DIABOLOS Tourbook, Part 1: Korea

Translated by: gekka_no_neko (@LJ)

Please do not copy, take, redistribute, retranslate or repost this translation without my permission. Thank you~~

“At last, the door to Asia has opened!”

This[1] was Gackt's first toast[2], as the concert at Seoul Olympic Park Fencing Gymnasium was successfully completed. One stop in the tour, called “DIABOLOS ~ Aien no Uta~”, was made at a public performance in Korea; ironically[3], this was the first step to making inroads (into Asia), but it was one successful night, as reported by all of the media, and it hinted at the possibilities for the future. That memorable concert is also representative of Gackt's newest stage. We'll open this volume with an interview looking back at that concert.

Q: Let's look back on the performance in Korea on January 14^th, which was the first step into Asia. Tell us what your thoughts are after this success.

A: “So this is what it means to perform overseas”, that's what I thought. It's probably something that can't be understood[4] by other singers or artists. I feel that this is what it means to stand on the stage, this is what it means to convey something to someone. Everyone says, “The Korea performance was awesome,” but to me it's, “Of course it was.” If I can't do it like that, there's no meaning in doing it. I don't think it sounds right to say “Okay, I did it” after going up onto a stage that was prepared in advance.

Q: After the end of the concert on December 24 at Tokyo Dome, “DIABOLOS ~ Aien no Uta to Seiya no Namida”, most of the stage sets, lighting equipment and instruments were put on a boat and transported to Korea, right?

A: That's right. There were things like speakers that were prepared and provided by the venue for us, but we did bring most of our own equipment.

Q: That must've been extremely expensive! Other ordinary artists wouldn't go that far, would they.

A: They don't, and they can't. The reason is because they only think of it as a single event, a short-term activity. Well, it is a completely isolated event (for them), isn't it. Like going there for promotional reasons and saying you did it just to make yourself look good[5]. There are a lot of people who do that.

Q: This time, the ticket prices were pretty high, weren't they?

A: They were. If you consider it in terms of cost in Japan, it'd be around 12,000 yen, right?

Q: That's a lot of money for the customers. Moreover, there were more teenage fans who attended than there usually are in Japan.

A: I think it's a huge amount of money. So I wonder if other artists who go there from Japan understand that. The meaning of 10,000 yen in Japan is completely different from the meaning of 10,000 yen to a Korean teenager. They worked hard to save, and they worked hard to get the tickets; they had been waiting and looking forward to it all that time. With that in mind, I wonder, “Am I living up to it?”

Q: But because it's Gackt, 5,000 spectators gathered together even at the cost of 12,000 yen. It's hard to find any other artists that can bring together that many people......

A: In that case, it's a matter of “Don't go overseas.” For example, this is speaking of an artist from overseas, but they only bring one 2-ton truck's worth of equipment, and in addition, the performance is entirely karaoke. They're making fools of the audience. Them saying that they did it becomes more like, “We came for you.” It's like they agree to do it only if there is a guarantee. That's wrong! Though, those kinds of idols are not my rivals.

Q: Because this performance was so successful, even more people will attend the next one. You could probably lower the prices and play in a bigger venue.

A: But to be honest, it's not that I want to perform at a really huge venue. Because what I believe is important is how much I can respond to those people who have been waiting for me. But if a large venue is necessary for that, then using a larger stage is a possibility.

Q: This concerns the content of the concert, but the audience's response was amazing! The fierceness of the cheering is something you can't imagine happening at a concert in Japan.

A: I think it's amazing. Even if you say to a Japanese fan, “The Korean fans were amazing,” you absolutely can't convey that to someone who didn't see it. That is, how could you say it...... I had a strong feeling that the Japanese would lose at this rate. The power of today's youth is building up inside (the Korean fans), and I think it's starting to explode (right now). I also feel like Japan probably had that kind of atmosphere long ago. The Japanese youth of today don't have as much of that power, but everyone around them is that way too, so you don't realize it. Though there isn't any intent to deny that......

Q: The Korean fans' passion was completely explosive.

A: Yeah, it was amazing. “If you think I'm lying, come out from Japan and see for yourself!” is what I really thought, and I was so surprised. It was the first time an arena shook that much. The Korean fans are...... the Chinese and other Asian fans are all like that too, but there are so many that are starving for rock music. Only the culture from America has freely come in, and so music has become a springboard[6] (for the introduction of that culture). It's like the current Chinese economy. The bottom line is, there is no middle. (In Korea), music wasn't created because of a certain trend; only a small part of music is being taken up (by Korean artists), so there are a lot of kids being left behind.[7] That's why there are very few Korean artists who are playing real rock music. There are many who simply say, “I play popular music.”

Q: Isn't your kind of concert, where for example you start with a video, unusual even in Japan? Surely the Korean audience's surprised reaction of “I've never seen that before!” is something that was straightforwardly brought out.

A: I guess that truly was a reaction of seeing something for the first time. My stage is based on the premise of rock, but the range of rock is extremely broad and limitless. So when you experience it, even people in Japan who have seen concerts many times will be shocked, “Wow.”

Q: Like, “Why ride in on a horse”?

A: Right, right (laughs). In Korea, despite the fact that there are many people who like rock music and wish for it, there are unusually only a few people who convey those feelings; there's also the circumstance of only popular music being continuously put out. Even considering those making rock music, it's not rock that they're creating on their own, but one-dimensional pieces of copy-rock. The stage performance created by those people is probably a superficial performance of that era[8]. Well, 15 to 20 years ago, no matter how much progress had been made, to me it felt like the stage and music that existed ten years prior to that. That shouldn't be how it's done. Concerts are now, aren't they? They are in this moment in time.

Q: I see, I see. It was truly an instantaneous explosion! For one thing, the cheers were so loud from the very first song “Dybbuk”, that the sound was drowned out.

A: The floor was undulating and the stage was swaying (laughs). At first I thought, “I wonder if this stage was set up wrong?” But that wasn't right because the entire hall was swaying. This is the power of those who waited for so long. In a way, it was as if the power of what we ourselves put forth was put in front of their eyes and questioned as to whether it was weak, and so I felt even more that I couldn't lose. I go forward all the more at full speed because I think, ”I won't lose.”

Q: Right, right, and what really surprised me was that it looked like you were going to fall over during the second song, “White Eyes”! I've known from before that you really put everything into your performances, but that was the first time I'd seen you like that on the second song.

A: “I have to do it; if I don't give it all I've got, I'll be overpowered[9],” that's what it was like. I always say this to the members and dancers, but we are the ones that are consuming the audience and we can't be consumed ourselves; we are the ones in control. We control everything and we can't lose that control, we're professionals that respond to the people who have been waiting...... it may have been a moment where I really felt those words. But even though it was extremely exciting, it did firmly settle down along the way, at the points where it should have settled down.

Q: It's not as if there was (one specific) attitude to maintain for the concert.

A: Yeah. I think that's alright, because that's what we're leaving behind. If we strain during the first and second chapters and still bounce back, it's because it's all a part of one stage performance.

Q: A concert is quite simply a raw thing, isn't it.

A: Because there's no such thing as “it has to be this way.”

Q: This time, you projected the performance onto screens on both sides of the stage, something that is unusual (for you). That was only done for this performance and Tokyo Dome. Was it also a means of considering the audience in Korea who are not used to seeing you?

A: Yeah, I was against it to the end, but it was Asano-san's (stage producer) idea. It was the first performance in Korea so he said, “Please let us use it.” I said, “We don't need it,” and we went back and forth quite a bit. We used screens for Tokyo Dome, but as I thought about the necessity of using them for the Korea show, this is what I thought: In Japan, I appear on TV here and there, and there is a lot of media exposure, so many people know my face and know my expressions when I sing, but in Korea there might be many people who haven't seen those expressions. And, didn't Asano-san write this? “When the lights go down, it's too dark to see the members' expressions, but it's good that you can see them on the screen.”

Q: In the UV manuscript.

A: If he didn't say those words, then I don't think I would've used the screens. But, concerning whether it's necessary or not, I still honestly believe it's unnecessary. But I think this time, it was easier for newcomers to understand “What kind of thing is Gackt's live.” After all, there were so many people in the arena that had been desperately waiting, but there were also people in the stands who were probably thinking, “I want to see one time what Gackt's live is like,” right?

Q: Yeah, I definitely agree with that, but to pick up on that while performing!

A: I can tell, you know. I also noticed that the people in the stands would alternate between watching the stage and the screens, but eventually they concentrated on the stage and stopped looking at the screens. Because of that, if I myself can face the audience and have them understand what thoughts I want to hit them with, or pull them along with, then it honestly doesn't matter if the screens are there or not. It has nothing to do with what I am doing, and I thought about this for Tokyo Dome too, but without a doubt, the screens become obstacles that interfere with all the feelings from the stage, the entire production we are showing.

Q: There were many young guys in the audience in Korea, weren't there.

A: There were a lot. Among the people in the stands that were going crazy, the guys were the funniest, you know (bitter laugh). There were a lot of people there that you'd expect to see at a grunge-type concert, and they really were not looking at the stage at all (laughs). They were like “Uwah!” with reckless abandon.

Q: Certainly there were a lot of guys that seemed like they were in bands, but it will be interesting to see what those kinds of fans took away from the concert themselves.

A: That's true. Indeed, if I was able to give them just a little push forward, then there will absolutely be a change and something new will be born. I think they can create something, and I believe they were able to feel “this is what it means to stand on stage, this is how a stage performance is created, this is rock.”

Q: I think there were about 100 fans from Japan who came to see the concert, but they must've been considerably surprised at the Korean fans' reactions. Have you received emails with their reactions?

A: They said, “It was amazing, it was overwhelming.” Of course, there were also “good, bad” comments regarding the Korean fans' manners. After all, there were things that would never happen in Japan. In Japan, you don't move from your assigned seat once the concert starts, but in Korea most people were moving around (bitter laugh).

Q: They went for the iron fence at the very front row. I wonder if the security guards had to stop them (laughs).

A: From the point of view of Japanese people, I'd think they'd say “What are you people doing!” but once the audience gets that way there's no reasoning with them is there (laughs). It's easy to consider that “bad manners”, but this world is not made up of just one or two people. They are going all out, trying to move towards me, right? I think it's wrong to simply pass that off as “bad manners”. For example, it's the same as saying to someone who is desperately drinking water from a well that's shooting into the sky, “Why don't you just drink out of the water line?” It can't be rationalized like that. It's what you will naturally do when the thing you are hoping for appears in front of your eyes. Of course, every once in a while I encounter tremendous power from (fans in) Japan too. A long time ago, when we went to Shizunai (in Hokkaido) for a calendar shoot, about 500 local residents surrounded the bar we were in, and although we thought it could be controlled at first, pretty soon I thought I was going to die (laughs).

Q: Hahahaha...... it's not a laughing matter, is it?

A: But really, the kind of explosive power I felt at the Korea concert is lacking in Japan. Japan has become too much of an information-driven society and people are content with just getting information. I think that concert was really something that Japanese people should have seen.

Q: The day before the live, you did a press conference for the Korean media. It was reported that one topic was “dozens of underprivileged children were invited~”. About that?

A: The truth is...... it wasn't deliberately announced that “they were invited,” and there are times when they are invited to concerts in Japan too. I do other charity and volunteer work, but it's just that those things aren't announced. Because I really hate giving off the sense of “I'm doing it.” It's fine to do those things as long as it sits well with yourself, right? I answered because I was asked the question at the press conference, but there are so many poor children in Asia. I've always thought about this, but if dreams aren't given to children, then there's no meaning in our lives. Because there are so many poor children among those who will live in the era to come, it is all the more important to be able to give them the dream of “you have something to live for too” or to push them forward; I believe that is the “theme” of the important thing that I can do. This time, children living in a facility for those without parents were invited, and I thought maybe they also had never seen a concert before; but I just wanted them to feel something and so they were invited.

Q: I see. By the way, when will the next live in other Asian countries happen?

A: Probably from June onward. Anyway, the schedule doesn't fit, you know. It's just that, for me, a lot of time to make songs has been taken up...... I'm so happy (bitter laugh). I think the places we'll go next are Shanghai, Beijing, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Notes:
[1] “This” refers to the quote “At last, the door to Asia has opened!”.
[2] “乾杯の音頭をとったGacktの第一声がこれだ”: This sentence actually means “this is toastmaster Gackt's first speech”, or, “this is the first speech that Gackt, who gave a toast, made.” I combined the toast and the first speech to make it more manageable.
[3] “奇しくも”: strangely enough; by a curious coincidence; ironically. I think the writer uses this term because the tensions between Japan and Korea are particularly strained, and trying to make inroads into Asia by going to Korea first would be rather difficult.
[4] “認識”: recognized; perceived; understood.
[5] “ハク付け”: literally means to line with foil; make oneself look important; add luster to; give someone added prestige.
[6] “ジャンピング現象”: literally this translates to “jumping phenomenon” because he used the katakana for “jumping”. But, the word “jumping board” can mean “springboard”, so I used that meaning here.
[7] This part was hard to translate. But to put it simply, I think he is saying that there is no balance in Korean music; they get everything from America, and nothing else comes in. So the music there hasn't developed naturally in a way such that the Korean artists would create their own music.
[8] “That era”, referring to the era the copied music is from.
[9] “飲まれる”: literally, to be swallowed; overpowered; consumed; fall prey.

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