LIVE REPORT ~ D&L: November 9 2007
PMX Los Angeles, CA
Fusing glitzy, visual style and heavy thrash, the members of D&L (Dragon & Lion) practically force-fed energy to the audience, and opened PMX’s three-day concert line-up with an explosion of carnage.
Each member strut onto the stage to the tune of slick, pulsing, metal beats. Each time the rhythm rose, it was a signal that another D&L member was coming to the stage. First, drummer Tomo, adorned in black sparklies and a giant mohawk, followed by corset-wearing bassist Kifumi, guitarists Ray and K. Finally, the cunning splendor of D&L, vocalist Ryouga, completed the group.
D&L screamed right into Sleep, which ironically fit nothing in that title. Ryouga is a viper when he’s given a stage. Shooting toxic looks at the audience as he menaced around on stage, extensions swinging wildly about, he frequently engaged the audience to jump up and down with him. At one point he flung himself onto the eager crowd. Hands crawled everywhere and he continued to writhe and yell even while literally in the hands of the squealing fans.
For D&L fans, there were some familiar songs among the unknowns, such as Corrupt children (very much a crowd favorite) and The God Star from their Public Circus single. For the most part however, the live was the debut of songs not yet heard by an American audience.
No doubt that Ryouga was the king of the stage, but the other D&L members were pleasantly engaging as well, reaching out to touch audience members’ hands and often times crossing to opposite sides of the stage, making it a point not to ignore any part of the audience. They ended the live with a fist-pumping killer of a song, Shrive (also off their Public Circus single).
No one can deny that D&L successfully administered its potent rock poison to the audience, who very quickly found themselves jumping and head banging along. The performance was easy to get into for people familiar with heavy visual kei, which was about 90% of the audience. There were times, however, that the lead singer emulated Dir en grey’s Kyo too much, enough at least that comparisons can be drawn. That isn’t to say D&L isn’t unique. Indeed, they have their own flare that they bring to performances. This isn’t the first time they’ve performed in LA; they performed a live at The Knitting Factory in Hollywood on May 28, and Ryouga did some crowd-surfing then, but who could’ve expected it again? The live was a tour de force that proclaimed to the audience “This is D&L. We own you.”
set list
Sleep (new song)
Dust pain
Corrupt children
-SE-
THE GOD STAR
end Drowns
-MC-
Child Prey (new song)
-call-
Shrive
report and photos by Sarah
Thank you to D&L, Cure, Anime Jungle, and PMX for making this possible.
D&L merchandise is available for the first time in the USA at Anime Jungle's US store in Los Angeles.
links
D&L Official Website
D&L Official MySpace
PMX
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