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Eve of Destiny © Haruhiko Ash 1997-2004.

L'association Li'Réel

Arpil 9, 2004

La Boule Noire

Paris, France

doors at 19.00

with~

The Last Embrace

Machina Deus Ex

Setlist

M01. I.NO.RI (SE)
M02. Nervous and Innocence
M03. Logos
M04. Garden for a Zealot
M05. Dead End
M06. Void
M07. Iconoclast
M08. Metaphor
M09. Dead or Alive
M10. Desperado
M11. Eve of Destruction
~encore~
You Killed Me First
 

- report by Case -

For me this was a very special Eve Of Destiny gig.. it was not only a concert, or a good chance to meet some friends that I cannot meet elsewhere, but it gave me a perfect excuse to return to Paris, the city I love so much. So, I took the chance to make it a lengthy trip and the EoD concert came as the culmination of a two week long stay, so by then I was already in a rather lifted mood.

The concert was held in a club called La Boule Noire near the famous Sacre Coeur and was organized by Elisé and L'association Li'Réel. The doors were supposed to open at 19.00, which surprised me quite a bit, since all the other concerts I went to in Paris during my stay started at the usual late hours. Kazu with her friends arrived in Paris in the morning, so we spent some time messing around the city together, then went to pick up Miyu and co. at their hotel and arrived at the club a bit after six o'clock. By then there was already a long queue at front and as time passed by it kept on growing rapidly. There were several quite extravagant looking fans and since the club was very near Pigalle, which is a very frequented area by tourist the street was crowded and the people passing by were in quite a shock by the weird looking crowd blocking the street. The French fans were quite nice and friendly, although there were a few rather terrible people, especially a girl with pink hair and totally overblown, bright, lolita style costume, who looked so bored and uninterested all through the evening, that it was obvious that she was only there because it was cool to be there.

They opened the doors a few minutes after seven o'clock and we entered the club, which was barely more than the concert-hall itself: as we passed the door and the cloak-room, there were a few steps down and we were already in the hall with the stage at one end, and a bar at the other. It would be enough for about five hundred people maybe. As usual the audience was very international... most were French of course, but there were some people from Spain, Kazu & co., plus several other people from Germany, Miyu & co. from Sweden, some from Finland, etc. For my biggest joy and surprise Sixteen Horsepower's Sackcloth 'n' Ashes album was playing in the background which is a favorite of mine, so it just made me even more euphoric.

Shortly after everyone got inside (there were a bit more than three hundred people as far as I know) the first one of the two French bands opening for EoD took the stage. The six piece band's name was The Last Embrace and they played a mixture of goth and melodic metal. Beside the four men, there were two woman: a singer with a pretty good voice and a rather attractive keyboardist. Since the front rows were invaded by EoD fans of course, the band's fans were cheering from the background, but even the rest of the audience seemed to enjoy their music, so, there wasn't that 'yeah, nice, nice, but could you finish quick?' kind of feel and as a result the band also seemed to enjoy the gig a lot.

Same was true for the other band, Machine Deus Ex, whose music was even more on the metal side, with dual male/female vocals and a bit of a prog-rock touch here and there. The female vocalist wore a rather minimalistic amount of clothes, which could have been kinda sexy, but was not, since it just didn't fit together at all. I liked their set more, their songs were very well built up and even tho I had the feeling that I could enjoy it a lot more if I knew the songs already, it was still very impressive.

Shortly after they left the stage Közi showed up to set up their equipment and the screaming started. When he and Yuko finished the preparations he left the stage, just to return soon, with the intro playing in the background. After the intro they started the show with Nervous & Innocence as usual. As always, the powerful song immediately drove the audience crazy and there was a lot of moving and cheering, so the atmosphere was really good and it stayed that way all thru the concert.

Haruhiko wore his usual clothes, while Közi surprised everyone with his bright hair color, which sometimes looked grey, other times blonde. His long, black costume was magnificent, however it turned out to be a not-that-good choice, because by then it was very hot in the club, especially near the stage, because of all the spotlights, so around halfway through the gig he took of the extra, cape-like part of it.

Nervous & Innocence was followed by Logos and the old favorite Garden for a Zealot and then came the new song... which took me by surprise. It didn't really follow the sound that we got used to from Eve Of Destiny, instead it was a very playful one, with a very strong 80s' feel... kind of like a unique mixture of punk and synth pop. It was very retro and very, very catchy, the kind of melody that gets stuck in your head even after the first listen. I was very happy to see them experimenting with new sounds and doing it so well. It is a great addition to their repertoire and it gave a very welcome diversity to their set.

All though the night Közi's guitar sounded very rough and I just couldn't decide if it was intentional or something wasn't set right at the sound-check, but it gave everything a kind of raw, punkish edge. The following four songs were in half songs from the demo CD and songs that were not yet released, but were already familiar from previous gigs... and then came the peak of the night: the oldest EoD song Desperado, followed by the fan-fave Eve of Destruction. These are always amongst the songs that get a very good reaction from the audience and now they both sounded even more powerful than ever before, so there was a lot of moving and headbanging and it wasn't very easy to keep standing in the first rows.

After this amazing explosion of energy Haruhiko and Közi left the stage, but of course came back for an encore a few minutes later. They played You Killed Me First, yet another powerful song and Haruhiko came very near the audience and stayed there all through the song, smiling and generally looking very happy about the gig, while Közi was all poker-faced as always. After the song, Haruhiko thanked the audience and they left the stage again. We hoped that there may be some more, but the lights were turned on, so we had to except that it's over. When the crowd started to scatter around and wasn't there anymore to keep me standing straight I realized that my knee is in burning pain from all the standing and pushing, so I sat down for a while, hoping that the pain will go away soon.

I couldn't sit there for long tho, because the security showed up and they asked people to leave the club... because they were closing...! And it wasn't even eleven o'clock yet! So, this was the explanation for the early start, that for some mysterious reason the club closed around the time an average club opens. However they could not empty the club as quick as they wanted, because of the merchandise stand at the back of the hall, which was of course surrounded by a lot of people. The beautiful, alice auaa designed tour t-shirts, that came with an EoD pin and post card sold as candy and the security and crew wasn't very happy about it... but they just paid the price for the insanely early closing time.

Since the club closed there was no chance for any kind of signing event and only Kazu and me managed to get backstage for a short talk, thanks to Elisé. Közi and Haruhiko were both very happy about how the concert went and we talked about the upcoming CDs and concerts, plus the Berlin gig on the previous day for a while. When we left there were still many people at front of the club, so they were immediately surrounded and gave several autographs before they got into their car and left the scene. The tourists walking around were quite puzzled by the sight and were trying to find out who they are. "Can you recognize them..?" "No, I don't know who they are.. but they must be some very famous people!" And how right they were...!!!

It was amongst the best Eve of Destiny performances I've seen and congratulations to them for getting even better and better every time.... and of course congratulations to Elisé for organizing such a wonderful event!!
 

~Case

- report by Deathwish-

I met Noëlle and Bastien sooner than what was planned and we exchanged our tickets, so we could arrive in Paris at 17h00 and not 17h30. Arrived there, we had to wait for Mounia who was LATE. My friends were dressed « normally » and I had tried to be a bit Gothic (I was too scared putting nice clothes, I feared it would be damaged - and now I regret my decision). Then we took the subway, and arrived in front of La boule noire a bit before 18H00 I think.

When we arrived, I first realized that there was only about... 20 people maximum waiting, and I thought « We’re gonna be in the first rows ! ! ! Great ! ! ! » Then I noticed two people with for the first one, dark pink hair, and the other one green and red hair, and immediately understood that it was Henna and Kahvi. They were speaking with some good-looking Spanish girls. We chatted a bit and I looked at the other people waiting. There were many Gothic Lolitas, Elegant Gothic guys (maybe I’ll get some pictures of them later.) It was so cool being surrounded by people who like the same thing as you !

Then, one of the grey doors opened and I saw this blond, good-looking guy coming out. I thought « Who’s this cutie ? A staff member ? » And I heard these girls shout and I realized it was Közi ! ! ! (I’m the quick one...erm)

He was like this : -_- He stopped a bit and then rushed into the car. I was not ready to take a picture, but my friend Mounia (who always dares to do things) rushed and went next to the car. The car door was not closed, and she tried to take a picture, but Közi turned his head so that she couldn’t ! He was not wearing make-up at all, and he looks quite different that way, but from what I saw he was fucking good-looking and Mounia said « I could see his face well and he is really beautiful ! More than on the pics I could see until now ! » Then I learned that the reason why he had stopped was that he had signed his name for two girls (one on a paper, the other on a hand - how is she gonna do now ? arh arh) Honestly, if he had red hair, I would have recognized him immediately, but he was BLOND, which I did not expect.

We waited and the queue went bigger. There was an other live house next to ours, and there were old people waiting, and there queue went next to ours. They were giving us very strange looks... A woman even said « It is the Addams family ! » Bleh. Finally the door opened and we discovered happily that there was a barrier between us and the stage, but there was no distance between the barrier and the stage, so we would be SO close to them ! And we managed to be at the SECOND ROW, and Mounia even was at the first one (we let her this privilege because she had been asked to take pictures for a Gothic magazine). We were on the left corner, really really on the left, but the stage was not very long.

There were two bands doing E.O.D’s first part, two French bands. The music was quite good and I enjoyed it. But at the end I was like « I can’t wait anymore ! » Everybody in the audience was really excited.

The guys took their stuff back, leaving the stage empty, except a microphone and the amplifiers. Then Közi went on stage. He had a kind of blond exploded haircut, his face was all white and he had black lipstick. (I’ll post pictures tomorrow if I can’t do it today). Everybody started to shout « Közi ! » while he was preparing his stuff and setting up the thing. He had no expression on the face. I realized he would be on the right although I was on the left ! ToT Anyway, I could se him well, and my heart was dokidoki. A guy even shout « Közi, waratte ! » What was he thinking ? That Közi would look at him and give a big, nice smile ? Bleh. There was also a « Gambattene » from somewhere. Közi stayed there for a minutes or two, and then went back to the room he came from. I could see Haruhiko Ash looking at us from the corner. Then they went somewhere on the right of our room, hidden behind a wall and preparing themselves, and Közi tested his guitar (= tons of shouts again).

Then they went on stage and Haruhiko said « Good evening », in English. Haruhiko was rather on the left, and Közi on the right. They began with « Nervous and innocence » and everybody shouted and jumped and all. But there was no violent pushing, which was really cool, because the atmosphere was really good, everybody was very excited and you could feel it without being compressed. Before the show, I was not too fond of Haruhiko, but I must say I have been very impressed. He had the usual haircut. I found that his voice sounded better live than on the CD. He sung very well, and was very energetic and very charismatic ! Közi was... Közi, playing with no expression on the face (Mana has more expression on the Dix Infernal DVD than Közi during this live. I swear). Then, during the second or the third song, Közi went our side and bent towards us in order for us to touch him ! I was all « Kya~ ! » And, as my camera was ready, I took a picture of him (God, please make that at least this one is good) and then tried to touch him, but could not because my arm was, like... 4cm too short. Really. He was so darn close and I could not reach him ! Then he came back to the right. Noëlle turned her face towards me and said « I touched his hand ! » I asked « So, how is it ? » and she answered « Very soft ! »

You could feel the audience’s true joy during the show ! I think that Eve of Destiny could feel it, because Haruhiko was constantly smiling, very big smiles, moving a lot on the stage, sometimes making signs and waving his hands to the audience. I really did not figure him like that. Our eyes met several times (like, 4-5 times), and he looked a lot in our direction (Cafeine, who was behind me told me later that she had the same feeling, so I was not dreaming). Though there were tons of « Közi » shouts and very very few « Haruhiko » ones. But we were headbanging, smiling, waving our arms, jumping, like it was the best time ever (for me darn it was). It seemed to make him VERY happy. You could see it. Közi was expressionless, and he did a few puppet moves (but too few I think). But I think he enjoyed it too, as he seemed to really have fun playing his guitar.

To make it short : Haruhiko= ^o^ and Közi= -_- It made a funny duet.

The music sounds really really good live. As I said, Haruhiko sung so well, and I think it is needless to talk about Közi’s playing his guitar. I could not tell you the order of the tracks as I can’t recall -_- I was happy to see they were having fun, and happy to see them playing with the audience. Haruhiko went in the middle and kind of kneeled and there were hands reaching his legs (it looked kind of sexy XD) and once he came towards Közi and put his face very close to Közi’s (I don’t remember if I have a picture of it, I hope so !) It was not really fanservice, but there were lots of « Kya~ ! » and it looked so kakkoii ! Later, Közi went in the middle and waved his hands to make us shout louder and God knows we shouted louder ! He also came again towards us, bent once again, but this time he was putting his guitar towards us ! Unluckily, I had mysteriously popped to the third row and I could not reach him nor his guitar, and akauzu was really at 2cm from me and I could not touch it ! Darn ! ! ! >_< >_< >_<

Noëlle could touch akauzu, and Mounia grabbed Közi’s arm and shouted at him « Aishiteru » (arh-arh). Közi looked more and more excited during the show, and at the end he was headbanging a lot. There was a time when I was scared because Haruhiko was touched too, but someone grabbed his hair and he made a step back and moved his head violently to be released. I feared he would be angry or something, but no, and a few seconds later he was smiling at us again.

Finally, it went dark, and the last thing I could see was Közi’s blond back of the head. I was so sad that it was already over ! But someone started to shout « Mou ichido » on an encore rhythm, and immediately everybody started to shout « Mou ichido ! Mou ichido ! » during some time, and then stopped. But someone started again, shouting « encore ! encore ! » and everybody started shouting it with all their soul ! Then we heard a « shawiiing !rrrrrzzzz... », it was Közi’s guitar ! ! Everybody went « Kyaaaaaaah ! », and I could see Közi and Haruhiko coming quickly behind the wall on the right to prepare themselves, and they came back on stage ! I think that was the best moment of all the show ! I was so surprised they did the encore ! We were all so happy and putting our arms towards the stage furiously, and they seemed to feel the same and OMFG it was so cool from them and they seemed to enjoy it SO MUCH that I was even more happy.

But good things always have a end, so it finally ended. Haruhiko thanked us again (I’m not very sure about it, but think I heard « merci beaucoup », but I’m really NOT sure about it.)

We wanted to wait, in case they would make pictures with the fans and all like they did in Switzerland last year, but we were all almost kicked out. As they were having a show in Netherlands the day after, I guess they did not want to stay late.

It was one of the most enjoyable moments in my life. I hope that, even if the audience was not very big (maybe about 100 people), they enjoyed it enough to think about coming back here next tour. I love them a lot now, and if they come back I won’t hesitate a single second. I need more of their stuff now. I was so impressed by the quality of the show and by their behaviour.

EVE OF DESTINY’S PERFORMANCES ROCK !

Deathwish~ April 13, 2004