Acid Black Cherry 5th Anniversary Live

Thirty minutes before the opening, fans were already gathering on the streets between Harajuku Station, about 5 minutes from Yoyogi National Gymnasium, and the show’s venue. Their clothes, mainly outfits in ABC’s official colors—black and red—as well as official ABC merchandise, such as the devil horn and bat wing hairbands, made them easy to spot. Outside of the hall were three giant promotional trucks, prompting many fans to create a photo moment while waiting for the show to begin.

The doors opened not a minute too late and fans of all ages streamed into the concert hall. The stage was set in the middle of the hall, making a 360 degree view possible. For the purpose of entertaining a crowd of more than 13,291 people, the seats that were assembled in the arena around the stage, as well as those on the main and first floor, were sold out since the announcement of the show in July.

The beginning of the concert was marked by the background music suddenly being turned up and the dimming of the lights in the hall. Projected onto the thick curtains that surrounded the stage were previous shows, backstage footage and single covers, creating a dramatic effect. When finally the thick curtain fell, leaving only a transparent, lighter curtain, singer yasu stood in the middle of the stage in a spotlight, singing the first soft notes of the song Maria. A moment later arrived YUKI (DUSTAR-3) and HIRO (La’cryma Christi) on guitar, SHUSE (La'cryma Christi) on bass and Jun-Ji (ex-SIAM SHADE) on drums, joining their leader in the pool of light that now covered the stage. After the last curtain fell, a massive applause arose from the ABC fans.

When the more upbeat part of Maria was set, the crowd immediately started waving their hands and jumping on the tones of Maria while yasu moved around energetically on the platform in the middle of the stage. Then, a sudden transition to the second song, cord name [JUSTICE], left the band bathing in a red and blue light, thus, creating the perfect mood for this darker, heavier track. As the audience enthusiastically headbanged along, YUKI performed a guitar solo on the platform where, until recently, yasu was standing.

After the end of cord name [JUSTICE] , the lights went off, leaving the crowd in utter darkness. Beckoned by the passionate screaming of the fans, the lights turned on again and with the words, “We are Acid Black Cherry”, the band’s first MC of the evening started.

yasu commenced his talk by wishing everyone a good evening and introducing HIRO as their second guitarist. He also mentioned that two days before, another show was held in the same venue, and then thanked all his fans for coming.

After this intermezzo Acid Black Cherry continued their set with Rakuen, to which the crowd appeared to enjoy themselves by singing along and waving their hands in the air to the rhythm of the beat. In the middle of the song, both YUKI and HIRO were given a moment to shine by joining forces on the platform for a guitar solo. With an impressive drum solo, Jun-Ji then launched the fourth song, in the Mirror, while he and his drum set spun around 360 degrees.

For one of the darker songs in the repertoire of Acid Black Cherry, namely Jigsaw, a ghastly atmosphere was created by the flashing of the spotlights, making it seem as if yasu kept appearing and disappearing. The song also saw some more memorable moments, such as yasu juggling his microphone in the air, the parts where the charismatic singer was surrounded by a blue light as he sung “If you are..”, and the impressive ending during which yasu stood in one spotlight keeping one arm in the air and standing still as if he were a statue.

For the soft rock song, Yasashii Uso, the music and yasu’s voice became lost in the sound of the bass, which was too loud for the delicacy of this song. As a result, the track didn’t get the credit it deserved and was only treated to a slight applause.

For 1954 LOVE /HATE, the words “love”, “hate”, and “1954” were projected onto a screen and onto the stadium walls in white and red letters. This track was followed by Doomsday clock, and once again yasu’s voice sounded weak next to the heavy guitar and bass.

Following the second MC, which mainly consisted of introducing the band members and joking around with comments on each other’s clothes and make-up, was Aishitenai. Although it was introduced as a love song, it evoked only a slight applause, as well as its successor, Yes.

Bit Stupid appeared for all band members, who until now safely remained in the middle of the stage, as the ideal time to step it up a notch and increase the interaction with their audience. All musicians moved towards the outer corners of the stage, where YUKI performed a heavy solo and yasu teased his fans by walking towards the catwalk that ran through the crowd—but eventually he did not tread on it.

The combination of the fresh and more up-tempo track, Cherry Cherry, during which yasu encouraged the fans to jump up and down and YUKI and HIRO performed a guitar solo back-to-back, with confetti falling from the sky, gave the fans the extra energy boost that they needed.

After an MC in which the audience was asked if they were still having fun and an explanation was given about the presence of several cameras, the next song Murder License commenced. Fans also got what they had been looking forward to the entire night—they finally got the chance to see their idol up close as yasu walked down the catwalk. Also, Kuroi Taiyou was a big hit; the crowd was visibly enjoying themselves during every moment of it.

During Pistol, one of the band’s more recent [2012] singles, yasu stayed close to his fans and kept on performing on the catwalk. This was a wise decision, because the crowd looked as if they regained their energy while joining him in headbanging. YUKI also joined yasu on the catwalk for his guitar solo, while HIRO was given the opportunity to shine for the next song, Shoujo no Inori III.

The last song, Spell Magic, literarily started with a bang, supported by a curtain of smoke. yasu ran towards the end of the catwalk and sat down, while he imperturbably kept on singing. An extra-long guitar solo by YUKI marked the end of the song and plectrums were thrown towards the audience before the band said goodbye.

Before disappearing behind the curtains, yasu delivered some extra fan service by blowing kisses to the audience, while the rest of the band decided to keep it more simple and merely waved.

After somewhat two minutes of waiting in the dark for the return of their band, the ABC fans decided to join forces by shouting “encore!” as one voice and applauding enthusiastically. When finally the lights were switched on again, yasu and the band returned to the stage, dressed in official Acid Black Cherry sweaters. On stage, the band members aligned to create a wave with towels, much to the amusement of the fans.

Before the start of the first encore with the popular SIAM SHADE cover song, 1/3 no Junjou na Kanjou, yasu checked with the crowd if everything was still going okay. For the second encore, so good night from their most recent album, 2012, yasu played the tambourine, parading on the catwalk while supporting the band musically. The long expected Black Cherry was chosen as the third encore and was respectively the most popular song of the evening, deduced from the lively jumping of the audience. After once again thanking their fans, ABC left the hall in the dark for the second time.

The audience as well as the band seemed to be in the mood for a second encore, and after promoting some of their official goods, ABC played the last songs of the show, prologue and Shangri-La.


Set List:

Maria
cord name【JUSTICE】
Rakuen
in the Mirror
Jigsaw
Yasashii Uso
1954LOVE/HATE
doomsday clock
Aishitenai
yes
Bit stupid
Cherry Cherry
Murder License
Kuroi Taiyou
Pistol
Shojo no Inori III

ENCORE1
1/3 no Junjou na Kanjou
So… Good night
Black Cherry

ENCORE2
Prologue End
Shangri La