TWISTED LOVE: Concert Reports
Dir en grey Berlin
soleil_kitty's Report
Bck from Berlin and drop dead tired. But I have to write this down asap or else I might forget about all those little bits and pieces of the concert, which was ultimately the best live Ifve ever been to.
After arriving in Berlin our (kobajashi, emerald and yours truly) first destination was Neotokyo to pick up our tickets. 
View from our hotel window. Our hotel was the closest one to Columbiahalle, hence we were seeing diru-fans everywhere around.
ohmigosh, those people everywhere! Goths as far as the eye could see and they were looking awesome. Since everyone seemed to have the same idea as we did, we had to wait outside in the sweltering heat (34 celsius according to the forecast) for nearly 30 minutes until we were allowed inside of the shop to get the tix and have a look around.
As for Neotokyo I was rather disappointed. Sure they had a couple of j-rock cds and dvds lying around and lots of mangas, too, but I had expected the shop to be larger and with a wider range of products. meh! after leaving Neotokyo we stopped at Groberunfug too and this shop ruled! woah, the artbook-collection alone was unbelievable and the staff was friendly and very helpful *luvluv* I got a couple of manga volumes I was missing out on over the past few months and then we left.
TEH HOLEEEEEEEEEEY TICKET!!!!!!!! SQUEEAGE! I have it lying on my computer desk at home at the moment. I guard it like a treasure *____*
After getting ready at the hotel we went down the road to the Columbiahalle. again: oh my god, the people o.o woah! so many....all black and pink, awesome hairstyles and make-up. It was adorable <333 and clearly 3.500 people which means the live was indeed sold out.
While sitting around I suddenly spotted the holy man who directed goresamah and a couple of miyavi-pvfs (and I guess diru-pvfs, too)! I kid you not. sporting his almost traditional oversized cap he was running around pointing his camera into our faces and filming all the gorgeous dressed up guys and gals. Which of course made me suspect that therefs going to be either a whole dvd (dir en grey in germany -> berlin, rock am ring, rock im park??) or at least bonus material on a future release. Canft wait! Seeing him made me happy already, I have to admit XD Hefs so tiny!!
After waiting in the heat for another hour the doors were finally opened and the very strict security guards made a point by delaying the whole opening from originally 1,5 hours to 2 hours, which also meant that diru themselves couldnft start performing at 20:30 as originally announced. Stupid security, stupid audience who brought cameras even though it was clearly said beforehand that cameras were not allowed and stupid organization, too. Because to keep people entertained inside the hall they started playing random music and everyone outside thought diru were on stage already even though half of the people were still waiting. nobody bothered to tell the guys outside that the concert had not yet begun and they werenft missing anything. Really, Neotokyo....one would think youfd have some sort of practice now that Despairfs ray, Kagerou and Moi dis Moix have been here already.
Anyway, after getting inside we headed for the side of the stage where - by that time - the least people were waiting. Luckily enough for me it was the right and therefore Diefs side of the stage, yay! XD By the time we got in, some others have been inside the hall for already two hours and the heat took its toll on those standing front row. Security guards were pulling out half a dozen people before the concert even began, it was insane. Soon afterwards, close to 21 ofclock, the lights finally went out and the intro set in. I have to admit I wasnft familiar with this new, rather calm and mellow intro and missed Shinyafs appearance ^^;;; [[Webmistress: It was a Nine Inch Nails song]] But I also missed Toshiyafs.
The only one I could spot immediately was Die who was maybe 15 meters away from where we were standing. His hair the usually very bright red, he was wearing what seemed like a semi-long leather coat. He was smiling by the time he came on stage, which seemed to me like a surprised reaction at the ecstatic welcome. And I mean ecstatic. The noise was unbelievable. People were screaming like mad.
After Kyo finally appeared they immediately dove into the first song gMerciless Culth. I was totally in awe over finally getting to see them personally that I couldnft do much except for staring and taking in their appearances. Kyo was a sight for sore eyes. His hair was mohawk-like styled. One side was kept very short, while he apparently wore extensions on the other side. Throughout the first song he already got rid of his shirt. I didnft get to see much of Kaoru throughout the whole show. He looked like his usual self ;) However, Toshiya was.....well...... had I seen him around the city the day before I wouldnft have recognized him. He wore long (long as in past his shoulders), black, wavy (!) hair and a black jacket/white shirt combination. Didnft get to see much of him during the show, either. All the bouncing made it hard XD Shinya, cute as always, wore short, blonde hair and a white coat. Or so it seemed.
They were all pretty dressed up regarding the horrible temperatures. No wonder they had to take short 2-3 minute breaks after every third song to catch their breath and dry themselves. They all left the stage everytime except for Shinya who was handed a towel by a helping hand and seemed to have quite some problems with the heat and exhaustion. At least thatfs what I was suspecting while watching him. I donft blame him. After the first three songs we were dripping with sweat and I literally mean _dripping_. As opposed to them we were wearing short and light clothes, still my circulation seemed to let me down. After 45 minutes the band decided to take an unintentional break. More people had to be pulled out by the security guards who had finally taken pity on the audience and started to spray around water from bottles. One of the organizers announced that the doors had to be opened for a couple of minutes to get in fresh air. During the break the air condition suddenly came to life, which kinda pissed me off. This damn hall was air conditioned and yet we were forced to suffer from this unbearable heat? Later I was told, they usually keep the air condition off, because in case of a fire the air condition system would help spreading flames and smoke and such. So thatfs why. Either way somebody was nice enough to keep the system running even after Dir en grey returned to stage. They were still wearing their outfits from before. I have no idea how the guys did it, to be honest. I know they have ventilators standing in front of them but I doubt they were helping much. After performing another 15 or 20 minutes the original, intended break was announced! yays! Ifm still surprised that these constant breaks didnft affect the common excitement and ecstasy. After diru returned to stage once more, people were welcoming them back just as wildly as they did the first time. This time, however, the guys were wearing light and flimsy clothes which fit the temperatures much better ;)
Kyo seemed to be having the time of his life. Every movement and every of his many outbursts were met with equally excited cheers and cries from the fans. The mood was escalating. By the end of the show he was blowing us kisses. I have never seen him doing that before. After playing their glast songh we managed to get them back on stage for one last time. Not by shouting gencoreh but gDir en greyh over and over again. People went entirely crazy. Crazier than before and I wouldnft have thought this was possible, to be honest. The band members threw basically everything they had on stage bar their instruments into the screaming audience and people were getting into fights over water bottles, drum sticks and towels. However, this encore really was the last song then. A japanese guy whom I suspect to be the manager, came on stage and bowed to us. Then the staff came on stage and literally unplugged the connection, blech! We went by the merchandising stand (items available were posters, pamphlets, belts and even socks!) and then outside. The sight that greeted us was impressive and shocking. Half a dozen ambulances were standing outside, treating fans and driving off with blue lights and sirens.
Ifm still in total awe over what happened. That I really got so see them live. Unbelievable. I guess itfll take me another 3 or 4 days to fully realize it. Despite the crappy organization the event itself was surely one of a kind. We had fun and the guys obviously had lots of fun, too. I guess it was as surprising for them as it was for me over how excited the audience got. I expected people to really have fun and go with it, but I didnft expect the sheer ecstasy. And I canft find another word for it. They were singing along the lyrics, for crying out loud. We were louder than Kyo at times. I couldnft even hear my own voice. It was stunning. Two people of the staff (one of them being the goresamah-director) were filming the whole show, so I really hope for some of the footage to appear on one of the future dvdfs. If i can get ahold of some sort of keepsake other than just my memory, I definitely want to have it.
Okay, thatfs it for now. Ii know Ifm missing out on a lot of details which Ifll probably remember sometime later. Ifll get into that then. All I know for now, is that I saw them with my very own eyes, I experienced the best friggin live perfomance of my life, I was as close to Die as I could get and he was more beautiful than i ever imagined (yaaaaaaaahh....fangirl speaking! >.<) and Ifll keep this night with me 4eva, peeps! Go diru!!!! XD
setlist:
basically everything off of gwithering to deathh in no particular order
plus:
mr. newsman
byo shin
child prey (encore)
the aftermath: people trying to get home......diru-fans as far as the eye can see. it was amazing. i'll never forget ^____^
Thank you soleil_kitty!
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