Dir en Grey Live 2011 Tour

 Dir en Grey was back in town this past weekend as part of their North American Tour, AGE AQUOS AGIS. I actually wasn't going to go to it, as I've skipped the past couple years. My friend, Bossu asked me if I wanted to go because he was going with his girlfriend and our mutual friend Chiyou! At first I was going to go..then I spent a bunch of money and decided not to...then ended up saying I would go again. I think I gave them a headache (>__<)".

From Left to Right: Die, Kaoru, Kyo, Toshiya, Shinya

Their newest album is Dum Spiro Spero (While I breathe, I Hope), and I found it a bit difficult to listen to. I didn't listen to it too much because I'm more of a casual fan of their group although I listened to their older music a lot. I really liked their Withering to Death and Uroboros albums, so I hoped their live performance of their new album would change my opinion.

Besides freezing outside the venue with my friends, and doors opening late, the venue was pretty good. Concert took place at the Pheonix Concert Theater on December 16. It was a general admission concert, so basically everyone was rushing to crowd to the front of the stage to see the band members up close and personal. I don't really like it when people get in my personal space, so we opted to hover near the middle of the venue where there were some tables and enough space to do some of our "furi" moves. Bossu was really keen on using our new found knowledge of furi at Diru! I understand little Japanese, so this is more of feeling the music through the vocals and music. I'm always impressed by Kyo's screaming, I don't know how he does it so well! Usually the lyrics are really deep poetic meanings and revolve around dark subjects and you can find translations of them on the internet.

The opening act was The Birthday Massacre, and they were pretty good. They're a local band from Toronto and sang about 7-8 songs before Diru came on stage. The band had great stage presence and their keyboardist really fascinated me, he was really into the music played a keytar! So I was trying to take pictures of him and Chiyou was laughing at me since I kept taking blurry pictures. I should have brought my other camera since it had better zoom!

Dir en Grey's stage set up, Shinya has just walked on stage.

 Diru's setlish was mostly comprised of their songs from Dum Spiro Spero, they did play Kodou (Heartbeat) but I wish they could have played some older songs.

Bossu and I had fun trying to do the 'furi' movements to their songs and I'll bet people thought we were odd, but since we were both doing it together with Yumi and Chiyou as backup it didn't look as ridiculous (^__~)"

Kyo (Vocalist). He has some amazing tattoos.

I ♥ Die (Guitar). He's my favorite band member!

Shinya on his drums.

 It was really hard to get decent pictures of the band members, because most of the light was focused on Kyo. I was trying my best to fiddle with the camera settings to get some good pictures because sometimes when I took pictures of Kyo he was glowing (o__o)!

I didn't even get a decent picture of Toshiya because he was hiding in the back in the dark most of the time. It was better to enjoy the concert and experience than to snap pictures.

Die...so close!!

When they came back out for the encore, Bossu told me if I went to the front along the side I could get some decent pictures. Since all the girls and guys were crowding the front of the stage, the side was pretty much open. So I stood there and took some pictures. To my amazement, Die came forward about 2 feet away from me and started a solo and all the girls started screaming and touching him. I stood there shell-shocked and by the time I got my camera's settings fixed I could only manage a couple shots.  I apologize that the photo isn't flattering to Die at all, he's so much more handsome than this!! (>__<)"

But it's ok!! It will forever be in my memory!! The other shot I got of him was of his bum and the back of his pants when he stood back up. LOL!

Here are some pictures from the encore performance.

Kaoru (guitar) when he came to the front of the stage.

Die ♥

 Overall, I'm glad I went to the concert. The songs all sounded better live and it was quite fun. It wasn't packed in the venue so you had area to walk around and head bang. The crowd wasn't as hard core since they didn't have a mosh pit this year (which my feet are thankful for). 

It's a bit hard for me to compare their old music to their new stuff. I am a fan of their older music but I'm still impressed this band has been together for so long. Maybe if I listen to more of their new album I might change my mind?

My favorite songs from Dir en Grey are:

-Ain't Afraid to Die

-Audrey

-The Final

-Drain Away

-Glass Skin

There's a bunch of other great songs by them, mostly from their Macabre and Withering to Death albums. Their singles Glass Skin and Dozing Green feature English lyrics! From this tour I bought a band t-shirt with the tour dates on the back and my friend Chiyou got a poster. I'll probably go to one of their concerts again, it's rare when a j-rock band comes to North America (^__^)"

I shall end this post with DeG's Ain't Afraid to Die (Live).

The performance and lyrics are so hauntingly beautiful, and Die has a great solo in it.

Until next time Diru ♥!