Versailles - Holy Grail- The Far East- In Hong Kong

Hong Kong was one of the stops on Versailles’s Holy Grail World Tour, and it was the first opportunity for people to see Versailles in China. The excited fans waited with strong anticipation for the long awaited night.

The live took place in the auditorium of an exhibition center and not long after the door had been opened, all seats were occupied. There was nothing special about the auditorium than those that could be found in a town hall or school. However, the blood red curtains which were hung on the two sides of the stage, LED lights that twinkled on the musical devices and a black curtain hung in the middle on which “Holy Grail” was written made the room look unusual.

As the lights were turned off and the opening SE began, the words “Holy Grail” on the black carton shone with golden color under the spotlight. All the people in the auditorium stood up instantly from their seats and some at the back even ran down the corridors, filling up all the spaces in the front. The background music could not cover the voices of the fans and only one voice could rise above it and be identified – “We are Versailles!” Under the spot light, the band finally came up on the stage dressed in an elegant manner. The fans could not help but cry out the members' names.

The heavy sound of MASQUERADE kicked off the night with a non-stop drumbeat from YUKI, dancing bass line from MASASHI and flying guitar lines from HIZAKI and TERU. Following the rhythm, everybody was moving their bodies and swinging their hands. Bathed in a purple light shining on the stage when ASCENDEAD MASTER started, KAMIJO spread his hands, feeling the warm welcome from the enthusiastic audience. HIZAKI walked to the crowd to experience it up close before joining TERU in the center, slicing their guitars at ultra speed.

The bands finally greeted their guests in a formal way, using both Cantonese and French. KAMIJO said “Bonjour!” and the fans repeated his greeting in kind. Judicial Noir came right after the short but warm greeting. HIZAKI joined TERU on the left side while KAMIJO and MASASHI went to the right. The audience's mood heated up as the members came closer to them and KAMIJO even bent down to look at everybody’s faces. He said that it was destiny that they had met there that night, changing the mood all of a sudden when the ballad DESTINY – THE LOVERS- started. The bass line and guitar lines were so gentle, seeming to create in the air some sort of rosy perfume. KAMIJO was singing from the bottom of his heart and his voice seemed to remain in the mind even after the music stopped. The band left the stage for a while and KAMIJO came back alone with a shining plastic rose. The background music started and Love Will Be Born Again began. KAMIJO was alone on the stage but he was surely not alone as everybody held plastic roses in different colors, singing in harmony with him. After the song, he said just one thing: “I love you!” before the band rejoined for show time for the instruments.

MASASHI was full of confidence and excitement as he played, looking right at home on stage; HIZAKI and TERU also played their guitars like two flying rockets; YUKI stood up behind the drum kit, counting beats with his left hand while striking the drums rapidly with the other hand, just like counting down for a bomb which was going to explode in no time. There were sounds from everywhere, both on the stage and below the stage, and all finally burst in the air. The band left the stage and the crowd was left in the dark.

The fans were not bored at all during the break and had their own way to kill time. The fans on the left and the right were crying out the slogan in time after each other: “We are Versailles!” The SE started, interrupted like a warning signal with the lights twinkling. Bombing, firing, bursting, the air was full of a sense of danger. All sounds stopped suddenly and everybody looked at the stage, expecting the band to turn up, but nothing happened. It seemed that the band were playing hide and seek with the audience. The band finally appeared on the stage, put their hands behind their ears, urging the fans to shout louder, louder and louder. It came, Thanatos. Crazy light, crazy melody and crazy swinging, it was a moment when everybody got crazy.

KAMIJO said that he was very glad to be there that night and wanted to see everybody’s faces. He then asked the staff to turn all the lights on. He took a quick glance at the crowd and said everybody looked pretty cute, to which the crowd burst out laughing. KAMIJO continued to introduce a Japanese word, “tobu,” which means “jump” in both English and Cantonese. His intention could not be clearer and the crowd was jumping throughout the song DRY ICE SCREAM!!. Libido came next, heating up the crowd more and turning the room into chaos. KAMIJO got close to HIZAKI and put his hand around the guitarist’s neck – he was the Vampire in Vampire. The last two songs were the well known Philia and The Red Carpet Day. KAMIJO led the crowd to dance along with the melody and all were pumping the air to the beat. Vocals, strings and drums made up a firey triangle that seemed to burn the room to the ground. The members came to the frontline to have their last attack and all the sounds finally burst like a fireball in the air. The band waved their hands to say goodbye, throwing their picks into the audience. YUKI came down from the drum kit and threw the pair of drumsticks into the audience without thinking.

Without leaving the fans in wait for too long, the band returned to the stage again for the encore. They were not in a hurry to perform; instead, they walked around to wave at the fans. TERU wore a pair of rabbit ears at which everybody screamed. KAMIJO took this opportunity to express how glad they were to hold a live in Hong Kong. He said, “Today is the first time. Today is a special night.” He then raised the shining plastic rose up and the melody of Remember Forever started at the same time. It looked as if a rose bloomed in the room, a really impressive scene that people would remember forever. The peaceful moment was broken by the speedy Aristocrat’s Symphony and KAMIJO shouted at the crowd, “No regret!” KAMIJO and MASASHI ran to the two sides of the stage while HIZAKI and TERU stayed in the center, waving their guitars around without missing a note. During the interlude, KAMIJO pointed at the crowd from left to right and vice versa, urging everyone to pour out all their energy. YUKI even stood up from behind the drum kit, staring at the crowd with a delighted smile. All the energy built up so far burst into an energetic final climax and KAMIJO cried out, “Thank you so much!” The members threw the picks to the crowd again before they left, and YUKI, with no hesitation at all, gave his drumsticks to those lucky guys.

The house lights did not come on even though the stage was empty for a few minutes, so the crowd started yelling their slogan “We are Versailles,” hoping that the band would appear on the stage again. As expected, the band came out again for the second encore. TERU appeared with his lovely rabbit ears and thought that MASASHI would love it too, so he put the rabbit ears on MASASHI’s head. However, MASASHI did not seem to like this kind of stuff at all and took them off straightaway. The members were in their positions but KAMIJO still had something to say. He asked the audience about what they said during the breaks and the crowd shouted back to him, “We are…” KAMIJO interrupted and continued their words, “No no! We are family!” The crowd burst out laughing again. Finally, KAMIJO asked the crowd to open their hands up as he was going to send a last present to them in the form of The Revenant Choir. KAMIJO turned the microphone to the audience to let everybody sing together. Like a sea wave approaches the shore, the melody rushed out to the crowd.

KAMIJO had already introduced the members quite a few times during the live but he was going to do it again at the very last minute of the live. YUKI on drums, MASASHI on bass, HIZAKI and TERU on guitar, eternal member, Jasmine You and lastly, everybody cried out the vocalist's name — KAMIJO. The guitarists held their instruments up high in the air and the drummer stood up from behind the drum kit for the last symphony, giving the live a grand ending. KAMIJO thanked the audience and all the staff. The members started throwing stuff to the audience again, picks, water bottles and even tissue paper. YUKI went closer to the crowd and everybody raised their hands to catch the drumsticks. KAMIJO had a rose, a real, blood red rose, in his mouth. He put it down and asked everybody to hold their hands with their neighbors and everybody shouted “We are Versailles” as they jumped. It was time to say goodbye. TERU came to the microphone to have his first and last word to the fans: “Bye Bye!” KAMIJO stayed on the empty stage, threw the rose to the crowd and bowed deeply to the audience without saying a word.

The black curtain of “Holy Grail” lost its golden color as the spot light went off. However, people will remember it forever and it will keep shining in everybody’s hearts. It was destiny that everyone met there that night and let us hope that we will meet Versailles again one day.


Set List:

01. MASQUERADE
02. ASCENDEAD MASTER
03. Judicial Noir
04. DESTINY-THE LOVERS-
05. Love Will Be Born Again
06. Threshold
07. Thanatos
08. DRY ICE SCREAM!!
09. Libido
10. Vampire
11. Philia
12. The Red Carpet Day

Encore 1
13. Remember Forever
14. Aristocrat’s Symphony

Encore 2
15. The Revenant Choir