girugamesh's Tokyo Tour Final

On the evening of the 26th of June, quite a sizeable crowd dressed in girugamesh tour T-shirts could be spotted on the futuristic man-made island of Odaiba in Tokyo bay, as they were heading towards Zepp Tokyo for the final concert of girugamesh's 2011 world tour. Well inside the hall, the fans waited impatiently until finally the stage was lit up with strobe lights and the intro from the latest album Go started. The electro beat intro and the red and purple lighting effects made the venue seem like a night club, and during this the band quietly went out and grabbed their instruments, ready to start when the intro smoothly turned into the song destiny.

The band themselves looked cooler than ever, guitarist Nii having swopped his usual long, straight hair for rasta braids with white extensions and drummer Яyo showing off bright red extensions on one side of his head. The audience happily jumped and waved their hands in the air to the fast-paced songs, especially the third song sunrise which had a funky beat. A great deal of party feeling heated up the atmosphere considerably.

Singer Satoshi welcomed the audience to the venue and the band then launched into the popular evolution that had the fans shout "hey" and pump their fists in the air. The next song ALIVE started with a rap, and the whole song had a tougher sort of street feeling. Bassist ShuU did the MC during driving time and what he said was so humorous that if he would ever tire of doing music, he would easily be able to earn a living as a stand-up comedian.

The slow Inochi no ki followed and while the audience listened quietly to the song, they applauded loudly afterwards. Then all spotlights fell on Nii as he started COLOR with a guitar solo. Only a little later, ShuU was granted the same attention as his bass solo became the intro to CRAZY-FLAG. This old number that showed a bit girugamesh's old style received a warm response from the audience, who headbanged in unison to the heavy beat. The equally attitude-filled bit crash followed, at the end of which Nii, now wearing sunglasses, made funny poses and also got to talk a little as well as pull off another little guitar solo.

The fast-paced DIRTY STORY was an extremely powerful performance that left a strong impression and the fans who waved their hands and shouted "hey" clearly enjoyed themselves. The dance beat of MISSION CODE set the atmosphere to a club mood, and during this song all the members were properly introduced and got to show off a short solo each. Satoshi then introduced Never ending story, and the upbeat tune had the crowd dance in an unusually uncontrolled fashion that was atypical of Japanese fans. With a "thank you," Satoshi left the stage while the rest of the band only went off stage after doing a small instrumental session and striking some funny poses.

The audience had clearly not had enough of girugamesh yet though, and the loud chanting for an encore was emphasized by red light beams circling around over the crowd. The band soon appeared on stage again, and all members addressed the audience in turn. Яyo, after testing the obedience of the audience by having them shout not just "good evening" but also "good morning," spoke of the world tour and how touched he was by the concern about Japan shown by overseas fans. ShuU reminisced about the first time they went to Europe and played for several thousand people in Germany despite being just a small indie band in Japan. Nii joked about his new hairstyle and Satoshi introduced the latest single Pray that was written as a charity song for the benefit of the earthquake victims, but the audience clearly already knew the song and happily sang along.

The live version of arrow felt a little heavier than the CD version, and this was followed by the old shining where the heavy beat was counteracted by bright light effects in happy colours. The cool intro to Break Down was accentuated by strobe lights, and Satoshi showed a lot of attitude in the rap sections, only to change his singing style completely as the song suddenly veered into a light-hearted pop refrain. The band once again left the stage and the stage lights were turned off, but as the audience screamed for more the band members tip-toed out in the dark to be ready when the lights were turned back on for the very last song, Saikai. During this beautiful ballad, the music was stopped for a moment and Satoshi got to sing a few lines a cappella which he pulled off without using the microphone, impressing everybody with the strength of his voice. To the cheers of the audience, the band members waved and left the stage for good this time, Satoshi trailing behind and thanking the audience throughly before leaving.

girugamesh is getting harder and harder to define by genre. It seems like they have found a hitherto uninhabited little island somewhere in the vast ocean between light-hearted pop-rock, industrial metal and dance music and made it their own. What is sure, however, is that they know how to make a good show, making good use of light effects and playing with various styles, making sure everybody in the audience has a good time. A girugamesh concert is not for quiet listening — it is for dancing, jumping and having fun.



Set List:

01. destiny
02. EXIT
03. sunrise
04. evolution
05. ALIVE
06. Calling
07. driving time
08. Inochi no ki
09. Mienai kyori
10. COLOR
11. Endless wing
12. CRAZY-FLAG
13. bit crash
14. DIRTY STORY
15. MISSION CODE
16. Never ending story

Encore 1:
EN1. pray
EN2. arrow
EN3. shining
EN4. Break Down

Encore 2:
EN5. Saikai