Moi dix Mois live - Beyond the Gate
March 19th 2006 - Berlin
by Mistoline


Balance Sheet


+ 14 hours of driving
+ 16 ½ hours of waiting
+ 40 hours of sleep depravation
+ 10 hours of sleep

--> makes for a very headbanging-sore and very happy Line

Welcome to the Torture!

You guys know I am a writer and I love torturing you. So sit back and through every detail I can come up with – from driving to Berlin to the last wave of Mana's hand – suffer and feel the joy right with me! If you want the true concert experience, sit back or print this, read yourself through it – because waiting and anticipating, travelling and meeting people is a big part of the entire experience (and the report was few hours work).

Going to Berlin!

Friday, March 17th 2006 – while Mana is happily doing sound checks somewhere in France, I've loaded mom's big car with food, bag, GothLoli costume and decorated the windows with the M10M and mon†amour signs (which my mom quickly took down the moment she had her car back on Monday). Though my explanation for putting these up was: “If everything goes well, said car will spend an entire day on a parking space near the hall – how can I not ‘decorate' it?” (and it did!)

At 2:30 my sister and I picked up my sister's boyfriend – while she and he will spend a wonderful weekend in Berlin their way, I'll have a wonderful weekend MY way. And there we go – 7 hours straight on the road from Frankfurt to Berlin. Ahh… the things I do for you, Mana.

Friday and Saturday – and I am making it short for you

I spent my first night at the wonderful, inviting KeyJahn and her puckish house-ghost – which means the evening/night until 2 or 3 am (when I threatened to pass out) was spent viewing pics and exchanging interesting jrock facts. It's very convenient living with your own friendly jrock-lexicon. *bow* Key knows everything, it's almost scary. She also knows all sorts of interesting people with connections. And - friendly, indeed! Whoever else in the world simply says “stay here with me” when you find out four days before the concert that you have nowhere to sleep from Friday to Saturday (and no money, either)? I came to the same conclusion as last time – jrock connects! I have found so many friends through Moi dix Mois' concerts and Jrock – for that alone I must be thankful to people like Mana and bands such as Dir en grey, Malice Mizer, Kagerou, Lareine,….

To make your torture a little smaller, I will briefly summarize that we went to Neotokyo to get my tickets, bought a Gothic&Lolita Bible at a Japanese book shop (the one with the hot Mana-pics….) and then visited the gothic shop XtraX and slobbered over shoes and clothes. I must have lost a lot of spit that day staring at the “Bible”, Jrock CDs and awesome gothic boots. *blush* I'm forever thankful to Key for taking me there – having merely a guide book and a car with a road-navigation system, I'd have gotten nowhere without her – and with a LOT LESS FUN.


Already at the Neotokyo and XtraX, people with all possible hair colors and in Gothloli wear were hopping about, so that even there, my heart would pound a little in excitement --- And I am not easy to excite. Thinking back to JapanExpo when Asuka felt my pulse right before Mana came out on stage, I had been perfectly calm, for example. I am not easily excitable, really – but two people (namely my girlfriend and Mana) have a pretty good chance at that.

We came back and viewed some more pics, then I communicated with Bine-chan (with whose aunt I had actually been wanting to stay – and would for the next night) so I could go drive over and meet her. It was early evening and with the prospect of getting up early the next morning, I was a tad in a hurry to get there. I hope I didn't seem rude leaving my gentle host Key-chan so quickly!!!

The house of Bine's aunt was easy enough to find with the navigation system and I had barely arrived when we already left again - we took a trip to the hall to view the location. It turned out to be a very good idea because we could go into the shops and ask what exactly the entrance to the hall was – there were two areas that could possibly pose as the entrance to “Huxley's Neue Welt” and we found out the smaller of the two was the actual entrance.

It was also a good idea because we met two very nice Swedish girls whose names – I apologize – I have never asked for or totally forgotten. One was very tall, carrying a few bottles of water, the other had wonderful light-purple hair with wool threaded into it - and I think I might even remember them from the Moi dix Mois concert of the previous year. At least the purple hair looked familiar. Since they were as confused as we are about the entrance, we found out about where we'd have to sit and being the same crazy type of people, I promised them they could go sleep and relax from their journey here (they'd been to the French concert, I think) while I'd keep a spot for them right at the door the next morning. It's not often I feel well around people right at the start, there usually is immediate antipathy, but those two I felt immediately comfortable with.

After going to eat with Bine and friend Sabse (if I spell that nickname correctly that is) we quickly returned home to fall into bed at about 9:30 or 10:00 pm - when we had about five hours left to sleep left. Yes, five hours – that's right. We got up at 3:00 am. I must apologize, though… during dinner that night at a small restaurant, I babbled a lot about Mana. It was so quiet the entire time, I just had to talk about something!

Finally, it's Sunday!

After an almost perfect night in a wonderful warm and soft bed – had I not been waking up every now and then from sheer excitement – we got up at 3:00 am and got dressed, make-upped and ready. I put on my self-sewn petticoat, skirt, under-knee socks with ribbons, comfortable platforms, skirt and shirt with lots of lace, Moi-même-moitié necklace, Ginny's tophat (that had been made for me) and packed my things to put them into the car. My intention was to take only a small bag with my ticket, car keys, car documents (required in Germany), ticket-email (to prove I got them from mon†amour) and “dextro energen” as pseudo-food. I hate that stuff, but it works.

And there we went, arriving at the hall around 4:15 am. It was super-cold and because nobody else was there for a long while (as opposed to last time when people had arrived from 5 am on), we went back into the car, switched on some Moi dix Mois and Malice Mizer and napped a bit, waiting. Occassionally I'd turn on the car and let the heater heat it up so we wouldn't freeze. We had put our blanket and some water in front of the door to keep our space and went there occasionally to check whether anyone else was there yet. All in all, it was very comfortable but I admit now that we could have gone in later because it was almost freezing this time and I shouldn't have expected people to come as early as last time. *sweatdrop* But hey – the whole waiting thing and all – it's part of the concert-experience!

Finding a nearby McDonald's for breakfast and toilet options, we came back to find our blanket in the trashcan by the door and the water gone. ;__; Now we were left with a bit of ice tea and orange juice. Again, my thinking didn't quite reach its top here - *SWEATDROP* it was early! - had it, I'd have realized it is NOT SUMMER and our needs for water wouldn't be as intense as last time. We weren't in need of those bottles, yet I panicked and later on called Key to bring some water for us since ours had been stolen. I barely drank anything of it, even. *sweatdrop* Sorry, Key, for making you carry it. (>.<)

Trouble with the Location

By around 8-9 am the first other set of fans arrived with their mommy. Yes, jrock is spreading in the more juvenile population of this world, which I find a bit tough to deal with since I am not too fond of kids. These were some nice kids, though and we happily shared our place with them,

Well… that was… until….

This guy walks up to us telling us “I know for sure there's no concert here today because the hall is under construction.”

….

IMAGINE THE INTERNAL PANIC, EVERYONE – You've been spending the last five hours keeping an eye on the hall to make sure you get a good place and then someone tells you you're either here totally in vain or you must panic that your concert isn't taking place at all?! Well, reasonably I didn't truly believe in the latter – it would be crazy for a band which has fans coming in from all over the damn continent to just randomly cancel a concert (in this case without notice from either Neotokyo or Mon†amour). But the idea that a whole crowd could already be waiting at a different venue while we go up especially at 3 am to get a good spot… made me want to go crazy.

Smart-ass guy walked around for a bit longer and finally told us the concert had been moved to the “Columbiahalle” where Dir en grey's concert had been played last time. THAT was a very confusing idea to me because the Columbiahalle is more than twice the size of Huxley's and even if Huxley's should be sold out (I don't know whether that was so), the crowd would look rather pitiful in there. Nevertheless, we drove there, picking up a Moi-même-dressed, Spanish Lolita on the way to take along in case the concert really did take place at the Columbiahalle. I wasn't going to leave anyone standing – especially people who can't speak German (or English too well) – helplessly at the wrong place.

The wrong place? Yeah, the fucking hell it was, Monsieur smart-ass. The Columbiahalle had no signs on there, no indication of any concert today. Mommy, kids, we and Spanish Lolita were mightily confused and I called Key who checked the internet for us and tried to establish a connection with members of the Neotokyo-staff to get more reliable info. Meanwhile, we went back to Huxley's which was still deprived of any Lolis or concert viewers besides us. But alas, smart-ass guy was there again saying:

“Oh, it is taking place here after all. They just decided it this morning.” Yeah, sure they did! Smart-ass guy just didn't want to seem as stupid as he actually was – he probably had no idea that the hall had been booked because it would be perfectly fine for a concert by March 19th and therefore pretended it had been decided ‘this morning'. Oh whatever, at least we could finally settle now without worry of being at the wrong venue!

A plus for Neotokyo!

… settle… yes. In freezingly cold weather. (>_>); It was somewhat above 0°C (= water freezing temperature) – like 3-4 °C max – or so the radio had said. I was not looking forward to this, nope.

Around 10-11 some friends arrived, so now the crowd consisted of us, Spanish Loli, Rapha&friends, a lovely guy in drag with shoes that would kill anyone's feet (which is why he chose to sit), the school girls (without their mommy by this point), Geisha-sama and her Spanish friend Minako. Spanish Lolita made a bit of a fuss wanting to get some coffee but ‘too afraid' to miss Mana driving by in his van. Eventually some girl had to take her to McDonald's.

As for wanting to see Mana drive by in a van – HUH?!!!! The last thing I care about while freezing under a sky that is sending light snow my way is whether or not I catch a glimpse of the birthday-guitarist being driven by or not. I'd care if he ran over me, I'd certainly not mind catching a glimpse, but I'm not going to make my day dependent on that. We told her that we doubted Mana would come in before 11 am (but then when she was gone we actually remembered that last year we had actually seen him drive in by 10 am… oh, well). There were cars and vans going in the entire time, but they all were equipment-trucks or at least didn't have windows in the back. Some reporters and Japanese people went in and out of the hall and talked about what I think was someone's role with the band. I heard “What's his job?” and “promo” somewhere, but it wasn't too spectacularly interesting. You just try to pay attention to these things when it's all you can do besides waiting.

By around noon, a Neotokyo staff member – who had asked earlier whether we were cold (Hell, YES!) came out to bid us come into the front-hall where it was warm. The front hall had been open the entire time, I might say, but we are civilized people and didn't go in without being invited.

I swear, though, asking us inside was the nicest thing ever and made a HUGE difference concerning waiting time! HUGE. It was freezing temperature vs. a warm venue! We promised that we'd make sure there's an imaginary line a few meters away from the actually entrance to the hall which nobody of the fans would cross. There was this little desk-counter-type-thingie in the middle, a bit away from the entrance and we sat down left and right of its edges building the border between “you can sit here” and “you cannot sit here”. Giggling we established that I, the Line, would be the border-line (at least on this side if the counter which turned out to be the important side as you will see later on – by pure luck, that is). On the other side of the counter, some other friends of ours had placed themselves to build the border there. Geisha and Minako settled right in front of the counter. (^_^)

The warmer location made waiting considerably better, of course. Only Spanish GothLoli got a bit on our nerves by standing PAST the damn border. Eventually someone somehow managed to actually put her where she belonged. She couldn't have had such a perfect waiting time, actually, since she refused to be friendly with anyone there but her mom who was following her around. She already had made herself unloved with some people at a Moi dix Mois event in Japan – or so I heard. Not my thing, though and I told the people in question that I'd try to form my own opinion, though I felt like I had reasonably been warned. By the end of the concert, I could only nod to them, though.

Neotokyo-guy also took my present for Mana – a framed drawing of his marriage to a Sea Monkey, which I am sure the mon†amour members will understand – and I hope Mana could smile about it, too. He was generally very nice, saying he had to “brush up” the image of Neotokyo (which was misspelled as ‘Neotoko' on the tickets, by the way – and that in the URL… so nobody will get there :P).

Now, there's waiting

The hall was slowly getting more crowded. Key arrived with the water and we formed a lovely little group – Bine-chan, Sabse, me, Key, Rapha, Rapha's friend and off to the side were Geisha, Minako, eventually the Swedish girls and some people from Austria – plus another friend of Rapha's who was now at her third concert in a row and hadn't really slept for three days. She almost keeled over while writing a text message in her cellphone.

Eventually, Hayato (the drummer) was brought in with his very own van (except if bassist Sugiya had been in it). At that point, nobody knew what Sugiya looks like (well, those who had been to France probably did, I suppose), so we couldn't tell whether or not he was in the van, too. Hayato had brought his camcorder and was happily filming us as the van had to stop in front of a gate/barrier before they could drive in completely. We gave him the \m/ sign, of course, and the guy sitting behind him in the van took pics of us. I think Hayato was enjoying himself there a lot. We were happy to see his hair was still very red.

As for Mana – first there were rumors that he wasn't there yet (and we hadn't seen him come ---- but after all we WERE sitting inside and he could have passed us secretly). Rumors had it that the staff would try to act as if they were totally unaware of Mana's birthday (which I find impossible considering the concert has probably be set to Mana's birthday on purpose). Eventually we found out – as someone brought him flowers – that apparently Mana was long since swarming about the venue – and the other members too, I believe.

After Hayato's arrival, we settled at our line again, talked and I tried to nap a bit, but I couldn't really sleep for long. It was too uncomfortable and I was a bit embarrassed about really sleeping in public, I think. Most of the time I watched people, some of them dressed and styled very mana-ish (with the poof and all), many Gothic Lolitas (and by far better ones than myself, hehe). I sometimes just listened to people's conversations. I'd randomly join the convos, but I am usually not the type to talk much in groups and I mostly don't know what to say - so I was happy to just be listening to the walking lexicon that is Key and people's experiences with Dir en grey fans who still can't say the word ‘kyo' correctly. [No, Küyo you'll find out at the pasture. Moo~~~ (sorry, I am sure only Germans can get that joke).]

Geisha-sama disappeared for a while and returned sweetly make-upped and styled. The fanbook was going about for people to sign, raucous came up when two Finnish people (I believe) were waved into the hall for some business stuff that – as we heard – had nothing to do with the band. Why people got up right then was a bit beyond me (I had to to let them pass through), because it was like 3:30 pm and surely, nobody would be let in yet if they didn't have a good reason for it.

Going to the toilet got tougher as the place got more and more crowded. With platform boots you just don't want to risk stepping on people's hands. Toilet visits also were tough because despite the soccer-world-cup slogan “Die Welt zu Gast bei Freunden” (the world is guest with friends … or something like that [is there an official translation for this dumb sentence?]), the nearby bowling place was making a point in not being friendly at all, even if you paid for using their toilet. Oh yes, we're weird looking Lolis. And you're making money from us. And many of these people are not even German, thanks for making the country look like its inhabitants are assholes. *gah*

All in all we sat there and killed time for the next few hours. We got in there around noon and sat there for 4 ½ hours before anything changed or happened. But then it did.

The Calm People

Around 4:30 pm the staff came out again. There had been staff members coming here and there every now and then, Japanese and German, photographers and the like. The door to the actual hall could only be opened from inside, for outside you needed a key. Some Japanese guy once went there for what reason ever and the door fell closed. (^_^);;; He had to find his way through the fans to get back to the backdoor entrance.

This time, however, some stuff was being set up. Yet everyone was sitting and I was grateful for it – as were the people around me. It's a tough thing when dealing with masses, even if you're part of it. I still don't quite comprehend it, but imagine the raucous when the sign was set up that said “TICKETS” (on the side of the counter I wasn't on, but I HAD my tickets… just – if that was the side were people were being let in, I would be in trouble. But then they put up the other sign on my side “MON†AMOUR TICKETS”.) However… everyone jumped up immediately and when they do, there's nothing to stop them.

Key and one of the other girls sitting with me changed lines quickly because they had normal tickets. Rapha, Geisha, I and the Swedish guys (and someone from… Indonesia, I believe?!) stayed where we were because we had the special tickets. However, as I said – masses are hard to comprehend. Everyone was getting up all of a sudden and pushing, even though we were not being let in – meaning the line wasn't moving, not even if people pushed us. It happens like that for every concert of any band that attracts a certain range of fans (young females, mainly). Nobody was being let in before 6:30 pm anyway, so what the hell? We talked to a staff member because our tickets were not labelled as “Mon†amour” tickets and we were a bit concerned about that (because they had been stamped last time). As predicted, that wasn't correct and the ticket got stamped in the back with the “Neotokyo rubber stamp to mark it as special.

How on EARTH the Neotokyo staff (part of them coming from Neotokyo Munich, part from Berlin) managed to separate this entire mess into two lines is BEYOND me, but they did. I was stunned, really, but in the end, there were two somewhat neat lines along the walls, one containing people with mon†amour tickets, one containing the rest of the masses. I tip my mini-tophat for these guys (some of the Japanese there were rather cute) and the security staff – but we did feel sorry for them: Whenever someone of the security staff came out for the first time, we could neatly analyze human reaction to a crowd they have to handle:

surprise – worry – helplessness (“How the hell are we going to handle that?”)

We joked saying “And if someone screams ‘Mana', that helplessness will turn into fear!”. It's scary, but imagine Mana would have appeared anywhere near that place at that moment. The sort of power he had over the huge crowd at that moment without even being present is kind of scary, ne?

Oh my, but even without Mana, a bunch of Lolis must be incredibly scary. *giggle* You got that impression even more thoroughly when security started putting on bullet-proof vests (not all of them) and got weird with communication devices against the evil Lolis. They put up signs against cameras, food and drink – those things were not supposed to go into the hall. They also put up signs to make it clear that the ticket was worthless after leaving the hall, but that was all. As far as I heard from people who had been to the Parisian concert the organisation there had been a lot more sloppy. The organisation here was a tad messed up because we had so kindly been let into the front hall where it was warm. Now of course, plans on how we were to be let in had to be re-arranged so there was a bit of chaos. The line could not move to be let in, yet people were supposed to pass by the desk to collect their tickets. As I said, they managed this by magically separating the crowd into two lines and people were going about collecting money and IDs to hand out tickets.

Anyway. As I said, everyone was standing – in neat, separated lines, but still standing. Rapha and I were at the very front and we sat down hoping that it would maybe have an impact on people and make them sit down as well. Yeah, that was quite utopic. The Swedish girls behind us told us they would certainly want to sit, but there was of course not enough room for them to do so because people were pushing against them from behind. Not hard, but enough to not just be able to take a small step backward or forward. So only the five of us at the very front could really sit.

I wonder whether the people in the back even understood that giving out the tickets did not mean that anyone was getting into the venue. As we were allowed to step forward a bit now to release the pushing tension for people, we made sure to do it slowly, step by step, to not cause any panicking or pushing. All in all, the people up here were all adults who were calm enough to not start screaming matches whenever a camera was pointed at them. That was quite tough on the ears within that small entrance hall. However, we of course did the \m/ (^_~) when the camera was being pointed at us.

So, the next two hours were spent like this in line, and as one of the Swedish girls put it so nicely: Better stand here than inside of the hall were things were most likely to get worse. Again, I bow down before the security because they managed to make everyone move backwards enough (with the threat of not letting anyone in, that is) so that we were all at the initial border behind the counter, not next to it. Minako-chan made sure that the line was in the same order again it had been before – meaning that people who had not been standing in front of Geisha, Rapha or the Swedish girls were behind them now, too.

A neat red-and-white striped strip was put in front of us to mark the border between the inside-the-world-of-Moi-dix-Mois and outside-the-world-of-Moi-dix-Mois (or to put it more precisely: in front of the gate and beyond the gate). My borderline-job was totally taken over by a piece of plastic. (^_^)\m/

Beyond the Gate …

And there we stood. And stood…. (Now even Rapha and I had to stand….) and eventually the gates for the “70 special guests” as the security staff put it – namely the mon†amour members – opened. One by one, we were let in – or rather, two by two. Rapha and I were the first to get though the gate and found ourselves left with the choice of walking up the stairs or to a gate next to the stairs. Luckily a staff member told us the hall itself is upstairs and we made our way there. There was also a place for jackets, but ever since we had gotten into the building, I had brought my jacket to my car and was in no need of anything except of getting into the hall itself.

We tried not to run, but people behind us started to hurry too much and we didn't want to give up our places just because we were a tad more reasonable and didn't WANT to cause any massive running. So half-heartedly I jogged to the place I wanted to be it. RIGHT IN FRONT OF MANA. YES. I didn't have to hurry too much since the people closest behind me were our friends, anyway, and the “letting people in” worked rather slowly.

Mana is always playing on the right side of the stage and there was an amp there and two large speakers piled next to it, no microphone. Geisha, a friend of hers (I think?) and I shared the space there, but I think I ended up being the one riiiight in front of the amp. Rapha wanted to be in front of Seth, so our ways separated here. The entire stage was supposedly smaller than in France and there wasn't even that much room (maybe five people) between me and Rapha in the end.

But yes, now we truly were beyond the gate - the last one to cross towards Moi dix Mois. And the hall was utterly perfect for the band. High, there were tall windows along the sides of the venue (though of course they were taped to keep everything dark) with decorations above them (and on the walls and ceiling) that were reminiscent of a cheap baroque summer residence… nothing for kings or queens, but certainly for small aristocrats (^_~).

The floor was parquet flooring, I believe… or at least wood. There was a food/drink stand off to the side and a small corner in the back for merchandising. I had of course no time for buying items, having to keep my wonderful place, but that IS rather unimportant when I've come to see a concert and not to cover myself in merchandise.

As we were waiting, the light technician played with all the spots and colourful light. Meanwhile there was dark music playing (like the background music to horror films), which had already happened at the last concert one year ago. A death voice could be heard occasionally, but mostly the grumbling of wind howling through dark hollow halls… mwhahahahh!

The Stage

There was a small Moi dix Mois sign up the center of the stage – as I was told, the sign in Paris had been huge like a carpet, too huge to even completely see it. This one was a bit puny, more like a tablecloth. We joked about how they must have lost the original sign or something on the way from France to Germany.

So… up to the left where I was standing, I could see the two speakers and behind them laid – on little boxes – the white jeune fille with the blood splattered on it and the black jeune fille dix next to it. There also was a music stand and the obligatory little buttons to step on to change the sound and distortion of the guitar, amps and other electronic devices, lots of cables and right in front of me the monitor speaker from which Mana would hear an enhanced version of his own playing against the background of the others. Next to it, towards the side of the stage, was a fan for Mana. Occassionally the technician would test its function and you could see it (and the ones for the other members) rotate.

On the amp (or whatever it was) behind Mana's place stood some sort of spray (there was one next to the jeune filles, too), a mirror and a black bottle that wore a blue skirt and a black petticoat on top of it. Geisha-sama told me that while the bottle had also been black in France, it had been very naked. I labelled it Mana's birthday bottle and wondered whether Mana even knew it had been decorated. Off a bit to Mana's side was the drumset (with two bass drums) for Hayato; center stage – of course – a microphone stand (without a microphone in it yet). Behind Seth's place was another amp for the bass and off to the left we could see a hiiiigh microphone stand which was most definitely K's. His black guitars were on guitar stands (or it might be that one of them was Sugiya's bass, I couldn't quite tell from here, nor did I pay attention to it when the concert was running). Of course everyone had their amps and fans and electronic devices, cables, plucks… etc. There were a heckload of cables on that stage. K also had a black water bottle (everyone actually did I believe, but I am note sure I saw all of them) and at some point, someone came up on stage to equip K's place with a little mirror like Mana's. I wonder whether K even used it… his entire make up concept seems a little like it's supposed to be smushy, anyway.

Altogether, the waiting time was long, but endurable. The pushing from behind was actually near to non-existent compared to the previous concert or – worse – Dir en grey's concert. Especially when all the 70 mon†amour members were in only, standing there was (yet) very comfortable. At some point, someone poked my shoulder and somehow, Key, who did not even have a mon†amour ticket (which I should have thought of getting for her) was standing almost right behind me. I don't know how she managed… and much less do I know where the cute girls behind me had gone. We tried to busy ourselves and distract ourselves from hunger and thirst (with half-hearted conversation about anything but food and water) or – in Minako's case – smoking. At times we got confused enough so that Geisha-sama and I would talk English to each other, even though we're actually both German (and both with good reasons to speak English well, anyway, so it didn't matter, even when we noticed).

Miss Spanish Gothloli was in second row and pulling a face because she was not in front. Maybe she could have been, had she put herself in the right spot at the right time instead of trying to put herself in front of everyone where she didn't belong. Talking about putting yourself in front – yes, there actually WERE people who blatantly had tried to stand in front of the people who were building the borderline (not on my side) before we were let into the hall. I wonder how they came up with the idea that people who had been sitting and waiting there for hours would let them do that.

Anyway, back to the concert hall. Time was running slowly, my feet were aching, but it was endurable. The thread of an upcoming migraine, though, wasn't. My migraine usually have no side effects other than they hurt like hell. I don't faint or throw up, luckily. I had taken some medicine earlier as I felt it coming, but it seemed like my head was stronger or more stubborn than the medication. Of course we hadn't taken any water with us (it was forbidden, ne?), but the idea of enduring a concert with a blatant migrane was very uncomfy. So I unpacked my pills and wondered how to gulp them down. Have you ever tried to gulp down “Dolormin Migräne”? Well, it's huge. I bit it to pieces and tried to swallow it piece by piece. While that tasted horribly, it also got somewhat stuck in my throat and I wasn't sure whether I should cough or would end up throwing it up, be pulled out and my place would be gone (yes, that's the actual horror I had, fuck the possibility of choking to death!). So I suppressed any urge to gag and swallowed, swallowed, swallowed until it was somewhat gone enough to prefer the way down against the way up. Yes, gross, I know you never wanted to hear that. The things I do… when I have nothing to do but stare at the stage and notice my body is fighting me. Jerk. Luckily, nobody really noticed my little problems there, though. (^_^)

The only thing interesting that happened was this camera guy from a show called “Tracks” (http://www.arte-tv.com/de/kunst-musik/tracks/104524.html) on “Arte” with a huge film camera - and maybe the security guy telling us we could not put our stuff in front of the barrier… upon which we hung it up on the barrier (>>). During the concert, my mini top hat joined my bag, simply because headbanging didn't work otherwise and I didn't want to loose it or give up on headbanging.

Anyway, we're not there yet (you wish!).

Tuning the Instruments

Some half an hour before the show or so, some Japanese guys came on stage. First one that walked over to Mana's place, picked up the bloody little girl and tuned her. As opposed to last time, he didn't put it on speaker for as long as he could hold that off. Last time some impatient squeaky girls had applauded him for tuning a guitar. Wow. After finishing, he sprayed the strings with the spray that had been standing next to the filles. He was halfway done with the tuning when two other guys invaded the stage and tuned the bass and K's guitars and checked the microphones. As Geisha-sama put it so fittingly “twenty minutes for Mana's guitars, five for Ks”. Of course that was a purposely exaggerated, but they really took a lot longer for Mana's guitars than for Ks. It was rather cute when one of the guys (I think it was the one that looked a bit like Yuana from Kagerou) walked up to check K's microphone. He had to get on his toes to even reach it. ♥ Yes – K is a tall, tall man. (^_^)

The guys looked all very familiar… from last year… Of course eventually they had to give the speakers a short test and some people squealed when the sound echoed through the hall. They didn't play anything nice - I don't think they even played actual chords. They wore tour shirts and one of the guys was wearing a cloth-thingie over his head. Nothing to really applaud about, but when all you do is stand there and wait and wait and wait, anything that happens is suddenly very exciting, I suppose. I mean, hell – I asked the camera guy whether his camera is heavy. I was bored.

People started screaming “Moi dix Mois” at some point, but Minako wisely advised us to keep our voices in check yet – and as long as nobody has forbidden us to take photos, that makes sense, anyway. The band would not come out until the threat is spoken out loud. Supposedly in France, some people actually DID try to take pics and made Mana glare at them angrily. The security fished these people out from the audience, though. I still don't understand the purpose, seriously. First of all, why would you continue doing that when you can see the security people are throwing those out who do - for a handful of blurry, bad-quality pics…? Secondly, I find the request to not take pics very reasonable. Flashes are annoying, you can't concentrate on the concert properly and HELL, it's the artists' faces and they should be allowed to decide what is being done with them.

But yes – without that anti-photographing announcement, I was sure there was no Moi dix Mois coming up. But just as I was thinking about all of that, the voice rang through the hall (German and English) to tell us not to take any pics and wish us fun at the concert (“Security has been told to make everyone leave the hall who does take pics”).

No more holding off now!

As I am writing this, my heart is pounding.

The lights turned to blue… and The other side of blood started playing. I sometimes believe Mana only composes these little pieces at the beginning of his CDs to torture us right before they come on stage. Okay, maybe he doesn't, but it's very convenient for that! I remember being very surprised that Mana would be the first to come on stage and bow. I think last time he came in last. I could see his incredible (but this time a bit messy) poof from where I was standing before he even came on – simply because I was on the other side of the stairs and the backstage area doors were on K's side.

Mana bowed to everyone – left, right, center before taking his place in front of us. Sugiya and Hayato made a rather humble entrance, but K – again – let himself be glorified. He looked awesome with his red hair. Admittingly, it had almost the same effect as the half-shaven-ness had, but it was probably a lot less cold for him during everyday life. *giggle* I love his arm muscles. *roar*

I remember totally not noticing that Seth wasn't even on stage yet, until he suddenly made his entrance. *laugh* He jogged in and received his cheers and I was too preoccupied with Mana who was checking out the audience to really pay much attention to Seth yet. Somehow I had the feeling it was wrong to stare at Seth or K when Mana was right in front of me looking at the audience and – possibly – also me. *laugh* So for the beginning I kept my eyes on Mana for as much as I could manage.

Costumes

I just don't want to give the impression like I had a lot of time to stare at the different costumes before they started. I basically had no time, but I tried to take mental notes during the concert of some details here and there for this report.

So, Mana was in one of his stage outfits from long ago, not the coat he wears on the recent group pictures, of course. That would probably have killed even the never-sweating Mana. Or especially him because he apparently doesn't get rid of overheat through sweat. I think the easiest way to show what he looked like is a pic of his outfit. Since it's an old outfit, there are pictures from other concerts, conveniently.

Mana, however, had his new extensions in the back – white and blue – rather than all black. According to recent interviews, black and blue as opposed to black and white are now the colors of Moi dix Mois… though with Seth and K, red is also a big part now, I believe.

Complete with over-knee boots (of a platform-height I have yet to see anywhere else), Mana stood there before us – not for long, though, as they started right away with … uh… shoot me… a song of Beyond the Gate (Vain? Eternally Beyond?). Let me get to the other members before, though.

K was in the same outfit as last time – sleeveless shirt, “DIX” written on his right shoulder, a huge collar around his neck and bound arm-thingies from wrist to elbow around his arms. Complete with black pants, a train/robe-skirt type thingie and – who'd have thought it – platforms! Not high, not high at all – more like gothic boots, but they DID have at least three or four centimeters there of extra-height. Mana's must have had about 15 centimeters. My boots have 12 and his were STILL much higher. So my point is: There we had a 1.83 to 1.84 K in front of us which, in itself, is kind of imposing. His face was done up as you can see it in every pic – eyebrow-less black smeared around his eyes with some defined black rays going down his cheek and the obligatory contacts of doom. The black part of his hair was poofed much like Mana's and Seths, but even his read hair was hairsprayed to his head. It didn't move an inch when he was moving.

Now… Seth. Seth is CUTE. Like… CUTECUTE. He has the cutest cheeks ever and no matter how imposing his eye-patched self might seem on the pics, he's fuckin' adorable. He goes wild like the evil K, but he is adorable nevertheless. Even the “DIX”-eyepatch doesn't help much. He was done up pretty much exactly like on the pictures – with red strands in his poofy hair. He also had red extensions (mainly on one side in the back as opposed to both sides). He wore something as sleeveless as K's, but he had a fishnet-type shirt beneath that mainly looked like it was constructed from the same cloth as some of Mana's tights are (Illuminati!). (^_^); He, too, had a fluttering skirt-type thingie, leather pants and knee-high boots with platforms - though they weren't nearly as great as Mana's platforms.

Sugiya wore some sort of coat-type thingie with buckles on one side of his chest. He also had something on his forehead… either a leather band or cloth or something that held his slightly poofed up hair a bit out of his face I believe. He, too, has an utterly cute face and I think next to Hayato, he was also one to enjoy himself a lot in a smily, positive way. I could only see him well when Seth moved aside and in general, he and Hayato kept themselves in the background. Sugiya also had these black lines on his face. I'll be eternally confused as to whether they spelled anything or were just straight lines.

Hayato is such a ball of energy. With his black lips and red hair, he looked a bit too color- and contrast-ful for dix (and generally too cheerful, maybe?). Many people compared his looks to Shinya, but he seems to be a very different type. I can't even tell what he wore; I barely saw anything of him but his face. He was singing along almost the entire time while he was drumming, having a lot of fun back there. His hair was long and red and slightly … well, it had been worked on with one of these things, whatever they're called in English. Hence his hair was all soft and fluttering about.

I think he also wore something in his hair, but here, my memory is really cloudy. (^_^);;; Sorry.

On Stage Power!

As I said, the band plunged right into madness. Mana went wild. I mean… wilder than I have ever seen of him. He was spinning around, headbanging and hopping so much, he nearly tripped twice during the first song, so that he had to calm himself down a bit for the next one. It was a bit like all the energy of a special day, or all his love for the stage unloaded right there – unstoppably so. I hope everyone in the world will have as much fun as Mana had right there during the first song - at least once in their lives. He made himself a little breathless, even, so that he had to part his lips a bit to breathe when the song was done.

For a long time, maybe three songs, I could barely see anything but shadows. The light was so inconveniently focused that Mana and Seth were merely poof-headed shadows against spots of red, purple and blue. It was after the strobe came into action and inbetween songs where I could see their faces. Mana blinked a lot at first, his eyes wandering over the audience interestedly. The make up around them looked intensely black from where I was standing. I believe I saw something on the back of his hand that was lighter than the rest of his hand, so that I was wondering whether there was a scar or covered wound or anything (a scratch, if anything at all). It's not important or anything, it just caught my attention there for a moment.

Mana has Minions, K has Problems

Mana also had his own henchman. The guy who had tuned his guitar stood behind the two speakers with the music stand and did the foot-work to switch the voice of Mana's guitar. He used sheet music for reference when to do what. Yes, Mana didn't have to do a damn thing (which also means he must be able to trust this guy a lot) – K had to do all of it himself. Which again, leads to a fun observation: Once, K tried to switch the sound during a mini-break he had during a song. He tapped the pedal with his foot, but his shoes had a sole with a nice tread - and apparently he didn't quite catch it or the button had disappeared in the tread/pattern of his sole without switching. He tried again, but the same problem occurred, so he had to bend over (I am sure Sugiya got a nice shot of his ass) and switch it by hand. I wonder whether K had an internal monologue with himself - in which he was cursing either his shoes or the damn button. *giggle* But he's probably too professional for that.

One Short Guy

It was a bit into the concert when I realized how short Seth-chan must be. He was wearing platforms, he was still quite a bit smaller than Mana (but Mana had higher platforms) and he looked like a dwarf next to K. After the concert we thought he might be of kyo's height, if not a bit taller at least. He also is a little poser. I wasn't too focused on him, but people told me in France he supposedly “flirted” with the microphone stand and played with the fan and his coat/train. Rapha, who was standing in front of him during the concert, said he was a little poser that still needs to grow into a complete poser (like Mana who is all about poses, though in this case I think we were talking about suggestive posing). But the guy – Seth - has a scary lot of energy – I don't think he stood still for more than a brief moment. And his voice is godly! If I am honest, I didn't miss Juka much at all while seeing Seth (though that might also be because everything was so different in general). Maybe because it was like this is a different band and felt a little like it, too. I did miss the entirety of the familiar faces of Juka, Kazuno and Tohru, though. I didn't exactly and totally enjoy being so focused on Mana, K and a bit less on Seth the entire time, because I couldn't feel the same excitement about the members on stage I had felt about Juka, Tohru and Kazuno. While I love Seth's voice, I have merely seen two pics of him. I have never heard Hayato or Sugiya play and only seen one pic of one of them. It makes it hard to be all about them and not be totally focused on Mana and K.

As I said, I adore Seth's voice – he can scream like crazy (you wouldn't believe it seeing him) and he surprised the shit out of me when the nice parts that I always thought K was doing (“Be terrified!” during Deus ex machine, for example) were actually his parts. He can do it all – the high singing, the screaming, the death voicing. It was a tad confusing for a moment. I got all reimbursed for the confusion during Deflower, though – there's nothing like hearing K sing in a duet with Seth (with an actual melody) – and it was cute how K was all concentrated during that (he didn't have to play anything on his guitar then, that was Mana's job). He did do the little voice in between Seth's singing (not the one that sings higher at the same time with Seth). And yes, K can hold a tune very nicely (^_^). He looks so sweet when he's singing.

Memorable Moments

As far as choreography goes, the show was nicely coordinated, but simply-so as it is typical for Moi dix Mois. Mana and K could only switch places whenever K didn't have to change anything on the pedals or sing - so naturally, Mana and K knew which parts that were and left their places at the same time. Mana always took the path right behind Seth (and K had to obey and walk a longer way towards Sugiya and then over to us so Mana could pass in front of him). Once with us, though, K totally took over our part of the hall with evil glaring and his always-open mouth of doom, like a roaring lion. Magically, THE TONGUE stayed inside, though. I enjoyed every moment he was in front of us, spreading his energy which is of a much darker and more aggressive type than Mana's conjuring powers. I won't complain that he should have come over more often, but I love that guy and I hate having to decide between standing in front of him or Mana. But I should not even say that either – after all I was first row in THE ONE PLACE that gets a center view on Mana. *slobber* K has a tendency to look past these rows into the masses, though, while Mana's eyes seem to focus more upon the front where he can actually see people's faces.

I remember he was coming over during Pessimiste and during Forbidden, making us scream “MY DIX, YOUR DIX!” along with doing the \m/ (whenever he did not have to play). Yes K! Your dix!!! He totally owned the dix right there!

K, Mana and Seth give you strikingly different feelings when they stand in front of you. While Seth is an energetic little bouncy ball, I wonder whether he's scared of Mana-fans. *laugh* He seemed to keep himself behind Mana's amp/monitor speaker whenever he was ‘forced' to our side. This didn't happen often, but at least twice Mana. For example, Seth came over when Mana played with K: They were back to back, (or rather shoulder to shoulder) playing like true rock stars and they were definitely enjoying the posing. They seemed like two crazy metal fans imitating their favorite metal guitarists and feeling utterly cool at that. With the difference that crazy metal fans don't look as cool as they think they do – Mana and K did, though.

The most joy I read from Mana's face (if you can read anything from that face) probably during Perish. Most of you will know that the screeching sounds at the beginning are done by K and Mana on their guitars by scratching a pick up and down the strings. Of course at that moment, they have some nice time to check out the audience while they're making these noises. Mana was thoroughly enjoying the ability to look at the people in front of him while conjuring this voice from his jeune fille.

Which reminds me – at that moment I was of course totally fascinated by Mana's existence. That fascination happened so often that once, I noticed Seth was looking at me (and had apparently been looking for quite a bit). I guiltily looked back when I noticed (because I had totally not paid attention to him) and right into his eyes. Seth even held it for a moment before he turned away. I almost laughed… he tried to glare, but it just looked so adorable. I couldn't take him too seriously right there.

Mana's Birthday Part I

There was a tad of a birthday disaster that actually started close to the beginning. After the second or third song, everyone on stage had a drinking break. It was the perfect moment to sing “Happy Birthday” for Mana, even though I never wanted to start it to begin with because I thought the concert wouldn't go by without the band pointing out the fact in a special way anyway (more about that later). However, after a long moment of break, people started singing – unfortunately that was when the next song was starting already. It was song from Nocturnal Opera, but I can't remember which one it was. It might have been Monophobia… I just remember it had one of these calm beginnings that require no playing of the band. I don't think it was Mephisto Waltz… I think that came later… if at all. Hell, it's my favourite song, why do I totally not remember whether it was even played?! I know they never played Pageant, which was a tad disappointing. But deux ex machina strangely had the same mass-heating effect as Pageant had in other concerts. I'd never have thought the song had that potential, but it was totally thrilling with the

Seth: “You're next”
K: “You ridicule, You laugh”
Seth: “be terrified!”

Back to the birthday disaster. So the singing totally clashed with the starting song. Mana seemed a little lost for a moment there, but then he just ignored it and the song started and he rocked his part. The problem is - how do you stop these people once it started rolling? So they actually finished the song while the Moi dix Mois song was starting. If they had just started earlier when there was absolute silence on stage,… but alas – no – they started really rolling when the next song had already begun. It was … awkward.


Eventually, the masses tried their luck again later into the concert and while this time we didn't run into any songs, I don't think we were too lovely to hear. Luckily a musical scale only consists of a maximum of 12 different tones (but I am sure that some people were still inbetween the half tones). Also, people couldn't quite decide whether they were at the line “happy birthday Mana-sama” yet or still on the “happy birthday to you”, which made the song kind of have… five to six lines instead of four. Lastly, I doubt Mana was too surprised by that, since he knew our ambition to sing Happy Birthday to the Mana-sama from last year where it had been a couple of days AFTER his actual birthday. No surprise that we'd sing for his real birthday one year later in the same country. Hell, in any country, really. So while last year, he seemed rather moved, this time he was rather composed.

However, last year he had just kept on with the concert for the lack of knowing what to do, this time (well, the second time we sang this time), Mana came up to the front stage and sent out hand kisses to everyone with both of his hands. Very cute… (^_^)

Talking about kisses, of course Mana got rid of a handful of his picks during the concert which – just like last year – he pretended he kissed before he threw them (he actually didn't really come near them with his lips). One he blasted (I must say blasted here, trust me) to the back of the hall, one he tried to flip to one of the first rows, but it actually landed in front of the barrier. Later during the concert the security guy picked it up and handed it to someone on my right.

Talking about flipping things, I don't know how he did it, but Mana tried to do the \m/ whilst still holding is pick… so he kind of held the pick loosely between his index and thumb and used his middle and pinkie to half-heartedly do it. It looked kind of … strange, but I think that the \m/ was what it was supposed to be. And again, about flipping – apparently something got stuck on Mana's guitar at some point – like a black fuzz. I just saw him flip something aside in front of the speakers, thinking it was a pick, but it was actually something he had just plucked from his guitar. He artfully did it whilst playing without loosing track of where in the song he was. Skilful Mana! Certainly that wasn't welcome by him, but I missed checking out his face at that moment. (^_~)

Talking about unwelcome, Mana seemed to have some troubles with his corset and collar. He kept tucking on both, especially in the beginning of the concert and later when he had been off stage for a moment.

More Memorable Moments

So, of course the obligatory “four people up front with one foot on Seth's amp” did happen. K was to the left, naturally, then followed Sugiya, then Seth and Mana was on the right. They got sweet cheers for that pose, of course, and I could see Mana's train flutter against Seth's leg from Seth's fan. Needless to say it was totally coordinated, since this is about one of two times I saw Sugiya come out from the back at all. The other time he came out to our side and he seemed so unobtrusive that I nearly missed him. It's the one time I caught a good glimpse of his cute face and my initial thought was that he must be very lively in person – for the waggishness in his eyes.

There was another part which I nearly missed – when Sugiya and Mana stood facing each other in front of the drumset, looking at each other and rocking away by going down (like someone who wants to kneel on the floor) and then back up again. I'd probably be better at explaining if I had caught all of it, but I think I was slobbering over Seth at that moment.

Geisha-sama had told me that Mana seemed to have enjoyed people at the front para-paraing to Mana's parts during the songs, so we did that. Especially when Mana had solo stuff or when his guitar had a very distinct melody, we coordinated our hands according to his parts. (^_^) I am sure he saw that and I hope he liked it, too. You know you can't read from that face too much, but you can pretty much guess because while Mana's lips are sealed and mostly unmoving, sometimes his body language talks a lot – and his eyes babble, too. Unfortunately it was tough to see them sometimes. The not-so-neatly-parted hair on his head was in his face on more than one eye, so there were times when he tried to brush the few strands aside that were in the way.

Ah, I feel like I am talking way too superficially here. There was so much more to the concert than just their poses, looks and little problems here and there!!! In fact, it was the best I've ever seen of Moi dix Mois! There was so much energy coming from Mana, besides his going-wild at the beginning, he was just having such an infectingly bright time! Everyone on stage and off stage seemed so much into it, I could feel everyone around me rock with the music, head banging to my left and the voices singing along. And Sugiya's playing with his five-string bass seemed very dynamic to me. I think he and Hayato brought a bright component to the concert as they seemd to be so cheerful. And Hayato made drumming look like no work at all with his happy chanting-along – and yet he rocked all the hard parts totally!

I mean – this was a band that had been thrown together like a patch-work family and they played as if they had played these songs for years together. Maybe that's just what makes true professionals, but it just pulls you along into the music, out of reality. While during the last concert I had a good feeling for my aching feet almost entirely through the thing, I completely forgot about them this time because I was either so drawn into the concert that I was just gaping at Moi dix Mois, or paraparaing and headbanging (my neck is REALLY DAMN SORE right now, by the way! As are my arms!).

Moi dix Mois' music isn't easy to play but it looked like such a piece of cake when they did it and hey spent so much time just communicating with the audience through looks and movements and positions/stances.

Needless to say, all seven songs of Beyond the Gate were played – and when Dialogue Symphony was started, someone next to me just yelled “Arigatou!!!” (I think it was then!)

K speaks Part I

Halfway into the concert, the almight K-sama introduced the band. Well, almighty he is! He started off asking:

“WIE GEHT ES EUCH, BERRIN?!” in almost perfect pronunciation, except that he couldn't tell the “r” and “l” of Berlin apart too well. He made them sound differently, but I can't even imitate that. I think K just created new letters in the alphabet to say “Berlin” in German. Of course the audience cheered like mad in return because DAMN, WE FELT VERY WELL! But it wasn't loud enough for K-sama!

“WIE GEHT ES EUCH BERRIN?!” he asked again to receive even louder cheers. It was scary how well he pronounced the “Euch”. I think he practised for the entirety of last year. Hehe.

In order, I think he introduced “ON THE BASS: SUIGYA” first.

Yes, in English, and damn well English that is! He also introduced Hayato “ON DRUMS” and then followed “Seth” whereas he really said “Seth” and not “Sessu” like some of the fans pronounced his name. K said “bocaru” instead of vocals, which was confusing in the sense that he had said everything else nearly perfectly and suddenly he made such a cute and very typically Japanese mistake (^_^). It made him so adorable all of a sudden. *mad giggles*

Seth then took the microphone and in less well-pronounced but still very understandable English introduced “K on guitar and vocals” and for the last introduction, K announced the wonderful Mana-sama as guitar and “'r'ee-dah”. Of course Mana got the loudest cheers.

If I had thought this was K's greatest speaking-stunt, I was very mistaken. K should sweep me off my feet and totally triumph over every English speaking Japanese man on the planet like hell!!! But that's later! LATER!

Many More Memorable Moments

At one point, Mana was so considerate to squeeze himself between the speakers on the right - onto the tiny bit of stage that was left there in front of him just so he could give people all the way off to the side his special attention. He managed gracefully with those shoes and even left the purple extra spot standing that was right between his legs at that moment. (^_^);

A special song that should be mentioned is also Night Breed, as Seth apparently didn't know the parapara for it that Juka had taught us last year, unless that had been Juka's own invention. (As a random note, I love the way Mana headbangs during Night Breed in little mini-head-bang-movements.) Back to the parapara, I didn't do it, in case it really WAS Juka's invention and now rather unfitting since Juka wasn't there anymore. I also noticed that Seth does the English lines different from Juka, but indeed, they still weren't sounding anything like what the lyrics say (^_^);.

In general, my song memory is totally f-ed up by now – two days after the concert with a 40 hour sleep depravation inbetween. Except for the few songs I mentioned and all of Beyond the Gate there wasn't much else being played anyway. The entire concert turned out to be rather short. I remember when Seth held up his leather-gloved hand pointing a three (the Japanese way, with his index, middle and ring finger) saying “RAST THREE SONGS!” … upon half of the audience must have looked puzzled because it really wasn't too coherent, so he repeated “RAST THREE SONGS, OKAY~~~!” – well, I remember thinking ‘what? already?! wtf?! NOOO~~~!' – but that's probably what everyone thinks at the end of the concert. It still was only a 2-hour concert - after EVERYTHING was done, including the parts that still follow in this report.

I think either at the end or for the encore they played Ange because that's about the one song name I understood from his lips – and that, even though we both probably don't speak too much French. Hehe! Ohh, but hell, did they rock for that one! I think it was purposely chosen to be played near the end because it just went awesomely mad!

EN-CO-REH!

… and quite suddenly… the concert was over. My heart sank painfully. Even though I knew there'd be an encore of more than one song (three, I think, one of them deux ex machina – which rocked like hell!), it was so damn early!!! And hell, they let us scream for quite a while! We started off with “Moi dix Mois! Moi dix Mois!” until we couldn't breathe anymore, then wild screaming started for all sorts of members, including Sugiya and Hayato, general cheering, then we somehow fell into the “Mana! Mana! Mana!” screaming, hoping at least he would listen to us and come back onto that damn stage! Turns out it needed a lot more uncoordinated screaming and cheering for the familiar poof to appear by the stairs of the stage - and he had himself celebrated by the audience left, right, center before he took up his guitar again and the other members came out.

Again, I didn't even notice Seth was still missing before they started. I don't know what's wrong with me or why I kept forgetting him! I'm sorry! ;__; He jogged on stage as if it was the first time. ♥

The special Jeune Fille

Something rather weird happened during the encore, and I am still very confused about it. So, after the first song, everyone turned around to sip a bit of their drinks and Mana's personal henchman was off to the side, picking up the bloodily stained, white jeune fille. He quite suddenly moved over to Mana and tucked on his elbow (in a way I'd never dare to touch that elbow by the way – not rude, but demanding enough). Mana looked over and found a white jeune fille in his face. Well, nearly in his face. He handed over the black equivalent and took on the white one.

At the end of the last encore song, he held it up above his shoulder, presenting it to us, the audience, like you've probably seen him do with his guitars and large crosses on the DVDs. He looked up at her, seeming rather enthralled by her as she was still making her last rumbling sounds. For some reason, that white one must be something very special and he looked utterly satisfied and adorable up there with her.

Unspectacularly (or maybe I just was too transfixed on Mana?), the other members left the stage until only Mana was left, who walked off to the other side, then to the center and let himself be celebrated by the audience.

… and… then… he dropped her. On the floor. (O_O)

He plucked a last, loud chord and she was sounding fully, getting louder to the point where it was almost painful to the ears and then he DROPPED HER. He didn't put her down. He let her base touch the ground and then just let go. ;___; WHAM. And then he reached out to the audience and demanded more applause before he left, letting her lay there and breathe out her last sounds (until someone had the mercy to turn down the amp) – dead jeune fille. *sob*

Mana's Birthday Part II, K speaks Part II

Should that have been it? We protested! “enco-reh, enco-reh!” And what do we see?! Hayato comes back! Sugiya comes back! K comes back! Seth comes back! I was overjoyed and I totally missed that Mana… hadn't come back! (O_O)

K snatched the microphone!

K: “WHAT DAY IS TODAY?” (and that was in perfect English, spoken slowly, carefully but loudly)
Audience: “MANA(-SAMA)'s BIRTHDAY!”
K: “WHAT DAY IS TODAY?!”
Audience: “MANA(-SAMA)'s BIRTHDAY!”
K: “RIIIGHT! TODAY IS MANA-SAMA'S BIRTHDAY!” (he was perfectly understandable) “So, Moi dix Mois has made a special song for Mana-sama.”
Audience: *cheeeeeeeers*
K: “But---- *pause* --- WHERE IS MANA-SAMA??!?!?!?!!”
Audience: *cheer, yell, cheer, cheer, call*
K: “YES?! Where is Mana-sama?!”
Audience: *more loudness*
K: “Mana-sama is not here. But I think, if you call is name really ‘r'oudly, he will come back!” (Yes, he totally said that entire sentence!)
Audience: *uncoordinated* MANA-SAMA!
K: *waits until everyone is quiet* “Let's count to thlee and then you all carr his name really roudry!”
Audience: “YEAAHHH!”
K: “Do you understand?” (Hell, yes, K. That's the scary part, we totally understood you!)
Audience: “YEESSSSS!”
K: “Okay! One,…. two… thlee!”

Audience: *coordinatedly* “MANA-SAMA!!!!”
K: “Okay. That was not roud enough! Let's try it again, okay?”
Audience: “Yeah!!!”
K: “One, two, thlee!”
Audience: “MANA-SAAAAAMAAAAAAAAAAA!”

… and whooooosh! The Mana was back on stage! Guitar-free and posing. *laugh* He actually put his hands on his waist/corset and tilted his hips like a little girl as the rest of Moi dix Mois plunged into a very short Happy-Birthday-rock-version… and Mana… danced. And how he danced!

Dance like the Mana-sama

Alright, everyone! Put your hands together as if you were praying! Stand up straight! Move your arms to the left and keep them together while stepping to the left! Do the same to the right! And back again! Right! Left! Right! (And my apologies to Geisha-sama, I totally scratched you, I think!)

Everyone who has ever seen Mana dance knows what ‘Mana dancing' means. He's so adorable, but so damn untalented, I love it! Yes, and I know that would have been the perfect chance to check out certain areas on Mana, but I forgot. I totally forgot (how sad is that for me being... my dirty self!?!).

Mana's Birthday Part III

Let's ignore that and move on! Time for Mana-sama's big bday present.

A birthday present thing had been started via Animexx and while Mana was gone again, some Neotokyo staff member announced that some person would give Mana his present now. As I said, I had signed the book with (I think arwork) on its black pages and a black crushed velvet binding - earlier with a silver pen, too, as the person now giving him the book had gone around collecting signatures of everyone who had been at the concert in time. I don't usually visit Animexx or any German forums, else I'd probably have known and paid a share of the present, but by the time I signed I didn't even know it had anything to do with anything organized on any forum.

The Neotokyo person said to welcome “Mana-sama” who had to walk back on stage for yet another time and expectantly waited for the girl (hands on his waist, hips tilted) to come up and bring his present which was the book, flowers (blue roses, I believe) and a coo coo clock, as they are very typical for certain areas in Germany, namely the Black Forest. Only, Mana-sama's coo coo clock was black, of course!!! I've heard some bad-mouthing of that idea… but I find that a wonderful thing to do as a present from Germany. I think he'd enjoy the clock and that it's painted black makes it all the more special.

Poor Mana seemed a little lost with carrying all the presents. I think he wanted to show it to the audience, but then it would have fallen so he decided against it and just kind of left the stage with his presents. His arms so fully packed, he didn't have much of a choice, but bow in thanks. (^-^)

Mana's Birthday Part IV

And now came the part that I'd almost dread to write about, if it hadn't been for K, I'd probably have kept this very short. As it had been announced beforehand, Mana would draw 20 people to come backstage with him, if those people had sent in their names to Neotokyo's email address. Again, Mana-sama was called back on stage (the Neotokyo guy kept saying “sama” in an intonation as if it was Mana's last name…). This time, Mana was followed by a smirky, smirky K who was carrying a silver-thingie (like an ashtray) with the four Moi dix Mois signs glued to it's side (like a compass: always 90° away from each other). The Neotokyo guy announced where the people who were drawn had to assemble for the meeting whereas half the audience squeaked “English please” since he had failed to mention it in English. He didn't get that, though, and all he did say in English was that numbers which were drawn (as in “Nummer eins! Number one!”) – which again, MANA didn't quite understand (especially because Nummer eins was actually first only said in German) and so he gestured to the ashtray-type thingie like ‘Uh… should I?' and the Neotokyo guy nodded and Mana drew the first name and handed it over. The girl who keeps translating stuff to him was also on stage with them, though I didn't quite get why.

The name was called and the question whether said person was even there. K and Mana looked at the audience, their eyes searching, until K found her and pointed her out to Mana, nodding ‘yes, she's here'. He really looked like Mana's little secretary right there. Well… not so little, but still. All in all, there were at least three males drawn within the set of 20. Some names sounded like they weren't German – I heard people around me mumble “Finnish”, “Swedish” and “Spanish” as those names were called. In general, I didn't expect nor internally demand being drawn. I had THE perfect concert spot and been to two autograph sessions so far. I got to see him in EGA wear and on stage. I've seem Moi dix Mois in concert twice, both times from the first row. I have absolutely nothing to complain about and I have enough reason to understand that I'm not the only in the crowded hall who sent her name in and that the likeliness I'd be drawn was low. The reason I dreaded writing about this is because I was really annoyed by people (among them Miss Spanish GothLoli) breaking out into tears for not being drawn. Those were people standing in first and second row. It just makes me shake my head.

I don't know what happened at the backstage event. All I heard is that one of the girls who went there asked whether she could hug Mana (and yes, she was allowed to). I wonder whether that meant hugging a sweaty Mana because that was right after the concert after all… or whether he really smelled like candy as other reports from other events say. By now I heard he smells like flowery and he didn't feel sweaty. *laughs* But you see, all you have to do is ask.

I don't know what I'd have done if I had gotten backstage. Probably grinned stupidly the entire time or looked straight at Mana, hugged him and then ask “WHERE IS K~~~?!” partly to confuse him, partly to get to see K. I do totally regret that due to working with Mana, K is just as unreachable as he is. I'm sure it would be some sweet, dangerous fun to poke him.


When the 20th name was drawn, Mana started to leave the stage. He wasn't even really moving yet, when a smirk spread over K's face and - with much glee - he turned the ashtray-type thing upside down and all the remaining pieces of paper with names on them that had not been drawn fell onto the stage like little snowflakes. I knew so many people whose names - including my own - were now messily scattered on the stage. K seemed to really enjoy that moment of evilness, his entire body language and face emitted the joy of being evil. *laughs* He distracted me enough to miss Mana disappearing completely.

So before we knew it... the stage was empty. Though I heard when almost everyone was out of the venue (I heard there were only three people left behind), Mana came up on stage and started taking pictures with his cellphone. Wonder whether they're as blurry and bad as the rest of normal pictures he takes *cough*.

End and Over

I am sure you're not exceedingly interested in hearing how I bought a black Moi dix Mois candle and two tour posters of the pic you all know (K, Mana, Seth in coats). Two, because I bought one for Rapha as she had told me to, then she had bought one herself. Driving home, going to college and having an eight hour lab the next day (luckily only eight hours) were strenuous. I did get to sleep some in the car because I wasn't the only driver, but not too well… and I got annoyed by people, whom we drove an extra 50km to get them home complaining about how much Mana sucks because fans were screaming “Mana! Mana!” the entire time. Moi dix Mois is and remains Mana's project, it was his birthday, those are his compositions and there were quite enough people screaming for K and Seth and even Sugiya and Hayato, even where I was standing and even though we barely know the latter. I understand Mana is eccentric and it can be annoying… but I highly doubt ‘arrogant asshole' fits him, either, as someone behind a friend of mine called. Why do people go to concerts if they don't like the artist, anyway?

I also think Seth and Juka are both awesome vocalists and while their voices are very much alike, they are completely different on stage. There were complains about the lack of head banging (certainly not on my side of the stage) and how they're gonna ‘spare themselves seeing Moi dix Mois next time'. That's all perfectly fine, I just don't understand why people have to rail about a concert right when it's over and it's still ringing in everyone's ears; especially when there are three other people in the car who thoroughly enjoyed it and would like to talk on how funny and great it was rather than bitch about it. Oh well. Luckily the two of them were two-day-sleep-deprived and just went to sleep in the car soon after. I want to apologize to Bine and Sabse for the others' behaviour, though it was not in my power.

All in all, I couldn't sleep much myself, I drove a lot, I spent a lot of money but it all was utterly worth it. This fresh, new Moi dix Mois isn't anything less than what we know – they're full of energy and obviously completely happy to be on stage. The energy they brought along to heat up the hall was incredible and – as a plus – there was so little shoving there on my side (even though it was Mana's side) that all I needed to worry about was getting a good glance on everyone so I could write a wonderful report for those who could not go there. Because yes, once in a while, I thought about this report as the memory and sharing of this experience is important to me.

Conclusion & Disclaimer

This was my concert, seen and experienced through my eyes. I can only wish and hope the members and people felt like I described here and that everyone had as much fun as I did. Even in my worst times, I always want to go see Moi dix Mois again if I get the chance, as this will keep my spirits happy for quite a while now. Combining the enrapturing aura Mana spreads (whose powers I still don't comprehend!), K's menacing, yet so sexy evilness, Hayato and Sugiya's positive spirits and Seths bouncy cuteness mixed with a touch of evil with Mana's unique compositions and style create something so special that you can't get it anywhere else. In a world as crowded as this one, being able to make something so new and unique is mightily scary, but therefore all the more fascinating. It's also fascinating how this brought me together with people from different countries and continents, all connected by one thing that is important to them: Music and Mana.

It all leads to the conclusion that every strain I've gone through to be there was totally worth it and that I owe Moi dix Mois my deepest thanks for the experience. I can't wait for next year, I can barely wait to see many of these people again – people such as Key, Geisha, people whose names I don't even know, people like Bine-chan and her friend – I even want to run into people like that Spanish Gothloli again, just because even those are part of the whole thing, of the ups and downs that make Moi dix Mois concerts in their entirety – from the first stitch on your outfit to the moment you happily fall into bed, dreaming of the unique experience (even if that's actually almost a day after the concert) - of memory that will be yours forever.

Nobody can take that wonderful experience from me. Nobody can take this memory – but I can share it. I hope you enjoyed this report!



Thanks for reading!!! Spread the love! DIX~!