This year truly is the year of the anniversaries. This time we celebrate J’s 20th solo anniversary.
The last concert of the anniversary tour was held at the beautiful EX Theater Roppongi. The venue blends in seamlessly with the Roppongi Hills nouveau riche area. This made for an interesting juxtaposition with the punk rock concert that was held within its walls.
The fans, clad mostly in black, army boots and band t-shirts waited patiently on the immaculate porch garden for their number to be called. After almost 400 women, the first man entered. After that, a few more men drizzled in. The attendance gender percentage was probably 80-20.
Once everyone entered and got their drinks, the background music got louder and J came on stage.
He started the show strong with break, the crowd was completely into it and immediately started rocking out, moshing, crowd surfing and just generally having a great time.
The promotional photos for the tour must have been taken quite a long time before the tour started because J’s hair was significantly longer. He looked great, rocking those locks and just being all smiles and healthy glow. He sounded amazing too.
It seems like J’s mission for the night was to get everyone to lose their voices. He made everyone cheer and scream nonstop, constantly challenging us to go louder and longer.
He spoke very briefly every few songs, mostly about celebrating his 20th anniversary, how great the crowd was and to announce the next songs.
In a surprising twist, this punk-rock show had a “ballad” section. J performed the beautiful set of I Know, When You Sleep and ACROSS THE NIGHT with beautiful soft blue lights illuminating the stage.
After the slower set that allowed everyone to catch their breath and dry their sweat, J talked some more about the 20th anniversary and complimented the crowd again. Then, it was time to pick up the pace again so he played Go Charge in full force. This fast paced and loud song was immediately followed by the concert staple- PYROMANIA. The soft blue lights from earlier got replaced by blazing red ones. Of course, all the fans came prepared with lighters and during the bridge, put them up in the air and sang their hearts out. It never gets old.
During LIE-LIE-LIE, J repeatedly slowed the song down, talked and got everyone hyped for moshing and crowd surfing. The third time he did it, he asked if he could trust the crowd. The crowd of course cheered in reply. He then took off his bass and jumped into the crowd. Well, attempted to jump into the crowd. Unfortunately, it seemed like he miscalculated the distance between the stage and the crowd and only made it to the first row. He didn’t seem injured other than maybe his pride, but the show must go on so he quickly got back on stage and continued playing.
He played the last song of the set, Evoke the World a song that’s not as crazy as some but not as tame as others. Quite a fitting ending to a crazy night.
He cleared the stage and the crowd stood quietly, waiting. Then when they got tired of waiting, they starting chanting “J! J! J!” over and over again. Soon after, J came back on stage with his band. He introduced the members and each one wish him a happy anniversary. He wished to celebrate his 30th, 40th, 50th, 100th and 120th anniversary. Clearly, math is not his strong-suit.
It was time for some encores! Starting happily with Verily which is a song that is kind of a mess in a good way. Gets your head banding all over with no real reason, but gets you screaming “woah~!” over and over.
Moving from there to another great crowd pleaser, Feel Your Blaze. Finally, he closed the encores with Endless Sky, a softer song that felt a bit disconnected after the previous two songs but also has a “finale” sound that wrapped up the night nicely. Or did it?
The lights turned and the announcement that the concert was over was blasted, but people were not having it. They chanted for J over and over and over and then, he came back! He thanked everyone again and performed one final song, NEVER END. Now that was truly a perfect song to end the night.
J has been juggling his Luna Sea duties and solo work beautifully for the past 20 years. His fans remain loyal to him and he to them. I look forward to see what he does in the next 10, 20, 120 years. Keep it up dude!
Setlist:
01. break
02. BURN OUT
03. one reason
04. RECKLESS
05. Go with the Devil
06. Die for You
07. I know
08. When You Sleep
09. ACROSS THE NIGHT
10. Go Charge
11. PYROMANIA
12. LIE-LIE-LIE
13. Evoke the World
EN01 Verity
EN02 Feel Your Blaze
EN03 Endless Sky
2EN01 NEVER END
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