VAMPS invaded Paris last October and JaME was there to cover their show.
On the frigid fall day of October 16th, 2010, J-music enthusiasts made their way to l'Espace Grande Arche, an architectural marvel located within the famous Parisian business district of La Défense. The promise of witnessing a contender for “best concert of the year” was the only reason they faced the glacial winds that day, although seeing what kind of rock concert could be pulled off in such an interesting location surely piqued their curiosity enough to help too. While the brave soldiers who lined up outside the venue early undoubtedly got excellent spots, tardy people also had an advantage this time as they were able to avoid freezing in the queue by simply walking right into the warm venue.
Regardless of arrival time, all ticket holders wound up in the basement, aligned in front of one of two doors which lead to either the floor or the bleachers. After about an hour’s worth of delays, the doors finally opened and the fans poured into the concert hall to see what awaited them: a huge stage covered in gothic accessories and the band’s infamous “vampire mouth” banner. The room itself was quite oddly designed, but it quickly became evident why: regardless of where you stood on the floor, you had a near-flawless view of the stage.
Roughly 10 minutes later, PLUG IN boomed through the speakers and the band’s session musicians jumped on stage one at a time before making way for KAZ and HYDE, the latter’s shirt already wide open. In the blink of an eye, the band kicked things into high gear with DEVIL SIDE, a song that proves HYDE’s vocals still rock, even if some fear an eventual repetition of the Budokan live 666 performance from years back. Luckily, his vocal prowess shone not only on this song, but throughout the entire show. Shortly afterwards, REDRUM and DOLLY were played back-to-back, setting the venue ablaze with their high octane energy and accompanying light show, which in turn accentuated the dark mood set by our beloved vampires.
A carefree HYDE then asked the crowd to help him “make love” with the next set of songs: THE PAST, GET UP, MEMORIES and the always excellent PIANO DUET. While this quartet of songs were played well and sounded great, their slow pace acted as an anesthetic and the once-frenzied crowd began falling asleep. Quick to remedy the situation, the boys launched into IT’S SAD and woke everyone up, breaking the monotony and rejuvenating the audience. HYDE and KAZ’s stage antics certainly got everyone’s blood flowing as they ran back and forth between stage extremities. The crowd ate it up with fervor, especially during the short-but-oh-so-sweet guitar solo.
VAMP ADDICTION came next, a true fan favorite if their ever was one, but the true surprise came afterwards as two VAMPS diamonds were performed back to back: SAMSARA and MY FIRST LAST. SAMSARA is a soft instrumental piece comprising tribal sounds and it was quite hypnotic to hear a longer version played live. Slowly but surely, they begin creeping into MY FIRST LAST, the transition giving the song a mystical vibe that could only be explained as pure auditory bliss. The whole room remained quiet, our souls most probably transported to some other plane of existence.
EUPHORIA came next, which was a little underwhelming live, followed by an interesting turn of events: HYDE announced that he was hungry… for French people! “Who should I eat?” he asked. It goes without saying that the number of volunteers was quite high. With that, they jumped into HUNTING, which was completely insane live and much longer than the album version. The crowd went crazy as it jumped every which way while shouting “Hi ho, let’s hunt!” with the band. HYDE made his way to the left side of stage like some sort of human tidal wave, picking up all sorts of goodies from the crowd on his way there. Among said items was a teddy bear, a gift he poked and prodded throughout the duration of the song. Ju-Ken, the bassist, received a different kind of gift from a fan: red panties! He proudly wore them around his neck for the entirety of ANGEL TRIP, which kept the craziness going. HYDE, in the meantime, completely removed his shirt and, as the song died down, made the crowd scream for TROUBLE. This electro-rock number was yet another energy bomb meant to keep the party going, its looped rhythms making everyone dance and sing.
It was at this time that the crowd was held in suspense, waiting to see what was coming next. While the most informed fans knew the set list upfront, most were unsure what to expect. A few choices came to mind, but few expected the Beatles classic Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds to come up. Fan reaction was a mixed bag, since having it follow up great, energetic pieces felt like an odd choice. Luckily, they followed up with SEX BLOOD ROCK N’ ROLL and the crowd sang along. The street teams had told fans that HYDE was going to let them sing the song’s verses and, unsurprisingly, everyone participated! The experience was mesmerizing! Shortly afterwards, the boys left the stage to prepare for the encore.
LOVE ADDICT was the first song upon their return, making everyone flash back to 2008 when they were first introduced to the single. Next up was the always-effective REVOLUTION. The crowd stomped and sang in rhythm; it was a great sight! Finally, MIDNIGHT CELEBRATION closed off the near 2 hour show with HYDE singing sans-guitar to interact with those lucky enough to be near the stage.
The show was a complete success and definitely lived up to “concert of the year” expectations, thanks to its fantastic lighting and clear-as-a-bell sound. KAZ was a little quiet compared to the excitable Ju-Ken, but he can’t win them all! In conclusion, the band was full of its usual charm and offered fans a high quality show that demonstrated why these guys are meant to play live and own the stage. Here’s hoping for another concert soon!
Set List:
SE - PLUG IN
01 - DEVIL SIDE
02 - REDRUM
03 - DOLLY
-MC-
04 - THE PAST
05 - GET UP
06 - MEMORIES
07 - PIANO DUET
08 - IT’S SAD
09 - VAMP ADDICTION
10 - SAMSARA
11 - MY FIRST LAST
12 - EUPHORIA
-MC-
13 - HUNTING
14 - ANGEL TRIP
15 - TROUBLE
16 - Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds
17 - SEX BLOOD ROCK N’ROLL
ENCORE
18 - LOVE ADDICT
19 - REVOLUTION
20 - MIDNIGHT CELEBRATION
