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The phenomenon known as Visual Kei has slowly won over fans across the United States. This is a movement amongst Japanese musicians that have flamboyant imagery using makeup, unusually puffy hair styles and elaborate costumes that is not as common amongst many Western musicians.

Upon hitting the stage, Dir En Grey was met with an overly enthusiastic crowd that was ready for the band to perform. The crowd was made up of younger fans that range from pop punk and emo fans to metal fans into harder edgier music. Their stage set up consisted of Middle Eastern style mosaics that were projected above the stage, while the five members of the band each have specific roles with the instruments they play.

The band's sound is not easy to pinpoint, where they begin with fast, thrash and death metal style tempos where they blaze through, and then they slow down the tempos to where it becomes dark and atmospheric in a Tool-like manner. There are hints of choppy guitar riffs that resemble early Korn, along with odd, punk like time changes that is reminiscent of System of a Down. Plus with the lengths of their songs, there are hints of progressive rock.

The band's vocalist Kyo belts out death metal roars and then switches into soft melodic vocals within seconds, while he stands shirtless and performs like he is part of Jesus Christ Superstar. His stage mannerisms immediately connects with the crowd, even though all of the band's lyrics are in Japanese. It is amazing how the band makes such a strong connection with the audience, as very few people in the crowd had any idea what the band was singing about.

Fans loved every moment of their hour long set, but with many of their songs being close to eight minutes long, it did begin to drag towards the end. Unlike most progressive rock bands, Dir En Grey is able to continue playing by the feedback from the crowd. Their music is not for everyone, and could be something that will take a few listens to understand what is going on. They are currently a cult status act, but time will only tell if Dir En Grey can take the next step forward.