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Author Topic: GLAY U.S. Tour 2009 * The Great Vacation *  (Read 12573 times)

Offline daigong

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GLAY U.S. Tour 2009 * The Great Vacation *
« on: September 06, 2009, 09:53:17 AM »

SUPER JAPANESE ROCK BAND GLAY ARRIVES IN THE U.S. WITH CONCERTS AT THE FILLMORE SAN FRANCISCO AND THE HOUSE OF BLUES HOLLYWOOD IN SEPTEMBER!!

Get your tickets NOW!!




 http://www.glay.co.jp/en/
 http://www.myspace.com/glayofficial

Scarlet, rev2hd + Friend, and Tris-chan are the :hipheart: taz who will be there!

Here's some GLAY PRE-HYPE!

No Glay, No Life.
-article by Scarlet



I can still remember the beat of the first song I heard by Glay, it was “Rain.” What was an unkown Japanese band to me is now my favorite band in this whole wide world. From their memorizing melodies to their catchy lyrics, Glay is a band that cannot be denied by rock lovers, Japanese rock lovers or anyone willing to try something amazing. What started out as a band with a high school demographic in Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan; Teru (vocals),Takuro (guitar), Hisashi (guitar) and Jiro (bass) would turn out to form one of the greatest bands in Japan’s history to date. Glay started as a band that played in clubs in Tokyo, handed out demo tapes and flyers on the streets to promote their band. After being well known in the club scene, Yoshiki of X Japan, signed them on to Ecstasy Records. As a part of the Visual Kei movement in Japan in the late 90s, many artists were paving their own paths, some bands broke up, but Glay’s fate would be different. That was 15 years ago, and such a history they have had since, selling out 200,000 to 750,000 seat arenas, record sales  ranging from about 37.8 million albums and singles sold in Japan alone, and even bringing down phone lines a couple of times that interfered with the Olympics. Glay is not white, is not black and is not grey; they choose to misspell their name to create something unique and original. A mixture of rock and pop and everything in between. From teaming up with legendary vocalist of BOØWY, Kyosuke Himuro, to pop boy band, Exile. Their music is used for dramas, movies and even the x-box theme song, Glay creates wonderful and unforgettable music that makes them one of the most successful and well known bands in Japan.

Now celebrating their 15th Anniversary in the since their “Rain” single debut and returning to America for their second U.S. tour. The Great Vacation 2009 tour has dates set for legendary venues the band seems to be taken with, September 9th, at the Fillmore Theater in San Francisco and 11-12 at the House of Blues in Hollywood. Even though their tours in the states have few dates fans from all over the globe flock to see Glay perform. I remember going to the Verb tour last year, the first U.S. Tour, Friday August 15th at the House of Blues, getting there early was the easy part, the hard part is waiting in line for hours. I think I got there at around 10 or 9am, there were already close to about 30 people in line ahead of me. Around the hour more people came, amongst the people behind me I met a girl who came all the way from New Zealand, even more of them came from Japan. Even down in the front of the line girls there were people from Canada and New York that just a few days earlier were in San Francisco at the Fillmore. Glay fans are very dedicated, not to a scary point, but its serious business! When they finally let you in to the House of Blues it is chaotic; everyone is running and you are not supposed to be running, but the excitement of seeing Glay in the states when you thought you never would just drives you to ignore rules. Everyone flocks to their standing-only choices: upstairs, in the pit or in the back on the platform, which is a good choice if you do not want to squished in the crowd when the shows starts, but I prefer to live dangerously and get as close to the stage as I can. Dreams do come true, I got to stand one person behind the rail with a perfect view of my idol Takuro, yes; you can bet I had died and gone to heaven. However, no matter how squished up against someone you are, it is usually when Teru decides to get too close to the crowd, or when we are all very excited to be in the same room when they are performing Konojo No “Modern…”. The atmosphere in the audience is almost rehearsed but then you realize that you are in sync with people that come from far and wide to share in this experience. What would appear to be strangers in the outside world seem to be your best friends at that venue. When you are all connected by amazing music that transcends the language barrier, and can bring different people together it does not matter if you do not understand what they are saying, though it helps. Because you can feel the energy and the love in the room, listening to Teru’s voice fill the air, dancing to Jiro’s amazing bass lines while he jumps about the stage, banging your head to Hisashi’s guitar solos or screaming like crazy when Takuro kicks the air and strums his guitar. Even after the show ends you find yourself reminiscing still as you are walking out, or rushing to the merchandise booth, with everyone about how much fun you had, how you never thought they would come to states, and they say the same thing and suddenly you realize that other people can be as crazy about a band as you are. Glay is more than just a band, it truly is like a family, it is a beautiful thing that something as small as music can connect you to another world. As the fans would say “No Glay, No Life”, the band gives back as much as it can to its fans reaching through Myspace and promises to tour beyond the borders of Japan. Whether you decide to give Glay a try or not they will remain a band that is still going strong and there are no signs of them slowing down in the music industry only time will tell what Glay has in store.

Check the GLAY Thread in the J-Music Section for more discussion
http://forum.jphip.com/index.php?topic=13007.0


« Last Edit: November 25, 2009, 06:49:41 AM by daigong »

Offline Rei-chan

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Re: GLAY U.S. Tour 2009 * The Great Vacation *
« Reply #1 on: September 06, 2009, 09:12:11 PM »
Wooo congrats to those who are going!! Can't wait to see pics and stories!  :D

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Offline Scarlet

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Re: GLAY U.S. Tour 2009 * The Great Vacation *
« Reply #2 on: September 14, 2009, 10:39:44 AM »
Glay @ the House of Blues Sept.12
Photographer: Shunji Kobayashi


The Line
Got there at 7am!
there was already 20 something people in front, not a big deal, but you just knew how I felt.

the pass the line crowd, the girl in red was first in line :3

In front of the House of Blues, though this is a picture of the "Tonight" board.

Well waiting in line was very boring, I brought friends this time, but they were mostly reading books. Even more people came, it was nice listening to the stories people were telling about Glay, I met some fans who came from Japan, Tomoko &Miki, and their friend I can't remember his name. But it was like a funny lost in translation because they spoke little English and I little Japanese, so we mostly used body language. They asked us if we came last year, and If I was in any pictures, I told them that I did come last year, and then Tomo rummaged inside her bag and pulled out a small magazine, and handed it to me, I didn't realize what it was until I took it. It was Happy Swing Volume 53& Happy Swing volume 50! And it was about the Verb tour in 08!! I immediately freaked out, I specially freaked out when I opened it and saw a pic picture of the crow. I WAS IN IT!! I freaked out so much at that time, I showed them and they congratulated me and were cheering , then she asked me if Jiro took a picture of our section and I told her that I remembered that, well guess what? She turned to the page it was on and I found myself AGAIN!! I showed them and they confirmed it! Tomo flipped on Happy Swing 53 and pointed to the crowd in the Picture of the Great Vacation free concert in Yokohama,and said that it was her, I freaked out for her and we were just soaking in Glay Fan-girl-ness. He gave me back the magazines after telling us to let another group od fans look at them gave them back to them and Tomo told me that we could take pictures of them all we wanted. Though through Lost in Translation she pointed at me and said "Takuro, Takuro Takuro" and made a motion of cellphone picture taking as she said it and said "it's okay". After taking like a hundred pictures of Takuro, and Erika of Jiro we gave them back. They asked us who our favorite member was, Erika and Diana (friends I brought) said Jiro because in the short time I've introduced them they were just crazy about Jiro. Tomo and Miki were also Jiro fans, I told them Takuro and they freaked out and started showing all these pictures of Takuro and telling me that he lived in L.A. and he also had a house in Japan, and that he moved from L.A. to Japan, back to Japan and back to L.A.! Well I was dying inside and these girls were so happy that their idols could be adored by people so many miles away from their homeland. They had jet-lag though so they went back to their hotel room to sleep, it was 2am for them so I wasn't surprised, their friend stayed but he slept in line, we took care of their stuff while they were gone though. Then they started rehearsing! around 6 something, i went to go to the bathroom and what do I hear? "My Love, Try Love" Oh my God! I pressed my face against a glass door by the bathroom and I could see Hisashi, Oh my God, I told the other fans that were there to go see, and then there was a line to see them. A girl with blond hair was there just listening, she said that if she saw them she would cry, it was so sweet. I remember that was me last year, I was crying in line while they were rehearsing, and during performance at the show, wow. I love how Glay can touch so many people and all over the world.


The Show



Photographer: Shunji Kobayashi
Hours Passed by, and a short misunderstanding about our tickets later, we were in! Well as Soon as my ticket was scanned I RAN IN and I mean "RAN IN" I got from the door to the rail in 3 seconds! I even almost threw down with a girl who wanted my spot, she pushed me and I shoved her back, she was Japanese too, and I can tell you that the rest of the night she tired to push me back. Well that was the girl to my right. The girl to my left was so nice though, we took care of each other all threw out the concert. The girls in front of me were rude though, they kept pushing us back even though we weren't pushing them, so I didn't understand them, I also didn't understand how people can leave their hair down, and expect it not to to pulled! Alright so the concert begins! Lights go on, and Hisashi walks out with his Jedi light-saber toy, oh my god! Fangirls were loosing it, I was loosing it, Hisashi is so cool! Next to come out was Jiro, and yes he had a light-Saber too! (I think, he was holding something!) right after him was Takuro, he was a total rock star, like we know he is posing and doing all the things we love him for, and then Teru, walking to his mic with his arms wide open, I was in love, I always forget it, but Teru is such a great performer because of how he interacts with the audience, even though that Takuro is my idol, my God, Teru always steals my attention.
"The Great Vacation" Begins and we're all going crazy, already there's a girl behind me trying to push me away, not gonna happen, in too in love and into this moment to let her. I'm singing a long and just in love with everything, shaking freaking out about Takuro playing too close to the crow, my entire section was just calling out his name "Takuro" "Takuro!!"
"Yuuwaku/誘惑" was next, and omg it was craziness, " Morning Moon,yuube no namida no wakemo kikazu" I was getting pushed badly this time, I tried to ignore her but it was bad, so I stepped on her foot and she stopped, I can still feel the bruises she gave me by the way. I let it go and just jumped with the crowed I sang out with Teru's voice and hundreds of Glay fans, singing a long "I don't know how to love don't ask me why!" at this point Hisashi's solo came and he stood in the middle of the stage I was near there and I saw him shred that guitar and the beautiful sound of it rang in my ear, I remember then that Hisashi's outfit really reminded me of  the Live a the Expo in 1998, still Punk rock at heart.

I think that " Ikiteku Tsuyosa /生きてく強さ”was next, the energy of the crowd was picking up and that girl wouldn't quit it, well when that soon was over. Next was “Glorious” I was just lost in Euphoria at this time, from the dehydration from eating close to nothing all day "I sing my dream forever, I wish you will be happy
". Before Teru started talking to us, again, a guy behind me told the girl who was crushing me to stop it, then he said some words to her in Japanese that I will not repeat here, let's just say that bitch got what she deserved, the rest of the night I never felt her try to push me away again, thank you mysterious man!
The next song was "Starless Night" and you know Teru, first he made us sing with him and had a little cheering contest, he spoke to us, and told us about his "Broken English" oh but he was so cute, trying to translate his Japanese into English but a fan didn't know how to translate it. Well we were doing the "Ooooh wow" and he tried to separate the boys from the girls, a girl who was singing on a boys part went red when he pointed at her and said "Just the boys!"

After this I think they played two ballads, "However", and "Be with you", and "Run" "Hashiru Hashiru, Hashiru!!" I can't remember the order though, they either played it before these two or after, that I think it was "Verb" well it was amazing! and everyone was headbanging and jumping "Doushite ano toki te wo hanashita doushite ano chikai wo kowashita " going crazy over Teru pulling Hisashi too close to him, Takuro was hunched over demanding perfection from his guitar, it came in the dramatic sound of the bridge.  He was wearing these pretty boots they were shiny and blood red, Teru's boots had these little feathers on the sides that would jingle as he walked, it was cute and very rock n roll.  Alright so I think that after Verb, they played "Synchronicity" with Teru beginning this beautiful vocalizing that just blew me away. Next was "I am xxx " Everyone went crazy again, and I'm telling you that it's not "omg omg I'm being squished" all the time. It's very tame but at the same time it's amazing because you can jump comfortably and have fun comfortably. So we're all losing it at the chorus and freaking out again " Yes I am, Oh Yes I am we are in love" It was very in the order like the Fillmore set list except for “Glorious in the beginning and Acid Head.” Next song, i knew they were going to play but I still freaked out because it was one of my favorites, "High Communications" Teru made us some weird punching X thing with our arms 'High communications beat emotion escalation" more jumping I smiled to the girl next to me who turned to me and smiled at me back, then the bridge came up in the middle of "I love, try love" the crowd jumped and cheered "hey" it was very cool how fast we got the choreography down!  Next was "More than Love" and yes, the crowd jumped in unison every time Teru sang “more than love” it was so much fun because that lyrics is repeated so many times! It was time, for Jiro to rock the hell out of us with "SHUTTER SPEEDSのテーマ/Shutter Speeds no theme", of course the fan-girls were going crazy! And we would jump in sync to "Hey Man". Next was "Acid Head" which was amazing (even crazier than Konojo) and Teru was spinning so crazily! Then at the middle of this song Teru decided to rip off his shirt and at the end collapse on the floor, Takuro laughed when he did and so did Jiro, awww it was so cute you guys! Then they left the stage. Of course there was going to be an encore because their Glay and we love them and want more. They came out and Teru had a shirt on, fan-girls mourned, it was a tour shirt by the way, I think the whole band had them on. "彼女の"Modern..."/Konojo no 'Modern...'" was the first encore song, well the crow went crazy! I felt even more squished now and somehow ended up separated from my friends and all the way nearer to Teru which meant I was farther from Takuro, though I wasn't sad.I let it go though I was too busy jumping "Kimi no sex, drugs, rock and roll!!" Then something happened, I freaked out more than usual, why? Maybe because one of my favorite songs was next! "ピ-ク果てしなく ソウル限りなく/Peak Hateshinaku Soul Kagirinaku" in an instant Teru got the crowd to do the windshield wipers and of course we all proceeded to jump once the lyrics started. "It's My Life Tomerarenai! Dokomadedemo Hashiru!"Well the evening ended withI'm In Love" it was really beautiful, Teru would mix in the name of L.A. in there somewhere, and the crowd was just taking in his voice, while Teru strummed his guitar and sang, Takuro took his pick and put it in his mouth and proceeded to play his guitar with his fingers only. I would've taken a picture but my phone died! Well I was in heaven, and all the while clapping my hands to the tempo repeating the anthem we all swore by "I'm Just in Love, I'm just in love, I'm just in love oh Singin' my Life".
I couldn’t remember the order of the songs after the show though, I have really bad short term. I remember ,however, Teru just showering me  when he sprayed water into the crowd,  I remember Hisashi throwing his pick way back into the pit, I remember Jiro taking a picture of my section, again! Glay took a picture with us too, I don't think I'll show up this time but maybe my hand will! It was so cute Teru was just like "Do you mind, if we took a picture with you guys?" I remember Takuro talking into the mic, I remember me freaking out about it, I'm only this much of a fan-girl for Takuro! We didn't do the end jump together, but my section only a few did the girl next to me and I held hands and jumped when they did. The concert was over, I was parched I made my way to the bar and asked for water, after the concert my friends who never even knew who they were or have liked Japanese music at all were all of a sudden in love with them! We swore to follow their next U.S. tour entirely. This is the reason that I am so in love with Glay, the way that they can bring people together and the message that they give, and the way they treat their fans. You can tell that when Teru saw a sign that read "We Love Glay" he said "Oh that's so sweet, I love you too," you can hear it in his vioce that he meant it. Or even how excited Jiro was it was written all over his face that they honestly cared for us. Many bands just see their audience as money, but not Glay, and like Glay a lot of other bands don’t. The Great Vacation Tour ended, with promises to return to the states again!



This is Teru!

Jiro!

Takuro
& I couldn't get a picture of Hisashi because my phone died D:
Sorry Hisashi fans >;

Here's the Setlist incase I got it wrong again!Setlist

 

1 – Great Vacation

2 – Yuuwaku/誘惑

-MC-

3 - Ikiteku Tsuyosa /生きてく強さ

4 – Glorious

5 – Starless Night

-MC-

7 – RUN

8 – HOWEVER

9 – BE WITH YOU

-MC-

10 – VERB

11 – Synchronicity

12 – I am xxx

13 – High communications

-MC-

14 - More than Love

15 – Shutter Speed no theme/SHUTTER SPEEDSのテーマ

16 – ACID HEAD

 

ENCORE

17 – Konojo no Modern/彼女の"Modern..."

18 – Peak Hateshinaku Soul Kagirinaku/ピ-ク果てしなく ソウル限りなく

19 – I’m In Love
« Last Edit: September 18, 2009, 09:45:49 PM by Scarlet »
"Love is Beautiful"

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