Concert Review: BLACK LINE @ Tivoli (Utrecht)

On Wednesday, December 19, I saw BLACK LINE perform at “Tivoli Spiegelbar” in the Netherlands. The venue changed on the day of the concert from “Tivoli de Helling” to Spiegelbar. After asking a lot of directions, me and my friend arrived at the actual concert venue. I was very excited to see BLACK LINE because I had already seen vocalist Mikaru and drummer Syu (formerly known as Denka) in 2008 with “Dio - Distraught Overlord”.

The line of people waiting outside was very small, but luckily more people joined once we got into the venue. I think there were around 35 people in total. The first thing that caught my eye as we entered the room were all the mini mirror balls hanging from the ceiling. I finally knew why they called the place “Spiegelbar”, and I have to say that it created a very nice and unique atmosphere. Before we went and claimed our spot in front of the stage, we checked out the merchandise. Sadly enough the T-shirts were sold out, but they still had tote bags, posters and two photo sets. Merchandise of the opening act “Klink Clock” was also available.

When the French opening act, Klink Clock, took the stage there weren't a lot of people that seemed too interested. The band only got the crowd going a little during their last songs. Everyone in the room was excited to see BLACK LINE, but there was one person who came to see Klink Clock play, and he got a round of applause.

As soon as Klink Clock left the stage everyone got hyped up because it meant that BLACK LINE would soon take the stage. When they finally got on stage everyone started cheering and clapping. They got the crowd going from the first song and that was a nice thing to see and experience. Mikaru usually stood on a higher platform so he could be seen properly, but he didn't watch out at first and accidentally hit some of the mirror balls in his excitement. His surprised face was kinda cute but that made way for what he does best...making sexy faces. He licked his lips and loved to tease the female fans by looking them in the eye and smile at them.

After a couple of songs Mikaru talked a little with us. He was telling about the weird smell hanging in some of the streets. Of course he was talking about the distinctive smell of marijuana. He continued that he actually bought and smoked some, but he experienced a bad trip and said he wouldn't try it anymore.

The band started playing again and this time guitarist Yudai and bassist Jun changed places a couple of times. When Yudai got on the higher platform he also hit the mirror balls in his excitement. Unlike Mikaru, Yudai laughed and hit the ball again like a cat. Later someone threw white underwear with words and drawings on it on stage. The band had noticed it and started to study what was written on it. Some things that were written on it: “Kono pantsu wa dame da you!”, “BL = Boys Love <3”, “Oranda” and “Ecchi”. I can tell you that Mikaru wasn't too excited about the “Boys Love”. He kept shouting “No boys love! No, no, no!”. Mikaru hung the pants in the front of Syu's drums and started singing again.

Somewhere before the encore Mikaru did an introduction for each members. The first one to be introduced was Yudai. He went to the front of the stage and was introduced as a funny super samurai. When someone shouted that he was also super sexy, Yudai turned red and Mikaru played along by saying “Super sexy indeed!”. After some silly poses, cheers, hand gestures and saying “Nin nin!” Yudai went back to his place. The second member to be introduced was Jun. Mikaru told us that he was walking in the park and found Jun all alone in a box. Jun said “Nyan nyan~” and did a cute cat girl pose. Mikaru then pointed out that Jun's strongest point was his big hips. Jokingly Jun started to shake his ass. Next up was Syu. Mikaru started with the fact that he and Syu used to be in Dio - Distraught Overlord, and that both of them couldn't stop making music. Syu was called BLACK LINE's super leader and “Chihuahua Boy”, so he made puppy ears with his hands. Mikaru then said that Syu had a big smile and that he shouldn't take it off tonight. Syu looked a bit confused and pointed at himself a couple of times. When someone shouted “Mikaru too!”, Syu nodded  to Mikaru to say “Only if you do it too”. They shook hands and smiled brightly. Mikaru also got a short introduction from Syu before they began to play again.

For the encore Syu was the first to get on stage. He got a drum solo and the other members got back on stage one by one. When Mikaru appeared shirtless on stage there were a lot of happy shouts. The music of Dio's “GOD forsaken” started playing and Mikaru didn't even have to ask the crowd to jump along. During the song Mikaru also came closer to the audience. He started to touch hands and moved around a lot so everyone would have a fair chance. When the final song started Jun and Yudai also got closer to the audience, but Mikaru was taking it to the next level. He petted a girl of the front row on her head before he “bit” her neck. After that he started to lean on the shoulders of front row people to reach out to the third and fourth row. When the song was over Jun & Yudai did the same as their vocalist and started to give fans hands and depended on the support of the people in the first row. They had some trouble with balance but seemed to enjoy the attention they got.

Before the guys went backstage my friend saw her chance to throw her cute modified panda plush on stage. Luckily she missed Mikaru's head but he made a "what the fuck"-face when he nearly stepped on it. Syu was rather quick to pull the panda out off Mikaru's hands and said "Arigatou gozaimasu!" with a cute voice while pretending it was the panda who was speaking.

For people who are doubting to go to a BLACK LINE concert in the future, I recommend that you give it a try! The band members are really nice and give a great performance.