GACKT YELLOW FRIED CHICKENz will return to Europe for the first time in 16 years with a performance at Rome’s FATE FESTIVAL 2027.
Italian promoter Kinetic Vibe made the announcement on October 16th, and GACKT’s official website confirmed the news the following day. Presented as FATE FESTIVAL: From Asia to Europe, the event is being held in collaboration with Rock in Roma, which also partnered with Kinetic Vibe on ATEEZ’s headline show at the festival in July 2026.
Unlike Rock in Roma’s main summer series, FATE is a one-day event dedicated to Japanese rock music and culture, with food, shops, and other activities planned alongside the live performances. GACKT YELLOW FRIED CHICKENz are the first confirmed act, with further artists to be announced.
GACKT also sent Italian fans a characteristically blunt invitation in a special video message:
“Rome, are you f**king ready for YFCz?! We’re coming to rock your world. See you there!”
GACKT
In a separate Japanese-language post on X on October 19th, GACKT told European fans he had kept them waiting and named Rome as the first stop. “2027 isn’t just about South America”, he wrote. “We’re returning to Europe in triumph”.
YELLOW FRIED CHICKENz made their European debut in July 2010, four months after GACKT formed the band, with five concerts across the UK, France, Spain, and Germany. They returned in 2011 for a larger tour of 13 cities in nine countries, including a performance at London’s HMV Forum (now O2 Forum Kentish Town) on July 27th.
The band split after a final concert at Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan on July 4th 2012. Twelve years later, GACKT revived the project for a limited five-year period, and a new six-member line-up made its live debut at Kishidan Banpaku 2024 on November 10th.
After Rome, the band head back to Latin America, opening with their first show in Argentina at Arena Sur in Buenos Aires on September 1st. Further dates follow in Santiago, São Paulo, and Mexico City, where the tour closes on September 11th.
FATE FESTIVAL 2027 takes place on Saturday, June 26th at Ippodromo delle Capannelle, the Via Appia Nuova racecourse in south-east Rome that has hosted Rock in Roma since 2009.
FATE FESTIVAL 2027
| Date | Location | Show & tickets |
|---|---|---|
| 26 Jun 2027 | Ippodromo delle Capannelle, Rome, Italy | Scheduled |
About GACKT YELLOW FRIED CHICKENz
YELLOW FRIED CHICKENz are the rock band GACKT formed in March 2010 with the stated aim of turning Japan's so-called herbivore men into carnivores. Known as YFCz, they debuted at a men-only show at Kawasaki's CLUB CITTA' on March 21st 2010, and later staged swimsuit-only concerts. Their first Japan tour, in summer 2010, took in 24 shows across six cities, and that July they played five dates in the UK, France, Spain, and Germany. In June 2011, the band expanded into a seven-piece with twin vocals and three guitars. GACKT and fade's JON shared vocals, with YOU, CHACHAMARU, and TAKUMI on guitar, former RIZE member u:zo on bass, and LUNA SEA's SHINYA on drums. Later that year, the world tour SHOW UR SOUL.I took YFCz through nine European countries before a Japan leg. During the Makuhari Messe stop, a charity photo exhibition and auction of the members' personal items raised ¥3,571,929 for recovery after the Great East Japan Earthquake through GACKT's SHOW YOUR HEART fund. Their debut single 'THE END OF THE DAY', used as the second theme song for the Japanese version of online RPG Dragon Nest, arrived in September 2011, followed by 'ALL MY LOVE / YOU ARE THE REASON' that December and their only studio album, 'YELLOW FRIED CHICKENz I', in March 2012. The band disbanded after a Nippon Budokan concert on July 4th 2012. GACKT revived the band in July 2024 as GACKT YELLOW FRIED CHICKENz, for five years only. A new line-up of guitarists YOHIO, MiA, and HIROTO, bassist DAICHI, and drummer HIDEHIRO appeared at Kishidan Banpaku 2024 that November, before two Christmas shows at Zepp Haneda. By 2026, TAKATORA had joined MiA and HIROTO in the three-guitar line-up as the band launched WORLD TOUR ATTACK OF YFCz in January, their first world tour in 15 years. The completed tour took in Yokohama, Mexico City, São Paulo, Santiago, Seoul, and Hong Kong. In September 2026, YFCz announced a return to Latin America in 2027, with shows planned in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico alongside their first appearance in Argentina.
