MUCC’s TOUR “Chemical Parade” Final @Nippon Budokan

MUCC’s lives are usually known for how crazy the audience, and of course the band themselves, go (a.k.a. ‘abareru’ in Japanese) and for how chaotic the whole venue can get during the stage.
However, the word, surprisingly yet somewhat naturally, that always comes to my mind in the end is ‘unity,’ or ‘unity in chaos’ to better express it. The final live of MUCC’s TOUR “Chemical Parade” at Nippon Budokan on 5/21/2011 was no exception. Neither the audience nor the band was willing to compromise their ‘time for unity.’ They were about to have a grand party to celebrate the final stage of MUCC’s tour. Indeed, the audience was more than ready to do anything to express their joy to be here at the final live of MUCC’s TOUR “Chemical Parade,” which kicked off on a stormy night of 10/30/2010 at Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall.
Soon after the audience was greeted by the 4 LED screens flashing with the phrase “WELCOME TO THE PARTY,” the live started off with ‘FALLING DOWN,’ followed by ‘Zero-Shiki. Among the expected numbers from the album “Karma,” the unexpected lineup of ‘Nuritsubusunara Enji’ and ‘FUZZ’ stirred up the audience so much that the venue was literally shaking as they danced and sang along for ‘FUZZ.’
Tatsuro briefly made a comment of greeting to everyone and the live continued on right away with yet another unexpected number ‘Ageha,’ followed by ‘Koibito (from their demo tape “Shuuka,” 1999),’ a song that no one would have predicted. In between the “Karma” numbers, the venue found some peace and quiet during ‘Danzetsu’ as the audience listened attentively while resting for the next active numbers to come.
Following an upbeat number ‘Yuubeni,’ was ‘Namonaki yume,’ a signature number for the audience to go crazy. As ‘permitted’ or rather ‘challenged’ by Tatsuro, the audience was in their fullest gear and started jumping and bouncing out of control! All the members and everyone in the audience showed off their unity though in chaos as they sung the chorus in perfect unison and jumped at the right place at the right timing. Everyone’s energy se emed to explode for the last two powerful numbers of ‘Houkou’ and ‘Lion.’
After a wait filled with anticipating ‘encore’ calls, MUCC came back on stage. Each member expressed his excitement and gratitude to be able to perform again here at Nippon Budokan. Then, they began playing ‘Daikirai,’ another infamous number for creating chaos in the audience. I must have been wrong to think that the audience would have depleted their energy by now. As soon as the audience heard the bass intro of the song, everyone went shrieking and started dancing in chaos all over again! They were not about to stop as the encore stage continued on to ‘Ranchuu,’ a signature number that MUCC has played in almost every live they’ve ever had. Finally after the ‘big jump’ with the entire audience along with all the members, the audience seemed completely satisfied. MUCC then performed a new charity song ‘Akatsuki’ to conclude the live. MUCC’s final live of “Chemical Parade” was not only a presentation of their album “Karma” alone, but was a balanced mixture of who they have been and who they’re going to be. Not forgetting their roots of heavy rock tunes, MUCC has come through gradual evolution with digital sounds. They are one of the few long-lived bands today who are always willing to try something new and continue to evolve into something better. This is why we can’t stop loving and supporting MUCC for not only their music alone, but also for their passion, spirit and vision for the future.
Set List1. Falling down 2. Zeroshiki 3. Nuritsubusunara enji 4. Chemical Parade Blueday 5. Fuzz 6. Circus 7. Daraku8. Ageha 9. Koibito 10. I am computer 11. Polaris 12. Danzetsu13. Yakusoku14. Yuubeni15. Namonaki yume16. Houkou17. LionEn1 DaikiraiEn2 RanchuuEn3 AkatsukiSE Karma

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