Dir en grey Live in Paris

Dir en grey were the first Japanese band to perform in Zenith, one of the biggest concert halls in Paris with room for 6000 people; despite the somewhat poor show they put on two years previously in the Olympia, a venue only a third of the size. Most likely due to the lack of promotion combined with the mediocre reception their last album received from fans, they failed to attract more people than previously - leaving the hall looking rather empty.

The cold weather and rain didn't manage to change the plans of some of the most hardcore fans, who saw fit to camp in front of the hall the night before the concert. As the doors opened they rushed towards the stage, backed by a black backdrop with the band's name on it.

Patience was an important keyword for the evening, as the support, German band The Omega Trust, opened up at 19:30. Even though they might not have been the best band in their genre, they were received much better than the band Eths, who supported Dir en grey in 2005. Contrary to the previous concert, they were able to stir the audience up. Would the audience have grown more mature? After a show that wasn’t too long, nor too short, the band left the stage accompanied by the cheers of the audience.

It didn’t take long before the main act came out and the band roared with excitement and joy as the lights went off. Shinya entered first, followed by Toshiya, Die and Kaoru. Unfortunately, a description of what they looked like is impossible; it was much too dark on the stage to be able to recognize anything.

The concert started with an older song: Deity, from their second major album MACABRE. Quite a surprise, seeing as the band seems to be trying very hard to forget that they had a career before the release of VULGAR. The transition from the older songs to the newer Merciless Cult from Withering to death went smoothly.

The songs translated well to the concert, since the album THE MARROW OF A BONE was co-ordinated with live performances in mind. However, the endless succession of music lacked a sense of charisma.

The biggest problem was the lighting. Sure, it fits with the ambiance to have everything dark, after all the audience is also quite sombre. It fits the concept of the album. But to pay around 40 euros to see some shades moving around on stage? For several people, the concept was definitely pushed too far as only Kyo and Shinya were properly illuminated. This not only caused frustration, but it also resulted in a few jokes starting to rise from the audience.

Our friends still didn’t speak a single word English, not even after touring around the world for quite some time now. Though Kyo risked yelling 'Paris!' once in a while, it was necessary to find another way to give the band members a little break instead of an MC. As opposed to the stage turning dark (even darker, if possible) and playing some background music, the band had found a better way to fill these moments up. During these small breaks, Kyo did some singing exercises based on a few long-stretched sounds, aided by effects. It definitely captured the audience’s attention while his band mates took the opportunity to have a little break and change their instruments. These interludes were well received by the audience and somehow it gave the concert more structure.

The highlights of the concerts were the great performances of Obscure, THE FINAL and dead tree.

The more the concert progressed, the more the audience got into the music. Finally, there was a noticeable distinction from their previous concert, and one could say that the show they were putting on was actually better than the previous one in the Olympia in 2005. After THE DEEPER VILNESS, the quintet left the stage while the audience was cheering for an encore.

After a short break, the band continued with Drain Away, a fresh breeze within all the chaos. Then a big surprise with the song Ugly from the mini-album Six Ugly, also one of their older works. Though there was still not much interaction between the band and the audience, finally it seemed that there was at least a little bit of a connection.

The two maxi-singles CLEAVER SLEAZOID and -saku- followed, which made the audience go crazy again. Kyo yelled another "last" to the audience and so the concert ended with a great rendition of The IIID Empire.

After the song, the band stayed a little longer on the stage, to throw bottles, drumsticks and guitar picks into the audience. Kyo was the first one to leave, the others lingered a little longer to enjoy the roars from the crowd.

To conclude, the concert was definitely better than the band’s previous concert, but yet not extraordinary. The setlist was the best point, making up for the failure of communication and the bad lighting. Hopefully better next time!


Setlist:

01 Deity
02 Merciless Cult
03 LIE BURIED WITH A VENGEANCE
04 DISABLED COMPLEXES
05 REPETITION OF HATRED
06 AGITATED SCREAMS OF MAGGOTS
07 THE FINAL
08 OBSCURE
09 HYDRA -666-
10 DOZING GREEN
11 CONCEIVED SORROW
12 dead tree
13 Ryoujoku no Ame
14 GRIEF
15 THE DEEPER VILENESS

encore :
16 DRAIN AWAY
17 Ugly
18 CLEVER SLEAZOID
19 -saku-
20 THE IIID EMPIRE