2012 3rd March, arrived at the Asia Expo Hall around 6:15pm, rushed to the concert goods counter. ” Sorry, all items sold out.” said the sales lady. WHAT THE FUXK!!!! SOLD OUT?!!?!!?!! Not even a 營光棒?!??!!? ” Yes, but one small size T-shirt still available, it fits you!” I dug out my purse and paid and grabbed the T-shirt at once. Then I complained about the limited availability of the concert goods with Emma over the phone, Emma was also in Asia Expo Hall but on another end, for Westlife’s Concert.
At 7:40pm I entered the concert hall, hmm…. BLOCK A, I walked and walked along a dark corridor, getting more and more nervous, I knew I’m getting really close to stage. Finally end of corridor, OH MY GOD…..the stage is right in front of me!!! Could not believe my eyes!!! Laruku is really going to perform there??!?!! it looks like just a few metres infront of me!!! I found my seat, it was in the 10th row.
Around 8:15pm, curtain raised and all of a sudden dozens of people rushed towards the front occupying every space. They presssed against each other like sardines. Some girls fall onto the ground while they were rushing forward. I, very afraid of being suffocated, remained standing in my own seat.
L’arc en ciel finally appeared …… my god…… . There was a huge LED screen at the back and Hyde was standing in front, and he was around 10 meters away from me. I was not looking at TV, not watching Music Station, it was the REAL PERSON. Then he started singing and moving. Once his voice entered my ears I burst into tears. 14 years of listening to his voice, 14 years of watching him on TV, he is now performing right in front of my eyes. ( I watched Laruku Hong Kong concert in 2008 but I sat far behind, most of the time watching the big TV screen)
The performance was similar to the Osaka concert last year, the biggest difference was the language used. 98% of the time Laruku was speaking in Cantonese. Same as in 2008. Only 1 or 2 sentenses were in Japanese, and 2 or 3 sentenses done in English, then the rest of them were in Cantonese. Very cute Cantonese pronounciation. Hyde memorized all the words, and occasionally watching 貓紙. All “thank you”, “I love you” ,”want to meet you” were in Cantonese. Ken read from his 貓紙, it was barely comprehensible. I really appreciate their effort in speaking so much Cantonese, it was so warm, so lovely, so entertaining.
No changing clothes, no changing of stage setting, stage effects were from the LED screen, fire, fireworks over our heads. Lucky audiences sitting in the front (like me) could get some colour foil paper stripes and numerous feathers that were poured / floated upon us. A few even more lucky audiences managed to get bananas that were thrown out by Tetsuya. 2 of the bananas landed 2 rows in front of me. A person wrote on forum that Tetsuya wrote “ オ オイ ナイ ディー” (Japanese pronounciation of 我愛你地, meaning I love you all) on the banana!!! So so sooooooo sweet!!!!!!! L’arc en ciel オ オイ ナイ ディー too!!!!!
When Hyde said ” 最後係….”, he was saying the last song will be….I said NO NO NO NO NO NO, I shook my head with tears in my eyes. Please don’t go, don’t go…….. but it was time for them to go, they dont belong here………. After the last song, after saying 多謝, 我愛你 lots of times, Laruku left. All lights turned on, everyone was exhausted, sticky with sweat and feathers, hair and clothes messed up. I had terrible back pain due to 2.5 hours of swaying, jumping and yelling. Wiped away my tears I packed my belongings and left the hall, feeling quite depressed. I was not willing to leave but there was no point in staying and staring at an empty stage.
I cannot say which song(s) I love the most in the concert, I love all of them. The most impressive songs for me should be ” My heart draws a dream” “Anata” and ” Revelation”, because these 3 songs seem the most interractive with Hyde. I longed to interract with Hyde for long long time, now my dream came true.
The concert setlist :
01.いばらの涙 02.CHASE 03.GOOD LUCK MY WAY 04.HONEY 05.Drink it Down 06.REVELATION 07.Hitomi no Juunin 08.X X X 09.forbidden lover 10.MY HEART DRAWS A DREAM 11.SEVENTH HEAVEN 12.Driver ‘s High 13.STAY AWAY, 14.READY STEADY GO 15.Anata 16.winter fall 17.the Fourth Avenue Cafe 18.Link 19. Niji
These are the souvenirs I got from the concert: foil paper stripes, feathers and T-shirt
Today’s Hong Kong newspapers have reports on this concert. Apple Daily, although frequently writing things wrongly, did quite a good job in reporting it.
Title : “熟港文化冧掂萬人 L’Arc~en~Ciel掟蕉玩憤怒鳥”
日本搖滾班霸 L’Arc~en~Ciel,前晚於亞洲博覽館舉行第二次香港演唱會,全場爆滿。對香港情有獨鍾的 L’Arc,由頭到尾都以廣東話與歌迷溝通,雖唔鹹唔淡反而令 fans笑爆嘴,如將廟街講成妖街,演唱會中他們更出動送蕉,又拎於廟街購買、港人酷愛的憤怒鳥玩具上台。
曾於 08年來港演唱的 L’Arc~en~Ciel,相隔約四年再會港迷,依然吸引近 10,000歌迷坐爆亞博館。今次是 L’Arc成軍 20年來舉行最大型的世界巡迴演唱,他們挑選了香港作第一站,認真畀面。香港的 L’Arc迷也十分忠心,有些提早八小時去到會場搶購紀念品,有些拉着大 banner到場,更有瘋狂 fans在身上紋上主音 hyde的樣子。隨着整個舞台般大的巨型 video wall播放映像, L’Arc以一曲《荊棘之淚》揭序幕,歌迷見到 hyde現身,做出扭動蛇腰的招牌舞姿,已不停瘋狂喪叫,唱完第三首歌《 GOOD LUCK MY WAY》後, hyde就開始講一大堆廣東話,他大叫着說:「多謝,香港你好!」之後又用手遮着臉及彎身,偷看貼在喇叭上的貓紙,再說:「好想見面,準備好未?」港迷當然亦繼續狂叫回應。 當 hyde講完廣東話,隨即唱出名曲《 HONEY》,掀起首個高潮,可惜唱了幾句後,卻突然甩轆, hyde叫停然後與結他手 ken談了一會後再開始,看來是樂器出了問題, hyde尷尬地笑用英語說:「唱第二次!」不過, hyde之後一直落力演出唱到又跳又跪地,加上舞台上配襯着噴火及爆破等效果, fans全不介意他們甩轆,唱到《 My Heart Draws A Dream》、《你》等歌曲時均與 L’Arc一起大合唱。
至於全隊最搞鬼的 ken,又出來搞笑,他亦以廣東話說:「香港嘅朋友大家好,我今日去咗行女人街,見到好多得意嘢,仲去埋廟街,又見到好多好特別嘅嘢。」不過, ken將廟街說成妖街,認真搞笑。他續說:「我仲買咗禮物送畀 hyde。」之後拿着黑色膠袋送給 hyde,當 hyde拿出來時,竟然是一盒憤怒鳥玩具,可惜看來 ken買錯了老翻,他又用英文說:「周圍都是憤怒鳥,你們憤怒嗎?」全場 fans又再起哄。 到了安歌時, hyde又再講廣東話:「多謝香港嘅朋友,我愛你,好開心。」更大送飛吻,低音結他手 tetsuya則拿出香蕉來咀,咀完之後擲落台下,令 fans展開爭蕉大戰。 中台兩地被譯成「彩虹樂團」的 L’Arc,最後唱出「校歌」《虹》,更不停放出白色羽毛,吹向觀眾席,製造浪漫場面, tetsuya亦用廣東話送上一句:「下次見!」作結。
I’m so glad that Hyde keeps this Predator hair style. I longed to see this hair style, it suits him so well!!