DIR EN GREY
Belasco Los Angeles – April 8, 2025
Live Report by Molly Coggshall
Photos courtesy of DIR EN GREY
For the first time in over five years, heavy metal band DIR EN GREY held two shows in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles. On April 8, 2025 a line of hundreds of people curled around the block behind the historic theater, The Belasco. Fans of DIR EN GREY that had been waiting in line for hours already, finally entered the venue at 7 PM and The Belasco was filled to capacity – the venue was bursting at the seams with concert goers due to the show having been sold out since the tickets had gone on sale nearly six months prior. The energy inside of the concert hall was brimming with anticipation for DIR EN GREY’s first overseas show of the tour.
As the lights dimmed, a large display screen above the stage came to life and showed distorted images of clowns and flowers. Strutting onto the stage to a boisterously screaming crowd, DIR EN GREY took the night off with “Ningen wo Kaburu”, a popular metal song from their 10th album, The Insulated World. Vocalist Kyo danced passionately on stage to the music with jerky and disjointed movements, giving him the appearance of a doll on strings. His black pleated hakama-styled outfit twisted around him and his silk black shirt glinted in the stage lighting.
The song shifted but the powerful timbre of the music remained, and “The Devil In Me” followed next from DIR EN GREY’s most recent single released in 2024. Words flitted across the screen above the stage, “John Wayne Gacy – You’re gonna kill me again?” in reference to the American serial killer, which only added ambiance to the guttural sound of the song. Guitarist Die stepped towards the crowd and played vigorously on his guitar and attired in a knee length red and black tie-dye coat, his long red hair floating around his face.
The music moved to a lighter tone as “DRAIN AWAY” took center stage, prompting the crowd to scream in delight as it was the first song to be played from the 2003 album VULGAR. The theme for the night was clearly stated in the tour headline, TOUR25 WHO IS THIS HELL FOR? [mode of VULGAR] and the fans were certainly anticipating hearing music from the more than twenty year old album. Bassist Toshiya engaged the audience by dancing around the stage sporting a bright red coat and knee high black boots, which easily captured onlookers attention.
DIR EN GREY included a mixup of a variety of different tracks including from the 2022 album PHALARIS, along with a 2014 release from the album ARCHE, titled “Magayasou”. Red lights flashed across the stage, casting an eerie glow around the band members during the song “13”, and images of a hooded man climbing stairs to reach a cross played across the display screen. The band rocked out below, their movements pulsing with the music, and guitarist Kaoru’s military-styled shining black cape glittered in the light of the stage as he pounded on his guitar. His ghoulish makeup only added to the aura of the music.
During “Magayasou”, the stage lighting took a turn and the red lights changed to blue, and brightly colored psychedelic flowers were projected onto the stage floor moving around the band members as they played. “The Perfume of Sins” was met with loud cheering from the fans, and the song featured Kyo’s versatile vocal ability switching between his high pitched singing and growling screams. Drummer Shinya engaged in a brilliant and intense drumming session, with bright lights flashing all around him, his flowy white outfit reminiscent of a prince.
Kyo screamed and sang passionately during “Oboro”, and at one point sounded almost as if he was in pain, while the massive video screen above DIR EN GREY showed unsettling imagery of a woman giving birth to a demon-like creature. “VINUSHKA” was met with intense screaming from audience members and was clearly a favorite song of the night, the first track played from 2008’s UROBOROS. The band members held their guitars up in the air, visuals of bombs falling from the sky all around the band were displayed on the screen. Kyo then collapsed into a ball on the small raised platform on the stage growling into the mic. The crowd pounded their fists in the air in excitement to the music.
Music from VULGAR made a resurgence to the delight of the crowd as they screamed their pleasure at hearing the slow atmospheric sound of “KASUMI”. The eerie ambience of “audience KILLER LOOP” included the fans singing back and forth with Kyo when he prompted them, and “OBSCURE” gave the audience a taste of one of DIR EN GREY’s most disturbing music videos from the early 2000’s as parts of it played on the video screen above the band. Die and Toshiya briefly switched places on the stage and moved closer to the crowd, giving the packed venue a better view of their intrinsic outfits and admirable guitar skills.
“Ochita Koto no Aru Sora”, which roughly translates to “The sky has fallen”, gave onlookers a show while Kyo danced, twisting and distorting his body to the music as scenes from a battle played on the screen above. “Eddie” trailed closely behind, and Toshiya beckoned the audience with his hand, prompting excited shrieks from the crowd. At the end of the song, the lights dimmed and Kyo crumpled into a ball on the stage singing fervently, and when the music faded, the vocalist strided off stage with the rest of the band following suit.
Chants of “DIR EN GREY” echoed throughout the concert hall as the audience begged the band to return to the stage for an encore. After a few minutes, the electronic notes of “G.D.S” began to play and rainbow colored spotlights flickered over the stage. DIR EN GREY swaggered back onto the set, to the roar of the crowd, and sprawled across the video screen was the tour title, TOUR25 WHO IS THIS HELL FOR? [mode of VULGAR & Withering to death.].
The encore ignited the fans once again, their delight palpable as DIR EN GREY launched into “CHILD PREY”. The band members were seen zipping around and battling in spaceships during the science fiction music video from “CHILD PREY” as it played across the screen, and the audience sang in tandem with the band members during the “whoa, whoa” portion of the music.
Another song from the album VULGAR followed, and the crowd clapped to “IIID EMPIRE” while more alternating rainbow lights casted a glow on the band members as they played. Strong guitar riffs, vigorous drumming and Kyo’s versatile voice shifting between high notes and guttural screaming highlighted the admirable musical abilities of DIR EN GREY in “Uroko”.
Kyo stood atop the small platform that was placed on the stage and held a finger up, shouting “One more song!” to the screaming fans. “Utafumi” finished the night off, with Kyo beating his chest with the microphone, Toshiya head banging along with Kyo, Shinya pounding furiously on his drums, and Die and Kaoru giving the audience a last taste of their incredible guitar skills.
As the final song of the evening came to a close, Kyo stood on the small platform on the stage clapping his hands. Shinya took a bow, and Die, Kaoru and Toshiya tossed guitar pics into the air that fans jumped and grabbed at as they flew over their heads. The audience screamed their pleasure as the band walked offstage, returning to the darkness that they came from.
The crowd slowly milled about the venue and the 1,500 plus people that had attended the packed show made their way outside. Fans stood outside The Belasco discussing the evening’s performance, and conversations echoed the anticipation of the following night, when DIR EN GREY would perform for a second time. If the performance on Tuesday, April 8 at The Belasco was any indication of the future to come, then fans of DIR EN GREY had a lot to look forward to on Wednesday, April 9 when the band played the [mode of Withering to death.] half of the double feature shows.
Set list:
1. Ningen wo Kaburu
2. The Devil In Me
3. DRAIN AWAY
4. 13
5. Magayasou
6. The Perfume of Sins
7. Oboro
8. VINUSHKA
9. KASUMI
10. Audience KILLER LOOP
11. OBSCURE
12. Ochita Koto no Aru Sora
13. Eddie
Encore:
G.D.S (intro)
1. CHILD PREY
2. THE IIID EMPIRE
3. Uroko
4. Utafumi
DIR EN GREY official site: https://direngrey.co.jp/lang_en/
