Peter's Japan blog

Yesterday was a big day, we went to see the GazettE live in Cologne, Germany.
After everybody arrived at my friends house, got our makeup done, we went straight to Cologne at 12h. It was in the Live Music Hall in the Lichtstrasse 30 in Ehrenfeld, Cologne. Arrived there at 14h, and already saw some people standing at the entrance. Went for a quick bite at a small restaurant in the same street. We joined with some friends from the Netherlands and started to wait in line.

Davin, Misheru & Kumiko:

Follow up:

At this time, around 16h, there were already some 100-200 people waiting in line. There were also some german fans who started to make a fuss because there were waiting there since friday and some of them had to wait at the end of the line, and that other people were closer to the door. The one that was shouted was already at the door, so whether it was true that the others were standing in the back or that they were trying to get them at the front, we don't know, but everybody didn't move all pretending not to understand german or english. I must say that I didn't see any person there who hadn't colored their hair ;p.

Fans standing in line:

When the time of opening was getting nearer, everybody started to move closer and closer to the door, squeezing between everybody, just to get closer to the front door, until we really couldn't move an inch. We stood there like that for at least an hour. Then when the doors opened at 19h, it because even worse, because in front of the door there were some bars for making a line, and everybody had to squeeze between them. I literally got rolled in, I made a 360 degree turn, while going through it ;p. We were body searched for cameras, and got saved by my mp3 player that they didn't find my camera in my pocket, which with I eventually took only 3 pics with, and only 1 during the actual concert and that one even failed.
The venue itself was not very big, there was a vestiaire and 3 bars and a stand with merchandising. Everybody rushed to the stage to get a view as close to the stage as possible. We were in the 6th-8th row from the stage and eventually the crowd got bigger and bigger. The stage itself was quite small, reminding me of some of the stages from the smaller live houses in "Road to Nameless Liberty". Then about 10 minutes before the start, tour personnel started tuning the guitars and the final guitars were sound checked so we could hear them ;p. Then a few minutes late, the concert started...!

We started with the intro of Stacked Rubbish, and the band members started to get on stage, Ruki as last. We got off with 3 wild songs to get the crowd moving. And moving we were indeed, we were jumping and moving from one side to the other. We got separated very quickly, and some of us moved to the back or side quite quickly. I tried to stay in the middle as long as possible, although moving a few rows to the back where it was a bit more quiet. Even heard from a friend who was a few rows ahead of me they almost started a mosh pit. I will talk about the crowd again later. After the first faster songs, the band started to play a more slowed songs and ended the first part with some wild ones again like Filth In The Beauty, Hyena & Discharge. I was completely exhausted after the first part, I think I have never headbanged so much like this in my life ;p. My back hurted too.
After a break of about 15-20 min the encore started with a shortened version of Ride with the Rockers although it was still 5-6 minutes ;p. Reita & Kai really got the crowd moving again. They were later joined by Aoi & Uruha and at the end by Ruki. Another half hour later the band ended with Linda ~Candydive Pinky Heven~ a very popular ending song at GazettE concerts. When the concert was done, we started to find each other again and went to get our coats, I wanted to get some merchandise but there was just too much people and you'd have to be squeezed again to get there.

About the concert itself, the band played many songs from Stacked Rubbish (also because it was a Stacked Rubbish tour), and some older ones, but the set seemed rather short even though it lasted 2 hours. We really missed Cassis though. Ruki always seemed to give it his all in every song right until the last song. Reita was also great and Aoi & Uruha were good too, although Aoi seemed not to get much attention from the crowd. And poor Kai wasn't seen much as he sits at the drums at the back in the dark. Ruki threw many of his water bottles into the crowd, of which one landed 2 people to my left. Reita also threw his bigger bandana into the crowd after Ride with the Rockers (not his normal nose bandana which he was still wearing of course ;p). And of course Kai, threw some drum sticks into the crowd at the end too, about the only time when we actually got to see the always laughing Kai. I would give the concert a score of 4 out of 5.

About the crowd. Well, I had a hunch the crowd was going to be like this. A European crowd is so much different from a Japanese crowd. The band members must have noticed this too. Although they may get rough in the smaller live houses in Japan too, a Japanese crowd is normally very disciplined and they do the same while still enjoying the music and still head banging ;p. The crowd was at times not responsive enough and at other times very wild. I still cannot understand why people always have to push each other in the front. Okay, it's because everyone wants to be as close to the stage as possible, but in such small venues, having a good look at the stage is not a big problem. One girl actually fainted in the front while the concert hadn't even started. I do must say it was very hot in there, and hardly any AC. I didn't see it, but a friend of mine saw people trying to start a mosh pit even. Why do something like that and endanger other people in the crowd, enjoy the music and the band member on stage for god sake. I would think everybody comes to a concert like this for the same thing, to see their favorite band and not to hurt other. I could even see some looks from some of the band members who might have been thinking people were crazy... During the break, the crowd seemed only half interested shouting "Encore", a few groups of people did it, or clapped the rhythm of Linda. I was getting afraid if there was actually going to be an encore with a crowd like this... I give this crowd a poor 2 out of 5. Also, the organizing could have been a bit better though.

But still, it was worth it, I enjoyed it and would do it again the next time. I surely want to see GazettE again, and if possible, in Japan ;p.

Some other pics:
Misheru-chan is ready:

Misheru & Kumiko:

Me & Tom:

Davin:

Misheru again, V-Chuu: