Tonight’s live was an additional performance to the PRELUDE TO GEMINI tour.

Set list:

-Overture-
1. I.
2. Senkou
3. RUMWOLF
4. Kuulon – NINE HEADS RODEO SHOW-
5. CROSS GAME
6. KING & QUEEN
7. Le Grand Bleu
8. SLEEP WALKER
9. Fuurin
10. HAIKARA naru rinbukyoku
11. RAINBOWS
12. Yami ni chiru sakura
13. G3
-Entr’acte-
14. GEMINI
15. birth in the death

-encore-
1. BLUE FLAME
-MC-
2. www.
3. RED CARPET GOING ON
4. BLUE PLANET
5. 4U
6. the beautiful name

*the order might be slightly messed up but all the songs are there!

During HAIKARA, after Saga did his bass solo, instead of licking his bass, he dragged Hiroto in the middle of the stage, Hiroto put a white lily flower between his teeth like Saga used to do back in the days then threw it into the crowd. Then Hiroto gave his guitar to Saga. Saga grimaced and wiped the neck of Hiroto’s guitar as if it was gross before he pretended to bite/eat it. When Saga got his own bass back, he did the proper lick and kiss thing.

During a MC, Shou remembered that they had played their first oneman live at LIQUID ROOM more than 6 years ago.

Since it was Hiroto’s birthday, the fans started singing “Happy Birthday Hiroto!” during the encore call. Hiroto was the first to come out of backstage. He looked a little teary-eyed and thanked the fan for the wishes. Then the rest of the members joined him on stage…
Shou: It was very nice of you to sing the Birthday Song for Hiroto’s birthday but… wait a little, alright?
Obviously, Hiroto’s bandmates weren’t ready to reveal whatever surprise they had prepared for him that day.

But after they finished playing BLUE FLAME…
Shou: So, what day is it today again? … It’s my birthday, right? No? Ah, right! It’s Nao-san’s birthday!
Tora: We have a sad announcement to make tonight. Hiroto has passed away.
Hiroto: *jumps and flails as if trying to catch their attention*
Shou: I heard you can only see him if your heart is pure.
Fans: *waving back to Hiroto*
Shou: Ah? You can see him!? Your hearts must be pretty then.
Hiroto: HEY! You should be able to see me too!
Shou: Hiroto! …YOU’RE ALIVE!!! *pokes him* He’s real, I can touch him!

Then Tora disappeared backstage to get a big metal box that read “Tenkai Ippin” which is Hiroto (and Nao)’s favorite ramen shop. Inside the box was real ramen. Shou said it smelled really good and waved his arms to try to make the good smell reach all the way to the back. There was also a birthday cake in the box. But instead of putting candles on the cake, they put them on the bowl of ramen. So Tora tried to “light up the ramen” but because of the air circulation, the candles were put off as soon as Tora lit them. Eventually they moved the table away, and all the members and fans sang the Birthday Song to Hiroto again. Then Tora gave chopsticks to Hiroto and Hiroto slurped down a huge mouthful of noodles. He fed some to Saga (who filmed the whole thing with his video camera), then started throwing noodles and green onions to fans in the audience (ew?).

Nao said every day is his birthday, and revealed he wasn’t wearing any makeup today. “Today I want to be the way I am!”

Saga said he couldn’t go to Hiroto’s birthday party after the live, because his parents are off on vacation for Golden Week, so he has to go home to feed Chiko because no one else is there. He also said he was jealous of Hiroto because he never had a live on his birthday, so Shou said there would be an event on June 24th for the release of their new single BLUE FLAME (though no details were given yet).

And when Shou was thanking the fans for celebrating Hiroto’s birthday with them, he once again tripped on his words at the crucial moment, but that’s part of his charms, right?

The PRELUDE TO GEMINI tour isn’t over yet, but it was the last stop for me. But I’m happy I was able to see how the new songs from the album GEMINI have already started to evolve during the first half of this tour.