Feathers, flames, bananas and novelty underwear. It can only be L'Arc's debut in London.
On the chilly evening of 11th April, the huge snaking queue that wound round the outside of the O2 in Greenwich, London could only mean one thing—renowned rock group L'Arc~en~Ciel had finally arrived for their first ever UK concert. It saw people of all different ages and nationalities gather together from across the country and, judging from all the various languages heard, the world to appreciate this landmark gig.
The indigO2 venue was a cosier setting for the live compared with it's huge neighbour, the O2 arena, but was still capable of housing over 2000 enthusiatic fans. At around 8.30pm the opening of the black stage curtain ended the hours of waiting and revealed a large LED screen. The impressive display lit up the otherwise bare stage, a blue butterfly being the main focus in the video. The introductory movie about the world tour which ended with singer hyde busting his way out of a glass pod enthralled fans and brought forth loud screams of appreciation.
The band members seemed to emerge from the darkness onto the stage quite discreetly. The first song was Ibara no namida, an interesting choice due to its subdued intro and verse. It made for less of an explosive start than anticipated, but wouldn't have come as a surprise to those who had checked the set lists for the previous tour dates—it has been the opener for every one. However with guitarist ken's skillful delivery of the memorable looping riff and hyde's powerful vocals in the chorus, people were jumping in no time. The single word "Callin'" flashed up on the screen to introduce the next song CHASE, one of the songs from newest album BUTTERFLY. More lyrics appeared as they were sung, although most in the crowd already knew them. hyde showed off his snake-like, and sometimes mod-like moves, dancing as a demon, angel and bizarre giant eyeball emerged behind him on the screen. The cheery GOOD LUCK MY WAY brought more hip wiggling from the singer and plenty of vocal involvement from the audience.
Afterwards hyde treated the audience to a short MC, apologising that it took them so long to make it to London but expressing how excited he was to be there for the first time. "Let's have a good great time!" came his suggestion, and a hearty roar of agreement was the reply. HONEY, an older song as sweet and catchy as the title suggests, elicited huge whoops from the word go and was a sing-a-long favourite. hyde got out his guitar for this number and assumed an extremely nonchalant air for his guitar solo, flicking his long plaits with his casual head shakes. The rock factor was ramped up for the heavier song DRINK IT DOWN and the literally fiery REVELATION. The latter saw the crowd emit deafening shouts in response to ken's and drummer yukihiro's prompts. It also came complete with hideous coelacanths circling on the LED screen and the eruption of tall jets of flame at key points. No one could ask for more, surely. tetsuya took his time to shine in the red lights mid-stage, spinning around in his union jack coat as the deep bass rumbled across the room.
The balladic Hitomi no jyuunin got everyone swaying and waving their souvenir glowsticks in time, while the pop X X X brought the pace up again with its 90s feel and really suited hyde's weaving dance style. A more serious mood took over with the appearance of the anti-war DAYBREAK'S BELL and the atmospheric forbidden lover. The onscreen close-ups of the band in forbidden lover gave the more distant members of the audience a clearer look at the emotion from hyde, the intensity during ken's solo and the unwavering concentration of yukihiro as he pounded out the incredible unrelenting beat. One downside was the unnecessary pixelly effects which covered the band members' faces from time to time. The end of the song led into ken's ambient solo, which howled out against the clouded moon background. As the sun began to rise, so the sound lightened to lead into the riff for the ever popular MY HEART DRAWS A DREAM. After the crowd sang their hearts out to its uplifting chorus, it was ken's turn to chat to the audience. Producing a piece of paper like a schoolboy reading out his holiday homework, he talked about the first three Brits he'd ever heard of—Sean Connery, Roger Moore and Rob Halford of Judas Priest in that order for those interested—and how he liked that James Bond films all had sex scenes within the first five minutes. The audience cracked up as he discussed his love of the London Dungeon, and how he wished there was an equivalent "Tokyo Dungeon" back in Japan. Producing a Cool Britannia bag, he handed his gift purchases to tetsuya who was the lucky recipient of a union jack neck pillow and a "tube map on his arse," otherwise known as London Underground map boxer shorts. "He'll never get lost in London again!" ken declared with a cheeky grin.
Gifts given, it was back to the music with SEVENTH HEAVEN. Streamers blasted over the front of the standing section at the start to get everyone in a playful mood and the dancey beats bringing about a frenzy of arm waving, some with fistfuls of the streamers. Old favourite Driver's High was introduced with an extra long engine rev and got everyone jumping on cue in the chorus. Dancing skeletons accompanied STAY AWAY, before tetsuya produced a banana which he briefly used to play his bass guitar. He then flung the fruit into an eager pair of hands and proceeded to mash his bass, filling the hall with wails of feedback. After he'd had his fill, hyde stepped in with "Are you f**king ready?!", which could only mean one thing: it was time for READY STEADY GO. Or "READTY STEADY GO" according to the lyrics on the screen. The band and fans gave it all they had to bring the main set to an energetic close with shouts of the title lyric. yukihiro's drum solo continued from the last bars of READY STEADY GO as the rest of the band exited the stage. Bright blue and red lightning bolts flashed up behind in time with his ear-splittingly sharp snare and cymbal strikes, and he drew whoops from the crowd as his arms flew wildly across his kit.
Cries for the encore afterwards were rewarded 10 minutes later by the start of Anata, although the familiar strings were replaced by a piano. The romaji lyrics for the chorus illuminated the venue and looped several times so that all could sing it. Some may have been lacking in the tuning department, but they didn't lack any of the passion. There was gentle swaying that lasted from then until the end of the emotional song, by which time everyone knew to sing along. This was followed by the contrastingly bright winter fall, another old classic. During Link which came after, there was a break in which tetsuya brought out a basket and asked "Who wants to eat my f**king banana? Who wants to bite my...lollipop?" Of course there was no shortage of positive responses, and he flung some of the aforementioned items out before taking up his bass again. hyde gave one final MC before the last song of the night, where he mentioned how he toured the London Dungeon and found it "a lovely place, but too long." After his strange verdict on the darkly torture-themed attraction, he expressed his love for London and many screamed out that it was mutual. Finally came Niji, a strong piece that showcased all of the band's best attributes. Anata would probably have made for a better closing song due to the interactive nature, but hyde was able to provide more of a vocal punch with the powerful Niji. Seemingly endless streams of feathers were blown over the the audience, so that as the band took their curtain call the air was thick with fluffy down.
"See you again!" came the positive parting message from hyde as the band left, having relieved themselves of picks and sticks which lucky fans clutched tightly. Out came the basket of bananas again as tetsuya chucked them even to the upper levels, and when they were depleted he just sprayed people with a banana-shaped water pistol instead. This cheeky, boyish nature is something that even in their 40s the band has managed to retain, and is part of the charm that will leave those who left the indigO2 hoping that they will indeed see them again soon.
Set List:
01. Ibara no namida
02. CHASE
03. GOOD LUCK MY WAY
04. HONEY
05. DRINK IT DOWN
06. REVELATION
07. Hitomi no jyuunin
08. X X X
09. DAYBREAK'S BELL
10. forbidden lover
11. MY HEART DRAWS A DREAM
12. SEVENTH HEAVEN
13. Driver's High
14. STAY AWAY
15. READY STEADY GO
Encore
EN1. Anata
EN2. winter fall
EN3. Link
EN4. Niji
