ent special feature: glay - verb tour 2008 in us live concert report

A J ! - E N T S P E C I A L F E AT U R E A R T I C L E
GLAY
V ER B T O U R 2 0 0 8 I N U. S. - AU G U S T 1 5 , 2 0 0 8
H O U S E O F B L U E S - S U N S E T S T R I P, W E S T H O L L Y W O O D , C A L I F O R N I A
BY WYNNE IP
I M A G E S C O U R T E S Y O F E M I M U S I C J A PA N
J!-ENT
Celebrating our 15th Year Anniversary
VERB TOUR 2008 IN U.S. AUGUST 1
HOUSE OF BLUES - SUNSET STRIP, WEST HOLLYW
J!-ENT
15, 2008
WOOD, CALIFORNIA
contents
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FOREWORD
Why GLAY’s performance means a lot - By Wynne Ip
GLAY CONCERT REPORT
VERB TOUR 2008 IN US - AUGUST 15, 2008
HOUSE OF BLUES - SUNSET STRIP, WEST HOLLYWOOD
GLAY FAN INTERVIEWS
Interviews with GLAY fans who attended the concert and a
personal message from fans to GLAY.
“VERB” CD SINGLE REVIEW
Review of GLAY’s CD Single Verb
previous interviews
Visit www.j-entonline.com for the following interviews and articles currently
available on J!-ENT. Click on a cover to access a previous article/interview.
Copyright © 2008 by J!-ENT. www.j-entonline.com. All Rights Reserved.
All GLAY images and photography are courtesy of EMI Music Japan.
FOREWORD
GLAY’s “DRIVE” Credit card size calendar that I have kept in my wallet for my passion for their music.
WHY GLAY’S PERFORMANCE MEANS A LOT
Summer of 2000, I attended a show of my friends’
band in Anaheim, California. Among a number of popular
anime rock songs that they performed, I remembered
they played a really catchy J-Rock song with an English
phrase “…because I love you…” in between a bunch of
really fast Japanese words.
All I knew was that I wanted to know what song that
was, because it was so powerful and made everyone
dance. It left me a strong impression.
Same year, Christmas holiday, I went home to Hong
Kong to visit some old friends from school. We went to
karaoke, and I actually asked my friend Mimi if she knew a
Japanese song with that particular English phrase.
Right away, she looked it up in the karaoke catalog,
punched in the code, and told me that it was probably
this really popular song called “Yuuwaku” by the band
GLAY.
Mimi started singing it, and I recognized it immedi-
4 J!-ENT
ately. I was so happy that I finally found the song, I asked
Mimi what GLAY albums she would recommend, and she
said “DRIVE”, because that was their “best of” 2-disc
compilation album that just came out a month ago.
I even bought the special edition that included a 2001
credit card size calendar.
That day onward, I’ve been carrying that card in my
wallet, because their music has been with me ever since.
Now eight years later, to be able to finally see them
perform in person, just 5 feet away from me, was something I had never imagined being able to do.
Perhaps it was because nobody thought that they
could afford to bring a big act like GLAY to perform in
the U.S., or that they would not have enough fans coming
because GLAY is too mainstream.
Back in 2003 or 2004, high profile artists such as
T.M.Revolution and L’Arc~en~Ciel actually performed at a
couple of large anime conventions because they had ties
to several anime.
FOREWORD
My GLAY CD and DVD collection. Images courtesy of Wynne Ip
The fact that they played at large anime conventions
means they could have a high attendance, but it also gave
the impression that no Japanese act could do a show here
without being backed up by a large anime convention.
Other conventions started inviting less famous Japanese acts to their events, most of them rock bands,
particularly underground, visual-kei rock bands, because
apparently they cost less and the organizers thought that
Americans were interested in visual-kei J-Rock.
Whether this is true or not, that led to the trend of
many non-mainstream J-Rock bands testing out the U.S.
market, doing group tours, etc.
There were other popular non-visual-kei bands and
major J-Rock solo artists (some comparable to GLAY’s
status in Japan) that have toured the States as well and
have attracted a lot of fans to go see them play, many
who have played in mainly smaller venues that could hold
people in the hundreds and some that have performed in
major locations.
The truth is, I hope that with the success GLAY has had
in their VERB tour, it can open the doors for other Japanese big-name artists, and not limited to rock bands, to
come here and play for those of us who have been enjoying their music half way around the globe.
I have been fortunate enough to be able to watch this
incredible band perform on all three days in San Francisco
and West Hollywood, and each performance has been
exciting and truly memorable.
What you are about to read is my concert report for
GLAY’s live performance in West Hollywood on August
15th, and interviews with fans who had traveled from the
U.S. and from faraway countries, just to watch their favorite band perform.
I hope you enjoy my second GLAY article for J!-ENT,
and I also hope you discover this amazing band.
— WYNNE IP
J!-ENT 5
GLAY
VERB TOUR 2008 IN U.S. - AUGUST 15, 2008
HOUSE OF BLUES - SUNSET STRIP, WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA
PHOTOS: Outside the House of Blues in West Hollywood. Photo by: Wynne Ip
J
une 15, 2008 – the day when their
MySpace site officially opened,
GLAY shocked many fans by announcing their Verb Tour 2008 in
the United States.
The official news traveled quickly on
the internet: GLAY would be performing one show in San Francisco on
August 12th, and two shows in West
Hollywood on Aug. 15th and 16th.
The dreams of many, including myself,
have just started to become a reality.
Back in February when I took a vacation to Japan, I was this close to spending
four times the face value for a concert
ticket from a Japanese auction site, just
so that I could have a chance to see
GLAY’s concert in Kobe during their
HIGHCOMMUNICATIONS hall
tour.
Looking back, perhaps it was a
blessing that I did not win the auction,
I could now use the same money and
spend it on their first ever public tour
in the U.S., and be able to see all three
shows, as it would cost just about the
same.
Besides, The Fillmore in San Francisco and the House Of Blues in West Hollywood are truly the only two historic
live houses that could create an intimate
and intense setting for some unforgettable performances of this Japanese veteran
band of twenty years.
6 J!-ENT
10:00am. August 15, 2008. West
Hollywood. Sunny.
I was still buzzed from their first ever
public U.S. performance in San Francisco, but I arrived at the House Of Blues
early, bringing some breakfast to a couple
of friends waiting in line – I have only
met them in person just the day before,
but it seemed that I have known them
forever, simply because we shared the
same passion towards GLAY’s music.
Despite the fact that the performances were only going to be held on the
West Coast, GLAY fans from all over
the country came flocking to see them –
some came as far as New York, Virginia,
North Carolina, and Georgia.
Others even came from overseas
to see GLAY in the U.S. – fans from
Canada, Peru, Ireland, and even Australia
showed up – and of course, a number of
GLAY’s native fans from Japan came as
well.
As the afternoon went on, the line
at the House of Blues grew slowly, and
you could hear fans discussing their
favorite moments in GLAY videos, how
their favorite members always dressed so
gorgeously on stage, what favorite songs
they wanted to hear at the lives, how
GLAY’s lyrics have moved them, etc.
As I walked up and down the line
to stretch my legs, someone in line
caught my eye – a teenager was carefully
walking down a few steps outside the
House of Blues with the help of an older
woman; the teenager was blind.
I thought to myself, if she couldn’t
see, then that means how pretty GLAY
looked on stage or what clothes they
were wearing became completely irrelevant – what really mattered to her was
simply the warmth of GLAY’s music, the
message in GLAY’s lyrics, and the opportunity to experience GLAY in person.
I only wish I had the courage to ask
her how GLAY has made a positive in
her life.
As we got closer and closer to show
time, we could also hear the band beginning to rehearse part of their set.
The problem I have with House of
Blues has always been the fact that you
can hear the music inside so clearly even
when I am lining up outside, and this
really takes the surprise element away
from the actual show, because apparently
GLAY was practicing songs that were
not played at the San Francisco show,
and I would have preferred finding that
out during the live.
As 6pm passed, more and more
people got off from work and began
to show up – people from all walks of
life, all age groups – I even saw an old
American couple with all grey hair entering the seated section.
8:10pm. Doors opened for general
admission.
VERB TOUR 2008 IN U.S. - AUGUST 15, 2008
HOUSE OF BLUES - SUNSET STRIP, WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA
GLAY
PHOTO: GLAY performing on August 15th at the House of Blues. Photo courtesy of Iwane Ai and EMI Music Japan.
I was among the first group to enter
the music hall.
Having started following GLAY’s
music since their DRIVE “best-of ”
album in 2000 and watched so many live
DVDs in the past, I knew exactly where
I wanted to stand, and I got it exactly
the way I wanted – first row, left side,
but near the center; in other words, I
was standing directly in front of where
GLAY’s bassist, JIRO, would stand,
with just a little over an arm’s length
from the edge of the stage.
While the frontman of GLAY is
TERU, JIRO has often managed to steal
the show at certain moments, simply because he always gives the brightest, most
adorable smile, and is always the most
energetic on stage, therefore I expected
nothing less from him tonight.
I could tell that the left side of the
crowd definitely filled up faster and
would most likely behave wilder than
the right side, simply because guitarist
HISASHI could quite possibly be the
most popular member among his U.S.
audience.
Leader and guitarist TAKURO had
stressed on GLAY’s MySpace page that
this tour was created for those of us who
have been waiting for GLAY for a long,
long time.
He wrote that a lot of people
have asked them, “Will you be doing
something different for your shows in
California?” to which he replied, “We’re
certainly going to do our best to share
our passion for music with all our fans,
family, and friends. But that’s what we
always do. That’s what we’ve learned
from our heroes.”
Indeed, those of us who live in the
U.S. have waited this many years, and
I do truly believe in GLAY 100% that
they would give it all in tonight’s show
as always.
9:11pm. Lights dimmed. And right
away we screamed.
The screen that had been playing
random House of Blues video clips and
advertisement was slowly drawn up, and
an upbeat dance version of “Who Killed
Bambi” came roaring out of the speakers.
We all clapped to the beat in full
anticipation of GLAY’s arrival on stage
– it’s just any moment now.
The first person that came through
those backstage curtains on the right
side was HISASHI, who brought his
“let me hear you scream for me because I am awesome” attitude, followed
by JIRO and his bouncy self with his
“watch me until you can’t take your eyes
off me” grin.
I was too busy screaming at JIRO
but I knew that the warmth of TERU’s
J!-ENT 7
GLAY
VERB TOUR 2008 IN U.S. - AUGUST 15, 2008
HOUSE OF BLUES - SUNSET STRIP, WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA
PHOTO: GLAY performing on August 15th at the House of Blues. Photo courtesy of Iwane Ai and EMI Music Japan.
smile and the cool air of TAKURO
must have followed, because once all
members took their positions, the band
began the show with their first chord
that got all of us ready to roll.
GLAY opened their set with the title
song of their tour, “VERB”, their latest
rock single with a rather fast tempo,
and while we bounced to the beat, we
also joined in singing “doushite” in the
chorus phrases.
As the first song winded down,
TERU pointed to long-time supporting band member TOSHI, who busted
out the famous drum roll into arguably
their most popular song, “Yuuwaku”,
and we all went crazy to the 1998 hit,
singing along and waving our arms for
the entire song; no longer surprised like
he was during the San Francisco show,
TERU seemed very satisfied at our
performance.
Of course, TERU yelled “Come on,
8 J!-ENT
HISASHI!” right before the guitar solo
part of the song, to which HISASHI
responded by showing off his mad guitar
skills to us.
“We are GLAY!” TERU talked to us
the first time this evening, and thanked
us whole-heartedly for waiting for them
for such a long time.
Next up were two more GLAY
classics from the around 1995-96:
“GLORIOUS”, and “Ikiteku Tsuyosa”,
with JIRO and TAKURO doing the
background vocals respectively, oh and
of course us the audience as well; TERU
took a lot of time to make sure he made
eye-contact with everyone in the crowd.
In contrast, the fifth song of the
night was a lesser-known, funky “B-side”
called “GIANT STRONG FAUST
SUPER STAR”, which was in rather
nonsensical English and had quite a few
voice-over anime style conversations
among three characters – Dr. Moog,
Capsule Kei, and Giant Strong.
While any HISASHI fan would
have been able to follow along this fun
song without missing a beat, I was only
able to sing along the parts “6 guns and
24 bit beam” and “10 tracks and 2048
speed”; it made no sense, but nonetheless, it was absolutely fun to sing along.
TERU then tried to get everyone
involved by having us repeat after him
different lengths and variations of “yeahoh”, like a memory game, and then he
tried to teach us the chorus to the next
song “STARLESS NIGHT”, and when
he was happy with the result, the band
dived into the number.
One thing I love so much about
GLAY has always been the simple fact
that they interact with the audience a
lot, making us feel that we are contributing to this performance just as much as
they are.
Oh, and the fact that TERU walked
VERB TOUR 2008 IN U.S. - AUGUST 15, 2008
HOUSE OF BLUES - SUNSET STRIP, WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA
up to HISASHI on the left during the
song, started putting his arm around
HISASHI, rubbing his nose against his
face, grabbing his chest… Uh, need I
say more? Total fan-service.
The seventh number of the night
“AMERICAN INNOVATION” is truly
one of those songs you don’t think much
of it on the album but sounds incredibly full of energy during live – the fast
tempo, the guitar distortion, the unison
of the phrase “American Innovation”,
and the fact that we all whirled our
towels or our hands in the air during the
chorus made it so much more fun to be
a part of.
Near the end of this song, TERU
made us clap to the beat that matched
JIRO’s bass line from the start of the
song – seemed complicated at first, but
we all got it after several tries.
TERU completely displayed his sexiness in the next song “Lock on you” by
first performing a slow strip tease, peeling off his sweat-drenched outer jacket
that was sticking to his skin, and then
feeling his whole body up in front of
the microphone stand – I shall leave the
juicy details to the imagination of those
reading my writing thus far.
For a change of pace, GLAY took us
into the love song segment, first with
a heart-rending performance of their
latest ballad “SORRY LOVE”, followed
by a short interlude on the piano by supporting musician SEI-CHAN, leading
into their 1997 classic “HOWEVER”,
which was when quite a few fans started
sobbing.
Beside the obvious fact that TERU
sang his heart out during the ballads,
the rest of GLAY also displayed lots of
emotions on their instruments.
While a lot of fans are very attached
to the song “HOWEVER”, my handsdown favorite GLAY ballad lately has
been “SORRY LOVE”, and it had a lot
to do with the way its music video was
put together – a story depicted entirely
in still photographs, about 2000 of them,
taken by none other than the photographer of this very tour, Ai Iwane.
I was still trying to calm myself
with the slow ballads, but once again
the strong rock’n’roll guitar melody
GLAY
PHOTO: Various GLAY swag available at the concert. Photo by Wynne Ip.
came from HISASHI, and it’s time
for “ROCK’N’ROLL SWINDLE”,
followed by the popular “MERMAID”,
one of the two songs tonight not played
at the San Francisco live; the band
members began to move around the
stage again, but I was bit disappointed
towards the end of “MERMAID” that
JIRO and HISASHI didn’t get together
to do their little jamming session like
they always did in those live DVDs.
Next, TERU took a microphone
stand from near the drums and put it at
the front of the stage.
The spotlight turned to JIRO, who
vigorously strummed his bass in the
back for a short time to get us all
pumped up, walked up to the front,
spoke to us in Japanese for a couple of
lines, and began his bass intro to the
next must-play number, “SHUTTER
SPEEDS NO THEME”.
Always a crowd favorite, JIRO did
the opening vocals for the song before
TERU took the microphone away, and
he also dazzled us with a rare bass solo
in the instrumental portion, all the while
I screamed like I was 16 years old again.
J!-ENT 9
GLAY
VERB TOUR 2008 IN U.S. - AUGUST 15, 2008
HOUSE OF BLUES - SUNSET STRIP, WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA
GLAY VERB TOUR 2008 in U.S
August 15, 2008 - House of
Blues Sunset Strip / Set List
1. VERB
2. Yuuwaku
3. Glorious
4. Ikiteku Tsuyosa
5. GIANT STRONG FAUST SUPER
STAR
6. STARLESS NIGHT
7. AMERICAN INNOVATION
8. Lock on you
9. SORRY LOVE
10. HOWEVER
11. ROCK’N’ROLL SWINDLE
12. MERMAID
13. SHUTTER SPEEDS NO THEME
14. Peak Hateshinaku Soul Kagirinaku
15. BEAUTIFUL DREAMER
ENCORE
1. Winter,again
2. Kuchibiru
3. Kanojo No “Modern...”
4. ACID HEAD
GLAY VERB TOUR 2008 in U.S
August 16, 2008 - House of
Blues Sunset Strip / Set List
1. VERB
2. Yuuwaku
3. Glorious
4. Ikiteku Tsuyosa
5. GIANT STRONG FAUST SUPER
STAR
6. STARLESS NIGHT
7. AMERICAN INNOVATION
8. Lock on you
9. SORRY LOVE
10. HOWEVER
11. ROCK’N’ROLL SWINDLE
12. MERMAID
13. SHUTTER SPEEDS NO THEME
14. Peak Hateshinaku Soul Kagirinaku
15. BEAUTIFUL DREAMER
ENCORE
1. Winter,again
2. Kuchibiru
3. Kanojo No “Modern...”
4. HIGHCOMMUNICATIONS
ENCORE II
1. ACID HEAD
10 J!-ENT
The climax of the show continued
on to the next up-tempo number “Peak
hateshinaku Soul kagirinaku”, during
which we all sang the part “Woh-oh
glory days woh-oh”, followed by the last
song “BEAUTIFUL DREAMER”,
which always began with the powerful
soaring guitar scale from HISASHI.
Before the song, TERU asked us
if we have dreams, and told us that
GLAY’s dream was to play here in the
U.S., and now that this dream has become a reality, he promised us that they
would be back, and told us that he loved
us (I love you too, GLAY).
After they disappeared from the
stage, we were clapping and shouting
for their encore, and somehow we began
to sing to the chorus of “I’m in Love”
in anticipation of their return to stage;
sure enough GLAY came out again, but
this time in the U.S. tour t-shirt - what
a smart idea it is to market to their loyal
fans: buy our shirts!
The encore began with the second of
the two songs that did not make the set
at The Fillmore, their best-selling single
to date, the 1999 mega-hit “Winter,
again” .
TERU described it to us as a song
from their hometown, the very cold
Hakodate in Hokkaido, and the introduction of the song had such an overwhelming effect on me that it has always
given me chills listening to it, therefore
the overflowing emotions that I had
while watching it performed live would
never leave me.
Then the mood of the show took a
quick turn to another rock n’ roll festival
with “Kuchibiru”, once again raising our
excitement in the audience, followed by
yet another must-play number “Kanojo
no “Modern...”” with all hands in the air;
for the first time this evening, TAKURO
came to the our side of the stage, but it
was almost too little too late, and I really
wished he had moved around a bit more.
To watch the guitar duet between
TAKURO and HISASHI in “Kanojo
no “Modern…”” was actually a rather
difficult task simply because they stood
on the opposite end of the stage, but to
the ear they sounded just perfect.
As the final climax of the whole show,
I have to say there was no better song
to end the evening than the epic “ACID
HEAD”, which involved TAKURO
taking center stage at the start of the
song, distinctive background vocals from
JIRO throughout the song, and echoing
phrases between TERU and HISASHI
toward the end.
I strongly believe that “ACID
HEAD” is another one of those songs
that needs to be enjoyed live, because the
recorded version would have never been
able to capture all the excitement and
audience involvement that made “ACID
HEAD” such a fan favorite.
At the end of the show, as if to
symbolize unity and our One Love for
GLAY, we all joined hands in the audience, as we watched all the members on
stage joined theirs, and JIRO started
counting down…
“3… 2… 1…”
And we all jumped… or at least tried
to, because 1,000 of us somehow managed to pack into the House of Blues
tonight to watch GLAY, who absolutely
deserved this good of a turn out from
Southern California.
They had promised us a phenomenal
show, and they delivered, just like they
always have, and they always will.
Eight years for me was totally worth
the wait, for my dream of seeing them
live had finally come true, and since they
have promised to return to the U.S., I
know that some day in the near future,
I will be seeing them again under the
same roof.
For more information on GLAY, please
visit:
GLAY’s official homepage:
http://www.glay.co.jp
EMI Music Japan website:
http://www.emimusic.jp/capitol/artist/glay/
GLAY’S Official MySpace Page:
http://www.myspace.com/glayofficial
WYNNE IP is an entertainment writer-atlarge for J!-ENT.
GLAY
T H E FA N I N T E RV I E W S
BY WYNNE IP
I M A G E S C O U R T E S Y O F E M I M U S I C J A PA N
J!-ENT
GLAY FAN INTERVIEWS
PHOTO: Fans line up outside the House of Blues in West Hollywood for the GLAY concert. Photo by Wynne Ip.
F
or the first time in my life, I
think I have truly experienced
“Global Communication” of
GLAY’s “One Love”.
As corny as it might sound, GLAY
gathered over 3,100 fans from different nationalities and all walks of life for
3 days in California from all over the
world, to witness their first ever U.S.
tour, because as GLAY has put it, those
of us outside of Japan have waited for a
long time for them.
Meet 24-year-old Glen, a fan for
9 years who came from New York to
watch GLAY’s San Francisco live – he
first heard of GLAY from their debut
single Rain in 1995 when he saw the
film “Yamato Takeru” (1994) on video.
“I liked the song, but it wasn’t until
1999/2000 that I was finally able to get
my hands on their album pure soul, and
after that, I just kept on listening to
them,” Glen said.
“GLAY is my favorite band and until
12 J!-ENT
now I haven’t had the means to see them
live, so since they are closer than ever in
San Francisco, I had to jump on the opportunity,” Glen commented.
Isabel, 29, who also flew in from New
York, spent the night outside The Fillmore in order to secure first in line with
her friend from Los Angeles.
Isabel commented, “I decided to
come to watch GLAY’s live in San
Francisco because that was the only day
available in my schedule, as my brother
is getting married when GLAY is playing in Los Angeles. My friend flew up
from L.A., and we decided to camp out
overnight. The planning was smooth
and we had a great time.”
Alessandra, 22, who currently goes to
college in Utah, originally came from
Bolivia.
Alessandra said, “I’ve been a fan of
GLAY since 2001 when I was going to
a Japanese school back in Bolivia. My
teacher gave me a CD with their music
and I loved it. The moment they entered
the stage was the moment I knew it was
real and not a dream.”
For some unfortunate fans, tight financial situations would mean that they
were unable to afford the trip to California, such as Vivian, 24, who has been
listening to GLAY since 1998.
“My heart was set on coming at first,
but I ended up hitting financial situations with my own things so I regrettably ended up not going. Gas prices
shot up tremendously over the summer,
so a plane ticket from New York to L.A.
doubled in price,” Vivian said.
When I asked Vivian how GLAY’s
music had influenced her, she said that
their music had taught her to keep pushing on and strive for those unreachable
dreams.
And as for Glen, GLAY’s music has
given him inspirations in more ways
than one.
“I majored in Graphic Design in col-
GLAY FAN INTERVIEWS
lege and produced an experimental video
set to ‘Doku Rock’. For my Sequential
Arts class I storyboarded a possible
video for ‘The Frustrated’. My favorite
achievement was for my Package Design
class.
“I designed an experimental package for a ‘GLAY 10th Anniversary’ CD
collection, a double-CD case that could
transform into a freestanding 3-dimensional display of the band members.
“Finally, it was GLAY that convinced
me to learn how to play the guitar and
seriously write music for myself,” Glen
explained.
Hank, who considers himself a J-Rock
music fan in San Francisco, went to the
show at The Fillmore.
“GLAY was a great inspiration to me
in both music and performance style,”
he recalled. “As a musician myself, I
still remember watching their music
videos, intently studying their moves and
mannerisms, and incorporating them
into what I was doing on stage,” Hank
commented.
Angela, 42, who came from Calgary,
Alberta, Canada, is a PhD student in
anthropology and archaeology. Though
not considering herself a GLAY fan, she
was excited to have the opportunity to
see them.
Angela said, “Because it is the first
time, since I have been listening to
Japanese music, that a really high profile
band had come to North America. I was
very curious to see what the performance
would be like, what the audience would
be like, and how GLAY would compare
to the other Japanese performances I’ve
seen over the last year and a half.
“GLAY is so famous in Japan, yet
they don’t have the same type of active
online fan base in North America that
you see for some of the newer, mostly
Visual Kei bands.
“Nevertheless, my friend who is a big
GLAY fan insisted that they did have a
substantial, if quieter, fan base here. And
she was right. The audience was demographically different from those of most
of the other shows I have seen,” Angela
said.
This friend that Angela had mentioned was Psy, who currently lives in
PHOTO: Fans line up outside the House of Blues in West Hollywood for the GLAY concert.
Photo by Wynne Ip.
Berkeley, California, a fan of GLAY for a
little over 7 years.
Psy explained, “GLAY’s passion for
what they do is truly inspiring and it just
makes you want to shoot for your own
dreams that much more and never give
up. The fact that they are so close to
one another for so many years has really
made me treasure and cherish my own
long time friendships, and feel just a
little more thankful for them than I may
have otherwise.”
When I asked Psy about her favorite
GLAY songs, she went on and on about
how a lot of her favorites were played at
the lives, but her very first GLAY song
she heard was “HOWEVER”.
“They played ‘HOWEVER’ at all
three shows and since it was the very
first GLAY song I ever heard, it was so
emotional for me to see them perform
it live, that I couldn’t help but cry each
time they played it. I couldn’t believe it.
I feel choked up just remembering how
much it truly means to me to have seen
that live,” Psy said.
Mirta, 21, who took a one-month
vacation in Washington, DC, originally
J!-ENT 13
GLAY FAN INTERVIEWS
PHOTO: The official GLAY VERB TOUR 2008 in U.S. t-shirts. Photo by Wynne Ip.
came from Peru, and she also cried during the ballad segment.
“I was tearing up at ‘SORRY
LOVE’. I was in the first row, in front
of TAKURO. And when he saw me, he
kind of pouted at me. It was weird but
I smiled.”
Dawn from Los Angeles, who has
been a fan of GLAY for almost a decade
explained, “The most memorable moment for me, was when they played
‘Winter, again’. I felt so incredibly
happy and almost wanted to cry from
how it made me feel.
“There’s a lot of nostalgia that was
mixed in with my emotions during the
concert, and hearing all the songs I used
to listen to non-stop when I was growing up and shaping myself into an adult
really touched me,” Dawn commented.
For Cara, 29, who went to the Los
Angeles shows and came from the
northwest state of Washington, GLAY
didn’t play her absolute favorite “coyote,
colored darkness” but they did play a
bunch of her other favorites.
“‘ROCK’N’ROLL SWINDLE’,
‘GIANT STRONG FAUST SUPER STAR’, ‘Kanojo no “Modern…”’,
14 J!-ENT
‘HIGHCOMMUNICATIONS’...
Those were high among my favorites,
and they were great performing live,
especially ‘GIANT STRONG FAUST
SUPER STAR’, the funniest song of
both nights,” Cara said.
Speaking of which, 19-year-old Ian
from San Francisco was completely
stunned when they played ‘GIANT
STRONG FAUST SUPER STAR’.
“I love that song to death and I
thought that was a song that they will
never play again after HIGHCOMMUNICATIONS 2003. When the music
hit, I just stood there frozen and turned
my head to my friend in disbelief,” Ian
explained.
Like her friend Cara, Tamica’s favorite songs “coyote, colored darkness” and
“MIRROR” were not performed during
the live concert, but the 21-year-old
who traveled from North Carolina to
Los Angeles said that so many amazing
things happened during the two days,
that it was impossible to pick just one
moment that stood out.
“Rocking out to fast paced songs
like ‘MERMAID’ and ‘ACID HEAD’,
crying my eyes out during songs like
‘HOWEVER’ and ‘SORRY LOVE’,
seeing their smiling faces when they
received the fan-made sign we created,
the crowd singing the chorus of ‘I’m in
Love’ in hopes of an encore. Both shows
have simply meshed into one big amazing moment that I will never forget,”
Tamica said.
The fan-made sign that Tamica had
mentioned above was created by Audrey
from Los Angeles. She made a vinyl
banner with GLAY’s mascot and slogan
“NO GLAY NO LIFE” and asked fans
in line to sign it.
After GLAY performed their first
encore number, TERU noticed the big
poster that Audrey was holding, so she
went ahead to hand the poster to TERU,
who also handed her the microphone in
return.
Audrey was beyond shocked, and the
only word that she was able to say was
“purezento”, which means “present” or
“gift” in Japanese.
“It was a fangirl’s dream come true,”
Audrey commented, who attended her
first show at House of Blues.
“Also another thing that was extremely memorable for me was just
GLAY FAN INTERVIEWS
PHOTO: Audrey and Stacy with a fan banner signed by GLAY fans attending the concert. Photo by Wynne Ip.
meeting the fans and getting to know
everyone better. I really liked how everyone was friendly and was there for one
cause, to feel GLAY’s love for us, and to
give them ours,” Audrey commented.
Tamica had a similar sentiment,
“Finally meeting the wonderful friends
I have made through GLAY’s fandom,
standing in line with these friends waiting for hours for the show to start…
Everything was such a great experience.
“I don’t have any specific hopes and
dreams for GLAY other than to keep
making music. I can’t even bare to think
of what it would be like not looking forward to any of their releases anymore,”
Tamica said.
“I believe GLAY will still continue
releasing singles and eventually albums
again.” Ian from San Francisco said.
“I have a feeling that another EXPO
will be held soon enough, and if they do
I will try my best to attend. I hope that
GLAY will never disband and have more
tours in the US or even other parts of
the world. I basically just want GLAY
to never stop making such great music,”
Ian commented.
“I have no idea what GLAY will do,
but I would love to see them do more
international touring, and include some
Canadian dates in their next tour,” Angela from Calgary explained.
“The sky is the limit for GLAY,” Psy
from San Francisco said.
“They will continue to be the extraordinary musicians that they always have
been and continue to strive to be the best
that they can be. They have promised to
return to the US and I have the utmost
faith that they will be true to their word,
so I will be patiently yet anxiously awaiting their second US tour,” Psy explained.
But as much as Glen loves GLAY, he
hoped that they would take it easy in
the future.
“The band already has a deep and
varied repertoire; I hope that they don’t
ever feel like they’re repeating themselves just to please new fans. I would
love to see more songs by TERU, JIRO,
and HISASHI, because I’m sure there
are several new directions they’d like to
try,” Glen said.
Dawn from Los Angeles also felt the
same.
“I want them to keep true to themselves and to continue to love what they
are doing as a band together. I hope to
see them again in L.A.,” Dawn said.
As for Vivian who missed her chance
to the California shows this year, she
had only one wish for GLAY: “Come
back to New York and plan a concert if
you can.”
J!-ENT 15
J!-ENT ASKS “Do you have any words to say to GLAY?”
The show in San Francisco was amazing! A friend and I waited outside the Fillmore
since Monday night and the wait was worth it. Please come back to the US for more
shows!
– Isabel, New York, New York, USA
Keep doing your best! We’ll continue to cheer for you loudly from the other side of the
world.
– Vivian, New York, New York, USA
See you next year as you said!
– Alessandra, Utah, USA
I really want to thank you for coming to the States. I am from Peru! Hi There! I was
in the first row in the San Francisco live, I was in front of TAKURO the whole time and
wore a black hat and I made a heart with my hands and TERU did the same and pointed
at me! Do you remember me now? Because I will cherish that concert forever in my
heart. Once again, you have fans in Peru! Try to get out of Japan more often ok?
– Mirta, Peru
You’re awesome and I hope you come back (maybe to Seattle, but LA’s fine too, lol),
and I further hope you had fun while you were here as well. You put on a great show.
GLAY rocks!
– Cara, Puyallup, Washington, USA
Thank you for coming to the States and giving us a great time! I hope you had a great
time here and hope you can come again in the future!
– Hank, San Francisco, California, USA
THANK YOU. Thank you for coming to the United States and making so many dreams
come true. Thank you for making the wonderful music that you do, and touching the
hearts of those around the world. Thank you for remaining humble and true to yourselves after being in the harsh world of the music industry for 20 years. Thank you for
coming into my life and helping me through so many things. Please continue to make
amazing music for as long as possible, and don’t ever change who you are.
– Tamica, North Carolina, USA
Ganbarimasu! You guys have been together for so long, and I just wish for you all to
continue to rock out and give your love to all of us for many years to come.
– Audrey, Los Angeles, California, USA
16 J!-ENT
J!-ENT ASKS “Do you have any words to say to GLAY?”
Thank you for all that you’ve taught me about music.
I am not a musician, but I think people who listen to music is important and learning to
appreciate the talents of a musician is also important. If it weren’t for you entering my
life, I would never have learned to be a true listener of music.
You were with me when I was growing up and your songs were the background music
to my life as I went from being a child to an adult. All your songs are always so unique
to me, bringing me all sorts of different emotions and feelings. When I listen to SURVIVAL, I always feel like I could rock out and dance to the song forever! When I listen
to HOWEVER, I feel a deep loving emotion inside of me. When I listen to Winter,again
I can feel the atmosphere of the song’s lyrics and I can hear each of the band member’s
unique sounds.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. You helped shape me as a person. Thank you.
– Dawn, Los Angeles, California, USA
Thank you, GLAY, for inspiring me as a graphic designer, illustrator, AND musician! It’s
not often that something hits on so many levels. And no matter which direction you go,
you’re sure to keep creating memorable songs that we GLAY fans will love!
P.S. Play in New York!!
– Glen, New York, New York, USA
Simply, GLAY is the most gracious and awe-inspiring group of people I have ever had
the pleasure and honor of being near to. It was a dream come true for me and so many
other fans that we cannot possibly begin to thank you enough for it. You have moved
me deeply and I hope that the love you felt from your fans who attended the lives has
perhaps moved you as well. I will treasure this experience always. I wish you nothing
but the best in both your professional and personal lives. Thank you so very much.
– Psy, San Francisco, California, USA
I hope you had a great time in California. Please keep your promise and come back to
North America! We’d love to see you come to Canada one day.
– Angela, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
GLAY, thank you SO much for coming to San Francisco to perform, you have made my
dream come true. This concert has changed my life in so many ways, I have experienced feelings I’ve never felt before so thank you for making my life even better than
how you guys made it already. You guys will always have my support forever. Please
come back to perform again!
– Ian, San Francisco, California, USA
J!-ENT 17
world groove
J!-ENT
A J!-ENT MUSIC REVIEW
GLAY
VERB
Capitol Records/EMI
RELEASE DATE: June 11, 2008
Limited edition
Format: Single (CD + DVD)
Catalog No.: TOCT-40214
Retail Price: JPY 1,575 (incl. tax)
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
Format: Single (CD)
Catalog No.: TOCT-40215
Retail Price: JPY 1,260 (incl. tax)
CD
1. VERB
2. STARLESS NIGHT
3. WITH OR WITHOUT YOU
Once again, GLAY has succeeded in
adding another solid rock tune into the
familiar 8-beat collection.
The title song of their 42nd single,
“VERB”, which is also the title of GLAY’s
recent tour in the U.S., is a fast-paced
pop-rock number, that in my opinion
bares some similarities to an old song of
theirs called “Freeze My Love” in terms of
melody and pace.
Just like “Freeze My Love”, “VERB” has
a very catchy chorus that goes “doushite”,
which means “why?” in Japanese.
Guitar and leader TAKURO has written
the following on their MySpace page
regarding the choice word of “doushite”:
“It seems to me that this is a pretty
important word in this crazy day and age.
It’s also a word I like to apply to myself.
Why do we do the things we do: good,
bad, beautiful, ugly, kind, mean, etc.? Do
you sometimes ask yourself that question
too?”
“VERB” is tied-in to the Nihon TV’s
music program “MUSIC FIGHTER” as their
opening theme song in June 2008. It is
also the TV commercial song of mobile
download site “music.jp”.
The second track of the single depends
on the version, but both of these songs
have been previously released digitally
through the online music site MUSICO
18 J!-ENT
< A POWER ROCK SINGLE
GLAY returns with two original songs of varying tempos and moods plus one outstanding cover song.
earlier this year.
The CD+DVD version comes with the
track “–VENUS”(pronounced “minus
venus”) which is a harder number
compared to “STARLESS NIGHT”, which
is more pop and comes only in the CD
version.
Personally I preferred the harder
“–VENUS”, and since I was already going
to purchase the version with the DVD
anyway, this all worked out for me.
“STARLESS NIGHT” is tied-in as the
image song of several Nihon TV soccer
programs.
The most enjoyable track of the three
for me is actually the last track, a cover of
U2’s “WITH OR WITHOUT YOU”, in which
TERU’s English pronunciation has shown
great improvement.
This is the second of their four cover
songs that they have planned to release
on their singles, with the first one being
“MOTHER NATURE’S SON” by The
Beatles, on their 2007 single “Ashes.
EP” and the third one coming out on
their next single in September 2008,
“SUFFRAGETTE CITY” by David Bowie.
I especially love the guitar riffs that
HISASHI did towards the end of “WITH
OR WITHOUT YOU”, as that reminded
me of the way he played in an older
song called “HEAVY GAUGE”, and GLAY
definitely incorporated their own style
into this 1987 classic.
The DVD in the limited edition contains
two tracks- a live footage of “STARLESS
NIGHT” from GLAY’s nationwide
HIGHCOMMUNICATIONS TOUR 20072008, and the music video of the title
song “VERB”.
Both tracks were just as expected from
our veteran band, who will be celebrating
their 15th anniversary next year since their
major debut.
To my surprise, when the single arrived,
the alternating stripes of black and white
in the promotion pictures were actually
stripes of black and metallic grey on the
CD.
Overall, the “VERB” single is what I
would call a typical power rock single
that GLAY has always delivered, with two
original songs of varying tempos and
moods plus one outstanding cover song.
— WYNNE IP
A VA I L A B L E N O W O N J ! - E N T, O U R F I R S T S P E C I A L F E A T U R E O N
GLAY
I f y o u e n j o y e d o u r G L AY c o n c e r t r e p o r t , a l s o c h e c k o u t
W y n n e I p ’ s f i r s t s p e c i a l f e a t u r e o n G L AY c o v e r i n g t h e b a n d ’ s h i s t o r y
a n d m o r e . N o w a v a i l a b l e o n J ! - E N T.
J!-ENT
NYAFF08-v1.indd 43
20 J!-ENT
6/9/2008 3:56:01 PM
J!-ENT
Written by the staff of J!-ENT, a Japanese and Asian
entertainment and pop culture website celebrating its
15th Year Anniversary in 2008. www.j-entonline.com
Wynne Ip joined the
J!-ENT family in the
summer of 2004 and has
contributed as an
interviewer and a writer
with a focus in Japanese
rock music. Born in Hong
Kong, Wynne has had classical piano training for 10 years until she was
16 years old. Having been exposed to J-rock
for the first time in the late 90s while studying
in the US, Wynne has since developed a love
for this genre of music. Wynne graduated
from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Computer Science degree and is
currently based in Los Angeles, CA.
COMING OUT IN JAPAN ON
SEPTEMBER 10, 2008
Aka to Kuro no Matadora / I Love You
wo Sagashiteru
The 43rd CD single release from GLAY includes
the theme songs to the TV series “Dageki Tenshi
Ruri” and the film “Shukumei.” The CD single
includes the tracks “I LOVE YOU wo
Sagashiteru,” “Aka to Kuro no MATADORA” and
a cover of David Bowie’s “Suffragette City”.