Like Charlie winning a trip to the chocolate factory, the GazettE gifted fans with a golden ticket to the surprise final show of their DOGMA tour, “DOGMA - ANOTHER FATE -”. Arguably their most creative tour to date, the live was yet another exciting presentation of the band’s impeccable taste for dramatic atmosphere and theatrical flair.
The first harsh note of “NIHIL” brought an expectant hush over the crowd. Fog crept over the stage and orange lights swirled in the darkness as the haunting music filled the room. The beat dropped and the band entered the stage amidst the cheers and screams of the audience. RUKI took the stage as the music blended seamlessly into the beginning of “DOGMA”. The pressure building in the room came to its first climax as the entire room fell forward in perfect unison, headbanging to AOI and URUHA’s heavy riffs.
At the pre-chorus, RUKI’s voice echoed crystal clear and all hands stretched towards the stage before the beat dissolved into violent riffs again.
People in the crowd were grabbing onto anything within reach as they all continued to throw themselves around, hair and limbs flying everywhere.
Without letting the music disappear, they progressed naturally into “RAGE”. The performance was unapologetically loud and heavy. RUKI’s guttural screams were amplified by the yells of the other members and the chants of the crowd. Everyone got swept away by the song’s aggressive energy which was amplified by KAI’s vicious drumming. They continued with “DAWN”, keeping the crowd in a frenzy. The members all spread out across the stage, moving closer to the crowd.
When the song ended, RUKI led the first MC of the night, welcoming the crowd.
“Today is a bit different from all the others. It’s a pretty big venue but let’s go crazy as usual!” The crowd roared their assent and he said that the band had been really looking forward to this live.
It was time to let loose and dance as the techno beat of “GABRIEL ON THE GALLOWS” buzzed through the speakers. Multicolored techno lights flashed and the crowd began moving, waving from left to right during the verses. RUKI’s deeper screams made the song heavier and had everyone headbanging with abandon. It ended abruptly and was immediately replaced by the catchy intro of “VENOMOUS SPIDER’S WEB”.This song was always lots of fun during concerts and the crowd screamed in excitement before clapping along to the rapid beat. Spurred on by the infectious beat, the whole room kept dancing and screaming. There seemed to be no end to their energy.
Wasting no time in between songs, an acid green spotlight hit URUHA who immediately began the aggressive intro to “CLEVER MONKEY”. RUKI’s vocals switched easily between the melodic pre-chorus and the insistent screams of “YOU ARE CLEVER MONKEY” during the chorus. The song ended with a final lingering scream as the lights in the room faded to black.
Harsh white lights cut through the darkness, sweeping rapidly across the venue and joined by the pounding of KAI’s drums. RUKI began murmuring the lyrics in a low voice, gesturing wildly in the dim lights. There was minimal lighting during the performance, throwing the band in erratically shifting shadows that highlighted the atmosphere of “BIZARRE”.
White noise crackled through the speakers, growing louder at the beginning of “DEUX”. The members were all still then URUHA’s riffs followed by RUKI’s screams caused the venue to burst to life. The band highlighted the strong contrast between the calm and frenetic energy of the song. Without moving from their positions, they threw their energy into their playing and the sharp movements of their limbs across guitars, bass and drums was particularly spectacular to watch. The fans were mostly still, soaking up the theatrics.
RUKI let loose a final, drawn out scream that left your ears ringing in the dark that followed.
A weak spotlight lit up the dark and you could just barely make out RUKI’s form, kneeling on the platform as the first notes of “OMINOUS” began. The lights flickered and then AOI and URUHA came into view the same time as their guitars. KAI and REITA followed as the music continued to build and layer.
RUKI’s voice was threadbare as he sung, “Sleep, count me down...”. Then there was sudden darkness, the crack of KAI’s drum and the glittering lights exploded across the room. The light scattered into every corner like stars, reflected off a sparkling disco ball. The effect was breathtaking and the band took advantage of that moment to go all out. RUKI poured even more emotion into his voice as the song reached the pinnacle. The stage was doused in red as AOI stole the spotlight with the final solo. RUKI vocalized softly with the guitar adding even more feeling to the intense playing. When the song ended, the atmosphere in the room was heavy with appreciation.
The resulting silence was broken by the ticking of a clock. Hazy purple lights lit up the stage just before the beginning of “SUICIDE CIRCUS”. The crowd began jumping and dancing again, jolted back to life by the catchy beat.
“INCUBUS” followed after a quick MC. It never failed to get the entire room in a frenzy and the band continued to encourage everyone to let loose and headbang. the GazettE set an unforgiving pace, continuing immediately with “LUCY”. All the members were moving around the stage with barely contained energy. Especially REITA, who kept exchanging screams and yells back and forth with the crowd, spurring them on even more.
As soon as “ATTITUDE” began, the whole room began screaming “UNTIL DIE” in time to the music. The members all walked around the stage, gesturing at the crowd to get louder, go harder, go wild. RUKI couldn’t stop himself from gesturing wildly with his hands while grooving to the underlying dubstep beat. The whole room was in a frenzy and it really did seem like they were going to keep going until they broke. More than anything, it was easy to see how much fun everyone was having.Before the next song RUKI taunted the crowd, “Hey Makuhari. You guys still have some energy left.” The crowd screamed back and him and he started a call and response, ending with a guttural cry of “BRING IT ON!!”
Angry red lights burst across the stage and “HEADACHE MAN” blared through the speakers. The band and the crowd matched each other in intensity, headbanging until the only thing visible in the venue was hair. The intensity reached its boiling point when the unforgiving riffs of “UGLY” began. It was like all hell broke loose. The chants of the crowd were like an angry mob out for blood as they all screamed “DEATH TO TRAITORS”.
“BLEMISH” rounded out the action and got the crowd to go a little slower (but no less intense). The chorus had everyone dancing in the bright lights that filled the room. Then the room was dark again and the sweeping intro of “UNDYING’ began to play. The crowd alternated between headbanging, stretching out their hands and watching quietly as the band expertly performed the various layers of the song. The music continued to linger even as the song ended. The other members stopped and quietly left the stage, leaving KAI alone. He went all out on the drums and each beat echoed like thunder. Then he was gone too and the stage was empty.
The band returned for an encore in response to the tireless chants of the fans. KAI, URUHA, REITA and AOI came out first. After KAI thanked the fans, he let his voice ring out in the venue with his customary rallying cry “KAKATTE KOI (BRING IT ON)!!”
With that he started the infectious beat of “INSIDE BEAST”. RUKI came out grooving to the rhythm and they took the fans on another wild ride. One of the best things about the encore was the chance to indulge in nostalgia. When the band began to play the beginning of “Akai One Piece” the whole room went wild. URUHA grabbed the spotlight for the guitar intro and then everyone moved at once. The members ran back and forth across the stage, the same way they always did for this song. RUKI and the fans did the dance in unison and it was easy to see the smiles in crowd. A huge banner hung proudly over the stage with “the GazettE” in bold letters.There was a pause for breath after and RUKI took that opportunity to sincerely thank the fans. This final live was the 69th show of the DOGMA tour and RUKI thanked everyone for allowing them to have such a long tour.
“It might be a bit hard to understand but this album brought together all the members’ feelings. DOGMA will be over after this 69th show. We’d like to make another good release and have another long tour.” He thanked everyone again and then joked that the “serious talk” was over. He mentioned the upcoming Halloween live which everyone was looking forward to.
“It’s the first time we’re doing this. So if it works out, we’ll do another one.” the crowd cheered their agreement at this. RUKI also mentioned that they were really happy with the turnout for the live, even though it was a free show on a weekday.
“We had another free show back during Distress and Coma and barely anyone showed up!” in the packed venue, it seemed almost impossible that that could happen but it was proof of how much the band had grown.
They continued with unbeatable energy, performing old favorites “Filth in the Beauty” and “COCKROACH” in succession. Last was “TOMORROW NEVER DIES”. KAI started the rhythm and the crowd followed suit, chanting and clapping. AOI stood tall on the platform, getting the crowd to go crazier. The rest of the band spread out across the stage, crouching down on the edge to get closer to the fans. Regardless of the dark energy of the band, they always chose to end with RUKI singing to everyone, “Don’t kill yourself.” At the final note the crowd stretched their arms toward the stage, cheering and screaming as the band took their bows and left.
The crowd wanted more and they called and called for a second encore until the band obliged. The final song was “Kanto Dogeza Kumiai”. The venue dissolved into chaos as most of the fans dropped to their knees immediately and began headbanging. It was pure fun and rebellion as the band played round after round of the song and everyone screamed “FUCK YOU” in unison.
When the song ended and everyone was out of breath, the band lingered on the stage and RUKI decided that each member should say something to the fans to close off the tour.
URUHA:
Thank you. I really didn’t think there would be a comment portion so I didn’t think of anything (laughs). Compared to the final at Yoyogi, tonight’s live definitely had more of an “at home” feeling.
AOI:
Greetings everyone.
Thank you so much.
REITA:
My face got even smaller during this tour (referring to his mask). This tour made me understand myself and everyone else a bit more. You guys might not always be here but rest assured and know that we will always be here. So please keep coming to see us.
KAI:
We’ve gotten this far thanks to everyone. Let’s have another long tour soon.
RUKI:
We’ve treasured every leg of this tour and we wanna thank the people not here today and everyone who has supported us.
Then they all decided to take a picture and ended with everyone holding hands for a final jump.
Before the crowd made their exit, a video flickered to life with all the previous tour dates and the message:
“Thanks DOGMATIC Tour and Six Guns.”
Setlist:
SE NIHIL
- DOGMA
- RAGE
- DAWN
- GABRIEL ON THE GALLOWS
- VENOMOUS SPIDER’S WEB
- CLEVER MONKEY
- BIZARRE
- DEUX
- OMINOUS
- THE SUICIDE CIRCUS
- INCUBUS
- LUCY
- ATTITUDE
- HEADACHE MAN
- UGLY
- BLEMISH
- UNDYING
Encore:
EN1. INSIDE BEAST
EN2. Akai One Piece (赤いワンピース)
EN3. Filth in the beauty
EN4. COCKROACH
EN5. TOMORROW NEVER DIES
2nd Encore:
Kanto Dogeza Kumiai (関東土下座組合)
Thank you to the GazettE, management and staff for this opportunity!
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