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Relive Karyus birthday live together with us!
The show had everything you could ask for—and cake! Check out the report of this amazing night!
H.U.G (Hyper Undead Genius) took the stage at Yokohama Minato Mirai Bronth on December 9th to celebrate a very special occasion: Karyu’s (ex D’ESPAIRSRAY/ Angelo/ Luv PARADE) birthday! For this memorable event, TAKEO (PIERROT/ Angelo) on drums and MASASHI (Versailles) on bass accompanied the band as support members, while ΛrlequiΩ’s bass player Shohei was a special guest. There was even a brand-new song for tonight! The performance was also available for online streaming for overseas fans. We are so excited to share our impressions and our personal most memorable moments of this splendid night with you.
The evening started fast with DON’T DOUBT – a heavy song that combines screams with melodic parts. The fans immediately started headbanging and throwing their arms in the air, and the members also seemed to be having the time of their lives already: Yokoyama Kazutoshi (keyboard, percussions and manipulator) was slowly moving around as he hit his sticks while MASASHI (bass) and Karyu (guitar) were headbanging as they performed, and Karyu was also helping with the backup vocals. TAKEO (drums) seemed to have lost himself in the music, as he was incredibly focused while hitting the drums with all his might. Finally, ryo (vocals) was fascinating everyone at the venue with his beautiful voice and always point-on screams. After HUG, Karyu expressed his wish for this evening to be special for everyone watching, and the next song, DROP, immediately started. During this song, MASASHI was interacting with all of the other members, making him seem so in sync with the band! The connection the members shared on the stage was truly amazing. The next song was BLOOD PIN – a perfect song to let loose through headbanging and jumping, which was exactly what both the audience and the members were doing. When the song ended, ryo introduced the band: “Good evening. We are H.U.G! Let’s celebrate Karyu a lot tonight and let’s have tons of fun!” Fans immediately answered his request by clapping and screaming Karyu’s name, who seemed very happy to be sharing his birthday celebration on stage with his bandmates and fans.
The band also played D’ESPAIRSRAY songs for the main stage! One of my personal favorites was Mary of the blood – a song with an addictively eerie aura that immediately draws the listeners into its dark world. It was a privilege to experience it with ryo’s equally captivating vocals. As the stage was painted red with lights, ryo was dramatically reaching his hand out towards the audience, his slow and deliberate movements deepening the whole atmosphere. TAKEO was playing the drums while throwing his head from left to right, completely absorbed in the beat. Yokoyama Kazutoshi was focused on the percussions, yet was throwing his arm in the air along with the fans. Karyu was as energetic as always – he was jumping, headbanging and interacting with the audience as much as he could by approaching the edge of the stage.
The band played their new song, ROZE (ロゼ), right after a very entertaining MC break where Yokoyama Kazutoshi kept preventing Karyu from speaking despite naming him the main character of the day. In the end, he announced that they brought a brand-new song that they created just for Karyu, to which Karyu replied “Wow you really are a huge liar”, making everyone break into laughter. Through ROZE (ロゼ), H.U.G once again has proved that they are a very versatile band as this song combines pop sounds with H.U.G’s signature heavy style, and the result is a very refreshing and addictive song that you can listen to over and over again without getting bored at all! Despite hearing it for the first time ever, fans were already moving to the song and lifting up their hands in the air. After the main stage ended with HEART, the audience broke into applause and cheers, especially for Karyu, who kept sending kisses to the fans through his fingers, showing his love and appreciation for each and every fan that joined his birthday celebration.
When the band returned to the stage for an encore, they were accompanied by Shohei (bass). Even though Shohei only joined the band for three songs, he managed to put on a very fierce and memorable performance! The last song they played before Shohei left was SEEDS – a song that combines melodic parts with hard elements that is perfect for moving! Karyu and Shohei performed together, leaning into each other’s shoulders and Shohei later rested his head on Karyu’s shoulder, painting a very cute picture for the audience. At the end of the song, Masashi appeared back on stage holding a birthday cake for Karyu. It was a delicious looking white cake with a lot of berries on top as well as a “Happy Birthday” message. It also featured Karyu-kun, which was a cartoon version of Karyu holding a guitar. After Karyu blew out the candles, Shohei left the stage along with the cake, and MASASHI was back for the rest of the encore. He also gave Karyu a present, which was a plastic toy chicken that makes a sound when you press it. Apparently, Karyu had seen it in another city they traveled to during their recent tour and really liked it. Immediately, Karyu took a liking to his present and kept pressing it, which made the other members jokingly complain to MASASHI by saying “You gave such a gift that should never be given, especially to Karyu. Now he won’t stop pressing it!”, causing everyone to laugh. In the end, they turned out to be right. After the concert ended, Karyu stayed on stage, asking everyone to be quiet. Then he held the chicken to the microphone and squeezed it one last time as a goodbye to the fans.
It was such a fun night, and a true celebration of Karyu! H.U.G always manages to not only meet but actively exceed expectations at each concert they do and with each new song they release. I am looking forward to seeing more from H.U.G! I would like to close this live report by sharing a special message from Karyu for our readers: “I would love to visit the US and Europe someday. I will definitely come and visit you in the future so please wait for us! Or rather, invite us if you can (smiles). Until I get to meet you there, our content is available on online music streaming platforms so please give us a listen.”
Report: Gamze
English Edit: Kaity
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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