In March, visual kei and metal mainstays DIR EN GREY returned to London as part of their ‘FROM DEPRESSION TO________ ’ concert series. This is the first time the band have brought this tour series to Europe since its inception in 2016, with previous instalments including [mode of VULGAR] and [mode of MACABRE] to name just two. This time the tour featured 2005’s ‘Withering to death.’ on night one, and 2008’s ‘UROBOROS’ on night two, both of which were previously toured in Japan back in 2017.
The last time I saw DIR EN GREY was at Camden’s Electric Ballroom in 2018, the night unfortunately riddled with technical issues, they were forced to play a reduced show. I missed their next London show, so was eager to see what had changed in the years since I last saw them.
Night 1 [mode of Withering to death.]
Rocking up to the beautiful Islington Assembly Hall, I was greeted by the sight of all the usual VK fans, as well as many younger, newer faces, and many people who had travelled from abroad for the shows. I spoke to some fans who had even managed to travel to multiple countries for multiple shows this tour- the band’s fans are as dedicated as ever.
The venue itself is an intimate theatre hall, complete with disco ball, and plush velvet seats on the balcony. While the crowd were slowly filling the hall, DIR EN GREY remixes could be heard over the speakers, adding to the tension and excitement.
Eventually the lights dimmed, and excerpts from the video for ‘Revelation of mankind’ played on the screen. The band slowly filed onto stage, as always starting with Shinya, followed by Kaoru, Toshiya, Die, and lastly Kyo, who was donning an oversized Adidas tracksuit, black metal-esque makeup, and glued on gelled hair extensions. Once situated, the band wasted no time getting right into ‘Merciless Cult’.
After this, the songs weren’t played in album order, making each next song a surprise- the only one missing was ‘KODOKU NI SHISU, YUENI KODOKU.’.
‘Jesus Christ R’n R’ was a massive early highlight, with the whole crowd singing and jumping along to the chorus, a song that edgy teenage-me loved, and would be very jealous adult-me was getting to see live.
The set was broken up by two tracks from latest album ‘PHALARIS’; ‘13’, and an arresting rendition of ‘Oboro’, with Kyo inwardly screaming and screeching, then seamlessly jumping right into the beautiful melody of the chorus.
Another highlight was their performance of ‘Machiavellism’, the crowd beating the air, and screaming their lungs out, accompanied by spooky circus style visuals on the screen behind.
‘C’ came not long after, Kyo encouraging the crowd to sing along during the bridge and chorus, and sing they did, the emotional lyrics reverberating throughout the venue.
Finally came ‘THE FINAL’, fittingly the last song of the main set. It felt like every single person there was singing along, the words pounding into everyone’s hearts.
The encore chants began almost immediately after the band left the stage, and we weren’t kept waiting long. The band returned to finish the remaining songs from Withering to death.- ‘KODOU’, and ‘Beautiful Dirt’. ‘KODOU’ was accompanied by the MV playing on the screen, and ‘Beautiful Dirt’ despite being so late in the setlist still got the whole crowd moving.
Then came ‘Eddie’, also from ‘PHALARIS’, a heavy hitting and relentless track. This was followed by crowd favourite ‘T.D.F.F.’, the remake of a track from the album ‘KISOU’ (2002) more recently re-recorded for Oboro’s single. It’s one of the few songs entirely composed and written by Kyo, and one of few songs nearly entirely in English.
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Most of the crowd might have needed neckbraces after the absolutely obliterating last few songs, so thankfully the band toned it down for the last song of the night. ‘Akuro No Oka’, originally from 1999’s ‘GAUZE’, was produced by X Japan’s Yoshiki, and recently re-recorded as part of DIR EN GREY’s ‘19990120′ release commemorating the 25th anniversary of the band’s major debut. At its heart, it’s a bittersweet love song. Die donned the acoustic guitar, and Kyo stood in the middle of the stage emphatically singing his heart out, leaving very few dry eyes in the house. As the song ended, Kyo uttered “bye bye”, dropped the mic, and left the stage, leaving the other band members to wrap up the night. Shinya tossed his drumsticks into the crowd before leaving, and Kaoru, Die, and Toshiya hung around the longest to throw as many picks out to the crowd as possible, before exiting, calling an end to the first night.
Night 2 [mode of UROBOROS]
Tuesday night was a rainy one, but despite this people had begun queuing early in the day, with one of the VIP ticket holders buying umbrellas for people too. A bit of rain wasn’t about to stop anyone from having a good night.
I went into this show having not listened to ‘UROBOROS’ nearly as much as ‘Withering to death.’. At the time of release, I must confess I was more into punk and ska-punk, so the more experimental, longer songs from this album didn’t appeal to me as much. Tonight was about to change my mind entirely.
The band took to the stage in the same order as the previous night, to opening instrumental track ‘SA BIR’. All were in different outfits from night 1, and of course Kyo being the most striking, in a long black skirt, corset, white shirt, and black jacket, with long hair extensions stuck onto his head, and beautiful avantgarde makeup, like some kind of high fashion vampire.
The first song of the night was ‘VINUSHKA’, the longest track from the album, clocking in at over 9 minutes. The crowd lapped it up; Kyo’s vocal dexterity on full display, flawlessly switching from crooning, to howls, to screams, to deep growling.
2008 single ‘GLASS SKIN’ came soon after, a melancholic ballad, with pain tinging Kyo’s voice. The band followed this up with one of my favourites from the album, ‘TOGURO’; a slower, sludgy track, with a gorgeous, almost danceable melody.
Again, the main setlist was broken up with two ‘PHALARIS’ tracks, this time ‘Otogi’ and ‘Oboro’. ‘Otogi’, accompanied by disturbing ever-changing (possibly controversially AI) visuals, fit right in with ‘UROBOROS’ darker, slower tone. The heavy driving riff carrying throughout gave chance for some slow, thudding headbanging from the crowd.
The stage went dark, and we were met with eerie, almost horror movie like sounds, which then became a holy light coming down upon the audience with an angelic chorus playing. Video showing Christian iconography played while Kyo stood silently in the middle of the stage, face illuminated by the light, adding to Kyo’s vampiric aura for the night. This preceded the atmospheric ‘INCONVENIENT IDEAL’, before heading right into ‘Oboro’. Despite having seen ‘Oboro’ the night before, the performance was wildly different, somehow even more haunting this time. With Kyo faux sobbing as he sang, crouched on the platform, then bursting into the contagious chorus, the crowd sang along with all their might.
Later in the night came another fan favourite, from the expanded version of the album, ‘HYDRA -666-‘, which gave the crowd a chance to yell, pump their fists in the air, and jump, and those of us in the seats trying our best to not join in the jumping and get kicked out.
Kyo called for a wall of death during the interlude in ‘REIKETSU NARISEBA’ before the drop, the crowd happily following his orders, the band also going crazy on stage, with Kyo erratically head banging and screaming for the final minute of the song, before leaving the stage. Screams for the encore seemingly began even faster than the night before.
The band returned to play 2007 single ‘DOZING GREEN’, with much of the crowd singing along. This was followed by the last song from ‘UROBOROS’ for the night – ‘STUCK MAN’. Another highlight was Kyo’s performance during the lull in the song, where he flawlessly moved atop the platform like some kind of puppet or animatronic, moving with his mic as though it were a knife, gesturing a stabbing motion, before the build at the end of the song. Without sounding like a crazy fanboy- I was enamoured.
The band concluded the evening with the rest of the encore, the same as the night before, with ‘T.D.F.F.’, ‘Eddie’, and finally ‘Akuro No Oka’. I wasn’t about to complain though since they’re great songs, performed so well. ‘T.D.F.F.’ yet again got the whole crowd screaming along, and ‘Eddie’ eliciting one last moshpit. ‘Akuro No Oka’ again didn’t seem to leave a single dry eye. As before, Kyo finished up with a “bye bye” and left the stage, eventually followed by the rest of the band, but not before throwing more sticks and picks out to the crowd. It felt like Die and Toshiya stayed even longer this night, making sure as many people got picks as possible, even up in the balcony (and no, I wasn’t lucky enough to catch one).
Seeing ‘UROBOROS’ played in its entirety (aside ‘WARE, YAMI TOTE…’) made me fall in love with the album. I finally get it. It’s an album that was way ahead of its time, heavy and experimental in nature, and still holds up nearly 16 years after its initial release. This night had a very different feeling than the first, more intense, and theatrical, far from being just another metal gig. It really stands testament to DIR EN GREY’s versatility and adaptability as a band.
I’ve been a longtime fan, so this is a little biased, but these may have been the best two DIR EN GREY shows I’ve attended. The whole band had an immense stage presence on both nights, with each member giving their all- from Shinya’s impeccable drumming, to Die and Kaoru’s flawless guitar playing, to Toshiya’s dextrous bass strumming, to Kyo’s insane innate vocal talent. Rumours have also been circulating that Toshiya was wearing the late, great Atsushi Sakurai’s shoes for the whole tour, and- although not confirmed yet- it’s just given another reason to love this band even more, with their clear deep appreciation for the genre and those who have come before them. There are some bands that must be seen live, and this is truly one of them- their stage shows allowing a chance to put their full artistry on display, not only being musicians, but especially Kyo, performance artists too.
The post tour survey has given fans some hope that they plan to return sooner rather than later, and without jinxing it- here’s hoping.
DIR EN GREY
Withering to death.
Release Date: 09/03/2005
Label: Firewall Div. / Gan Shin Records
Stream: Spotify | Apple Music
DIR EN GREY
UROBOROS
Release Date: 11/11/2008
Label: Firewall Div.
Stream: Spotify | Apple Music
CD: CDJapan