The band members have appeared and made their way to the centre of the stage. Meanwhile the SE has switched to the sound of a heartbeat, triggering huge clapping around the venue. A song from their latest album signalled the start of the show. Instantly their established sound gave a boost to the excitement of the audience.

SID has released their new album『NOMAD』for the first time in three and half years. They are on this nation-wide hall tour featuring above album and successfully sold out their tickets in many cities. This show at Tokyo International Forum was the 8^th performance and the beginning of the second half of the tour. Mao (Vo.) mentioned that ｢If today doesn’t get off we might as well quit here (laugh).｣

After they performed the modulative and technical number『KILL TIME』, they bombarded songs from their singles and albums on the audience.

( ステージに姿を現し、中央に佇むメンバー。SEが鼓動音に変わると共に、会場から手拍子が沸き起こると、さっそくアルバム曲からスタート。安定感のあるサウンドで二曲目からは早くもドカンと会場を沸かせた。

約3年半振りとなるニューアルバム『NOMAD』をリリースし、それを引っ提げた全国ホールツアーを各地SOLDOUT続出の中、絶賛開催中のシド。今回８公演目となる東京国際フォーラムは、今ツアー折り返し地点となる事に触れ、「ここで盛り上がらないと辞めちゃうんで(笑)」と話したマオ(Vo.)。

転調的でテクニカルな演奏が特徴の『KILL TIME』を始め、シングル曲も織り交ぜた構成で会場に畳み掛けた。)

｢As today is the largest venue (in this tour), call out with your loudest voice!｣ – Aki (Ba.) asked the audience. ｢I have really enjoyed playing the guitar recently, my guitar part of『NOMAD』is total  pleasure to perform. If you are playing in the band why not try to play it by ear.｣ – said Shinji (Gu.). Then Yuya (Dr.) made the audience laugh by introducing himself comically ｢Everyone in Tokyo! I am the real Yuya!!｣ and continued to express his feelings ｢I’m sweating you guys, the heat you are creating is absolutely sizzling. I can feel that our『NOMAD』is becoming more SID and fans’『NOMAD』. So I want to make the best『NOMAD』with you today. Live show is always fresh. Because today’s show can only be performed today.｣

(「今日は(このツアーの)今までで一番大きな会場だから、一番大きな声を届けて！」と明希(Ba.)。Shinji (Gu.) 「ここ最近はギターが楽しくてしょうがない。『NOMAD』のギターが本当に楽しくて。バンドをやってる人は是非耳コピしてみてください。」と話した。

ゆうや(Dr.)は「東京のみなさーん！本物のゆうやですよー！！」と会場の笑いを誘うも、「みんなの熱量がはんぱなかったから汗だくです。僕たちの『NOMAD』が、みんなとの『NOMAD』になってきた。今日は今までで一番の『NOMAD』を作って行きたい。ライブは生もの。今日のこのライブは今日しかないから。」と想いを伝えた。)

At the middle of the show, the audience was enchanted by SID’s variety of skillful music sense – ranging from the unique, cool sound to rock groove that makes our bodies swing spontaneously.

Once the show goes into the latter half, Mao incited the fans by yelling ｢I’m going home if you don’t go wild alright!｣ then introduced the song『ANNIVERSARY』, which is broadly known for the opening theme of popular anime series. Some old single tracks followed and the noise of the audience grew louder. There were many impressive scenes made by SID and the audience – they were singing along together, the floor was literally shaking by the crowd jumping and the audience was intensely moshing from side to side even though it was a seated venue.

｢Our old songs still grow with our live show. So please keep in mind that we may perform old songs by surprise.｣ – said Mao.

(中盤は、かっこよく、シドならではの独特なサウンドを響かせ聴き入らせるものから、自然と身体が揺れ動いてしまうようなロック調なものでオーディエンスを魅了した。後半にさしかかると、「盛り上がらなかったらおれ帰っちゃうからな！」と再び煽るマオの声から、TVアニメのオープニングテーマにもなった『ANNIVERSARY』を始め、昔懐かしのシングル曲などをいくつか披露すると、より一層会場の熱気は高潮し、その興奮からシドとオーディエンスが一体となって合唱する場面や、座席がある会場だったにも関わらず、左右に流れるモッシュやジャンプでその名の通り会場が揺れる場面もあった。

マオ「昔の曲も、最新のライブと共に育っていく。昔の曲も不意打ちでやるので覚えておいてください。」)

At the encore, SID again welcomed the audience by presenting more old tracks to grab their heart with nostalgic feelings. The stage and floor were filled with everyone’s happy smiles; whoever stood there must have been unable to not stop moving their bodies.

At one point, Mao talked about the story of one of the fan letters he received. The person who wrote to Mao confessed that sometimes he/she was wondering what life is for. Mao answered to it emotionally, ｢If you are hopefully thinking about going to our live shows, and you are looking forward to it. I think even that can have a little meaning of life. It has been 15 years since we have formed the band, I would like to find the meaning of life together, with you guys. So please come with us ok. I just wanted to say this as we’ve had the best live show today.｣

(アンコールでは、またもやオーディエンスの心を鷲掴みにするような懐かしいセットリストでオーディエンスを出迎えた。明るく笑顔で満たされた会場はとても輝いていて、観ているこちらも思わず体が動き出してしまいそうな衝動に駆られた。

途中、１つのファンレターから、何の為に生きているのか分からなくなる時があるという悩み相談を受けたと話したマオ。「ライブを観に行こうと思ってくれて、それを楽しみに生きる。それだけでも生きてる意味があると思う。結成して15周年、生きる意味を一緒に探して行こう。一緒について来てね。それを言いたいくらい、今日は最高のライブだった。」と熱く語った。

Calmly yet powerfully,『普通の奇跡 (futsu no kiseki)』was sang with all of the energy from Mao’s body. Once the lights have been turned on in the venue, each member was looking around at the audience as if they wanted to keep their faces and this precious moment in their minds forever. Mao yelled ｢Thank you always!｣ and showed his gratitude to the fans by embracing himself.

SID may be seen as a more orthodox band in the current Visual-kei world. However, their songs involve a playful touch and each song has a different unique character. Some songs became rather popular as they were the theme songs for TV anime series, but their variety of music made today’s live show spectacle both visually and audially. The volume of the excitement was just like the one you may experience at the tour final; today’s show at Tokyo International Forum was nothing short of brilliant.

(静かに力強く、体全体で歌い表された『普通の奇跡』。会場の照明が一斉に明るくなり、今日のこのステージからの光景を、今日のこの会場にきてくれたオーディエンスを忘れまいと、1人1人を噛みしめるように見回すメンバー。「いつもありがとう！」と叫び自分を抱きしめる仕草で想いを表現したマオ。

ヴィジュアル系としては正統派を思わせるも、曲によっては遊び心のつまったものもあり、一つ一つそれぞれ全く異なる表情の楽曲たち、そして数々のアニメソングとなった楽曲たちも織り交ぜた、見応え聞き応えのあるライブとなった。ツアーファイナルをも彷彿とさせる様な大盛況で、この日の国際フォーラムでの幕は閉じられた。)

Text by Bambi

Translated by Kaoru Nagata

Photo by Taichi Nishimaki