2002: Conception and early work[edit]
The band began in 2002 with Ruki (vocals), Reita (bass) and Uruha (lead guitar) in Kanagawa Prefecture. After being involved with other bands in the visual scene, the trio decided that The Gazette would be their last band.[4] They recruited Aoi (rhythm guitar) and Yune (drums) from disbanded visual band Artia and formally became The Gazette in January 2002.[4]
Originally signed to Matina, they released their first single, "Wakaremichi", and released their first music video on April 30, 2002. They re-released "Wakaremichi" in June. By September they had released "Kichiku Kyoushi (32sai Dokushin) no Nousatsu Kouza" and their second PV. In October, they played their first solo live. On Christmas, the 5-song compilation Yougenkyou with the song "Okuribi" was released.
2003–2004: New drummer, Cockayne Soup and Disorder[edit]
In early 2003, Yune left the band and was replaced by Kai and he volunteered to be the leader. Shortly after this, The Gazette signed with the PS Company label and in May, released their first EP, Cockayne Soup. They started their first tour with the band Hanamuke, and during the tour the bands collaborated on two songs.
A second tour followed with the band Vidoll. The bands were featured together on the November issue of Cure, a magazine focusing on visual kei bands.[5]
In early December, they played a co-headlining show with Deadman. On December 28, they performed at Fool's Mate magazine's Beauti-fool's Fest. Afterwards, the performance was released on DVD.
On January 16, 2004, the band recorded a solo performance at the Shibuya-AX, released on DVD as Tokyo Saihan -Judgment Day-. On March 30, 2004, they released their fifth EP Madara, which reached No. 2 on the Oricon Indie Charts. Madara was followed on May 26 by a companion DVD that included six music videos and an in-the-studio documentary. In the same month, The Gazette was featured in Shoxx magazine's Expect Rush III, a catalogue of independent visual kei artists.[6]
A second concert DVD, Heisei Banka, was released on August 25. During September and October, they toured with fellow PS Company bands Kra and BIS. Their first studio album, Disorder, was released on October 13 and subsequently made it to the top 5 of the indies Oricon Daily Charts.
2005–2006: Nil and Nameless Liberty Six Guns tour[edit]
In early 2005, The Gazette embarked on their Japan-wide spring tour called Standing Tour 2005 Maximum Royal Disorder. The final tour was held at Shibuya Kokaido on April 17. On March 9, The Gazette released the new single "Reila".
After the DVD release of their concert July 6, the band released their sixth EP, Gama, and embarked on the Standing Tour 2005 (Gama) the Underground Red Cockroach. On October 20, The Gazette released their first photobook, Verwelktes Gedicht, which included an exclusive CD containing the song "Kare Uta" (枯詩; Withered Poem). On December 7, 2005, the band released their first single under a major label, "Cassis". The promotional video of "Cassis", was shot in Austria. On December 11, The Gazette performed with other bands signed to the PS Company label to celebrate the record label's fifth Anniversary Peace and Smile Carnival 2005 Tour.
Starting 2006 with a name change from Japanese characters to a romanized script, The Gazette released their second studio album, Nil, on February 8. Shortly afterward, they embarked on another Japanese tour named Standing Tour 2006 Nameless Liberty Six Guns and the tour ended at the venueNippon Budokan.[7] In May, they released their first compilation album, Dainihon Itangeishateki Noumiso Gyaku Kaiten Zekkyou Ongenshuu; the album included songs from 2002 until 2004. In the next month they released their second music video compilation DVD, Film Bug I. On July 29, The Gazette performed at the Beethovenhalle in Bonn, Germany, their first show outside of Asia. The concerts were arranged in conjunction with the AnimagiC anime and manga convention.[8]
On August 6, The Gazette held a festival called Gazerock Festival in Summer 06 (Burst into a Blaze) at Tokyo Big Sight West Hall. Later that month, the band released two new singles, "Regret" on October 25, and "Filth in the Beauty" on November 1. To promote the singles, they embarked on another tour, Tour 2006-2007 Decomposition Beauty. In the middle of tour, they announced location for the final of the tour to be at Yokohama Arena.
2007–2009: Stacked Rubbish and Dim[edit]
The single, "Hyena" was released in early 2007. "Chizuru" (千鶴?, A Thousand Cranes), the B-side of "Hyena", was used as the ending song for the horror Korean movie, Apartment. The band's third studio album, Stacked Rubbish followed on July 4, 2007. The album reached No. 2 on the Oricon charts within a day from the release. The album was followed by a long time promotional tour named Tour 2007-2008 Stacked Rubbish (Pulse Wriggling to Black) from July 2007 until April 2008. In the midst of tour in October, The Gazette embarked on their first European tour, performing in England, Finland, France, and Germany. The tour finale was held in Yoyogi National Gymnasium on April 19 and April 20, 2008
In the beginning of 2008, The Gazette collaborated with GemCerey for jewellery. They released a single, "Guren" (紅蓮?, Crimson Lotus) on February 13, 2008, which reached No. 1 on the Oricon charts. The DVD for their Stacked Rubbish Grand Finale (Repeated Countless Error) at Yoyogi National Gymnasium was released on August 6. The single "Leech" released on November 12, 2008, which also landed a No. 1 spot on the Oricon daily charts. On July 14,[9] the band performed in the event Music Japan 2008 (a TV program on NHK) with other bands such as Alice Nine,Plastic Tree, LM.C and Mucc.
On August 23. The Gazette held a festival called Gazerock Festival in Summer 08 (Burst into a Blaze) at Fuji-Q Conifer Forest. The Gazette went on a fanclub tour throughout October calledStanding Live Tour 08 (From the Distorted City), referencing the song "Distorted Daytime" from their "Leech" single, which portrayed Tokyo as a "distorted city," in terms of the societal and political crises sweeping over Japan.
On November 15, 2008, The Gazette hosted their first secret show in Shinjuku Station. Originally, around two-hundred fifty people were to be anticipated, but instead, over seven thousand attended, the most in the band's history. Due to the amount of people on the streets, the police were forced to shut it down after two songs.[9][10]
On January 3, 2009, The Gazette performed alongside fellow PS Company bands in the Peace and Smile Carnival 2009 Tour to celebrate the record label's 10th Anniversary in Nippon Budokan, where they announced they would release a new single called Distress and Coma on March 25. The release was preceded by a 7th Anniversary performance called Live 09 (7-Seven-) at Makuhari Messe.
The band released their 4th studio album, Dim on July 15, followed by another Japan-wide summer tour starting in July, for which the tour's final show was held at Saitama Super Arena on September 5. On October 7, 2009, they released their single "Before I Decay". After that, The Gazette performed at V'Rock Festival 2009 at Makuhari Messe on October 24.
In December, The Gazette held a Christmas Eve live to close out the year called Live 09 (A Hymn of the Crucifixion) at Tokyo Big Sight.[11]
2010–2011: Label change and Toxic[edit]
On March 17, 2010, the band embarked Standing Live Tour 10 (The End of Stillness) at Zepp Tokyo.[11] After the fan club tour, the band then announced a new single and a live tour, which is named Tour 10 Nameless Liberty Six Bullets starting in July with two consecutive nights at Nippon Budokan.[12] Among all of these events, the band has also announced that they would be transferring from King Records to Sony Music Records. "Shiver" is the first single with new label Sony Music Records and was also selected as the opening theme song to the Sony anime seriesKuroshitsuji II.[13] On August 4, 2010, they released 3rd music video on DVD titled Film Bug II which included 10's PV from "Regret" to "Before I Decay".
Right after the release of "Shiver", the band announced the final stop of the Tour 10 Nameless Liberty Six Bullets would be held at Tokyo Dome, and two new singles "Red" and "Pledge" would be released.[14][15]
On March 2011, the band embarked on a fanclub only tour named Live Tour 11 (Two Concept Eight Nights -Abyss/Lucy-) and 9th Birth (Day 9 -Nine-) at Zepp Tokyo in March 10. On March 23, The Gazette released a compilation album titled Traces Best of 2005-2009 and a live concert DVD named The Nameless Liberty at 10.12.26 Tokyo Dome.
The Gazette has postponed the releases of their best-of album Traces Best of 2005-2009 and live DVD The Nameless Liberty at 10.12.26 Tokyo Dome which contains footage of their final concert at Tokyo Dome due to the catastrophe in Japan. Both were released on April 6.[16]
Their single "Vortex" was released on May 25, 2011. On July 2011, Ruki and Aoi joined in onPS Carnival Tour 2011 Summer 7 Days at Shibuya. Ruki was in a session band named "Lu/V" and Aoi was in a session band named "Aoi with Bon:cra-z". The Gazette also be performed at the 2011 Summer Sonic Festival that was held on August 13 and 14, in Tokyo and Osaka.[17] On September 18, 2011, The Gazette performed at the Inazuma Rock Festival 2011 with TM Revolution.[18]
The Gazette finally announced the release of their new single "Remember the Urge" in August 31, the new album Toxic on October 5 and the Live Tour11 Venomous Cell. The tour started on October 10 in Tokyo at the International Forum Hall A and led the band through 27 cities with a total of 28 performances until the end of the year.[19] The tour finale was held in Yokohama Arenawith the title named Tour11-12 Venomous Cell -the Finale- Omega in January 14, 2012. On October 3, The Gazette was rewarded "The Most Requested Artist 2010" from J-Melo Awards 2011
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