L'Arc~en~Ciel Summer/Fall Tour 1998
HEART
ni hi o tsukero | LIGHT MY FIRE
Thank you
so much for pom and Yoko for the reports! m_ _m
pom~
July 17, 1998@ Urawa Bunka Center "HEART ni hi o
tsukero" Tour
It rained in the late afternoon of that day, so in
front of the concert hall was all wet. I arrived at the
hall
about 4:30 which was pretty early but the street from the
train station to the concert hall was already filled with Laruku
fans (all girls!! ^_^;;). There were also a few girls
at the train
station holding up signs saying, "Please lend me
L'Arc-en-Ciel's live ticket"! That really surprised
me.
The
fans' cos-play was really cute. A lot of them
dressed up in Hyde's black suit with wings behind them,
long white gown and curly hair, etc., then there were Tetsu's
fans and ken's fans dressing up like them. What made me
really happy was Sakura's fans!! There weren't that many of
them but they dressed up in black tank-top and leather
trousers and had hair just like him.
The hall opened at 6:00 p.m. and the live was supposed to
start at 6:30, but we had to wait around 30 minutes and
finally the light was out, and the concert started!
Promised
Land: The fans (including me, of course) were
screaming like crazy. The hall was dark, so we couldn't see
anything during the intro. Yukihiro's drumming was so so
powerful!! When the stage lights up, Hyde was on this
rising platform, hitting this big strange drum (or was it
cymbal?) and singing at the same time. He was wearing a
sunglasses, a knee length, thin, white top and a really tight
black letter trousers・ooo cute! Kawaii~~ Of
course, the
fans were screaming even more! Tetsu wore his usual
T-shirt and shorts, and platform shoes. Ken-chan wore a
vest and bell-bottom jeans, I think. I couldn't really see
Yuki, though.
Birth!:
Hyde came down from the platform. During the part
"Tomei na ude o" He was raising the microphone
stand・o
cute!! Many fans, including me, were sitting during this
song, though.
Round
and Round: Kakoii!! Hyde's voice was so good!
Everyone seemed to stand up and dance in this song now.
When he let us sing the "koware te shimatta mama"
everyone screamed it so loud.
Hyde's
1st MC:
"YEAH URAWA!!! Minna genki ka? This hall's
ceiling is
really high, ne? Are you guys on the third floor
alright?
(Yes!! I'm on the third floor! Thank you for asking,
haido-san ^_^)
Vivid
Colors: My favorite song! Hyde's singing got more
lively. The stage lit up very brightly. During the
chorus
part, every fans sung really loud, I almost went hyper
myself and it's only the 4th song,and made the L'Arc
gesture.
Peeping Tom: Very light and refreshing song. Hyde's
dancing was very cute. The stage was lit up silvery
white/blue color.
Shout
at the Devil: Kakkoii~~ Too kakkoii this song is as
powerful as usual. Tetsu's bass and Yuki's drumming is
fabulous! Again, the fans went hyper.
~Tour
goods CM for Larukuchi Z and Laru Pikka (Flasher for
mobile phone) with these mafias trying to buy Larukuchi but
actually got Larukuchi Z (new version), it was very funny ^_^
~
LORELEY:
Hyde came back with the small pair of wings and
his sax! Angel Hyde..kya~~ kawaii!!
Kasou:
I love this song!! It was very emotional, and Hyde's
dancing was so sexy!! The English rapping part in the
middle of the song was done by Ken instead of Hyde. Oh,
Ken also smoked a cigarette during the song.
Fate:
Three slow exotic songs in a row!! Hyde's dancing in
this song was even more sexy than the previous one!! The
guitar solo by Ken was very beautiful, too!
Hyde's
2nd MC:
"It's really summer now, ne? There are a lot of 'o-jou
san'
wearing yukata to today's live. (Hyde seemed to like
yukata, ne!) Have you guys gone to see the movie
Godzilla? Couldn't really hear the song, nah? It
wasn't that
great either, but just go and see it, ne?・#034;
Shinshouku~lose control~: Fabulous performance!
Hyde's
singing was so powerful. At the back there was a screen
projecting a boiling water/blood on it, quite scary but really
suit the mood of the song.
Ken's
1st MC:
"How are you guys today ? What are you guys coming
here
to URAWA for?・" Ken let this girl in the front
row to come
up and whisper something to him I'm so jealous of that girl!!
^_^;;
winter
fall: So lively, this song. Very refreshing after the
tension of the previous 4 songs. Many fans started to stand
up and dance again.
Caress
of Venus: This was as great as always..an up-tempo
song which the fans could dance and sing along.
Flower:
Everyone waited for this song and Hyde seemed to
know it. He was saying like "do you guys want to hear
more? How about 'flower'?". The way he swayed
his head
in the song was so cute!
Dive to
Blue: This song is very well performed (of course).
But what was really cool was that in the song everyone in
the hall, including me ^_^, got out the blue pom-pom we
received in front of the hall from a group of fans, and shake
them around. I was on the 3rd floor, so I could see the
whole hall beneath me, and it was VERY beautiful. The
whole hall turned blue!! I really hoped the members notice
it, too, because I imagine it would be very beautiful looking
from the stage. During the clapping bit, the fans clapped
together, too. Laruku-fan power!!
NIJI:
My most favorite Laruku songs. Very very emotional
and beautiful.
Encore:
Hyde said 'arigatou' then went back behind the
stage, then the stage was all dark. After waiting for about
10
minutes, screaming the member names and "encore", a
group of fans started to clap and sung "Ring bell through
the
window・#034; bit of 'I wish'. Everyone joined
in and the sound
was very loud, filling up the hall. I think we went on
singing
and clapping for almost 20 minutes before we started
screaming the member names again. Many of us fans
probably lost our voices and hurt our hands ^_^;; Then the
members came back on the stage. Hyde was with a guitar
now.
Hyde's 3rd MC:
Hyde: "We've just got the new releases (8/8). Everyone
bought them?"
Fans: "Yeah!!"
Hyde: "Do you want to hear it?" (with his usually
Osaka-accent. Cute!)
Fans: "Yeah!!"
Hyde: "Do you want to hear it?"
Fans: "Yeah!!"
Honey:
Hyde started to play guitar and sing the intro bit・o
smooth. Honey is like a replacement for 'I'm so happy', I
think.
Blurry
Eyes: This is the song I was waiting for, actually.
Very cute as always. When Hyde blew the whistle (so cute!)
Ken started running. But because the stage was so small,
he nearly ran into the wall!! Or maybe he only did that to
scare the fans? There is also the very very cute duet
between Hyde and Tetsu. Everyone sung along really loud.
The music stopped after "..with your blurry
eyes.".
Tetsu's
MC:
"・o you guys know when we came to perform a live in
this
hall before we saw two ghosts of girls in white gowns on the
2nd floor (Tetsu points at the 2nd floor). Hyde (he turns
to
Hyde who was sitting in front of Yuki's drum set), you saw it,
too, right? Hyde: "yeah..I did! I did!" You
guys over there,
yeah, you guys..be careful!・#034;
Then
Blurry Eyes continued and Hyde blew kisses to the
camera man and threw his whistle at the fans on the first
floor. They went hyper and fall over each others!
Milky
way: The stage and the hall light up in a creamy,
silvery light. The fans, instead of normal Laruku gesture
(stretching two arms in front, roll them over・ made this
gesture of swaying the arms to the left and right above the
heads, so I followed them (how embarrassing, I made the
wrong gesture in the beginning ^^;;)
Anata
(last song): Hyde said it finally come to the last song,
and the fans screamed "No~~"
The performance was very beautiful. White feathers flew all
over the stage and Hyde stretched his arms out. He let the
fans sing the chorus bit in the end, too, very very touching.
Hyde said "Arigatou", then ran across the stage then
went
behind the stage, then Ken and Tetsu went, too, and the fans
were screaming their names like crazy. Yukihiro was the
last one on stage, he didn't say anything but stood there for
a moment and bowed to us, so the hall filled with Yuki calls
(Yukki~~) in the end. ^_^
~end~
Yoko
~ September 14, 1998 @ Osaka-jo Hall "LIGHT MY
FIRE"Tour
1. Promised Land (hyde appeared from clear elevator.
While he spoke in effected voice, the other members
set their instrument.)
2. birth!
3. round & round
MC (hyde)
4. winter fall
5. peeping Tom
CM (recommendation of tour goods)
1. body
soap 2. L'Arc-ppacappus (CANDY)
6. LORELEY (hyde appeared with black wings
and saxophone.)
7. fate
8. Kasou
9. Shinshoku ~lose control~
10. Shout at the devil
MC (ken)
11. Snow drop (it's kinda pop song, but still
good.)
12. curess of venus
13. flower (hyde played the harmonica)
14. DIVE TO BLUE
MC (hyde)
15. NIJI
ENCORE
1. HONEY
2. blurry eyes ~MC (tetsu) ~ blurry eyes
3. milky way
MC (hyde)
4. Anata
Style
hyde- black shirt, black leather pants
ken- animal print shirt, brown leather pants
tetsu- pink tee-shirt with big star, red short pants
yukihiro- black T-shirt, couldn't seeT_T
The
coolest song for me was Shinshoku.
The lighting of the song was dark and very cool!!!
MC by
ken was so cute. He told us he went to eat chanko-nabe
(kinda stew for sumou wresler) with other member, and it was
good, so each member ate it for 3 persons.
MC by
tetsu was funny. He asked us if we were all right, and said,
"I'm sick (joke)." And he asked us if we know the title
of a cartoon
which hero's name was Genki (means all right or OK). Some people
knew (including me) but it was kinda old cartoon, so I guess
junior and high school students didn't know that^^;;
I was
sorry yukihiro didn't speak, but Osaka is their home ground,
so seemed they were in relax mood. I was happy hyde said to us,
"Tadaima (I'm home)!"
Lourdes ~ July 21, 1998@ Okinawa Convention Center "HEART ni hi o tsukero" Summer Tour Final
Set List:
1. Promised Land
2. Birth
3. Round and Round
4. Vivid Colors
Tour Goods CM
5. Peeping Tom
6. LORELEY
7. Kasou
8. Lose Control
9. Shout at the Devil
10.winter fall
11.Caress of Venus
12.flower
13.Dive to Blue
14.NIJI
Encore
1. Irresponsible Hate Anthem
2. Honey
3. Blurry Eyes
4. milky way
5. ANATA
This was my
first time to a see a concert in Japan (and all the way to Okinawa for
that matter..^^;). It was a very hot day and
fans
gathered there way way before the concert begun. The convention
center was a
very very "kakkoii" building. On the side of it, there
are tour trucks with
the L'Arc~en~Ciel Tour logo. I could hear band members rehearsing. The
feeling of being in the same place with Laruku was just so
incredible. It
was like a dream coming true.
The pre-opening theme song was by Enya (Tetsu
loves Enya). Suddenly there were green laser lights sparkling.
Curtains went
down and the spotlight was focused on a structure on the
second level
of the stage. I heard drums, very very heavy drums. Fans screamed
like crazy
but I still couldn't figure out who that was!!
Promised Land
"Ladies and gentlemen!! Let me tell you my story.......~
~into the wonderland!!" The monologue at the beginning of
Promised Land was
read out (yelled out actually..^^;;) by Hyde. It was
Hyde!!!!!!!!! The
blonde hair guy!!!! My gosh!! I was so shocked!!! It was the
first day
he revealed his newly dyed hair to the public. Yes yes!!!
As I recall, the past week while I was in Okinawa, I watched Pop
Jam on 7/18
and Hyde still had his black/blonde highlights hair. He must've
dyed it on
either 7/19 or 7/20. No wonder I couldn't recognize Haido!! ^^;;;
Then Ken
and Tetsu jumped out to the front with their instruments and
everyone
screamed even more loudly!! What was so funny (actually kinda
embarassing...^^;; as such a big Laruku fan, how could I???^^;;)
was that I
couldn't differentiate between Ken and Tetsu until I saw Tetsu's
platform
shoes..^^;;;; It was dark mah...
Promised Land was so so so cool!!!! Hyde just kept on hitting
this electric
drums very very hard and the sound was like cracking up my
head.....although
there was air-conditioning, the heat turned on like a spark.
Everytime Hyde
hit that drums, fans just screamed and screamed !! Everyone was
soooooo
"high"!! I myself was kinda surprised that such a
"not-so-rock" song could
be this amazingly "loud" and "sugoi"!!!! The
convention center is not that
big and therefore the sound was just great!! Hyde led all the
fans into
singing "Devil's walk in the strawberry fields~~~". I
LOVE this remixed
version Promised Land.
Round and Round
Hyde begun his MC here with "Haisa Okinawa~~L'Arc~en~Ciel
deesu~~~Mensore~~"
^-^ "Mensore/Haisa" are
special
greetings in Okinawa language..meaning hello/welcome/please enjoy
yourself..^-^
So the locals there got crazy and screamed when Hyde said
that...haha!
Vivid Colors
Yukihiro did a GREAT job in the intro with Ken..timing was just
PERFECT. So
great!! *_* The lights were the most pretty in this song!! ^__^
CM
The CM of the L'Arc-gucchi Z was...kinda...hmm.....^^;;;;;;
They used "gaigoku jin" again this time...it was kinda
like a detective or
something..
the acting was just so....^^;;;;;
I didn't laugh...I just wanted it to pass as soon as possible so
I could see
Laruku again. ^-^
LORELEY
As usual, LORELEY commenced after a long so-called
"omoshiroi" CM
because
Hyde needed to set up his alto-sax. I LOVE this song very
very much...Hyde's
playing
was a little bit shaking but it was very emotional....well..it
was Hyde!!!
Who cares about the
shakiness??? Ah...just seeing him with that saxophone..I just
wished he
could have played
it longer...ohohoh..and not to mention the beautiful white wings
he had
on his back!! ^-^
Shinshoku Lose Control
This was the song that made me jump up and down...it just got me
into this
totally hyped-up
mode!!!!! My gosh!! Tetsu's Bass...*_* sooooo Kakkoii!!!!!!!!
When this song started at the beginning with Hyde's "I
looooose
control..."..I just felt
a chill up my spine!!! Ah~~~ it was just soooo amazing!!! Love it
love
it!!!!!!!
There was a slight difference from the CD single version
thought...in the
middle, Hyde
just "clear-sang" the part while everyone just stopped
playing...the
spotlight, the focus..was
ALL on him....however...sigh....just while everyone was
tasting..feeling..experiencing
Hyde's incredible voice..2 fans in the front just screamed Hyde's
name over
and over!!! It was
sooooooo annoying!!!!!!!!! >< You could hear them
soooo clearly because the
whole
convention center was quiet..listening to Hyde's voice...and they
just
screamed his name
in the middle of his performance!!! Thank God Hyde didn't get
affected by
that...he just
focused and focused...ah...~~~ Haido!!! you're the best!!!!!!!!
Another highlight of this song was of course Tetsu's awesome
bassline at the
near end of the
song...*_* All eyes were on Tetsu that time..and he was
just sooooo COOL!!!
I could never imagine myself hearing that bassline LIVE..and
there I
was!!!!!!!
It was 100% better than CD or TV!!!!!!
Kasou
Ken read the English part there....but it seemed like he murmured
it..
can't hear clearly...
Hyde's performance...I almost fainted..@_@...
"bara bara ni chirabaru~~~"
Shout at the
Devil
Another number that got everyone soooooo HIGH!!!!!
Tetsu's bass was just excellent.....
I wish they played this and Shinshoku twice...or forever..non
stop...
^______^
Yukihiro's Drum
Solo
I was really impressed. Here, I discovered that Yukihiro is
actually
very muscular!!! Lots of fans commented that Yukihiro was
cho-kakkoii
after seeing his performance. It was really that
good. It
was also the only part where I hear people scream
"Yuki~~~~"
..hahah!! He really was kakkoii in this solo.
Caress of Venus
The ONLY part I remember - Hyde & Tetsu's duet.
(shoulder by shoulder of
course) ^o^
Somehow one of them forgot the lyrics or something..and they
laughed...^^;
flower
Hyde's blue harps...he was sooooooooo cute...
Encore:
Irresponsible Hate Anthem
This was a special encore for Okinawa Summer Tour Final only!!!
^-^
Originally a Marilyn Manson song...Hyde was sugeeeeeee
kakkouyokatta...
This is really THE SONG that had all the people in the arena
head banging like there was no tomorrow...Hyde did too...banging
his head and just swinging the mic stand wildly....wah~~~~*_*
He just SCREEEAMED and SCREEEEEAMED....(yes..all the X
languages included ^^) it was just soooooooo COOL!!!!
Hyde kept on stepping on the black light box...and jumps
up and down...which was very cute..haha! Laruku did an excellent
cover of this song...I just wish I could hear them play
again..but seems
like
impossible...Y_Y
Blurry Eyes
Cut half again just like Tokyo Dome. It has become a
tradition or
something,
they just HAD to cut it in the middle and take a rest. I
guess they did it to
"remind"
us of Ken's "accident"..haha..ohohoh!!! and the whistle
too!!! Hyde threw
it out to the audience at the end..I wanted it sooo much!!!
More on MC:
My JP is not that good, therefore there were times when the whole
concert hall was laughing, I just stood there like ?_?
But I remembered there was a very funny part by Tetsu
though..haha..
Tetsu asked if
anyone wants to eat banana, then he pull out a real banana
from
his pants and threw it to the audience. But a guy caught
it!! hahaha!
Tetsu then looked to see who caught it, and when he saw that it
was a guy..
he was like "eeeeeew~~~" ^^;;;;;;;;;; Everyone laughed
and laughed.
Then there was
Ken, who always asked about the Okinawan Actor School (the one
that Namie Amuro went to) and asked if there were any students there
tonight..
...there actually were gals who yelled out "yes yes!!!! here
here!"
and Ken said we should all dance when they play...^^;;
The concert
ended with "Anata", feathers flew from the top down to
the
stage..
just like they used to have in "White Feathers".
I was kinda sad at that
time..
wuwuwu...last song ne....
Anyway, after Anata, they had a BIG group photo on stage, all
members
just sat on the floor with the backs facing audience and the
famous
"Charlie" guy
(he is THE photographer of L'Arc~en~Ciel) came out and took
pictures.
ALL the audience int he middle just squished themselves to the
middle,
trying
to get into the picture as well.
It was an
excellent concert. There was no technical problems or
anything
that are Y_Y or T_T..haha.^^;;
The concert hall outside was very crowded though..there were ppl
still
lining
up for tour goods (I was there..^^) and still lots of people
taking pictures
and stuff...
Miscellaneous
Tour Goods:
They not only sell the official tour goods, but also Danger
Crue's CDs as
well!
Such as Yukihiro's solo album, L'Arc's DUNE..etc..
I bought Pamphlets, T-Shirt (the red one that Tetsu wears...it
was sooo
cute..has
mini painted wings at the back..^-^), CD holder, L'Arc-can (I
still hasn't
opened it yet..^^;) and a compact mirror.
Cosplay:
I met this famous Hyde cosplayer girl before the concert.
She was a friend
of my
friend and we took pictures...but &*_&)*& my
camera..it got broken that
day..Y_Y
Anyway, she was very very pretty and many people took pictures
with her!
She was just so famous for cosplaying that she got a fan club of
her own!!
Really!!
People just treated her as if she's the real Hyde!! Her
"fans" actually
fought the ticket
for her for Okinawa, because they wanted her to come to Okinawa
sooo bad.
(Summer Tour Final mah..) She has long hair exactly like Hyde in
Tierra's
period. She's short like Haido too!! Soooo cute soooo
pretty!! My friend
told me that one time in concert, she actually caused quite a
stir in the
concert area that the security had to help her out..sent her to
underground
backstage so that the area would be more clear...^^;; she said
she was very
lonely waiting there by herself...^^;;
Late Night:
After the concert, I went to dinner/Karaoke with a whole bunch of
L'Arc
fans. On the way to the restaurants and stuff, I saw a
small board in front
of a hotel that says "Welcome L'Arc~en~Ciel san kai
sama"...something like
that writting in ink. I was like "WHAT???" and
called everyone to see. But
when we look carefully, it was a very hmmm..."cheap"
hotel!! Actually, like
a motel or something...it couldn't be right??? So we figure that
it must be
the roadies or something who lives there...I mean..how could that
be???
Hyde&Tetsu&Ken&Yukihiro stayed there?? Even the hotel
I stayed (Okinawa
Ocean View hotel) was way better and classier than that!
For Karaoke, we
sang till 5:00 am in the morning. @_@ I think we sang
every L'Arc song available. It was just soooo great to sing
karaoke in
Japan. You can sing non-single songs like "Dune",
"As if in a
dream"...etc...not like here in Vancouver...
Well well,
that's my live report..don't know why it took so long for me to
write...not a very good report ne....^^;; some of the memories
had slipped of my
mind...sorry..^^;;
But 7/21/98 was a wonderful night that I would cherish forever
ne!!! ^_____^
Hey, I couldn't believe my dream of seeing Laruku live would came
true so
fast!! It really did!!! ^o^/~~
L'Arc~en~Ciel