LIVE REPORT - GAZETTE [Nameless Liberty, Six Guns] Standing Tour 2006 : 11 April (Fukuoka Drum Logos)

direngrey_, Lie and I arrived at the Logos at around 4, 4:30 PM. When we walked up to it, when I saw the actual building, my stomach flipped over. I couldn't stop thinking that Gazette was right in there, not even 200 metres away, warming up. When direngrey_ voiced those exact thoughts, I knew everyone was pretty much as excited as I was.
There were a few people standing around, mostly girls dressed in the most awesome outfits. I felt so underdressed! There were also a couple of groups doing cosplay, the one group that was furthest away was really stunning! I wish I'd been able to take photos, because they looked *exactly* like the members.
By this time it was still light, and starting to get pretty cold, so after changing in the bathroom, we made our way over to the tour goods stall, mostly to buy tour goods, but also partly on my behalf to get someplace warm! XD
I bought one of everything at the stall. They seriously had the most awesome goods! Almost everything was new since their last performance, so of course I went crazy. I had to buy a Black Moral bag to keep everything in! XD

Since this was the first rock concert I'd ever been to, I pretty much didn't have a clue as to what I should and shouldn't be doing, and also, the Japanese fans were staring. And by staring, I mean boring holes through our chests with laser beams that shot out their eyes glares. ._. It felt like they reeeaaaally didn't want us there. I felt so out of place and uncomfortable! So in the end I decided to hide behind direngrey_, and we engaged in interesting conversation involving having umbrellas in your bra. (Don't ask).

Finally, after what seemed like yyeeeeaaars, one of the staff members came out and started calling us into line by ticket number!! direngrey_ had a 500's entrance, and Lie and I both had 600's, so she was quite a bit in front of us in the line. Needless to say, the commentary from in front and behind us in the line went something along the lines of "Foreigners! What? Can you see their entrance numbers? I'm sure we should be in front of them." XDDDDD But luckily no one asked, so we just chilled out pretty early in the 600's line and pretended we couldn't speak English. ^^;;;;

After about another half an hour or so, we could finally enter the venue! By this time my heart was racing, and my palms had started sweating. I was almost dizzy as we made out way up the stairs and to the locker room. Lie handed in our bags while I went to the toilet, because excitement *always* makes me want to pee. [/TMI]
So yeah, finally we were on the floor!!!!!! There was the stage in front, a HUGE black banner with the The GazettE logo spawled gigantically on it in white right in front of me! I was jumping up and down by now.

Since our entries were quite late, we found ourselves in the back of the hall. This would not do!! I put on my best 'lost foreigner' face and went in, ducked low, mumbling 'sumimasen' so many times my tongue hurt. When that stopped working, Lie and I aksed everyone around if they had seen another foreigner, hoping that someone would point us in the direction of direngrey_, whom I was sure had already made her way to the front. Finally! Someone pointed her out! She was in about third row. >:D
So off we went, ducking beneath the divide into A block! Further 'sumimasen'ing and 'otomodachi! *pointpoint*'ing, got us into about 10th row! And there was where we stayed.

Some people came out on stage to do sound checks, and by this time, all I could do was gasp "Oh my god! Oh my god!" repeatedly. I think some of the fans thought I was having an episode or something. XDDD

Anyway, skipping the long wait until the actual start, the only interesting things were the dude who read out the rules (he was cute) and when someone spotted the members coming down to the stage from the balcony. Wild screaming started.

Finally, the lights dimmed! The screaming rose a notch, and my heart leapt into my throat. This was it!! And explosion of sound, the lights flared red, flashing, and THE END started playing. Now I was screaming too, yelling incoherently as if my life depended on it. Everything disappeared around me except that stage, and I was jumping up and down, screaming "GAZETTE!" I had totally lost it.

That was when I saw... Kai. He walked in from stage right. "KAIII!!!!!!" We screamed, my throat burning and me feeling slightly lightheaded. Kai took his seat, and that was when... Reita burst onto stage. Let me pause here to describe Reita on stage for a moment. He pulsates with energy. He's like a magnetic force; it's the most powerful thing. We could see the veins stand out on his lower arms as he punched the air towards the crowd. After Reita, Aoi. I was screaming my head off, reaching out towards the stage as if I could grab onto them and haul myself up there. Uruha followed, and he smiled at us. But when Ruki came on, the actual music (and it was loud, we were close to the amps), was drowned out by screaming. I felt my eyes tear up, burning. This was Gazette, I was actually seeing them before me. I don't think I've ever felt like that in my whole life. I think I actually did cry, I remember having to rub my face as Ruki took center stage by the microphone.

Everyone was wearing their Shadow outfits. They looked breathtaking. Scans really don't do those outfits justice. Ruki's coat fits him so prefectly, you can see all the curves of his body just right, but they aren't vulgarily accentuated. Aoi's white shirt makes his skin seriously shine. He is breathtakingly gorgeous in person, like you wouldn't believe. And Uruha's thighs! They really are smooth and creamy and delicious! But he's sooo thin. I was quite surprised, but Aoi and Uruha are actually quite a bit taller than I imagined them to be. They were so strong, so real, it felt like they overflowed their bodies and seeped out onto the audience, if that makes any sense... I couldn't see much of Kai's outfit behind the drums, but his smile takes your breath away. He seriously radiates energy! Even just sitting there, he was bouncing slightly on his stool, seeming impatient for the show to start. And finally, Reita. Everyone knows I'm biased towards him, but seriously, OH MY GOD. He has the most gorgeous arms and hands I have ever seen on a man. His arms are well toned and muscular, but not bulky, and his fingers are long and slender and his hands are very graceful.

Anyway! THE END drew to a close, and I told myself I was not going to cry at a Gazette live! So I started grinning like mad, and when the first song started, I was back to screaming like mad. I just lost control, the physical energy of all the fans and the band and the music completely ate me up.

Here's what I can remember of the setlist, crosschecked with direngrey_'s (for some reason I remember the songs and order a bit differently, but I blacked out during one of the intervals and everything after that is just slightly blurred, so it might just be me XDDD More about that later):

THE END
Nausea & Shudder
Maggots
COCKROACH
SILLY GOD DISCO
Discharge
赤いワンピース (akai one-piece)

==Ruki MC, next set to be stillstanding==

バレッタ (valetta)
D.L.N
体温 (taion)
Bath Room
生暖かい雨とざらついた情熱 (namaatatakai ame to zaratsuita jounetsu)
SHADOW VI II I
★BEST FRIENDS★

==Another short Ruki MC, I couldn't hear what he was saying here==

Ruder
THE $OCIAL RIOT MACHINE$
beautiful 5 [shit]ers
Carry?
とぐろ (toguro)
Maximum impulse

==Encore==

Ride with the ROCKERS (!!!!)
Cassis
Anti pop
泥だらけの青春 (dorodarake no seishun)
LINDA~candydive Pinky heaven~

==================

Nausea & Shudder

This was when it finally sunk in. I was seeing Gazette live. They were overwhelming. The crowd was jumping up and down for the first few bars, then when Ruki started singing the slower part ("So loooooong~~"), we all made hand motions together, large circles with our hands. Then we bounced again as it picked up pace. I was seriously grinning like a madman, and I don't think I had stopped screaming since the start of THE END. Once more hand motions for the slow part, and then the entire A block headbanged to the loud screamy part!! That is seriously the most amazing experience. Everyone around me was moving at the same time, a sea of power and energy surging forwards and backwards. I was seriously knocked around quite violently. Japanese fans are so fierce!! I got bumped into the rail seperating A and B block down the middle so hard I was bruised (I have photos, it was a dark angry red. It's still not healed). But I've never had so much fun in my life!!!! I had people's elbows in my ribs, on my sides, digging into my back; I had knees crashing into my thighs, but it was brilliant. I lost myself in the flow. The chorus had us all jumping up and down like there was no tomorrow. My hands hadn't been lowered since the start of THE END; all I could think about doing was reach out for them.... Ruki was awesome in this. In the still part where there's just a beat, the stage went dark, and he was illuminated alone. He had his hands up above his head and was weaving them gracefully in time to the sound. Then the guitar solos!!!!!
Uruha was spotlighted first as he started playing, and I swear to God I have never been more enthralled by someone's face. He got this really passionate look, like all that mattered to him was his guitar and the music. Well, he looked like that during all the solos, but that was the first time I saw it, and it really blew me away. And then Aoi joined in! Immediately my eyes gravitated to him. He is so graceful, the way he moves.... he just flows, almost like he's drifting over the ground. These two mesh so well! Not just in their music, but in the way the put the whole thing together. It took my breath away.
Back to a bouncy part! An elbow got knocked into my eye, but I just held it shut for a while, looking out the other one; no one was going to stop me seeing Gazette! The second headbaning got so violent that I had to shove my head down to protect it. For the rest of the song, I switched between watching Ruki and Reita. Truthfully, no matter who I looked at, I couldn't help gravitating back to Ruki every now and then. He is so powerful. His presence just seeps out and envelops everyone who looks at him, sucking you right in. By this time, the headbanging had shoved Lie and I to about 6th row, and more to the right. By now I was right in front of Ruki, and I could see him very clearly.
At the end of the song, he was once more spotlighted, doing the hand motions over his head.

The song ended and everyone was screaming again. I immediately started yelling for Reita. You all know the MRD DVD right? There's this one girl in the audience yelling "Kaikaikaikaikai" really fast and loud? I was standing right next to her. She also has a "URUHAAAARARRARAAAAAAAAA" yell, and a "RUKKIKIKIKIKIKIKIIIIII" yell. My ears hurt.

Maggots

Fucking hell, this song was amazing. More insane violent headbanging was had! I had somehow managed to get my thigh stuck between two girls in front of me, and it got nearly ripped off! :o
But anyway, I don't think I can even describe the energy this song had. Ruki was like an animal, headbanging and jerking; he was all over the stage. All the others were yelling into the microphones, and let me make one thing perfectly clear. The members of Gazette may look pretty, but they are ALL MAN. They were so rough and raw and powerful. The muscles in Reita's neck stood out, and both Uruha and Aoi had these insane looks on their faces, like the only thing they had left in the world was to just play and scream into those mics. It was so intense! Sometime during this song, I think Ruki's ring or maybe the mic cut his face open just beside his nose, but he didn't even seem to notice. He seriously looked delerious with... something... as he sang the slow part, and then he exploded into madness again for the chorus! I don't think I've ever seen anyone get that much into a song. I didn't really watch the others a lot during this, mostly because I couldn't tear my eyes away from Ruki. He just... I fell in love with his raw power. His emotion is right there, swirling in giant currents around him and over everyone else.

When the song ended, I seriously had to remember to breathe. I actually gasped for air.

The lights dimmed, and Reita walked up to Ruki, pulling him to the back of the stage and turning their backs to the audience. Now people, as much as I like my fanfiction, I am *not* one to go and look for things when there aren't any. You know that, right? But I swear to God, Reita caressed Ruki's back. He put his hand in the nape of his neck and slowly rubbed downwards, talking to him softly, both their heads bent. This only took a few seconds, I figure Reita was asking if he was okay, because Ruki reached up to touch his face where the blood was, seeming a bit surprised. But he just shook his head, saying something back, and Reita nodded, patting his shoulder before letting him go. Now, normally, I would have thought "That's weird! But I'm just a yaoi perv and seeing things where I shouldn't." I would have thought that if that was the only time it had happened...

COCKROACH

I was really surprised and happy that they played this song!!! I love it! Again, there was insane headbaning in the fast-ish rough sound! Lie and I were shoved to 4th row! I watched Reita a *lot* during this one. He has this cute wriggledance where he lifts his legs up behind him as he headbangs ^_^
But during the headbanging I couldn't really watch them at all since I had to protect my head again. XD;;; By this time I still hadn't lowered my hands, and they were starting to tingle, but I didn't care. In the chorus, we were all jumping as high as we could, and the band seemed to be able to feel our energy, because they were all over the place. Aoi seemed to having the greatest time! He was just dancing and... yes, all over the place. He even came over to Uruha's side, but went straight back. Ruki did a lot of headbanging in this, and nearly crashed into Aoi as he stepped off the centerstage to do some dancing. His voice was seriously great in this, though! He has such power. And he was perfectly on key all through! Actually, he was awesome throughout the whole concert! I think I only heard him go off key a bit in Cassis, but he was crying. More on that later.

As soon as the lights went out, I yelled "REITAAAAAAAA!" really loudly, and he kind of looked up, blinking, like "Whoaaa, what?" XDDD Apparently direngrey_ could hear me over the entire crowd! (My voice hurt a long time after that XD)

SILLY GOD DISCO

OH MY GOD. This song is *so* much fun live!!!! Everyone was grinning like mad, the fans and the band members! Reita was concentrating on his soloish part at the beginning, but he has this tiny grin on the entire time. Aoi was dancing cutely! Seriously, that man... I could just eat him. I wish I had a boyfriend like him. He is so gorgeous.
Anyway, I was singing along with the chorus, and we were all clapping our hands above out heads, and just having the times of our lives.
By "HEY GOD! Are you ready??" We were all jumping up and down again, and I was just laughing. I couldn't keep it in, I've never felt so great in my life!
And then the guitar solos!!!!!! Uruha came up on center stage for his, and as he was playing, he looked out at the crowd... and right at me, my heart stopped. And then he smiled! And I was laughing and jumping and generally acting crazy, and he grinned and stuck his tongue out at me, goading me on. He mouthed "Yeah! yeah!" And I was reaching towards him, screaming his name and laughing and jumping, and then he was gone and Ruki was back. I think Aoi had seen Uruha making faces, so he looked into the crowd and saw me standing next to Lie. So I waved at him madly! I was like "HIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!" And then it happened. He smiled at me! Fuck, I have never seen a more beautiful smile. You might think I'm exaggerating, but the magazines really don't do Aoi justice. He is just... perfect.
So yeah. SILLY GOD DISCO is the most fun song I've ever had the experience of being in the midst in. I couldn't believe it. It was like something had gotten hold of me and was moving my body, jerking and dancing and jumping (that might just have been the crowd, but well).

As the song ended, Reita had another private conference with Ruki, and more caressing of the back was had. My eyes seriously just about popped out of my head. From now on, Reituki is SO a canon pairing, kay? *nods*

Discharge

Before I start writing about this song, do yourself a favour and put it on. Right now. Put it on repeat.
Right from the start, I was shoved from behind right into the girl next to me. Someone's head was banging hard against my spine, the weight of the crowd crushing me forward into the front rows so heavily I couldn't breathe. My lungs felt like they were constricting. All I had to hold onto was the sound of Ruki's voice. Somehow, I was headbanging, but I was looking at him all the time. At the slow part where the band joins in singing, my gaze shifted to Reita. He had his back to the audience, but his entire body was tensed up and he was growling really harshly into the microphone. By that time the headbanging had slowed into an orchestrated forwards-backwards slow-bang. My hands were pressed into the back of the girls in front of me, the only thing that kept my ribs from being seriously hurt. Neither Aoi nor Uruha made eye contact with the audience during this song. It was like... I don't know how to describe it. Like none of us were ourselves anymore. Like there was this dark, raw energy that had taken over, and the only thing that existed was the music. Kai was like a madman in this. He looked completely out of himself, his eyes tightly shut, his hands just a blur on the drums. On the "HEY!HEY!HEY!" part we all punched the air, and everyone yelled "FUCKING JAPANESE" really loudly. Maybe some of the other fans had done it before, but it just seemed so natural. Something everyone just did without thinking about it.
That was hands down the most powerful song of the show. I am really still hurting from being so roughly handled ^^;;;;

Anyway. The lights went off for the end, and the whole crowd was screaming so loudly I couldn't figure out if I couldn't hear anything at all, or if it was just that the sound was so loud it drowned itself out. I don't know if that makes any sense?

赤いワンピース (akai one-piece)

Now, I'm not really too familiar with some of Gazette's older works, so I didn't recognise the song. But when direngrey_ pointed it out in her set list, I immediately knew. This song is SO AWESOME live! I definitely watched Kai a lot here. I have never SEEN anything like it. O_O The amount of energy... it's just... wow. I am actually at a loss for words. I don't think you'd fully understand until you saw it for yourself. He was grinning like mad all the way through. Kai really, really loves what he does a lot, I think. You can feel it just watching him. There's passion there. Searing, burning passion. He is awesome.
I didn't watch Aoi and Uruha a lot at all, but I think it was during this song that Ruki licked Uruha's guitar! I was half watching Kai at the moment, so I caught it out the corner of my eye. When I looked, Ruki was bent over, his tongue trailing up near Uruha's fingers on the fretboard! My eyes were like this -> O____O
Uruha had a beautiful expression on his face. It was just for fanservice, but he looked really into it, his eyes half-lidded in that Uruha way.
I managed to look away as Ruki straightened, in time to see Reita's foot lashing out and kicking one of Kai's cymbals hard! The thing nearly came off. Now kids, if that isn't an indication that there's something going on I don't know what is.

Anyway. That's it for the first set! The band all took drinks from waterbottles and the guitarists made guitar/bass changes and amp adjustments while Ruki came towards the mic and did a short MC. It was the standard "OMG ARE YOU LOVING US OR WHAT?!?!?! GIVE ME MORE BITCHES!" speech, but Ruki is... I don't know. No matter what he does, when it's him doing it, you have no choice but to be pulled in by it. We were still screaming like mad, and he seemed to be enjoying it, so we really gave it our all. That was when he first spotted us. He glanced over us, paused, then looked back. I was wearing a wrist back that said "FUCK" in large black letters, and I waved at him using that hand, and I think it amused him because he looked away, biting his lip lightly before yelling some encouragement *really* loudly into the crowd. We all went totally wild!!
Then he announced that the next set was to be still-standing. (I forget what the exact words were for that. O_o) He said it softly and calmly, and once again, because it was Ruki, it was like no one had a choice but to follow. So we all calmed down except for a few screams here and there, and the band took up their positions again.

バレッタ (valetta)

This song is *so* gorgeous live. Aoi was especially pretty in this song. The lighting was *just* right for all of them, really. This was a very, very welcome break for the crowd! I think we all just stood there panting madly for the first bit, trying to regain our breaths. The one thing I can really say about this song, though? BASS SOLO. Yes. Reita is *awesome*...ly talented. (Shut up >_>) His fingers just flew over the fretboard. It was so amazing watching him. He stayed in his position, didn't come up front like we expected him to. He just stayed there, completely ROCKING OUT. During all the imstrumental parts, Ruki avoided eye contact with the audience, even turning his back on us once or twice. Uruha seemed so calm and collected throughout this song; actually, Aoi did too. Maybe it was to support Ruki, because he got *very* emotional towards the end. At one point, he even had to stop singing. It hurt watching him; he seemed like he was really hurting. He had his hand clamped over his mouth. I could have sworn I saw Reita watching Ruki a few times, but the lighting was very dim, so maybe it was just my imagination, though. I must say I never realised how moving this song is! It's truly beautiful. But then I think just seeing it being actually perfomred has influenced my bias a lot. XD After the bass solo, the spot shifted to Uruha for a short solo! Then Aoi had one, the spot on him, and then they played together! It was amazing. I didn't watch what Ruki was doing through all this, but I think he was just standing bent over the mic. Like I said, he got pretty emotional during this song. Aoi plays the part at the end! I always thought it was Uruha, for some reason... Right at the end, the lights faded out, slowly turning a dull red for the next song, and my breath was taken away when I heard what it was.

D.L.N

Now, as everyone knows, I get pretty emotional listening to this song sometimes. Seeing it live was just... one of the greatest experiences of my life. I was watching Aoi on stage left; he had sat down on a chair and was holding an accoustic, his whole face kind of calm and collected. Reita was also very still, and Kai for once wasn't bouncing. I was watching Aoi when the lights dimmed, and everything went dark red. It felt ethereal. And then Aoi started playing, and I realised it was D.L.N, and it felt like the breath was knocked right out of me. I can't for the life of me remember if Uruha was playing accoustic at first too; I just remember his electric part later in. My eyes were stuck on Aoi. He didn't look at the audience, completely into what he was doing, and so beautiful... Oh god. Just thinking about it again makes me tear up. When Reita started playing I automatically glanced at him; he was also very subdued. But it was when Ruki started singing that chills ran down my spine. It was like he had melted into the music. Not making sense again, I know, but his voice just... flowed. It wrapped around all of us, like an embrace. He got very emotional during this song. For everything except the chorus, the lights were left on that deep red, it was so surreal. I think I wasn't the only one in the audience who was crying a little near the end. It seriously looked like Ruki was dying, like he had poured so much of himself into the singing that there was very little left. Then, of course, Reita solo. By this time I was way too into the whole emotional flow of the song to really *look* at him, except that I remember his hands very disticntly. Very beautiful hands. After the solo, Uruha switched to electric guitar (so does that mean he had to have been playing accoustic?), but even that went nearly unnoticed as Ruki started singing again. Actually.... just writing this all down is difficult for me. The children singing in the chorus were... amazing. Ah, let me stop now before I get all teary again. Aoi played the last strains of the song, and the lights slowly died out. And I swear, for the longest moment not a single sound was made by the audience, like we were all too stunned and didn't want to break the moment. But then one person screamed, and we were back in full force!

体温 (taion)

The entire stage was black. The crowd was restless, some cheering went on in the background, but mostly we were just watching the stage, anticipation eating away at us. Suddenly, a single spotlight went on, illuminating Ruki. He was singing, without the mic. His voice carried so powerfully over the crowd.... everyone immediately went quiet, awestruck. It was the chorus of 体温. He sang the first two lines, then trailed off... and suddenly the lights exploded on, and the music started for the song. I don't think I ever noticed how beautiful this song really is. I watched Reita and Uruha a lot in this one. Uruha was playing so passionately, bent right over his guitar. And Reita... well, Reita is awesome. For this song, I am pretty glad it was in the stillstanding set, since there is one part I'm pretty sure would have been awesomely violent on the headbanging. I think it was sometime during the middle of this song that Uruha pressed himself right up against Ruki as he was playing. I'm not sure if this was for fanservice or to support Ruki, because Ruki was pretty emotional right throughout. As Uruha paused for Aoi's riff, he turned and made as if to lick Ruki's face, but at that point, I don't think anyone was really interested in any fanservice at all. We were all too caught up in the emotion of the song. I'm using that word a lot, emotion, but it was seriously just so powerful. I felt completely overwhelmed. By the end of the song, once more there was a pause before everyone seemed to shake themselves and started cheering. Now, previously, during all the breaks between songs, the lights had been a kind of dim blue, enough to illuminate what was going on on stage but not so that you could really see. When the lights faded after 体温, they went a dull, searing red, and all the lights in the front died out completely.

Bath Room

Hands down, this song was the highlight of the live. The lights behind the band were the only ones lit, casting the whole band into silhouette. It looked amazing. There was smoke drifting around them as well, making everyone's outlines kind of hazy. It was amazing. The whole crowd went quiet, and the frist drops of the song started. For the first few bars the band stood dead still, not moving so much as a muscle. Then, when the electronic beat stopped, everyone exploded into action and the lights flared into full brightness again. It was like a photograph coming to life, just.... wow. Everyone was moving so gracefully. This song was really something special. Ruki was so amazing singing. I know I've been saying that a lot, too, but I think that I honestly haven't seen anything like him ever. Both Aoi's and Uruha's guitar parts are very strong in this song, and I think it took them some concentrating, or maybe they were just really emotional too, because Aoi had his eyes closed a lot, just feeling the music and kind of swaying to it, and Uruha was fixedly concentrating on his fret board. Reita watched Ruki a lot during this, but I hardly even noticed. Ruki completely stole this song. I used to love this song a lot before (it was my favourite from NIL after D.L.N and Cassis) but now I really, really, REALLY love it. By this time my arms were really getting tired, since I still hadn't been able to lower them, so I rested them on the shoulders of the girl in front of me for a while. She didn't seem to mind, so that was cool. Later on in the concert I ended up next to her, and since she couldn't keep her arms up anymore then either, I held her one arm up with my elbow for a while. Pretty useless info, but I thought it was kind of nice. I think she was crying a bit during Bath Room, because her cheeks looked shiny. Seriously, I think it's just being overwhelmed with so much... It's so powerful. You *have* to cry somewhere. By "me no mae no anata ga", it felt like the music was screaming, tearing us apart. Uruha's guitar was crying and Ruki... well. Ruki wasn't even Ruki anymore. It was just his voice. Oh god, I could talk for hours about how powerful this song was. By the end of it, everyone was just gone. There was no way we were seperate people anymore, we were just The Fans, like one huge mass of thought unable to be seperated. Not even the hating of the foreigners was felt anymore, like I described earlier. At this stage everyone was just helping each other stand upright, I think, regardless of who they were. :/

生暖かい雨とざらついた情熱 (namaatatakai ame to zaratsuita jounetsu)

What a change from the previous song. O_o This song is now officially dubbed The WrigglyAoi Song. *nodnod* Yes, he danced a lot! And cutely so, too! And during the parts where he didn't have to play, he was either smiling at everyone or wriggling next to Reita. The whole thing was put together *so* well! In the verse, the guitars have an exchange of riffs; Aoi will play one and then Uruha will play the 'answer' to it, and through that the lighting was just astounding. They somehow managed to highlight them at their parts, while still remaining focussed on Ruki, who was so obviously enjoying himself that it was hard not to smile and wriggle along with him. I really loved Reita during this song. He was as usual just at the back doing his thing, minding his own business, but he dances cutely when he thinks no one is looking XD;; And good lord, the guitar solo! Uruha came right up to center stage to do his thing, and I swear if rawkstarr23 had been there, she would have *died*. He was all... spread out. XD;;; One thing I really noticed a lot was that Reita's part in this song is by no means as easy as I'd thought it was. He was seriously all over the fretboard! But he made it look so effortless. I guess if you haven't been able to tell before now, I really love Reita. >_> ♡ Anyway, this song climaxes so nicely at the end, and when I say that, I do mean it to sound as dirty as it does. Gazette on stage is like one massive two hour orgasm of *awesomeness*, but this song? Was somehow more sexy than all the others. I don't know if it has to do with the lyrics somehow or just the music, or if it was just some random feeling in the crowd, but MY GOD. o_o I can't wait for everyone to see this song live on the DVD. It is *gorgeous*. It's like... porn. Just tasteful. And actually a turn-on. >_> Anyway, the chorus of this song is where Aoi gets his title as WriggleKing from, because his butt was really just all over the stage. XD It was adorable. And he had to run back to left stage to be in time for his accoustic part! I wonder if he'd forgotten about it. XD;;;; So by the end of the song, I was definitely in a very happy place, which was why the next song was just so much more awesome...

SHADOW VI II I

Another one of my absolute favourites! It was *so* hard not to jump and dance like mad when they played this! The guitars were *awesome*. It was like some kind of game between them. First Uruha would play, then look at Aoi, then he would play and look at Uruha. And there were lots of smiles and winks and just general fun to be had. Ruki had a very sexy wriggle dance sway thing that he did during this, a lot of fun to watch as well! Reita bounced a lot! But I was watching his hands a lot during this song, the way he plays and holds his pick. He has a tiny little scar in the crook of his right arm. Now, I've gone back and looked through all the scans I have, but I haven't been able to see it; so either it's new or they just cover it up very well? Both his solo parts with Kai, he was spolighted, and for the one he came up front, almost to center stage! I loved when he did that. ^^;; Anyway, to the end of the song, Aoi jumed up onto center stage, and as he was playing his shirt gaped *right* open. I now consider myself as someone who has Stories To Tell about Aoi's Nipple. XD;; It was... yes. Let's not fangirl *too* much, shall we? Let's just say he has very nice chest. Anyway. He was seriously laughing and jumping all over this place in this song, except for the bridge, where he went accoustic. Aoi + accoustic? TOTAL LOVE. But you guys new that already, right? I love the way he plays. Okay, if you watch the SHADOW PV, his facial expression was LIKE THAT. But as soon as he was done, he was up again and dancing around. He is so adorable. ^^;;; By the end of this song I couldn't help it. I was jumping up and down and smiling and just enjoying myself *so* much. A few of the other people were doing it too; it is just too infectuous. There was hardly a break when SHADOW ended before the next song began, but I think Ruki took a drink of his water when his part ended.

★BEST FRIENDS★

This is such a catchy song!! I've always loved it. I think it was during this song, when Uruha was up on center stage for his part, that Aoi came up behind him and took him around the waist, picking him up and putting him down on the ground so that he could get up on the podium. Everyone was all over the place during this one! Aoi was on the right and Uruha was on the left; then Ruki and Reita were on the left and guitarists were in the middle, then Reita was up front and Ruki was with Uruha on the right, and it was just all so much fun! Kai had the hugest smile on his face during this whole song. I think the whole band loves this song a lot, because they all seemed to be enjoying themselves vastly. Even in the crowd, people were ignoring the standing thing and more than a few were jumping. Almost everyone was waving their arms in time to the song, too. It was just too much fun. By this time I was starting to get really tired, but I didn't even care. I was singing the chorus as loud as I could, and the girl next to me kind of looked at me, laughed and started singing along too, and we were jumping in time and bumping into each other and just enjoying ourselves. As far as I can remember, the audience lights were also on for a lot of this song so that the band could have a good look at us (which they did XD). And Reita singing! Is so cute! He has like, three different stage modes... Bass mode, where he's powerful and awesome and strong, screamy mode where he's almost like an animal (but a very sexy animal), and singing mode, where he looks kind of uncomfortable and shy and just... too cute. (Okay, shut up. I like him too much. I know.) This whole song in general seemed to make everyone act very cute. Both Aoi and Uruha did this... head... wriggle... move. ♡ It's hard to describe. XD Ruki seemed very amused with the crowd in general, because he kept smiling at everyone.

Time for another MC! I couldn't hear most of what Ruki was saying here, partly because my ears were ringing so badly and partly because there was just this huge feeling of anticipation from everyone. The whole crowd was shifting restlessly. I think everyone just wanted to move again. So when the lights dimmed, a huge roar of screaming went up, everyone returned to yelling names (I went off with "REITAAAA! REEEEIIIITAA!" again), and Ruki took his waterbottle before the music started playing again.

Ruder

Oh. My. God. Ruder, live? Is fucking awesome. At first for some reason I thought they were playing, Zetsu, but when Kai started off and just went mad, I knew. Right off the start, we were going mad in the audience, jumping and jerking and screaming and grinning. Ruki spat a huge mouthful of water right onto the group of people I was standing in! With all the jumping, Lie and I had made our way into third row, right next to direngrey_ and the girl I had rested my arms on. So anyway, Ruki took a huge mouthful of water, leaned back, and spewed it right over us. It was like being bathed by God. O_O (direngrey_, I take back my words. Being spat on by a rock star is *definitely* the way to go.) It was so nice and cool, though, *exactly* what we needed. Oh god, just remembering it gives me shivers. After that, my hair was dripping into my face, my makeup smeared over my cheeks, but I didn't care. I was jumping and screaming, this song seriously gave me so much enegry!! In Ruder, every member has kind of a short solo part, so they were each spotlighted as that came up. During one part, Reita was playing a series of long notes, so he had one hand free, and he slung his arm around Aoi, who gave him this huge grin, and they both just acted like complete spazzes and started dancing. It was awesome. By the chorus, "I AM RUDER!", the whole band yells something, and by that part the whole audience was headbanging again. I was nearly snapped in half backwards! Reita's solo part came up and he was up on center stage!! I felt like I could almost touch him if I reached out just a little more, so I leaned right up on tiptoe, stretching out as far as I could. The girl in front of me was quite short, and she kind of bent over, lifting me right up off the ground, and I nearly reached him!!!! I could totally have touched him if the people weren't so closely pressed behind me, pinning my thighs down. Oh god, I have never felt that elated in my *life*. Ruki was insane during this song. He was having so much fun!! And it was infectuous. The whole audience was moving, writhing like ants, jumping and screaming. I remember one part distinctly, where literally *everyone* in the audience (or everyone around me, anyway) was screaming "I AM RUDER!! BABY, FUCK OFF!" with Ruki! I loved this song the most out of the live. It was just insane. By the time this song ended, I was exhausted, but there was no break! They immediately started into the next song.

The $ocial Riot Machine$

This song was, if possible, even more insane than Ruder. The lights were flashing like mad and everyone was screaming their heads off. I have never jumped that much in my life before! There was one part in the song where Ruki went "JUMP! JUMP! JUMP!" AND WE DID! And he was jumping too! And then the whole band was jumping! And going insane. And the headbanging during the chorus? ("Liars! Liars!") FUCK. It felt like I was a ragdoll being tossed around in a tumble dryer. But then we were all jumping again, and by this time I had completely lost control of myself. Ruki hip-thrust! He really does it! And it was RIGHT IN MY FACE! He also did a very trademark 京 jerk, looking like he was having a seizure. It was awesome. I really love this song now. I mean, I always liked it, but now I just LOVE it. Can't get enough of it. It's insane! By the end of this song I was breathing like I'd run a race.

beautiful 5 [shit]ers

Once again, I didn't recognise this song until direngrey_ pointed it out. There was a lot of hand movement from the crowd for the first few bars of this song, and then. Headbanging. The chorus was just the most mad, enraged headbanging I'd experienced so far! More than a few times my head was slammed so hard into the girl in front of me I saw stars. I really couldn't watch the band too much during this song at all because I had to protect my head, which I am quite pissed about. It was such a great song, though. We got spat on *again*, though, and Ruki threw his waterbottle into the back of the crowd. I think I remember Ruki having a megaphone for this song? That he sang everything except the chorus into. It gave his voice such an interesting effect! Like I said, I didn't get to watch the band a lot here, so I can't really go into how they looked or what they were doing. :( This song is overall violent, sex-driven and just lovely. ♥

Carry?

I was really happy that they played this song! It was *so* much fun. More insane jumping was had! I swear, looking back on it, I don't know how I made it through all that jumping, because I'm really not that fit. It's just that when you're there, you get so carried away, and you don't even notice these things. My arms were going all over the place for this one. Ruki is amazing singing this! His english was soooo good. You could hear almost everything clearly! Admittedly, I watched mostly him for this song. He was crazy! I was grinning like an idiot, because all I could think of watching him was "I know where "Rock and Roll Mad Joker" comes from now." Listening the song now, I just feel like jumping again. We were all screaming so loudly I'm susprised we could hear the music at all, but we could. During the bridge, I think there was more orchestrated hand movement, but by this time I was seriously too lost in the experience to notice the crowd much anymore. Uruha was smiling at the crowd a lot during this song. At one time I looked at him, and I think he spotted my FUCK wristband, cause he smiled at me again! One thing stands out very prominently in my mind for this song, though. At one point, Reita was relatively close to the edge of the stage, playing to the crowd and looking over us a few times, so... I flipped him off. OMFG, I GAVE REITA THE FINGER! I don't know what made me do it, but it just kind of... happened. Anyway, he definitely saw it, because he kind of blinked, then looked down my arm and paused for a second on my face. And I'm sure I must have had this "OMFG PLEASE LET ME JUST DISAPPEAR" look on my face because he smirked slightly, and went back to backstage. I feel so bad! But maybe he was amused by it. I felt like facepalming, but I couldn't because I seriously couldn't get my hand to my face at that point, it was so crammed. Immediately after that we started headbanging again though, but this time it wasn't a crowd thing. Everyone was doing it individually, just spazzing like we were all having seizures. It's the best time I've had in my entire life. By the end of this song, I was just about ready to fall over, but then the lights flared on again, and it happened...

とぐろ (toguro)

Fuck. That is the best way to describe the feeling I had when the first bars of this song started. FUCK. The whole crowd was headbanging, but not forward-back, no. Left to right. And when Ruki started singing, everyone was banging their fists in the air. It was so powerful. Ruki made handmotions as he was singing, and the whole crowd was following him! It was... entrancing. His voice was like *silk* in this song. It was awesome. Reita was extremely...'grr' during this song. Like only he can be. He had his head down, bent down almost to the floor, legs wide apart and headbanging as he was playing. I think that's one of the images that will always be burned into my mind the strongest out of this concert. Out of all Gazette's songs, this one has always been EXTREMELY high on my favourites list, so seeing it live was like a dream come true. I was singing along almost the whole way through, and at the chorus, the whole audience was illuminated by these huge-ass spots at the back of the stage! So I think a lot of people were singing along to show the band that, you know, they could. And there was a camera man at the side of the stage, and he filmed us! Everyone knows the part of the song where Ruki does the Ju-on noise, right? THAT NOISE WAS THERE. And it was so loud, it reverberated right down my spine! I thought I was going to die. Aoi stayed on accoustic for almost the whole of this song after his initial part in the intro, but Uruha was swaying to the music, so seductively... He was really made for this song. By this time all the members' hair was plastered to their faces and necks with sweat and in a pretty sad condition compared to what they had started out with, but they looked *gorgeous*. Gazette looks pretty fine in magazine shoots, but they are BREATHTAKING live, all sweaty and tired and wet and real. The chorus of this song was amazing. It was so passionate. Everyone was giving it their all. Ruki was bent nearly backwards singing, but he was *perfectly* on key for the whole thing. I was singing along so loudly! I couldn't help it. I've *always* sung along to this song, so being able to do it there, in front of the band, was just... like a dream come true. By the last "mada anata ja nai", everyone started screaming and clapping. I think everyone really felt very moved by this song. I know I did.

The lights dimmed and everyone drank some water, and Uruha was all over Ruki, leaning on him with his arm wrapped around his shoulders and joking around. He seems like such an idiot. ♡

Maximum Impulse

Strobe lights. Jumping. Screaming. Delerium. That's how I remember this song. A power trip on behalf of both the band and the audience. All the members were bent over their mics, yelling "SHUT UP!" for the first bars and we were jumping, jumping, and screaming. Ruki was bent backwards again, screaming his heart out almost like he would burst, and for all the instrumentals he was 京-jerking again. There was some more headbanging, and by this time it had exceeded violence and spiralled down into pure insanity. I was clutching onto the *hair* of the girl next to me to keep from being pulled under. In my defence though, someone behind me had grabbed onto my breast hard enough to bruise O_o So all's fair in love and Gazette? The chorus was soooooo good! All the band was singing, and automatically the audience was singing as well! I really dig this song's lyrics a lot, and I think Ruki does too, because he seemed so... I don't know. *Happy*. And when Aoi didn't have to be at a microphone to sing, he was all over the place! He was right up against Uruha a few times, dancing his cool Aoi-wriggle dance, and Uruha was grinning and playing like he was possessed. Both he and Aoi tossed picks into the audience when the song ended, but none close enough for me to even try and catch. Everyone waved at the audience and disappeared one by one; Kai tossed his sticks into the audience, and direngrey_ nearly had one!!!!! It was THISCLOSE, I swear.

Then the lights went up and there was a break. The "Ready-go Let's go" of Maximum Impulse was pounding around in my head, and I felt a bit dizzy. direngrey_ looked at me and asked how I was feeling, and I was all like ZOMG NEVER BETTAR! *thumbs up*..... NO. Hahaha. Just after that, my head started spinning. I think it was the exhaustion of all the energy I'd put into the previous few songs catching up, because suddenly I couldn't breathe. I actually thought they'd turned out the lights, because everything went black around me. I can't remember what happened next, because I couldn't see and I couldn't hear anything. I kept blinking my eyes and looking around wondering where everything had gone. I couldn't stand upright, but we were so closely packed that I couldn't fall over even if I wanted to. Lie told me that apparently my head just slumped over forwards, and she was rubbing my back, but I seriously can't remember it. Anyway, the next thing I knew, I was telling myself "Wake up wake up wake up! You are NOT missing out a SINGLE moment of this live, idiot!" And then the world started sparkling again and I could hear the crowd dimly. It got progressively better until I could see almost clearly again, and mostly hear (it was just a deafening roar anyway XD), but it was JUST in time!!!!!! Because as I lifted my head again to look up, Kai came onstage and the crowd went mad!

Ride with the ROCKERS

Oh my god! This was SO awesome! Everyone who knows me knows that RRWR is by far my most favourite part of the M.R.D DVD. It ROCKS OUT so much. ♥♡♥♡ So Kai came on stage, sat down behind his set, did a short MC (of which I couldn't hear too much since my ears were still ringing) and then proceeded to PWN THE FUCKING WORLD. God, that guy is so awesome. o_____o His solo has changed quite a bit from the one in M.R.D, totally for the best! It was way longer as well, so we could fully appreciate the genius that is Kai + doramu. That man is *insane*. I seriously don't think he gets enough love from the fans. *loves on him* Anyway, after this completely amazing drum solo, REITA came on stage. Yes, kids, I nearly died *again*. He and Kai played together for a few minutes (and oh, I wish I could have recorded it, because it was just... the coolest thing I've ever heard), and then they took a short break, and Reita came forward to the mic. And then. He did an MC. REITA MC. I don't think you understand how happy that made me. Of course, I don't have a clue what he said now, and I'm kicking myself for not being able to remember T-T But he was so cute! I completely agree with direngrey_ that Reita should do more MCs!! So anyway, there he was, bass slung over his shoulder, hands crossed and resting on the mic so that they obscured his face, and just chatting with the crowd like we were his friends or something. The best thing about it, though? After a while I noticed he was peeking at the foreigners underneath his arms! He was looking at direngrey_ for a while, but then noticed us standing not too far away from her, and totally snuck a glance at us too! It was all covert-like, like he didn't want to notice us seeing him looking. XDD;;; Made my *year*, that did. The MC drew to a close, and he riled up the crowd a bit before Kai started playing again. Reita walked away from the mic, preparing himself, fingers ready on the fretboard, poised to play, and as Kai's drumming hit a high point, he struck the strings.... but nothing came out! He kind of paused, looked down at his bass, then blushed deep scarlet. ^^;;;;; Kai finally stopped playing as well, and they exchanged confused glances. It was all so cute! So Reita went to check the amp, and it turns out it was off. XDDDDD;;;; OOPS. He was so adorable, though. He came back to the mic and gave this little embarrassed laugh, saying that the gods of music weren't with him. Aaah, Reita, you own me, you know that?

Anyway, they started playing again and everything was fine! So they did an *insane* duet before Aoi and Uruha came on stage and joined in! They really rocked so hard. The whole crowd was yelling extra loud, me included! (Though by that time I couldn't really lift my arms or breathe or anything XD;;; you know.) I can't really describe it too much since I can't exactly remember how it sounded, but I guess we'll all see it in the tour DVD when it comes out!!!! *preorders >_>* (Hey, my excuse is that I lost motor functions for 12 minutes just before that song. XD Give me a break)

Cassis

This song was my very first obssession with Gazette. When it first came out, I listened to it on repeat for about 5 days straight :/ And before that, I had liked Gazette, but didn't really listen to them all that much. So Cassis is a very special song for me; where all of this started. It was even more beautiful live than I had ever imagined it. Once again, Aoi played accoustic (and let me just interject here to once again mention how simply *gorgeous* that man is.) He was spotlighted on stage left, just sitting calmly and doing his thing, and when the rest of the members started playing the light spread out to cover them all. Ruki really excelled himself in this song. For everyone who was wondering if he really plays guitar in Cassis? HE DOES. And he does it very well, thank you. By the time the chorus hit, I think the entire audience was singing along. I know I was. And Ruki looked very surprised to see it. Even Aoi looked at us and smiled. ^_^ Ah, this song. Uruha's guitar solo was amazing. He came right up to the edge of the stage, I swear if I could just have leaned up a *little* more I could have touched him! As he finished and went back again, my eyes automatically went to Ruki. My god. He was stunning... So much emotion written on his face. I have to admit that from that point on I didn't really look at the other members, just because I became so captivated with Ruki... except of course when Aoi did his solo. I may or may not have briefly glanced in his direction. >_>;;;;; Other than looking at Ruki and singing as though my life depended on it and that feeling of incredibly powerful emotion, I can't really remember this song. It's like a blur. A very happy, tear-filled blur of awesomeness, but a blur nonetheless. T_T For my next Gazette concert I am so taking a video camera! I'll... hide it in my bra with the umbrellas! Yes.

Anti-pop

Reita's song! I was sooooo happy that they played this one! It was seriously so much fun. And we sang along again.. "Let's go, it is our turn!" Was LOUD and screamy and smily fists-in-the-air greatness. Here, Reita once more astounded me with his technical skill; I mean, I always knew the guy was talented, but really... I have so much more respect for him now. And Kai! Keep an eye on him during this song on some of the previous DVDs. He really just went all-out! The whole crowd was jumping up and down madly, hands waving in the air (mostly because there was nowhere else to put them... ^^;;;) For the middle part of this song, both guitarists instructed us to clap in time to the music and everyone was up in center stage, looking at the crowd and enjoying the love we showered on them. And then they exploded off again, in all directions, jumping and swinging and headbanging and acting crazy, and by the end of the song, everyone struck a pose for Ruki's "FUCK OFF!" XD

泥だらけの青春 (dorodarake no seishun)

Yes, they did the crazy left-right dance! XDDDDDDD And the whole crowd was doing it along with them! Well, with our arms at least, anyway. Ruki was so cute in this song. Up until the chorus he was relatively calm, just stepping left-to-right like the rest of the band, but during the chorus, he went mad! He was jumping so high, he almost reached eye-level with Uruha! (OK, that was mean. Sorry, Ruki. XD;;;;) But of course this spurred the crowd on to jump higher as well, and during this process, I *lost* the choker that I was wearing. I fucking *lost* a *choker*. XD;;; How does that happen? Well, you get some shortass Japanese chick hanging from your neck, things like that are bound to. ^^;;; Anyway, I got it back (thanks, direngrey_~!) so no harm done. The highlight of this song was definitely "Dame na otona ni wa narimasenu OH!" I swear the whole crowd did it with him! Hee. This song is overall just weirdly fun. There was no poking to be had at the end, though, which I think I was kind of hoping to see... But there was a lot of interaction with the crowd again near the end, with all of them coming up to center stage and just, well, enjoying the crowd, I think. It was great. It was only during this song that I realised, hang on, they're playing the encore! ENCORE? WHAT? WAIT A SECOND... It seriously felt like only half an hour since we'd come into the hall! So there I went again, off in tears that the show was nearly over. The lights dimmed and the next song started playing...

LINDA~candydive Pinky heaven~

I don't think Gazette could have chosen a more explosive way to end this live. The music started, and everyone was clapping the rhythm. Aoi had his hands up at the side like in the MRD DVD (and I swear, he does it *so* gracefully you'd swear he was a dancer instead of a guitarist O_o). And then they burst into music! This song was definitely the most violent headbanging of the entire show. But we were like animals, completely into it, so we didn't even notice. And the jumping! I just so high that I ended up on the *back* of the girl in front of me again. Sorry, random person I'll hopefully never see again! >_>;;;; It was weird, though. My head was spinning, the lights blurring, and I was so happy and sad at the same time. My chest felt like bursting. And Ruki's scream at the end? It TORE right through me and I just screamed right back at him, like I was being murdered or something, because it seriously felt like that. In a good way, of course. It was during this song that Reita amde eye contact with me, while we were both jumping, and he looked a little upset because there were tears just streaming down my cheeks, but I think he realised it was tears of joy when I started yelling his name and waving and grinning like a total idiot. XD;; For the end of the song, we were clapping again, jumping and smiling, and oh my god it was just the most awesome feeling.

And that was it. Just like that, Gazette had waved, thrown picks and bottles, and disappeared. I was looking around confusedly, wondering if this was the end or if they were going to come back, because the whole crowd was still screaming "AN-KO-RU!!!!" for about 15 minutes after they'd left. There was even a guy trying to get the crowd to leave, he was waving and trying to push some of the audience away, but they totally refused! "AN-KO-RU!!!" for the WIN! Finally the idea seemed to start getting through, though, because the crowd started thinning out. I untied my towel from my belt (it was the only place it was safe-ish O_o) and wiped myself.... My clothes were DRENCHED THROUGH. Let me explain this a little: Going back to the hotel, I hung out my shirt and pants on a hook to dry. THREE DAYS LATER, they were still clammy. Yes. That's how drenched I was. I was SO glad I had put my ticket and money into a plastc bag in my zipperpocket! Otherwise it would have been a lost cause. (My ticket now has a prime spot on my wall, next to my Gazette posters).

The line for drinks wasn't a line. It was a WALL OF PEOPLE. XD;;; But I finally won through, yelling for two KORA's, and we left the building. My legs were wobbly, and I couldn't really hear anything. I could see, though, well enough to find direngrey_ again outside. XD;;; I think she might have asked me questions, but I was just... gone. I don't know if I answered her or not. XD;;;;;;

And that, ladies and gentelmen, concludes the MOST AMAZING FUCKING NIGHT OF MY WHOLE LIFE, thank you. I'm still recovering. And even though I wrote a pretty detailed report, I don't think I'll ever be really able to describe how amazing it was for me to be able to see them live. I don't think I'll ever have such a great time again, ever. Thank you so, so much to direngrey_ for getting us those tickets. It was the best 21st birthday ever had by anyone anywhere. ♥


Here is where I was in the show: