+HISTORY.

From Wikipedia.

1996-1999: Early Career
Dir en grey�s roots can be traced back to La:Sadie's, which eventually included four of Dir en grey's five current members. In 1996, La:Sadie�s disbanded due to independency issues. A, year later from their ashes Kyo, Die, Kaoru, and Shinya emerged to form Dir en grey, recruiting bassist Hara Toshimasa (commonly known as Toshiya) from Nagano. Their first commercially released mini-album, MISSA was released.

In 1998, the band gained major attention by becoming the first indies band to have a single place in the top ten on Japan's Oricon music charts.

1999 saw the release of their first major label album, GAUZE. This album achieved unprecedented popularity for the group. The album, produced with Yoshiki of X Japan, put them on the track to international fame. They played a sold-out performance at Osaka Jo Hall on December 18, 1999 after the release of their first full major album. This remains one of the band's most memorable solo performances to date.

2000-2003: Setbacks, International Touring, and Evolution
The band featured setbacks in 2000 when the tour for their upcoming album MACABRE was postponed until the next year. Kyo was hospitalized with hearing trouble, and remains partially deaf in his left ear. After Kyo recovered, Dir en grey started their long awaited tour, TOUR 00>>01: MACABRE, in late 2000, and played all of the postponed shows in early 2001. When their latest single, ain't afraid to die, was released, they ended the whole tour at the Nihon Budokan of the same year.

In 2002, when their 3rd full length major album was released, Dir en grey's "Rettou Gekishin Angya (A Pilgrimage Capsizing the Islands)" tour brought the band their first international performances. The tour took them to several countries in Asia, including China and South Korea. In Shanghai fans became so excited that authorities attempted to cancel a planned second concert. The band and their management resisted, and the concert was played as scheduled. The tour ended with the strong performance at Yokohama Arena in 2003 known as Rettou Gekishin Angya FINAL 2003 5 Ugly KINGDOM which was promoting their second mini-album known as six Ugly.

A couple of months after their show at Yokohama Arena, Dir en grey performed at Akasaka Blitz for their 5-day length show, BLITZ 5DAYS. Each day had a variety of songs from the GAUZE age, to the introduction of their metal-inspired, VULGAR. On the 5fifth day, fans got to experience some of the songs from VULGAR, just before its release on September 10th, 2003.

2005: European Recognition
In 2005, Dir en grey played their first non-Asian shows. Their "It Withers and Withers" tour was brought from Japan to Europe. The band played shows in three European countries- Belgium, France, and Germany. Two of these performances were MTV's Rock im Park and ROCK-AM-RING festivals. Dir en grey also played a solo live concert in Germany.

The band had not played shows with other bands since they signed to a major label, these events brought a major change in the band's show lineup. Beside playing with many bands at the European festivals, Dir en grey also hosted a French national band, Eths, at their French show. Later that year they invited long-time associate Wednesday 13 and his band to play a show in Japan. They were also included in the Japanese leg of the international "Taste of Chaos" tour.

In 2005, the band's album Withering to death. reached #31 on the Official Finnish album chart, and the single CLEVER SLEAZOID reached #15 on its singles chart. These were the first times Dir en grey had placed on a non-Asian music chart. Also, the band joined international record labels; Gan-Shin (Germany), and Free-Will America / Warcon Records (United States).

Current Events:
In 2006 Dir en grey played their first American concert at SXSW06 in Austin, Texas. They then played their second concert at the Avalon Club in New York, then Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles, California was their last concert of this tour. They played with Opiate For The Masses and Yoshiki was present at the time. They reportedly played a new, unidentified song whose title is currently unknown. All of their US dates sold out in less than a day, and people from all over the world were in attendance.

The American release of Dir en grey's latest album, Withering to death. is now on sale at Hot Topic and other record stores. Hot Topic also features a Dir en grey T-Shirt.

This summer they will go on their first full tour of the United States, joining; Korn, Deftones, Stone Sour, and Flyleaf on the main stage of the Family Values Tour 2006. The tour dates have been announced for a few of the showings.