● At the press conference

L'Arc~en~Ciel’s Hong Kong concert was held at the Asia World EXPO ARENA. In the press conference they talked about it being the 20th anniversary of the band’s formation. This concert will project their “adulthood” as they turn 20. The album also depicts how they have grown from their “pupa” stage to spreading their “butterfly” wings, therefore they are incorporating a butterfly image.

As the concert began each member started with greetings in Cantonese, and then went on to play 19 songs, finishing off with READY STEADY GO. Then after a 20 minute interval they came back to give an encore playing ANATA, WINTER FALL, THE FOURTH AVENUE, CAFÉ,LINK, before the finale song NIJI.

Playing at another hall in the same venue was the Irish group Westlife who were performing on their final tour. At that concert the band members invited fans on stage to sing their famous songs with them, something unprecedented but for it being a farewell concert. This was a contrast to the L'Arc~en~Ciel performance.

I’m sure the great performances given by both L'Arc~en~Ciel and Westlife will be something Hong Kong fans won’t forget.

Robin