Versailles Live Report

After Versailles held a "men only" live a few weeks ago, their next live was "women only". However, there was also one man at the live; he attended dressed as a woman. It was pretty crowded and most girls were wearing gorgeous dresses and roses as accessories.

As the lights dimmed, gothic-like chanting began and after a few seconds it was joined by the sounds of guitars and drums. The band members appeared on stage and the fans held up roses to them. KAMIJO, wearing a white blouse and a long black jacket adorned with a red rose, introduced the band by simply saying their name before they started playing. While they played, the members walked to the front of the stage and were met by the roses of the fans. Bassist Jasmine You was wearing a red corset and had black feathers on his shoulders. On his head he wore more feathers, shaped to look like a butterfly. Guitarist HIZAKI was wearing a big rose in his hair and a red dress covered with glitter. The other guitarist, TERU, wore a white shirt with the sleeves cut at the shoulders and a feathered hat. Drummer YUKI wore a black sleeveless jacket and what seemed to be a medical neck brace.

After the first song ended, KAMIJO started his MC in English with "July 25th, 2007, welcome, girls." He continued in Japanese and said the band was feeling good. Right after, there was a short drum solo that led into Shout & Bites. The audience headbanged along to the harder parts. The third song, Forbidden gate, had a slow intro and KAMIJO talked throughout it. As the song continued he started to clap and had the audience join him. A MC followed, in which KAMIJO said today was "women only" and asked how everyone was feeling. After the short chat the band moved on to the next song, which had the audience headbanging once more. During this song, HIZAKI provided background vocals. The guitar riffs sounded a bit like a theme from an old horror movie and gave the song a special atmosphere. As the song ended all the members except for YUKI left the stage. He proceeded to show off with an awesome drum solo! Halfway through he had the audience scream his name. When he finished he also left the stage and background music started to play.

Jasmine You then appeared on stage with a sketchbook with the words "magic" on the cover. After showing the audience it was empty, he moved his fingers...and images appeared on the pages! He moved his fingers again and this time, the images were colored. He did another magic trick before another man joined him on stage. The man put a feather in a book and when he opened it a white dove emerged. Some more tricks followed, including one where he bound two colored cloths together and shoved it down Jasmine You's corset. He made a white cloth disappear, pulled the colored ones from Jasmine You's corset and suddenly there was a white bra knotted between them. The magic act ended with Jasmine You being pierced by swords but not ending up with a single scratch.

After Jasmine You's magic show, HIZAKI and TERU sat down on stage with acoustic guitars. They talked for a bit and then started to play the beautiful ballad anata wo dakishimete. As the song drew to a close, KAMIJO came on stage and they repeated the song, this time with KAMIJO's vocals. Jasmine You and YUKI were also called on stage and a long MC started, during which the members talked about their other projects. When they left the stage again and the audience was a little confused because the lights went on and soft music was played on the speakers. But after ten minutes the curtain opened once more and the band entered the stage to loud music and screaming vocals. During the fifth song KAMIJO led the audience in dancing, headbanging and pumping fists into the air.

The next intro was hard too, and HIZAKI pretended to shadow box and the fans copied him faithfully. Red Carpet started heavy and loud and KAMIJO dove off the stage! When he returned to the stage he and the fans started to clap to the beat. Later he encouraged the audience to jump forward and headbang.

The transition to Forbidden quieted things down a bit and KAMIJO took the opportunity to express the band's enjoyment of the night. A short MC followed the song and KAMIJO asked which other upcoming Versailles concerts the fans would attend. Most enthusiastically answered that they would go see all of them. The band then dove into Revenant, another loud song. The audience put their hands in the air and they sang along during the chorus. When the song ended, KAMIJO asked if everyone was feeling good and had the audience reply over and over until he was satisfied they were loud enough. Then the members left the stage and the fans immediately yelled for an encore. However, the concert really had ended this time, to the disappointment of many.

Despite the fact that Versailles is a pretty new band and that they only played eight songs, they managed to create a great show and entertained the audience. If this show was any indication, Versailles' lives should only get better in the future.

Set list

Revenant Choir
Shout & Bites
Forbidden gate
Red carpet day
monzetsu
Red carpet
Forbidden
Revenant