When I heard about this I knew I was going to be in Japan at the time so I made sure to get my ticket through Rakuten as soon as possible. It felt like the gig was so far ahead it would never happen, and now it's over and I feel a bit sad to be honest.
I've never been a big fan of Versailles (meaning I don't own all of their cd's, and I don't enjoy everyting they've done), but I've been listening to them since high school, especially Hizaki has a special place from that time, and some songs are awesome! I also really like their theme. Anyway, since I do like them and this would be a spectacular event, I felt like I couldn't miss this.
Unfortunately I have school all weekdays until 5 p.m and the concert would start at 6.30 p.m, let's just say I felt a bit stressed knowing I had to go pick up my ticket, Lineage that was given as a gift and also my VIP bag. Yes, when I found out there would be VIP tickets, with presumably good seats I was ready to open my wallet a bit more. I've been to Budokan once before and I ended up on the third floor somewhere in the middle. Can't say I saw much, so I rather pay more and we also got some goods so I'm pleased (I'll get back to details on the VIP bag and my seat).
I arrived at the venue at about 5.40 and I just couldn't find the ticket gate! I felt a bit panicked since according to their webpage I needed my ticket to get the cd and also my VIP bag. To begin with I assumed I'd just go pick up everything at the same spot but of course they had to make it a bit difficult. The line for tickets were huge! I had to ask two times to even find it, and when I did I had to stand there for about 15 minutes before I realised that foreigners had their own line which was none :P Fortunately I got the cd at the same time, and I received the limited one since I bought my ticket early. Then I just had to pick up the VIP bag and then go to the merch! Many of the items for sale had been sold out, of course, but I got myself a tote bag.
I think I did pretty good timewise, I acctually got into the venue by 6.15! Then about my ticket, there was never said that the VIP would be any good seats, I just heard that it might be so, and I don't know if it was or if I just got lucky but I acctually got a seat at the arenafloor, line 7! That was a great seat and I couldn't have been happier (it was worth 15 000 yen).
Of course there was tons of flowers from other bands, such as D, Kaya and Moi Dix Mois among others. I know you aren't allowed to take pictures during most concerts in Japan, but usually they don't care if it's before, and since I saw a Japanese woman take a picture of the stage when I entered I assumed it was ok. The moment I had taken my picture a guard show up and tells me it's not allowed... So since I don't have a photo to post, the background was as churchwindows, really pretty.
Versailles didn't start until about 6.45, and the start was with Prelude and Aristocrat's Symphony. I remember watching the opening to their first live DVD, which are the same songs, and I thought it was amazing. Seeing it live was beyond words. It felt kind of surreal, like watching a DVD, maybe because I had a really good seat for once. I have to say though that it sounded like there was something weird with the sound for a while. During the chorus of Aristocrat's Symphony it sounded like Kamijo's vocals was drowning in the melody, unfortunately. They played songs from their greatest hits which was released in 2016, but they also played some songs from Lineage, like the titletrack and we even got to hear Vampire! One thing that stroke me as funny was watching the other fans do their parapara. One guy in the row infront of mine even did something similar to Kamijo's strutting in Masquerade, but standing still! And they also imitated Kamijo's movements to Ascendead Master.
During the MC Kamijo talked about his little accident in Poland, he fell off from stage and according to himself this time it really hurt and he couldn't stand on his leg so he had to use a wheelchair for the rest of the tour. It also got quite emotional when he explained that there was a reason for Versailles playing at Budokan, and that was that he promised Jasmine You before he passed that they would. After that they played Serenade in Jasmine's honour and Hizaki looked like he acctually began to cry. They ended with The Revenant Choir and it was an amazing ending! I love that song and hearing it live was great.
The concert felt a lot shorter than it really was, probably because I was enjoying it alot. When it was time to say goodnight the members threw out some stuff for the audience, like roses, picks, drumsticks and towels. Teru acctually threw out a whole bag of his picks (unopened!) which the girl infront of me catched. A really amusing thing was when Kamijo threw out his last rose. It landed in the aisle next to my seat, and people were so eager to catch it that some ran out on the floor, and one girl acctually fell and slided on her stomach to the rose and caught it XD Seriously, true story XD
Finally the members all grabbed each others hands to do the final jump together, because of Kamijo's accident earlier on the tour he couldn't really jump so Yuki had to support him, they both laughed at it and it looked really sweet. Once again they grabbed Jasmine's bass and Hizaki got sad, and he smiled sort of like as if covering up that he started crying but Kamijo hugged him. Then they all left stage and the concert was over.
Like I mentioned in the beginning, I'm not a big Versailles fan who knows all of their songs inside out, but I really enjoy them and I don't regret going to this or paying that much either because it was an awesome live performance! I think even people who don't like Versailles would agree it was a good concert. If you ever get the chance to see them, don't hesitate, it's worth it!
The VIP bag.
Tote bag.
This was the contents of my VIP bag (coasters, clear files, blanket and signed board).
