Japanese superband L’ ARC EN CIEL made their presence felt in the international music scene with their world tour “L’7 Trans Asia Via Paris”. Events were slated in Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Osaka — kickstarted by the premiere event in Paris, France. The HK leg was held on 24th May 2008 at Asia World Expo, where over 13,000 fans from Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines screamed for Hyde, Ken, Tetsu, and Yukihiro.

Members of Ongaku Society flew to Hong Kong in one of the largest Philippine contingents ever to attend an international J-pop event. We all had a great time, and showed the world and the band how Filipinos have fun in a series of taped interviews by the event staff.

The hall was smaller compared to Japan’s giant arenas, but it was perfectly sized so that the band members were not mere specks in the distance. Hyde, Tetsu, Ken, and Yuki did a good mix of songs from both older and more recent albums, paying special attention to the two albums that brought them recognition in South East Asia: Ark and Ray. The boys also had a bit of fun during the gig: Hyde and Ken did their emcees in Cantonese, while Tetsu made sure that the audience was fed with his very special Tetsubananas.

L’7 Trans Asia Via Paris in Hong Kong
Asia World Expo

Get Out From The Shell
Driver’s High
Killing Me
First Hyde MC
Drink It Down
Daybreak’s Bell
Winter Fall
Eien
Second Hyde MC
Kasou
Forbidden Lover
My Heart Draws A Dream
Caress Of Venus
Revelation
Ken MC
Seventh Heaven
Pretty Girl
Stay Away (PUNK~EN~CIEL version)
Ready Steady Go
Yukihiro MC
Jyojyoushi
Honey
Link
Final Hyde MC
Anata

But this isn’t to say that the gig went off without a hitch. First of all, the staff took too long in selling stuff. They also did not limit the selling of tour goods until they started getting low on supplies — giving scalpers at the front of the line the opportunity to snap up merchandise, while shortchanging the real fans stuck at the back of the queue. Last but not least, they announced after the live that still had goods for sale — but in truth the only things left were CDs and DVDs from the SONY BMG booth.

Overall it was still lots of fun, and I’d like to convey my personal thanks to LARUKU for putting this together. We’re all looking forward to your next Asian tour!