Ce sujet est lancé à l'occasion des deux concerts "pour dire au revoir, avec huit ans de retard", de Pierrot. Puisque j'y étais, j'ai fait un "petit" compte-rendu...
Mes excuses auprès des non-anglophones mais ce compte-rendu fleuve a été rédigé en anglais... et je suis présentement particulièrement peu inspirée pour traduire tout ça. Voici donc la version en anglais, s'il y a des trucs que vous ne comprenez pas trop ou sur lesquels vous voudriez des précisions n'hésitez pas à demander, on va dire que ça fera de la traduction "au cas par cas"...
[D'ailleurs pour ceux que ça intéresse je suis en train de relancer mon site sur Pierrot/Angelo: http://dramatic.believers.free.fr. C'est encore très incomplet car je recommence tout à zéro ou presque, la présentation est loin d'être sexy... mais on fait comme on peut avec Spip, qui m'arrange beaucoup plus que Wordpress pour le coup, pour énormément de raisons!]
Ok, so here I am, finally writing a live review about these two Pierrot final concerts. Usually, it means I needed some time to clear my mind about what I saw and grasp a better understanding about what I felt...
I usually love arriving super early at concerts, especially "important" concerts, because I love "grabbing the mood", feeling everyone's excitement, notice stupid little details about everyone around and so on. But I arrived in Japan on the day of the first concert, and on the second day... I noticed that it wasn't the alarm clock at the hotel that was an hour early, it's "the man speaking" in the plane when we arrived who gave us a wrong time (he probably got mixed up with the upcoming "season time change"): -I- was an hour late! And instead of arriving super early at concerts, I arrived early enough to buy a few goods on both days and, poof, the doors opened very soon after. On the second day, I was actually too late to buy some lotos: they got sold out before the concert! -Lotos- got -sold out- + -before- the concert! Damn, there were some hardcore old-school fans around...
(Though it's true that the "official photos" were different for both days, and those of the second day looked a lot better. We knew what was going to be sold in advance thanks to flyers given before the show and the images shown on the Pierrot official website. For example, when I arrived on the second day, I bought a "photos set"... and I think I got one of the very last ones (1h30 before the show started!): 5 seconds after I asked mine, a lady came and took all of the photos sets displayed on the stalls, between us and the selling-girls. The girl serving me then went to the back for one minute or two and finally came back with a set... I guess she had to negotiate a little, because when I checked 20mn after, the photo sets were marked "sold out"! Buying goods felt like going at war, on that day!)
To sum up, I'd say the first day was a bit more focused on Pierrot's first period, while the second concert was a bit more around their latest releases. Yet, each concert was a mix of about everything. The set-list was different both nights, though I was a bit frustrated with the few yet repeated songs... I like Neogrotesque, but two nights in a row? I would have gladly switched one for a Dramatic Neo Anniversary, for example. And a few other songs. Then again, I'm sure there are some people who love these few songs and were amazed to enjoy them two nights in a row, after so long. And they played songs I love and totally never expected, such as Pieces, Dracula, Shingetsu (they played Shingetsu!!!), and others. So, well... it was great as it was.
The most positive side about these concerts was the stage production. Seriously, the tickets were a bit expensive when we bought them (10 000 yens each, meaning about 80€, meaning a bit over twice more than a usual concert here in Paris, and Paris is considered expensive for concerts in France), but when I saw all the staging thingies, all the efforts put on visual effect of all kinds... these 10 000 yens each concert actually felt rather cheap. There were giant screens during nearly each song, sometimes showing images of the band as they were playing, sometimes showing "short movies", sometimes showing images that would "help the mood", the placement of the screens changed from one song to the other, sometimes there were only the side screens and some visual effect (or/including simple nothingness) on the stage itself, and so on and so forth. And absolutely gorgeous lights. I don't know who the lightening engineer was for these concerts, but he did one hell of a job here. And the snow-like during Hill. And the church-like during Heaven. And the fires for MadSky (if I remember well). And so on... Really, it was awesomely gorgeous. I hope the cameras could get a glimpse of this gorgeousness and we will be able to see it on the dvds.
The most surprising was... on the first day, when the introduction music was playing, I was waiting calmly, a bit tired because I had landed in Tokyo 3 or 4 hours before (and was a bit ill), but normally calmly waiting. Really no extra-heated emotion or whatever. Then Takeo came on stage (he always comes first)... and I started crying as soon as I saw him? Seriously?! "From Takeo?!?" It went on until the end of Hello (Hello made me cry!)... it was a mix of "it's been a long time / so you made it / will I ever see you[/Angelo included] again / glad to be there"... I absolutely didn't see it coming, it was like... bam, all of a second, tears literally popped up.
Another little surprise was that it seems like Kirito got the most cheers. It could be expected, of course, but I clearly remember that at the three Pierrot concerts I saw (the two DCVII shows and one fan-club concert before these), Jun got louder cheers from the crowd. So... it was still kind of a surprise to hear him get a "normal" cheer, but a really huge for Kirito.
The most disappointing was Aiji. Really. I think that on these two concerts, I lost the respect I had kept for him after the split, even if I really can't enjoy LM.C's music. The reason is his attitude. Towards his band-mates, towards the crowd, towards his playing even... everything. At some point I felt like asking him if he regretted the tattoos on his hands in the end? As for other Pierrot members, "the worst" was of course with Kirito: of course no one asks him to be all smiling when Kirito comes around if he doesn't feel like it, but here... it felt like he was about to head-butt Kirito anytime Kiri-san got "too close". From his attitude, from his face, everything. At the first concert, I even remember one song which he is supposed to start, more or less, and it definitely sounded like he was trying to cover Kirito's voice with his guitar... when Kohta started playing, a few seconds after, it felt like Kohta was trying to "over-cover" Aiji (although you could also call this "you're gonna leave me big bro' alone or I smash up yer face!!!" cute, somehow)... and in the middle, Kirito's voice felt like "pff, leave it be..." After a few seconds, the song went back to normal. I forgot the song, but I noticed it on the Wow Wow version too, I could check if you want.
As for the crowd... bah, let's say the playful Aiji is long gone now. He played his instrument, that's all. In the old days, no matter the song, you could see from his attitude that he was feeling/living the tunes. Not the case here at all, just a guitarist, cords, and notes. Speeches? "As short as possible, please!" On the second day it was like: "thank you for coming, you were great, goodbye"... Ok? That's it? After eight years? And with probably no more concert ever? That's all you have to say? Okay... goodbye to you too then!
But the worst of the worst, in my eyes, the most "hurting" was at the end of the first concert: Pierrot members were gathering at the center of the stage, as usual, preparing to say a few final words for the day. As usual, Jun went to Kirito's right side [Kirito was still playing with fans elsewhere]. Aiji had gone to Kirito's left, as usual, still leaving a big "gap"... it felt quite big, but well, end of a show, doesn't matter. But then, he quickly looked around, noticed that Kohta was on his own left... and Kirito would be on his right. I immediately thought: "...he won't dare..." But yes! He dared! Before Kirito arrived (fortunately), Aiji asked/made Kohta switch places with him. So that he wouldn't be just next to Kirito. The day after, Aiji went straight to the very left [from his point of view: our right]: Kirito grabbed him by the arm to place him next to him, and we saw a very traditional Takeo - Jun - Kirito - Aiji - Kohta. Fortunately, Aiji didn't try/ask to move again after that. The day before had been insulting enough like that... I mean, eight years after? Sure a lot of really bad stuff happened "that day", knowing the guys I have no doubt imagining physical actions too, but... eight years after? Just a few seconds of efforts? Not even mentioning trying to look happy/glad/like having fun while playing the songs? Blah... he came to get his money, end of the story. And that's extremely, extremely sad.
After the second concert, I watched a few videos from the Paradoxical Genesis dvd: Aiji looks happy, has fun, is implicated in all songs, laughs at Kirito's jokes even when they aren't directed to him (= he does listen to him!), speaks to the crowd with a huge smiles, joking himself, and so on... it's hard to believe I saw the same person on stage these two days! After the DCVII I said that it felt like there was a giant ice wall between Kirito and Aiji (no one believed me at the time, even after the dvd release, until the split announcement actually...), now I say there is a giant rift between them. And possibly between him and other Pierrot members too.
Fortunately, there was Jun. Years ago, for my Pierrot fansite, I wrote about him that "he's one of these few people on Earth who seem to have KIND tattooed all over his face": that is still true! He looked really glad, nostalgic but really sweet, friendly... and happy to play these songs. Even from Kirito you could feel a genuine "aaah, old friend, been so long!", sometimes he went to Jun while he was not singing just to rest on his shoulder for a second... not in a "fanservice" way, or I didn't feel it like that, really more like "ah, I missed you". Seeing them on stage, I couldn't help hoping they would do music again... but Kirito takes Angelo very seriously (I love them more and more, so I wouldn't blame him for that) and Kirito's music gets "rougher and rougher" while Alvino stops at sweety creamy honey rock music, so... don't know how much their styles can "blend" today. Anyway, I hope these concerts were an occasion for these two to get friendly again, that only is important too.
Funny note: the day after the second Pierrot concert, Alvino was playing with Micro Heads 4N (that I don't like so much but there are two ex-D'espairs Ray members and honestly I don't kow them so much). I was hoping I could go, and as I quickly checked at my hotel before going to the first Pierrot concert, I saw that some tickets were still on sale: I thought I could make it. Something told me that if I didn't buy my ticket -before- the Pierrot concert there were chances it would get sold out and... too bad for me. But well, I didn't have time (...and didn't know about that hour-delay yet...): whatever, will see later. After the concert, I go to the Family Mart next to my hotel and... it's sold out?!? Ah, yeah, Jun was really cute and friendly at that concert, right...
Of course I could barely see Takeo and Kohta... after a bit too many middle fingers, I stopped paying attention. I'm French / a European after all: I know he doesn't mean anything negative or bad with that, it's just his own way to "pump u" the crowd, but... where I come from, in my every day life, that is a highly aggressive sign, negative aggressivity. So, even if my brain tells me this is nothing negative, my upbringing and instinct can only understand it as aggressivity after aggressivity. And after a while, I got enough of aggressivity. Sorry Kohta, I'm a pacifist!
And finally Kirito... his voice was great, I think he was starting to have a cold (even more obvious on the second day), but he managed it perfectly well. Still, I'm not sure his brain was entirely with Pierrot. Maybe because it's an "old" band, while Angelo is "the present" now, isn't it. Maybe because he had to focus on the words a bit more than usual. Maybe because Aiji got on his nerves sometimes (sometimes I felt like Aiji changed scales a bit, on purpose, so that Kirito would sound weird... making Kirito turn his way, and finally giving up... it never lasted long anyway). Maybe the preparations for Angelo's upcoming album were a bit too much present in his mind. Maybe anything else. But... really, you can't compare what we heard from him these two nights and the "implication" he usually puts into his songs. I watched the Faith To Follow dvd after the shows (Angelo video), and the difference was most obvious. After getting the Wow Wow version, I compared some of the songs played on the first night with their DCVII version: same conclusion. On the other hand, he switched to "Shinya mode" sometimes (= low shoulders and softer attitude), and to show that on stage... it was an important time for him, that is for sure. It's only sad that, for whatever reason(s), he couldn't completely share it with us.
For example, if you watch this "post-concerts teaser": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-yrDF7IkiE, you'll notice Kirito making an eye-blink straight to the camera in the middle of Child (at this time supposed to be the very last song of the very last Pierrot concert). An eye-blink. In the middle of Child. In the middle of a song (then) meant to be Pierrot's very last song on stage...
...
Seriously?!
Why don't make lovely hearts with your hands, while you're at it? Or paint lovely cutey hearts on your sweetie cheeks?
I don't know where Kirito's brain was this night, but it definitely wasn't completely with Pierrot...
To sum up, I really liked these concerts, definitely. Did I love them? Not so sure... I could have ignored Aiji's bad mood, but I need an implicated singer to "get into" a concert, and as Kirito was kind of somewhere else, I have to admit I never really "got into" these concerts. Still, if the persons holding the cameras did a decent job, we should get awesome dvds. And strangely, I left these two concerts as an even bigger fan of Angelo, not Pierrot. Because I know that what I miss in Pierrot, I get it in Angelo (and Pierrot was going into that direction after all, it's only that Angelo doesn't have Aiji and Jun's "solar light"... Karyu loves dark stuff after all, doesn't he. Or "glittering dark", if you get that.) Of course Angelo isn't perfect, but Pierrot was far from perfect too, and that's often what made it awesome. So, well... have to save money to see a few Angelo concerts on some future tour now?
I also have to say a few words about the speeches Kirito made, because they led to some misunderstanding: on the first day, to sum up, it was about how the situation was so tense 8 years ago that such a concert looked absolutely impossible and the very fact that it was possible to make it, even 8 years after, feels somehow like a miracle. One part of the second day was very sweet as it was kind of a Japanese version of the idea behind "my" Dramatic Believers, with all the "a band stopping activities doesn't mean the music doesn't exist anymore" and so on. He also said that because such concerts were highly unlikely eight years ago, but finally came to be, you should always consider that everything is possible, who knows what will be in eight more years after all? "I'm only 22 after all, so in 8 years I'll be 30, we could make another concert!" (-ha-ha-... he really did say that) A lot of people understood this part as "hey... maybe he's introducing the idea that Pierrot could be coming back for good? Yes? Yes! Pierrot -is- coming back for good!" But I didn't understand it this way at all, it was more: "the band is no more, but the music still exists, so please keep supporting Pierrot forever". Most of all, to me, the main idea behind this speech lies in his last words, which were: "when you think everything is bad/wrong/you're in a corner, please believe in that day." As in a day where something that was bound to be impossible finally came true. I think that is the message Kirito wanted to share on the second day.
As for funny details, I have to say I loved going to Closet Child a few days after: I was quite surprised to see both the Shinjuku and Shibuya shops so "emptied". I mean a lot more empty than what I could see 6 years ago. As for Pierrot there was -nothing-, barely anything about Angelo... but as I couldn't go to these shops before, I "hope" the concerts attracted fans who completely riffled these shops from all Pierrot and Angelo goods? Still, I noticed there were a lot of LM.C goods... meaning fans bought Angelo stuff, but couldn't care less about LM.C... HA! Before the concerts, I would have felt bad for Aiji, had I seen that. After the concerts? Couldn't care less, not to say his attitude "asked" for it...
I will also always love Japanese people's attitude towards foreign languages: there was a box of cookies where "Les Biscuits d'Halloween de Pierrot" was written in perfect French (= "Pierrot's Halloween Cookies"), whereas the photobooks, written in English... are filled with English mistakes... That's so sweet!
Another sweet moment was on the first day, when "my neighbor" sat next to me: he was carrying a very cute and small (but dark!) bowling bag. And took out of it a very sweet Dior wallet, dark again but with a very golden (and shiny!) DIOR logo over it. That is the type of moment when you can confirm that you -are- in Japan... for good, not a single doubt about it!
All right, I could add a few other detail but they probably don't matter so much: now I have to save money to go see Angelo again... wish me good luck!
Mes excuses auprès des non-anglophones mais ce compte-rendu fleuve a été rédigé en anglais... et je suis présentement particulièrement peu inspirée pour traduire tout ça. Voici donc la version en anglais, s'il y a des trucs que vous ne comprenez pas trop ou sur lesquels vous voudriez des précisions n'hésitez pas à demander, on va dire que ça fera de la traduction "au cas par cas"...
[D'ailleurs pour ceux que ça intéresse je suis en train de relancer mon site sur Pierrot/Angelo: http://dramatic.believers.free.fr. C'est encore très incomplet car je recommence tout à zéro ou presque, la présentation est loin d'être sexy... mais on fait comme on peut avec Spip, qui m'arrange beaucoup plus que Wordpress pour le coup, pour énormément de raisons!]
Ok, so here I am, finally writing a live review about these two Pierrot final concerts. Usually, it means I needed some time to clear my mind about what I saw and grasp a better understanding about what I felt...
I usually love arriving super early at concerts, especially "important" concerts, because I love "grabbing the mood", feeling everyone's excitement, notice stupid little details about everyone around and so on. But I arrived in Japan on the day of the first concert, and on the second day... I noticed that it wasn't the alarm clock at the hotel that was an hour early, it's "the man speaking" in the plane when we arrived who gave us a wrong time (he probably got mixed up with the upcoming "season time change"): -I- was an hour late! And instead of arriving super early at concerts, I arrived early enough to buy a few goods on both days and, poof, the doors opened very soon after. On the second day, I was actually too late to buy some lotos: they got sold out before the concert! -Lotos- got -sold out- + -before- the concert! Damn, there were some hardcore old-school fans around...
(Though it's true that the "official photos" were different for both days, and those of the second day looked a lot better. We knew what was going to be sold in advance thanks to flyers given before the show and the images shown on the Pierrot official website. For example, when I arrived on the second day, I bought a "photos set"... and I think I got one of the very last ones (1h30 before the show started!): 5 seconds after I asked mine, a lady came and took all of the photos sets displayed on the stalls, between us and the selling-girls. The girl serving me then went to the back for one minute or two and finally came back with a set... I guess she had to negotiate a little, because when I checked 20mn after, the photo sets were marked "sold out"! Buying goods felt like going at war, on that day!)
To sum up, I'd say the first day was a bit more focused on Pierrot's first period, while the second concert was a bit more around their latest releases. Yet, each concert was a mix of about everything. The set-list was different both nights, though I was a bit frustrated with the few yet repeated songs... I like Neogrotesque, but two nights in a row? I would have gladly switched one for a Dramatic Neo Anniversary, for example. And a few other songs. Then again, I'm sure there are some people who love these few songs and were amazed to enjoy them two nights in a row, after so long. And they played songs I love and totally never expected, such as Pieces, Dracula, Shingetsu (they played Shingetsu!!!), and others. So, well... it was great as it was.
The most positive side about these concerts was the stage production. Seriously, the tickets were a bit expensive when we bought them (10 000 yens each, meaning about 80€, meaning a bit over twice more than a usual concert here in Paris, and Paris is considered expensive for concerts in France), but when I saw all the staging thingies, all the efforts put on visual effect of all kinds... these 10 000 yens each concert actually felt rather cheap. There were giant screens during nearly each song, sometimes showing images of the band as they were playing, sometimes showing "short movies", sometimes showing images that would "help the mood", the placement of the screens changed from one song to the other, sometimes there were only the side screens and some visual effect (or/including simple nothingness) on the stage itself, and so on and so forth. And absolutely gorgeous lights. I don't know who the lightening engineer was for these concerts, but he did one hell of a job here. And the snow-like during Hill. And the church-like during Heaven. And the fires for MadSky (if I remember well). And so on... Really, it was awesomely gorgeous. I hope the cameras could get a glimpse of this gorgeousness and we will be able to see it on the dvds.
The most surprising was... on the first day, when the introduction music was playing, I was waiting calmly, a bit tired because I had landed in Tokyo 3 or 4 hours before (and was a bit ill), but normally calmly waiting. Really no extra-heated emotion or whatever. Then Takeo came on stage (he always comes first)... and I started crying as soon as I saw him? Seriously?! "From Takeo?!?" It went on until the end of Hello (Hello made me cry!)... it was a mix of "it's been a long time / so you made it / will I ever see you[/Angelo included] again / glad to be there"... I absolutely didn't see it coming, it was like... bam, all of a second, tears literally popped up.
Another little surprise was that it seems like Kirito got the most cheers. It could be expected, of course, but I clearly remember that at the three Pierrot concerts I saw (the two DCVII shows and one fan-club concert before these), Jun got louder cheers from the crowd. So... it was still kind of a surprise to hear him get a "normal" cheer, but a really huge for Kirito.
The most disappointing was Aiji. Really. I think that on these two concerts, I lost the respect I had kept for him after the split, even if I really can't enjoy LM.C's music. The reason is his attitude. Towards his band-mates, towards the crowd, towards his playing even... everything. At some point I felt like asking him if he regretted the tattoos on his hands in the end? As for other Pierrot members, "the worst" was of course with Kirito: of course no one asks him to be all smiling when Kirito comes around if he doesn't feel like it, but here... it felt like he was about to head-butt Kirito anytime Kiri-san got "too close". From his attitude, from his face, everything. At the first concert, I even remember one song which he is supposed to start, more or less, and it definitely sounded like he was trying to cover Kirito's voice with his guitar... when Kohta started playing, a few seconds after, it felt like Kohta was trying to "over-cover" Aiji (although you could also call this "you're gonna leave me big bro' alone or I smash up yer face!!!" cute, somehow)... and in the middle, Kirito's voice felt like "pff, leave it be..." After a few seconds, the song went back to normal. I forgot the song, but I noticed it on the Wow Wow version too, I could check if you want.
As for the crowd... bah, let's say the playful Aiji is long gone now. He played his instrument, that's all. In the old days, no matter the song, you could see from his attitude that he was feeling/living the tunes. Not the case here at all, just a guitarist, cords, and notes. Speeches? "As short as possible, please!" On the second day it was like: "thank you for coming, you were great, goodbye"... Ok? That's it? After eight years? And with probably no more concert ever? That's all you have to say? Okay... goodbye to you too then!
But the worst of the worst, in my eyes, the most "hurting" was at the end of the first concert: Pierrot members were gathering at the center of the stage, as usual, preparing to say a few final words for the day. As usual, Jun went to Kirito's right side [Kirito was still playing with fans elsewhere]. Aiji had gone to Kirito's left, as usual, still leaving a big "gap"... it felt quite big, but well, end of a show, doesn't matter. But then, he quickly looked around, noticed that Kohta was on his own left... and Kirito would be on his right. I immediately thought: "...he won't dare..." But yes! He dared! Before Kirito arrived (fortunately), Aiji asked/made Kohta switch places with him. So that he wouldn't be just next to Kirito. The day after, Aiji went straight to the very left [from his point of view: our right]: Kirito grabbed him by the arm to place him next to him, and we saw a very traditional Takeo - Jun - Kirito - Aiji - Kohta. Fortunately, Aiji didn't try/ask to move again after that. The day before had been insulting enough like that... I mean, eight years after? Sure a lot of really bad stuff happened "that day", knowing the guys I have no doubt imagining physical actions too, but... eight years after? Just a few seconds of efforts? Not even mentioning trying to look happy/glad/like having fun while playing the songs? Blah... he came to get his money, end of the story. And that's extremely, extremely sad.
After the second concert, I watched a few videos from the Paradoxical Genesis dvd: Aiji looks happy, has fun, is implicated in all songs, laughs at Kirito's jokes even when they aren't directed to him (= he does listen to him!), speaks to the crowd with a huge smiles, joking himself, and so on... it's hard to believe I saw the same person on stage these two days! After the DCVII I said that it felt like there was a giant ice wall between Kirito and Aiji (no one believed me at the time, even after the dvd release, until the split announcement actually...), now I say there is a giant rift between them. And possibly between him and other Pierrot members too.
Fortunately, there was Jun. Years ago, for my Pierrot fansite, I wrote about him that "he's one of these few people on Earth who seem to have KIND tattooed all over his face": that is still true! He looked really glad, nostalgic but really sweet, friendly... and happy to play these songs. Even from Kirito you could feel a genuine "aaah, old friend, been so long!", sometimes he went to Jun while he was not singing just to rest on his shoulder for a second... not in a "fanservice" way, or I didn't feel it like that, really more like "ah, I missed you". Seeing them on stage, I couldn't help hoping they would do music again... but Kirito takes Angelo very seriously (I love them more and more, so I wouldn't blame him for that) and Kirito's music gets "rougher and rougher" while Alvino stops at sweety creamy honey rock music, so... don't know how much their styles can "blend" today. Anyway, I hope these concerts were an occasion for these two to get friendly again, that only is important too.
Funny note: the day after the second Pierrot concert, Alvino was playing with Micro Heads 4N (that I don't like so much but there are two ex-D'espairs Ray members and honestly I don't kow them so much). I was hoping I could go, and as I quickly checked at my hotel before going to the first Pierrot concert, I saw that some tickets were still on sale: I thought I could make it. Something told me that if I didn't buy my ticket -before- the Pierrot concert there were chances it would get sold out and... too bad for me. But well, I didn't have time (...and didn't know about that hour-delay yet...): whatever, will see later. After the concert, I go to the Family Mart next to my hotel and... it's sold out?!? Ah, yeah, Jun was really cute and friendly at that concert, right...
Of course I could barely see Takeo and Kohta... after a bit too many middle fingers, I stopped paying attention. I'm French / a European after all: I know he doesn't mean anything negative or bad with that, it's just his own way to "pump u" the crowd, but... where I come from, in my every day life, that is a highly aggressive sign, negative aggressivity. So, even if my brain tells me this is nothing negative, my upbringing and instinct can only understand it as aggressivity after aggressivity. And after a while, I got enough of aggressivity. Sorry Kohta, I'm a pacifist!
And finally Kirito... his voice was great, I think he was starting to have a cold (even more obvious on the second day), but he managed it perfectly well. Still, I'm not sure his brain was entirely with Pierrot. Maybe because it's an "old" band, while Angelo is "the present" now, isn't it. Maybe because he had to focus on the words a bit more than usual. Maybe because Aiji got on his nerves sometimes (sometimes I felt like Aiji changed scales a bit, on purpose, so that Kirito would sound weird... making Kirito turn his way, and finally giving up... it never lasted long anyway). Maybe the preparations for Angelo's upcoming album were a bit too much present in his mind. Maybe anything else. But... really, you can't compare what we heard from him these two nights and the "implication" he usually puts into his songs. I watched the Faith To Follow dvd after the shows (Angelo video), and the difference was most obvious. After getting the Wow Wow version, I compared some of the songs played on the first night with their DCVII version: same conclusion. On the other hand, he switched to "Shinya mode" sometimes (= low shoulders and softer attitude), and to show that on stage... it was an important time for him, that is for sure. It's only sad that, for whatever reason(s), he couldn't completely share it with us.
For example, if you watch this "post-concerts teaser": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-yrDF7IkiE, you'll notice Kirito making an eye-blink straight to the camera in the middle of Child (at this time supposed to be the very last song of the very last Pierrot concert). An eye-blink. In the middle of Child. In the middle of a song (then) meant to be Pierrot's very last song on stage...
...
Seriously?!
Why don't make lovely hearts with your hands, while you're at it? Or paint lovely cutey hearts on your sweetie cheeks?
I don't know where Kirito's brain was this night, but it definitely wasn't completely with Pierrot...
To sum up, I really liked these concerts, definitely. Did I love them? Not so sure... I could have ignored Aiji's bad mood, but I need an implicated singer to "get into" a concert, and as Kirito was kind of somewhere else, I have to admit I never really "got into" these concerts. Still, if the persons holding the cameras did a decent job, we should get awesome dvds. And strangely, I left these two concerts as an even bigger fan of Angelo, not Pierrot. Because I know that what I miss in Pierrot, I get it in Angelo (and Pierrot was going into that direction after all, it's only that Angelo doesn't have Aiji and Jun's "solar light"... Karyu loves dark stuff after all, doesn't he. Or "glittering dark", if you get that.) Of course Angelo isn't perfect, but Pierrot was far from perfect too, and that's often what made it awesome. So, well... have to save money to see a few Angelo concerts on some future tour now?
I also have to say a few words about the speeches Kirito made, because they led to some misunderstanding: on the first day, to sum up, it was about how the situation was so tense 8 years ago that such a concert looked absolutely impossible and the very fact that it was possible to make it, even 8 years after, feels somehow like a miracle. One part of the second day was very sweet as it was kind of a Japanese version of the idea behind "my" Dramatic Believers, with all the "a band stopping activities doesn't mean the music doesn't exist anymore" and so on. He also said that because such concerts were highly unlikely eight years ago, but finally came to be, you should always consider that everything is possible, who knows what will be in eight more years after all? "I'm only 22 after all, so in 8 years I'll be 30, we could make another concert!" (-ha-ha-... he really did say that) A lot of people understood this part as "hey... maybe he's introducing the idea that Pierrot could be coming back for good? Yes? Yes! Pierrot -is- coming back for good!" But I didn't understand it this way at all, it was more: "the band is no more, but the music still exists, so please keep supporting Pierrot forever". Most of all, to me, the main idea behind this speech lies in his last words, which were: "when you think everything is bad/wrong/you're in a corner, please believe in that day." As in a day where something that was bound to be impossible finally came true. I think that is the message Kirito wanted to share on the second day.
As for funny details, I have to say I loved going to Closet Child a few days after: I was quite surprised to see both the Shinjuku and Shibuya shops so "emptied". I mean a lot more empty than what I could see 6 years ago. As for Pierrot there was -nothing-, barely anything about Angelo... but as I couldn't go to these shops before, I "hope" the concerts attracted fans who completely riffled these shops from all Pierrot and Angelo goods? Still, I noticed there were a lot of LM.C goods... meaning fans bought Angelo stuff, but couldn't care less about LM.C... HA! Before the concerts, I would have felt bad for Aiji, had I seen that. After the concerts? Couldn't care less, not to say his attitude "asked" for it...
I will also always love Japanese people's attitude towards foreign languages: there was a box of cookies where "Les Biscuits d'Halloween de Pierrot" was written in perfect French (= "Pierrot's Halloween Cookies"), whereas the photobooks, written in English... are filled with English mistakes... That's so sweet!
Another sweet moment was on the first day, when "my neighbor" sat next to me: he was carrying a very cute and small (but dark!) bowling bag. And took out of it a very sweet Dior wallet, dark again but with a very golden (and shiny!) DIOR logo over it. That is the type of moment when you can confirm that you -are- in Japan... for good, not a single doubt about it!
All right, I could add a few other detail but they probably don't matter so much: now I have to save money to go see Angelo again... wish me good luck!
Dernière édition par Polochon le Ven 5 Déc 2014 - 0:03, édité 1 fois