For this, the longest train ride of the trip, I came prepared with material to translate on my phone and a mocha to enjoy whenever there were sights to sit back and enjoy from out the window. I also finally wore my tour t-shirt and adorned my eyelids with a deep purple shadow.
The view of Mount Fuji this time around was even clearer.
The walk to this venue, tucked away past a residential area in an industrial district, was pretty interesting. So interesting that, even though I stayed on the right track the whole time, I thought I was getting lost.
First, I came upon a grey cat casually grooming itself on top of the hood of a parked car, then I crossed into a residential area and passed a small park with cute, hand-painted signs featuring well-known characters along its perimeter, and finally I trekked into the industrial district… which felt largely abandoned until I hit another street and fell into step with some other 九組 heading past a convenience store towards the venue proper.
I arrived just as they were starting to call everyone into the venue sequentially, so I got within hearing range of the staff member and waited my turn to go into the cool, high-ceilinged warehouse the live was to be held in. By the time I got inside, it had already filled up quite a bit, but again from my position more towards the back, I still got to stand opposite Saga in the crowd and had a great view of the whole stage. This time, I actually did switch out my Groovy Chiko hoodie for my much lighter stained glass robe so I was more than ready to dance, jump, and headbang the night away.
Before long, the lights dimmed, and we all began to clap, tempting the members onto the stage…
On this the night of the semi-final, and the sixth repetition of their opening songs for the setlist during this tour, they were well-practiced in performing Living Dead and Answer, all of us in the audience responding to the music enthusiastically in kind. Adding to the gradual flow from dark and rhythmic to lighter and more melodic, they then starting playing the utterly cheerful TSUBASA., the crowd bobbing along to its upbeat notes. Next, they turned up the heat, whipping us into a fervor and working up a sweat with the speed of 百科繚乱.
Too fast to live, too young to die!
Our bodies all warmed up, we then fell into the luxurious sway of their song Moondance and again I was very glad to have a bit of elbow room closer to the back where I was so that I could dance to my heart’s content. Next came BABYLON, with Saga’s initial solo, made more challenging by the restraints that were part of his stage outfit. He gave the song the dark, decadent introduction it deserved, and then together the members drew us into a strange caper, or rather a wonderland of weird dimensions. BABYLON has always given me very interesting (not to mention clear) mental images.
I love that they debuted 界 not by releasing it as a single, but by playing it at a live, during a fest. 界 is just awesome and definitely gets even more impactful in a live setting. In particular for this performance, they had smoke machines going, so at certain points from my vantage further back in the room, the stage was just a dense red fog. It increased the intense feel of the song even more.
To the gods of rock, we did pray.
As the dark chords of our collective prayer stilled, a staff member helped Saga switch out 焔 for an acoustic guitar, and thus began Envy, as enchanting and as soothing as ever. Then we were treated to another amazing performance of Saga’s on acoustic guitar for INSOMNIA. I love that song so much… it’s one I often recommend to people who’ve never listened to ALICE NINE. music before and I’m so happy I got to hear it during the course of the tour. When the soaring and diving melody of the song had faded, every member except for Nao left the stage.
For the Drum Solo this time, Nao surprised us towards the end by getting out two neon pink glowsticks to drum with, and then threw them over his shoulders at the end in an imitation of the Drum Solo caught on film from their HELLO,DEAR NUMBERS live DVD. I loved that little nod to ALICE NINE. history. The audience participation has been so much fun each night, and we were all energized and ready to go for the intensity of the next song, as the other four members returned to the stage.
After another powerful rendition of Roar, I was very excited when they started playing カルマ, a song with a great sound tucked away on the Stargazer: single. We all let loose for the rare treat of a song, and then slipped into RAINBOWS, the room filling with lights of every colour as we jumped, headbanged, and danced. I knew it would be my last time dancing to RAINBOWS for a while, so it was even more blissful an experience than the last few nights.
During Funeral, I danced to the ribbon of Saga’s bassline, enjoying the way everyone else’s instruments and Show’s vocals intertwined to bring the incredibly cool song together. Exodus: built on that momentum, to lead into the frenetic heat and cool rhythm of 開戦前夜. After which, I gave myself up to the soothing sway of Farewell Flowers, floating in its notes.
The members left the stage and it was our turn to make some noise and encourage them to return to play the Encore. I was in a strange headspace, feeling both incredibly present in the experience I was having of the live, while also feeling a measure of disbelief that it was actually happening. The feel of being packed into a smaller, more intimate livehouse this time as opposed to the larger, assigned-seating halls for the lives I had been able to attend before 2020 happened was exactly what I’d needed. The energy of each performance was so warm, so casual, and yet so well-rehearsed and passionate. It did feel like being enveloped in the sound and mindscape of ALICE NINE., a world of sound that the members had worked so hard to build and protect for 18 years and counting, with the help of everyone over the years who chose to listen and show up in whatever big or small ways they were able to.
I think part of what I’d felt this time around was that I was seeing the more experienced version of the band I’d fallen in love with in the first place, so many years ago. The way that Saga plays bass in this emotional, melodic, understated way, then turns around and plays the chords heavy like a growl, headbanging all the while. The way Show commands the front podium with bright, distinctive vocals and an edge, putting words to the music. The way that Nao is very serious about the quality of his drumming, but so often seems like he’s just having fun. The way that Tora starts to grin when they’re playing a cheerful song out of their extensive repertoire (and sometimes during heavy songs too). The way that Hiroto is both intense and apt to visit other members during their most well-practiced classics. We all focus on different things, and even though I’ve tried to kind of describe the way I see what happens on stage, it is inevitable that words fall short — and that someone else would experience the same timespan in an entirely different way.
Saga’s understated passion on stage every night was so inspiring to experience again.
So, all of that and more was what I continued to chant encore! for.
When they heeded our cries for more and returned to the stage, gratitude and love were on my mind as they began to play Ray. Show’s singing of the beautiful lyrics gave the song definition, and my eyes were on Saga as he played its rhythm with a buoyant tenderness. Not knowing when I would get to hear this favourite played in person again, I placed my hands over my heart and held the magical atmosphere close.
They followed that emotional song with the absolute blast that is 春夏秋冬. Such fun!
I knew that Grace would be last, but it cast as strong a spell on me as ever as they played it. I was completely in the zone, feeling the music and dancing to the sounds by instinct. Grace is so alive that it just flows through the body, uplifting and beautiful.
It was the perfect note to end on for the semi-final of their tour and for my trip as a whole.
Whenever I hadn’t been closing my eyes, fully feeling the sound and the music in the room, my attention had been fixed on Saga, who was absolutely incredible up on stage, rocking out to each song (love when he headbangs while playing!), and making me feel even more wildly happy to be there. There’s nothing like literally feeling the music rumbling through the venue.
It was an unforgettable night.
An incredible tour.
Worth the wait.
I stood by the water afterward to take in the sight of the venue lit warmly in the dark and to let the memory of the night settle in my chest. Then I backed away and turned around to retrace my steps back to the station. I didn’t need my phone; my feet remembered the way, carried me through the quiet dark of the industrial district, then past the children’s park in the residential neighbourhood, and across a main thoroughfare, beyond which I’d be able to reach the subway entrance.
I stopped for a minute or two to hide a smile at some artwork by local kids on display in the subway tunnels on the way to the platforms. But then I forced myself to press on to the station so that I got back to Tokyo early enough to catch one of the last local trains back to the hotel.
The ride was calm and I spent a lot of it lost in my own thoughts. By the time we’d reached the final stop (mine), I was the only traveler left in car 16, and I enjoyed how strange that particular sort of solitude was. I hightailed it to the local connecting train and made the second last trip.
Then… I took a bath.
And replayed moments from the live in my mind.
And drifted off to sleep, the hum of the music still quietly rocking in my soul.