translate an report waktu di USJ kemaren (19-20 Mei 2012)
Wooooo!
UNIVERSAL STUDIOS JAPAN!!!!!!!!!! I don’t know about you, but this
combination of theme park and live gig is like a dream come true for me!
How cool is it to be able to go on a roller coaster with ‘CHASE’
playing in the background!? I’ve been to USJ once, but because it was
just after it opened, it wasn’t as great as it sounds now! I remember
going on that Jurassic Park ride about 6 times though...
A pic from Sanspo newspaper. HOW ADORABLE IS THIS!!!!!!!!
OK, so here comes day 1!!
**************************************
DAY 1
01. Ibara no Namida
02. CHASE
03. GOOD LUCK MY WAY
-hyde MC-
Tadaima-! We’re back! We are L’Arc~en~Ciel, originally from Osaka! Brilliant weather today – not too sunny, with a little cloud. This is just how I hoped it would be. If the sun’s shining too much, it’s hard to see the screens – which I realised yesterday during the rehearsals. hy-chan is happy (NB HE DID ACTUALLY SAY THAT APPARENTLY AAWWWW)!!
We’re back from touring around the world – we crossed borders with our music! Everyone was smiling wherever we went – just like you guys are smiling today. We had such a brilliant time!!! Thank you everyone, and thank you to you guys here - we’ll repay you with a brilliang time today!!!
ZU! ZU! Come on, say ‘Zu!’ Now say ‘TO!’... what am I trying to do (laugh)? (NB what he was trying to do here, or what I imagine, is that he wanted the audience to shout the first word of ‘HONEY’ – ‘zutto’, so that he says ‘zu’ and the audience say ‘to-!’ lol, but I guess it didn’t work! Apparently he continued to laugh at his own expense for a while, and then finally when he was done laughing at himself, ‘HONEY’ began. Awww!)
04. HONEY
05. Bye Bye
06. wild flower (apparently between the end of Bye Bye and wild flower, a rainbow miraculously appeared on the other end from the stage – even if it wasn’t raining!? These boys are capable of miracles I tell you!)
07. MY HEART DRAWS A DREAM
-advert for ken’s dream salami-
So we’ve had hyde’s marshmallows, yukkie’s Doal’arc chocolate, so inevitably, today was the advert for ken’s salami!! The advert showed a group of housewives holding the salami, discussing how they like to enjoy eating their salami... like ‘I like to peel the skin off mine’ or ‘it’s too big so I can only put the tip into my mouth’ OH DEAR GOD KEN!!!!!!!
After the advert, the members travel to the sub-stage on the cart thing, but the surprise here was that, thanks to the cooperation of USJ, Elmo and Cookie Monster from Sesame Street were also on the cart!!! So it was hyde, tecchan & Cookie Monster on one cart, ken, yukkie & Elmo on the other. On Cookie Monster’s team they were taking photos together, calling to the audience together etc, and on Elmo’s team, apparently Elmo was very active (lol), hugging ken, watching yukkie throw the plastic balls into the audience (which he was apparently doing with great force and speed lol), dancing with them etc etc. Awwww!!!!!
08. metropolis (Shocker!! Apparently ken touched hyde’s marshmallows, gently but surely (HAHAHA). And in the meantime, Elmo and Cookie Monster were dancing on the other side of the stage!)
09. REVELATION
And as they returned to the stage, more dancing by yukkie, ken and Elmo! At one point Elmo did the ‘Exile dance’ with yukkie (see the first 8 seconds of here).
10. SEVENTH HEAVEN
11. Driver’s High (During the track there were some effects where there were pillars of fire shooting from the edge of the stage. But our problem-child ken was apparently late in returning to the correct side of the stage, tecchan noticed this, and was gesturing at him frantically like ‘come back! Quickly!’ so that he wouldn’t be engulfed by the flames! PLEASE BE CAREFUL DEAREST!!
-ken MC-
Osaka!! ‘Moukarimakka-‘? (NB this is one of the cliché phrases that Osaka people are associated with. It sort of means ‘how’s the business going?’). Haha I’ve never actually said that before. I have the guide to USJ here – so you can meet Snoopy here aswell? I think I’ve only watched Snoopy on TV about twice...what exactly is it about?? Is he Charlie’s dog?? (not much reaction from the audience) You guys don’t know either??
And the Sesame Street guys aswell, who helped us out today. But they scare me! You know how I don’t like haunted houses and stuff! It’s like that! It’s because they don’t say anything...! And they just smile, without saying anything. How scary! Like, don’t come near me!!
Anyway when I was reading the guide, there were some rules of the park that was strange. It’s about clothing regulations. It says ‘Please come clothed’. Seriously!? Do people need to be told that?? Are there actually people that turn up to meet Snoopy with their bits hanging out?? I see there are plenty of you in bikinis today – it’s great to look at, so hopefully there’ll be more of you, especially since it’s getting hotter! BUT, please remember to wear clothes when entering USJ!
Another regulation – ‘Please don’t reveal skin excessively’ – wait, are bikinis alright?? Who’s entered the Park in their bikini?? (audience: yaaay) You have?? So it’s ok to enter the park in a bikini? What exactly is the difference between a bikini top and a bra?? I know there’s girls who say that they’re embarrassed to be seen in their underwear but it’s fine if it’s a bikini. How!? Anyway, never mind that... never mind!
So now that it’s becoming night time, I give you ‘Night-time L’Arc’ – Good enough for a heavy day (NB SERIOUSLY! Ken is using phrases here that would be used for sanitary towels here – LOL), no leaks whatsoever! DRINK IT DOWN!
12. DRINK IT DOWN
13. shade of season
14. STAY AWAY
15. READY STEADY GO (this is good to know – apparently the spelling mistake of the screen’s ‘READTY STEADY GO’ was fixed!)
-ENCORE-
16. Mirai Sekai
17. Hitomo no Jyuunin
18. X X X
19. NEXUS 4
20. Blurry Eyes
-tetsuya MC-
WASSHOOOOI!!! (many Wasshoi’s today apparently!) OGENKI---??? How are you guys?? You having fuuuuun? Osakaaaaa Osakkaaaaaaa??? Which is more fun, USJ or L’Arc??? (audience: L’Arc!!!) WHICH??? (audience: L’Arc!!!!!!) OK, now which do you want more?? My banana or my lollipop??? WHICH??? (So apparently tecchan’s knew found thing is to make the audience go “Wooooooooooooooooo” while he prepares to throw the banana. And he won’t throw the banana until the crowd screams to the extent of losing their breath, lol. And then he lobs it into the audience!) You want to carry on with the song??? DO YOU WANT TO HEAR THE REST OF THE SONG!?!?!? LET’S GO OSAKAAA!!!
At the end of Blurry Eyes, apparently yukkie waited for a while before he played his last bang!, to which hyde looked around puzzled, and yukkie pointed at him with his stick, as if to say ‘aren’t you going to jump?’ so hyde climbed onto the drum stand, and jumped! Awwww!!!
-hyde MC-
It’s finally getting dark. We’d planned for it to get darker earlier!
It’s a great view from here – it’s like the Ohm’s tentacles (NB from the film Nausicaa). And I can see the highway behind you – the Kanjou-line? Or the Wangan-line??
Today, actually no, yesterday, I went on the rollercoaster! It was so cool! As soon as it sets off, you can hear the ‘Callin’’!! It feels great! I thought the other members had gone on the ride too, but apparently no one has! You guys don’t like the extreme rides??
(hyde looks at yukkie, who shakes his head smiling)
ken: what do you mean you can hear ‘Callin’’?
hyde: what? You can select to listen to ‘CHASE’ on that ride now! Didn’t you know? Look, the audience are going ‘eeeeehhhh??’
tetsu: I went to Universal Studios too!
hyde: In Singapore right?
tetsu: yeah, and I went on the ride there! It was amazing!
hyde: (bluntly) yes, but that’s not the point. I’m talking about being able to listen to CHASE! It’s number 4! Number 4 on the selection – if you press some other number it’ll be a different track! Before the USJ opened, there was only Kaiyuukan in this area (NB large aquarium in the same area). So it’s nice that there’s the USJ now. If you played ‘Callin’’ in Kaiyuukan, only the fish will come towards you...
Erm, so we’ve travelled the world, and I realised that we are a rare and treasured band. We’ve been making great efforts to come all this way – which is quite an achievement. You know, we played at the Madison Square Garden. There are rarely bands that can do a world tour, and play at the MSG. I don’t think anyone will be playing there for a while. It’s really amazing that it happened, and when you think about it like that, I think we’re a rare and amazing band.. So I want everyone to be nice to us. (audience laugh) You know, because we’re rare and precious. Like those endangered species, like the Japanese Ibis, or the Iriomote wild cat (NB two famous endangered species in Japan). Everyone’s really kind to them and take good care of them right? Just like that. Do you think I’m talking rubbish? If you think it’s strange tell me! Hahaha sorry, I sound like I’m drunk (laugh).
We’re very lucky, and happy. We couldn’t have done it without you all. So thank you. Thank you for the 20 years. And our final song, BLESS.
21. BLESS
After BLESS, hyde noticed one of the banners the fans were holding, which apparently said ‘We’ll follow you wherever you go forever’ and shouted ‘Follow us forever! We’ll be waiting for you tomorrow! Thank you!!!’
tecchan re-appeared in an Elmo T-shirt (AAAWWWW) to throw the bananas! ‘THANK YOU!!! SEE YOU TOMORROWWWWW!!!!!!!!!’
**************************************
DAY 2
01. Ibara no Namida
02. CHASE
03. GOOD LUCK MY WAY
-hyde MC-
Tadaima-! We’re back Osaka!!! L’Arc~en~Ciel have come back!! Erm yes, we’ve come back from touring the world – we crossed borders with our music. It was amazing everywhere we went – so make sure you do just as well Osaka!
I guess we won’t be seeing eachother for a while (audience: eeeehhhhhh).. We can’t help it, according to the schedule it’s like that! So today, make sure you all have an amazing time - give everything you’ve got! Osaka! Let’s go crazy today Osaka! Are you ready Osaka!? O! O! Killing Me!
04. Killing Me
05. SHINE
06. wild flower
07. MY HEART DRAWS A DREAM
08. shade of season
-advert for Mukimpo Banana chips-
The advert apparently looked like one of those Apple adverts/presentations, with a white background showing pictures of bananas, and a white person (apparently called Mark Smith lol) presenting the chips, saying things like “The unwanted skin has been peeled and removed” and “It’s hard” LOL. I’m not sure if the innuendoes were intended…but I’m sure they were!
Finally, the words “Mukimpo chips”. Simple but effective!
On the way to the substage: Elmo was on a roll again today! It was Elmo, hyde and tecchan, and Cookie Monster, yukkie and ken-chan on the other wagon. Elmo went to hyde, kissed and hugged him! Dancing around. Then he went to hug tecchan from behind, trying to shoot with the Mukimpo gun together! Apparently at one point, the wagon jolted a little bit because it went over some wires, and hyde ran straight to Elmo as if to say “are you alright?” LOL.
09. C’est la vie (before the song apparently hyde shouted “OUI C’EST LA VIE!!!” in a hard-rock voice (like properly shouting) – some of the audience were like “what?” because they couldn't make out what he said, but then as the track started, were like kyaaaaa!!!!! I bet!!)
10. REVELATION
On the way back from the stage, it was the other combination, with yukkie, ken-chan and Elmo on one wagon this time – and man was yukkie having fun! They were apparently dancing together, and then yukkie and Elmo were standing there with the same pose, leaning over the edge of the wagon shaking their heads from side to side, and then Elmo suddenly kissed yukkie on the cheek! And to retaliate (?) yukkie made a peace sign with his hand and started shoving it in Elmo’s mouth, SMILING! Lol how adorable! And then yukkie, Elmo and ken-chan joined hands and did a can-can style line dance (LOL).
11. SEVENTH HEAVEN
-ken MC-
Tadaima*ko-! (NB Here we go again with ken and his filth! This pun he uses between the word ‘tadaima’ and ‘ma*ko’ has the meaning of ‘we’re back’ and ‘pus*y’. SERIOUSLY ken!) We’re back from touring the world! Everywhere we went, I bought souvenirs for the members and we went places.
In Hong Kong, hyde contacted us saying “I’m planning an open top bus tour, so let me know if you want to participate” so I rang him saying I wanted to come. yukihiro-san was there too (looks towards yukkie, yukkie nods). And since hyde was organizing it, I expected that he’d hired the bus exclusively, but he hadn’t, and there were normal people – like normal madams on the bus too. And what did hyde do? He was on the top of the bus, with his arms out like this (does pose, arms stretched wide), you know, like the Titanic pose. Maybe to celebrate the 3D re-release? Then, someone noticed that it was hyde, but the madams probably only thought “it’s PROBABLY hyde” and weren’t sure, but they were like “but wait, this must be a rare occasion, it must be!” and started taking loads of photos of hyde, who was doing the titanic pose, looking like he was going to do a dive into a swimming pool or something. What was that about? (to hyde)
hyde: It felt good.
ken: what, having your photo taken?
hyde: no, it felt like I was flying
ken: Well indeed you were flying! Anyway they were taking loads of photos, so I’m sure they’ll turn up somewhere and you'll see it. yukihiro-san was looking rather tired at that point – were you tired or not well? (to yukkie, who shakes his head) No? You were having fun? (yukkie nods smiling) He was having fun! So hydee (NB yes he called him that) was doing this arms spread pose and yukkie was like this (rolled up in a ball) like “don’t look at me!”, avoiding having his photo taken. It was a strange journey. We spent our free time doing things like this!
At the beginning of the world tour, my shoulder hurt really badly. Because of golf. It was so painful I thought I couldn't sleep. I didn’t tell anyone because I thought I’d be told off… it was painful to play the guitar, but after a while it was better! These days I play my guitar not to show off my skills, but, more like, to absorb the atmosphere – to feel the wind almost. I can feel a good wing blowing today – and I use that as power to play my guitar.
Anyway, since it’s becoming dark, I will end my MC here, and I think it’s time to carry on! What do you think?? Are you ready?? Let’s goooo!!!! DRINK IT DOWN!!!
12. DRINK IT DOWN
13. READY STEADY GO
14. STAY AWAY
15. Driver’s High
16. Mirai Sekai
17. PIECES
18. X X X
19. NEXUS 4
20. Link
-tetsuya MC-
WASSHOOOI!!! WASSHOOOI???? WASSHOOOI!!!! Ogenki--??? How are you all??? Gozonjiiii---- (Do you know???)?? (audience: Gozonji-!) What do you know?? (LOL tecchan!) Ogenkiiiii????? WASHHHOOOIIII???
Did you guys like the Mukinpo chips advert??? Woooo!!!! Do you want to eat my bananaaaa??? Nice catch (to audience)!! Or do you want to suck my lollipoppp??? You want to carry onnn??? You still up for it Osakaaa??? Let’s gooooo!!!!!
-hyde MC-
Yaaaay! You’re all beautiful. Yes, beautiful. You’re all cute. Erm, did you guys go on the roller coaster? I advertised it loads in the MC yesterday – you guys went on it right?? (looking at members)
ken: After hearing what you said yesterday, and because the ride stretches over our dressing room, I gave everyone on it a wave, but no one noticed! Probably because they’re all too busy screaming!
hyde: you said yesterday that you weren’t scared, but you ARE scared aren’t you? I bet you were scared!
ken: …well obviously!
hyde: (laughing) But really, it feels cool when you’re on it. When you hear “callin’~”.
Osaka…so we’re in Osaka today. L’Arc were formed here, 20 years ago. At first we were even doubtful that we’d go to Tokyo… (looking at tecchan) we thought no, it was too early to head to Tokyo. But now look, we’ve even been to Jakarta. I saw some people at the back who looked like they were from Jakarta. I think they were really from Jakarta.
Wherever we went, everyone’s smiles were the same. Even if they were people of different nationalities, their facial expressions were the same. They looked really happy. Really cute. The thing I love to see most is to see people crying, like “they’re here~~!”. It makes me go “Aww you’re crying. Yoshi yoshi (word used when you pat someone on the head)”.
tecchan: If you say that, everyone will start crying from now on.
hyde: Er no, that would be disturbing (LOL hyde!). But no, it gives me power, really. Everyone supporting us for so long, nothing makes us more happy (apparently at this point he teared up a little).
So it was a brilliant tour. It’s amazing that even after 20 years, there are new things to discover. There was a period when I thought that there was nothing left to discover, but there was actually plenty more. The band continues to surprise me. It makes me wonder what will happen after 30 years. It makes me wonder… we’ve become a band that’s loved all around the world. L’Arc~en~Ciel were truly loved everywhere around the world. Thank you for all the love you’ve given us. Thank you. This is our final song, Niji.
21. Niji
After Niji hyde was repeatedly shouting “Thank you Osaka! Ookini (thank you in western dialect) Osaka! We’ll definitely be back!”
Tecchan came back to throw his bananas in a Cookie Monster T-shirt today, and even threw some bananas to the audience who were leaving early and had started to leave the venue. How sweet! And at the end, tecchan grabbed hyde’s floppy hat, wore it on his head, and then pretended to throw it into the audience, but didn’t, saying “hyde would tell me off!”. LOL I'm sure he would!
**************************************
SO, all that's left is the National Stadium next week (and Hawaii ofcourse but somehow that feels separate)!!!
As much as that makes me sad, I'm taking hyde's words of "what will happen in 30 years" and "we'll definitely be back!" as a promise for the future of the band. Right?? (well you better or you've got a whole world of fans coming for you!)
TRANSLATED REPORT: 20th L'Anniversary WORLD TOUR 2012 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS JAPAN – 19th and 20th May
by L'Arc~en~ciel UK Fans Unite (English Street Team) on Sunday, 20 May 2012 at 02:47 ·
A pic from Sanspo newspaper. HOW ADORABLE IS THIS!!!!!!!!OK, so here comes day 1!!
**************************************
DAY 1
01. Ibara no Namida
02. CHASE
03. GOOD LUCK MY WAY
-hyde MC-
Tadaima-! We’re back! We are L’Arc~en~Ciel, originally from Osaka! Brilliant weather today – not too sunny, with a little cloud. This is just how I hoped it would be. If the sun’s shining too much, it’s hard to see the screens – which I realised yesterday during the rehearsals. hy-chan is happy (NB HE DID ACTUALLY SAY THAT APPARENTLY AAWWWW)!!
We’re back from touring around the world – we crossed borders with our music! Everyone was smiling wherever we went – just like you guys are smiling today. We had such a brilliant time!!! Thank you everyone, and thank you to you guys here - we’ll repay you with a brilliang time today!!!
ZU! ZU! Come on, say ‘Zu!’ Now say ‘TO!’... what am I trying to do (laugh)? (NB what he was trying to do here, or what I imagine, is that he wanted the audience to shout the first word of ‘HONEY’ – ‘zutto’, so that he says ‘zu’ and the audience say ‘to-!’ lol, but I guess it didn’t work! Apparently he continued to laugh at his own expense for a while, and then finally when he was done laughing at himself, ‘HONEY’ began. Awww!)
04. HONEY
05. Bye Bye
06. wild flower (apparently between the end of Bye Bye and wild flower, a rainbow miraculously appeared on the other end from the stage – even if it wasn’t raining!? These boys are capable of miracles I tell you!)
07. MY HEART DRAWS A DREAM
-advert for ken’s dream salami-
So we’ve had hyde’s marshmallows, yukkie’s Doal’arc chocolate, so inevitably, today was the advert for ken’s salami!! The advert showed a group of housewives holding the salami, discussing how they like to enjoy eating their salami... like ‘I like to peel the skin off mine’ or ‘it’s too big so I can only put the tip into my mouth’ OH DEAR GOD KEN!!!!!!!
After the advert, the members travel to the sub-stage on the cart thing, but the surprise here was that, thanks to the cooperation of USJ, Elmo and Cookie Monster from Sesame Street were also on the cart!!! So it was hyde, tecchan & Cookie Monster on one cart, ken, yukkie & Elmo on the other. On Cookie Monster’s team they were taking photos together, calling to the audience together etc, and on Elmo’s team, apparently Elmo was very active (lol), hugging ken, watching yukkie throw the plastic balls into the audience (which he was apparently doing with great force and speed lol), dancing with them etc etc. Awwww!!!!!
08. metropolis (Shocker!! Apparently ken touched hyde’s marshmallows, gently but surely (HAHAHA). And in the meantime, Elmo and Cookie Monster were dancing on the other side of the stage!)
09. REVELATION
And as they returned to the stage, more dancing by yukkie, ken and Elmo! At one point Elmo did the ‘Exile dance’ with yukkie (see the first 8 seconds of here).
10. SEVENTH HEAVEN
11. Driver’s High (During the track there were some effects where there were pillars of fire shooting from the edge of the stage. But our problem-child ken was apparently late in returning to the correct side of the stage, tecchan noticed this, and was gesturing at him frantically like ‘come back! Quickly!’ so that he wouldn’t be engulfed by the flames! PLEASE BE CAREFUL DEAREST!!
-ken MC-
Osaka!! ‘Moukarimakka-‘? (NB this is one of the cliché phrases that Osaka people are associated with. It sort of means ‘how’s the business going?’). Haha I’ve never actually said that before. I have the guide to USJ here – so you can meet Snoopy here aswell? I think I’ve only watched Snoopy on TV about twice...what exactly is it about?? Is he Charlie’s dog?? (not much reaction from the audience) You guys don’t know either??
And the Sesame Street guys aswell, who helped us out today. But they scare me! You know how I don’t like haunted houses and stuff! It’s like that! It’s because they don’t say anything...! And they just smile, without saying anything. How scary! Like, don’t come near me!!
Anyway when I was reading the guide, there were some rules of the park that was strange. It’s about clothing regulations. It says ‘Please come clothed’. Seriously!? Do people need to be told that?? Are there actually people that turn up to meet Snoopy with their bits hanging out?? I see there are plenty of you in bikinis today – it’s great to look at, so hopefully there’ll be more of you, especially since it’s getting hotter! BUT, please remember to wear clothes when entering USJ!
Another regulation – ‘Please don’t reveal skin excessively’ – wait, are bikinis alright?? Who’s entered the Park in their bikini?? (audience: yaaay) You have?? So it’s ok to enter the park in a bikini? What exactly is the difference between a bikini top and a bra?? I know there’s girls who say that they’re embarrassed to be seen in their underwear but it’s fine if it’s a bikini. How!? Anyway, never mind that... never mind!
So now that it’s becoming night time, I give you ‘Night-time L’Arc’ – Good enough for a heavy day (NB SERIOUSLY! Ken is using phrases here that would be used for sanitary towels here – LOL), no leaks whatsoever! DRINK IT DOWN!
12. DRINK IT DOWN
13. shade of season
14. STAY AWAY
15. READY STEADY GO (this is good to know – apparently the spelling mistake of the screen’s ‘READTY STEADY GO’ was fixed!)
-ENCORE-
16. Mirai Sekai
17. Hitomo no Jyuunin
18. X X X
19. NEXUS 4
20. Blurry Eyes
-tetsuya MC-
WASSHOOOOI!!! (many Wasshoi’s today apparently!) OGENKI---??? How are you guys?? You having fuuuuun? Osakaaaaa Osakkaaaaaaa??? Which is more fun, USJ or L’Arc??? (audience: L’Arc!!!) WHICH??? (audience: L’Arc!!!!!!) OK, now which do you want more?? My banana or my lollipop??? WHICH??? (So apparently tecchan’s knew found thing is to make the audience go “Wooooooooooooooooo” while he prepares to throw the banana. And he won’t throw the banana until the crowd screams to the extent of losing their breath, lol. And then he lobs it into the audience!) You want to carry on with the song??? DO YOU WANT TO HEAR THE REST OF THE SONG!?!?!? LET’S GO OSAKAAA!!!
At the end of Blurry Eyes, apparently yukkie waited for a while before he played his last bang!, to which hyde looked around puzzled, and yukkie pointed at him with his stick, as if to say ‘aren’t you going to jump?’ so hyde climbed onto the drum stand, and jumped! Awwww!!!
-hyde MC-
It’s finally getting dark. We’d planned for it to get darker earlier!
It’s a great view from here – it’s like the Ohm’s tentacles (NB from the film Nausicaa). And I can see the highway behind you – the Kanjou-line? Or the Wangan-line??
Today, actually no, yesterday, I went on the rollercoaster! It was so cool! As soon as it sets off, you can hear the ‘Callin’’!! It feels great! I thought the other members had gone on the ride too, but apparently no one has! You guys don’t like the extreme rides??
(hyde looks at yukkie, who shakes his head smiling)
ken: what do you mean you can hear ‘Callin’’?
hyde: what? You can select to listen to ‘CHASE’ on that ride now! Didn’t you know? Look, the audience are going ‘eeeeehhhh??’
tetsu: I went to Universal Studios too!
hyde: In Singapore right?
tetsu: yeah, and I went on the ride there! It was amazing!
hyde: (bluntly) yes, but that’s not the point. I’m talking about being able to listen to CHASE! It’s number 4! Number 4 on the selection – if you press some other number it’ll be a different track! Before the USJ opened, there was only Kaiyuukan in this area (NB large aquarium in the same area). So it’s nice that there’s the USJ now. If you played ‘Callin’’ in Kaiyuukan, only the fish will come towards you...
Erm, so we’ve travelled the world, and I realised that we are a rare and treasured band. We’ve been making great efforts to come all this way – which is quite an achievement. You know, we played at the Madison Square Garden. There are rarely bands that can do a world tour, and play at the MSG. I don’t think anyone will be playing there for a while. It’s really amazing that it happened, and when you think about it like that, I think we’re a rare and amazing band.. So I want everyone to be nice to us. (audience laugh) You know, because we’re rare and precious. Like those endangered species, like the Japanese Ibis, or the Iriomote wild cat (NB two famous endangered species in Japan). Everyone’s really kind to them and take good care of them right? Just like that. Do you think I’m talking rubbish? If you think it’s strange tell me! Hahaha sorry, I sound like I’m drunk (laugh).
We’re very lucky, and happy. We couldn’t have done it without you all. So thank you. Thank you for the 20 years. And our final song, BLESS.
21. BLESS
After BLESS, hyde noticed one of the banners the fans were holding, which apparently said ‘We’ll follow you wherever you go forever’ and shouted ‘Follow us forever! We’ll be waiting for you tomorrow! Thank you!!!’
tecchan re-appeared in an Elmo T-shirt (AAAWWWW) to throw the bananas! ‘THANK YOU!!! SEE YOU TOMORROWWWWW!!!!!!!!!’
**************************************
DAY 2
01. Ibara no Namida
02. CHASE
03. GOOD LUCK MY WAY
-hyde MC-
Tadaima-! We’re back Osaka!!! L’Arc~en~Ciel have come back!! Erm yes, we’ve come back from touring the world – we crossed borders with our music. It was amazing everywhere we went – so make sure you do just as well Osaka!
I guess we won’t be seeing eachother for a while (audience: eeeehhhhhh).. We can’t help it, according to the schedule it’s like that! So today, make sure you all have an amazing time - give everything you’ve got! Osaka! Let’s go crazy today Osaka! Are you ready Osaka!? O! O! Killing Me!
04. Killing Me
05. SHINE
06. wild flower
07. MY HEART DRAWS A DREAM
08. shade of season
-advert for Mukimpo Banana chips-
The advert apparently looked like one of those Apple adverts/presentations, with a white background showing pictures of bananas, and a white person (apparently called Mark Smith lol) presenting the chips, saying things like “The unwanted skin has been peeled and removed” and “It’s hard” LOL. I’m not sure if the innuendoes were intended…but I’m sure they were!
Finally, the words “Mukimpo chips”. Simple but effective!
On the way to the substage: Elmo was on a roll again today! It was Elmo, hyde and tecchan, and Cookie Monster, yukkie and ken-chan on the other wagon. Elmo went to hyde, kissed and hugged him! Dancing around. Then he went to hug tecchan from behind, trying to shoot with the Mukimpo gun together! Apparently at one point, the wagon jolted a little bit because it went over some wires, and hyde ran straight to Elmo as if to say “are you alright?” LOL.
09. C’est la vie (before the song apparently hyde shouted “OUI C’EST LA VIE!!!” in a hard-rock voice (like properly shouting) – some of the audience were like “what?” because they couldn't make out what he said, but then as the track started, were like kyaaaaa!!!!! I bet!!)
10. REVELATION
On the way back from the stage, it was the other combination, with yukkie, ken-chan and Elmo on one wagon this time – and man was yukkie having fun! They were apparently dancing together, and then yukkie and Elmo were standing there with the same pose, leaning over the edge of the wagon shaking their heads from side to side, and then Elmo suddenly kissed yukkie on the cheek! And to retaliate (?) yukkie made a peace sign with his hand and started shoving it in Elmo’s mouth, SMILING! Lol how adorable! And then yukkie, Elmo and ken-chan joined hands and did a can-can style line dance (LOL).
11. SEVENTH HEAVEN
-ken MC-
Tadaima*ko-! (NB Here we go again with ken and his filth! This pun he uses between the word ‘tadaima’ and ‘ma*ko’ has the meaning of ‘we’re back’ and ‘pus*y’. SERIOUSLY ken!) We’re back from touring the world! Everywhere we went, I bought souvenirs for the members and we went places.
In Hong Kong, hyde contacted us saying “I’m planning an open top bus tour, so let me know if you want to participate” so I rang him saying I wanted to come. yukihiro-san was there too (looks towards yukkie, yukkie nods). And since hyde was organizing it, I expected that he’d hired the bus exclusively, but he hadn’t, and there were normal people – like normal madams on the bus too. And what did hyde do? He was on the top of the bus, with his arms out like this (does pose, arms stretched wide), you know, like the Titanic pose. Maybe to celebrate the 3D re-release? Then, someone noticed that it was hyde, but the madams probably only thought “it’s PROBABLY hyde” and weren’t sure, but they were like “but wait, this must be a rare occasion, it must be!” and started taking loads of photos of hyde, who was doing the titanic pose, looking like he was going to do a dive into a swimming pool or something. What was that about? (to hyde)
hyde: It felt good.
ken: what, having your photo taken?
hyde: no, it felt like I was flying
ken: Well indeed you were flying! Anyway they were taking loads of photos, so I’m sure they’ll turn up somewhere and you'll see it. yukihiro-san was looking rather tired at that point – were you tired or not well? (to yukkie, who shakes his head) No? You were having fun? (yukkie nods smiling) He was having fun! So hydee (NB yes he called him that) was doing this arms spread pose and yukkie was like this (rolled up in a ball) like “don’t look at me!”, avoiding having his photo taken. It was a strange journey. We spent our free time doing things like this!
At the beginning of the world tour, my shoulder hurt really badly. Because of golf. It was so painful I thought I couldn't sleep. I didn’t tell anyone because I thought I’d be told off… it was painful to play the guitar, but after a while it was better! These days I play my guitar not to show off my skills, but, more like, to absorb the atmosphere – to feel the wind almost. I can feel a good wing blowing today – and I use that as power to play my guitar.
Anyway, since it’s becoming dark, I will end my MC here, and I think it’s time to carry on! What do you think?? Are you ready?? Let’s goooo!!!! DRINK IT DOWN!!!
12. DRINK IT DOWN
13. READY STEADY GO
14. STAY AWAY
15. Driver’s High
16. Mirai Sekai
17. PIECES
18. X X X
19. NEXUS 4
20. Link
-tetsuya MC-
WASSHOOOI!!! WASSHOOOI???? WASSHOOOI!!!! Ogenki--??? How are you all??? Gozonjiiii---- (Do you know???)?? (audience: Gozonji-!) What do you know?? (LOL tecchan!) Ogenkiiiii????? WASHHHOOOIIII???
Did you guys like the Mukinpo chips advert??? Woooo!!!! Do you want to eat my bananaaaa??? Nice catch (to audience)!! Or do you want to suck my lollipoppp??? You want to carry onnn??? You still up for it Osakaaa??? Let’s gooooo!!!!!
-hyde MC-
Yaaaay! You’re all beautiful. Yes, beautiful. You’re all cute. Erm, did you guys go on the roller coaster? I advertised it loads in the MC yesterday – you guys went on it right?? (looking at members)
ken: After hearing what you said yesterday, and because the ride stretches over our dressing room, I gave everyone on it a wave, but no one noticed! Probably because they’re all too busy screaming!
hyde: you said yesterday that you weren’t scared, but you ARE scared aren’t you? I bet you were scared!
ken: …well obviously!
hyde: (laughing) But really, it feels cool when you’re on it. When you hear “callin’~”.
Osaka…so we’re in Osaka today. L’Arc were formed here, 20 years ago. At first we were even doubtful that we’d go to Tokyo… (looking at tecchan) we thought no, it was too early to head to Tokyo. But now look, we’ve even been to Jakarta. I saw some people at the back who looked like they were from Jakarta. I think they were really from Jakarta.
Wherever we went, everyone’s smiles were the same. Even if they were people of different nationalities, their facial expressions were the same. They looked really happy. Really cute. The thing I love to see most is to see people crying, like “they’re here~~!”. It makes me go “Aww you’re crying. Yoshi yoshi (word used when you pat someone on the head)”.
tecchan: If you say that, everyone will start crying from now on.
hyde: Er no, that would be disturbing (LOL hyde!). But no, it gives me power, really. Everyone supporting us for so long, nothing makes us more happy (apparently at this point he teared up a little).
So it was a brilliant tour. It’s amazing that even after 20 years, there are new things to discover. There was a period when I thought that there was nothing left to discover, but there was actually plenty more. The band continues to surprise me. It makes me wonder what will happen after 30 years. It makes me wonder… we’ve become a band that’s loved all around the world. L’Arc~en~Ciel were truly loved everywhere around the world. Thank you for all the love you’ve given us. Thank you. This is our final song, Niji.
21. Niji
After Niji hyde was repeatedly shouting “Thank you Osaka! Ookini (thank you in western dialect) Osaka! We’ll definitely be back!”
Tecchan came back to throw his bananas in a Cookie Monster T-shirt today, and even threw some bananas to the audience who were leaving early and had started to leave the venue. How sweet! And at the end, tecchan grabbed hyde’s floppy hat, wore it on his head, and then pretended to throw it into the audience, but didn’t, saying “hyde would tell me off!”. LOL I'm sure he would!
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SO, all that's left is the National Stadium next week (and Hawaii ofcourse but somehow that feels separate)!!!
As much as that makes me sad, I'm taking hyde's words of "what will happen in 30 years" and "we'll definitely be back!" as a promise for the future of the band. Right?? (well you better or you've got a whole world of fans coming for you!)
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