GLAY EXPO 2014

We are currently in the month of December and GLAY Expo occurred about three months ago. Wow, that went by quick. On my journey to and during the event, I jotted down a few notes. This won't be a detailed entry on the concert, but many photos were taken, so I hope you enjoy!

September 20th 

8:00

With time left to spare, I made it to Tokyo station to hop on the Tohoku Shinkansen to Sendai. I had arrived thirty minutes earlier and asked a station worker there where the platform for Sendai is. I guess I misunderstood the person and he was kind of rude when I asked him a second time, which annoyed me, but I was able to make it and that's all that counts, right?

10:20

Hello Sendai! I arrived at Shin Sendai station and it is a wonderful day! It's really sunny and bright outside. So thanks to the weather, the Expo is going to be even better! Not a cloud in the sky. 

I chilled out at the Starbucks at the station before boarding on a much shorter train ride to Iwakiri station. Unfortunately, the venue is a 45 minute walk away from that station. Not looking forward to it, especially with the sun blazing. (Yes, I could take a taxi, but that would have been expensive.)

12:00 - 16:00

After the looooong, nearly 4km walk, I made it to the venue: Hitomebore Stadium Miyagi. There were staff members that stood along the walk route to make sure the fans were heading in the right direction. I kind of felt sorry for them because it was so hot outside.

WHOA! The amount of people that I saw at the stadium was just simply insane! It took forever for me to get around. I quickly took pictures of the tour truck and got in line for goods, which took me all of eternity to find the end of the line. I swear, it felt like I spent 20 minutes looking for the stupid "line ends here" sign. While in line, I had a better view of certain places, so I took the opportunity to take more photos. 

It took me a little more than an hour to reach the front of the line.... only to see that 90% of the goods were SOLD OUT!

Damn. GLAYERS don't play.

I ended up buying only the pamphlet and the duffel bag. *sadness*

And my bad luck was only beginning...

With an extremely starving stomach, I got in line for kakigori and then got off after being on it for 30 minutes because the line didn't seem to be moving at all! I decided to get in line for some actual food and I was on it for about 90 minutes and still had a long way to go before reaching the front of the line. It was already about 15:30, concert begins at 16:30. Pissed and annoyed as hell, I got off the line. Had I known it would be like this, I would have gotten food at the convenience store on my way to the venue. Anyways, I decided to at least get some GLAY Glico since the line was surprisingly short. 

With Glicos in hand, I headed up the hill to get a better view of all the fans littered around the stadium.

After taking the pictures, it was time to head into the stadium. Finding my seat was fairly easy.

Concert Notes

• I absolutely love the guys' outfits! They all wore black, which were accented with white jackets. Forever stylish these guys are.
• Takuro's somewhat long speech in English was just amazing. Those private lessons are truly paying off.
• Teru + taiko.... shirtless. Teru playing the taiko shirtless. omg, let me breathe.
• The Jiro vs. Hisashi segment was interesting. The video shown before it was hilarious!
• Teru crying before singing "Bible" broke my heart.
• During "Hashire Mirai" out LED watches lit up for the first time. It was pretty cool. It was also my first time hearing the song and it is absolute love.
• Cried for the first time during "I'm Just in Love." It just happened and it caught me by surprise. I can't remember if this is my first time hearing it live...
• At the end of the show, before the encore, the LED watches lit up saying "GLAY EXPO." We then got a rather amazing fireworks display.

Sadly, I had to leave before the encore in order to make it to my Shinkansen ride back to Tokyo. I wasn't the only one in the same predicament as I saw others leaving as well. 

Had to say goodbye to the LED watch. I quickly took a picture of it before giving it back to the staff.

The Glico contents. I bought two sets, which was the limit. I already ate the edible contents of one of them and that was only a month ago.

 I really had a wonderful time at the Expo even with the setbacks. It was just great to be able to experience the atmosphere that the Expo generated.  

I'm also happy to end the year with GLAY like I did four years ago. I'll be seeing them in Fukuoka the weekend before 2015 arrives. 

So, with that said, happy holidays~

JUSTICE & GUILTY reviews

11thアルバム「JUSTICE」

1. WHO KILLED MY DIVA

2. ROUTE 5 BAYSHORE LINE（album ver.)
3. PARADISE LOST
4. LOVE IMPOSSIBLE

5. 真昼の月の静けさに
6. gestalt
7. JUSTICE［FROM］GUILTY（album ver.)
8. 傷だらけの太陽
9. 運命論
10. SMILE

The album starts off with the Jiro-composed number, WHO KILLED MY DIVA. (Uh, yes, that is indeed the name of the song. Way better than its preliminary name of "yeah,yeah,yeah (blank)" at least.) When I first saw the title, I couldn't help but laugh. I mean, come on, who wouldn't. Also because of the title, I had really high hopes for it. That was all shattered when I heard the song. Ugh, Jiro, seriously? The song sounds like something that would be played around a campfire in the American south.  I will say that I find the chorus to be a bit catchy, but that was when it finally grew on me. 

The next track, ROUTE 5 BAYSHORE LINE, made up for the horrid that my ears had to take from the previous song. This track was previously released on the「運命論」single. There are differences between the two, but I enjoy the single version just a bit more because the "twinkles" were left out in this version. I love the "twinkles!" Anyway, I absolutely adore this song. It has a very nice, uplifting feel to it. 

PARADISE LOST, is yet other great song. What amazes me the most about the song is its baseline. Oh my word. Jiro tore that thing up! I also like the guitar riffs during the chorus. The song itself has a bit of a Spanish feel to it, which is more pronounced during the chorus. Oh, I so, so love the guitar right after the second chorus, but before the guitar solo/intermission. Yes, I like being specific.

Continuing with the album's nice pace of good songs, in comes the next track, LOVE IMPOSSIBLE. I. LOVE. THIS. SONG. The style, vocals, guitar riffs/solo - It's an all-round great song!

The next track, 真昼の月の静けさに, is an OK song. I absolutely love the acoustic guitar at the beginning along with Teru's gentle and soothing singing voice. Afterwards, however, my attention just wonders off. I don't know. I really like the initial gentleness of the song, which eventually comes back near the end of the track.

The following track is the Hisashi-composed piece, gestalt. Oh man, this track sounds so dark, spooky and evil - fits Hisashi to the T! I like it and it makes for a nice transition to the next song...

  

Back to back Hisashi! The song, JUSTICE [from] GUILTY, is another Hisashi-composed song, which was released earlier as a single of the same name. Words simply cannot express my love for it. The song is all sorts of awesomeness!! Definitely the heaviest song on the album. It's a Hisashi/Takuro pair track and this 10-hit combo duo generally produce magic together. Just take a listen to the song for yourself. Your ears will thank you.

Next up is 傷だらけの太陽. Wow. Wow. Wow. This song is just so amazing. It's written and composed by Teru and he did this song justice; It's so powerful. Teru's voice is really astounding throughout this song. I particularly love the chorus. The part where he sings out, 「あなたは強く強く」 in the last chorus really grippes me.

"The sun is always shining behind the clouds." - this is faintly heard after the first chorus. It's meaning is a strong one, so strong that Teru has it tattooed on his upper left arm. Quite honestly, I can listen to this song forever and never get tired of it. 

The ballad, 運命論, was composed by Jiro. This is yet another fantastic song!  It was released as a single of the same title, but unfortunately, there is no album version/edit. Anyway, this song is so compelling and meaningful. Whenever I listen to this song, I tear up. 「夢の重さに負けないで」"Never give in to the weight of your dreams." Definitely words to live by. 

You won me over with this one, Jiro.

The final song, SMILE, gets none from me. I don't like the song. Granted, I've listened to it only three times and I don't think I can sit through another round of it.

12thアルバム「GUILTY」

1. Red moon & Silver sun～My Private“Jealousy”

2. everKrack（album ver.)
3. FACTORY
4. 冬の遊歩道
5. 華よ嵐よ
6. キリノナカ（album ver.)
7. 初恋を唄え
8. Bible
9. Ruby's Blanket
10. 君にあえたら

The album starts off with the Red moon & Silver sun rendition My Private "Jealousy." This version of the song was the kick-off song on GLAY's 2011-2012 Red Moon & Silver Sun Hall Tour. I remember loving it when I first heard it on tour. The first three minutes or so of the song is an orchestrated version of the original chorus. I really love how it later dives right into the actual song. You're waiting for it... waiting for it and then "bam" it hits off with the guitars. Love it! 

Next up is the Hisashi rock number, everKrack, which is quite simply a killer song! It was released as a single back in 2011 and I heard the mess out of the song, but I love this version a bit more. Takuro slam dunked that solo! 

FACTORY, is a compelling and thought provoking song that I love a lot. A definite favorite song of mine on the album. 

"We must make things better, but we don't know what to do." Chilling. 
(However, every little bit still counts. Do your research as to where and how your favorite brand of clothing is made. Don't support clothing brands that are known to have their employees work in deplorable conditions.) 

Unfortunately, for the next song, 冬の遊歩道, I haven't listened to it enough to give an opinion on it. Well, I quite simply don't care for the song. It's a ballad. I do love ballads, but just not this one.

華よ嵐よ, is actually a song that grew on me. Hisashi's guitar playing before the chorus is what I love most about the song.

キリノナカ is your typical Takuro song and an amazing one at that. It's yet another song that was previously released on a single, which I love to death. It's a mild rock number, but it's just SO good! I like the added guitar parts during the second verse.

The following song, 初恋を唄え, is another ballad that I'm still trying to get into. I really like the chorus though. 

The last three songs (Bible, Ruby's Blanket and 君にあえたら) were all previously release on singles and are edit-free on this album. I don't really have much to say about them. I love Ruby's Blanket the most. It's a Jiro-composed song and he did a wonderful job with it. I find the melody to be so sweet. Bible is an OK song. I don't hate it, but I'm not in love with it. 君にあえたら, is just there. I don't really care much for this song, but it is a very meaningful one.

There, I'm DONE!

Between the two albums, JUSTICE is definitely my favorite. I'm easily able to listen to the album with only a couple skips through songs I don't really care for. Now, that's not to say that I don't like GUILTY. The album does have its fair share of good songs, but for some reason, the album as a whole doesn't grab me as much as JUSTICE does. 

*bold tracks are favorites of mine.
*Teru designed the cover arts for both albums. 

ALL GLAY'ed OUT

JUSTICE [from] GUILTY and Unmeiron singles along with the Summer concert 2012 bluray.
Absolutely love the singles!! The former is a HISASHI song and the latter a JIRO song.

HAPPY SWING issue #67. JUSTICE & GUILTY albums are in full promotion mode.
Yes, they misspelled "coming." 

GLAY featured on TOWER RECORDS' monthly tower plus magazine for the month of January 2013.
You know I took multiple copies of this, right?

The title of the JIRO composed song on the JUSTICE album. That title had me dying when I first saw it.

Release date is closing in!! (Also new album and DVD out for THE BAWDIES and B'z. Other bands I like.)

Gott'em!! ^o^v 

JUSTICE wallpaper looking mighty fine.

I definitely plan on writing my thoughts on these albums!