Delivering an unforgettable live performance

the GazettE released their album MASS on May 26, 2021, after a one-year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the delay, the band still celebrated the record by touring for over two years. the GazettE remained unbound by the timeframe of the album’s actual release, delivering three contrasting takes on the set list for its first tour in years. These culminated in the tour finale at Nippon Budokan in July of 2023. The shows from the MASS TOUR displayed to the public the powerhouse that the GazettE had risen to embody.

Furthermore, the GazettE held its first Christmas concert in 11 years on December 25, 2023, expressing gratitude to all the fans who had awaited with bated breath. We called up guitarist Aoi to bring you all the thoughts that ran through his mind during the time.

“I was basically possessed by my guitar.” —Aoi

When it was decided that you would tour one year after the release of MASS (May 2021), how did you feel?

All the members including myself felt that a tour, even with so much time after the release, was a must. We poured our hearts into creating MASS, and playing live is part of the process of nurturing the songs. The microcosm that we foster together with our fans is also an element of the work. So, we knew we needed to tour. Or rather, there was no chance we weren’t going to tour.

I’d expect nothing less of the GazettE. So, the GazettE LIVE TOUR2022 -MASS- / PHASE 01-COUNT”DECEM” was your first tour in years. What were things like for you?

For me personally, I challenged myself to go from playing on six strings to seven during the pandemic. People might not really consider it a “challenge”, per se [laughs]. But because of this switch, I recall there were hurdles during the start of the MASS TOUR. Changing instruments meant that I had to be mindful not to make the audience feel like something was just “off” when they saw me on stage. The playing itself wasn’t ever the problem, but the showmanship was what I was more concerned about. I didn’t want people who enjoy this visual aspect of the performance to see us and think that I seemed kind of awkward.

I’d bet. Positioning your guitar where it’s easy to strum and standing in place is ideal for playing, but it doesn’t really scream “rock”, does it?

Exactly [laughs]! That’s one of the harder aspects of rock.

I think it’s truly wonderful that you pay attention to these little details. On top of this, it’s exciting that you changed up your instrument. Your guitar tone’s become even nicer than before.

I’m happy with the result, although now I’m using instruments from “Strictly 7 Guitars”, it means I’ve stepped away from ESP guitars. As a brand, ESP provided incredible support, so it’s a drawback to have to give this up. Until recently, I could hand over my guitars to them for maintenance at the end of a tour, and they’d fix any issues before I went on to the next show. But now, I basically have to take care of all that on my own, which is a lot to do.

The appeal of “Strictly 7 Guitars” then outweighs these disadvantages, right? So, how did PHASE 01-COUNT”DECEM” actually end up?

At first, it was a little confusing, since fans were prohibited from shouting or screaming [due to COVID restrictions], but I got used to it surprisingly quickly. These fans all came out to see us, and I let my sense of gratitude sink in as we played. I’m not saying this just for pleasantries, you know [laughs].

Oh, I know [laughs].

Haha [laughs]! No, really, we always aim for perfection at each of our shows. This has always been our philosophy, but we weren’t able to pull it off during PHASE 01 because of the restrictions. Fans couldn’t raise their voices, and the numbers of people who could enter venues were limited. Of course things were going to feel strange. Despite everything, people came and turned up the heat, so of course we’d take in energy and give it right back. The fans saved us in that first leg of the tour. I’m nothing but thankful for them.

I was able to attend your tour LIVE 2021 -DEMONSTRATION EXPERIMENT- BLINDING HOPE in 2022, and I deeply felt that both you and the fans had been desperately waiting for the GazettE to play live.

During the pandemic, we pondered our options too, wondering if there was anything we could do under those conditions. But we knew it wouldn’t be a satisfying experience for either the band or the fans, so we decided not to do anything. This decision led to a huge gap between our live performances.

I think there are both pros and cons to not performing, but I believe that what the GazettE had landed on was the right path.

Yes. There were several options we could have taken, but I don’t think we chose wrongly. We did the best thing for the GazettE. Unfortunately, it was a shame that we couldn’t take MASS TOUR overseas.

There are plenty of fans waiting for you overseas, so I hope you do go in the future. There were a lot of surprises during MASS TOUR—despite it being several years since your last tour, you quickly revealed some different concepts for the second leg PHASE 02.

Over the course of our lengthy career, we’ve held tours that were broken up into parts like 02 and 03. It made us realize that we could actualize those ideas this time too.

“Nothing is more important to us than that the fans have a great time, so we’ll always do our best.” —Aoi

I understand that, but the 02 this time combined MASS with some of your older albums, and each performance bore a different universe of its own. As artists, it must have been quite difficult to revisit some of the older songs.

It was difficult [laughs]. Super difficult [laughs]. It was definitely tough for everyone, but because I changed from six string to seven string guitars, I had to relearn every song from scratch. When we first discussed playing our older songs, I was at a loss for words [laughs]. I transcribed all the songs onto sheet music and rearranged all my parts for seven strings. All this work took a long time.

It wasn’t just that the songs were originally played on six strings… You also wanted to work in a new style, right?

That was part of it. There were also times when I didn’t have a guitar in front of me [laughs]. After my endorsement contract with ESP ended, I had to return all my guitars. Other than these models, I don’t really own any guitars [laughs]. I have a bunch of amps but never needed to buy my own guitars, because of ESP’s support. I had about 20 to 30 ESP guitars, so as I worked on the scores, I realized how blessed I had been [laughs].

We appreciate all your hard work… [laughs]. Reita said something similar, that he had to quickly relearn all the old songs ahead of rehearsals, which was difficult in itself. And then, there were no additional rehearsals during the tour, so he forgot the songs from the new album, which was another challenge.

Right. So there was always a guitar in my hands. In between the shows, I’d come home and keep practicing. On the days of the shows, you’d find me playing backstage. I did nothing except play guitar. I was basically possessed by my guitar [laughs].

the GazettE has never hesitated to put in the work. You all push yourselves to make your performances more interesting and enjoyable for the audience. I have nothing but respect.

Nothing is more important to us than that the fans have a great time, so we’ll always do our best. No matter how much time it takes, we’ll make it happen. As a result, we didn’t have much time to go drinking when we hit up different cities. I just stayed in my hotel room, playing guitar. A rarity [laughs]. It’s not like I didn’t go out at all, but my mind was always on the shows. I ended up being self-disciplined on this tour.

The fact that you’re still touring like this on the back of such an extensive career is definitely also a factor in your fans’ support. What was your impression of the shows that combined your older songs with MASS?

I wonder… MASS was almost entirely written by one person, so it feels very cohesive. When you combine it with our past albums, like we did in 02, the world just expands. MASS is a polished piece, but I think it hones in on a very specific theme. I think 02 allowed us to expand and thicken things up. I mean, the GazettE is made of five different people with five different outlooks, and I think part of the appeal is in the way we all meld together. Of course, the GazettE as a singular entity is important too, but 02 let us stretch out.

I don’t think that’s a negative in any way. Rather, it’s connecting you to your next steps.

There are definitely things we want to carry forward. I discovered a lot from 02, personally. For example, wanting to pull off guitar phrases in a certain way or wanting to work in different kinds of soundscapes… This is not to dismiss MASS, but I think we can build on the lessons learned from 02 for the band to grow.

I’m really looking forward to what the future for the GazettE holds. Another thing I was surprised by on the MASS TOUR was that you took 03 to much smaller venues.

I personally prefer larger halls, but those smaller clubs have a certain charm. RUKI loves them, you know. I think he’s got an attachment to the more local venues.

The other members know you’re not so fond of smaller venues, don’t they? When the discussion to play in them was made, if you said, “no!” they may have listened…

Well, I did make a fuss [laughs]. “I guess it’s fine, but really? We’re playing clubs…” [laughs]. Still, I don’t think they’re all that bad. Once you’re there, it’s fun.

For me, I’m just way more nervous in a smaller venue. The fans are much closer, and I don’t really like being stared at. But then, even in larger places, there could be people watching with binoculars, and thinking about that also makes me super nervous [laughs]. I’ll never get over this fear, no matter how much time passes.

“What it means is that if I can charm an audience with my presence alone, I can accomplish anything.” —Aoi

You performed the MASS TOUR finale at the Nippon Budokan on July 15, 2023. It seems like everyone in the GazettE holds an emotional attachment to the venue. How about you, Aoi?

Yes, I do too. This was the first big summit that we had aimed to climb as a band, and I think for performances in Japan, the Budokan is the most incredible place. It’s really something special, even the name “Nippon Budokan” itself. It’s special in its own way, different from, say, Yoyogi First National Gymnasium.

The Budokan is a very popular place among musicians, and I often hear how difficult it is to book it. Your first tour in several years is certainly worthy of closing out at the Budokan.

Well, we pushed hard to get it [laughs]. There were many places we considered for the final show, but the Budokan was our only real candidate. I think we gave our manager a hard time [laughs]. I’m glad we were able to hold our finale there in the end.

How was it being back at the Budokan after so long?

There was something different about the atmosphere that day—it didn’t seem like the “Budokan” we had known. From the moment we entered, it didn’t feel like home. We could have been tense. But it wasn’t like we felt too uncomfortable to play. We were relatively relaxed and directed our attention solely to elevating MASS, without getting too carried away.

It’s amazing that you stayed so relaxed playing at the Budokan. It’s definitely proof that the tour was successful.

Our hard work paid off. When we saw video footage from the Budokan, people commented on how I didn’t move at all during the first half of the show. “Were you nervous?”, they asked, but I wasn’t. I think something inside me changed during the tour. In the past, I believed that you drew eyes to yourself by displaying lots of movement, but I later realized that there were other approaches too.

Recently, the other members of the GazettE started moving around much more on stage, and I thought it would be fine if I didn’t follow suit. It’s not like I refuse to move. I just feel more confident expressing myself without veering from my position on stage. Watching all the footage, I’m happy with how I looked.

There’s more than one way to look good. I think your calmer, more collected presence these days is very cool.

Thank you.

It creates a nice balance to have one calm band member when the others are raging.

I think so too. To be honest, I’m really into making sure my standing posture looks good these days. It’s kind of hard to pull off. Trying to look cool without any movement makes people think you’re just slacking, right [laughs]? “Huh, why was Aoi so lifeless today”. It’s hard not to get people to wonder. I had been experimenting throughout the MASS TOUR and kept it up for Budokan. I think I get it now. Of course, there’s still room for improvement.

It’s a new way of presenting yourself to the audience, yes?

Yeah. It’s not like I can’t go hard on stage, ever. What it means is that if I can charm an audience with my presence alone, I can accomplish anything. This is how I want to be. I don’t want all five of us to be the same person. We’ve done things like synchronizing our movements and whatnot, but I’m just not into that kind of thing.

When I saw you at Budokan, I didn’t think you were lacking energy or motivation. I sensed that you had a great time focusing on your guitar playing.

Then I’m glad [laughs]. It’s actually so fun playing guitar. I enjoy performing in front of everyone. Whenever we play, I appreciate these things.

“If you had missed out on MASS as the GazettE moved onto the next chapter, I think you’d feel left behind.” —Aoi

I’m sure the fans know this too. You mentioned earlier about watching footage from the show. The band has announced releasing the concert on DVD and Blu-ray.

It’ll come out in April [2024]. For all the GazettE’s live DVDs and Blu-rays, we always take great care to make it feel like you’re there in the room. You can polish the audio tracks to perfection, but you then lose your sense of immersion. We don’t want this. The songs might sound a little different from how they’re recorded on our CDs, but it’s all a part of the realism in reproducing our concerts.

Does this also mean that great care goes into the video to preserve the feeling of a live show?

Yes. It feels realistic. There are parts with rapid cutaways, but I think you can still catch a good look at each of us. I’d love for everyone to watch the Budokan DVD or Blu-ray. In a way, they’re a passionate letter to all of the people who couldn’t make it out to see us on this tour.

If you had missed out on MASS as the GazettE moved onto the next chapter, I think you’d feel left behind. But if you watch this, you’d know the kind of tour it was, the road that we traveled to get to where we are, and how we all evolved.

I know a lot of our fans work in the medical field and several others hadn’t seen us play for various reasons, so this could become a way to take them to our shows.

A must-watch, really. After closing out your 14 month-long tour at the Nippon Budokan, you also performed your first Christmas concert in 11 years at the Pacifico Yokohama National Convention Hall on December 25.

Pacifico Yokohama doesn’t hold that many people, so I’m sure there were even more folks who missed out on it than Budokan. This was a little unfortunate.

I think holding a fanclub-only show at the Pacifico Yokohama National Convention Hall and still having people unable to get tickets affirms just how incredible the GazettE is.

…Truly [laughs]. In terms of the content of the show, I wonder how it was received. I wanted to do some instrumentals. It was Christmas, so I figured we could be a bit more chill. That was just me, though [laughs]. Everyone else in the band is rather aggro, so the concert ended up being pretty heavy [laughs]. It was a fun Christmas, just not how I imagined spending Christmas with our fans. I’m the grownup in the room [laughs].

It being the first time in 11 years, everyone must have wanted to go hard. If you turn Christmas shows into a more recurring event, perhaps you could dial things down somewhat…

I don’t think we’ll be able to make Christmas shows a regular gig [laughs]. Honestly, this type of event takes a lot of energy.

Ooh, really…? Personally, I’d really like to see the GazettE play an acoustic show.

I’d love to do one. Not so much on acoustic guitars, but playing on electrics all set to clean. I like the clean tones you hear from a lot of rock bands, so it would be nice to do something in that flavor. Typically, people equate a relaxed show with acoustic guitars, but there are other ways to express this, and I’m drawn to things that are different. Hmm, could we make a “the GazettE dinner show” work [laughs]?

I see what you mean [laughs]. Well, after a packed two years, 2024 has just begun. What are you looking forward to accomplishing this year?

I want to release new music, so this is what I’m working on right now. I’ve already started writing the songs. They’re finished to a degree. I’ve reached a stage where I can pare things down and refine, but the band hasn’t met to choose the songs yet.

I have no idea what kind of album the next one will turn out to be. I think this will be a year when we end up producing a lot, but I’d be sad if we couldn’t get out and play at all.

Even if we can’t tour, I’d like to do something. What would be good? Let’s ask the readers [laughs]. If there’s something you’d like to see from the GazettE, please let us know. Thanks in advance [laughs]!

Powered by: club Zy. and Vijuttoke.

Interviewer: Murakami Takayuki (club Zy.)

Original article: https://www.club-zy.com/contents/735460

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