Moi dix Mois Concert: The Liturgical Festival of Mana's Birthday - Additional Performance

Every March, visual kei rock band Moi dix Mois hold a concert to celebrate bandleader Mana’s birthday. This year, after tickets for the March live sold out, Mana decided to hold an additional performance on April 5th. JaME was in the crowd as the band not only played music, but provided an enjoyable surprise for the audience's entertainment.

This was Moi dix Mois’s first time playing a show at Tokyo’s Mt. RAINIER HALL SHIBUYA PLEASURE PLEASURE. Until now, the band has preferred to perform at venues where the audience stand – the big difference about PLEASURE PLEASURE is that it's a seated auditorium. But, of course, everyone was on their feet and cheering when the curtain opened to reveal the band. After Secret longing [SE], vocalist Seth addressed the audience: “Welcome to the liturgical festival of Mana's birthday. Let's paint this venue blue tonight. Shake your body with us, Pageant.”

As soon as Seth spoke that happy title, the band began to play. The fans suddenly produced blue glow sticks, and began to wave them to the rhythm of the song; it was as if a sea of blue lights had filled the venue. Pageant has only been performed on a few occasions recently, but it’s still able to open the audiences’ hearts and lift their spirits. At the song’s conclusion, some band members threw their glow sticks into the crowd. Moi dix Mois played five more songs from their repertoire back-to-back before pausing. All the while, the audience called out members' names again and again. Then, in a quiet voice, Seth said: “This is a symphony which demons and angels play.”

Next came a new song. It began with a solemn introduction, with a soprano's haunting voice predicting your doom. Then, Seth shouted and the song suddenly turned heavy. It developed in a complex manner, alternating between classical symphonics and heavy metal. As Mana’s fans would expect, the song featured an interlude with a harpsichord solo. Propelled by Seth’s growls and Mana’s crazy guitar, the song was performed at a breathless tempo. However, the audience knew the drill, and fans were soon waving their hands to the music. As the band stopped playing, Seth gazed up to the sky.

Even though this was an additional performance happening in April, it was still considered Mana's birthday concert. As such, his bandmates played a metal arrangement of Happy Birthday To You while Mana stood at the centre of the stage; he and the audience made heart shapes with their hands and waved along with the song. Although Mana is always really eager to please his fans, even they would be surprised if he were to step offstage and down to the venue floor, but this is exactly what happened. As the audience stood stunned at his sudden coming, he threw candies to them as a token of his appreciation for celebrating his birthday with him. He then exited via the auditorium’s entrance.

An MC followed, in which Seth read out a message on Mana’s behalf: “The next song is a new song too. I presented this song to the band members on the day of a previous birthday concert last year. I still remember that I explained the song was heavy, like a mix of French pop and German metal. I've kept it sealed away for a while because various things have happened, and it's with great pleasure that I can now finally play it for you. The subject of this song is the stream of time. Please feel it. Also, I'm secretly writing some songs, which are yet to be released. I think that I want to form those works as soon as possible and send them to you. So please look forward to hearing them. That's all, from Mana.”

The audience burst into applause as Seth continued speaking: “Throw your feelings onto this stage with all your strength and let's go wild in the second half, too.”

As Seth spoke the new song's title, the introduction started, featuring the beautiful sounds of a soprano and choir. The song was melodic but speedy, and its tempo kept changing throughout. You can hear many traits of Mana's standard songwriting style in this song, but you’ll also find signs of his new musical evolution. The number concludes with heavy drumming and Mana's aggressive guitar, with the soprano and choir returning for the outro.

Although Moi dix Mois played many more songs after this, the audience was still wanting more as the band finished the main set. Even after they’d left the stage, the fans didn't stop calling out the members' names. After a while, the members reappeared, wearing new T-shirts apparently designed by Mana. Drummer Hayato then spoke to the crowd: “Thank you for calling for an encore. We can surely play again, but please take a moment to think of today's programme. We've already done all the songs that we would perform for an encore. So, we talked about what we should do. As you know, it's an additional performance today, but it's still a birthday concert for Mana, so we thought that we should play you-know-that song as a finale. One more time, can you paint this venue Mana's blue? A bell will soon sound the end. You've always encouraged us with your lights and support, but please, for just a little while more, continue to cast your magic on us. This is the last song tonight: Pageant!”

The music started up, and Seth and Mana appeared from the hall's entrance. The audience went wild, screaming and cheering as the two musicians walked amongst them on their way to the stage. The light of blue glow sticks filled the venue once more, and Moi dix Mois and their fans became united in the ethereal blue light. Once the song finished, Mana bowed deeply again and again. He went down on his knees in appreciation of the audience, then came down to the venue’s floor once more, walking through the audience to leave via the hall’s entrance.

As Mana hinted during the concert, he seems to be beginning production of Moi dix Mois’s next work. What can we expect from this new release? All we can do for now is keep our eyes on him.


Set List:
1. Secret longing [SE] (Reprise)
2. Pageant (Reprise)
3. deux ex machina (Beyond The Gate)
4. Night Breed (Shadows Temple)
5. Solitude (Reprise)
6. Invite to Immorality (Reprise)
7. front et baiser (Reprise)
8. New song

MC

9. New song
10. Perish (NOCTURNAL OPERA)
11. unmoved (Beyond The Gate)
12. Immortal Madness (DIXANADU)
13. Dead Scape (D+SECT)
14. New song
15. The other side of the door (Beyond The Gate)
16. Eternally Beyond (Beyond The Gate)
17. Beast side (previously unreleased as a recorded work)
18. Ange~D side holy wings~ (D+SECT)
19. Je l'aime (Reprise)
20. En Lumière [SE] (Reprise)

Encore
21. Pageant (Reprise)