Gackt’s live tour from 2002 was aptly named “Kagen no Tsuki ~ Seiya no Shirabe” which loosely translates into “Waning Moon ~ an examination of Christmas Eve”. The choice of title for this tour seems to be based not only on the name of the album to which the tour promotes (MOON) but also the time of the year in which the concert takes place (December 24th 2002). The event begins with a preface describing exactly the difficulties which Gackt had to endure to both produce his latest album and venture out on tour to promote it. It seems that Gackt has health problems and this intro is to let us know exactly what pains the man is willing to suffer through in order to bring us “the rock”. We’re then subject to a short montage of what appears to be a distorted view of Japanese night life that fades into an image of the full moon before a curtain is removed revealing the stage as we’re to see it for the rest of the evening.

Gackt is truly a man of presence. With head tilted back and arms outstretched he comes rising out of the center of the stage like a dark messiah as the band begins the set with DOOMSDAY, a bitter-sweet power ballad equipped with both delicate verses and a heavy distorted chorus. For the first half of the set, the general attire for both Gackt and the band, most commonly referred to amongst j-rock fans as “GACKT-JOB”, is a long, leathery, black, gown-type uniform that looks as though it would sooner belong on one of HELLRAISER’S Cenobites then that of Japan’s premiere pop-rock king. Gackt and company pull the look off well, though, and proceed to energize the audience with DEATH WISH, LU:NA, and SPEED MASTER, the more aggressive tracks off the album, before slowing things down a bit for the likes of FRAGRANCE and RAIN. Particular mention must be made concerning RAIN. Throughout the performance a thin blanket of water comes cascading down through some sort of sprinkler system above the stage acting as a veil between Gackt and the audience that really adds to the atmosphere of the piece.

A mainstay that I’ve noticed through Gackt’s performances is that the man likes to split his sets into two separate parts. The first half typically consist of the more driving numbers from the most recent album. There’s very little levity during this portion. Things are all business, all rock, and all passion. The next half is the “casual half”. The band returns to the stage in street wear and proceeds to play some of the more popular tunes over the years, really letting their hair down and partaking in some rather “festive” antics, before returning with a more formal look and concluding the evening with an all out string orchestrated version of his holiday themed 12 – GATSU NO LOVE SONG.

It’s quite amusing, and somewhat strange, that an artist who spends so much time and effort into laying the foundation for such a serious, dramatic performance can easily shift gears, changing the vibe into something that you can’t help but bounce along to. I suppose that’s the beauty of contemporary Japanese music. The fans there appear to be more open-minded and the artists create accordingly. Gackt is truly a prime example of this versatile artist. There’s surely something in his music that will move almost anyone, whether they be fans of J-music or not. If you enjoy his work you truly owe to yourself to seek out one of his concert DVDs, it’s worth the hefty price tag.