Saikai no Hana
March 26, 2003
Shibuya AX
I arrived early in hopes of taking pictures of lots of cosplayers, but just as I was afraid of, there weren't many... only me and a "Chou no Hana" Kamijo. Not knowing who the members would be made cosplay awkward, since nobody except Kamijos were sure their member would be there, and even they wouldn't cosplay if their friends weren't going to as well. Maybe there will be more at later concerts...
As we went in, artificial red roses were distributed to everybody. It wouldn't do to have a Lareine show without flowers! *remembers the lack of flowers at Halloween Party* But most fans brought them anyway, maybe half Kamijo's blue roses and half the general red roses. Then we entered the live area itself and went to our... seats... I don't like being confined to a seat at a show so this was really disappointing. AX has a nice big stage area though, so it was possible to do many things that wouldn't have worked at another venue.
The concert itself began with a subtitled video shown against a curtain over the stage. I didn't recognize the intro music at the time but it was the "Reine de fleur" prologue. Then the music changed to another piece I didn't recognize and a purple light enveloped the stage... With that purple light and the big stage, it looked just like "fierte no umi to tomo ni" at the very end of the Akasaka Blitz show in August 2000 and I was overcome by nostalgia. And that was exactly the intended effect, because suddenly there was a sound of thunder and Kamijo speaking "mou sore ijou...", as they opened with the middle of "fierte"! The feeling was so different though -- I had chills seeing that song performed in 2000, thinking that this was the only time it would ever be performed like that -- but when the music began after that spoken part, the audience at AX went crazy with the release. And by opening this concert in the middle of the song Lareine ended the Blitz show with, a clear message was sent to the fans that this was the same band picking up where they'd left off.
The next song was "fiancailles", which has a completely different feeling live with the energy of the whole crowd waving their flowers together. ^_^ I was so happy and moved to see that garden of lovely flowers again, a sight I thought I'd never see again. After that, they played "the sequel".
I was still trying to figure out who all the members were, not being close enough to see faces clearly. ^^; This guitarist seemed very familiar somehow, but his hair was falling over his face, and I couldn't place him. His costume and hair were very Mayu-like, which made me confused because even though I couldn't see his face I didn't think he was Mayu. The drummer also seemed familiar but it was even harder to see him. It wasn't until I heard a voice call out "Kazumi~" that I recognized the drummer from Ribbon. Later I heard a "Motoki~" and realized yes! that guitarist IS former New Sodmy roadie Motoki!
Emiru was clearly Emiru in a new pink bell-shaped dress, bouncing cutely around in that inimitable Emiru style, showing his cute pantalettes at every hop. ^_^ He was so cute! *falls over from Emiru's overwhelming cuteness* I've become a big Emiru fan since this summer, oh he's just so adorable! ^_^
Kamijo was fabulous, of course. He always is. For this show he wore long waist-length extensions, curled in two locks in front and with the rest tied back in a simple straight ponytail. It was a big shock seeing him with long hair -- I've seen it in so many pictures but never in real life before. It looks really good and I hope he keeps the extensions for a while. For the first part of the show he wore a basic white blouse and breeches costume. Later he put on the "Chou no hana" coat and cravat, just as things were starting to get nice and warm... Oh well. *LOL* (heheh, anybody who was at the "Miss Carmila" shows will understand...)
Then, "Solitude", which began with that very cool live intro. Right after the part where Kamijo says the "Lillie to Jeremie... iku zo!" thing in "Chantons", some flashpots exploded in back. This is one of my favorite songs live. (I like it better when I don't have to jump against a chair at the "tobe~" part, though...) After this was "Je t'aime", another great live song. Then a short MC, and "Urei no hana ga tsuzuru ai". Just like before, Kamijo went over to Emiru at the end of the first verse.
"emeraude" was played with the pretty prerecorded live intro with the harp and flute. Like before, Kamijo had an acoustic guitar and Emiru had maracas. Motoki was offstage for this song. Kazumi seemed a little awkward... this is one of the songs that's so prerecorded it's basically karaoke, and while Emiru's used to not having a real instrument, Kazumi isn't. He seemed uncomfortable during this and other heavily prerecorded songs, but perhaps he'll become more accustomed to it.
Actually, I was mostly watching Emiru during "emeraude"... he was SO cute with the maracas, and his blank face, and his wobbly skirt and fluffy bloomers! I feel stupid saying "cute" over and over again about him, but Emiru's so purely cute there really isn't any other adjective. ^^;
Then they left the stage, and "Yosei no Kuni" played. There was some small thing that meandered about the stage during the first part of this. From what I could see (which wasn't much), it looked like a rubber duckie. After seeing the Shoxx live pictures, I think it was in fact the rubber duckie in the photo. Emiru came back out, hopping cutely in a slow rhythm. It was really adorable and funny.
Next was "gerbe", which with Kamijo's changing into his blue "Chou no Hana" coat was a little flashback-y. It's a really fun song live, full of good vibes. ^_^ Then, with a "Bonjour honey~", Kamijo did an old-style "welcome to the live" MC with a story about a "P-chan". "Mist" was the next song, and those power chords at the very beginning sound great live! "Shiroi Bouquet" followed, with the whole crowd clapping along to the rhythm.
After another short P-chan MC, they did "Fuyu Tokyo". It had a new danceable intro, and the beginning part had slightly different lyrics at the end, all in English, and (>_<;) I couldn't make out any but the most obvious... Well, it sounded really cool and I was happy to hear it, even if I couldn't understand. I think Lareine played this song for real at the 2000 shows, but this time it was all prerecorded except the vocals, and it had a new disco-like beat. Emiru and Kazumi had trumpets that they pretended to play and danced with... Kazumi didn't seem entirely comfortable, though. (Motoki was offstage for this.) "Lesson" was next, with the same arrangement as the CD.
Then, "Ano hito no aishita hito nara", which they did together, the whole band. That's not as obvious as it might seem -- Kamijo performed this song alone onstage to the accompaniment of only a piano track during many New Sodmy shows, the 2nd Halloween Party live, and at the Brand X event in January. It's how I'm used to hearing it now, just Kamijo and the piano for the whole song. ^^; In terms of the song itself, I actually like it better with that simplicity. But I was very happy to hear it with a band finally, not just Kamijo constantly alone. There's something heartwarming about that. (well, to me at least) Then, he introduced the other members and Motoki.
The next song was "Metamorphose", with the cool live intro and "snow" falling prettily. All these songs had such a good energy at this show! Then, "Chou no hana", with a short instrumental interlude during the middle. A roadie ran out and fiddled with Kamijo's hands behind his back and I wondered if his cuffs were falling off or something; but when the song resumed he flung out his hands to unroll mylar streamers into the audience.
"Fleur" was WONDERFUl! Exactly the way it's supposed to be -- the whole crowd, flowers waving, singing along... I just kept remembering this song at Blitz, and how I never thought I'd see that lovely garden of flowers again, and being so happy to be a part of it once more. There was one funny moment during the singalong, when Kamijo went over to Motoki and stuck the microphone in his face, and Motoki shied away laughing. After this, the band left for their encore break.
After the encore, Kamijo, Emiru, and Kazumi returned for "Lillie Charlotte". Kamijo was wearing the blue feathered coat from way back. This was another nostalgic song... well, they were all nostalgic I guess, but some were more so than others. Then they left again...
The crowd was an energetic one, despite the seats. There were a lot of guys... and they yelled, too! When I heard the first guy bellowing "KAMIJO~!" in the beginning of the show I was like, "what the...? o__O;" But then a bunch of others started doing it too, and not just one group, but guys all through the audience! I've never heard guys calling for band members before, not at any show! Usually there are hardly any guys at lives and what few there are remain totally silent, maybe joining in the "encore" chant. So it was really weird to hear these guys all over the crowd howling "KAAAMIIIJOOO~~!!!" They sounded a little ghoulish, actually. ^^;;; I wonder where all these LOUD male fans came from. o_O; I mean, I don't think it's bad that these guys are fans and expressing themselves, but it's really unusual... ^^; When Kamijo returned and commented on how "lively" the guys were (impossible for him not to notice ^^) there were a lot of giggles. ^^
Then they played "Kaze no Yuuwaku", which of course is super-fun live! Then Kamijo (now in the white "Saikai" costume) announced the upcoming shows. When he mentioned the Nagoya one, a group of Nagoya fans started cheering; which then inspired a Nagasaki fan to shout "come to Nagasaki!" and a French fan to yell out "To France!", to lots of laughs. Kamijo paused for a moment, and responded with "whether it's Nagasaki or Hong Kong, please try to go see us". And then he giggled.
The last song was naturally "Saikai no Hana". And as it began, the flowers popped up like popcorn, being tossed by the fans onto the stage. (it's not a romantic image, but I can't help but think of popcorn when I see it...) This song was a really happy finale -- a great way to end a great show. ^_^
Finally all the band threw out flowers to the audience. Kamijo and Motoki threw default red roses. Emiru threw his daisies. Kazumi tossed out these fugly orange birds of paradise... I hope he decides to pick a different flower...
SET LIST
intro
fierte no umi to tomo ni kiyu
fiancailles
the sequel
SOLITUDE
Je t'aime
MC
Urei no hana ga tsuzuru ai
emeraude (with intro)
Yosei no kuni ~Runrun March~
MC
gerbe (with intro)
MIST
Shiroi bouquet
MC
Fuyu Tokyo
Lesson
Ano hito no aishita hito nara
MC
Metamorphose
Chou no hana
Fleur
[encore]
LILLIE CHARLOTTE
[encore]
MC
Kaze no yuuwaku
MC
Saikai no hana