Kagrra, in the Netherlands

This Summer, Kagrra, held a European tour consisting of five dates. After two shows in Scandinavia, the band headed to Utrecht, the Netherlands.

At 17:30 there was already a small queue in front of the venue and by around 18:00 it had become much longer. The doors opened at 18:30 and the fans were able to enter the hall. Many first went to take a look at the merchandise. Only the die-hard fans walked passed the merchandise stand, instead entering the hall immediately to try to get a spot as close to the stage as possible.

Before long the hall became dark and red lights shone on the stage. The intro miyako could be heard and the audience started to cheer loudly while the band members came on stage. Izumi led the way, followed by Akiya, Sin, Nao and Isshi. Except for Isshi and Izumi, who wore more extravagant clothes, the band members looked pretty casual. Isshi was wearing a Japanese style black robe with red stripes and a black shirt and pants. His arm was painted with tribal-like designs. Izumi also wore a black and red robe.

The band members quickly took there places behind their instruments and they started the song Kotodama. Drummer Izumi was sitting at the back of the stage, on the right side. To his left was bassist Nao's spot. At the front of the stage guitarist Sin was standing at the left, vocalist Isshi in the middle and guitarist Akiya to the right. Isshi held a fan in his hand, making choreographed movements with it. He had the audience repeat his movements with their own fans, which they'd brought from home or had bought at the merchandise stand. Slowly the audience got increasingly more excited and the atmosphere changed into a positive and energetic one.

Isshi was still holding the fan when the band started on the second song, shigatsu tsuitachi. During this song the audience also put their fans up in the air and responded enthusiastically. Afterwards Isshi picked up a small note and tried to say a few words in Dutch. "We're Kagrra,!" was the first thing he said and it was received with loud screams. "We're happy to be in the Netherlands!" got them cheering even louder. Unfortunately not everything he said could be heard clearly, but the fans didn't mind. Shortly thereafter Guilty started.

Next the vocalist announced the new Kagrra, single in Dutch. While Isshi waved his arm through the air, the first tunes of uzu could be heard. This time there were no fans up in the air. The sound of Sin's koto, a traditional Japanese stringed instrument, matched perfectly with the rest of the music. The vocalist sang with a smile on his face and the other band members also happily sang along. Isshi did some furitsuke during the song, which the crowd copied. Judging from the happy faces it seemed that the band members of Kagrra, were enjoying themselves. Every now and then they changed spots to entertain the audience.

After the cheerful sai and kamikaze, the vocalist picked up his note again and tried to say some things to the fans in Dutch. "Are you enjoying yourselves?!" after which the crowd responded with a loud "yes!". "We are too" was his reaction and everyone laughed. Isshi announced the next song, nue no nakukoro, and they played energetically. It was followed by yousai and boukyaku.

After the last tunes the vocalist went to the back again to get his note. "This is our favorite song, utakata!" he said with a big smile on his face. Sin was once again standing behind the koto, while Nao and Akiya seemed to mentally prepare themselves. It seemed these three members really wanted to do their best for this song, while Izumi looked relaxed behind his drums. Then utakata started and the band members put on a show. Sin impressed the audience as he kept changing between his guitar and koto, and it was obvious all the members were enjoying the song.

The vocalist had a message for their fans: "We love you!" he said in English. He walked over to Nao and tried to let him say something in Dutch. But the bassist couldn't do it, so he responded in Japanese. The audience didn't care and cheered for him anyway. "Do you want me?" Nao continued in English, making the crowd go crazy. He responded with "Okay, you can have me!". The fans got even more enthusiastic. Isshi held up his note and said "We're coming back to the Netherlands!", making the fans scream. Next he announced the song rin.

After genei no katachi he announced the last song. The band performed urei just as energetically as their previous songs. Afterwards the members of Kagrra, left the stage while waving to the crowd.

The hall remained dark and the fans stared to scream "En-co-re!". Shortly after the band returned and immediately started playing. They played the new single uzu again and also shin hyakkiyakou. Isshi, Nao, Akiya, Sin and Izumi thanked the fans and threw their guitar picks and drumsticks into the audience. After the concert the fans were treated to autographs at the signing session.

This was a tremendous evening for so many people and the concert left a lasting impression in the memory of both old and new fans.

Kagrra, thank you for this unique experience!

Setlist

Intro: miyako
1. kotodama
2. shigatsu tsuitachi
MC
3. Guilty
MC
4. uzu
5. sai
6. kamikaze
MC
7. nue no nakukoro
8. yousai
9. boukyaku
MC
10. utakata
MC
11. rin
12. genei no katachi
MC
13. urei
Encore 1. uzu
Encore 2. shin hyakkiyakou

Thanks to Rock Identity, JRock NL and Frans van Arkel for the photos.