Aww Dai, you're gonna make me cry
It's so true though, this is truly a dream come true for me. As I wrote about the concert, I realized that my words cannot begin to describe how magical this experience felt. But I'll try, so here goes my account of the concert ^_^
As I’ve said a million times since the magical night of March 25, 2012, THE CONCERT WAS FREAKING EPIC!!!!!!!!!!!!! It started with really cool images on the giant screens, first displaying the band name, followed by the band members’ names. Finally a beautiful, android-like Hyde appears on the screen, acting like he’s escaping from these tubes holding him, and he breaks free and punches the screen breaking into a million pieces that fly in all directions. Looked SO cool…
Then the band appears! I could not believe that after 15 years of admiring them and dreaming of this moment, L’arc-en-Ciel was finally standing in front of me. I screamed my lungs out lol They kicked off the concert with Ibara no Namida, my favorite Laruku song! They sounded SO FREAKING GREAT! I recall people in the past saying that Hyde’s voice has gotten bad due to his smoking, but whether that’s true or not, it absolutely did NOT show in this concert. He was flawless. They all were. One amazing performance after the next.
They went all out with special effects. During one song, they had fire rocketing up from the floor of the back of the stage. I felt the strong heat from it, so I wonder how Yukihiro felt, since he was right in front of the fire! They also shot fireworks (super loud but awesome), and during one song they shot streamers into the audience and I caught one! It’s a long silver ribbon that says “L’arc~en~Ciel”, “L’Anniversary 20” and has the logo of the tour. I think I’m gonna hang it in my room
At one point they had sparks shooting down like a curtain behind Yukihiro. Poor guy must’ve been HOT between the sparks and the fire!
Their performances were really filled with energy. Hyde jumped and danced all around the stage, mostly showing off his hip-swaying dance. I was SO blessed to see them up close. My original seats were great, in the press area (right side of stage, very close to it). But then after a couple of songs I noticed some empty chairs in the first row of that section and moved there. OMG. I was so freaking close, I could see Hyde’s face clearly. Best thing was, they often came to the sides of the stage, so they got even closerrrr!!! Most of the people in the row were real press, writing down stuff and taking serious photos. This worked SO GREAT in my advantage!! At one point there was a Ken guitar solo, the spotlight on him, so Hyde came to my side on the stage!!! First he was looking at Ken, but suddenly he turns completely and stares at our area for a while, making faces and stuff, so I took the opportunity and when he looked in my direction I waved, and he waved back!!! I was so lucky because I was the only person standing in the first row, otherwise he would’ve never noticed me! I rarely believe when people say their fave artist waved or looked straight at them in concert, so I understand why ppl look at me like 'yeah right' as I tell my story
But I don’t even care, I will forever have in my mind the memory of Hyde actually looking at me and waving at me for that brief moment *___*.
The break before the encore was painful. After singing Ready Steady Go, they left without saying anything, so I thought ‘there’s no way this is the end of the concert’. But then time passed… and time passed… and more time passed. The audience screamed and applauded calling for them to come back out. They chanted “L’arc~en~Ciel!” and later “アンコール!“, and Laruku was nowhere to be seen. Staff was going around the stage, so I started wondering, ‘could they be cleaning up coz the concert did end?’. Seriously, it was a ridiculously long wait. Felt like 30 min, don’t know how long it actually was. Eventually the giant screens went on, showing a cartoon representation of an audience doing a wave. So people started to do the wave. All of the audience did the wave together, it was pretty awesome. After about 10 waves and many more chants, the music started! It was the instrumental for one of my favorite songs, Anata, and the lyrics for the chorus appeared on the screens. Everyone sang along, and then finally Hyde appeared and sang with everyone. It was AMAZING. Such a beautiful moment~ *_* <3
The encore songs were a GREAT selection, some of their best in my opinion. I absolutely love that they sang songs as old as Caress of Venus (released in 1996), and not just new ones. It was just beautiful to see them sing songs that I’ve loved for 15 years. I almost cried when Hyde said the last song would be Niji. That’s the song that made me really fall in love with L’arc~en~Ciel in 1997, and it STILL makes gives me butterflies in the stomach when I watch the PV. So imagine the feeling I had seeing them sing this beautiful and powerful song right in front of me as white feathers floated all around us. I cannot find words to express just how magical it was. I kept one of the feathers too~ <3 *_*
After the encore started I took mostly videos. I don't have time to upload all tonight, but here's one:
WinterfallThe whole thing was recorded for DVD, so I highly recommend everyone to check it out.
Here is the amazing setlist:
Ibara no Namida
CHASE -English version-
GOOD LUCK MY WAY
HONEY
DRINK IT DOWN
REVELATION
Jojoushi
X X X -English version-
fate
forbidden lover
MY HEART DRAWS A DREAM
Caress of Venus
Driver's High
STAY AWAY
READY STEADY GO
Encore:
Anata
winter fall
Blurry Eyes
Niji
Topic: (Band) L'arc~en~Ciel (Read 64094 times)