exist†trace at Shibuya WWW

On a rainy November evening the fans of exist†trace, a colourful mix of ages and genders, filled Shibuya WWW, a live house that resembles an amphitheater with a number of rising levels. As quiet music streamed out of the speakers, the members of exist†trace one by one elegantly entered the stage, and was greeted by loud screams and applause.

As sounds of an organ submerged the hall into a somber atmosphere, the show kicked off with the heavy sounds of WONDERLAND, with Mally’s powerful drumming building the backbone of the energetic song. As vocalist Jyo urged the crowd on, the fans jumped to the fiery majeure melodies of Daybreak ~13gatsu no shikisai~. The band then welcomed the audience to the final show of their one-man tour, Be My Virgin, and asked them to have fun until the end of the night. Flashlights lit up the dark hall for TRUE, whose dynamic and fresh melodies resonated peculiarly with the heavy bass sound of the song. Using the full capacity of the stage, the members playfully interacted with each other and involved their fans in the show, too, with the feeling of unity in the venue increasing as the show proceeded.

“This is an interestingly built live house—we can see all your faces so make sure not to show your tiredness—but you’re not tired yet, are you? Let’s go on heavily!” encouraged the frontwoman to the crowd, who then announced one of the band’s classics, JUDEA. The crowd stirred into motion, responding to the harsh, screaming vocals and hard instrumentals, then calmed back down, hypnotized by Jyo’s touching, strong singing in the melodious chorus. A smooth transition then led into a lighter, quieter Futatsu no koe. Supported by Mally’s characteristic heavy rhythms, NAOTO’s prominent bass with coarse edges stood out in the moderate yet lingering tempo of keiyaku. Afterwards, the members left the stage to quiet waltz music.

Reappearing quietly, exist†trace returned with masks covering their faces, Jyo now wearing an elegant long dress and a fur cape. A fairytale-like recital of Little Mary to utsukushiki nikushimi no donau began, where rhythm guitarist miko and Jyo sang in turns and united in a mesmerizing duet. Putting down their guitars, Omi and miko danced to the melancholic waltz melodies and parted with a kiss. As the song approached its climax, miko slowly walked towards Jyo, who was holding a glass of wine, and as she drank it, both of them dropped down onto the ground at the last note of the song. The next song, the dark Anata, started with Jyo singing into a hand mirror, her back to the audience. One lost track of time, carried away by the hallucinatory flow of the song, whose sound seemed to cross genre borders. One by one the instruments faded away into silence, leaving a strong impression behind. A rapid change of mood came with the jazzy KISS IN THE DARK stirring the crowd back into movement, and Jyo, who had taken her fur cape off, showed her feminine side, dancing elegantly to the rhythms and encouraging the fans to clap their hands to the song’s positive beats. As the vocalist left the stage, the four other members assembled in front of the drum set and proceeded to play a session, combining dynamic R&B and fiery rock sounds and playfully interacting with the audience.

Coming back having changed into a glittery costume, Jyo urged the crowd on to clap more to the catchy rhythms of GINGER. During the MC, the frontwoman first asked the fans if they were having fun, to which they eagerly responded, and then posed the same questions to the members, out of whom the ever-smiling Mally was awarded with the title: “Most Enthusiastic”. Jyo then announced that the band brought a new song to the concert, one written with pure feelings. “We are thinking about you when performing it, so please think of someone you love when you listen to it” asked Jyo, and thus, the sweet lyrics and gentle melodies Shabon no tegami filled the hall with light and warmth. A contrast came with the next new song, RAZE. Speedy, heavy instrumentals stirred the crowd into movement, and encouraged by the band coming to the edge of the stage and firing them up, the crowd rose their fists in union to the vigorous melodies of VANGUARD.

Dark atmosphere characteristic of exist†trace’s earlier works enveloped the hall with liquid. The members and the crowd headbanged together during the intro, and the moving chorus sent shivers down one’s spine. Mally played while standing up and encouraged the audience to rise up as well in HONEY, and all the members seemed to enjoy harvesting the fan's voices as the temperature in the venue rose. Blowing a whistle, Jyo urged the crowd to get pumped up more and more for the positive, upbeat Signal. Thanking those present for their enthusiasm, the band announced their last song of the night: the soft, flowing SORA, which filled the live house with warmth and left a gentle aftertaste as the members waved goodbye and left the stage quietly.

Applause and calls for encore summoned exist†trace back on stage. Thanking the fans for their calls and the enjoyable one-man tour. Jyo pushed miko to tell everyone something she had been excited about recently. The charming guitarist admitted that while on tour, she is always being watched by Jyo, which makes her nervous and clumsy; as a result, she messes things up. For example, she spilled tartar sauce onto her costume, dropped the make-up box onto the other members’ costumes, and has stepped on her phone. As an act of revenge, miko decided to watch the vocalist in return, but as Jyo did not seem to slip up, she was starting to lose her hopes when finally she found something interesting on their video recording of the gig in Osaka. During Little Mary to utsukushiki nikushimi no donau, while the guitarists were dancing the waltz in the foreground, Jyo was in the background taking a sip of the wine she was holding, which is supposed to be poisoned according to the song lyrics. Jyo bashfully admitted that actually, she had a habit of generally sipping on the “poisoned” wine, and this was not the only time. The band then made additional announcements of upcoming shows in the new year – a New Year party on January 9th and another one-man tour in March. Met with even more enthusiasm was the announcement that they were to play a third new song that night, which Jyo announced she wrote the lyrics for while the song was written by Omi—a collaboration that they haven’t done for a while. Bright and rocky, SHINE lightened up the venue; its vivid lyrics harmonized with the positive melodies of the song. A fast transition into Orleans no shoujo set the crowd wild, moved by the heavy, rough riffs of the song. In contrast, Jyo’s strong, clear voice sounded fresh and touching, hypnotizing the listeners.

“Thank you. The feelings we received from everyone encourage us to do our best from tomorrow.” said Jyo emotionally. She thanked the fans present, those who attended their shows in Nagoya and Osaka, those around the country who could not attend, and also the many overseas supporters of the band. “We give this song to you, so that we can meet again.” Thus, the band concluded their show with Cradle. The stage and the floor united bathing in warm lights to the bright melodies of this moving, optimistic song. Thanking the touched crowd, the band asked all fans to join their hands, and for people who didn't have anyone next to them, they asked them to clasp their fists, thinking of those who could not be together with them that night. Even the guests in the press area were seen to take each other’s hands. Altogether, Shibuya WWW jumped up, uniting in the warm atmosphere.

exist†trace concluded their one-man tour with an energetic show filled with powerful, violent sounds, but also warm and gentle emotions that moved the hearts of their followers. While performing in front of their fans in Japan, the band did not forget about their foreign fans, and we hope that their upcoming show in the US will not be the only overseas performance in the near future.


Setlist

01. WONDERLAND
02. Daybreak ~13gatsu no shikisai~
-MC-
03. TRUE
04. Honnou
-MC-
05. JUDEA
06. Futatsu no koe
07. Keiyaku
-SE-
08. Little Mary to utsukushiki nikushimi no donau
09. Anata
10. KISS IN THE DARK
-Band Session-
11. GINGER
-MC-
12. Shabon no tegami (New song)
13. RAZE (New song)
14. VANGUARD
-MC-
15. liquid
16. HONEY
17. Signal
-MC-
18. SORA

Encore:
19. SHINE (New Song)
20. Orleans no shoujo
-MC-
21. Cradle