LIVE REPORT ~ Sugar & DIO ~Distraught Overlord: Dec 19 2008
Oni-Con Houston, TX
As expected, fans of both Sugar and Dio ~Distraught Overlord~ lined up hours before the start of the live at Oni-Con, chatting and making friends within the line as they waited eagerly for the show. At one point, the line was visited by ninjas. Darting up the stairs past security, they disappeared behind a wall before suddenly reappearing momentarily to flip over the wall, down to the ground and away. Sadly, the ninja attack was the most exciting part of the line experience. The fans were quite ready when the doors opened.
Once all the fans had packed into the venue the PV for Sugar's Afterglow began to play. Repeatedly. After a while, fans began calling out for other PVs to play. Luckily, there wasn't long to wait after that. Atsuto managed to sneak slowly onto the stage; he was almost to the center before the crowd noticed him and started cheering. The cheers didn't stop as he made his way to the drums. He was soon followed by Shingo, Sizna, and Loki. The live was ready to begin.
The heavy, drum-driven beats of JAM washed over the crowd. From the first moment, the band completely engaged the audience. Shingo quickly made his way to the edge of the stage; fans on the bar reached out to touch him as his fingers danced on the five strings of his bass. Sizna, on the opposite side, spun, twirled, and jumped around full of energy. His face constantly contorted into a wide variety of crazy expressions. The sticks in Atsuto's hands flew, beating out the rhythm of the song, while Loki easily commanded center stage.
Toganin no sora (mental sketch modified) flowed into Kunou to yuutsu ni obore te as the band members continued to taunt the audience, dancing with in reach for a few moments before prancing back. All the while the jazz-inspired tones played over the crowd through the speakers. Byaku ended, and Loki spoke briefly to the audience before the opening beats of Danshou to kuro neko sounded, Loki entertaining the fans with his imitation of a cat. As Loki started swinging his hips in circles, all eyes were drawn center stage, enraptured by the vocalist's gyrations to the beat of the music.
The show continued, the fans dancing, swaying, and surging forward whenever Shingo or Sizna would dance into reach. Both seemed to enjoy the attention! Each member managed to command their own spotlight; it became almost impossible to decide who to watch as the show went on. Loki and Shingo drew all eyes at one point as Shingo moved to center stage and Loki dropped animalistically to his knees before him, still singing into the mic clasped tightly in his hand.
Loki's presence alone was certainly commanding. Even when, at one point, he fell to the ground he drew attention, rolling and writhing on the floor to the music before climbing back to his feet to resume singing. Candy brought another interesting moment, as Loki straddled the platform set center stage, his frenzied motions attracting attention from much of the crowd. Berry heralded the end of Sugar's set, the audience still cheering as all four members made their way off the stage with final waves for the crowd and the tossing of picks and drumsticks.
Now the waiting started once again. A Dio PV was projected on the back wall as stage crew brought out a screen, allowing Denka to sneak on stage and rearrange the drums to his liking, setting up a second bass drum. Fans cheered, trying to call Dio onstage. Their manager played to the crowd's desires, coming out to taunt the fans enthusiastically. He constantly encouraged the audience to cheer louder for the band as the stage was set and the screen cleared.
Finally responding to the calls of the fans, Denka stepped on stage, making his way to the drums followed closely by Ivy, Erina, Kei, and, last of all, wings sprouting from his back, Mikaru. Reveling in the cheers of the fans, the first notes of Lord's Prayer echoed through the room and Dio took the stage commandingly. Every time Mikaru began to head bang, his wings flapped as if he was trying to take off and soar above the stage.
After the first song, Mikaru took the opportunity to speak to the crowd in English, promising everyone that he could come back again, even though he didn't know when. Immediately following the MC, the band surged into Carry Dawn, the crowd singing along loudly, headbanging, and enjoying the show. Puppet Show came next, followed by a second, rather creative, MC in English from Mikaru, in which he told the audience “Let's sex!” before launching into Haunting.
The set continued, Erina, Ivy, and Kei coming ever closer to he edge of the stage as Denka pounded away on the drums in the back, never missing a beat. As the band paused for Mikaru's third MC, the crowd perhaps should have been prepared for the creativity. It started simply enough, “Do you like me? Do you like Dio?” He paused briefly then, and the crowd's surprise was clear when he asked, “Do you want to kiss me?” As a few male fans in the audience looked rather shocked he added, “Do you want to hug me?!” And then finished with, “EVERYTHING?!” Without pause, Dio pounded straight into another song over the cheers of the ecstatic crowd, Mikaru swaying side to side and headbanging, again looking as if he were attempting flight.
The set drew to a crashing climax, fans still cheering as Dio made their way off stage. Calls for an encore started almost instantly. Dio's manager once again made his way on stage, encouraging the fans as he arranged a series of platforms into steps center stage. The fans cheered and chanted over and over again until, finally, Dio returned.
Unexpectedly, as soon as Erina stepped on stage, he took a running leap into the audience, flying into the crowd. Sadly, without Mikaru's wings, he didn't stay airborn long, disappearing to the sea of fans, and security was forced to go retrieve him, thankfully returning him to the stage unharmed.
Mikaru, despite having hidden his wings when he removed his shirt, had more success. Between taunting the fans into chanting, he dove into the crowd center stage, the fans supporting him and helping to push him back up before he ran off to the other side of the stage. Erina, Kei, and Ivy ran around teasing the fans, full of energy as the song continued.
One flight was not, apparently, enough for Mikaru. In fact, he ran from center, to left, to right, diving into the crowd a grand total of nine times. Their manager took to hooking his hand into the back of Mikaru's pants in hopes that it would prevent the vocalist from disappearing into the mass of eager fans. No one seemed to mind his landing on them; the crowd surged in the direction of Mikaru's jumps, supporting him with the same energy they had used to chant and cheer for Dio before.
All good things, however, must come to an end. Eventually Dio's energy filled encore finished as well. The band waved, throwing picks, sticks, and water bottles to the exhausted crowd; Erina playfully dangled his guitar out over the audience before leaving the stage.
Exhausted yet sated fans slowly ambled out of the concert hall and to the Cure merchandise booth, eager to spend money to support the bands that had just put on such a phenomenal show. Despite Sugar and Dio's drastically different styles, both were filled with energy and power.
set list
SUGAR
JAM
咎人の空（mental sketch modified）[Toganin no sora]
苦悩と憂鬱に溺れて [Kunou to yuutsu ni obore te]
媚薬 [Byaku]
-MC-
男娼と黒猫 [Danshou to kuroneko]
swim like a butterfly
骨と翅 [Hone to hane]
吐息めく湿度 [tomei shitsudo]
malicious
-MC-
Snow White
afterglow
自腐 [Jifu]
Candy
ベリー [Berry]
DIO ~Distraught Overlord~
DIO:
Lord's Prayer
-MC-
Carry Dawn
Puppet Show
-MC-
Haunting
抱いて眠れ絶望 [Daite Nemure Zetsubou]
Final Call
-MC-
不在という現実絵 [Fuzai to iu genjitsue]
-DIO Intro-
独裁 [Dokusai]
-MC-
ENCORE
Coma Gold
[ed. note: The Dio setlist was followed only loosely.]
report by Jerusha; edited by Kara
photos copyright Sugar and DIO ~Distraught Overlord~, respectively
Thanks to: Red List Entertainment, Grayeyard Records, Carmilla (CURE USA, AnimeFood), and Oni-Con for making this possible.
links
Sugar Official Website
DIO ~Distraught Overlord Official Website
Oni-Con
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