Ra:IN at B2 club in Moscow

The devoted fans gathered under the scorching sun in front of the B2 club long before the beginning of the concert. They were able to welcome the band when the members, drinking beer, got out of the bus. The club doors opened about at six p.m., but the promised meet-and-greet took place at 7:30. The first happy owners of the signed CDs, posters and T-shirts only managed to get into the venue at 9 p.m. As more fans crowded into the venue, they started to call for the band with growing regularity.

Their attempts were met with success when the intro began to play. The crowd started to applaud, the light went down and the members of the band came on stage one by one. michiaki was first; he was dressed in a long, black shirt similar to a dressing gown, a cap, and two black scarves were wrapped around his neck, one of which soon appeared to be in hands of happy fans in the first rows. Tetsu, the modest drummer, followed in a pink shirt and red trousers, then DIE, with pinned up hair and in a silvery shirt came out. Finally, PATA, who was in a black shirt with Oriental patterns walked out.

Before the intro ended, the band opened with FREE. The crowd clapped their hands rhythmically to the song. PATA came forward and impressed everybody with his technique. This heavy rock song at once set the pace for the evening. The walls were shaken by the powerful bass beat. The next song saw DIE headbanging. Every member managed to express himself with original performances, all of them connected by the heavy, monotonous rhythm. Periodically, michiaki came up to the mic to sing some phrases, which sank in the roar of music. When the song came to the end, the audience lifted their hands, and the bassist greeted them in English: "Hello! Hello, Moscow!"

After taking a sip of beer and lighting a cigarette during the intro of the following song, the band played METAL BOX, which combined the hard rock rhythm with a sensation of space and flight. At the end of the song, all the melodic lines merged into one interesting composition. A couple of phrases from the keyboard player introduced the smooth composition THRILLIN ’ HIGH. It had the crowd waving their hands from side to side, and the band looked on in approval. The hard rhythm and fast tempo drove everybody crazy. For the first time that evening, DIE grabbed the keyboard and jumped around the stage; the people who were closer to him actively waved their hands, and those who were in the back rows got wild. When his amazing solo came to an end, the audience started to shout out the bassist's name. An improvised performance by the band began. One by one, michiaki named and pointed at each member, and the crowd shouted their names. Tetsu modestly waved and blew a kiss to the crowd. DIE came out from behind his keyboard to dance, stumbling and, in an incredible tumble, landing on his back. The fans screamed in excitement, and michiaki responded, "I am so happy. Thanks for inviting us in such a beautiful city."

Revival gave the opportunity for the band members to move actively on stage and encouraged the audience to shout even more loudly. In the break before the next song, the keyboard player started to improvise, while other band members wandered around the stage, smoking their cigarettes and drinking beer. DIE switched to his second keyboard. As a result, the primary chaos from two sounds different in character finally merged into one melody. Having finished the solo, the keyboard player was standing with his head drooped. The fans shouted "thank you!" and the positive reaction of the band made them do it even more loudly.

Everybody jumped and shook their fists to CIRCLE. DIE took the keyboard in his hands and crept along the stage. michiaki came up to PATA and played back to back with him for a while. In the end, there was a moment when the keys and drums were the only noise; the sound was flat and electronic, but when the bass and guitar kicked in, the volume shot up. The song ended with powerful drumming, and michiaki lifted his guitar over the head.

michiaki thanked the audience and said that the band had written two new songs specially for this tour. Psychogenic had the keyboard player as the main attraction. At first, DIE sang the opening lyrics with his voice heavily filtered, and then he grabbed a mic and jumped out to the middle of the stage - it seemed that he was going to jump right off! He headbanged violently, wound the microphone cord around his neck and then escaped to his keyboard as quickly as he had come. When the song ended, PATA began to play the heavy rhythm following the drums. He then showed the audience how it was necessary to wave their hands, and they tried to repeat after him. Meanwhile, the drummer began his solo, amazing the crowd. The fans behind could not constrain their emotions any more and started dancing. DIE sat on a loudspeaker, and once more, PATA urged everybody to wave. michiaki took off his dressing gown, while DIE and PATA played face to face.

The final song of the concert was a special one. The keyboard player came forward, allowing the fans to touch him. PATA played with a smile, and michiaki decided to crowd surf. Unfortunately, the girls weren't quite able to hold him up and he almost fell to the floor. He was helped back to the stage. DIE almost broke the keyboard, at first trying to play with his head, and then with his feet. During the long outro, the band seemed like they would never stop. But nevertheless, they ended the live, and the bassist shouted out "thank you" as they left the stage.

The organizer came to the stage and said that there would be no encore and another band would play, but the real fans did not despair and loudly called Ra:IN to come back to the stage. After this, the musicians could not help but appear again. DIE, at full speed, jumped on a loudspeaker. The band asked whether they could be photographed with the audience, and receiving a positive answer, they sat on the stage with their backs to the crowd. The fans tried to get in the shot, gathering around the musicians as closely as possible.

As soon as the photo was taken, the positive and kind song WITHIN YOU started, and DIE and michiaki sang the lyrics together. They asked the crowd to join in, but unfortunately, not everyone knew the lyrics, so some phrases remained unsung. However, it did not stop the audience from jumping and waving their hands. During the bridge, michiaki shouted out "thank you," and the song unexpectedly ended. The audience tried to express their emotions, some of them even made heart signs with their hands. This seemed to touch the band and michiaki waved his cap in the air. The keyboard player decided to repeat the bassist's stage dive and jumped out into the crowd. He was immediately surrounded by fans, but guards helped him get out. Then, together with the drummer, they shook as many hands as they could before leaving the stage.

Having played less than hour and a half, Ra:IN still made everyone fall in love with them. These skilled, charismatic musicians showed us what the real rock stars should be. Certainly, everybody who was lucky enough to be there will remember this concert forever, and hopefully, their stories about this wonderful band will make them more popular worldwide.


Set list:

01. FREE
02. CRYING
03. METAL BOX
04. THRILL’N HIGH
05. Revival
06. Circle
07. Pshycogenic
08. Summer of Love

Encore:

WITHIN YOU