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GLAY
VERB TOUR 2008 in U.S.
FEATURE LIVE REPORT
WRITTEN BY CHRISTINE SUNGA
They’re coming to America...
For the past 12 years Japanese rock music has slowly made its way into the CD players of
Americans. Unlike Europe, where Asian music is more generally accepted, Japanese music has
taken a long and bumpy road in America. In a society where the language barrier is the main cause
for Japanese artists not succeeding in the mainstream, the barrier is slowly but surely being lifted.
These past four years have paved the way for major artists in Japan. Without indie rock
bands, it would not have been possible for artists such as Dir en grey, Miyavi, OLIVIA, Nano,
D’espairs Ray, etc. to come and make an appearance here in the States successfully....
With an overwhelming demand to see some of the biggest names in Japanese music, GLAY
blesses their American fans with three nights of unforgettable appreciation, love and entertainment.
JIRO (BASS)
HISASHI (GUITAR)
TAKURO (GUITAR)
TERU (VOCAL)
An Epic Journey
For all my years as an avid listener of Japanese music, to
finally see one of my childhood favorites come to my hometown
was truly an epic event. When GLAY announced having three
tour dates in California for their VERB TOUR 2008 in U.S., one
of the first things that came to mind was, “What perfect timing.”
The saying goes, “Timing is everything”, and GLAY picked a
great time to finally spread their wings on the mainland. That
is to say, that this wasn’t their first time performing in the U.S.
They did perform once back in the late 1990’s in Hawai’i but
hadn’t returned since.
The first time listener will find the band’s music to be a
mixture of pop and rock. Their name, GLAY, refers to being in
between both genres of music (in Japan they do not have an ‘l”
and when you say the word in Japanese it sounds like “grey”;
the two letters “l” and “r” can easily be confused in the Japanese
language). Starting out in 1989 and making it into mainstream
by 1994, the band has certainly come a long way. Their sound
ranges from heavy rock to classical rock ballads to pop.
They performed at the House of Blues on Sunset Blvd.
(Hollywood, CA) on August 25-26, 2008 making a mark on the
hearts of old school fans. Upon arriving at the venue, long lines
formed as fans eagerly awaited to get inside. Once inside you
could almost tell apart the fans from years ago (mid 1990’s)
from the“new” fans (early 2000). There were many older fans
in their mid to late twenties and couples standing side by side.
Many of the “newer” fans were front of the stage ready to rock
and roll. The venue itself was packed both nights, but the second
night was the best night between the two as there was hardly any
room for anybody to move, showing that many people either
came to both shows or were more interested in seeing them on
a Saturday night.
As the screen lifted and VERB started to play at the beginning of the show you could hear the roar of screams as the
support members came out. Then, one by one, the members of
GLAY came out and the screams grew tremendously. I have to
say, seeing the band in an actual venue was definitely a treat, and
for that venue being the House of Blues, the band certainly out
did themselves.
Undoubtedly, the members each have their own style;
Hisashi (guitar) is known for being one of the more “visual”
members (along with Jiro), coming out in h.naoto style cropped
pants, boots and a jacket with one sleeve, that was almost bell
bottom like, and a fishnet covering the other arm. He definitely
still fits the persona he started out with all those years ago. Jiro
(bass) on the other hand, seemed like he didn’t age at all. It’s almost
as if time stopped for him because he looks the same as he did almost 10 years ago. Jiro came out in jeans, a t-shirt, converse, and
sported a hairstyle that could probably poke your eye out. Takuro
(guitar) and Teru (vocal) appeared in some of the stylish outfits from
back in the days. Teru definitely still had his tight semi-shiny pants
and black open shirt. I think I remember that look from the nineties,
but it’s alright, he can still pull it off. Takuro had on tight jeans, a red
leopard print sleeveless top and a sleeveless coat.
From the songs they performed, GLAY certainly didn’t
seem like they were here to promote their newest single, VERB,
but to finally put on a long awaited performance for their American
fans, the setlist proves it. They played old songs such as Yuuwaku
(Temptation), However, Winter, again, Kuchibiru (Lips), SHUTTER SPEEDS Theme and Glorious, songs from the late nineties
that made me remember just how much I loved this band. The sound
was phenomenal; it was one of the best concerts I’ve ever been too.
You are left with a sense of how much they love their fans.
A majority of the songs performed were very hard rock
sounding, but that may have come from being in a live house with
a good sound system. VERB was a new song to me and it bumped
through the speakers and into the ears of all who attended. Starting
off with a heavy bass drum and warped guitar effects, the song is
definitely a fitting opener. Creating a great lead into 1998 single
Yuuwaku, that is hard hitting live as it is in the studio. The songs
went from hard hitting to mild pop rock songs like Glorious and
Ikiteku Tsuyosa (Live Strong) to ballads like Sorry Love and HOW-
EVER and going back to heavy songs. The order of songs was actually almost perfect, the transitioning from heavy to mild to soft to
hard all over again was smooth. Ending the encores with all hard
rock, jumpy songs except for one mild bass song, Winter, again.
Even with limited English, Teru was able to communicate
really well with an audience of all ethnicities. This was one of the
surprising aspects of their concert, it was a bit surprising to see so
many ethnicities, not just Japanese or even just Asian. Still, he had
almost everyone in the venue singing along to Yuuwaku and he even
led them into STARLESS NIGHT (from the HIGH COMMUNICATIONS TOUR 2007 and originally digitally streamed), a very catchy
pop rock song. To hear everyone sing along with him and follow
his every lead was truly a wonderful thing. You could definitely feel
what a concert in Japan might be like. At one point he had them
following him in singing patterns of “wow wow yeah”, and also in
clapping pattern; one of the most entertaining things to hear and see.
In one song, Jiro was singing. It was such a surprise because I have
never heard him sing before, so it was a real treat to see that.
Sometimes one may think that the band or the management strategically places people in the audience (especially if
they speak both English and Japanese) so that the lead singer
can “randomly” pick someone out to interpret. Attending both
nights, they assured me that they do not do such things, as Teru
asked the crowd in Japanese, “Does anyone speak Japanese and
English?” The first night he found someone to interpret perfectly
fine, saying, “Thank you everyone, it’s because of you we are on
this we are on this stage.” Saturday night, was quite amusing as he
EAD
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PONY CANYON
asked the same question, and the girl who was not Japanese,
spoke Japanese, and Teru was surprised, “Oh my god, you speak
Japanese!” in Japanese and the girl continued to give her comment to the band, in Japanese. After that Teru thanked her and
went to look one more time for someone to speak and interpret
for him. He found someone, but she didn’t speak English all too
well, as it was a mistake as to who actually said they speak both
languages, but the message got through to everyone that GLAY
was eternally grateful to their fans here in the U.S.. Teru continued to tell everyone how much they loved them, that they are
thankful and that they will maybe see them again next year or
sometime in the near future. Teru also used his English ability
to lead the audience into the next song, which was pretty cool.
When he introduced the members it was really nice to see that
the audience knew each member and had even showed their support for the support members.
His ability to interact with the audience was a real sight
to see. At one point he was so into the audience he missed a line
or two in a song. Even during the encore, there were fans who
had posted a banner in front of them and Teru went to get it and
showed the audience. It said “NO GLAY NO LIFE” and was
signed by many of the fans. This touched the band very much as
you could see the appreciation appear across their faces when
they saw it. During the encore, they left it up to Seichan (keyboardist) to hang it up in front of his station.
The overall sound in regards to the vocals was really
good. You could hear the back tracks blend in very well with the
sounds of guitar, bass, drums and keyboards. Hearing the bass
is one of the things I look for when attending a concert and to
actually hear it was awesome. The guitar solos and the bass were
extremely good, because sometimes at a concert, especially in a
small to medium sized venue, unless the engineer knows what
they are doing it can really hurt a performance. There was one
part toward the middle where there was a tiny bit of feedback but
it wasn’t really all that bad, as it was automatically fixed; almost
as if it didn’t happen. One thing that was really cool to hear were
the twin guitars playing together as you don’t see or hear them
too often. When it came to their ballad songs, it was nice to see
people just standing there and listening. You could see couples
holding each other and a few arms swaying to the rhythm of
the song. Teru, has an amazing set of vocals and to hear him a
capella sent shivers down my spine. Hearing GLAY on CD is
cool, but hearing them live is even better. They were so good,
that on Saturday night, they left the audience wanting so much
more, they performed a double encore, which was something
that Friday night attendees didn’t get.
Having seen many concerts over these past few years
and for the most part have enjoyed them. With some you really
have to hear them live to be interested, but those two days in
August will forever be one of the most epic concerts I’ve ever attended. It was being back in high school with my school friends.
You know what they say, “the nineties were the best years,” and
GLAY definitely proved that they still have it going on after
14 years. They play to the crowd, they know how to entertain,
and they know how to be a band that young and old, new and
old fans would love to see and listen to no matter how old they
become.
☆ROCK THE LM.C☆
FEATURE ARTICLE
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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
LIVE REPORT DISC REVIEW
PONY CANYON
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Live Coverage from the East Coast, Interviews, Fan Event Coverage from the West Coast
AUGUST 15, 2008
SETLIST
AUGUST 16, 2008
SETLIST
1. VERB
2. Yuuwaku
MC
3. GLORIOUS
4. Ikiteku Tsuyosa
5. GIANT STRONG FAUST SUPER STAR
6. STARLESS NIGHT
7. AMERICAN INNOVATION
8. Lock on you
MC
9. SORRY LOVE
10. HOWEVER
11. ROCK’N’ROLL SWINDLE
12. MERMAID
13. SHUTTER SPEEDS THEME
14. Peak Hateshinaku Soul Kagirinaku
15. BEAUTIFUL DREAMER
1. VERB
2. Yuuwaku
MC
3. GLORIOUS
4. Ikiteku Tsuyosa
5. GIANT STRONG FAUST SUPER STAR
6. STARLESS NIGHT
7. AMERICAN INNOVATION
8. Lock on you
MC
9. SORRY LOVE
10. HOWEVER
11. ROCK’N’ROLL SWINDLE
12. MERMAID
13. SHUTTER SPEEDS THEME
14. Peak Hateshinaku Soul Kagirinaku
15. BEAUTIFUL DREAMER
ENCORE
1. Winter,again
2. Kuchibiru
3. Kanojo No “Modern...”
4. ACID HEAD
ENCORE
1. Winter,again
2. Kuchibiru
3. Kanojo No “Modern...”
4. HIGH COMMUNICATIONS
W ENCORE
5. ACID HEAD
GLAY | REVIEW
The latest single from GLAY, VERB is a
fast paced song that starts off with rigorous drum
beats and guitar riffs that will make you wish this
song was on “Guitar Hero”. It is most certainly a
“GLAY” song. It’s catchy, riffy and jumpy. Some
of the beats may actually remind you of some of the
old school Indie bands from the late nineties with a
modern sound to it. It will definitely make you want
to sing along during the chorus.
Now there are two versions of this single,
the difference being the second track is different on
both versions, as they are actual releases of their
media streamed songs, STARLESS NIGHT and
–VENUS. STARLESS NIGHT is definitely your
pop/rock song. It’s got a catchy riff and hook from
start to end. What’s great about it, you can hear the
bass. It’s so catchy that it would make anyone sing
“Oh Starless starless starless tonight”. –VENUS is
more rock than STARLESS NIGHT. It starts of with
a heart beat sound and goes into an old school guitar
riff. Throw in some manipulation, sound effects and
a piano and you have a pretty nifty song. This has to
be a medium tempo song compared to VERB.
The last song on both versions of the single
is a cover of U2’s “WITH OR WITHOUT YOU”.
Teru took a very big risk with this song, as it is all
in English. For most fans of U2 it may be a turn off,
as English is not Teru’s first language. It’s a fairly
good cover for the most part you can understand
the English, even with his accent. He hits the notes
quite well, so if you’re open minded then one would
not mind this cover song.
VERB
release: 2008.6.11
Limited Edition (CD+DVD)
TOCT-40214 1,575yen
[CD]
1. VERB
2. -VENUS
3. WITH OR WITHOUT YOU
[DVD]
1. STARLESS NIGHT from GLAY HIGHCOMMUNICATIONS TOUR 2007-2008
2. “VERB” Music Video
Normal Edition (CD only)
TOCT-40215 1,260yen
1. VERB
2. STARLESS NIGHT
3. WITH OR WITHOUT YOU
NEW SINGLE
ON SALE 2008.09.10
LIMITED EDITION
REGULAR EDITION
1.紅と黒の (“The Fate” theme song)
2. I LOVE YOUをさがしてる (“打撃天
使ルリ”theme song)
3. SUFFRAGETTE CITY
1.紅と黒の (“The Fate” theme song)
2. I LOVE YOUをさがしてる (“打撃天
使ルリ” theme song)
3. SUFFRAGETTE CITY
(Digi-Pack)
Cat#: TOCT-40230
1,260yen (incl. tax)
(Regular Jewel Case)
Cat#: TOCT-40230
1,260yen (incl. tax)
AVAILABLE ONLINE: CD JAPAN, HMV, AMAZON JP, YesAsia
All shops ship internationally
GLAY are
Teru
Jiro
Hisashi
Takuro
CREDITS
Produced by Christine S. for Nippon Project
Live Report by Christine S.
Disc Review by Christine S.
Copy Editor: Natasha S.
Photos Courtesy of EMI Music Japan
SPECIAL THANKS
GLAY, Cho, Suzuki-san, EMI,
Suitest Taboo Staff and all fans.
GLAY Official Website:
http://www.glay.jp
GLAY Official Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/glayofficial
EMI Music Japan
http://www.emimusic.com
Nippon Project
http://www.nipponproject.com
Suitest Taboo Chronicles
http://www.suitestaboo.com
Questions, comments, inquiries:
info@nipponproject.com
info@suitestaboo.com