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7 years since the THIRTEEN started their activities. THE BLACK CELEBRATION was an amazing show that led us through those 7 years and gave us a first taste of what their future activities would look like!
So far we’ve had quite a few chances to see The THIRTEEN during live shows and also had the pleasure of interviewing them. We wanted to share our experience of their 7th anniversary with you! After Sadie’s hiatus that started in 2015, Mao and Mizuki decided to start anew and formed their 2-men unit The THIRTEEN. It’s been 7 years since then and they continued to release new songs regularly within those years.
Suitable for an anniversary show, they started the concert with showing snippets of the PVs they’ve released so far. The support members Ryo (drummer) and kazu (bassist) entered the stage first while the intro was still running and were welcomed warmly by the fans. Next one to enter the stage was Mizuki (guitarist), who didn’t lose any time to request louder shouts from the fans! He used the time to dance around playfully until Mao (vocalist) entered the stage. When the first tunes of cockroach echoed through the venue, everyone was immediately lowering their heads to headbang aggressively. No less aggressive it continued with HANKOUSEIMEI (犯行声明), a song that combines deep growls, which invite the whole venue to shake their head wildly, with melodious parts that make you sway gently to the melody. While Mao demonstrated how easily he switched between deep growls and clean singing parts, Mizuki danced provocatively to the beats with his guitar. Next in line was 13’s BLOOD, which made the fans jump in excitement. Despite their obvious outburst, Mao wasn’t satisfied yet and demanded even more from them. kazu’s bass solo within the song was simply impressive and Mao made sure to look the fans into the eyes while singing “Hello my dear”.
Following up with CHAINSAW, LIAR.LIAR. and GAMUSHARA, three of most fans’ favorite songs, the whole venue turned into a huge mass of flying hair. Obviously Mao and Mizuki were just as motivated as their fans! They used the whole stage to run around, made sure to create a lot of eye contact with their fans and also interacted with each other: playing back to back and Mizuki using Mao’s microphone to do the background shouting. When it was time for Mizuki‘s solo in GAMUSHARA, he jumped onto the platform in the middle of the stage and demonstrated his guitar skills while looking fantastic in his short dress with garters that particularly showed off his thighs. The next song, WHITE DUST, granted Mao the opportunity to demonstrate his vocal skills. He mastered the high notes like the professional he is and still made time to motivate the fans further. Mizuki and kazu made sure to support him by taking on the back vocals of the chorus. After the last note faded away Mao held a small MC, thanking everyone for coming today. “It is thanks to all of you that we were able to continue so long! I know that we already have shows scheduled, but you never know what happens! I want you to give your everything as if it is your last chance! Come on!” The venue went dark, the first beats of BITES THE BLACK echoed through the venue and the fans followed Mao’s wish without even wasting a second! Mizuki made sure to use smaller breaks within the songs, or the transmission between them, to remind the fans that they are indeed allowed and welcome to use their voice again. Before they started THE DIM LIGHT OF DUSK, the screen behind Ryo showed countless swords being joined together somewhere behind the drums. It made me think of the iron throne in Game of Thrones. However, the song itself was rather playful! Mao made use of the whole stage, dancing from one end to the other and making sure to pay some attention to kazu during his bass solo while leaning his back on the bassists. Mizuki also didn’t need to be invited and joined the fans on the other side of the venue to interact with them, showing them his tongue while grinning mischievously. The next song アリア-Aria-, on the other hand, once again picked up the creepy atmosphere with its churchy elements and greenish-black lighting coming from below the platform to engulf Mao. “Come on, put your hands up!” Some of the fans already had their hands up in the air before Mao even finished the sentence and started to headbang as soon as they began DOUKOU (瞳孔). It was the 12th song and there was still no intention of giving anyone the opportunity to take a break. Heads were thrown from one side to the other before Ryo ended the song with an impressive last drum roll.
But finally a small break! Mao took the time to introduce the band and started with their drummer Ryo. When he was asked to share something that left an impression on him during these 7 years with The THIRTEEN, he shared a story from when they had a gig in Hokkaido. Apparently he’d gotten so drunk one day that he slept on a frozen street and his band mates had to pull him off the street by the feet! He concluded his story with: “I felt the love of my band mates on that day” while grinning shyly. When it was kazus turn to talk he immediately picked up and agreed that that story was also the one that left the biggest impression on him. Mizuki also joined them and mentioned that his junior band mates usually are quite reserved towards their senior band mates and that’s why he was quite happy when this happened. After this interesting story Mao mentioned that they will release their newest EP soon and that he hopes to see everyone again during the release tour. They then continued the show with Rhapsody in Blue, a song with an especially impressive guitar play. With the slower paced songs The THIRTEEN played after the MC, the fans got the opportunity to enjoy the events happening on the stage in detail. A personal highlight was when they played the MV of Lament in the background and Mao’s singing was 100% synchronized with the MV!
“These 7 years haven’t been easy, there were times we weren’t able to have live shows and even now we still need to wear masks during the shows, but step by step things are improving. But let’s enjoy ourselves again how it used to be! Yesterday I actually thought about those 7 years and obviously also about you guys! I thought about how you are always coming to our in-store events, concerts and how many letters I always receive. Please continue to support us like this!” The show continued with Focus and everyone was in motion, no matter where you looked- something was happening: Mao let hips sway, Mizuki demanded more from the fans and performed a stunning guitar solo, and before the song ended Mao walked over to Mizuki, who looked quite busy on playing the guitar, however, as Mao wasn’t walking away, Mizuki grinned and sang the lyrics along with Mao, who apparently was satisfied then and moved back to the middle of the stage. The last songs of the main act were party songs that invited you to move your body, which everyone did without exception!
The encore was introduced with a song from their newest EP A World of Villains: QUEEN. The PV was also played in the background showing movie scenes that could have been recorded in the 80’s. Mao dubbing the scene with a mix of speaking and singing in English was definitely a new and unique way to introduce the song! The whole staging can be described in one word: fabulous! Mao looking like a queen in the MV while looking like a perfect gentleman in his striped black suit on stage was creating a great contrast. After the song was over, they concluded the evening with daydreamer and memento mori, two powerful songs where the fans could spend their very last bits of energy!
We once again had the pleasure of experiencing their concerts live and it’s never getting boring! Their 7th anniversary show was like a road through their history with many fans’ favorites being played. No matter if you’ve known them only for a short while or since the very beginning – I doubt there was anyone who didn’t enjoy this special event. They definitely have a knack for well-structured live performances which satisfy their audience completely.
Live Report: Jenny
English Edit: Franzi
It would be great if you could support us with a small donation.
It might not be much for you, but it would help us providing more and better interviews in the future.
With a little bit of your support we might be able to realize even more!
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