hide FILM ALIVE!! hide Memorial Stage 1

A common phenomenon in La Cittadella, Kawasaki, the streets were packed with hide cosplayers waiting to file into Club Citta on May 2. Some lined up for the hide plushie UFO catcher, while others caught up with friends last seen at the most recent gathering for hide’s birthday in December 2010.

Inside the venue, the walls were decorated with two massive images of hide, long red hair vivid against the stark walls opposite the almost black and white image of the short haired rock star leaning forward in a chair. The stage was in fact a screen, waiting to be graced with nostalgic footage of hide’s solo tours.

The video began with a dance beat and sounds of cheering, the live crowd raising their voices, perhaps in tandem with their younger selves. Far from expectations, a bizarre character looking like a super-sized Charlie Chaplin and sporting the voice of Jabba the Hutt appeared, reading from a script. He then introduced the members one by one as “RAN, I.N.A., JOE D.I.E., CHIROLYN and PATA.” On the screens, hide could be seen in a booth, preparing to make his entrance. Meanwhile, gypsy carnival music set the scene, the crowd shrieking in response to hide’s imminent appearance. Suddenly, guitar flared into life and the massive caricature’s head flew off to reveal none other than hide himself. DOUBT lit the fire, live crowd as involved as those on screen, bringing the 2D footage into 4D realism. And hide went wild. His charisma burned through time and space as he scolded the crowd for dragging him into the pit or played around with a dummy, its face constructed with hiragana characters.

SCANNER, with its psychedelic performance, had the crowd screaming. Footage of the band scrolled by, PATA suddenly appearing among them as he played out a guitar solo, immense, curly hair draped about him whilst D.I.E. flipped off the camera. Foremost in the hearts of the fans, hide could be seen breakdancing like a broken puppet. Lighting pulled the live crowd into the video, all hands raised in the air and eyes glued to the screen/stage. OBLAAT sent hide down the wings of various venues, singing up to the overheard camera in some footage or playing out to the crowd in others. Two images dominated the scene, one of the frontman in a long black robe, another of him toting a yellow umbrella with which he attacked PATA on one occasion. In one memorable shot, he assaulted the camera. Blow up dolls were dragged onto the stage, a policeman’s hat jammed onto PATA’s head with hide’s thumbs raised in the air in approval, and RAN went to town kicking onstage lamps, camera et all. Tossing a massive blow-up dinosaur into the crowd, hide scaled the scaffolding. On another occasion, CHIROLYN bounced about on a bungee chord. The complete and utter mayhem of the various performances all made one thing clear. These guys were true rock stars and hide was always at the heart of it all.

Complete with go-go dancers, BLUE SKY COMPLEX had pockets of the live crowd headbanging away to the super awesome opening riff, hide tearing up the solo on his huge hot pink guitar. Live cheering led into FROZEN BUG ‘93, D.I.E. and I.N.A. smacking metal rods in typical random army fashion. While featuring some entertaining stunts such as a chameleon suit and a shot of streamers bursting out over the crowd, the footage particularly zeroed in on hide’s eyes. Commenting on evolution with caterpillars and butterflies, it was hide’s eyes that spoke volumes about what he saw in humanity throughout the wild, heavy number. Then came HONEY BLADE slipping into JOE’s drum solo and then the continuation of the number. hide’s creepy voice-over rolled on above repetitive guitar chords. Club Citta was washed in red and pink, the crowd pumping their arms to heavy guitar. When JOE took the spotlight, the live crowd shouted out to him as if he were truly in the house. Throughout the solo, he exhibited incredible control even when going hell for leather or twirling and throwing sticks between speedy strikes. Then HONEY BLADE returned, a bride floating above hide as he desperately tried to grab at her skirts and hold on to her fading memory.

With a bee-like robotic twang, hide cutely sang “50% & 50%,” doing the Charleston around PATA during one memorable guitar solo. He spared a kiss for KIYOSHI, a kiss for the crowd and… “And you?” a kiss for the camera. In contrast to the fun atmosphere, a pretty piano entry heralded EYES LOVE YOU as the crowd screamed for their idol. Singing deeply and dramatically somewhere between opera-style and an Elvis impression, hide shot off little finger-gun shots about the place, aiming several at his own face and one down the gullet. Steadily the number grew heavier and a wicked guitar solo rocked both video and live viewers. “Welcome to hide’s room,” the star intoned, kicking off D.O.D. and rambling on over the addictive rhythm, crowds clapping away. hide’s fanatical yelling eventually gave way to bass and the lyrics “Drink or die,” took over the scene, crowds yelling out the latter half. Funky to the bone, the number once more scrolled through footage of utter chaos until it sped up first to triple time, then to quadruple, and then even faster, ending in thrilled cheers.

“Hey, thanks.” The live crowd cheered, knowing the sentiment was meant for them as well. “Thank you all for coming.” hide went on to thank individual contributors. “This is the last song,” he said, though that was true only for that filmed occasion. “TELL ME.” Unexpectedly, coloured streamers exploded over Club Citta, blanketing the crowd to be held up like sparkly pom poms and shaken towards the screen. All hands flashed towards the screen, hide visible in a tartan beret to match his sweet, hippie guitar design. The rock star led a pair of children onstage. “They’re not mine, they’re just cute. So I brought them up. With a bed prepped, hide tucked the children in. “I didn’t prepare the bed with this in mind,” he assured the crowd to a chorus of giggles. “Who am I?” he asked the kids. “hide? Who am I?” “hide,” answered one boy. “What do you think of me?” hide asked. “I think you’re good,” replied the adorable child to wild approval.

PATA kicked off the celebrations for none other than CELEBRATION, balloons falling onscreen. hide danced about, singing into a megaphone, more go-go dancers swamping various stages. Whilst hide tossed champagne everywhere, PATA somehow seemed to be in attendance of a Satanic church in that voluminous black robe despite the hilarity about him. “Man, you guys are cool,” hide praised the fans. “The crowd up there,” (the go-go dancers) “and the crowd down there.” Next, DICE scrolled endlessly through various footage, culminating in a huge cheer both onscreen and off. Then, like a rock fanfare, the extended guitar intro to PSYCHOMMUNITY rocked viewers in person, and for years to come on video, not to mention those gathered at Club Citta for the 2011 memorial event.

“RAN, CHIROLYN, JOE, I.N.A., D.I.E., PATA… Good job,” hide said by way of thanks. “Thank you all. Thanks to the staff, too. Bye bye.” The screen went blank and the crowd cheered.

Without wasting any time, they were treated to an encore, balloons falling over their heads and distributed about to be waved at the PV of ever free. Tossed about among the crowd, the balloons created shadows on the projection that somehow seemed to turn the video into a living celebration. Then, as the crowd screamed for their beloved hide, a video reel of Rock Musical "PINK SPIDER" hit the screen which then rose, revealing none other than defspiral.

“Hey, Kawasaki!” called vocalist TAKA. The band then graced the fans with a live rendition of PINK SPIDER defspiral style, nice and heavy. Out danced a cast member from the musical. Even in the rock number atmosphere, he took on his spidery persona, breakdancing about the band while TAKA riled up the crowd through a sick riff. “Hey, Kawasaki! You having fun? We’re defspiral.” The vocalist then introduced the rock musical and out came the cast themselves.

“Well Club Citta, shall we break out Rock Musical "PINK SPIDER"?” TAKA suggested, receiving a huge chorus of yells in reply.

The ecstatic audience danced around to ROCKET DIVE along with the cast, one limber member executing back flips across the stage. Outputting 200% energy, the cast showed any first-timers just what Rock Musical "PINK SPIDER" is all about, Hitomi Takahashi closing in on the audience and breaking down the fourth wall usually present during the musical. Meanwhile, TAKA sang on in full defspiral fashion. “Thank you!” he cried as the cast made their exit. “Thank you, Kawasaki! Thank you hide!”

Onscreen, “Thanxx” appeared as a message from hide.

u>Set List:
01. DOUBT
02. SCANNER
03. OBLAAT
04. BLUE SKY COMPLEX
05. FROZEN BUG ‘93
06. HONEY BLADE ~ Drum Solo ~ HONEY BLADE
07. 50% & 50%
08. EYES LOVE YOU
09. D.O.D.
10. TELL ME
11. CELEBRATION
12. DICE
13. PSYCHOMMUNITY

Encore
01. ever free (PV)
02. PINK SPIDER (defspiral)
03. ROCKET DIVE (Rock Musical "PINK SPIDER")