If I was a person who swears, I’d put the f-word to Oh My Gackt. That’s exactly the kind of thing the man himself would probably do. Considering his tour goods, for example. And that’s exactly the first thing that came to my mind once I was able to find my ability to think on my way back to the hotel after the show. O M F G. But let’s not get ahead of things.
I hadn’t fully realized what a hardcore Gackt fan I really was until I saw him live and didn’t lol at his English. Or his anything. At all. Well, spending so much money on an artist, hyping so much, having his huge wall scroll in my room etc. might have told something about the fandom. But this man, this man has gotten way deeper under my skin that I had realized. Okay, end of random rambling. I know you’re just dying to get the whole story, so here goes!
My fandom, or rather my excitement for the gig, started to get to its full measure the night before my flight to Munich. Packing my things for the trip was, after actually getting my ticket, the first thing that really made it all feel real. But the real excitement, in worrying measures, started actually only when I was sitting in my hotel room on Thursday afternoon at two o’clock and realized that I was actually going to the venue. I thought about going there before three p.m. so that I would get a chance to see Gackt’s arrival, but decided against it after all. I was so nervous I thought I was going to faint, or probably throw up the Big Mac I had eaten just an hour ago, or maybe do both. I tried to relax as best as I could, but at three o’clock I decided to go and try to get myself to the venue, so that in case I was going to faint I’ would at least be somewhere where someone would be able to wake me up.
I didn’t have too much trouble getting to the venue. I had checked the site from Google Maps back at home and once I was walking on the Friedenstraße, I saw some people who looked like they could be going to the gig. (Thank Gackt for easily recognizeable j-rock fans. x3) As soon as I had gotten the words “Excuse me, Is this the way to…” out of my mouth, everyone was already telling me that I was in the right place and that if I just walked straight on, I couldn’t miss the venue. I tried to ask if there was already a long line, but they told me there wasn’t any line at all! Once I got to the place I noticed that it was true. People were just sitting around in any shadow they could find, or standing in groups under umbrellas. I went to sit by a wall and was glad for being able to get out of the direct sunlight. I only had a bit of water left in my bottle, so I couldn’t have survived in the sun.
At this point I was already quite relaxed, but my excitement rose when I could hear the sound check from inside. It was obviously cool to hear the drums and guitars, but when I could actually hear Gackt’s voice, everything was suddenly so much more real. *-* I could have sung along to Dybbuk, had I wanted to. When I heard him singing Kimi ga matteiru kara I was already grinning like crazy.
At some point I noticed a black-haired girl with a Kiroileva siili (=Swearing hedgehog) badge in her bag and realized that she had to be Finnish. I walked up to her and asked her, and she said that she indeed was Finnish. She was actually Myrf, a girl I had already chatted a bit with in Irc-Galleria. I spend the rest of the time waiting to get in with her and her German friend. It was so much better, not having to go to the gig alone. And I could actually speak Finnish! It was such a relief after all of the failing and mixing up English, Italian and German for the past 24 hours. It had gotten a bit cloudy by the time I walked up to the two girls, so standing in the crowd in front of the entrance wasn’t all that bad. Myrf had a self-made YFC fan, so she was able to make everyone around her slightly cooler.
The doors opened at 17.30 and this was when the things started to get hectic. Everyone was trying to get in at once, so there was quite a bit of pushing around. There were four security guys letting people in from two directions, and after seeing how much pushing there was on the right side, we decided to take the left line instead. Getting in wasn’t all that bad after all, but once we were in and wanted to buy some tour goods, we had to be up for a fight. Well, almost. People were really pushing eachother around near the goods table, but we managed to buy what we wanted in the end. I shoved all my goods to my bag and gave it to the staff at the cloakroom to keep it safe.
Here’s what I got: the headphones, the tie and the shirt (size M… typically, they had already run out of small shirts, but luckily this isn’t all too big anyway).
As you might know, I usually try to stay a bit further away from the stage, as I’m not a fan of crowds and I think that it’s usually easier to see if you don’t have anyone’s head in your face or the huge sea of hands right n front of your eyes. This time, however, I had decided that I’d take the whole gig experience. It was GACKT anyway. Luckily, I had Myrf and her friend as company and Myrf got us a place from some 20 meters or so from the stage, right in the middle. (I suck at guessing distances, so don’t take this too literally.) We thought we’d get a bit closer to the stage once the band would get on, but as it turned out, all it took was one staff member handing out water in the front and we suddenly found ourselves about ten meters from the stage. Myrf said that she would hold back the pushing crowds a bit, since she was the tallest one of us. She actually let me stand in front of her, since she was able to see above my head just fine. ♥
We heard “Gackt’s secretary” speaking to us twice before the concert, warning us not to take any photos, not to smoke, not to faint etc. and swearing a lot while he was at it. We lolled a lot at that. x3 The concert started pretty much in time, as far as I can tell. I was too excited to keep checking my watch to be sure. :'3
You could really tell when the GacktJOB entered the stage. The screaming really was something else. And when the man himself walked to the stage and set himself on the small podium in the front I thought that I would lose my hearing and my voice forever. He had a katana replica in his hands, left part of his hair braided, a white sleeveless shirt on with a black tie and a pair of black shorts. And he was hot. Totally hot. The sex. And he was right there, right in front of me, probably less than ten meters away. *_________*
At first I couldn’t really hear his voice through all the screaming and loud music, but when I did it was divine. I’m usually afraid that singers aren’t as good when you hear them live, and obviously even Gackt couldn’t sing as clearly and with as much finesse at a gig like this, but he was awesome anyway. He had such power in his voice, such charisma, such a show on stage. He’s a phenomenon, a force of nature, I’m telling you.
I think the set list was the same as on the other European gigs. Gackt started off with Zan (with the katana :3) and continued with Dybbuk. I was all hyped up by this point, jumping up and down with everyone and singing and shouting my lungs out. He kept us screaming pretty much through the whole show and I can’t for the life of me remember when we were shouting what. The gig went on with Nine Spiral, which I still don’t know by heart, and Speed Master, another one of my favourites. During the first four songs, or the short breaks between, Gackt was looking straight into my eyes. *________* I’m not sure when, because all I could think about was those ice blue eyes, piercing my heart. I know he probably didn’t see much from the stage and that it probably just felt like he was watching me, but I really felt like receiving the full Gackt treatment right there and then. I mean, I’ve seen those gorgeous eyes staring at me from the photos and videos, but seeing that look live was a hundred times better. *still dies at the memory*
I usually don’t like putting up photos that I don’t own the rights to, but I’ve got to make an exception when it’s about Gackt.
I mean, those eyes. Staring at me. Live. *______* For reaaaaaaaaaaal? I had officially died and gone to heaven called YFC. ♥
Gackt really put his everything to the show and by the time he was finishing Speed master, he was sweating like a pig. As the first notes of Lu:na started to play, people went even more crazy than before, if possible, for we all knew what was coming. And sure enough, Gackt- Oh, wait! I haven’t written anything about his fan service this far? I mean, we got the full Gackt treatment right from the start! He was rolling his hips, touching his body and raising the hem of his shirt, showing off his abs. Totally hot. But now, on to Lu:na and the striptease! Yes, you heard right. If you haven’t seen the YFC vids on YouTube yet, I strongly recommend them. During Lu:na, Gackt slowly and teasingly removed his tie and threw it to the audience. His shirt followed soon after, buttons flying off to all directions. There probably was a serious fight over his clothing, but I didn’t pay attention to the audience for obvious reasons. Gackt. Live. Without a shirt. HOT!
And next up was my absolute favourite of his songs; Kimi ga Matteiru Kara. ♥ I was a bit afraid beforehand, that people wouldn’t be all that into this song, since it’s a slightly slower one. To my pleasant surprise, everyone was singing their lungs out during the whole song. It was amazing. *____*
Next song was Mind Forest, and as we had read from the previous gig reviews, he sang the whole song in English. People couldn’t really sing along to the lyrics, but I guess we were all trying. I tried singing in Japanese at first, but it didn’t really work out, so I just sang the tune most of the time. (This coming from a person who couldn’t sing right if her life depended on it…) I didn’t know what he was singing most of the time, and what little I may have understood I can’t remember anymore. ^^''
Next songs were his brand new single Ever and Justified, both of which were great, even though I didn’t know the lyrics at all. I was totally partying up with everyone else and waving my hand the way Gackt wanted us to.
At this time, I think Gackt really made us shout a lot and talked about all of us being one big family. The next song was Jesus, which was another song that everyone was pretty much singing to and obviously shouting as Gackt wanted us to, again. After that he sang Flower and Kagero, but as Myrf was really feeling faint, going down a lot and actually passing out at some point, I couldn’t really concentrate with one hundred percent. Anyway, somewhere after Myrf had been carried away from behind me, I think this was during Flower, actually, Gackt passed out himself and fell off the stage. He had been looking a bit weak for the latter half of the show, but I think everyone thought it was just for show. Falling off the stage scared me pretty well, but we all know how Gackt is with his doings. He puts his everything to the show, so he was immediately lifted back on the stage and after holding on to You and Chahca, he continued with the performance. Everyone was screaming his name and clapping hands, showing their support.
After Kagero the band left the stage and everyone began southing for an encore. I don’t really remember how long it took for them to come back, but I think they didn’t take too long. Myrf was back behind me again when they started a remix of Uncontrol. The audience was almost desperate to show all its love for Gackt and the band and after the song ended, the man kept us all screaming for a good while. It was like he was getting his life force from his fans, enjoying the incredible energy that we all sent to him. ^^ The band members threw water bottles, plectrums and towels to the audience. Gackt’s towel was maybe about two meters in front of me, but I was actually happy I couldn’t get it, since the three people who had all grabbed it from some point were all clinging on to it for dear life, none of them willing to let it go. It was a fight I wouldn’t have wanted to be a part of.
The gig ended with Gackt’s secretary speaking to us again, telling us to get out of the venue. We stayed there for a little while longer, though, Myrf’s German friend buying us a glass of apple juice. I was so thankful, even though I hadn’t passed out I could feel that my legs were a bit shaky under me. Avoiding dehydration was a good idea.
When we left the venue, it was raining cats and dogs. A thunderstorm was really a great ending for the amazing day. I was soaked both from sweat and rain once I got to the hotel, but it was more of a blessing than a curse. I couldn’t get my shoes totally dry before the morning, though, but oh well. :3
When I left the hotel the next day, I was still on cloud nine. And I couldn’t help beaming every time I saw a Karate Kid poster, because it looked just like Gackt kicking the air at some point of his gig. Not to mention the KFC I saw on my way to the station. I mean, there’s got to be some sort of a joke in this:
Needless to say, I was grinning like a madman.
~♥~
Yesterday Gackt decided to almost scare the life out of me. He wrote in his blog that he had passed out 5-6 times during the gig, couldn’t remember much about how he managed to get away from the stage, slept for six hours (and I understood from other people’s comments that this was actually a lot for him!) and couldn’t stop bleeding from the throat once he woke up. SERIOUSLY, man, don’t kill yourself! We usually appreciate our idols even if they won’t kill themselves just to give a great show for us fans. T-T Luckily the blog translation I read sounded like he was already feeling better and was happy about the show overall. And according to the Bochum live reports I’ve read this far, he seemed to be alive and well for his final show in Europe. Here are some screencaps from the Bochum show streamed over the net by niconico.
All in all, arigatou gozaimasu Gakuto-sama! The gig was unbelievable and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. (Except for your health, though. ;__;) See you again soon in Europe, right? Please?!
~♥~
I’ve totally got to get some sleep now. We had my godparents and Stella here for a “crayfish party”. I had such a good time chatting with Stella after such a long time, especially since she was about the first person truly interested in the gig. ^^ We talked for the whole evening, up until one o’clock when the taxi came to get them home for the night. I still had half of this post to write, and now I should pack for my mini-Finland-rail we’re going to do with Pia. Starting tomorrow at 8:18 a.m. >_______>'' We are going to have a great time, no doubt, but right now I’m feeling like I could have taken another day off and just relax at home. I hope I’ll be able to sleep in the train and tomorrow night, since this night is going to be very short again. And I already almost managed to get myself yet another trip for next weekend (our mini-rail ends on Friday), when I pretty much invited myself to Stella’s summer house. Having a holiday is so busy!
Right, so I’m off to pack and get some sleep. See you around after a week or so, if I’ll have time to blog before leaving for Denmark… :_____D
♥ Hetha ♥
P.S. I almost forgot… I’ve got a photo of my gig attire, which ended up being the same as in the D’espairsRay gig last summer:
This is how fresh I looked after the gig. :'3 What a lovely way to push my hips/stomach forward, makes me look so wide. xD And my hair just goes curly by itself. Kinda cute. x3 Have got more close-ups about that, but it’s too late to start with any new photos. So bye!
(Image from here.) This girl… My Gackt, why do I always forget how to breathe when she pops up from somewhere? *_____*
(Source.) Is she cool or what? *q* *dances away to find a bucket*
