1st Show as Philharmonic Quintet

Today, HearJapan will present a picture filled live report of Versailles show at the Visual Olympics 2008. Versailles was the last band to play that day. This was the first show after the band announced their new name change as the Versailles Philharmonic Quintet and a memorable one at that.

Versailles opened with a “reverent choir” so to speak. The stage was line with flaming torches with roses adorned over all of the band equipment and drums. It was an incredibly dramatic opening and when the band members were in position, KAMIJO cocked his head toward the sky and kept everyone waiting in anticipation.

The band wasted no time and immediately commenced playing a blistering metal song. The guitar solos were never ending; a juggling match between HIZAKI and TERU. Although the stage was overflowing with fog and had extensive red lighting, our photographer Chieko Kato was able to get some amazing shots of the guitarists in action.

Versailles 2nd song of the night was nailed perfectly. The way the two guitarists reached a perfect tone was spectacular. Even Jasmine You danced on the floor with his long dress (read about Vidoll and the floor incident here). Here are some pics of Jasmine You from the concert.

KAMIJO finally addressed the crowd. He screamed to the crowd how alive he was now that it was finally night time. He stated with disgust how much he despises the sun.

The last song of the night was Sympathia with a piano opening. The audience had their hands in the air going back and forth. During this intro, KAMIJO announced their new years eve concert at Shibuya CC-Lemon and asked all the fans to come. After the song ended the torches extinguished themselves and the stage went dark.

After the audience demanded an encore, the band came back on stage and talked for a bit. They talked about the new band name and how fans suggested great names. He then told the audience the new band name, but stressed that it will remain as Versailles in Japan and some day it will be Versailles in the whole world once again. Fittingly, the band played PRINCE for their encore. If you are on the east coast of the USA, don’t forget to check out their upcoming East Coast Tour in New York at the Knitting Factory on October 13th, and Arlington Virginia at ANIMEUSA on October 11th. Here are some more pics of the show and don’t forget to download PRINCE for free if you haven’t already. All photos were taken by Chieko Kato.