ONE OK ROCK generally doesn’t do the same thing twice, but Taka and the guys must have really felt frustrated with their performance on their previous Japan Dome tour to take another stab at it. Luxury Disease Japan Tour was the band’s first tour since the pandemic without restrictions, and it was very clear that both the band and the audience had a lot of feelings pent up from the past three years.

This was my first time attending more than one venue on the same tour in Japan, but it’s been so long since the last time I saw the boys in Japan, and Tokyo and Saitama were close enough that I decided to take a three-week vacation, which included a one week stay in S. Korea.

Ticketing for this tour was… interesting. Because of the pandemic, lots of people didn’t think OOR would go on tour and so many people did not buy PRIMAL FOOTMARK. That made it quite easy to get tickets since there was less competition during the PF lottery, and using two accounts, I ended up with extra tickets to three of the four performances I tried to get tickets for. The extras went to foreigners who otherwise would have had a hard time getting tickets since Japan’s attempts at curtailing scalping only makes it more and more difficult for those outside Japan to attend events.

Despite getting all my tickets through the PF lottery, I have to say that all my seats were pretty horrible. Usually they would let you choose between the stands and arena (I always choose the stands), but seating for this tour was entirely random. For the first day of Tokyo Dome, I was in the stands like I wanted, but my seats were practically parallel to the stage on the left side so I could not see the monitors well, if at all. Tomoya was pretty much out of view. The second day I was in the arena near the back. At least I could see the monitors this time but I could not see the guys due to the distance and my petite stature. Belluna Dome wasn’t much better. The first day, I was up in the B block of the arena, but my seats were to the far right (block 17 of 18), so again I had to rely solely on the monitors to see anything. On the second day, I was in the very last arena block in the back. Yeah… Luck was not on my side. I will say though that wherever you are in the arena, the energy is really high compared to the stands.

I also have to mention that I hate Belluna Dome. I’ve been here once back when it was still called MetLife Dome and it’s literally in the middle of nowhere with nothing noteworthy around, and it’s only serviced by one train line so it’s a madhouse to go home after any kind of event. It’s also not a completely indoor venue so it gets pretty cold at night, isn’t completely dark when the concert starts, and the acoustics aren’t as good. Because the sound escapes, the audience’s voices don’t echo as much when they sing, which is a real pity since I love hearing the crowd singing together.

Merch on this tour sold out very quickly on-site, especially the heart design shirt. Luckily I got all the stuff I wanted through the online pre-orders and they were delivered to my friend’s house just before the Tokyo dates. I’m not sure where they had it at Tokyo Dome since I didn’t see it, but at Belluna Dome, there was a cube object with the album art on display in the merch area.

Upon entering the venue, we were given light wristbands. The wristbands this time were rectangular in shape compared to the more oval ones used during Ambitions Japan Dome Tour. There was so much excitement in the air once we were settled into our seats. The stage setting was kind of similar to the previous Dome tour with a platform extending into the crowd from the main stage, but it was not arrow shaped this time, and there was no sub stage in the back. Commercials for Monster and Asahi started playing on the screens before the scheduled start time. OOR concerts almost never begin on time, and it wasn’t until 10 or 15 minutes after the hour that the lights went down.

Cue all the cheers. First up on stage was Tomoya. He and his drum kit were hoisted up into the air on a platform and then he started drumming away. Then Toru and Ryota appeared near the back of the arena, each on either side. The one lucky thing I had on this tour was that on the second day of Saitama, my seats were in the very back and right at the railing, and Ryota just happened to appear from there. He came out from a door next to the dugout and went up onto a makeshift platform that staff pulled out. After playing some notes, both he and Toru headed towards the stage. Where was Taka going to appear from was always the question each night. He would always suddenly appear from a seat somewhere in the arena and then make his way to the stage. Once all the guys were on stage, the screen showed their animated faces (like the ones in their Instagram profile pics) with the words “complete.” The intro instrumental then slowly turned into the opening notes of “Wonder.”

“Wonder” had pyrotechnics during the chorus and flames shot up from the stage. On the days where I was close, you could really feel the heat from the flames. The audience’s voices echoed throughout the venue. There was a lot of clapping, which is something Japanese audiences just like to do.

After “Wonder,” the familiar opening strings to “Save Yourself” began. There was a red filter put over the video on the monitors. The crowd was so loud singing along during the chorus. It was great. I really do wish there was less clapping though… It usually feels out of place, and I would rather hear Taka than the sound of clapping. Even Taka has said many times before how awkward it can be. It’s just one of those things you have to get used to about Japanese concerts though.

There were lots of cheers and chanting once “Answer Is Near” started playing. Possibly because the song is mostly in Japanese, but the audience sang pretty much every word of the song. After years of having to be masked up and keep silent during concerts, I guess everyone was itching to sing along. There’s something about hearing “whoa oh oh oh ohhhh~” echoing throughout the venue.

There was a short MC after “Answer Is Near.” Taka said they were back, to which the audience welcomed them. He fired up the crowd and began singing “Let Me Let You Go.” Finally they started using the lighted wristbands, and the colors would alternate between blue, pink, and white to sync with the music. Similar to the North American tour, there were added solo instrumentals, and this time we had Gakushi for a keyboard solo too before Toru’s riff. The crowd screamed when the next verse started because Taka was really close to Toru with his hand on behind Toru’s neck. Um… yeah.

And then this is where the set list deviated from previous concerts on the tour. Instead of “Outta Sight,” we got “Clock Strikes,” which they sang in both Tokyo and Saitama. I certainly enjoy “Clock Strikes” but it was a little curious that they would use it to replace a new song on their latest album that they were playing for the first time on this tour. My only guess is that there was maybe something Taka wasn’t satisfied about their performance of the song that he wanted to replace it. On the first day of Tokyo, Taka totally mistimed his long tone. I had my stopwatch out ready to time how long he would sing it, but the part where he was supposed to do it came and went. We were all very confused and then suddenly Taka was just like, “ahhhhhhhhhhhhh,” LOL. I have no idea how long it was since I wasn’t able to start the stopwatch in time. The next day and first day of Saitama he was pretty much at 30 seconds. For some reason on the second day of Saitama, he cut it short and only did 20 seconds. They were recording the second day of Tokyo for the home release so I’m sure he made a point to not mess up again. He had such a satisfied look on his face after the song that day.

During the MC, the band greeted the audience. Toru said they were back, which was met with lots of “okaeri nasai“s from the crowd. It was so funny the first day of Tokyo because while Ryota was doing his greeting, apparently Taka was doing a mic check so Ryota got distracted by all the “hee hee haa haa” in his ear monitor LOL. He asked Taka to give it a rest for a moment while he talked. Taka laughed and apologized. Tomoya started off with his usual “Tooookyooooo!!!” (or “Saiiiitamaaaa!!!” at Belluna Dome) and asked how the crowd was doing. The guys all felt a bit better this time around compared to their first dome tour. When it was Taka’s turn, he joked about missing the timing for the long tone in “Clock Strikes.” He also introduced keyboardist Gakushi as a special performer joining them on this tour. He had been saying that Gakushi worked with them since the acoustic live at Kawaguchiko but finally on the first day of Saitama, Gakushi corrected Taka and said that they actually go back to ZOZO Marine Stadium. Taka’s excuse was that both the acoustic live and Field of Wonder were during the height of the pandemic so they kind of blend together in his mind, but he apologized for having told such a big lie all this time, haha. Tomoya was nonchalantly sipping his tea in the back, for which Taka teased him. Ryota came to Tomoya’s defense saying that they’re sweating and with the wind coming in from the outside, it gets really cold when they’re not moving around. Taka then asked if that meant the audience was cold too (yessss!!! T_T) and said that maybe they should cut the MC shorter then (noooo!!!), LoL. There were protests from the crowd and Taka said that if no one keeps them in check, they’ll easily talk for half an hour and then the concert will be over 3 hours long. He explained that they really thought hard when deciding the set list for this tour, and mentioned how there’s no longer restrictions about keeping quiet at concerts so he hopes everyone will be loud and have a good time.

The next song was “Kagerou” which got the crowd singing along. It’s always great to hear this song live because everyone loves it and sings together. “Mad World” after was really really cool. There was a drone camera circling around Taka that showed some really cool 360 angles. The video on the monitors had a monochrome filter over them with the song lyrics displayed. The “we’re living in a mad world” lyrics would scroll across the screen in black and red, and Taka had the audience sing these parts. Of course the Japanese version was sung, so that added an extra level of cool.

After was “Vandalize.” The crowd was very into it, and the chorus rang throughout the venue. The video on the monitor had sort of a water ripple filter over it. Taka had the audience sing the last two lines of the song and gave a double thumbs up at the end to show his satisfaction. Next was “So Far Gone” which had a short extra melodic intro by Gakushi. The entire venue was lit up by the white lights of the wristbands. Everyone listened quietly but joined in for the “na na na na na” near the end.

On the first day of Tokyo, I can’t remember exactly how they got onto the topic (plus it was really hard to hear at times from where I was sitting), but Taka started saying something about a funky melody, and Toru began playing one on his guitar. Everyone was expecting “Yume Yume” since they were dropping hints about it but it was Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back,” LOL. Taka went “na na na” a bit before cutting it short. There was lots of laughter from the crowd. Taka said that wasn’t the song he hand in mind, and then Toru started playing the opening notes of “Yume Yume” to lots of cheers. They played through the first chorus. Everyone went wild when Toru started rapping and we all sang the chorus together. On the second day, they didn’t have the little skit beforehand and just went into the song more naturally, but they did sing the song a bit so I think we can expect it to be on the BD/DVD. Unfortunately they did not play “Yume Yume” in Saitama.

And then here is where things started getting different between the set lists. On the second day of Tokyo and on both days of Saitama, they added in “Heartache,” and in Saitama they also had “Yokubou ni Michita Seinendan” before “Heartache.” This was hands down the best arrangement of “Heartache” to date, in my opinion. It was SO GOOD. It was not acoustic but the first half was just Taka and Gakushi on keyboard, then later in the song the others joined in. The best I can describe it is like during the performance at 35xxxv Japan Tour where Taka goes high on the “kimi wo~” part, he does it again here but without the short break in between, and it’s slightly different. Like instead of just a high “ohhhhhh” it was more of an “oh whoaaa ohhhh.” You can really tell how much he’s improved over the years and it nearly brought me to tears. Again, best arrangement of this song to date. I think you’ll understand once you see it on BD/DVD. In Saitama, at first I thought they had replaced “Heartache” with “Yokubou~” but I’m glad it turned out that they just added it. I got to hear this arrangement of “Heartache” three times and I still wish I could hear it again!

Before “Yokubou~” on the first day of Saitama, the band teased the crowd about what song they would play. Taka complained about the venue being a bit open since people who were lined up for merch in the morning probably heard them rehearsing which ruined the surprised. The band doesn’t like being predictable, but it’s true that they hadn’t done “this” song in a while, and Taka went on to say that OOR songs are really strange in that songs that aren’t singles often become really popular with fans. He asked wondered to himself aloud, “Nan deshou, kore wa? (I wonder why?)” while tilting his head and pointing his index finger to his head. It was extra cute haha. They dropped a few more hints, going back and forth between the members with, “We’re doing that song, right?” “Which song?” “That song?” and made it obvious which song they were going to play. We got a non-acoustic version of “Yokubou~.” It was so refreshing to hear the original version of this song. The guys also said it’s been a really long time since they’ve played the original arrangement.

After “Heartache” was “Gravity.” This is a great song live. The monitor had pink glass shards falling and near the end, Taka was on the center platform with confetti shooting out. At the end of the song, he was lowered down, and then they had the instrumental break. The instrumental had a different intro than the one used for the North American Tour but the basic melody was still the same, and they added a part for Gakushi. It actually felt like it had some elements of “Neon.”

Of course the next song was “Neon” too, so the instrumental had a really nice lead in to the song. They really used the monitors for effects here. “Neon lights” was written in many different languages. The scenery looked like Shibuya with tall buildings and video billboards. A helicopter flew around, and live video of Taka and the guys played on the fake billboards on the monitors. The audience was really into the song singing the “na na na” parts. The crowd went absolutely wild when the opening bass notes of “Deeper Deeper” started playing after. Needless to say, there was lots of singing, jumping, and head banging. It’s so fun to sing the chorus with everyone! At the end of the song on the first day of Saitama, Taka gave us a little screamo which he didn’t at the other shows. I guess he was really into the moment.

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Next up was “Renegades.” The crowd chanted along and the venue was all red with the wrist lights. The crowd was the loudest during the chanting and when we all went “hey!” There was a smoke effect on the stage and on the first day of Saitama, it was a little bit windy so the smoke got blown back towards the stage. Taka said there was more smoke than usual and that he lost complete sight of the audience. He wanted to be praised because even though he was breathing in smoke, he still sang with all his might. He talked about humans being creatures that want to leave their mark in history, and about how life isn’t just about making knots, but also knowing when to untie them, that there’s isn’t always just one answer and that you aren’t bound to one decision. Taka also talked about people going through hard times and said that they’ve shed tears too from losing loved ones, etc, but because they’re musicians, in order for those tears to not just end as tears, they put their feelings into song. They then began to play “Your Tears Are Mine.” The crowd was so silent. Near the end, the wristband lights lit up in purple and white.

The next song had a very long piano intro and we didn’t know what it was, but then the familiar notes of the piano intro for “The Beginning” began. I really never get tired of hearing this song, and I love it in Japan because we can put our arms around each other and head bang as a group. Taka also had us sing parts of the song. At the end, Taka hyped the crowd up and told us that it’s all up to us (“kimi shidai“).

I swear, “Kimi Shidai Ressha” is one of the songs that wipes out most of my energy. There’s so much singing along and jumping at the same time. So fun but I really don’t know how Taka does this for three hours straight haha. At the end, Taka complimented us, saying we did well (“joudeki“). The next song started off slowly and then Taka began singing “the same as…” It’s been a while since we got this song. “Whoa ohh ohhhh” echoed throughout the venue. Ryota was so into it on the second day of Saitama. He was dancing and spinning around the stage.

Only the last two songs of the main set remained. Toru strummed away on his guitar while Taka did his MC. During all this I was just thinking about what Toru had sad in the past about having to keep playing the same notes over and over while Taka blabbed away haha. Taka thanked the audience again for being there with them, especially those who still had apprehensions about being in large crowds because of the pandemic. He thanked them for their courage to come out. He went on to talk about fears, and how if you live diligently, as you grow older, there’s absolutely nothing to be scared about. Taka himself doesn’t have many fears because he’s lived his life as honesty as he can. They truly believe that the people in their teens and 20s are the future, and that those who are older still have things they can do. He said that they don’t always know what is “correct,” but that they’ll always follow what they think is right, and alluded to the trouble that happened during Super Sonic, saying that if they do something wrong, they will apologize, but with “ROCK” in their name, they’re not going to go around apologizing all the time, since that wouldn’t be rock. He also talked about how he believed the only way to become happy is to make others happy first. Taka said he was going to sing the next song earnestly.

“We are” began and we all sang along. Nothing really to say about this song, but it was a great performance as always. The last song of the main set was then “Wasted Nights.” Silver streamers were shot out into the audience near the end of the song, but they didn’t have anything written on them.

For the first encore, they sang “When They Turn the Lights On.” There’s a part at the end of the song that has Japanese lyrics in both the international and Japanese versions, and Taka had us sing this line. He’s said before that he left one line in Japanese so that people around the world would someday sing in his native tongue. This was Japan, but we all sang it and he had such a satisfied look on his face. On the first day of Saitama, he made a silly face. Next up was “Stand Out Fit In.” This song is another one that zaps my energy because of all the simultaneous singing and jumping. On the second day of Tokyo, Taka allowed us to record! You can see my video here. In the middle of the song, Taka told us to make sure our cameras are shaking (instead of holding them steady) so that our enjoyment will be more obvious in the video haha. This was the last song for the first day of Tokyo and both days of Saitama.

On the second day of Tokyo where they were recording for the home release, we got a special surprise. Taka said that he couldn’t be outdone by Toru who sang “Yume Yume” and exclaimed that even at age 35, he was still living with perfect sensations, which was a hint at “Kanzen Kankaku Dreamer.” The crowd went wild! I don’t think there was a single person in the venue who wasn’t jumping. It’s all captured in my video linked above.

The ending each day included the band going around the venue to thank the audience. They also thanked Gakushi before he went off stage. Fans would throw banners onto the stage which the guys would wrap around themselves for the group photo. Taka was given Chupa Chups lollipops and the camera zoomed in on his face, and he’d make funny faces. On the first day of Saitama, the audience sang happy birthday to Taka. When the camera zoomed in on him, he mouthed the words “arigatou” and made a gesture for the number 35 with his hands. Someone also threw character hats onto the stage. Taka took them and put the Gachapin hat on Toru’s head. Taka then wore Slowpoke, gave Pikachu to Ryota, and Snorlax to Tomoya. According to the person who planned this, Taka was supposed to be Pikachu, Ryota was supposed to be Snorlax, and Tomoya was supposed to be Slowpoke, so Taka only got one of the four correctly haha.

EOTSの追加名古屋で渡すはずだったタクシーズの横断幕ハプニングあったけど届いたの見届けた🫶
そしてTakaさんナイスアシストでみんなかぶってくれたあ
でもガチャピンしか合ってなかった笑笑 pic.twitter.com/45dzoVYftY

— まいちゃん (@machan10969) April 22, 2023

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The band would also throw items such as towels and picks into the crowd. Taka threw the shirt he was wearing, which got a lot of attention. The concerted ended, as is tradition, with Toru being the last one off the stage saying things like, “See you again!” into the mic.

And that was it for my four concerts in Japan. I really wish I had at least one day with decent seats, but I would still do this all over again if I had the chance. Hopefully next tour they’ll allow people again to choose whether they want to apply for tickets in the arena or the stands. On the second day of Saitama though, because of where I was sitting, I saw Tomoya’s wife and the baby tomatoes go by a couple times. The kids are soooooooo cuuuuuuute!!! The second time they passed by, one of the kids was hanging on to streamers that had been shot out into the audience. He dropped one and tried to pick it back up but was rushed into the back so until the end of the concert, there was just this random streamer on the floor there haha.

The biggest difference I noticed on this tour compared to all the previous ones I’ve been to is that the audience sang much more than they usually did. I swear it felt like everyone was singing every word to every song on the first day of Tokyo. It’s understandable since this was the first real tour in three years and the first set of concerts where the restriction against making noises was lifted. It was just really interesting to see (or rather, hear) since that was usually one of the biggest differences between the audiences in Japan and overseas.

ONE OK ROCK are always great in concert but I really felt that they’ve improved yet again. I’ll say it again, but that arrangement of “Heartache” was so good and it’s probably the song that left the biggest impression on me on this tour. I can’t wait to see these guys again and experience how they’ve continued to polish their sound and performance.

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Setlist