GACKT’s Requiem et Reminiscence II Tour finally came to an end at Saitama’s Super Arena on July 12th after 7 months and over 60 shows. Dubbed as ‘VISUALIVE’s instead of concerts, the term coming from a combination of the words visual, alive and live, the tour was a sequel to his 2001 Requiem et Reminiscence tour and saw GACKT celebrate his tenth anniversary as a solo artist in a truly spectacular, and lengthy, style.
It seems almost strange to write this about a concert, but be warned – there are story spoilers ahead!
GACKT has always told a story with his works and this tour was no different. Set amidst the German trenches of World War II, the show tells the story of Zero, played by GACKT, a once-human Nazi soldier who is turned into a cyborg and ultimately seeks revenge against those who created him before being destroyed in a shower of gunfire in the show’s closing movie. The story, although ever present, only occasionally overpowers the show, and even those with only limited knowledge of the twists, turns and love triangles involved can still appreciate the spectacle that GACKT stages.
It opens twenty minutes late with the first of three overly dramatic but impressively shot movies. Zero is stumbling through the streets of Germany as flashbacks of the original Requiem et Reminiscence tour are shown on screen, repeatedly asking “dare ga?” (who am I?) There’s a loud bang, a flash of pyro, and the curtain falls as the Nazi uniform clad band launch into the opening track, “Jesus”.
Both “Jesus” and “Uncontrol”, the two opening tracks, are met with an enthusiastic reaction from the crowd as they wave their glow sticks to the beat. GACKT Job, GACKT’s band, are surprisingly heavy, loud and very, very tight in a live environment, and both songs are given an extra edge that doesn’t exist in the recorded versions. Their sound is amazingly clean and unaffected by any distortion or feedback, and you can hear every instrument individually despite GACKT’s voice being loudest of all.
There are backing vocals on the chorus lines, additional layers of sound and an increased use of synthesizers in places, but with very few exceptions (such as the spoken English in the middle of “Jesus”) everything really is live.
“Suddenly”, “No Reason” and “In Flames”, three new songs, follow and it is undoubtedly “In Flames” that stands out. The bass line provided by new boy Chirolyn (ex-hide bassist) rings throughout the arena as several bursts of fire appear strategically around the stage and proceed to lightly roast half of the audience with the force of their flame. A real highlight.
The opening act of the VISUALIVE draws to a close with “Sayonara.” GACKT is seated at his piano, surrounded by both band and dancers in their military uniforms with drummer Jun-ji (Acid Black Cherry, BULL ZEICHEN 88) stood at the end of the piano with a bottle in hand. What follows is a twenty minute long, slightly self indulgent but unquestionably stunning piano, violin and vocal performance that leaves the crowd in absolute silence. Each dramatic pause between notes is met with a reaction so quiet that you can hear the hum of the sound system, the creaking of the seats and a cough from across the arena.
GACKT’s voice rings loud and clear throughout the arena as he sings and accompanies himself, occasionally one handed, on the piano. Guitarist You adds violin to the proceedings, and it’s a strange but highly effective contrast to the full out rock of the songs that proceeded it. Eventually the stage is emptied of everyone but You and GACKT who then launch into an expertly crafted violin duet. I’m no expert in violin playing, but even to my untrained eyes it was plainto see that every bow movement they made had been choreographed and rehearsed as strictly as the performance itself. Stunning.
The second act opens with a bizarre dance routine, courtesy of several dancers under a black sheet with multiple heads. Again, it’s very well choreographed and serves the dual purpose of filling some time while the band changes and also signals a shift in the story telling from the Nazi aspect of Zero to the cyborg part, but ultimately it’s just plain weird.
The cyborg theme is running rampant now as the band are wheeled, yes wheeled, on stage with futuristic visors on their heads and wires attached to their arms. GACKT appears from below the stage as “GHOST” begins with four dancers by his side, his outfit a black vinyl body suit with knee high boots. It’s faster and far heavier than the single version, and unfortunately GACKT decides to throw himself into the energetic dance routine and opts to mime – a shame as, mimed vocals aside, the live version is better than the recorded version.
“Blue Lagoon” follows, and GACKT’s gratuitous fondling of both the disembodied, naked female torso that doubles as a microphone stand and himself probably made some of the parents who attended the show with their young children a little nervous. Again, another track that sounds so much better live than on record. The band vacates the stage, and GACKT sings “Oblivious” to a recorded backing track which is a real disappointment and robs the song of some of its power, despite GACKT’s earnest vocal.
The second movie plays, showing Zero fighting in the trenches alongside his cyborg comrades – the GHOST battalion. The majority of dialogue is in Japanese, but a devastating explosion prompts Zero to contact his superiors and gives GACKT a chance to display his only slightly questionable English skills. The explosions multiply in number, the movie gets more theatrical, and just as I began to worry that finally GACKT really was beginning to take himself too seriously, several multicoloured cats appear on screen and wave to the crowd.
If the first half of a GACKT show is always performance theatre then the second half is always the crazy, fun part, and the third act kicked off with “My Father’s Day.” GACKT and the band are now dressed in casual clothes, and GACKT has his new red guitar strapped to his thigh. A beautiful guitar solo from You is the song’s highlight as everyone moves away from the highly choreographed style of the first half of the show and instead engages the audience with a lively performance.
“Mirror” is next, and as always it is preceded by a very lengthy introduction where GACKT, with the aid of a pre-recorded guitar riff, encourages the crowd to scream his name as loudly as they can. When he’s finally satisfied that they are loud enough (which took about ten minutes by my watch) the song finally starts. Every inch of the stage is covered by the band, and GACKT sings and screams until he collapses. Literally.
It’s another ten minutes before GACKT reappears with a change of T shirt for the MC portion of the show. GACKT’s ability to talk at length has never been in doubt, but a MC that lasts over an hour is excessive by anyone’s standards. The majority of the MC sees GACKT pitting one part of the crowd against the other with his customary shout of “okaeri” (welcome home) being answered by an over enthusiastic “tadaima” (I’m home) from whichever part of the arena he has singled out. Credit has to be given to the surprisingly large male contingent in the arena who were eagerly trying to match the females in the crowd.
The MC also saw the band given their chance in the limelight as they were all allowed to introduce themselves by shouting to the crowd… without a microphone. It worked surprisingly well, as a hush would descend upon the audience, allowing their voices to carry to even the furthest away row. Each band member made the most of their moment in the sun – whether it be drummer Jun-ji, who made the crowd applaud and chant his name, bassist Chirolyn, who shouted after taking a long drag from a helium canister, guitarist Chachamaru, running laps of the stage , You and his comedy one liners, or GACKT and his sincere thanks.
After a short, but loud, crowd sing-along, the music resumed with “U+K,” a staple of any GACKT live performance. The glow sticks were swapped for stuffed cat paws (even GACKT wore one) as the crowd and band danced with four cats, and suddenly the seriousness of the show’s first act seems like a million miles away.
For the next song, “Koakuma Heaven,” the video wall becomes a screen from a Dance, Dance Revolution game. The dance routine for the song is broken down arm movement by arm movement in such a simplistic but effective way that even someone as uncoordinated as this reviewer could match every move. GACKT is joined on stage by over a dozen dancing girls, apparently all from Japan’s premier hostess clubs (remember, Wikipedia is your friend) as glitter and ticker tape fills the air and GACKT sings “ii onna nan desu, hai” (we are good girls, yes). The middle section of the song sees the band put down their guitars and drumsticks for their own solo DDR routine that gets progressively faster for each member – it starts at level 3 for guitarist Chachamaru and ends at level MAX, naturally, for GACKT. It really is as crazy as it appears.
The girls are replaced by GACKT’s very talented dancers for “Papa Lapped a Pap Lopped,” which ends with solo spots for all of the dancers and a little tease of another song, “Lu:na,” during the closing bars. “Faraway” is another song that is simply fun to see live, as the crowd alternates between towel waving, clapping and wooing without missing a step. It’s probably GACKT’s worst vocal of the night as he spends as much time displaying another hidden talent – the ability to loudly whoop in a pitch higher than even an arena full of Japanese girls can manage – as he does singing.
The simplistic, straight forward rock that is “Flower” almost seems out of place amongst the dance routines and craziness of the songs that immediately preceded it but it’s a welcome change of pace. The guitars of You and Chachamaru are at the forefront of the song, and it all sounds fantastic. “Kimi No Tame Ni Dekiru Koto,” a traditional show closer, starts with an intricate acoustic introduction but soon hits more familiar ground. The glow sticks bounce in the air to every beat and there is a mad scramble in the crowd when silver streamers are shot into the air and cover only the first few blocks so, unfortunately, 80% of the audience miss out. The song draws to an end, curtains cover the stage and the wait begins for the encore.
The military theme is on display again for the final song of the night, “Lost Angels,” as the band is now dressed in long military coats over their earlier uniforms. “Lost Angels” is a song that builds slowly but effectively as snow starts to fall during the second verse. There is a pause between choruses, the lights dim… and suddenly GACKT is standing center stage surrounded by not only the band but all of the dancers. It’s an impressive visual to end the show on as there barely appeared to have been enough time for everyone to get in position, and as GACKT reaches to the sky the curtains close for the final time.
The end video shows the tragic end to Zero’s story as he is lying battered, bruised and broken (and minus his legs and one arm) in the streets of Germany. The German army have caught up with him and, after a smart comment about being more human than the Nazi soldiers standing before him are, Zero is destroyed by a zealous General and his machine gun, and the camera shows every shot entering Zero’s/GACKT’s body – there is no camera fade or trick angles to soften the visual. Nobody leaves as the concert and movie credits are displayed on the screen and there is polite applause throughout the arena until the final credit, ‘all produced by GACKT CAMUI,’ is flashed on screen and greeted by the loudest cheer of the night.
From start to finish, the concert lasted a mammoth four hours and five minutes. GACKT’s dedication to his goals of creating a complete visual, alive and live experience for those who see his shows is evident throughout as he, his band and his dancers deliver a show that is equal parts crazy and equal parts excessive but always entertaining. GACKT has, when asked about his shows in the past, stated that he strives to put on a show that no other can match. In this case, he was more than successful.
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