MERRY Grateful Year 2015 "NOnsenSe MARkeT 1F" FINAL at Osaka Misono Universe

Grateful Year 2015 "NOnsenSe MARkeT 1F" is the second part of the tour promoting MERRY’s latest album NOnSense MARkeT, released on Christmas Eve 2014. This tour has been quite atypical as each concert has featured a guest performance by another group invited by MERRY. For the tour final in Osaka on July 18th, the band was accompanied by sukekiyo.



The members sukekiyo appeared on stage dressed all in black. Vocalist Kyo had also applied dark make-up around his eyes, giving him a somewhat demonic appearance. Most of the fans enjoyed the first song In all weathers in silence, swaying to the music and watching the musicians. Each of the band’s songs was met with applause rather than wild screams and hands lifted in the air.

After sukekiyo had performed Maniera, Kyo suddenly went offstage and none other than MERRY’s frontman Gara took his place. He wore a t-shirt designed by sukekiyo’s vocalist especially for this live. His eye make-up was done in the same manner as Kyo’s, but a hat kept his face hidden most of the time. Accompanied by the musicians of sukekiyo, Gara sang the song Vandal. Despite the differences in his and Kyo’s voices and singing styles, MERRY’s singer pulled off this song without much effort and all the fans were noticeably impressed by the performance. He then left without another word, and Kyo returned to perform the last two songs of their set: Focus and Uyuu no sora.

During the latter number, two dancers joined sukekiyo on stage. Besides black eyes and lips, their entire bodies were painted white. Their appearance and movements reminded of the butoh performers. The stage was filled with red light and smoke and the dancers started to writhe and coil around the singer. At one point, they stood behind him and created the illusion of Kyo having many arms, making him look like the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, an image of whom he has tattooed on his back. The finale of this performance looked as if Kyo and the two demons had arisen from hell – it was a real spectacle. At the very end, the vocalist started to laugh maniacally while the rest of sukekiyo exited the stage before the lights dropped.

During the short break that followed, the members of MERRY came out to ready their instruments. At one point while tuning up, they started playing DIR EN GREY’s Schwein no isu – it was met with great enthusiasm by the audience. Finally, iNtO the mARkeT – the S.E. – started to play.

Dressed in blue shirt, white pants and, as always, barefoot, Gara stood in front of the screen concealing the stage. This then slowly rose to reveal the rest of MERRY. Guitarist Yuu was dressed in a big black shirt with a silver necklace. Second guitarist Ken’ichi was wearing a black shirt over a vest, while drummer Nero had on a multi-layered black and white tanktop, and a part of his hair was dyed green. Unfortunately, bassist Tetsu was not a part of the main performance due to a back injury sustained during in an accident during a live two years ago.

Colorful horizontal; lights covering the wall behind the band created a fun atmosphere as MERRY opened their set with Chiyoda-sen Democracy. The song, which has a lot of parts sung by the fans, was certainly a good choice of opener. During the chorus, everyone jumped up with their hands up in the manner of the “Banzai!” gesture, and sang the backing vocals with Yuu and Nero.

Then, the first notes of Zetsubou resounded. Gara climbed upon the school desk he uses as his podium and started screaming “Zetsubou, zetsubou, zetsubou!” - the audience screamed the same in reply. With its incredibly playful atmosphere, this song has recently become symbolic of MERRY’s concerts. The next round of “Zetsubou, zetsubou, zetsubou!” was sung with fans by Yuu, then another by Nero. Meanwhile, Gara brought a wooden water bucket and ladle onstage – the sort normally used in purification rituals at Shinto shrines – and started pouring water over everyone. Before long, the main part of Zetsubou started but it was still the audience who sang most of it.

Next up was Zombie Paradise ~Jigoku no Komoriuta~. During this, people didn’t jump and lift their hands anymore – they simply danced as if at a party and sang along with Gara. The stage became drenched in pink light for Kurayami ni pinku. Yuu sang the second verse of this song, and during the choruses, it was impossible to ignore Nero as he drummed standing up, jumped and conducted the audience while shouting lyrics with Gara.

The atmosphere then took on a more retro for a short while, which is characteristic of MERRY. This short interlude piece sounded similar to Bluesy Nights at moments, which the lyrics seemed to consist only of “La-la-la”. At one point, Gara just whistled along with the tune. There were small light bulbs above the stage which brought to mind the light displays of Broadway. At last, Gara took up a tambourine and Ken’ichi started playing Hide-and-seek. Everyone clapped along with the tambourine and swayed to the melody.

There was another shift in ambience when the time came for Fukinkou Kinema. Both the lyrics and very nature of this song made Gara seem like a circus ringmaster, and every time he gestured, everyone either clapped, sang or danced accordingly. Gara handled a whip for this tune with which he accentuated the melody or gleefully smacked the front rows of the crowd. At the end of each chorus, he shouted “Dance! Go mad!” and fans responded so enthusiastically, the whole club seemed to shake.

Hereafter, MERRY didn’t slow down – if anything, the tempo only grew with each successive song. The band’s main set culminated in Fukurou. The club’s illuminations created a special atmosphere, and as the song ended, Gara thanked fans for supporting the band and always keeping an eye on the members.

The audience didn’t have to wait long for an encore: only five minutes, in fact. The four MERRY men had all changed into official concert T-shirts, and Gara had also removed his make-up. The first song of the encore was NOnSense MARkeT. This tune has a rather satirical mood, but this live version seemed to have a gloomy, near-apocalyptic atmosphere. The “nonsense market” of the title is none other than Japan itself, and the lyrics are full of unfavorable comments about it. Overall, the performance gave quite a sad reflection of the band’s homeland.

Gara said a few words about his late friend Ochida Daisuke - the fifth anniversary of the Kagerou frontman had recently passed. The band played Zaa Zaa, a song recorded in his memory, but the mood couldn’t stay solemn for long as the next tune was Atama ga zakuro. Such an old song was met with loud cheers from the fans. Then, Gara abruptly walked offstage, leading everyone to believe it was the end of the encore. However, the rest of MERRY were soon joined by Kyo.

Kyo’s appearance was totally different from when he played sukekiyo’s set – he wore no make-up and also wore an official concert T-shirt. Smiling at the crowd, he shouted: “sukekiyo came to disturb around here a little!” When it became apparent that he was to sing Shoudoku, the crowd simply went mad and surged forward. The back rows jumped into those in front and it became almost impossible to move at all at the barriers. This song with Kyo on vocals generated even more energy than Zetsubou. People continued to throw themselves forward, especially at the moment the sukekiyo vocalist went into the audience and continued singing while everyone propped him up. He had some problems climbing Gara’s desk, but this act made the crowd cheer him all the more. Afterward, all the musicians left the stage and the audience instantly called for another encore.

This time, MERRY came back accompanied by Tetsu – he was still wearing the cervical collar, but the crowd greeted him with deafening screams as they rushed in his direction. The band performed the title track from their new single, Happy Life. It had an upbeat melody and seemed quite different MERRY’s usual style, but still had that something that defines the band’s sound. The crowd certainly seemed to like it, and as the performance ended, the ovation was once again deafening.

Gara performed a headstand on the desk and clapped with his feet to thank the fans. Tetsu and Nero were the last to leave the stage – the bassist took the opportunity to say a few words to the audience while the drummer messed about with Gara’s whip, to the delight of fans. This tour final proved to be a very special live, thanks not only to the collaboration with sukekiyo, but also to its manic energy. It’s sure to have made a vivid impression on everyone who attended, and one that won’t fade for quite a while.


Set list

sukekiyo
01. In all weathers
02. Madara Ningen
03. Leather Field
04. Dunes
05. Maniera
06. Vandal (vocal: Gara)
07. Focus
08. Uyuu no Sora

MERRY
01. iNtO the mARkeT
02. Chiyoda-sen Democracy
03. „Tokyo”
04. Zetsubou
05. Zombie Paradise ~Jigoku no Komoriuta~
06. Kurayami ni Pinku
07. Hide-and-Seek
08. Fukinkou Kinema
09. Oriental BL Circus
10. Midnight Shangri-la
11. Friction XXXX
12. Carnival
13. Fukurou

Encore:
14. NOnSense MARkeT
15. Zaa Zaa
16. Atama ga Zakuro
17. Shoudoku (vocal: Kyo)

Double encore:
18. Happy Life
19. Ve:doro
20. Gunjou