Many good musicians, many familiar faces, many different emotions — all in one place! DER ZIBET’s 40th anniversary felt less like a concert and more like a gathering of souls. A truly special night.
On August 5, 2023, Japan lost one of its most distinctive voices. ISSAY, frontman of DER ZIBET, passed suddenly, leaving behind an unfinished chapter. Two years later, that chapter has been completed as the album KUTEN～Period～, which will be released on October 22, 2025. On October 1st at Koenji HIGH, DER ZIBET and a circle of longtime allies gathered to celebrate their 40th anniversary — delivering a concert that was both requiem and rebirth, farewell and renewal. The venue fell silent as the lights dimmed. On screen, the artwork for KUTEN～Period～ glowed while fragments of new songs — ISSAY’s final vocals, cut like jewels against modern arrangements — filled the room. Many in the crowd closed their eyes, listening as if in prayer. His voice, emotional yet eternal, hovered in the air with the weight of memory. Then guitarist HIKARU (DER ZIBET) and Mayumi Chiwaki entered the stage for a short speech. Together they announced what the night truly was: both a celebration of four decades and a prelude to the final album. The lyrics we heard carried the unmistakable echo of ISSAY. At 19:15, the live began (full gallery).
Carrying the Flame
Chu-ya (FAR-EAST PHALLUS KICKER) stormed the stage to perform Girls, Downer King and Aozora. With kinetic energy, leaping into the crowd’s gaze, scattering confetti, he urged hands to clap and voices to rise. His performance was not imitation but invocation — at moments singing upward, as though addressing ISSAY himself. Eyes wet, the audience responded in kind. When Chu-ya (FAR-EAST PHALLUS KICKER) stepped away, Ken-ichi (Valentine D.C, Vertueux) took the mic. He delivered Akari wo Keshite, Lost Boy and Love Me. His sharper edge drove the set into higher tension, backed by the band’s powerful engine. HIKARU (DER ZIBET), as always, was in his element: stylishly dressed, commanding the stage with ease. His solos cut across the room like beams of light, always timed with a sense of drama, leaning toward the edge of the stage as if daring the audience closer.
Jun (Valentine D.C.), on bass, was a vision of elegance. Dressed in a renaissance-inspired outfit, dandy-like with a glove on his left hand, he exuded aristocratic poise. His playing was groovy, smooth, and refined — a striking contrast to the ferocity around him. SAY-ICHIRO (Seiichiro Yonezawa), on guitar, brought flashes of madness. At times headbanging wildly, at others leaning into the crowd with raw riffs, he was fire where Jun was smoke. MOTOKATSU aka Miyagami Motokatsu (ex-THE MAD CAPSULE MARKETS) hammered the drums with athletic power. In our recent VMJ interview, he spoke of his training, and it showed: every strike was precise and devastating, his arms propelling strength into sound. His masculine, almost primal energy balanced perfectly against Jun’s elegance and MAHITO’s composure. MAHITO (DER ZIBET), on keyboards, was the quiet anchor: understated, calm, focused on his craft. He didn’t seek the spotlight, but his playing filled the spaces with warmth. Mayumi Chiwaki followed, equal parts MC and showwoman, commanding the stage with warmth and authority. The only woman among her male counterparts, she sang, laughed, and danced through three songs — Gekka Bijin, Shizumitai, and Baby I Want You — with unshakable joy and sensual presence.
Chu-ya later returned, slipping into ISSAY’s shadow for one of the band’s most dramatic numbers. Cloaked and theatrical, he collided with HIKARU’s soaring solo before the song swelled to a crescendo. At its peak, Chu-ya’s gaze turned upward, the stage drenched in sweat and light. Then Ken-ichi and Mayumi Chiwaki rejoined, two voices intertwining over high-speed riffs. The tension grew feverish, now pure celebration — fists raised, smiles breaking across the audience. When the anthem Victoria began, the crowd roared, chanting the single-word chorus, HIKARU at the stage’s edge delivering his solo like a final seal.
Then came sweetness: a birthday cake on stage, all singers gathered on stage. The hall joined in chorus — “I wait for you” — laughter mingling with tears. That moment flowed naturally into the final song of the main set: Matsu Uta, DER ZIBET’s debut track, originally released on October 1, 1985. Performing it exactly 40 years later to the day. The band and their friends treated it as the emotional climax of the night. That intent was fully realized. The song closed the circle in perfect symmetry, where past and present stood hand in hand.
The encore began in darkness. On the screen, ISSAY appeared in a red robe, knight-like, noble. His recorded voice filled the hall while the musicians stood shadowed. The effect was almost religious: a hall transformed into a sanctuary, ISSAY’s absence turned into presence. The first song of the encore was drawn directly from the new album, played while the stage remained dim, the spotlight fixed solely on ISSAY’s image. It was not performance, but ceremony. The final song, The Night of Mammoth, was pure release — chaos, speed, drama, every musician throwing their last energy into the night. The stage became a storm: Jun grooving like a baroque dandy, SAY-ICHIRO headbanging, MOTOKATSU hammering thunder, HIKARU slicing the air with solos. It was impossible to look everywhere at once.
Beyond the Stage
Fans were able to pre-purchase the upcoming album at the venue, though its official release will be October 22. And even after the concert ended, the night lingered on. Musicians and old friends remained — Masami Tsuchiya, Hideki Sakakibara (FAR-EAST PHALLUS KICKER, Vertueux etc), dieS, and many others — a family reuniting. At the aftershow, HIKARU thanked everyone with visible emotion and, smiling, added: “Next year, I’d love to do this again with the same line-up. Tonight was really great. Let’s make it happen again.” The room cheered, clapped and drank.
A Full Stop, Not an End
KUTEN～Period～ is not a posthumous patchwork, but a deliberate final album — ISSAY’s voice carried into completion by those who loved him. The 40th anniversary concert at Koenji HIGH embodied the same truth: not an end, but a full stop. A graceful closure that allows the story to remain whole. For a night, ISSAY was there, on screen, in sound, in memory. For the band, it was a gathering of souls, not just musicians but friends. For the fans, it was a goodbye set aflame. A full stop, yes — but one written in fire, in tears, and in joy.
Mandah FRÉNOT
(c) VMJ
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DER ZIBET | Live-Report @ Koenji HIGH [JP] (2025)
Girls
Downer King
Aozora
Akari wo Keshite
Lost Boy
Love Me
Gekka Bijin
Shizumitai
Baby, I Want You
Der Rhein
Love Song
Yakusoku no Umibe
Song Bird
Over Drive to Heaven
Shinkaigyo
Victoria
Matsu Uta
–ENCORE–
Tsuki no Komichi
The Night of Mammoth
PHOTOGRAPHY | Yoann CLOCHON
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