Birthday Report!

Long post is LONG! I'm writing this post as if it were the day of, so if you're confused about tenses, then that's why.

I managed to meet up with abiona_sashenka and her friend on the LONG LONG LONG goods line. I'm quite grateful they let me get in line with them! I think it would have been a miserable time! And it was so great to have met them! I had such a good time! It was also nice that the goods tent opened early since people were melting in the heat! We got goods at around 2:55pm and went to yet another line for ID checking, which luckily only took 10 mins to accomplish including standing in line for the 5 minute wait. The ID check area was to open at 3pm. They had A LOT of staff on hand to handle the massive crowd! It's probably a good thing that we did this first THEN go get food and such!

Coming back from eating and refreshing ourselves, there was, as expected, a massive crowd everywhere. It was a bit crazy that there were that many people there. There were amazing cosplayers and just very well thought out outfits for the occasion overall. The one thing I noticed was that the true Gackt fans were wearing the six gem and/or onyx bracelets. Such a refreshing feeling! Another thing is...you know you've been to too many lives when you start to recognize concert goers! I recognized two people from different lives at this event, despite the crowd! I heard that there were a few from HOKKAIDO coming to this event. The dedication is fantastic.





I can safely say that the energy from the crowd before the start of the concert seemed lively, so I think this concert will be enjoyable even by myself.

Upon entering the venue we all received a small, thin plastic bag with some flyers, but most importantly a blue glowstick and a note saying not to use it until instructed to do so on the side screens. (Thanks abiona_sashenka for the heads up on that note in the bag!) I didn't expect to be given another glowstick, and now I have two. The seating wasn't so bad. My seat wasn't too far from the stage that it was a terrible seat, and there were still the usual big screens used for this arena tour, so thankfully I could see things, like the stage. Ah, the ever present Bolero played for us as we wait for the concert to start, which was about twenty minutes after the initial start time. During the intro movie we see Zero walking through the broken and wet of what looks to be a ruined back street, questioning his existence and not even knowing his purpose, let alone himself. There are flashes of Proto's memory and his own, as well as clips from the first RR1 tour before Zero collapses to the ground, his exterior burning away and leaving behind metal and wires where bone and sinew should have been.

The concert opens with Jesus, and the red from the lightsticks kept in beat with the heavy, ground shaking music. You could practically feel the music in your chest because it was that loud. You can hear the sound check from outside the venue, actually. A few people used their blue sticks in the audience but the staff quickly snuffed out the culprits, which weren't that many. Maybe 10 to 15 people in random spots. The next song was Uncontrol, which was just as energetic as Jesus, yet complete with Gackt and GacktJOB dancing at the front together. Very cute, despite the song.

Suddenly came up next, and I must say, I really want to be that mic stand! My eyes were immediately mesmerized the moment he slinked his way down the stairs. The imagery was tantalizing, which is something Gackt is good at. Ah, yes, he is ever the malfunctioning cyborg in both this song and No Reason. There was some serious Uruha-style head banging here, a la Filth in the Beauty.

For In Flames the stage was illuminated with glimmering circles, and yes, FLAMES. This time around, I actually couldn't feel the heat of the flames since I was in D-block arena seat. In Osaka, in row 33 on the arena floor, I did feel the fire! (or FIYAAAAHHHH! which ever you prefer) Up next on the list is Sayounara. I'm a bit confused on this part, mainly around the soldiers moving so slowly with the music and seeming to stop when the music stops, or just...at random. I'm convinced the music Zero plays for his comrades brings them to life, or something to that extent. Music is said to be a universal language, so I can see it affecting them in such a way, but this is just my own opinion. The duet between Gackt and You was as beautiful as I remembered. Throughout that song, you don't really notice how the background turns from dusk to a moonlit night. My attention was too much on the music and interaction on stage.

GHOST is just as great as usual. There was also fire used here, which was a nice effect, yet I don't know why he needed it. I'm not complaining though! From my seat placement, it's a lot better to see the synchronization of the dances than from the sides, so the effect is even better for me. It was hard to see the effect from my previous seating. In Blue Lagoon I noticed that the special mic stand had a spear through the body, which is...gruesome in a sense. I'm still unclear as to why he has this stand. I personally don't like it, but my opinion may change after understanding the meaning for using it. There was hip shaking though, and it's good to know that ALL the dancers are male. There are no female dancers, so don't even try to argue. This made for nice inner fangirling.

We used our glowsticks to sway with the music of Oblivious as the background behind him showed images of soldiers and everyday people walking along a sidewalk. The song ended and gave way to the midway movie, where this helped lead the way to a more lighthearted part of the show. After a quick costume change the boys were back out onto the stage, ready to sing My Father's Day. I love how the song is upbeat with such a meaningful message. I think in a way Gackt was staying true to Ogata Ken's words to smile more often.

During Mirror, there was lots of audeince participation, and during the usual pause in the song, we were rewarded with a nice, long flash of his abs and chest. Yes, indeed we want you to take it off, Gackt. Listen to your fans! By the end of the song and riling up the audience to give our all to him, he seemed to have gotten quite weak and dropped to his knees before the lights went out. When he came out again, he still seemed a bit out of it, but I think he'll recover.

I can't remember if it was Mirror or My Father's Day where Chachamaru and Chirolyn were interacting a lot. It was too cute! I think it's because they had the same vests.

The MC part took an HOUR! I think longer, but definitely an hour or more.

After drenching the front rows with water and tossing out the water bottles, he finally came to talk to/with us. I forgot why everyone was jumping, but we were, and told us to stop, several times. He complained that we would break the cover of the swimming pool if we continued and would end up having a huge pool party. But that only made us want to stomp more! The thought of Gackt wet is not really going to make us prevent the pool from opening up. He mentioned his appearance on television lately, despite not liking to be on shows, especially these last four weeks due to his CD releases each week. He made a special mention of his Music Station performance and speaking with Fukuyama (I'm sorry I don't know his first name!) and how he asked if he wanted to come to his live the next day. Fukuyama actually had his own event today and asked about if he had any in September, in which Gackt responded that the tour would be over by then! BUT he did say that he had something planned for September, but I don't think he mentioned what it was. I think at this point there was CAKE!

No, really, GacktJOB came out in a trian formation, one behind another, with cake after the Happy Birthday song by Stevie Wonder came on. I think that was planned as a way to avoid letting out his secret. Or my memory is that bad. I don't know! Gackt did complain about what the cake was so small. "It's too small!" I can't disagree with him, though! It was very small but cute. As Gackt went to thank everyone, he was interrupted by an alert of an incoming birthday message.

The first one was from various celebrities such as the comedy duo Black Mayonaise, the voice actor for Amuro Rei, Char Azanble, and another person, and Masahiro Inoue. Gackt couldn't talk for more than two minutes after those messages were done as the next alert came in! The second group of messages came from...one old man. I don't know who he is, I couldn't read his name! Then Miyavi (which was hilarious!), Daigo (with his OMEDETO WISH!). Yet again, after another two minutes passing, a third alert came through, this time from HYDE, SUGIZO (the Trekkie! "Live long, and proper" *strange hand sign*), and...YOSHIKI, but I think this was just a message someone else spoke but they were his words. He wants Gackt to come to L.A., T.M. Revolution, and another comedy duo named キャイ〜ん！ (I have no clue who they are either!)

Finally we get to the JOB intros, which are still cute. Junji used his usual chants, but changed the ending from JUNJI to OME! (short for omedetou, which would be too long to say!) But after the intros, it was time for the big surprise. The screens lit up to show us a message: break your glowsticks and get ready to sing happy birthday! The look on Gackt's face was priceless. He looked quite dumbfound at the entire audience having a blue glowstick. No one was without one, we were all given one earlier. He was moved as we sang for him, and a HUGE cake was rolled out by men in tuxedos but having the large kitten heads on. The cake was covered with strawberries and candles and a make shift Gackt trump card.


thanks gackt_army for pointing out the image!

The venue was illuminated by blue, and you can tell how moved Gackt was by the surprise. You can hear how emotional he got when he spoke to us in thanks. His dancers gave him flowers, I think there were two bouquets. At one point he said we play too much and that we'll never get to Lost Angels at this rate! HA! It's his own fault, really! He was also complaining that they will turn everything off at 10pm since the venue closes then. (Hello, late fees?)

I'm not sure if he played Love Letter before or after the surprise, but I would assume after. It was nice to relax and try to sing along as there were Japanese subtitles on the large screens while Gackt and JOB played the song acoustically. Eventually, the show continued on with the cuteness of U+K. Gackt wore one of the neko paws (I forgot if he wore that during the other lives) during the song, but not much has changed. It was overly cute, though. He really loves cats! Then came the dance of doom, Koakuma Heaven, where we all fail at trying to do a mode higher than Chachamaru's level. Pappa Lapped a Pop Lopped was as interesting as it's name, and the dancers show off their crazy dancing skills, especially the young, blonde one. (I should know their names by now!) Ah, Kazuya, ne?

For Faraway, the clapping neko paws were still off beat at first, but they got on beat by the latter half of the song. I'm not sure why that is so. But there was a tremendous amount of energy during this song. How is it possible for all of us to still be functional enough to participate like this? I was near the point of needing to sit down. Thank goodness for extra bottles of water and milk tea. The infamous Flower came after. Infamous only because of his Shibuya promotion of his single on the big screen of that building, and how it held up traffic.

As for 君のためにできること

Dear Gackt,

GIMME SOME DAMN STREAMERS! D:<

From, Me.

And we FINALLY come to the end, Lost Angels. I find it creepy and shocking as to how the soldiers just magically appear. I mean, really, where do they hide? Where?! They have maybe...five seconds before those lights come on again. How is it possible?!

The concert ended at 10:30pm, after a 4+ hours! It was...just incredible. It was the best show of the whole tour, and I'm a bit sad it's over. It didn't really sink in that I just came from "The Greatest Show on Earth" (what is this, a circus. HAHA!) until this morning, remembering this report needed editing. I still can't believe I made it to a birthday even. The energy before the start of this was just brimming the pot at this venue as people met with friends before they had topart their separate ways, wishing each other well and hoping they would enjoy the live since we all had random seats. It can be quite lonely not enjoying a concert with a friend, but with so much great energy flowing, I don't think I noticed! I know I definitely screamed, danced, and moved most of the time. I couldn't bring myself to sleep until about 2am even though I was dead with little to no energy left!