LUNA SEA's Reboot in Taipei

Eleven years. That's the amount of time Taiwanese fans have waited for LUNA SEA to return to the place the band call their "second home." Indeed, Taiwan was the first stop of their first Asian tour back in 1999. Hence the near sold-out show, since just a handful of tickets were still available. And, above all was the fans' excitement, some of them camped outside the Nangang Exhibition Center the evening before despite that night being one of the year's coldest.

The organization was very good, which seems to be fairly typical with this venue. But the most striking thing was the fans' behavior. According to some fan accounts, they were helping each other during the concert, notably when someone couldn't see the stage for instance. Tonight, they definitely had a great concert etiquette, and it should happen this way more often.

After many minutes of waiting inside the venue, a few piano notes started playing and the atmosphere suddenly got intense. Finally, the lights faded out, replaced by a simple yet impressive lighting for the first song, LOVELESS. The crowd's response to the song and the band's appearance on stage was massive and visually, it was terribly amazing to see all hands waving and LUNA SEA's huge charisma.

From G and its thrilling play of lights to Providence, mesmerizing with its peculiar atmosphere, INORAN's acoustic guitar and SUGIZO's marvelous violin introduction, the whole set list was a real treat to fans. Thumbs up to the drums and bass solo which had quite a weird start but ended up being really astonishing. Shinya and J played a great role in heating up the fans more than they were at the very start of the show by delivering a very good performance and communicating with overexcited SLAVES (fans of LUNA SEA), evidence of that being the heavily shaking floor during the performance.

But the atmosphere really exploded with hits such as Storm, Desire and Rosier. The band threw water bottles to the audience, RYUICHI let them sing some lines, SUGIZO was spinning around and J did his now traditional microphone stand throwing. The fans were really into it and, more surprisingly, the usually so motionless press area was also clapping and chanting at some moments.

After an exciting Tonight, the members left their fans, whose calls for the encore did not come immediately. The emotion in the hall was quite high and it increased even more when each member came back onstage for the last three songs. First was the highly moving I for You, which probably made a lot of fans cry. Then came Shine, specially performed for this concert and during which every member of the audience waved their hands. And finally, an over-energized Wish, during which we could witness one of the many moments of synergy between the members and their genuine interaction with a public they had not seen for ages.

The song ended, and everyone left the stage except J and SUGIZO, the latter taking pictures of the audience. But everyone came back onstage, and RYUICHI thanked the audience for coming. Then everyone on stage and in the crowd joined hands and jumped together. However, after that, they remained for some time on stage, as if they didn't want to leave. Finally, SUGIZO was the last one staying with the fans, and taking the microphone, he thanked the audience once again and bowed, which seemed to have surprised many people. He left as some melancholic piano notes drifted through the hall.

If this concert had to be summed up in one word, it would be: mind-blowing. Totally. Fans obviously liked it but even non-fans could be emotionally involved in this concert and enjoy the show. And seeing the mass of fans signing or leaving a message to the band on a banner, or taking pictures of themselves in front of the stage to keep a souvenir of this night, the response to tonight's show was highly positive. However, Taipei fans are definitely not planning to stand by waiting for eleven more years to see LUNA SEA again and are already anticipating their return to their second home.


Set list:

1. LOVELESS
2. Dejavu
3. G.
4. END OF SORROW
5. TRUE BLUE
6. FACE TO FACE
7. gravity
8. RA-SE-N
9. Providence
10. GENESIS OF MIND
11. Drums & Bass Solo
12. FATE
13. STORM
14. DESIRE
15. TIME IS DEAD
16. ROSIER
17. TONIGHT

Encore

18. I for You
19. SHINE
20. WISH