24th
January 2004, Takadanobaba Area
Setlist: ~se~
1.Nightship D 2.Hanamadoi 3.Lost Breath 4.Eden 5.Angelic Blue 6.Face ~drum solo~
7.Dangan 8.Alice 9.Vampire Missa 10.Pride En1:
1.Nageki no Tenshi 2.Dangan En2:
1.Hanamadoi 2.Lost Breath En3: Eden
So, D’s second OneMan, to commemorate the release of their second CD, Paradox.
This time it’s at the infinitely more pleasing Area, a venue we can all at least move and see in.
Also, it HAS A
BAR-too many live houses in Japan seem to have overlooked this small feature-
and so I’m able to get a couple of beers down me before the band come on.
The entrance this
time is somewhat grander-before the curtain is drawn, images of the members are
projected onto it, presumably to give the members themselves a chance to get
onstage and in position without any manic screaming accompanying their every
step. I note that the D banner is securely taped down at the back…
First up-grab flags,
and let’s all head out to the runway. Asagi leaps on waving his plane-landing
D flags as they dive into a remarkably genki Nightship D. There are lots more
flags being waggled in the audience, too, and I sigh and think ‘only in
Japan…’ (me, I’m doing my watching-appreciatively thing; it’s much less
energetic and more becoming of a Sad Old Goth). The outfits are the same (save
for Rena who has a new open-backed jacket), the hair likewise. We have a few
more upbeat numbers, before they all disappear and pull the same Enya trick
pre-Angelic Blue (now I quite like Enya so I’m okay with it). Happily this is
their only slow-ish number, so we get lively again soon-but only for one more
song, because after Face (for which, incidentally, Asagi sits himself on a
rather ornate rose-strewn chair, lazy bugger) everyone disappears again, save
for Hiroki, who stays for…a drum solo. Much as he is indeed a talented
drummer, drum solos do not exactly get me going-so I disappear (and catch a
stern look of disappointment from the boy as I exit) to the bar to have a word
with the barman about how dull drum solos (even the good ones) are. I return
with beer, still only about halfway through, and Rena joins Hiroki for a rhythm
section duet…which eventually leads into Dangan, whereupon we can all grab our
fake pistols and wave them triumphantly at the stage, apparently.
Dangan is of the type
of song which many indies bands have-which have a refrain with lots of manly
shouting that can be repeated ad infinitum (cf: Dir en grey’s Zan, for
example) in order to fill up a set without having to write new songs. That said,
it’s a good example of these songs, and I’m happy to listen to it as Asagi
(the dirty old perv) flirts with the entire first few rows and Rena, Ruiza and
HideZou all leap around the stage like they think they’re rockstars or
something. ^_~
There are 10 songs in
the main set-everything from New Blood and Paradox, plus Alice, so come the
first encore break I wonder what they’ll do next. They return (nobody’s
birthday this time, it seems) to do some talking-they’re quite an entertaining
bunch of boys so this whiles away a few minutes nicely. Then they do Nageki no
Tenshi, which is yet to be released, and for some reason I think of The Damned.
Suddenly imagining Captain Sensible on bass makes for a very odd mental image
(‘happy happy talkin’, happy talk’ etc), but thankfully it’s momentary.
I’m impressed by the new track (though annoyed that there’s only one!),
before they start the repeats-first up is the gun-waggling Dangan (every bit as
long as before, possibly even longer).
After another brief
disappearance (instead of ‘encore!’ I’m tempted to shout ‘Your bums are
out here, come and get them!’ but in the interests of not wanting to appear to
be a total lunatic I refrain. I probably go to the bar again) we get the sight
of an unexpectedly topless Hiroki, to much screaming from the front. He tells us
he ‘now knows what it feels like to be an animal at a zoo’ (cue many, many
inappropriate thoughts about cages and naked drummers) before the other members
join him and we get a couple more repeats…and yet ANOTHER encore break before
Eden finally rounds off the night.
3 encores for a band
that only have 10 released songs isn’t bad, I muse on the way home (friend in
Quebec once again receives many emails, mainly dealing with the intricacies of
corset-removal on a crowded train, poor girl). I wonder if they’ll ever manage
a full show without having to repeat stuff. I look forward to it though!
Note: many of the images in the ‘live’ section of the photo gallery were taken at this show.