We got to the venue at around 11-ish and started passing out the American flag for people to sign. You guys were all so nice and amazing! A BIG shout out to the people who bought food for fellow fans, you guys are the true hero!
We went to the GA line and took our places with a bunch of other fans. You all were so nice and welcoming! It was an honor to meet everyone! As time passed more and more people began to line up. We would see cosplayers lining up every so often. One of my friends even had a home made Ruki purse just for the concert. I remember talking to a few people who showed up saying they just liked the look of the marquee, so they wanted to see the show. I talked to them after the show and they were now fans of the GazettE!
I had to go to medical seating, so I went to the front of the venue and staff were walking up and down the lines recording the fans, they went across the street to take pictures of the marque we all became so familiar with. Several times I noticed the staff would be saying to themselves about how impressed they were with the sizes of the VIP and GA lines. Truly everyone was excited for the band.
Wrist bands were given to both the VIP and Heresy Club members: a blue, regular festival wrist band was given to VIP and a special black and red decal band to Heresy ticket holders. VIP was let in, then Heresy members, then medical seating and finally GA. Once I was in the venue I went down the escalators and visited the merchandise booth. I guess they lost a few boxes of merch, so all they had were two T-shirts *each costing $35*, a hoodie *costing $65* and a bandanna *costing $15*. After purchasing merch we made our way into the concert hall. There was a pit in the middle, and a balcony behind it. One the sides of the pit were two little raised balconies. That is where I stood. The venue was PACKED. Fans pushed together to try and get the best view possible.
It was later that we found out they sold out the Playstation Theater! So congrats to them for doing that on their first N.Y.C. show!
famous logo in person before. That’s when it sort of really hit me. I was going to see the band that got me into doing what I do today. Before the show there was an announcement “NO PICTURES OR VIDEOS!”. But even with that announcement people still recorded, which was VERY disappointing. I know I have talked about this before, but please follow the rules. If you want them to come back, you need to make a good impression, and recording a show is not how you do that.
After the announcement it was finally time! This concert was years in the making and the fans were hungry to show the GazettE how much we love them! "Nihil" started to play and the members appeared on stage one by one. Kai came out first, followed by Reita, Aoi, Uruha, and finally Ruki. The crowd cheered as each member appeared from behind the curtains. The fans pushed even more forward to try and get closer to the stage, if you were in the crowd you were smushed among many other fans!
Next up was "DOGMA" a song I was dying to hear live. The stage was black but with the first bass sound, drop flashes of red gold and white color splashed across the stage creating a mass of light engulfing everything. Ruki’s growls were loud and clear during the song. It sort of seemed like their warm up song, the song they used to test the audience to see how they took to them. The audience watched mesmerized as Ruki controlled the crowd like a pro. He truly is a giant on the stage, his presence is overwhelming! "Dogma" drew to a close and they went into their next song which was "RAGE"!
"RAGE" is an amazing live song. It was during that song that the audience really came to life! Ruki’s scream marked the beginning of the harder rocking song. When Ruki screamed “ARE YOU READY?” the crowd responded! They were ready to rock! Hands went up, hair was flying and fans threw themselves up against the bar! Ruki’s scream blew the crowd away. He came to perform and was not going to let the crowd down. Fans sang along with Ruki screaming the words “ALL SAINTS SHALL DIE”. Kai’s thunderous drums added passion to the song. He never missed a beat and always had that well known dimpled smile on his face! "RAGE" drew to a close as fans fixed their hair from head banging so much. The synth piano closed the song.
Next up was an older song for them, "Vortex"! Fans were up and jumping along to the song. It’s amazing to see how far Ruki has come in the years since "Vortex" was released! You can hear how much his voice has matured and how much he has practiced over the years. Ruki walked all over the stage like it was a runway, he visited both sides of the stage seeing the fans and bending down to look at them. Even Uruha and Aoi switched sides of the stage making sure everyone saw them! "Vortex" grew on me, it was never one of my favorites, but seeing it live made me love it! Ruki enjoyed this song, you could just tell. He interacted with the crowd jumping up onto the platform and pointing to audience members. The crowd even screamed along with Ruki when he said “I DON’T WANNA BECOME THE FUCKING GARBAGE LIKE YOU” the crowd screamed with him. Some fans even had there middle fingers up in the air imitating Ruki. It was amazing to see live!
A quick MC followed "Vortex". Ruki introduced the band “Hello New York, we are GazettE!” after the short MC was done they jumped right into the next song, which was "Fadeless"!
"Fadeless" was such a great live song. So many people recognized it right from the beginning with its very unique guitar opening. Ruki strutted around the stage like it was a runway. Fans couldn’t look away as the GazettE performed their hearts out. The guitar solos in "Fadeless" were amazing both Aoi and Uruha never missed a beat. They are so talented and they looked like they were having a blast on the stage, soaking up the crowd’s screams and cheers! Reita jumped up onto the platform located in the middle of the stage and brought "Fadeless" to a close with his amazing bass solo!
Next up was "Venomous Spiders Web", which is one of my favorite songs! The song started and fans clapped along to it. Then the guitars started and fans started jumping and getting ready for the hard rocking song. Hair flying and crowd surfing accompanied the song. It was nice to hear Aoi and Uruha do the backing vocals for this song! Everything about it was just amazing. To me the song is much better live than on CD! Everything just flowed so perfectly, and once again Aoi and Uruha were just incredible. Playing flawlessly and interacting with the audience. Kai’s drums really added extra feeling to the song, you could feel him playing if that makes any sense. Everybody was just having an amazing time! Fans were jumping and screaming to the song, showing the GazettE that this show was a long time in the making, and they were not going to let it go to waste!
Next came another short MC, that I really can’t remember right now. But I do remember him saying “New York, your fucking crazy!” numerous times during the concert!
But after that they jumped right into "Bizarre" and followed that up with "Dripping Insanity"! Ruki swayed and danced on stage to the song. I clearly remember at the end of the song Ruki pulling up his sleeve and tapping a vein. He puts on an amazing show.
The show was so hot that the staff at the front had to spray the fans down with water so nobody would pass out! It was greatly appreciated by the fans!
Next up was "Ominous" a much slower song than the other ones played that night. This song is so amazing live. The lights dropped and staff brought out a lantern with a little tea light in it. A white light enveloped Ruki and mixed with smoke, the ambiance was just amazing. He brings the lantern up to his face and licks it while his fingers danced around it. As the song picked up Ruki dropped to his knees and sang his heart out. The performance was so amazing people just couldn’t look away!
Ruki had a short MC before they went into "Suicide Circus"! During the chorus Ruki would say “SING IT” and the fans would respond singing “Suicide Circus”. Ruki jumped up onto the middle platform and started jumping and the crowd followed him. His screams during this song were amazing! Uruha, Aoi, Reita and Kai were just having a great time, soaking up all the cheers from the audience and head banging to the song. It was also nice to hear their backing vocals during this song.
Next we had another short MC. Ruki interacted with the audience asking for screams from certain parts of the crowd “Whats up people? In the back! Back! Front! Front! Side! Side!.” Each section tried to outdo the other! Each time Ruki pointed to a section there was a beat from Kai’s drum.
Next up was "Derangement"! I was hoping to see Ruki dance during the opening of this song, but he didn’t. It was during this song both Aoi and Uruha played together on the front platform Ruki likes to stand on! Ruki jumped up onto the raised platform and screamed “NEW YORK!” and the crowd cheered and jumped along with him. He looked like he was having a blast up on the stage; it looks like he belongs there! Reita walked around the stage interacting with the fans as well!
Next up was "UGLY"! This is just an amazing live song! Its so heavy and everyone just had a great time with it! The fans were head banging, moshing, and crowd surfing to this song. It’s hard to believe the crowd could get anymore rowdy, but they did! Ruki would hold his microphone out so fans could sing “DEATH TO TRAITORS!” It was so cool to see the fans head banging in synch to the song! This is just an amazing song, I can’t even describe how awesome it sounded live! Everything about it was perfect!
Then came the new single, "Undying"! This song is amazing, and I am so happy they have been playing it live. I even think its better live than on the CD! Ruki puts so much emotion into this song. Kai’s drums were amazing during this song; he played his heart out with that big grin on his face! The song has its heavy moments where fans had their hands up and were jumping, and its slower moments where fans would just watch in awe of the band. During the piano part of the song Ruki said “Thank you so much New York” before the song picked up again. Even though it was a new song, the fans loved it! It was almost like the song had been out for years.
“LAST SONG” Ruki said. And as soon as I saw Aoi’s acoustic guitar be placed on the stage, I knew what song it was! "Filth in the Beauty" was the final song! A crowd favorite, as soon as the fans saw that guitar they screamed. Everybody knew it was coming! The song started and Ruki held out his microphone so the fans could sing the opening verse. Ruki would lick the microphone and dance provocatively during this fan favorite song. Ruki looked so happy that the fans new the song, he would just hold his microphone out and let the fans sing to them. The band looked so happy that people actually took the time to learn their songs. Ruki couldn’t do the head banging during the song because he had his hat on, but that didn’t stop the rest of the band nor the fans who were rocking out to their hearts content!
The song drew to a close. Ruki said “New York, your fucking crazy!”. Aoi, Reita, and Uruha threw a few picks into the audience, Kai came to the front of the stage to a huge round of applause, he smiled and waved as they left the stage. It did not take long for the chants of “ENCORE” to start.10 minutes later they reappeared on the stage for the encore! Aoi and Uruha were wearing tour shirts, Uruha had ripped the sleeves off of his. Ruki, Reita, and Kai all stayed in their regular attire. But when Ruki took the stage, he had the flag our street team made draped around his shoulders! I lost it, I dropped to me knees and cried. I put so much work into that, and the flag had so many fans feelings put into it! So to see Ruki holding it, and looking at all the signature, it was just an amazing thing!
The first encore song was a song not many people thought they would play. But when they heard the distinct opening they freaked out! It was a song from 2007, "Agony"! Ruki let the fans sing a lot of this distinct song. Ruki’s English really has improved over the years! Fans were jumping around, hands up in the air and were just having a great time to this song. It was completely different from what we had heard throughout the night! It was a good change of pace! Reita’s bass was amazing during this song!
Next song was the oldest song they played, "Cockroach"! Ruki encouraged fans to get involved with this song! Having fans jump around and wave hands in time with the song! At one point Aoi and Uruha played back to back together on the raised platform. It was a really nice live song!
Aoi brought out his Iphone to take a picture of the crowd, and Ruki brought out his ipad to snap a few pictures. Uruha threw out handfuls of pics, and Kai jumped onto the middle platform arms spread wide looking so proud! He also threw out his drumsticks, which fans were clamoring for! The band went to the middle of the stage and took a bow before walking off the stage for the final time.
We slowly left the venue after that and noticed that staff had set out merch for sale. But the mob was to big so we decided to leave.
The concert was just amazing! I wouldn’t trade my experience that day for anything. All the fans were so nice and accepting! I hope they come back soon so we can show them how amazing American audiences can be again!
Set List:
NIHIL
1 DOGMA
2 RAGE
3 VORTEX
-MC-
4 FADELESS
5 VENOMOUS SPIDER’S WEB
-MC-
6 BIZARRE
7 SE~DRIPPING INSANITY
8 SE~ OMINOUS
9 SE~ THE SUICIDE CIRCUS
10 DERANGEMENT
11 UGLY
12 UNDYING
13 FILTH IN THE BEAUTY
ENCORE
EN1 AGONY
EN2 COCKROACH
EN3 TOMORROW NEVER DIES
END BGM
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