Dir en Grey Live Report - Night 2

Date: November 22, 2009
Location: House of Blues of Sunset Strip, Hollywood, California
Concert: Dir en Grey, Night 2

I find it hard to write live reports on bands that I am a big fan of, and Dir en Grey is definitely one of those bands. I get lost in the music and enjoy myself so much I forget I’m supposed to be working and when its time to write the report, I have to filter out the excited babble! This time was no exception, but I had the help of friends to keep me somewhat better focused!

If you have seen a Dir en grey show before, then you know what to expect. If nothing else, high energy and spirits, an intense show with even more intense music. They don’t do fancy light shows or anything like that; it’s just the band and their music.

That is all Dir en grey needs.

...

They know how to work the crowd and include them at the same time, so it’s more than just a ‘performance’ at the end of the night. Their energy and emotion is contagious, and the crowd is always hyped up and ready to go.

Over the years I’ve been seeing them live, the crowd has changed from just hardcore fans, to more diverse, ranging from the very young (youngest I’ve seen to date is still my son) to older people you wouldn’t expect to see. I say this only because of the stereotypical parent yelling ‘turn down that noise!’

This live especially had a far range of ages in attendance and as they played a lot of their older songs and some of the bands favorite newer songs, there was something for everyone. I was surprised how many songs they did play through the course of the night, but everyone loved every moment of it!

At 8:30pm sharp, the intro music started, the band came out one by one, and took their places on the stage. The live started out charged and had extremely high energy; the opening songs heavy and energetic.

I noticed a lot more interaction with the crowd than at previous lives I had attended. Toshiya was bouncing around the stage, obviously having fun, Die flipping his long luscious hair as he slams at his guitar, Kaoru as always was the epitome of rock star cool, and Shinya was banging away at a rather small drum set in comparison to the usual grandiose that I’ve seen. Kyo had the biggest difference I noticed of them all, his whole persona seemed more inviting. He held out the mic to the crowd so we could sing along, pointed and mouthed words to fans in the audience, spit water on the fans and smiled more than I think I’ve ever seen him smile.

It was a great concert, and it just kept getting better with each song! By the end of the concert, everyone was fully charged; the audience was like a single living entity rather than a group of individual people.

The concert went by so fast it’s hard to give a play by play of everything! When it did end, it was all too soon and the breathless crowd screamed for more even though they knew it was finally the end of the night.

Everyone milled around for a long while afterwards, searching the floor for swag and recalling their favorite memories of the evening as they waited for the full band signing we were promised.

After what seemed like forever we were finally lined up (somewhat) and waited our turns to make our way to the upper level of the House of Blues to meet the band. It took what seemed like hours, but somehow they were able to sign and shake hands with everyone.

We were near the end of the line and it was great to see them all smiling and happy to see us, saying thank you for coming and signing the CDs and DVDs clutched happily by the fans.

Die bowed his head and said thank you as he handed my DVD back, Shinya smiled and did the same. Kaoru smiled and Toshiya grinned brightly and said “Thank you for coming!” with more enthusiasm than I have ever heard. When I finally made my way to Kyo I was rather nervous, honestly! I have heard a lot of things about the man over the years I’ve been a fan. Some negative, some positive, but in the end, you draw your own conclusions.

He was very friendly, smiling and signing my DVD. I said “Thank you very much!” in Japanese and was rewarded with another smile, then before I realized he was moving his hand toward me and not the person next to me, I was already turning away, excited to have all their autographs! I realized he was offering to shake my hand and a bit flustered said ‘yes yes!’ and turned back, holding out my hand and bowing (like an idiot). He laughed and smiled wider, shaking my hand firmly and making me grin back happily (again, like an idiot!).

It was great to have finally met them all, and seen them so happy to have given us a great show! I feel they had as much fun as we did and I certainly hope they do a tour like this again. It was great to hear songs I had never dreamed of hearing live, though I will admit most of them I had a hard time recognizing at first, and I know I missed quite a few on the setlist…

Next time, I hope they play Ain’t Afraid to Die, but I’m willing to wait patiently and attend every live I am able until I can see it!

SET LIST:
Intro (G.D.S)
Obscure
Merciless Cult
Red Soil
Stuck Man
Doukoku to Sarinu
The Deeper Vileness
Hydra –666-
Lie Buried With a Vengeance
Toguro
Dozing Green
Inconvenient Ideal
Vinushka
Gaika, Chinmoku ga Nemura Koro
Reikatsu Nariseba

ENCORE
Akuro no Oka
Bottom of the Death Valley
Kodou
Ugly
The IIID Empire

(Setlist may not be correct, if you have corrections/additions, please let me know! Thank you~)