miyavi rocks the Netherlands!

On the 24th of June the concert had finally arrived. miyavi, one of the best known and most unique artist from Japan, would come to rock Amstelveen as part of his worldwide THIS IZ THE JAPANESE KABUKI ROCK TOUR. A mass of fans had gathered in front of the P60 since very early in the morning and the mass just kept on getting bigger and bigger. They were lucky since the weather was on their side and it all promised to become a great day. The doors started to open somewhat past 6.30 p.m and the moment had finally arrived for the fans to see miyavi.

Before they entered the hall, some fans paid a visit to the merchandise stand, where there was a lot of merchandise from the tour such as T-shirts , towels, posters, CDs etc. Unfortunately, the new CD wasn't available.

The hall, which was sold out, started to fill quickly and the moment arrived at exactly 7.30 pm. The lights went out and there was a euphoric atmosphere in the hall. There was absolutely no doubt: The Netherlands were ready for miyavi! The fans welcomed the KAVKI BOYZ and of course miyavi, with loud cheering which filled the entire hall. The first notes from the song JPN PRIDE sounded through the hall, while miyavi was still hiding behind a Japanese parasol. When the song really started he turned around and did a dance before exchanging the parasol for his guitar. Now the show could really start!

A lot of hands, lights and hand-held fans went into the air and the crowd kept on cheering enthusiastically. A bit too much at times, however, causing the music to drown in the sound of all the screaming fans. The next song was Kabuki Danshi -KAVKI BOIZ-, which was played greatly. Again, the hall was filled with loud cheers every time miyavi got close to the front of the stage. There was also a lot of pushing at the front row and after a while miyavi asked the crowd to stop the pushing and to give the people at the front row a breathe because they were being crushed. Even though there was a box at the merchandise stand where fans could put their presents in, miyavi still got a plush from a fan in the crowd, who he probably made very happy by accepting the plushie, giving it a kiss and putting it on one of the speakers. A few moments later, he climbed on the same speaker, after which everyone started to cheer again.

It was also a show in which there was a lot of interaction between miyavi and the crowd. He spoke a lot to the audience, mostly in English and sometimes even in Dutch. With things like "What's up Holland! Are you ready to rock?" and in Dutch: "Are you having fun? I'm having fun!" he got the crowd even more excited than they already were.

The tap dancer Saro also got the opportunity to show off his talent and skills during the guitar- tap dance battle with miyavi. This was also the intro for the song HOW TO LOVE. After this, DJ and beatboxer TeddyLoid also got his chance to show his skills by beatboxing during the song kimi ni funky monky vibration. With this both Saro and TeddyLoid left an amazing impression.

The next song was BOOM-HAH-BOOM-HAH-HAH, followed by 21st Century Tokyo Blues where they got the audience to move their arms up and down with them during the entire song. After he changed guitars, the song Hi no hikari sae todoka nai kono basho de started - of course without SUGIZO. The crowd sang the words to it happily throughout the whole song. miyavi received another plushie from someone in the crowd. This time it was sort of a flower and he laughed while saying: "What the hell is this?" in a friendly way and he thanked them for it in Dutch. After this, he spoke to the audience again, letting them know that without them he wouldn't be here in the Netherlands and he continued with the song. They all left the stage leaving TeddyLoid alone who continued with a remix of some older miyavi songs, which the audience seemed to enjoy.

After a while they all came back on stage, miyavi wearing a different outfit. This time it was a white shirt, black jacket, red skirt over his pants and sunglasses. The finishing touch for his outfit he put on on stage. He put a bandana around his head with the help of a crewmember and a mirror.
The drum rolls that followed warmed the audience up again, after which miyavi asked the crowd again: "Are you ready to rock??? Go Crazy!", and the song Are you ready to ROCK continued. During the song miyavi encouraged everyone to sing the words after him while running around on stage and by the end of the song they all left the stage again.

After the audience had begun screaming "miyavi" and "encore" or "we want more", the KAVKI BOYS returned getting the audience all pumped up and excited again. A rap part warmed everyone up again while letting the audience scream for miyavi a couple of times more, miyavi returned on stage while playing his guitar behind the back of his head. He had another outfit again. This time he was wearing one of his own tour shirts and a beanie. All the other bandmembers were also wearing the same shirt. What followed was insane cheering from the crowd which could have easily left everyone in the audience nearly deaf. They obviously didn't want the show to end and they made sure to let him know that! The song Subarashiki kana, kono sekai -WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD- followed.

With the two last song they could really blow the rooftop off. The atmosphere was already great and everyone was really excited, but they got even more and more excited throughout the show.

FREEDOM FIGHTERS started and again everyone went crazy and sang along with the words, encouraged by miyavi and the KAVKI BOYZ who were constantly telling the crowd to bang their heads. miyavi spoke to the fans again before continuing with the last song. He told them it was his first time in the Netherlands and asked if everyone had fun. He continued in Dutch saying: "I love you! I'll come back!" which caused the mass of fans to burst out in loud cheers again.

The last song started, Sakihokoru Hana no Yo ni ~Neo Visualizm~, and everyone sang the words as loud as they could. miyavi waved before leaving the stage and there were also some drumsticks that flew through the air into the audience.

It was an great show with a lot of diversity which lasted for more than two hours, leaving everyone more than satisfied. The KAVKI BOYZ really made the whole show complete and they created a real party. They all played wonderfully and it was cool to see how the tap dancer added his skills to the show. There was maybe too much screaming by the fans every once in a while, which occasionally caused the sound of the guitar to fade, but that was probably because of all the enthusiasm of seeing miyavi in the Netherlands. There was a great atmosphere and it was also great to see that miyavi seemed to enjoy the show too. Hopefully it is true that he will return and if he does the Dutch audience will most likely receive him warmly and very enthusiastically again!

Photos by Carola.