[2024.10.03] Like-an-Angel CLUB CIRCUIT 2024 L'Arclassic @Spotify O-East

 

Is this my first non-vkei entry on here? I think it is!

Anyway, I remember when this project was first announced. Tetsuya was the only confirmed member and no one knew who else was gonna be in it. I thought (stupidly) that the vocalist was going to be Kiyoharu because "Like-an-Angel"=Like A Angel???

Anyway, I did not get tickets to their debut live because they were kinda pricey, and also because who knew if it would even sound good? Then people started posting about how the guitarist was Reno, drummer was Hibiki, and the vocalist was a non-japanese guy who sounded EXACTLY like hyde, and his name was Jekyll.

Hmm, interesting.

So when the L'Arclassic tour was announced, my spouse got us tickets to the afternoon session of the O-East live.

Somewhere along the way, the female metal guitarist Saki got added to the lineup. She's really good, but I kinda wish they stayed a 4-man band for a better L'Arc feel. (Also I just wanted to see Reno on the kamite side again. I used to love ViViD so much... *cough* FORESHADOWING *cough*)

Anyway, I think my tickets were pretty good. I got to around the 4th row or something. The shimote side (Tetsuya side) was packed, so we stood near the kamite-center instead. I was so excited. Was I going to see Tetsuya from up close??? Really???

Anyway, the live started, and boy this Jekyll guy is wearing hyde hair and makeup from like 2009? or something haha. And he sounds a LOT like hyde. When he sang the English parts I could tell that it wasn't hyde, though, but the Japanese parts were almost indistinguishable.

Still, I don't know him, so I spent most of the live just staring at Reno and wishing I'd been able to see him during his ViViD days. (*cough* MORE FORESHADOWING *cough*)

They took a break somewhere to have a little chat, with Hibiki and Reno doing a little back-and forth first. Then Jekyll came out and since Jekyll doesn't speak Japanese (which is crazy, because his pronunciation during the songs is perfect) Reno whispered some lines in his ear and he yelled them out with an upswing at the end. Sort of like, "Ikeru ka???" ("Are you ready???") It was nice to see him and Reno act like really good friends or bandmates or something.

After Good Luck My Way, we waited for the encore, and they did the usual, "huh, this was fun, I can't believe the tour's over..." kind of talk, but then Tetsuya announced a special guest. The crowd went "Huh???" almost immediately. My spouse looked at me. "Do you think it's Ken?" 

That seemed like the most likely participant, you know???

But then, Tetsuya yelled, "Sakuraaaaa!"

And the crowd went WILD.

I was too stunned to speak. My spouse nudged me and showed me his arms--he was covered in goosebumps. A woman in front of me burst into tears. People were screaming.

Never in a million years could anyone have seen this coming.

Sakura and Tetsuya? In the same room? Playing L'Arc??? At O-East??????

Sakura came on stage and greeted all the members. They had a little chat. The staff wheeled his drum set onto the stage and Sakura said it was his first time performing this song ever since he left L'Arc.

It was Blame, so I'd already heard L'Arc play it during their tour this year, but it was still good. (The night session got 2 songs, INCLUDING "I'm so happy", and I am sooo jealous. We should've gone to see both.)

Tetsuya and Sakura were looking at each other and grinning the whole time.

Grinning!!!!

When's the last time you saw the L'Arc members grinning at each other?

They looked like they were having fun! Like they were just jamming!

When's the last time you saw the L'Arc members having FUN???

By the time the song ended, there were quite a few people sobbing into their towels.

Sakura got up, said a few words about practicing with the members, Hibiki said he was super nervous about playing alongside him, and the Sakura left the stage.

But not before giving Tetsuya a real HUG!

When's the last time... Okay, you get the point.

People screamed when they saw that.

Anwyay, Tetsuya told us not to post anything about the special guest online because he didn't want the surprise to be ruined for the night session. And surprisingly, literally no one posted about the Sakura thing until the night session was over, which is kinda crazy to me. I'm like 80% sure that wouldn't work in my home country, but whatever, I guess Japanese fans are built different.

They finished off with Hitomi no Juunin. I was kinda skeptical about it, because it's such a notoriously difficult song. But Jekyll did it flawlessly. The super high note? EZPZ, man. Insane stuff.

In fact I was so impressed that I went to buy merch. (I was not planning on buying anything.)

I got myself a towel and three pick keychains. They aren't from the 2024 tour, but ehh whatever. One of them was even my favorite color: purple! I'm glad I didn't get any doubles. The jacquard towel's super soft. Good purchase.

When we were leaving the venue, my spouse did a quick look on twitter to see if there were any extra tickets being sold, but no dice. We ended up going back to Ikebukuro for a nice Japanese-Italian dinner instead.