hyde Acoustic Concert Tour 2018 -Kuro Misa- Live in KL

hyde was my second Japanese music obsession, right after I found Gackt performing Returner: Yami no Shuuen on Music Station. Because of Moon Child, there was a plethora of material on YouTube about both of them at the time, and somehow hyde's (and subsequently L'Arc~en~Ciel's) harder rock sound drew me in deeper.


I pretty much gave up hope of any of the musicians that I truly liked to have a tour stop in Malaysia, what with their elaborate and largely androgynous costumes. But lo and behold, Miyavi came thrice so far, and we now have hyde, one of the biggest voices in the J-rock scene, and memorable to several because of his voice in various anime OPs and EDs.


I almost died when I saw the ad on my feed. Immediately, I knew I was gonna see him even if I couldn't afford the most expensive ticket that came with a meet-and-greet. Passing up this opportunity was not an option - who knows if he's gonna be here again, even when I can afford the most expensive tickets by that time?

But I couldn't afford the RM700-ish VIP tickets, so I settled for area C1 tickets (a.k.a one of the cheapest types). And because the only other hyde fan in the office had other budget plans that could not include hyde, I dragged the boyfriend there.


As the Asia tour started (first stop in Shanghai), someone posted the performance song list. I felt a little bit of a fraud in terms of being a fan of hyde, because among the 10+ songs listed, I only immediately knew three of them. It was that persistent feeling that I wasn't a "real" enough fan that I didn't know all of the songs he would probably perform, and for those that I knew, I didn't know all the lyrics by heart.

These were the only two practical options since I was also gonna have a piercing done before the concert.

Attire-wise, I wasn't really sure what I was supposed to wear - knowing hyde, his style would be fairly fancy, but mostly in black. Almost like romantic lolita with a hyde twist, but this was acoustic - so do I go all black? Rocker? Dressed up? Pretty casual? For whatever reason, I only knew that I was gonna wear fishnets with my denim shorts and comfy shoes that weren't my Birkenstocks.

Apparently Korean food, served in a bento box.

After a fairly hefty dinner at Avenue K, we headed back to the venue, where more and more people flooded in. The long sleeved tee I planned to get was sold out by the time I got there, so I settled for a short-sleeved tee.

A post shared by Kellie Low    ◐ ⇀ 紫倩 ↽ ◑ (@yukari_ivankov) on May 12, 2018 at 8:06am PDT

Overall, I was in a state of disbelief throughout most of the concert - one of my teenage heroes was now performing in front of me, with just a band accompanying him on the stage. Despite not knowing more than half the songs being performed, I still cried my eyes out for most of the concert - especially at My Heart Draws a Dream.


There were also a handful of peeps I knew from the first Miyavi concert, including the most hyper woman I've ever seen, who also so far poses the best in photos.

A post shared by Kellie Low    ◐ ⇀ 紫倩 ↽ ◑ (@yukari_ivankov) on May 12, 2018 at 8:25pm PDT

It wasn't to say that I had no friends in high school, but I knew I was part of the group only because I was in the same class. Japanese music, specifically from Gackt, hyde, Miyavi, and the GazettE slowly became things that I realized only I knew and appreciated. Their music was vastly different from the music that my peers listened to, and whether it was a funky, funny song, or a romantic depiction of potential depression, their music spoke to me in a way that no other music has spoken to me - even up till now.


For years, I craved hyde's angel wings tattoos, and basked in his creativity especially when things got hard. It's hard to describe what he meant to me during my teens, and I'm so thankful that he included KL as one of his tour destinations.


I don't have many actual things on my bucketlist, but it included seeing Gackt, hyde, Miyavi, and the GazettE live respectively. I have two items crossed off the list. And seeing that GazettE will have an even slimmer chance of coming to SEA, I'll probably need to save up a lot before they *touchwood* decide to disband.