FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

REAL JAPANESE ROCK ARRIVES IN THE U.S. WITH SUMMER MUSIC TOUR FEATURING J-ROCK TITANS … VAMPS

Mercer Street Music America Brings Celebrated J-Rock Group Formed by L’Arc-en-Ciel Front Man HYDE and Oblivion Dust’s Guitar Virtuoso K.A.Z Launches the VAMPS Live 2009 U.S. Tour

Los Angeles, California and Tokyo, Japan (June 2, 2009) ― Mercer Street Music America is launching the VAMPS LIVE 2009 U.S.A. TOUR, a live concert tour for all lovers of great Japanese music, on both U.S. coasts beginning this July and ending in early August for three and a half weeks of radical and psychedelic rock and roll starring J-Rock legends HYDE (L’Arc-en-Ciel) on vocals and guitar and K.A.Z (Oblivion Dust) on guitar. Success in the U.S. music scene a long standing passion of HYDE’s, this VAMPS LIVE 2009 U.S.A. TOUR has been in planning even before VAMPS inception a year and a half ago. You can see evidence of HYDE’s forethought in the upcoming release of VAMPS self-titled debut album which contains a numerous songs all in English. Don’t miss VAMPS LIVE 2009 U.S.A. Tour. Tickets are available via Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.com ) and Live Nation (www.livenation.com ). More information can be found on the VAMPS official website at www.vampsxxx.com .

VAMPS tour dates and performance locations are as follows:

* Saturday, July 11, 2009: New York NY: The Fillmore New York at
Irving Plaza
* Sunday, July 12, 2009: Hartford CT: Warped Tour
New England Dodge Music
Center
* Tuesday, July 14, 2009: Columbia MD: Warped Tour
Merriweather Post Pavilion
* Thursday, July 16, 2009: Baltimore MD: Sonar Baltimore　
* Sunday, July 19, 2009: Seattle WA: The Showbox at
the Market
* Monday July 20, 2009: Portland OR: Hawthorne
Theatre
* Saturday, July 25, 2009: San Francisco CA: Regency Grand
Ballroom
* Monday, July 27, 2009: Las Vegas NV: Wasted Space at the Hard
Rock Hotel
“VAMPS Official Party”
* Wednesday, July 29, 2009: San Diego CA: SOMA
* Saturday, August 1, 2009: Los Angeles CA: The Wiltern Theater

About VAMPS
VAMPS is the name of the band formed by HYDE (L’Arc~en~Ciel) and K.A.Z (Oblivion Dust). HYDE and K.A.Z have been working together on HYDE’s solo work since 2003. After years of collaboration, the two finally decided to form their own band and agreed that there was no better way to announce VAMPS than getting out in front of the fans right away. Their first nationwide tour of Japan, “VAMPS LIVE 2008”, kicked off at Zepp Tokyo.
Between August 1, 2008 and October 28, 2008, VAMPS played 46 shows at the prestigious Zepp live houses throughout Japan. 46 shows in just 3 months is a rough schedule indeed! The tour was totally organized by VAMPS and the venues were custom decorated by spray art such as the now-famous VAMPS castle. The band played 6 to10 shows at each Zepp venue and every single show was sold out! The continuous string of sold out shows were unprecedented and had never taken place during any other Zepp live house tour before. Come and see for yourself what is sure to be another colossal collaboration between HYDE and K.A.Z! VAMPS ROCKS!

About HYDE (Guitar & Vocals)
Vocalist for the Japanese superstar rock band L’Arc~en~Ciel, HYDE has also been working on other projects vigorously since his solo debut in 2001.

His first solo album, “Roentgen”, (X-ray in German) hit the streets in 2002.
It contained 3 singles, “Evergreen”, “Angel’s Tale”, and “Shallow Sleep”. In 2003, HYDE released his 4th and 5th solo singles, “Hello”, and “Horizon”, both from the December released “666” album. “666” was his first collaborative work with K.A.Z. In 2004, HYDE took his first solo tour for the “666” album and released an English version of the “Roentgen” album as well as a DVD entitled “Roentgen Stories”.

2005 was a busy year for HYDE. He composed “Glamorous Sky”, the theme song for the highly successful movie “NANA”. He also released his 6th single “Countdown” and his 7th single, “Season’s Call”, early in 2006. Both singles topped the Japanese charts and marked the continued success of his partnership with K.A.Z.

In April 2006, following the release of his 3rd album, “FAITH”, HYDE went on his second nationwide solo tour, “HYDE TOUR 2006 FAITH”, which sold out instantly. Later on in 2006, he also performed in 4 shows on the West Coast of the U.S.A., which also sold out instantly. Near the end of 2006, HYDE rejoined his L’Arc~en~Ciel band mates for a few exclusive 15th Anniversary performances.

In 2007 HYDE was back in the studio with L’Arc~en~Ciel recording and then touring all over Japan, finishing the year with large arena shows in Japan’s biggest cities. In 2008, HYDE continued his work with L’Arc~en~Ciel, but spent most of the year focusing on starting up VAMPS with K.A.Z. By the middle of 2008, the pair had 2 new smash hit songs to add to their many accolades, “LOVE ADDICT”, and “TIME GOES BY”.

About K.A.Z (Guitar)
K.A.Z formed the band Oblivion Dust in 1996 and debuted in 1997 with 3 singles, “Sucker”, “Numb”, and “Falling”, off the album “Looking for Elvis”
released the same year. In 1998, K.A.Z joined the band “Hide with Spread Beaver” and released 2 singles, “Rocket Dive”, and “Pink Spider”. He also released two more singles as a member of Oblivion Dust, “Therapy”, and “Trust” from the album “Misery Days.”

In 1999 K.A.Z and Oblivion Dust released 4 more singles, “Blurred”, “You”, “Goodbye”, “Crazy”, and a music video for the song “Overdose”, all from the album, “Reborn.” 2000 saw another single, “Designer Fetus”, and an album titled “Butterfly Head”. The next year, Oblivion Dust released their Best-Of album, “Radio Songs”. Shortly thereafter, the group disbanded.

In 2002, K.A.Z formed the rock unit Spin Aqua with vocalist/model/actress Anna Tsuchiya, producing three singles and one album, “Pisces”. Soon after, K.A.Z started to co-write and co-produce songs with HYDE. For HYDE’s 3rd solo album, “FAITH”, he wrote 5 songs including the single “SEASON’S CALL”
and co-produced all songs. K.A.Z then accompanied HYDE on his “Faith” tour as a guitarist throughout 2006. In 2007, K.A.Z and 2 of the 3 previous members of Oblivion Dust decided to get back together. They spent most of the year writing and recording their January 2008 self-titled release, “Oblivion Dust.” As a follow up to their new release, Oblivion Dust went on tour to signify their reformation.

While still actively working with Oblivion Dust, K.A.Z and HYDE now focus almost exclusively on VAMPS.