ItalianoGACKT shows his various sides, singing, dancing, performing, playing “LAST VISUALIVE” Final ／ Report
2016.07.03（SUN） at Saitama Super Arena
「I want to deliver this to everyone with my life, I want to find something special with everyone」（GACKT）
On July 3 (Sun), the final performance of 『GACKT WORLD TOUR 2016「LAST VISUALIVE Saigo no Tsuki -LAST MOON- supported by Nestle」』, which toured for over 4 months, was held at Saitama Super Arena. The “VISUALIVE” is GACKT’s original concept tour which is comprehensively expressed through music, film, and performance, and it has been 7 years since the last production. It was a long-awaited performance. With the worldview of “MOON SAGA -Yoshitsune Hiden-”, which encompassed not only music but a stage play production and film elements as well, as the axis, the more than 4 hours long staging was comprehensively built. GACKT showed his various sides, singing, dancing, performing, and playing, as he invited 12,000 spectators into the magnificent story.
At 16:15, the curtains were raised to the first part of the live with a video of GACKT’s stage play production 『MOON SAGA ‐Yoshitsune Hiden‐ Chapter 2』. With words like 「Why do people repeat the same mistakes?」, the narration questions the fundamental foolishness of humanity’s inability to stop killing each other, following which were men trampling on flowers blooming in a field as they went into the battlefield, and eventually, the figure of Minamoto no Yoshitsune (GACKT) groaning from having been pierced by numerous arrows in his body was projected on the screen.
To put an end to his life, his half brother, Minamoto no Yoritomo gave the ruthless command 「Fire!」 and at that signal, countless arrows were released. At that moment, the intro began, and the audience in the venue lit up their lumiton lights (the audience operates it in conjunction with the performance with a switch to change colours). In front of a set made up of an ominous yet beautiful enormous bone structure,「ARROW」was performed. He was dressed in a jet black enamel costume with his hair styled in dreadlocks, and long red nails. It had a strong visual impact but it went above that, as his overwhelming singing prowess pierced through.
Next, in GACKT’s song with irregular beat progression,「Hana mo Chiyu」which incorporates the beautiful Japanese of past eras with music from the Japanese zither and shou, he valiantly headbangs in time with the band members. As the smoke grows dense and rolls in, his delicate falsetto beautifully resounds in「RETURNER ～Yami no Shuuen～」, and in「RIDE OR DIE」,as if moving in contrast with the hurtling rhythm and tempo, he tranquilly and seductively sways his body from side to side. The fires behind him grows and goes up stronger, and at the end was an explosion of the special effects explosives. It was as if GACKT’s power was amplified, making it seem like he dominated the venue.
Then, it was a sudden change into a peaceful world with「Akatsukizukuyo -DAY BREAKERS-」. Wrapped in the ambient sound of rain and illuminated by a single spotlight, he quietly begins to sing in acapella, which eventually leads to a surge of emotion. As the performance was interwoven with a montage of battle scenes, he passionately sings of Yoshitsune’s wish of wanting to hold tight to his friends until the day they can meet again, a wish that cannot be fulfilled in this life.
With Val’s (on drums) intense drumming which elevated the realistic expressionism, the song left a strong impression as the first part came to a close.
The live unfolds by following the song sequence of his 19th album 『LAST MOON』 which was released in April. Above what GACKT himself had told us during the interview that we carried out in February, we came to realise that this “VISUALIVE” is closely linked with the album production.
In the hall which has once again been plunged into darkness, a video dating back to the year 1180, 9 years before the events of the first part’s film, was projected. Yoshitsune, wearing an eboshi and dressed in the robes of a court noble, was about to reunite with his elder brother. To warp such a character from the Heian Era to the stage in present times, is the elegance of GACKT. Together with the dancers, in 「Utakata no Yume」, he strums his samisen with a bloodcurdling intensity. Amidst fireballs which erupted like hellfire, he knelt and sang 「斬～ZAN～」, showing a vivid scuffle. For 「Kugutsu ga Gotoku」, they did a robot dance which incorporated the jerky movements of a puppet, which fascinated the audience with their actions of bending backwards by 90 degrees, and headbanging in beautiful Japanese robes.
During 「Youranka -LULLING-」, he stood on the stage with smoke adrift, and as his deep voice resonated, the image of his body gradually bending and folding like a pantomime dance was burnt into the back of our minds. The mix of Japanese style with progressive rock, aesthetic melodies, classical music, and even street sense into the music and dance, is a balance that can only be achieved by GACKT.
Next, projected onto the screen was Yoshitsune holding onto a dying Taira no Noritsune from behind. Following a tearful kiss, was an emotional scene where Yoshitsune was being pulled away and thrown into a different dimension but, at this point, the video was suddenly cut and transitioned to 『Camui♂Gakuen』 (a popular school concept series led by the Student Council President Kamui Gakuto who looks like GACKT), leaving us speechless. Starting with a spoiler (?) where he said 「That Yoshitsune is CG!」, we proceeded into a period of laughs where they did a review of “Yoshitsune Hiden” and the “VISUALIVE”. It ended with a climax in a rare footage of the Student Council President taking on HIRO(Yasuda Dai Circus) senpai in a Sumo contest.
In the nested structure of a fancy production, the video switches to GACKT watching the footage backstage and then heading to the stage, starting the 3rd part. He appeared on stage in a metallic red quilted jacket covering his bare skin. On a straight 16-beat rock sound, he spread his legs wide and sang 「ONE MORE KISS」 on the steps. The transcendent technique in the shredding for the guitar solo indicated the presence of CHACHAMARU (on guitar). They prompted for huge calls of 「GACKT～!」 from the audience over and over again, and stirred up the audience saying they still can’t hear them, following which the concert went into the pleasant and psychedelically floaty feeling 「MIRROR」. GACKT strummed his glittering gold guitar and occasionally faced YOU (on guitar) and played with him. A long and seemingly endless game call and response, fitting of a final, was then waged between them and the audience.
During the changeover time, dancer Kimisawa Yuuki led a lesson on the dance moves of 「Koi no FRIDAY!!」 for the audience. Then, amidst the rainbow coloured lumiton lights which lit up the audience, GACKT appeared in a black velour-material parka set with a pair of cat ears on his head. As he went back and forth with the fans doing his traditional 「Okaeriー! (Welcome home)」 「Tadaimaー! (I’m home)」 exchange, he praised the magnitude of the audience’s voices, and then said 「GACKT’s voice has already closed (laughs)」 with a laugh.
When he joked, saying that for the rest of the concert from that point Val will be singing while he plays the drums, all at once the audience crossed their lumiton lights to for X’s (to this sight, GACKT said that they looked like a “giant waffle”). After awhile of playing around with the fans and affectionate exchanges, GACKT shared his feelings, saying that he wanted to laugh and scream with everyone till he loses his voice until the end, wanted to deliver this to everyone with his all, and wanted to discover something special with everyone. Then, he added something deeply meaningful, saying that if he could feel something special here, “I’ll think of what’s to come”.
Then, he looked back on his path thus far in the past 17 years since he went solo, and spoke of being aware that there aren’t any other musician who can do eccentric things like he does at such a big venue, at which he expressed his deep gratitude to the fans who have supported him. He then also confessed that he is bad at acting cool, and that he was at best a man who’s both handsome and fun. He then said, he’s popular on variety programs too, and might be people who might think that he’s “the person who goes into room A or B” (on 『Geinoujin Kakudzuke CHECK』). To that, he says with a laugh, he does enter rooms but he does concerts too.
He then moved on to the band member introductions, first introducing CHACHAMARU who might get mistaken as a white haired woman but his guitar prowess puts him among the top 3 in Japan. Then he introduced YOU, who he first met when he was 17, and has always been at his side since GACKT went from being in a band to going solo. Finally, he introduced Sato (on bass) as GACKT Job’s most blackhearted despite looking cute at first glance, and then Val the inspiration, who he initially introduced as LUNA SEA’s Shinya, SIAM SHADE’s Jun-Ji among other names.
Then, DJ KOO put on TRF’s hit song 「EZ DO DANCE」, and entered with TAKUMI (sound director) and a cake in celebration of GACKT’s birthday on July 4 (Mon). GACKT faltered from DJ KOO’s way of doing things in his way but, as the audience sang him 「Happy birthday」 together, his face broke into a cheerful expression, and he declared 「I’ll aim to be the world’s coolest 50 year old」. After the show, following his remark that it would be nice if everyone could think like this, he then shouted the word 「Familyー!」. In the loud applause, the live finally headed towards the final part.
It kicked off with a good start, with the stage becoming intensely dazzling and bright. During 「U+K」, mascot cats appeared, and GACKT sang, danced, and sometimes jumped with 2 child dancers. In 「舞哈BABY!! -WooHa- (WooHa Baby) 」, everyone held sticks like they were beating the Taiko drums, and he performed in sync with the dancers.
In 「Koi no FRIDAY!!!」, for which the audience were taught the dance moves earlier, his zipper had been pulled lower at some point, revealing his chest, and as they called out to everyone and got everyone going, his manly rock vocals were put at the forefront.
Gold tape sprayed out, bringing a growing party mood to the audience seats. After the lights dimmed, a spotlight shone from far back in the arena to where he sat, wearing a simple white shirt, he started singing 「Kimi Dake no Boku de Iru Kara」. Before long, he stood up, and he performed the honest song yet powerful song with the band, delivering music from the soul. Behind him, the silhouette of a lady’s side profile and back image was projected, amplifying the image of the heartrending lyrics.
Next, following the lyrics format, he sang 「P.S.I LOVE U」 with the words from a letter to a lover left behind being projected. At the last word 「sayonara (good bye)」, his hands were thrown towards the heavens in the superb song. We could not look away from GACKT who stood still bathed in the single spotlight.
Finally, we headed into the 4th part, the final part of the live. Once again, we returned into the world of “MOON SAGA -Yoshitsune Hiden-”, 「Why do all of you spend your short lives fighting?」「Why can’t all of you stop hurting each other?」 he said, asking philosophical question after question, they echoed through the venue without an answer. Back to Yoshitsune who watched the moon with a cup in his hand, all his friends who have passed gathered around him one by one, starting with Benkei who appeared first. As they expressed their gratefulness for having met each other, they said together 「Even though we could not be born on the same year, month, or day We wish to die on the same day」.
Snow fell and danced around Yoshitsune, with eyes downcast and blood trickling out the side of his mouth, 「What a beautiful moon…」 he said as he looked up at the red moon which lay ahead, probably the one that this stage play was drawn from. The sublime figure of Yoshitsune/GACKT, whose body has been pierced by numerous arrows, sat in a chair, and began to sing 「Setsugekka -The end of silence-」.
The sight of the band members in white garb with white hair, and the stage being bathed in a blue light, together with red flower petals dancing as they descended like snow… … the fantastical beauty weaved by colours coupled with the energy of the song created the sensation of having entered another world. Then, behind him, his friend were brought together, and soon disappeared, turning into a ball of light each and ascended. The soul of Yoshitsune who just died, followed after his friends and joined them as they all ascended to heaven at the close. Sobs and sighs could be heard all around as a large applause grew for the magnificent story that reached across time and space.
As a special just for the final day, at the end, a video of a smiling Yoshitsune who held onto beautiful flowers as he walked outwards towards the audience, was projected. Following the words 「The Story does not end」, were joyous announcements of the world tour starting in 2017, the future launch of 「Kimi Dake no Boku de Iru Kara」 as a single, the footage of this live being broadcasted on WOWOW in October, among other things. And, after the sound of a heartbeat rang out across the venue, it was announced that in 2017, a triumphal return performance in Japan will be held.
Of course, loud cheers and applause grew. As the red moon floated on the screen again, the performance ended at 20:30. The curtains closed on the big 4 hours and 15 minutes long show.
The story world that GACKT has expressed himself until now, was reconstructed together with his latest album, and sublimated into a stage of tremendous quality and intensity. It was not only an “easy to understand” stage which told the story with a script, but for audiences who have never been in contact with his expressionism, possibly, there might be parts that aren’t easy to grasp or understand. However, the existence of the nature of humans to hurt each other even while loving each other, something like karma being spun around an episode as a bold axis, with his expressionism which was born of easily crossing the boundaries of everywhere, time, and music genre, and the strong appeal that he has in 2016, I’m sure that once he touches the world, you can’t help but get your heart struck by him. We were prepared to look at this stage as the last but, there’s even more brushing up to do, having decided that we will meet them again in 2017. One must wonder, what kind of evolution will they go through and show us? We await it expectantly.
Source: excite.co.jp
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
Translation © GACKT ITALIA