Gackt: Requiem et Reminiscence II ～再生と邂逅～(Rebirth and Reunion)
- Nagoya, 2009.1.30
Say who? Gah-coo-toe, as the Japanese like to
pronounce his name, is a very famous visual rock/pop star in Japan who is
also decently well known in anime/manga/music circles around the world,
depending on what your hobbies might be. Perhaps he’s sort of similar to
Madonna in the sense that he’s been around for a number of years (he used to be
in a band called Malice Mizer back in the mid-1990s), has re-invented his look
on various occasions, and has some amazing staying-power – and even more
amazing rock-solid abs! He’s also well-known as a bishounen, or pretty boy, due to his somewhat feminine looks. I won’t
go into details because anyone curious can take a peek over at the Wiki entry.
So, a little back story:
I’ve been a huge fan of Japanese visual kei, or rock, music since I found out about a
band called X Japan in the late 1990’s and at that time I ravenously devoured
anything I could find about all these bands – Gackt’s old band Malice Mizer one
of the most prominent of them behind X Japan – and have been following them on
and off since then. Fast forward to 2008 where my dream came true and I finally
got to see an X Japan reunion concert at Tokyo Dome which to this day is my
most cherished concert that I have ever been to in my life (shocking as it may
sound), especially as the guitarist, hide, had died back in 1998 due to a very
unfortunate accident so I thought it could never happen. It was an amazing
experience. Not to say that I didn’t follow other bands and solo acts, such as
Gackt’s, but just not to the extent of X Japan. We all have that one band, you
know? X was mine.
Anyway, all of this
is trying to show that I am a bit otaku,
or obsessed, about Japanese visual rock bands and have been for over 10 years
now (wow, has it been that long?). So Gackt is definitely high on that list and
while this wasn’t my first glimpse of him (I caught him at the S.K.I.N. show
back home in Long Beach, CA at an anime convention) it was the first
time I saw a solo show and it was bursting with energy!!
I wasn’t sure what
to expect as I haven’t honestly been to that many rock concerts in Japan but
this concert really impressed me not only with Gackt’s skill as a
vocalist/guitarist/pianist/violinist but also his devotion and dedication to
his fans, his high level of energy consistently throughout the whole show, but
also the length – a full 3 hours long – with a decent interval spent playing
around and talking to the fans, something that I don’t see too often even at
the American shows that I’ve been to. Usually it’s a quick little speech or a
little blurb about some topic and then off to another song. Gackt spent a goodly
bit of time goofing off and talking to us which made even me love him just a
bit more.
Japanese concerts
though are a different beast than American shows, I think, because the fanbase
is quite different – they have different ways of thinking, of traditions and
customs, and of ways to show their appreciation. There is always the obligatory
para para synchronized hand movements
that everyone seems to instinctively know but also as a norm there is far less
outward friction between the fans (though Gackt fans are known to be very, very
devout) so there is less pushing, shoving, and furious head banging. Not to say
that it doesn’t happen – it does – but it doesn’t seem to be quite as extreme
as back home, perhaps because Japanese people are brought up to be a bit more
polite? I’m not trying to make sweeping generalizations here (I realize that I
am) but on a whole it seems to be a much easier concert experience to live
through. And I do like living through concerts and not gaining bodily harm in
the process, even if a lot of his fans are a bit "holier than thou" and quite the in-clique.
All in all it was a wonderful,
wonderful concert. I had an amazing time! Gackt has an amazing stage presence! It
was just fantastic! I’d recommend any of you out there to check out his show as
he’s touring now throughout Japan
and perhaps later on elsewhere in the world but I’d have to warn you that you’d
be facing some stiff competition and getting tickets are somewhat difficult to
do without the proper channels – or friends. If you can manage to snag some
tickets know that you are in for a treat and you won’t leave disappointed: its
money well spent. But if you want something closer to home Gackt will be
appearing beside Josh Harnett and Demi Moore in the upcoming Bunraku movie which I am quite
excited about. It should be rather good!
Next up: since the Gackt concert was in Nagoya, you don’t think I’d
drop a blurb about sightseeing, do you? Hopefully sooner rather than later I’ll
write about my experiences traversing through Nagoya for the day before heading back to Osaka.
