By Julian Waters

The band’s fan base reaches from Japan like tentacles, touching almost every continent. To give you an indication of the hype and frenzy generated by Dir En Grey, when touring in Berlin and Paris, its concerts sold out in eight days with no promotion, strictly by word of mouth. Also in 2009 it headlined two Nippon Budokan concerts (the famed venue where the Beatles made their Japanese debut), entitled, "UROBOROS –with the proof in the name of living…-," which sold out in 15 minutes.

Dir En Grey has a reputation for leaving it all on stage, which is why the band has been invited to play at top rock events around the world such as the European Rock Am Ring festival alongside such outstanding artists as Motley Crue, Iron Maiden and Green Day.

Dir En Grey does not put on a run-of-the-mill generic rock concert. Be warned: If you have heart problems or easily find yourself out of breath, get to the concert early and find a guard rail to hang on to. If there ever has been a band that rocks concert goers beyond utter exhaustion and climax, Dir En Grey is the one.

Dir En Grey is anchored by Lead singer Kyo, who has been with the band since the beginning. He has an incredibly strong voice and can go from a smooth melody to shouting with the devil in a split second. But what whips fans into a frenzy is his wicked performance on stage. Kyo has been known to start the show in a calm subdued manner and slowly transgress into a trance before bursting into an intense performance that many fans describe as enjoyably shocking.

Without giving away too much, I will just say that Kyo as well as Kaoru (guitar), Die (bass guitar), Toshiya (guitar) and Shinya (drums) provide excitement on par with a Stephen King movie.

Scheduled to perform:

9/11 (SAT)

Showbox SoDo

Seattle, WA

Tickets: http://www.ticketmaster.com/

9/12 (SUN)

Roseland Theater

Portland, OR