For those who don’t know, L’Arc has published its 30th anniversary concert and a documentary about it on Amazon Prime Video.
When I finished the documentary, I was left with a horrible feeling.
I’ve been a fan of the band since 2008, and I knew they had internal tensions and things. But what they have spoken and shown in it has seemed unnatural to me for a band. Do not talk to each other, or look at each other, each to their own business. People on the staff who have to act as messengers, a strange tension.
Is this normal in big Japanese bands?
I did not expect this situation in a band where Hyde worked, in which he usually shows how talkative and social he is.
I just skimmed through the documentary part and found that they didn’t interview yukihiro. I find yukihiro interview’s absence in the video weirder than interviewing the other members separately at different times and places, not as a group.
Haven’t seen the documentary yet, although I saw the live and I couldn’t help but notice Ken looked all the time as if he hadn’t wanted to be there which was so awkward. He didn’t even say something to the fans this time (considering other times he was always in a merry mood, even frolicking). As for Yuki, well he has always been literally an android, playing and leaving as soon as he is done with the job.
And you know what, the chemistry this time was between Hyde and Tetsuya as they interacted a lot on stage, now that was odd!
Looking forward to seeing the documentary this weekend, yet at the same time this is such a letdown, I naively thought these guys were like brothers.
I haven’t checked the documentary yet, but I remember reading about the band members not really communicating with each other and possibly not being on the best of terms for yeeeaaars now, so I’m not surprised. Still, kinda sucks if it’s that obvious in the footage…
I think the reality is that the ‘machine’ that is L’Arc~en~Ciel is so huge that they literally just have to show up like a job and play their parts and it’ll just generate insane amounts of revenue. All they need to do is have a show or two per year and it literally let’s them do anything else they want as a musician.
That’s a dream ticket for an artist.
In the case of Tetsu and Ken, it seems like they don’t even care so much about having such an active musical career. The latter does nothing at all really. That in itself tells me that these infrequent L’Arc concerts and the past royalties are enough to let them basically retire.
If you can map their albums since their peak in the 90’s in the form of a relationship, it sort of looks like this:
Real was the breakup.
Smile was the getting with the ex to see if things could work out again.
Awake was an actual happy relationship.
Kiss had more of that honeymoon phase energy.
Butterfly reminded them they can’t be in the same room unless they have to for the kids (fans).