[2024.10.11] PIERROT x Dir en grey ANDROGYNOS @ Yoyogi First Gymnasium

Well, well, well. This wouldn't be much of a V-kei blog if I *didn't* post about the most anticipated V-kei event of 2024 now, would it?

Before we get into it, I have to say that I know next to nothing about Dir en grey or Pierrot.

Dir has never been my thing, but Pierrot inspired a lot of the bandmen that I look up to, and I just HAD to see Pierrot live to experience them. (My spouse even joined the fanclub just for this event.)

The day itself was beautiful. Wonderfully sunny, although a bit on the warm side for October.

We arrived around 5 minutes late for our merch slot. The earlier timeslots were for fanclub members who pre-registered online, and we had registered for the earliest slot. 

I was after the bangya trunk, of course. It had sold out during the online merch presale for fanclub members really quickly, and this was my last chance at it. Each person could only purchase one of these sweet sweet boxes, so we should be good, right?

WRONG!

The trunk sold out 20 minutes after my fanclub member spouse started standing in line. He picked the cash-only line because it looked shorter, but it took longer for some reason, and he just so happened to get shuffled behind a guy who bought nearly everything on the damn board.

Oh well. I guess I didn't NEED it.

We still had hours to kill, so we ended up going to the ESP museum, which is in Shibuya.

There was an Androgynos popup with both bands' guitars and basses on display. (No pics were allowed.)

They had this special edition pick set for sale, and each purchase could get you a chance at winning one of the actual picks that had been used during rehearsal. So we got one each and won nothing.

Then we had a limited edition Starbucks drink that matched the live's theme colors. The drink was a Halloween thing, by the way.

We entered and my seat was on the kamite side of the stands, but pretty far back. I had a good view of the guest seating and I could recognize Dancho from NoGod and Mei from Dog in the PWO through my binoculars. (Binoculars are a must at giant shows like this, btw.)

Pierrot's Setlist:

• My first thought was "dang, they're playing the song w/ the n*zi swast!ka inspired banners? (censored because I don't want these keywords on my blog)
• I was quickly surprised by how elaborate the furi was. 
• To be honest, I didn't feel much when I listened to Pierrot's music, but hearing them live was a different story. They sounded amazing. It didn't feel like they were playing a show together for the first time in years AT ALL.

Dir en grey's Setlist:

• First thought that I had during the sound testing? "Jfc, this is loud asf." It was LOUD, and I was wearing earplugs. Some people like to hear their eardrums rattle at lives, but my hearing is already on thin ice and I'd like to damage it as little as possible, tyvm.
• Then when the background videos started playing, I was disappointed by how much of it was AI generated. Free-Will has been leaning heavily into the use of slop in recent years, so not much surprise there, but you'd think they'd have a little more budget for Dir at an event like this. (FWIW, there was no AI in Pierrot's set.)
• I don't want to get too negative here so I'll just say that Dir's music is not my thing.
• Good points were that - kyo sounded really good. Seamless transition between deathvo and high notes (in my opinion). And I think I would really like the guitars if I could hear them properly.

Bonus: Pierrot FC members got a little welcome gift at the venue for each day and this is what they looked like! 

My spouse went back to the venue after work and got himself the one for Day2. Apparently there were people outside the stadium listening to the music (It was loud enough for me to hear over the phone) and they were headbanging and doing furi as well.

　

The announced the FC renewal + the February lives at the end of Day 2, and I'll be going to the one on Feb 8! Plenty of time for me to learn the furi by then, I guess. There's an account on youtube that's been posting Pierrot furi in the last few months - might be worth checking out!