DIR EN GREY THE UNWAVERING FACT OF TOMORROW TOUR 2010-2011

Windy and with the chill of the sea in the air, Shinkiba suffered from the cold of a winter’s night by the water-front. Studio Coast, however, was another story. Bursting at the seams with DIR EN GREY lovers, the venue grew steadily steamier as the crowd waited with fraying patience. When the lights suddenly cut out, screams and shouts arose in their wake, intensifying as bodies became visible amidst the stage’s shadowy red backlighting. One final entrance brought the cries to a roar that faded as fast as it had risen as hands began to wave to the dark, lilting music of mazohyst of decadence. The music soon progressed from eerie to heavy, the smoky red stage bringing fearful imagery to mind in conjunction with Kyo’s loose vocals and raspy wails of pain. Drummer Shinya’s sinuous movements were just short of wicked as he provided the only motion to speak of until guitarist Die perched over the speaker, intense motion transferring into hands, then fingers, then strings and finally sound.

KARASU followed the drastic opening number with a continued sense of coiled tension, bassist Toshiya looping a finger by his ear to indicate madness. When Kyo broke out growling, purple strobes flashed from amidst the red fog. While both crowd and band went wild in those sections, it was Toshiya who seemed to connect with the piece most fully, the bass line visible in his movements. OBSCURE came in with sounds unique to DIR EN GREY’s vocalist, including tweaky squeals and a roar that could belong to no other. Hands waved under blue-green lighting and the crowd did their duty, backing up the brief holes in Kyo’s vocal line with short spurts of noise until Kaoru, Toshiya and Die all switched sides, die-hard fans of one just as enthusiastically embracing the others come to play. Down time between songs produced a chant from the impatient crowd, spurring the band back into action sooner rather than later – the effort rewarded by a roar of praise.

“You ready?” Kyo prompted calmly, receiving another roar in response, evidently satisfactory to kick off RED SOIL. For the first time, his voice sounded out clear and bright, climbing into operetta before plummeting to a demonic pitch as the crowd reduced to a roiling carpet of hair. Bright spots from above circled the cavernous ceiling of the club-turned-live-house, ambiguously lighting band and crowd throughout Merciless Cult. The crowd responded splendidly to Kyo’s every move, cheering as he shrugged his jacket off one shoulder and reaching towards him as he just as nonchalantly tugged it back on. He egged them on expertly, singing lines usually screamed at them to tempt them into the fold. The highlight of the fearsome AGITATED SCREAMS OF MAGGOTS was not, in fact, Kyo’s vocal antics, but rather the screams of the crowd added to the sick guitar line. The chaotic number came to an end with a bottle tossed by Kyo. As it arced into the air, all eyes followed its path until it disappeared into a mass of bodies. THE DEEPER VILENESS continued on smoothly – or, rather, roughly – a now shirtless Kyo inspiring the crowd to even greater disarray whilst Die moved to head-bang directly at Shinya behind a convulsing Kyo. Even the drummer made his best effort to head-bang and play.

Adjusting the mood a touch, KODOKU NI SHISU, YUE NI KODOKU re-instated the original image of red-lit, furling smoke as a creepy introduction of wind-like sound and various unnatural effects swept shivers down every spine, the noise shifting into a chant. Melodic guitar seeped in and Kyo picked up the melody, voice stabler and sharper than before. “Can you hear it?” Kyo sing-songed at the crowd. A cheer cued DOZING GREEN. Toshiya began diving round and round in circles, accenting the drumbeats to provide a visual sense of awareness of the rhythm. Spreading his arms wide, Kyo indicated that it was the crowd’s duty to sing for him and sing they did before his trembling screams spiralled into a deep roar. The number’s conclusion provoked massive cheers.

A purple wash lit BUGABOO, Toshiya reclaiming his mic stand in order to add his voice where necessary along with the two guitarists. The fast-changing number saw plenty of action, but nothing as notable as Kyo’s childish singing accompanied by painfully irritating feedback. Of course, that was nothing compared to the moody arrangement to follow. Screams, breath, sobs – the noises of the damned – accompanied the cliché and yet fitting image of Kyo’s back-lit figure immersed in the fires of hell. Just when the ears calmed at last and adjusted to his mutterings, he screamed piteously. The angrily glowing red smoke gave way to a creepy green wash as HYDRA -666- took off hard and fast. During the number, the stage lit up at last, giving the crowd a long-awaited clear view of the band who made good use of the visibility, rocking out in true form.

Not much can be said as the madness continued except that REPETITION OF HATRED had such an amazing feel to it that the whole sea-side venue could have sunk into the ocean and most would have been too preoccupied immersing themselves in overwhelming sound to notice they were drowning. Spilled Milk then had the vocalist head-and-body-banging widely from side to side. His vocals swept up a storm, the auditory imagery exacerbated by scrolls of lighting across the blue-lit stage. Toshiya’s bass solo took a rare spotlight over the over-bearing vocals. It was only when the upbeat pace of Beautiful Dirt met the ears that it registered that the pace had been lagging despite the heaviness of the prior numbers. After the unidentified hibernation of Kyo’s earlier mood-raising vocals, the crowd were more than refreshed and happily went wild. His cry of “Last!” preceded REIKETSU NARISEBA. As the vocalist unintelligibly roared a string of gibberish, Toshiya swept across the stage, riling up the crowd to further heights of excitement, and whether a result of his efforts or the music itself, the crowd responded with an incredible energy. They continued to cry out during the mid-number interlude, cheering louder and louder, Kyo’s back to them as he twitched his spread arms in encouragement for more. One red lazer dot focused on his back, drawing all attention. Then, white strobes assaulted the eyes – or would have if heads hadn’t in fact been lowered in a rash of movement to bring the set to an end. Still turned away, Kyo raised a hand, looked back once at the crowd, then leaped from his platform on the final beat. Following his exit, the others held for a moment and then soberly followed.

If there had been any doubt of an encore, the instant and exuberant demanding yell would have shattered those illusions and despite Shinya’s re-entry amidst darkness, the fans missed nothing and cheered loudly as the band re-took their positions. The stage and Kyo lit up with white specks as the gorgeous ballad tones of ain’t afraid to die split the air. Shinya’s deep booming drums complimented Kyo’s light vocal style, further enhanced by a duet with a recorded piano track as the rest of the band fell silent. A pause, and then the guitars let rip a loud but unmistakably ballad-worthy tune.

Culminated anticipation finally found its release in the performance of a number the fans had awaited with uncharacteristic patience. LOTUS met the ears with a fine vocal line, solid bass and strong guitar, light-toned but sharp. The ethereal lilt of Kyo’s operatic tones proved that his singing voice contains power equal to that of his death voice, insidious and primed to prickle under the skin. The sudden end to the number merited a roar of appreciation from the crowd, ZAN just as suddenly heralded by a massive boom from Kyo, reducing the crowd to a seething mass amidst flashing red offset with white strobes. In contrast to the intensity of his band-mates, Kaoru’s stillness somehow commanded attention during the number, perhaps as a point of reliable solidarity when the world was spinning in madness. The guitar-line provided a much-needed musical tether to hang on to.

Sauntering back to the drums, Kyo stripped off his shirt once more. “Let me hear more!” he cried, never satisfied. His yell of the opening line of Hageshisa To, Kono Mune No Naka De Karamitsuita Shakunetsu No Yami then gave way to the crowd’s singing voices before he joined them. “Tokyo!” he cried, earning a cheer. Awesome guitar underpinned the dark growl throughout. A subtle shift brought lights up on the crowd. “Tokyo!” Kyo appealed again. Rolling fists accompanied his deep rumbles, the fans taking over as he cut out and yelled at them. Kyo worked male and female alike into a frenzy for the final rush of THE III D EMPIRE. “All of you, let’s go. Last!” The repeated cries of the word were punctuated by Die before the vibrant guitar line of the number greeted ears primed and ready. “Jump!” Kyo cried in a high-toned speaking voice, then roaring the same command. As the fans complied easily, Die’s long hair swung menacingly over his guitar in response to his tight but frantic movement. First crouched at his platform, Kyo climbed up for the chorus, which moved him neatly out of the way in time for Toshiya to growl into his mic and toss the whole stand away. The number’s end continued with a rampaging drum roll from Shinya, Kyo marking his eyes and pointing into each section of the crowd before spitting water and tossing his bottle.

The band took their time catering to their fans, making sure that the final moments would be memorable for those near and far alike, although some would be happier than others as they hoarded picks, bottles, sticks or even Die’s towel in protective grips on their way home.

Set List

01.mazohyst of decadence
02.KARASU
03.OBSCURE
04.RED SOIL
05.Merciless Cult
06.AGITATED SCREAMS OF MAGGOTS
07.THE DEEPER VILENESS
08.KODOKU NI SHISU, YUE NI KODOKU
09.DOZING GREEN
10.BUGABOO
11.HYDRA -666-
12.REPETITION OF HATRED
13.Spilled Milk
14.Beautiful Dirt
15.REIKETSU NARISEBA

Encore
16.ain’t afraid to die
17.LOTUS
18.ZAN
19.Hageshisa To, Kono Mune No Naka De Karamitsuita Shakunetsu No Yami
20.THE III D EMPIRE