue thong.
For Zan he wielded a katana. The fire was present but was nowhere near as hot as the RRII Final shows.
Gackt could not keep his hands of himself during Dybbuk. Whenever he
For Speed Master Chacha did his solo lying down on Gackt's little platform. Bless. Chirolyn's bass solo is awesome.
There were no acoustic guitars. At all. The Lu:na solo was done by Chacha on his electric guitar and all of 君が待っているから was done on electrics. It worked really well and that's one remix I'd love to hear recorded. Of course Lu:na saw the shirt ripping and I'm glad that he actually does rip his shirt off and doesn't wimp out by having it stuck together with velcro like strippers do. It's more manly to see the buttons flying off.
I'm pretty sure White Eyes had been dropped and replaced by Ever. Which is awesome. I don't remember them doing both songs. Ever started with just the rhythm section, then the guitars joined in. All of the band were on Gackt's platform and Gackt has successfully managed to get his little hand shimmy over as the action that everyone should do for the song. It's amusing to see the whole crowd waving their hands like that...
Justified sounds great live. Gackt disappeared during his falsetto and resurfaced behind Jun-ji before taking over the drumming and bashing the cymbals. Jun-ji sat there twirling his drumstick in the air instead.
Flower was the highlight of the gig. It started with Gackt singing the chorus line acapella and you could hear every bit of emotion he puts into it. Stunning. The crowd sang along with his acapella and also later in the song. I've always known Flower was one of my top 3 Gackt songs, now it's pushing for number 1.
uncontrol sounds far better live than on record. You can hear the band more whereas on record it's more electronic. Gackt was bouncing around like crazy throughout.
After uncontrol, Gackt spoke for awhile and started the "otoko/onna" chants that he'd been doing throughout the show. There were a lot of men there! The band all left the stage and just as Gackt turned to leave the lights went out other than the spotlight on him, the YFC banner at the back of the stage fell and the curtain opened to show a birthday message to him written on the wall. Happy birthday was played over the speakers so the crowd sang along and it took Gackt an entire chorus before he noticed the message on the wall.
GacktJob came back out with the cake. Chacha and You had lighters but they couldn't keep the candles lit! The table with the cake was lifted onto Gackt's platform and it must have taken four attempts before Job were able to keep the candles lit long enough for Gackt to blow them out. The air conditioning in the venue stopped them from staying lit.
Gackt said a few words of thanks and a crew member came out with a bazooka for him. Which he promptly dropped. Almost on Chirolyn's foot! Gackt managed to get a better hold of the bazooka and after looking confused for a few moments, shot it into the crowd. At the same time two cannons fired and the crowd was treated to streamers!
(Click photos for larger versions)
I managed to grab hold of one, they're in YFC red and black and have the date and venue printed on them. They're also very difficult to photograph so pardon the fingers!
(Click the photo for a larger version)
After the show the cake was put outside the arena so that everyone could take a photo of it. The queue was huge but the wait was made better by having a lovely chat with this wonderful Dear from San Francisco who was on holiday and had caught the live (thanks for keeping away the boredom and don't forget to say hello!)
I can't wait until next month when I get to do this all over again another two times in Sendai. It was a fantastic show, and I hate to compare it to the RRII shows I attended as they're completely different lives but I enjoyed this so much more. It's all over far too quickly though.
And that's the short version?! Eek.
I really need to go food shopping but it's 35 degrees and my apartment has lovely air conditioning. I might open all of those YFC cards instead... I haven't opened one yet. My willpower is amazing me.
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Date: 2010-07-05 04:46 pm (UTC)The cake is lovely. :)