Trying to think how to title this since this is the second year of me going to...
†生誕典礼祭〜Mana様Birthday〜
Which translates to "Liturgy Festival, Mana-sama Birthday". I enjoyed last year's two day concerts so much I wanted to experience it again. It is one reason I returned to Japan in March. That and sakura. Although it is not easy to get tickets to these shows since I do not go through scalpers. Instead I went through the ticket lottery like everyone else. Also I want to give a big thank you to Hot Stuff Promotions for helping me out this first night. They did in a really big way. I greatly appreciated it. Almost felt like I had an angel looking out for me.
Both shows this time were at Mt. Rainer Hall in Shibuya. Unlike last year where I had a floor ticket, this year I ended up with balcony seats. My view for the first night, March 17th, was very close to this pre-concert photo Moi dix Mois drummer Hayato posted on Twitter. The sound was pretty good up there that night.
It has been a few weeks since the show so I'm going to try to remember how it was. To start, each member of the band walked out separately, wearing the same outfits as in this photo. This 2015 photograph is from when guitarist Ryux was introduced as a new Moi dix Mois member. I don't know if Mana chose these outfits as a way of saying it's a new start for Moi dix Mois, but since the rebirth of Moi-même-Moitié, I would not be surprised if this was his way of saying it is time to get Moi dix Mois back in action. His Sakura-Con comment about beginning to record soon also supports this. I hope I am right. It would be great to have new music that everyone can hear. And maybe more shows in Japan and abroad.
So the song list for the first part of the show was this:
En Lumiére（SE）
Dialogue Symphonie
In that Hill
forbidden
Mephisto Waltz
Xanadu
Sanctum Regnum
front et baiser
I was really surprised that they played Mephisto Waltz. It's a great song but a little slower and melodic compared to the usual Moi dix Mois live songs. This song with In that Hill gave a slower pace to this part of the show but it felt like it was an introduction into the world of Moi dix Mois. Seth's singing and mannerisms drew the audience in for these dramatic songs. This all fit with the way the first show was last year which was a little more emotional and theatrical. Compared to the second show which was more edgy and hard rock feeling. Not to say the band did not rock the first night.
The theatrics were hinted at by Mana on Twitter prior to the shows. He wrote about how the door is opened and demon king Angolmois will return. It's a Nostradamus reference that he's written this in the past. However this time he used the idea of destructive demons in the show.
Mana began this with the traditional tossing of candy to the audience as part of the MC section of the show. The difference was that he started up in the balcony. He came in the door opposite of where I was sitting and threw candy to that side. Then as he reached the front, he slide across the front row in the middle section, in front of everyone's seat. People were surprised, yelling and cheering. Sadly he was out of candy by the time he reached the side where I was sitting.
He then reappeared downstairs tossing more candy. Seth had everyone sing happy birthday to him and then read an announcement about the next show, which will be two shows on the same day, June 23rd. The difference is these performances will start with a meal. Lunch for the first show and dinner for the second. It's the return of La Kitchen Aristocrat Live.
Following that was the next bit of chaos from demon Mana-sama. I'm sharing a couple photos that Mana posted on Twitter because what happened was pretty crazy and visual images do help. Seth announced that the band had a gift for Mana. Ryux came out with a big bouquet of red roses. He got down on one knee and presented them to Mana who proceeded to tear the paper off of them and then started throwing the flowers to the audience.
From the photos it's clear the band did not know he was going to do this. The audience was also surprised, expressing this with screams of shock and laughter. It really was a moment. Mana even was able to throw a rose up into the balcony. And if the photographs aren't enough, here is a link to Ryux's Twitter of a video of his presenting the roses and the members' reactions. Mana later referred to this as being in destroy mode. The audience loved it.
Then it was back to the music. The songs of the second part were:
Night breed
Solitude
Immortal Madness～Dead Scape
Twilight Flower
Beast Side
Vizard
Divine Place
En Lumiére（SE）
The band then left the stage while the audience urged them to return, chanting "Moi dix Mois". When they did, everyone but Mana was wearing the new shirt for the lives. At this point we were instructed to snap the blue glow sticks we were given and wave them in unison while the band played "Pageant". Mana kept with the demonic chaos, moving off the stage and into the center aisle where he played guitar surrounded by the audience. Lucky people!
That was the end of the show. The audience moved out of the theater with some stopping to buy concert goods. I ended up getting two of the rubber bands, a dolman shirt from last year's 華麗なる～La包丁貴族～スペシャルディナー付きライヴ, "Brilliant ~ La Kitchen Aristocrat Live", the Moi dix Mois Anniversary backpack (which I did not get at last year's shows) and the concert dolman shirt for this year. All pictured with my blue glow stick.
I also bought the new key chain. I almost didn't because I noticed the side with the sticker had nothing covering it. But it was more of a souvenir for me, especially because I wanted to add the guitar picks to it. Here it is with the new pick. If you are wondering why I still had tickets for both nights, it's a secret. Also want to mention the song list is from what I remember and what a fan posted on Twitter that night after the show.
Next up is Night Two!
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