Luna Sea Concert - Hollywood Palladium 12/4/2010 (and a ryuichi sighting)

[pavarian]

So. Luna Sea - only the greatest JRock band EVER, at least in my book. This was the first japanese band i loved - I found out about them when I was 14 and, together with V, we obsessed over them, and the Shine album, endlessly. We even managed to sneak the Shine album into the school PA system so everyone had to listen to the album while we were waiting for the morning assembly to begin. =D And when, two years later, they broke up, we were HEARTBROKEN. Up till today i vividly remember how heartbroken i was. We were both just moaning in class about how they were GONE and HOW NOW?!!!!

Fast-forward 10 years later, and then they drop the whole reunion thing on me. I was praying so hard they would stop by in USA, because by hook or by crook i swore that I would fly over regardless to see them. So when they announced the LA stop we quickly bought tickets =D =D =D I didnt' think it'd actually turn out to be better than anything i could ever dream of *cough*sawryuichi*cough*

The Day started pretty normal - all of us old school fanatics flew in from various cities and met up for lunch. This again, was like coming full circle. For one thing, I met V again. Since our last meeting in NYC, i'd not met her for at least 5 years. Meeting again was amazing. Our little motley band was cobbled together out of old relationships - old friends from elementary school, high school etc. All united by Luna Sea reuniting again. It all just felt really...right.

Lunch was at Daikokuya, a pretty famous ramen place. Waited an hour but the kotteri daikokuya ramen was pretty amazing. =D We then moved off to check in at the W Hollywood Hotel - full of bling, mildly tacky, but still a nice hotel. The room cost a bomb but we'd originally booked it cos it was the nearest decent hotel to the concert venue - this point becomes extremely important later. XD

After hanging around Hollywood, we headed to Umami Burger for a quick dinner - truffle burger was delicious! Then we pretty much rushed down to the concert venue at 6.45pm. The line by then was already extremely LONG and snaked AROUND the bloody concert hall. I was a little dismayed. Had some fun examining the fans in the line - i think there were people from all over, it wasn't just asians or japanese - i saw quite a few americans, and also a few older Slaves from Japan who were decked out in full Slave regalia. That was pretty cool.

Waited in line for about 40 minutes, before they finally let us in. By the time we got into the concert hall, the floor was already filling up fast. The venue was pretty much a huge mosh pit with a tiny (by luna sea standards) stage up front. The stage was so small Sugizo, J, and Inoran's gear were seriously spilling out from the sides. Unfortunately there were no screens, but still it looked pretty decent.

We decided to mill around in the general central area of the mosh pit, directly in front of Ryuichi - figuring that that would give us the best view. There were about 15 rows of people in front of us which was a little upsetting but ah well. As people continued to come in I entertained myself with the excellent playlist - they were randomly playing a good selection of brit pop/rock, like Suede (SQUEEEE) and Phoenix. Which was rather surreal but I loved it. XD

There was a guy in front of us who had a 1995 Mother concert shirt. Everyone around him was in AWE because, well, it's america - most people here probably dreamed about a luna sea concert for years but could never go to one. So everyone just kept staring at his shirt and asking him about how the hell he even got there. lol

At about 8.30p, the lights FINALY started dimming. Everyone started getting excited and the crowd surged forward. At that point i think we moved a little closer *grin* And that's when the concert started proper. Loveless was the first song, and immediately everyone went crazy, showing the Eins Zwei Drei Vier hand signs and screaming the lyrics. According to my friend who was closer to the back, there were two older japanese Slaves near him who looked surprised at how the non-japanese people knew all the lyrics =D Oh and when Sugizo started playing his solo everyone did sugizo's star trek sign at him which totally made me LOL =D

This is where my report will be extremely incoherent (sorry bonedoll ) but i'll try to organize it as best as I can:

• the set list was a rather good sampling of all the good songs from each album. It hink the only few hits that i missed were Shine, In Silence (which doesn't really sound as good live IMO so i'm not as sore) and Believe.
• Had a pretty good view of most of the stage, though I did get a crick in the neck trying to see past the forests of arms (which I was also guilty of, i'm afraid). Ryuichi as usual was rather theatrical but the guy looked good. Sugizo looks a little worse for wear compared to the other members, but it might be because he has lost some weight. Inoran had a hat on for most of the concert but looked really GOOOOOD. =D And J had a new hair cut which i really love. I think i have a new found crush on the guy. He was looking extremely hot. D= Shinya too looked good. Everyone looked good dammit. Towards the end i think we ended up being merely 5 rows from the front and could really see the members. I was just over the moon.
• This was filmed for a 3D concert deal, so the fanservice was pretty good. I think in rosier (?) Sugizo and Ryuichi had another mock kiss *does a little dance* SO CUTE SO CUTE SO CUTE. And J was just. omg so cute. 
• Shinya's drum solo was very powerful., I could feel the beat in my bones. And together with J's amazing bass solo, the two of them played the crowd and made everyone lose their voices due to all the screaming they were making us do. Shinya was kinda adorable cos he would grin and look really pleased when we did what we wanted him to. J just looked really happy and kept smiling, which I don't usually see so I was really happy =D
• Inoran as usual kept mostly to the dark, so there were times I couldn't' really see him :( nonetheless, he was in the corner quietly playing his notes and singing the words and looked really excited so i was all like *squeeing*
• During Rosier J did his usual talking bit during the guitar solo and threw his mike. I screamed like crazy because at that point the energy was just amazing. Everyone went batshit crazy when they started Rosier. And after J threw the mike i finally got one question answered - what happens after J throws the mike every time during Rosier? - the staff hurry out and start picking up the mike. It was kinda amusing. =D Sugi's solo was amazing. Just. wow. They really laid the fanservice thick for Rosier.
• Ryu kinda messed up Face to Face unfortunately - i think he was fed the wrong audio for the song? I'm not sure but it sounded like he was singing the backup instead of the main vocals for the first half of the song. Everyone wanted to sing with him but we were all so confused with the tune so we just bopped to the music instead. Luckily they fixed it in the middle so it came out all right in the end.
• When they played storm i think i seriously lost my voice singing the song. Again, that was an excellent performance. Luna Sea live has a very unique type of explosive energy. It's different from all the other lives I've been to - makes you just want to keep screaming and singing the songs and making 'i love you' signs at the members. Everyone was jumping around and waving their hands.
• I was surpised at how lax the security was - no one got their cameras confiscated. Everyone was taking videos =) i took a few too, but my phone really sucked so it was just short clips here and there. I really regret not bringing my camera - decided against it because i thought photography wasn't allowed :( dammit.
• It sucked a little that there were no screens because it wasn't that easy to see the members. I got lucky because i was taller, but even then i couldn't really see the entire concert unhindered.
• Sound was decent - it started out with sugizo's guitars being too soft but they fixed that and it got alot better.
• Concert venue wasn't full, as confirmed by sugizo's twitter, but nonetheless I think the crowd had a very good energy. I would say the general admission was pretty much sold out, but the VIP balconies weren't.  The mosh pit was safe - not much pushing, and rather orderly, but everyone could sing the songs and wave the hands and jump and scream, so i like to think we were a good audience =) J and Inoran kept grinning, so I like to think that they loved it as much as we did =)
• The other members didn't talk much, so Ryuichi did most of the talking. He was rather adorable because it sounded like he'd learnt about 10 stock phrases in english, and he kept using them. Really cute =) Things like 'HELLO !!! WE ARE LUNA SEA!!' and 'WE LOVE YOU' and 'YOU GUYS ARE GREAT' lolololol
• Genesis of Mind and Providence were beautiful. Just. Wow. Halfway through, guy in 1995 Mother shirt turned around and we both started belting out the lyrics like we were long lost friends. Hilarious and fun. =)
• They played In My Dream and everyone started screaming. i was totally dancing =D =D =D IT sounded so so so so so good live. omg.
• During Wish, the last song, Inoran took off his hat and did this really adorable thing. he stepped all the way to the edge of the stage and started ruffling his own hair and smiling and it was just so adorable omg. <3 J too was smiling and pointing at the camera and at 'dakishimete' he pointed to everyone and himself and nodded <3 At one point too they all gathered in front, and it made for a very good picture so everyone whipped out their cameras to try and take something. Really cool because you see all these LCD screens in addition to the members themselves. Oh, oh, and they had the silver tinsel explosion, as they always do during Wish. I stole one. =D I now have tinsel from WISH. XDXDXD
• Right at the end, everyone was just shouting and screaming and you could tell they looked really pleased. Ryuichi kept telling us how we were really saiko (awesome) !! =D And then they started throwing out fangifts. I didn't get anything, dammit, but i did, finally, get a drenching of holy water from Sugizo-sama. XDXDXD Even in a small venue like this, Sugizo kept spraying the audience with water from his drinking bottle. Luckily the bottle didn't land on me, but i got sprayed which was at once hilarious and yet OMG I HAVE BEEN SPLASHED! hahahahahahahaha He also tried to take a photo of us on his phone, which was awesome XD
• They all sounded in top form. I was very happy. I've seen all the dvds to death, but nothing compares to the live omg. Finally. 12 years of dreaming about going to a Luna Sea concert. FINALLY. omg.
• The light show was very pretty visually. Up close it really gives everything a very surreal quality. Especially during Providence, Genesis of Mind, and Storm.
• Finally figured out how Sugizo's hair is always flying in concerts - he has a personal fan for that effect. D= lol
• I'm not sure but it looks like J downsized on his amps because i don't recall seeing the jesus/mother mary ones. then again I might have just missed it due to poor eyesight =D Shinya's drum set was also different - it was a silver metal set, but not that taiko-looking red thing he used in the other concerts. I wonder if they switched out due to the size of the stage.

After the concert we rushed to the goods shop to buy stuff. Unfortunately just cash was accepted, so could only grab a few things :( got a hot pink Tour towel, a pamphlet, and a poster that had the word Los Angeles on it, so i'm happy =) also very broke :(




ps. found some good vids from youtube here. Also, some nice photos here.  (note: i did not take these vids/pics, just stumbled across them while finding stuff to re-watch.. =D credit goes to the original owners of those posts.)

==

Now the next day. This is when it got really amusing. The day before I told V - 'Look, this is the only decent classy hotel next to the Palladium. Who knows? The members might stay here!' V scoffed at me. She said i was dreaming.

So then the next morning, we had to wake up early because one of the guys had an earlier flight and we were going to meet up for breakfast first. So we were milling around the lobby waiting for friends to arrive, when who should walk in but the great Ryuichi-sama. *jawdrop* Like seriously. At first it didn't quite register. All I thought was the guy looked vaguely familiar, and was dressed quite well. Then he turned and i think that was when i just full out stared. His eyes flicked to the poster roll I was holding in my hand, and then i think he realised I was a fan so he smiled at me. I quickly shut my jaw and smiled back. lol

I quickly hissed to my friends that omg RYUICHI was behind omgomgomg. Then V caught on and then she went nuts. So we stood there for a full five minutes debating whether to go up to him and ask for a photo. Finally, V gathered up her courage to ask him in english if he would mind. Surprisingly he said yes!!!! SO OMG we quickly ran over and used our phones to take a picture. After we took it Ryuichi was really excited and said, 'Mitte, mitte' and wanted to see the photo so we showed him. He looked pleased with how it turned out. 

Then he stretched out his hand to shake ours. All i could blurt was 'arigatou gozaimasu' when what i really wantd to say was 'omg thank you for coming to LA because i've waited half my life to finally see you guys live' but i had no idea how to say that =_= He was really nice because, my friend was trying to fumble with his phone to get the camera setting right and didn't see Ryu's outstretched hand. So Ryu patiently waited and then shook his hand. I thought that was really nice of him.

After that we kinda gathered on the other side of the couch to just sit in shock , while Ryu and his entourage sat on the opposite side. According to my friend they were commenting on whether they should've played 'Ra-s-en' because initially the crowd looked like they weren't sure about the music, but then it all turned out all right during the chorus, so perhaps that was a good idea after all. lol

After a few minutes, Ryu and his group moved to leave. And this is when Ryu did something really really sweet. He turned around and, knowing we were not japanese, said to us 'See you next time!' and waved and smiled. *squees* Then V blurted, 'ganbatte kudasai!' which made him smile even more and he answered in a sing-song 'hai~!' and waved somemore to us. So we waved back and then he said this really cute 'bai-bai~!' and left. Omg. wow. Ryuichi is really nice in real life! He's really soft spoken and polite and you cannot tell he's the frontman of a huge rock band like Luna Sea. D= Also, closeup, he does not look 40 dammit. Guy has damn good skin. D= What is it about japanese men and their flawless skin dammit. lol

So that was my omg crazy weekend. My right arm hurts from the waving. And my feet hurt from standing for so long. And my neck hurts from trying to see them. But all worth it. That was amazing. I love them to bits <3 Luna Sea FTW. Now to wait for the dvd of this concert... i wonder if we're on the dvd since we were so close to the stage and right smack center... LOL Gah. i stil can't believe i've finally had my dream come true. omg

Edit: Also another fan report here says Yoshiki was in the audience! lucky girl met yoshiki and saw sugi and ino :( ah well..