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yridenergyridenergy · 3 months

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02/16/2024 sukekiyo - Tsumetai Chinmoku live report

SETLIST

Margaret

Gloss

Aishita Shinzou

Candis

Valentina

MOAN

Kuchi ni ringo

aftermath

Houmonsha X

Rongai na ikimono toshite

Kawattekuremasen deshou ka?

Yumemi doro

Scarlet

Tada, mada, watashi.

Hakudaku

Uso

Kokyuu

The show started if not on time, then way earlier than Dir en grey usually does. Yuchi, Takumi, Mika and UtA walked on stage in silence, swirvingly grabbing their instruments. Snow or ash was falling on screen, and the tour title appeared. Then, when everyone was ready, Kyo finally entered. All members were wearing their outfits from the MOAN music video, except that Kyo didn't have the head piece/veil. Instead, he had stuck pink braids drawn back almost like large bows, except that there was no knot visible. I'm quite sure that there were two on each side of his head. Based on the reflection of the light on his skin, I'm also certain that his hair is still shaved completely, and there was a clear demarkation between the circle on the top and his blank temples, so that crown of haywires with flames or fake hair seems to be tattooed permanently.

For makeup, Kyo looked like he had black dots around his eyes, but he mainly had sparkling white circular shapes around his eyebrows and the top of his cheeks.

What I remember from Margaret is all the glitter and sparks being shown on screen.

Gloss was surprisingly bare when it comes to stage effects. There were about seven poles coming down from the ceiling with a lightbulb at their end, and that was basically what was used for the entire song.

Aishita Shinzou was the beginning of a very pop-y bunch. Kyo bounced on stage like we saw him do in one of the videos from August 2023. The lighting was a mix of green and red. I remember that when singing "aiseru", he placed his hand near his crotch and swayed seductively, not sure how to better describe it though hah. The song ends with Kyo inside a pyramidal cage made of green light beams, which he stays inside until the next song, as if truly imprisoned in the moment.

Then Candis came, and the instrumental introduction was definitely a bit different than in the footage included in EROSIO. Like some of the instruments didn't make enough sound.

Anyway, Candis was extra special because they projected the venue at which the PV was recorded above and around the members, so bam: suddenly we were teleported on set. There were seemingly screens hung everywhere to show excerpts of the PV too. And when comes the time for Iya Iya Iya, that kanji pops up behind/above Kyo in the empty space that was there.

Valentina then starts without further ado, like the band wants to give the audience no rest and if they're already playing around in their bags for one penlight, might as well get that out of the way then, in the spirit of minimizing noise.

Aaaah, Valentina. All the classic moves, Kyo's right leg folding high at the knee to hit both ankles together in emphasis of "Lie Lie Lie Lie" and the "ii" in "Nakanai watashi ga ii?", although that one is definitely accompanied by a reprobatory fist on the hips, Kyo folding his arm up and down like a chicken wing. Dance!

When the one other pop song started playing after that medley, I had a very bad feeling. It was not subtle at all, the way they grouped all the pop songs together early in the show. I apprehended how the rest would be the polar opposite. And, well...

Anyway, for now, MOAN had Kyo gesture everything like in the PV, and parts of it were projected on the screen too.

I don't remember exactly for which songs, but Kyo did a lot of robotic dance moves and he seemed to hop left and right often too, as a default.

Kuchi ni ringo also had almost no stage effect. I think it was in this song that the crowd on the first floor was covered by a layer of blue light, making them completely disappear and giving the impression that there was a lake or something. And very oddly, at no point was there any red used. In fact, right after Kyo sings "That's not the bright red color I want", there's a blue light that erupts in the centre of the stage. Like, no kidding, that's not red at all. At the end, Kyo formed a kind of wide crystal shape with his index fingers and thumbs, which he would move from his abdomen outward in different directions. "Ah I want a womb" incessantly.

...aftermath on an orange autumn background...

But more important is what happened after aftermath. Kyo stepped back to his equipment next to Takumi's and promptly sat down on a plushy but otherwise ordinary high stool chair. Then, a man walked up to him from the side of the stage while the other members played a session, improvised or not. The man wore the tour long shirt, I believe, and he never turned to look at us. He pampered Kyo's forehead and cheeks two or three times with a white towel, as if to absorb the sweat, and he also (re)applied lip stick on Kyo. It was a bit funny to witness, because Kyo kept the same posture, hands by his sides legs not moving at all, hanging straight from the seat. It was as if he was a doll, but it seemed like he minimally parted his lips to help the man apply the lipstick. Rather than a doll, that gave mostly the image of a spoiled child or something. It happened for more than one layer, so maybe gloss was applied, rather than retouching the colour every time. The man swiftly left and Kyo walked hurriedly to his mic to sing lyrics that ring a bell to me, but I couldn't tell you what they were anymore.

Houmonsha X was amazing. The PV was projected on the screen. I had to remember to breathe after a while, which I'd apparently forgotten when the song started.

At first, Kyo sang before the lyrics appeared on the screen, as per the PV's English subtitles, but he seemed to fix his timing after a couple of lines. I hadn't felt that he was too early compared to the instruments, but it was otherwise done seamlessly.

Rongai had to be one of the songs where robot dance moves were used. It was intense of course, with bright spots of light appearing at every climax. At the end, Kyo only sang the first and third/last "I kill time with the likes of you", which seemed fond just because he was staring at the crowd, so it gave the impression that he didn't mean it as much as in the recorded song. And of course, there is no reverse lyric being sung or played like in the album version.

Kawattekuremasen deshou ka? came with the surprise of projected images. They showed mainly maximized ice cubes, maybe sparks too. I was somehow too absorbed in this song to memorize much from it. Next time!

Yumemi doro (not Furusaseru - I always confuse the two!) was then played and the movie projected contained a lot of swirls. Kyo dropped to the floor and swirved left and right sloooowly on his way back to a standing position. It was so smooth, effortless despite requiring strength. Oh and he was wearing his beloved pink Margiella heels, by the way. I had actually gone to see an exhibition titled "Beyond Fiber Art" at MOMAK that day and the way his knees moved below his black lace dress really reminded me of the hypnotic flows of fabric that I witnessed earlier. And yo, the other thing about Yumemi doro is thar in the newest recording, Kyo uses more diversified tones of singing than in the demo, but in this live performance, we were able to hear even more intense switches of tones. It was ingenious.

Scarlet also involved a ton of fractal swirls and the sphere of smoke, reminding me again of the art exhibition. It was a rather powerful song too, not necessarily pop but the emphasis created by showing just a couple of the lines on screen, like: "I want love" stressed the need even more.

I'm not sure in which songs anymore, but Kyo really put his hand between his legs more than once during this show. I thought Kashikomi Kashikomi would be played eventually as a reference to that, but sadly not.

Tada, mada, watashi. was performed with such strength and emotion that it was as though it was the band's eternal, signature classic. Breath-taking, really.

Hakudaku came next and it exacerbated my feeling that we were being driven to a dire end. The video showed a young woman whose face seemed to be scarred or disfigured at least on one side.

Uso was up after that and damn, of course it was emotional too. Being on the second floor/balcony, I appreciate that when Kyo gestures the "To the eyes set on tomorrow" up to us. I think that the screen displayed some sepia scenes that gave the impression of being memories.

Then, a longer pause than usual happened, with Kyo gripping his mic stand. Finally, the piano notes of Kokyuu started and ugh, I had imagined that it would be an ending song, if the band wanted to be cruel. They were ruthless. Fuck. Most of the lyrics appeared on screen both in Japanese and the English translation underneath, right in front of Kyo. At times, he stretched his arms out to the sides as if to seize possession and emphasizs those specific lines. I think it was in this song or in another with lyrics of a similar meaning, but Kyo grabbed his chest tight with both hands when relating that he couldn't be like others. He broke down for a bit with sorrow in the middle of the song. Until...

"The sadness will never end . . For whom?"

Right after uttering this in the most soft-spoken way, like in the album recording, Kyo walked off the stage. No "oyasumi", no mic drop, no nothing. For whose sake will the sadness never end, on his birthday? Puncture my heart.

Having abided by the rule to stay quiet during the show, it took Mika waving goodbye widely for us to start clapping. It continued until or during the instrumental of Margaret, clearly doubling though as everyone joined in when sukekiyo's name was displayed on the screen. The announcement was made for the July tour of four consecutive days in Kyoto.

I wish they would have played The Hole, Frameout kara no and Kashikomi Kashikomi, but I guess there's hope for a different setlist tomorrow?

#京 #Kyo #sukekiyo #tsumetai chinmoku #shikkoku no gi #live report #Dir en grey #birthday

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