Heheh, that was you singing to him? ^_^
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Edited and (very) expanded!
After reading Mistoline's report futher down, this seems pretty sketchy. But I'll add what I can and I also thank her for helping me remember some things, heheh.
I arrived at the concert hall much later that I wanted to, because I got lost trying to find it. I was also unschooled in how the whole concert thing works, so I left quite close to when the ticket exchange was going to be held. I now know I should have left much, much earlier, and I'm incredibly lucky things played out so well in the end. So, no regrets, but I'll never think I might be leaving too early again. o.o
I took the train to the Ostbahnhof, and quickly became lost trying to figure out where to leave the station and how to get to the concert hall. That map thing they gave on the concert hall's website was absolutely uninformative. -___- I can safely say I'd never have found it had I not come across four German girls who looked suspiciously dressed for a Moi dix Mois concert. I asked them for directions, and we ended up getting lost and the finding it together. I was initially relieved when we saw the mass of dark-clothed people in front of the hall, knowing we had the right place. But then I started panicking, thinking I was going to be stuck in the very back. Had I not had my Mon+Amour ticket, I would have. Bless fan club privledges. They queued the fanclub separately inside the gates, and I stood in the back for awhile before I thought I recognized Geisha from her avatar photo. ^_^ At first I wasn't sure it was her, but then I decided to go up and ask. With her were Minako, Eresjkigal, and several others who might have been from –scape- as well, but I never caught their names.
Sorry! I stood with them the rest of the wait outside, and they were all so wonderful to speak to. :] It was really neat hearing all the different languages and foreign English accents being thrown around. One thing I found amusing was how differently everyone pronounced the names of the band members and the songs.
Standing outside was very interesting because of all the crazy, beautiful outfits the fans were wearing. Everyone looked gorgeous. There were cosplayers, crossdressers, people decked out in Moi-meme-Moite, some general Goths, and a whole bunch of people who had styles completely their own. I blame the artist in me, but I was so fascinated with everyone's clothes and makeup that I think I was staring quite a bit. At first I was surprised at how few Japanese I saw, but then about half an hour or so before they let us into the hall a whole group of them were let into the fanclub queue.
We were let into the concert hall at 6:30, and I stood in the first row on K and Kazuno's side. We had to stand there all squished together for about 2 hours before the band came on. Minako was directly behind me, another Spanish girl I didn’t catch the name of was on my right, and a little Japanese lolita was on my left. It was very uncomfortable (I was wearing a corset >_<), but I somehow I kept myself amused and breathing. The guardrail was really nice, considering. It was wall-like and rounded at the top and it ended about rib-height. I have a slight bruise on my ribs from it, but it wasn't that bad at all. The stage was maybe… five feet or so away from the guardrail, and the stage itself was pretty low. My feet were killing me before the show even started, but I can’t complain since, if nothing else, I had fresh air to breathe and I could move around a little bit. I can’t imagine what it must have been like further back.
A half hour before the show started, stage people came out on the stage and set up and tested backup guitars. There was a door on the left-hand side covered by a black barrier so we could only see the top of it, but a few times before the concert started we'd randomly see some dix'd out hair appear, followed by sudden screams from the crowd. :] Finally, the lights dimmed, fog poured out onto the stage, and blue lights came on. The members entered one by one to the creepy piano of Silent Omen. I'm very sorry, but I forget the order they came out in. =\ They all looked great. They all have different hair now (see the tour promotional flier picture) which is really nice because they no longer look like Mana-clones and also, imo, they have hairdos that better suit them. I was stunned at how Mana moved. I've heard it said before, how graceful yet completely masculine he is, but it's hard to believe until you see it. Something I did find funny was that Tohru is much more feminine than Mana. (Btw, I don’t think he's fat. XD He does have such a chubby round face though. <3 ) Juka was also relieved of having to be both scary and princely with the addition of K. K's just downright creepy looking—in a good way—so Juka was able to be a true Elegant Gothic Arisotcrat. ^_^ My fangirlishness for Juka notwithstanding, he looked really really good. Much different than in photos—much prettier. My heart squee'd with joy.
The first song they properly played was the Prophet. I was thrilled, because it's one of my favorite songs of theirs, and one I was so excited to hear live. I was a little sad because the sound was kind of crappy—all the prerecorded instruments like the organs and harpsichords were lost and Juka was drowned out by the guitars at first. At first I was attributing it to being to close to the stage, but it seems like others are commenting on the bad sound quality as well. =\ But in any case, as close as I was, and as well as I know the songs, it didn’t matter that the sound was bad. After the Prophet, I forget the order of songs, but I'm pretty sure the next one was from Dix Infernal. I remember Ange, La dix Croix, Pessimiste, and Dialogue Symphonie from Dix Infernal, and then Vestige, Mephisto Waltz (<3!!!), Nocturnal Romance, Monophobia, Perish, Shadows Temple, Pageant, and Nightbreed. They also played their new song Emblem and had a brief crowd pump-up while playing Mad Ingrain. Nocturnal Romance was absolutely awesome with the extra guitar. I don’t remember hearing the female singer at all, though it's possible she was pre-recorded. In any case, they songs still sounded great without her. (And that's coming from me, who loves her part in Nocturnal Romance best out of the whole song.) Also, Nightbreed—which was quite a disappointment recorded properly on the Shadows Temple single—was awesome live. They ended the concert with Pageant, which was the perfect song to play last. :]
I couldn’t hear Juka very well at first, but then they either toned down everything else or my ears adjusted to the loudness and I could hear him fine the rest of the concert. I'm pleased to say Juka is very good live. I'm always so upset when I see live concerts and the vocalist is sub-par. K is a very good voice for the death vocals. Poor Juka always sounded a little silly doing them, but K makes them scary and actually DEATH. The band as a whole was very enthusiastic. K spoke (or tried to speak ^_^ ) some German to us, but I didn’t catch much of it. Juka pretty much stuck to Japanese and some Engrish. Everyone was very into the performance, and it was thrilling to see that they were as excited to be there as we were. Juka was really immersed in the music, moving around, gesticulating, and nearly dropping o the ground a few times. He was much more active than in the Scars of Sabbath DVD. Kazuno, although in the back for most of the live, was still his good old happy self, bouncing about and smiling like a moron at the most random times. ^_^ K mostly stood there and looked scary, but he was cool to watch nonetheless, even if he got a little boring after a while. Tohru was enjoying himself in the back, interacting with the fans even though he was furthest away and couldn’t move around. And Mana… was Mana. :] I didn’t get to see him too much, since I was on K's side, but when I did see him he was performing so passionately. All the members (except Tohru, of course) made their way to each part of the stage at one point or another, and they also had a awesome moment where they all stood together in the center and played.
The lighting was really ambient throughout the concert. I was impressed with how well it went along with the music, though I was kind of peeved that every time Mana came to our side, it seemed like the bright flashers came on and I had a hard time watching him. I didn’t headbang; it's just not my thing. I wanted to watch the band instead. :] A few people tried throwing presents onto the stage, and at one point someone threw what looked like a very small pillow or cloth-like thing at Mana when he was on our side. It hit his leg, and I swear a brief look of confusion/surprise crossed his face. ^_^
Best of all, every member really -looked- at the fans as they were playing. It gave me a great sense of intimacy with the band. We weren't a mass of screaming fans; we all had faces and meant something individually. Especially being in the first row, I feel like I made eye contact with every one of them when they came near me. It's a fantastic feeling.
After the show, everyone chanted "Moi dix Mois!" for several minutes before Mana made a short reappearance on stage by himself. He walked around to each side, posing and looking at everyone, before leaving for good. The concert seemed really short to me at the time, but now that I think back at how many songs they played it seems longer. The highlight was definitely the closing with Pageant. That's a fan song if there ever was one, and a beautiful note to end with.
The only thing I was disappointed with was the lack of merchandise. (I've found out that there actually was more in the beginning, but it was mostly sold out by the time I got over there. The price one pays for being in the front, I guess.) They were only selling a tour poster with the same group photo as the flier, the Dix Infernal album, Scars of Sabbath DVD, the Magnifique photobook, and the special Mon+Amour pendant for the Platinum members by the time I got there. I bought everything but the DVD (don’t want it) and Dix Infernal (already owned it). The poster is really nice because it has all the band members on it. I also recommend Magnifique to everyone. ^_^ It's beautiful book. The pendant is gorgeous, as well. It's black and silver, pretty big and came with a nice little pouch. Here's some pictures of it:
I stayed after the show for quite a bit with Geisha, Eres, Minako and a few other people, some from –scape- and some not. We were kicked outside after a little while, but it was okay because as we stood there a big van drove by with the band inside. ^_^ It was hard to see because the windows were very dark, but I'm almost positive I saw Juka's hair. We waved them goodbye and they waved back. I don’t think Mana was with them though. He either left before we got outside or after we left for the trainstation.
All in all, it was an incredible show and well worth the money and hassle spent getting there (from the US) as well as the lengthly, squashed wait before the concert itself. I don’t think I could have been more pleased with how it all turned out. I got the impression the band really enjoyed themselves as well. I truly think we left an excellent impression for them. :] It was difficult for me to gauge how many people were there because I was in the front—I couldn’t see backward very well—but from what I hear the turnout was excellent and it's awesome to know that M10M has such a strong international fanbase. I was also happily surprised to see two Moi dix Mois fans (one was wearing a pendant) wandering around near the Hauptbahnhof on Sunday. ^_^ They're everywhere!
Now I'm eagerly awaiting feedback from Mana and the band. I know they had a good time. I could see it in how they reacted and interacted with the fans how happy they were to be performing in Europe. I hope this means they'll return sometime. The concert was truly amazing in every aspect, and I'm still recalling new things and replaying moments inside my head—some intense and hypnotically involving, and other so small and insignificant, like how Kazuno smiled at us when he came to the front of the stage. It's so disjointed that I have a hard time putting what happened and how I reacted into words. The more I think about it the more excited I am to have been able to see them. The songs on the CDs sound even more beautiful now that I've seen the band live, and I don’t think I'll be forgetting any of it any time soon. :]
