Currently in progress, this summer's RUMBLE FISH tour is HYDE's first standing-style live house tour in almost three years, following a live house tour he held without an audience due to the pandemic back in 2020. With this tour, rock and roll is making
a comeback as HYDE faces off against several rock bands during 12 dates spread all around Japan.
On June 25th, KT Zepp Yokohama was the venue of choice and the band HYDE was fighting that night was Dragon Ash, who are celebrating their 25th anniversary this year and are as legendary as HYDE.
Dragon Ash
The tour's logo was draped across the back of the stage. It features two betta fishes, animals known for fighting each other when in close range. With one red fish and one blue fish, it was reminiscent of a pair of boxers preparing for battle. Purple lights and smoke filled the stage as the intro theme sounded and the members of Dragon
Ash entered, clapping along with the excited fans. Vocalist Kj welcomed everyone to RUMBLE FISH.
Tiny World began with green and purple spotlights moving around and flashing lights lining the stage floor to the beat of the drum. Everyone moved to the beat. The next song was Mix it Up, which featured Kj on vocals and guitar. The stage was
taken over by fuchsia lights that broke up into red. The fans got into the song and danced even from their seats on the second floor, while the lights flashed in an attempt to keep up with the song's fast-paced and fun rhythm. Fans jumped and clapped
along as smoke and green flashes of light added to the excitement.
Not giving the fans a chance to catch their breath, Dragon Ash performed a cover of hide with Spread Beaver's ROCKET DIVE, while colorful lights danced alongside the band members and fans bounced to the rhythm. For
divers area was next, with blue lights and fun backup vocals that kept the crowd entertained as everyone jumped and raised their hands. It felt like a never-ending party as the vocalist encouraged everyone to have fun and keep jumping.
Kj did a brief MC before the start of the next song. "HYDE is incredible," he exclaimed. "He's very open and friendly. The coolest thing about
a rock star is that he has a big heart and a low profile, but when he's on stage, he's completely different!" Fans applauded in agreement.
The next song, New Era, offered a sense of calm. The song was written by Kj around the start of the coronavirus pandemic, with the message "you can start over at any time". It was complemented with REVIVE and Dialogue, the latter of which was
created for DRAGON ASH TOUR 2019 "THE FIVES" / "THE SEVENS".
Before Yuri no saku basho de, Kj expressed his gratitude to HYDE and the audience once again for welcoming him and the band. He also urged the audience to check out the other amazing bands taking part in the tour, stating that, while not all of them can perform on stages as large
as the one RUMBLE FISH provided regularly, they would certainly find them enjoyable.
One of the official songs of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Fantasista whipped up a frenzy among the crowd as the band members danced around the platform, enticing the audience to follow suit both in the standing area and on the seated balcony. With the
last song, A Hundred Emotions, they drew their performance to a close. They exited the stage after holding hands and bowing at the front, thanking everyone again for the opportunity to rumble. The audience applauded in appreciation
of their set and anticipation of what was to come next.
HYDE
Then it was HYDE's turn to perform. Accompanied by a clapping intro, HYDE arrived on the stage. His first song LET IT OUT riled the crowd up while he shot smoke around the stage, which now had three rusted metal-looking risers on the front and flags with the tour
logo on both sides. HYDE took the middle riser and headbanged along with the other band members, who stood on their own risers.
HYDE told the crowd how excited he was to have Dragon Ash perform that weekend, joking that he was afraid they wouldn’t show up.
The stage was then overwhelmed by red and white spotlights. AFTER LIGHT began with powerful chorus vocals from his band members and fist pumps from the fans. HYDE then asked the audience to mumble part of the song before it reached its breaking point. The frenzy that started with AFTER LIGHT carried on to DEFEAT, a song written for "Devil May Cry 5". HYDE and his band members put their entire bodies into it, with HYDE lying on the floor next to the bassist while singing to the audience. He embraced him from the side after rising to his feet once more while still singing.
As red and purple lights flashed to the beat of the drums, HYDE welcomed everyone once again and asked the audience if they shared his excitement to be there. He went on to perform SET IN STONE, pointing his microphone at the crowd at times. The band members' clothing glowed in the dark because of the purple lights.
With the microphone now on a stand, HYDE was able to convey the mood of the song through subtle hand movements as THE ABYSS gave the band and the audience a break. Soft white lights washed over the stage, and the piano's melody took center stage.
There's no rest for the wicked, however, as after the soft song, the spotlights went crazy in a mix of red and green and it was time for INTERPLAY. HYDE danced around and headbanged, encouraging fans to jump, while the audience clapped along and followed his lead.
While taking a break to drink some water, HYDE spoke about Dragon Ash again, mentioning that they were playing both days that weekend. After joking a bit about that and with the guitarist reacting to his remarks with noises from his instrument, HYDE announced he
was going to play a song that was inspired by his love for Dragon Ash’s Fantasista and his desire to write a song like it for himself. HYDE was now holding a black guitar and fans were delighted to hear the first riffs of LOVE ADDICT ringing out from it. The audience went crazy once again, clapping along to the rhythm while HYDE leaned over the
middle riser to dance along and tease the fans on the floor. It had been a while since he played the song live. MAD QUALIA was next, with HYDE removing the microphone from its stand and walking to the right side of the stage. He hugged his guitarist while singing and went on to lie
down on one of the risers, to the excitement of the fans in the front rows. After that, HYDE strolled to the opposite side of the stage and climbed up on a big amp. While he sang to the crowd from this high vantage point, columns of smoke were being shot on the
stage. For the next song, ANOTHER MOMENT, HYDE asked everyone to sit down or crouch and jump when he instructed them to. Inflatable air dancers burst on stage while HYDE kept encouraging everyone to jump along.
HYDE hit a metal keg to the beat of the next song, DUALITY, which is a cover of a track by Slipknot. He sang into a megaphone as he moved from one side of the stage to the other. The next song, 6 OR 9, is a brand new track
that was debuted during the tour. As HYDE danced while leaning against one of the risers, the keyboardist, bassist and guitarist all spun around or bounced along to the music.
Following 6 OR 9, Kj from Dragon Ash was called back to the stage. He and HYDE hugged and took a group photo with the band before giving the audience a duet performance of GLAMOROUS SKY, a song HYDE composed for the live action "NANA" movie. The lights matched
the colors of the rainbow when the song mentioned seven colors as an analogy for each of the days of the week. Kj and HYDE fist bumped before he left the stage.
Visibly excited, HYDE asked the crowd if what just happened was a dream before announcing the last song BELIEVING IN MYSELF. Fans pumped their fists in the air while HYDE jumped and ran in circles around the stage before finally jumping towards the
drummer at the end of the song as the lights flashed along to the music. HYDE left the stage then, saying “See you tomorrow”.
The tour will continue until August, and it will showcase a number of different bands. A digest video is also being published after every live on HYDE’s official YouTube channel, so fans who were not able to attend can get a sense of the atmosphere at each performance.
Digest live footage from the show can be viewed below:
