IN-DEPTH LIVE REPORT: the GazettE in New York City

At long last, after 14 years of activity, the GazettE has performed in the United States. As part of their WORLD TOUR16 DOGMATIC -TROIS-, the 7th movement of their PROJECT:DARK AGE, the distinguished Japanese rock band made four stops in the States. VKH Press was on the scene covering every aspect of their momentous debut appearance in New York City at the Playstation Theater in Manhattan, and we are proud to present this special in-depth live report. Read on to experience the GazettE's first-ever show in the Big Apple from both inside and outside the pit!

Special thanks to fellow reviewer Shane Chandler and site owner Winona Peace for taking notes and providing me with additional perspectives for this article.

the GazettE may be more popular in Japan than in the U.S., but the dedication of the American Sixth Guns was clear. Fans from all over the country began lining up as soon as the Playstation Theater permitted them to at 8 AM on the day of the concert, more than 12 hours ahead of show time. Inside the VIP line, it was clear that everyone here was beyond excited that their favorite band was finally...finally coming to the U.S. to perform. One of the most noticeable things about the fans in line was their fashion. While there were a few cosplays here and there, the majority of fans were wearing their own unique arrangement of GazettE merch, Rad Market or Blackmoral clothing, and/or GazettE-themed makeup. Rather than directly mimicking their idols, the fans had found ways to integrate the GazettE's fashion into their own personal outfits. More than most bands, the GazettE have created their own style for their fans to incorporate into their own images.

Inside the venue, the excitement was palpable. Although the venue wasn't sold out (this leg of the tour had not been heavily promoted), it was comfortably packed, and the crowd of around 2000 felt like a pleasant, intimate gathering of GazettE fans looking forward to seeing this influential band perform live for the first time. The drums on stage displayed the band's Scandal Ring, the key symbol representing the GazettE's PROJECT:DARK AGE, the darkest and heaviest musical era that the band has pursued to date.

As the lights finally dimmed, the epic intro to "NIHIL" kicked in. The heavy, sludgy electronic noises of the track hit the stage hard and the audience went wild as fog soon crept across it. It's worth noting that this track plays very well for an electronic track in a live rock venue. The band members walked out and took their positions smoothly and coolly as if the sole purpose of each member was to utterly dominate the area of the stage they occupied. Last out was vocalist RUKI, who followed the haunting chimes of the intro to "DOGMA" with an absolutely savage growl that kicked off the concert. As polarizing as it is among fans, "DOGMA" is amazing live. The band's theatrics were hauntingly intense, the instrumentation and vocals were crisp and clear, and the ominously grandiose atmosphere of the song froze the entire audience in awe. From the moment the band started playing, it was perfectly clear that the vocalist RUKI, guitarists URUHA and AOI, bassist REITA, and drummer KAI were all experienced showmen that knew how to work together to absolutely dominate the atmosphere of a live performance. Equally striking was the fidelity of their sound - the GazettE sounds almost exactly the same live as they do on their recorded tracks. "DOGMA" built up anticipation before shattering into chaos during its scream- and falsetto-filled breakdown. By the time the song transitioned into its haunting outro, the GazettE had the undivided attention of everyone present.

The band immediately transitioned into "RAGE". RUKI yelled "Hello, New York!" in English to the audience and was greeted by a roaring response from the pit. This song is one of the weaker tracks on the band's latest album DOGMA, but when played live, it does an excellent job of heightening the energy of the crowd. Those of you who are familiar with the GazettE's recent live performances can consider it to be the metal equivalent of "Sludgy Cult" (off the band's 2011 album TOXIC), another track that doesn't hold up very well as a recorded track but is frequently used at performances thanks to its tremendous live energy. The intensity of "RAGE" inspired a few individuals to attempt to form a mosh pit, but the rest of the crowd simply wasn't having it this early in the concert. This was the GazettE's first time in New York City, and the audience wanted to see as much of the band's on-stage theatrics as possible – at least for the first half of the live. Additionally, as with many visual kei bands' live performances, it's fairly well known that the focus of the live is primarily the stage (as opposed to most U.S. hard rock/metal performances, which focus more on the mosh pit and other fan activity), at least until the band starts playing its most energetic and heavy songs.

Next up was "Vortex", a favorite of many U.S. fans. RUKI screamed "Let's jump New York!", as the band broke into the track's energetic introduction. RUKI would address the audience in English as "New York" often throughout the night, causing cheers from the crowd each time. This song got the already frenzied crowd jumping in time to its unique drum rhythms, and served as a nice transition out of "RAGE". The fans all sang the English ending of the chorus in unison when prompted by RUKI: "I don't wanna becoming the f**cking garbage like you!". The band rewarded their efforts by rocking out hard to the song's strong punk and electronic influences during the bridge. "Vortex" kept the energy of the live high while preventing the overall feeling of the concert from getting too heavy or dark. I would find out later that this strategy, which was used throughout the live, would end up paying off for the GazettE in the form of impressed newcomers who were intrigued by the band's wide musical range. The band struck a nice balance of intense sounds from PROJECT:DARK AGE and a variety of sounds from previous albums early on in the performance, showing that the band's new direction to the next era. I'll touch more on this later.

Following "Vortex" was the first MC session with the audience. The lights came on and the band members relaxed a bit as RUKI made formal introductions to the audience. "Hello New York!" he said, "We are GazettE, from Japan. Having a f**king good time? You ready? Come on!" URUHA then began to play the telltale guitar riff intro to the rocking and sexy "Fadeless". This song introduced the GazettE's highly-acclaimed melodic sound to the New York audience. Swaying hypnotically back and forth, RUKI energized the entire audience into jumping and dancing to the grooving sound of the song. The stage turned red for URUHA'S guitar solo, and the band members' swaying and playing during the beautiful bridge created a classic "the GazettE" moment of melodic bliss for the audience. REITA'S groovy bass ending to "FADELESS" was immediately followed by the pounding beat and the autotune lyrics of an unexpected track: "PAIN, GRUDGE, SORRY, FURY, DELETE, HEADACHE, HANG UP, DIZZY". That's right, the next track was "Venomous Spider's Web"– a fan favorite from the TOXIC album that everyone appreciated. The punk sound that this track is built on really resonated with the audience, and its sensual undertones were turned into overtones by RUKI, as he suggestively twisted and turned throughout the verses. Many fans never expected to see this song at the GazettE's first live in New York City, and were pleasantly surprised to be able to jump and dance to the rock/electronica blended song just like they had done when they first heard the track.

the GazettE's live performance "BIZARRE" was a stunning, show-stopping spectacle. Blinding white strobe lights flashed in time to the song's deep, pounding synth notes, and RUKI used a variety of vigorous, intricate, and flowing hand motions as he sang the clean tenor lyrics. The heavy, scream-filled parts of the song struck an even harsher blow live than on the track, and all the band members worked together to make the performance absolutely epic. AOI, who throughout the entire show could be seen making a variety of flowing and twirling movements as he played his guitar, seemed to move almost in slow motion during this song. It was clear from the lighting and energy that the live performance of "BIZARRE" was inspired by the GazettE's past performances of "13STAIRS[-1]" (from the 2009 album DIM), but the rapidly shifting energy and deep synth notes that power the track created what could be described as a remixed version of that type of performance. The highlight was at the middle of the song, when RUKI knelt down on the platform and leaned over as close to the ground as possible before singing the lyrics, accompanied by nothing besides the same pounding synth notes from the beginning of the song. A red light shone behind him, creating a perfect silhouette of his bowed-over form. This was one of the most dramatic and epic moments of the concert. The elegant intensity with which the GazettE performs is like no other band I've seen live.

After a brief interlude, a remixed version of the dubstep backing "DRIPPING INSANITY" kicked in, followed by the song itself. This slightly slower song off of the band's 2012 album DIVISION was actually one of the highlights of the concert. It fit perfectly in the set list thanks to its fairly heavy sound in spite of it being more of a ballad-esque song, and is absolutely gorgeous live. Its sound was heavy enough to fit the harder theme of the GazettE's DOGMATIC -TROIS- tour, but still light enough to serve as a soothing interlude that slowed down the pace of the live. The chorus, which was laced with female backing vocals, portrayed the melodic side of the GazettE at its finest, something that many in the audience were experiencing for the first time. I found myself closing my eyes during the choruses and swaying back and forth to the elegance of RUKI's singing voice. The singer himself seemed quite caught up in the atmosphere of the song as he danced and swayed; at one point seemingly in a trance, he sucked on his middle finger before stabbing his tattooed forearm with it and writhing in pleasure, as though he was injecting himself with the drug that is this band's music. The screams in the bridge were even stronger than the GazettE's performances of this song during their DIVISION era thanks to RUKI's revamped vocals, and URUHA flirted especially hard with the crowd as he followed with a gorgeous guitar solo. The overall crispness of the song was stunning, and this high-fidelity live sound took the atmosphere to a whole new level.

If "BIZARRE" and "DRIPPING INSANITY" were some of the concert's highlights, then "OMINOUS" was its crowning gem. The stage went dark before becoming awash in a dreary red light that still hid the band members' faces from sight. RUKI held a lamp on a chain (and then, of course, licked it), and as the industrial sounds and piano notes of the track's intro played he began to sing, "Sleep, count me down again..."  AOI and URUHA stepped up to their acoustic guitars for a beautiful duet that continued to add to beautifully somber atmosphere. The song built in intensity before hitting the chorus, which melted the hearts of the entire audience. Many consider "OMINOUS" to be the best track on DOGMA, but when performed live, this song is on a completely different level from anything that I've ever seen live. Subdued blue and yellow lights were used to create an almost dream-like effect, as if the band were mere figments of the audience's imagination that had drifted on stage. Watching the live performance of this track actually brought me to tears, and after seeing it live it's clear to me that "OMINOUS" will be one of the most memorable tracks from the GazettE's PROJECT:DARK AGE era. I expect to see it reappear in future performances to be played as one of the bands latest and greatest hits.

After vanishing to black at the end of "OMINOUS" the band reappeared in more dim lighting as the prelude music to "THE SUICIDE CIRCUS" started to play. RUKI shouted, "Hello New York! Come on, come on, come on!", before starting to sing the intro. Right before the pounding intro kicked in, he shouted "Sing it!", and the audience yelled "Suicide Circus!" as the electronic beat dropped and the guitars burst into effect. This song roused the crowd from their trance and got everyone jumping once again. The flashing lights contrasted between red and green, which played tricks on the eye and added a visual fervor on top of the bouncing intensity of the music. "THE SUICIDE CIRCUS" is actually one of my favorite songs by the GazettE, and if you've been following the bands' live DVD performances, you've probably seen how versatile this song can be in the band's setlist. In our case, it served as a great transition out of the stupor induced by "OMINOUS" back to a more energized middle ground. The venue lit up during the climactic choruses of the song to reveal to the band the audience jumping frenetically and singing along to the track. It was a great moment where the theatrics could be abandoned for a direct emotional connection between the band and fans.

The next MC session between RUKI and the crowd was even warmer than the first. The vocalist exclaimed, "You guys are awesome! You guys are crazy!" – it was clear that he was enjoying the generous amount of energy that western crowds generated with ease. RUKI and KAI then challenged each of the different sections to scream as hard as they could (“Whats up people? In the back! Back! Front! Front! Side! Side!”, each exclamation punched by a drum beat). RUKI finally screamed "Are you ready?!" and the band kicked off their next song, "DERANGMENT". RUKI showed off his swag by dancing fluidly to the electronic sounds in the introduction–for those of you who have never seen the GazettE's live performances, RUKI is essentially the embodiment of swagger and sass. It was fascinating to see URUHA, AOI, and REITA alternate so fluidly between gracefully twirling alongside RUKI's clean vocals and savagely headbanging in time to RUKI's rough growls and the song's electronic squeals. In spite of all their theatrics, the instrumentalists hit every chord perfectly. The green and blue lights created a psychedelic mood, and  all of the lights flashed in full effect during the breakdowns in the verses.  URUHA gave a passionate guitar solo after the first chorus, cutting an impressive figure under the effect of the spotlight and the strobe lights around him. RUKI blew kisses to the crowd. A guitar battle between URUHA and AOI developed on the right, while REITA entertained the crowd along with RUKI on the left. Many of us attending the concert were big fans of the electronic/hard rock music found on the GazettE's TOXIC and DIVISION albums, and we were pleasantly surprised at how many of those songs we got to witness at this concert.

By the time "DERANGEMENT" ended, the energy in the venue was even higher than before the slower songs had started. RUKI thrived off of this energy, and whipped the crowd into a frenzy with another call-and-response. It started in English, but then RUKI switched to the rallying cry. Each phrase was punctuated by URUHA, AOI, and REITA strumming a short, harsh chord on their instruments as KAI hit and then immediately muted a cymbal, all done in time with the crowd's roaring response.

"Ikukai?! (Ready to go?!)" Crash! "Ikukai?! (Ready to go?!)" Crash! "Ikukai?! (Ready to go?!)" Crash!  "Ikukai?! (Ready to go?!)" Crash! "KAKATTEKOI!! (LET'S GO!!)" Craaaaash!

The stunt proved to be just as effective on this audience as those in Japan, and it sent chills down the spines of those of us who follow the GazettE and have always wanted to see this live. Before the noise from the crowd even died down, the band dove head-first into "UGLY", the heaviest, craziest song of the night. The crowd went nuts; some members were jumping in time to the beat, some were head banging, and quite a few whipped up a mosh pit in the back (it was a much more appropriate atmosphere at this point in the concert), but everyone was moving. During the solo, URUHA hopped up on the platform stage to shred away, but KAI's double bass drumming was so loud that it completely drowned everything else out. It was clear that the band was still working out the kinks of performing something this savagely heavy live, but then again, so has every metal band since the genre's inception. This was also one of the points in the concert where I wish the crowd had been a bit more educated on the different movements common at the GazettE concerts; in Japan, there are very clear points in this song where the crowd members viciously head bang in unison (it's even shown in the music video). Everyone seemed eager to express themselves, but the crowd as a whole was unable to do it as a group effort beyond yelling. It's certainly to be expected given how few visual bands even make it state-side, but in time it would be nice to see from crowds at future visual kei concerts.

After the dust settled from "UGLY", the lights dimmed for the dark-ambient intro to "UNDYING". RUKI lead the charge into the song with a massive scream, and the song's aggressively energetic sound filled the venue as bright white strobe lights flashed. "UNDYING" is one of those tracks where it's hard to tell if the GazettE originally intended to write a ballad or a heavier track when they first started composing it. The song is decidedly heavy, and yet the chorus ties all of the vicious metalcore and gothic metal sounds together with a melodic atmosphere that makes you want to stop headbanging so you can take it all in. Because this track was so new (the UNDYING single had only been released two days prior), there didn't seem to be a large amount of interest in this song from the crowd, but the grand spectacle of the band's performance of "UNDYING" captured the audience's attention. RUKI yelled "Thank you so much New York!" as the song concluded.

"UNDYING" served as an epic way to end the main set...or it would have, but then RUKI yelled "Last song!" There was one more track. As AOI started playing an acoustic Spanish guitar riff accompanied by female R&B vocals, the fans began to scream–the final track was none other than the GazettE's defining fan-favorite "Filth in the Beauty"! As the introductory female vocals reached a climax, RUKI bellowed an intense growl, and the catchy-yet-heavy power chords of the hook kicked in. At the same time, the stage lights brightly lit up the traditional the GazettE logo, and the spectacle drove the fans into a frenzy. "Filth in the Beauty" is what got many U.S. fans into the GazettE (myself included), and its marriage of melodic and hard rock sounds set to a backdrop of a non-rock genre (in this case R&B) essentially sums up the GazettE's core style in just over 4 minutes. To finally see this track played live was a dream come true for most of the fans in the audience.

RUKI tried to get the fans to sing along to the first verse in Japanese, but most of the U.S. fans didn't know the Japanese lyrics, so he gave up and sang it for the crowd instead. Then, throughout the rest of the song he gave fans the chance to sing the English lyrics. The fans joined in and carried the song perfectly, and it was clear from his amused and happy facial expressions that RUKI was quite impressed. (I wonder if this is something he'll remember when writing lyrics in the future?) It was definitely a high point of the show for fans to see the band members perform their famous synchronized head-banging/head-rolling during the breakdown for "Filth in the Beauty". RUKI unfortunately did not participate due to the wide-brimmed hat he was wearing. During the last chorus, RUKI bathed himself in the fans' voices with his hands outspread. He didn't need to sing anymore (the fans had that covered), so he simply grooved to the song and listened to the voices of fans who had waited so many years to see the band live. As the song ended, RUKI screamed, "Thank you! You guys are f*cking crazy!" before throwing water on the crowd. The fans screamed with delight in response to both. the GazettE left the stage with the strobe lights still going, with AOI, URUHA, and REITA's final guitar chords still ringing in the air. KAI was the last to leave. The fans immediately transitioned into a variety of different types of chants calling for an encore. They would not be disappointed.

The band members eventually returned to the stage after a brief costume change. RUKI shouted "Thank you, New York!" and showcased a specially-made American flag with fan signatures, the GazettE's logo, and PROJECT:DARK AGE's Scandal Ring embroidered in it. The sight of RUKI wrapped in an American flag covered in fan signatures sent chills down the spines of the ecstatic audience members, myself included. It was a moment of realization for us all. the GazettE was finally here. They had finally performed in the U.S., and they had absolutely killed it. The band kicked off the encore set with an old fan-favorite: the rap-rock track "Agony"! The fans absolutely lost it when they recognized the hip hop drum rhythm and opening guitar riff. They rapped the all-English lyrics along with RUKI and danced and jumped throughout the entire song. The band members started to really interact with the audience–REITA hiked his bass up on his shoulder and gestured to the crowd, and URUHA got incredibly close to the fans during the instrumental break. RUKI went full crunk-rock on this track, bouncing and swaying to the beat before showing off his best hip hop moves during the outro.

Following "Agony" was an even older fan favorite: "Cockroach". RUKI yelled "Let's jump! You ready?! 3, 2, 1!" as the song kicked off. The band and the crowd were both jumping as high as they could. AOI and URUHA entertained the crowd with a few guitar battles, and REITA approached the crowd with the rest of the band. The punk rock energy was contagious, and RUKI was clearly enjoying being able to let loose with the crowd. After "Cockroach" ended, RUKI built up the hype before introducing the final song of the night.

"Last song! Last song! Last Song! This song is called, 'Tomorrow Never Dies.' Make some noise!"

The flashing lights, catchy guitar riffs, and clean vocals made the live performance of "Tomorrow Never Dies" an excellent way for the GazettE to end the concert on a high note. Fan interaction was at its highest during this final song, and the band members were eating it up–especially REITA, who spent most of the song getting up close on the edge of the stage and leaning into the audience as much as he could while still being able to play bass at the same time. During the bridge, RUKI got the fans to wave their hands in time to the lightest part of the song before URUHA burst into a wonderful guitar solo. RUKI cried out "Thank you New York!" before leading the band and audience through the last chorus and grand finale of the song.

As the song ended, RUKI threw up a pair of devil horns for true rock and roll and screamed, "Thank you! See you again, New York! Bye-bye, I love you. Thank you so much!" Picks, water bottles, and other miscellaneous items were tossed into the crowd by URUHA, AOI, and REITA. The five members of the GazettE then lined up in the center of the stage, held hands, and bowed together. KAI tossed his drumsticks into the crowd, RUKI took a photo of the audience, and AOI snagged a selfie with the fans in the background. Fans with a keen eye got to see REITA run up to RUKI toward the back of the stage and join him in doing a dab (yes, the dance move) together! As the GazettE walked off the stage and waved their final goodbyes, the fans continued cheering, ecstatic and beyond satisfied with the performance they had just experienced.

Fans who shelled out money for the concert's VIP tickets got the chance to meet and greet the band members after the show. It was a very short meeting (not much more than 30 seconds per person), but each of the 250 VIP fans was absolutely ecstatic to meet the band. Many fans were especially surprised with how genuinely excited each of the members were to meet them, especially considering that the meet and greet occurred almost immediately after the live performance. It's clear that the band was very happy to be in the States meeting their U.S. fans for the first time. Fun fact: according to many of the fans, RUKI has an absolutely "gangsta" handshake!

the GazettE's first performance in New York City was a wonderful first introduction between the band and the audience. The crowd, accustomed to the excessively chaotic nature of western hard rock/heavy metal concerts, learned to contain itself and focus on the band during the more theatrical moments of the concert. While the band seemed slightly taken aback at times by the intensity of the US audience, they were also clearly supercharged by the energy that was so freely given to them (compared to Japanese audiences, where they have to work extremely hard to cultivate the same level of energy). RUKI, in particular, seemed genuinely excited to be playing with such an excited audience. The set list was chock-full of the GazettE's latest and greatest hits, and while I selfishly would have preferred to have seen more fan favorites, it made sense to use a setlist like this to give the U.S. fans a crash course in the GazettE's live music. This live struck an interesting balance between the GazettE’s more traditional sound and their current (and much heavier) PROJECT:DARK AGE sound, with all of the older songs benefitting in quality from the band’s harder sound and improved instrumentation/vocals. This cross between old and new was even visually reflected in Ruki’s outfit, which consisted of the black waistcoat and large hat from the UNDYING  crossed with a dirty-blonde hairstyle and makeup that both harkened back to earlier styles in the band's career (the music video for "Chizuru" comes to mind). It's also worth noting that the band seemed to be enjoying themselves the most during their performances of tracks from their 2011 and 2012 albums (TOXIC and DIVISION), which experimented with combining hard rock and industrial metal with different kinds of electronic music. There's no denying that every member of the GazettE drastically retooled and improved their skills for PROJECT:DARK AGE, and this only further served to bolster the quality of the performances of tracks from the aforementioned eras. After observing this show, I suspect (and quite frankly hope) that the next music that the GazettE releases will fall somewhere in between the domains of DIVISION and PROJECT:DARK AGE.

Bottom line: if you ever get the opportunity to see this band, take it. Every member of the band had a fantastic live stage presence at this concert, and RUKI cemented himself as the ringleader of the show with his alluring dances and theatrical behavior. The tracks sounded as good or better live than when recorded, and interaction between the band members and fans was intimate and exciting. The band transitioned effortlessly between themes and sounds, creating an energetic and volatile live atmosphere that pulled everyone in. For the longtime fans in the audience, the GazettE's first New York City performance was a dream come true that did not disappoint.

Photo Credit: Syra Sparkle (Instagram | @sparkledeath_syra)

Special thanks to Paul Chu from Zepp Live and John Pantle from APA (Agency for the Performing Arts) for giving us this opportunity, and to Syra Sparkle for the photos!

the GazettE fans with the signed American flag before the show

Set List:
01. NIHIL
02. DOGMA
03. RAGE
04. VORTEX
- MC -
05. FADELESS
06. VENOMOUS SPIDER'S WEB
07. BIZARRE
08. DRIPPING INSANITY
09. OMINOUS
10. THE SUICIDE CIRCUS
11. DERANGEMENT
12. UGLY
13. UNDYING
14. FILTH IN THE BEAUTY

- ENCORE -
15. AGONY
16. COCKROACH
17. TOMORROW NEVER DIES

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