Luna Sea in Bochum,Germany 

 

As the winter cold started to come into full effect in the small town of Bochum; there was, however, much excitement and anticipation over a certain event that happened over the past weekend. I am of course talking about the start of LUNA SEA’s World Tour in Bochum, Germany.

It was already evident that it was going to be a special night in the town of Bochum with many European and Japanese fans occupying the town, dressed in their best JRock attires, coupled with hair colours you would only see on a rainbow.

Despite the freezing temperatures, fans nevertheless began queuing early in the day at the RuhrCongress with some individuals even camping the previous day. As the sky darkened, and as the 17:30 door time approached, more and more people started to show up at the venue for this special night. The venue staff however, couldn’t have judged the kind of reaction of the fans when the doors first opened and the atmosphere got slightly agitated with some individuals desperate to secure good seats.

Expectedly, the fans were eager to get their hands on the new official merchandise which ranged from T shirts to tote bags. A nice feature was the ‘One World Banner’ which was placed near the entrance. This allowed for fans to write messages to the band, it was particularly pleasing to see fans from all different corners of the globe showing their support and appreciation for the band.

While awaiting the start of the show, the fans were treated to a selection of music ranging from Suede to Phoenix. Furthermore, to keep the excitement levels high, the fans successfully performed numerous Mexican waves.

Around 20 minutes after the scheduled start time, the playback switched from contemporary music to an introductory piece, expectantly the place erupted in a chorus of cheers. The lights then dimmed and the fans went crazy. Time has come.

LUNA SEA took the stage to a rapturous state of applause and cheering. The band opened the show with LOVELESS, much to the crowds delight. They kept up the energy by playing several favourites such as DEJAVU, SLAVE, END OF SORROW, TRUE BLUE, and FACE TO FACE. The mixture of high paced songs coupled with their slower material really added towards the overall atmosphere of the show. INORAN favourite ‘gravity’ was played next and if there was any doubt that this night wasn’t going to be special and magical, then this song dispelled all worries, history was being made tonight.

The brooding Ra-Se-N followed with the crescendo being a particular highlight and in many ways, the concert itself was building up into a legendary show.

Fans had already anticipated the following song with the technicians handing SUGIZO his violin and they were rewarded with a beautiful rendition of Providence. The appreciation of the fans was notable during this song with the crowd refraining from making noise during the quietest moments of the song, it was a nice gesture by the audience and showed the type of character that the European fans possess.

The prodigious GENESIS OF MIND soon followed which left the crowd awe-inspired and this concluded the first half of the show.

An amazing solo performance by Shinya on drums kept the crowd going while the rest of the members temporarily rested. Shinya’s colourful personality put a lot of smiles onto the faces of the Bochum crowd, and these faces were brightened up with the introduction of J. Equally as impressive, J performed a new bass solo which really got the crowd buzzing. His charismatic persona really got the crowd involved during his funky bass solo; his performance was greeted with many cheers of “J! J! J!”

From this moment onwards, the band really kicked it up a gear. Hit after hit soon followed and we began with the always crowd pleasing, STORM. The tempo didn’t slow down as DESIRE followed; another song that really gets the crowd crazy and fired up. It was also evident at this point during the concert, that the band themselves started to loosen up and enjoy themselves more on stage, they genuinely seemed to be having a great time. Another classic from their debut soon followed in the form of TIME IS DEAD and the song’s use of audience participation really made this song stand out. What followed was arguably the bands most popular song, and of course I am talking about ROSIER! The song absolutely raised the roof and featured the trademark microphone throwing by J! And just when you thought the party couldn’t get any better, INORAN starts playing the opening notes of TONIGHT, suffice the say (and if you would excuse the hyperbole) the place erupted in a crazy frenzy. Pure magic.
The band then left for their well deserved break. The crowd however were in no mood to stop. With football chants, foot stamping; the message was ever clear, they wanted more!

The crowd was rewarded for their persistence and the band returned to address the audience. Sugizo, in particular was vocal and thanked the crowd for a memorable evening. His words were soon followed by an even better thank you, in the form of I for You. Over the course of the evening the crowd was treated to an array of beautiful songs and hard rocking anthems and their performance of I for You merely certified the bands adept nature of playing a wide array of music.

After the emotional song, the band reverted to the high tempo classic, PRECIOUS. The night was not going to end on a slow note! And what a fitting way it was to end the show with their usual closer, WISH. It was the final chance for the fans of Bochum to join together and celebrate this special occasion, and they did not disappoint. This marked the conclusion of the Bochum show and the end of the first show of LUNA SEA’s World Tour. The night will go down in history as one that exemplified the band’s talent and showmanship, but it also brought together friends from all corners of our world and together we joined our hearts and our minds and made musical history.
Setlist:
• LOVELESS
• DEJAVU
• SLAVE
• END OF SORROW
• TRUE BLUE
• FACE TO FACE
• gravity
• Ra-Se-N
• Providence
• GENESIS OF MIND
• Shinya Drum Solo & J Bass Solo
• FATE
• STORM
• DESIRE
• TIME IS DEAD
• ROSIER
• TONIGHT
ENCORE
• I FOR YOU
• PRECIOUS...
• WISH
• MOTHER and PRECIOUS (S.E.)