Ythe phoenix in polka dots with her jacksonY
L'Arc~en~Ciel 20th Anniversary World Tour
Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium
Date: 28th April 2012, Saturday
Nearly 7,000 people attended this concert, nearly a fullhouse gig.
Setlist:
Ibara no Namida
Chase-English version-
Good Luck My Way
Honey
Drink It Down
Revelation
Hitomi no Jyuunin
XXX - English version-
Daybreak's Bell
Forbidden Lover
My Heart Draws a Dream
Seventh Heaven
The Fourth Avenue Cafe
Stay Away
Ready Steady Go
Encore:
Anata
Winter Fall
Blurry Eyes
Niji
I might not get to witness the birth of this band 20 years ago for I was probably too young then. Secondly, there wasn't any internet connection back in those days. Thirdly, I wasn't born in Japan. I only started to discover them when my dad signed up for the cable vision network in 1996. From there, I started watching MTV Mandarin and MTV Asia which were still cool then. I could not remember how I get to know about Laruku but it was somewhere around 1996 or 1997, around the same period I discovered J-Rock/Visual Kei bands and the first wave of K-Pop music. These musicians/bands...I have been listening to their music every now and then, and never got myself bored at all because their music are just timeless.
Never have I realised that it's been almost 16 years of waiting and now they have finally came here for their 20th anniversary World Tour. The 16 years was actually worth waiting but nothing is enough when you could only get to see them for 2+ hours. In fact, I could not believe it at first. I know, I was damn nervous but the moment I witnessed them live, it was just surreal. I remembered standing up most of the time, dancing like as if I was in a trance, enjoying their music, especially the old songs that I have always been listening to for years. I'm okay with their new stuff but it seems to cater more to the new fans I guess...could be both new and old. Before the concert day, I didn't even get the chance to check on the internet for the setlist. So, I just enjoyed myself to their performances and sang along to the ones I am familiar with. They should have performed Promised Land and Shinshoku - Lose Control - because that would have definitely been the sexiest side of Laruku that we all could get to see. Maybe I watched too much of their pass years live gigs on dvds, especially the 1998-2000. Maybe next time perhaps? Ouh my, I melted the moment Hyde sang Honey, Forbidden Lover, Anata and Niji : }
The guys seem to look younger and younger and their performance gets much better over time. It is worth putting your money into watching a band who puts in an awesome, energetic, top notch performances as a way to give their love back to the fans. Their showmanship were just flawless. How they communicated with their fans were just spontanenous and sincere, even if it's scripted and they talked in halting English. It seems that everywhere they performed, whether it's in Paris, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore etc, they tend to learn the different languages of that countries beforehand. Such sweet effort that a band can do to go the extra mile and gain appreciation and respect from fans and, Laruku is one good example. Their talents and songwritings which progresses throughout the years are really a great source of inspiration to me.
By the time the concert ends, reality sets in. Shows over and it all ended too soon. We really miss them badly, we still do now. It's been nearly two weeks since they last performed here and we are still talking about them, still talking about their concert like as if they performed yesterday.
Setlist:
Ibara no Namida
Chase-English version-
Good Luck My Way
Honey
Drink It Down
Revelation
Hitomi no Jyuunin
XXX - English version-
Daybreak's Bell
Forbidden Lover
My Heart Draws a Dream
Seventh Heaven
The Fourth Avenue Cafe
Stay Away
Ready Steady Go
Encore:
Anata
Winter Fall
Blurry Eyes
Niji
I might not get to witness the birth of this band 20 years ago for I was probably too young then. Secondly, there wasn't any internet connection back in those days. Thirdly, I wasn't born in Japan. I only started to discover them when my dad signed up for the cable vision network in 1996. From there, I started watching MTV Mandarin and MTV Asia which were still cool then. I could not remember how I get to know about Laruku but it was somewhere around 1996 or 1997, around the same period I discovered J-Rock/Visual Kei bands and the first wave of K-Pop music. These musicians/bands...I have been listening to their music every now and then, and never got myself bored at all because their music are just timeless.
Never have I realised that it's been almost 16 years of waiting and now they have finally came here for their 20th anniversary World Tour. The 16 years was actually worth waiting but nothing is enough when you could only get to see them for 2+ hours. In fact, I could not believe it at first. I know, I was damn nervous but the moment I witnessed them live, it was just surreal. I remembered standing up most of the time, dancing like as if I was in a trance, enjoying their music, especially the old songs that I have always been listening to for years. I'm okay with their new stuff but it seems to cater more to the new fans I guess...could be both new and old. Before the concert day, I didn't even get the chance to check on the internet for the setlist. So, I just enjoyed myself to their performances and sang along to the ones I am familiar with. They should have performed Promised Land and Shinshoku - Lose Control - because that would have definitely been the sexiest side of Laruku that we all could get to see. Maybe I watched too much of their pass years live gigs on dvds, especially the 1998-2000. Maybe next time perhaps? Ouh my, I melted the moment Hyde sang Honey, Forbidden Lover, Anata and Niji : }
The guys seem to look younger and younger and their performance gets much better over time. It is worth putting your money into watching a band who puts in an awesome, energetic, top notch performances as a way to give their love back to the fans. Their showmanship were just flawless. How they communicated with their fans were just spontanenous and sincere, even if it's scripted and they talked in halting English. It seems that everywhere they performed, whether it's in Paris, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore etc, they tend to learn the different languages of that countries beforehand. Such sweet effort that a band can do to go the extra mile and gain appreciation and respect from fans and, Laruku is one good example. Their talents and songwritings which progresses throughout the years are really a great source of inspiration to me.
By the time the concert ends, reality sets in. Shows over and it all ended too soon. We really miss them badly, we still do now. It's been nearly two weeks since they last performed here and we are still talking about them, still talking about their concert like as if they performed yesterday.
Labels: 20th Anniversary World Tour, concert, gig, L'Arc~en~Ciel, Laruku, Lushington Entertainment, Singapore Indoor Stadium
signing off on... 5/09/2012 11:09:00 pm
