The future major band embarked on one very last Indies Tour with two sold-out dates in Taipei, Taiwan.
Before making their major debut this summer, D=OUT members held two shows in Taipei. There was a large crowd of young teenage girls on that night and most of them were dressed up with pink or red wigs, lolita dresses or... Pikachu costumes.
And they were really excited even before the start: the last minute soundcheck in Pachelbel's Canon, played as background music, already provoked squealing from fangirls. And the very first notes of Seien no hekireku increased the sound level even more as each member arrived on stage one by one, climbed on the platform and teased the audience.
The "party" started with CARNIVAL Ukiyo, during which they danced all together. The audience really knew all the moves for all the songs and headbanged, or rather whipped their hair back and forth, so that the general picture was impressive and slightly scary at the same time. And what to say about the numerous times they squealed during the concert, especially during Taion when Hikaru the guitarist suddenly meowed.
Performance-wise, however, the first half was not that great and sounded more like a warm-up. KOUKI's voice went off-key a few times, especially during Satellite TV, and though they made the effort of speaking a little bit of Chinese, they felt a bit distant, first and above all, image controlling. A few hand mirrors were placed on the audio amplifiers and a few members did not hesitate to check their make-up and hairstyle in between songs. No comment.
However, the second half was way more rock-ish and entertaining. Noraneko to♪ was really enjoyable, as well as BAR yuugure. The members seemed to relax, looking more natural and getting closer to the fans. KOUKI did not even hesitate to mingle with the crowd. SUNRISE and DANCE NUMBER were probably the best live performances on that evening with the audience hopping from the left to the right and vice versa, as well as chanting the lyrics.
After they left the stage for a few minutes, they treated the fans with a very long encore, including three songs, a well-performed drum and bass solo, and a kind of fanmeeting when they just talked with the audience, telling a few jokes and playing some little games. Reika even did a so called strip-tease where he only showed his belly, which was more funny than genuinely sexy. This "fanmeeting" was really long yet it was a pretty funny and nice moment that emphasized the communication between the artists and the fans. To please the Taiwanese crowd even more , they tried to communicate in Mandarin — but failed most of the time, and for the encore, instead of wearing the tour's T-shirt they wore very cute "I Love Taiwan" shirts.
D=OUT really wanted to spoil the fans. The concert lasted for almost two-and-a-half hours, and the fans genuinely enjoyed it. It is a shame that the performance level was a bit unbalanced as the second part was more pleasant than the first one. Too bad because this band is actually quite talented and the news about their major debut is actually not really surprising. We wish them all the best for their future.
Setlist:
Intro - Seiten no Hekireki
01. CARNIVAL Ukiyo
02. Flashback
03. Goku
04. Satellite TV
05. Psychedelico∞Psychedelico
06. Mr. JAP
07. Kannou Robot
08. Taion
09. Noraneko to♪
10. BAR yuugure
11. Shisei‐tattoo‐
12. SUNRISE
13. DANCE NUMBER
14. Hanasaki Beauty
Encore
Drum & Bass solo
15. Tachikaze yokochou
16. Japanese Dogeza
17. ONE
