Here can be found live show reports, as seen in Tokyo or elsewhere in Japan by us and our contributors.
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Tokyo eleport 006: The Aprils, Candles, Cutie Pai, ExceNtRip
Text and photos by Patrick Benny for Tokyo's Coolest Sound
On April 12 was the 6th event of the "Tokyo eleport" series organized by indies techno-pop unit Candles. It was held at Shibuya Star lounge, a quite nice venue I hadn't been before, located in the same building as the larger Milkyway. Featured were The Aprils, Cutie Pai, ExceNtRip and Pastel Pants (which I unfortunately missed because of the early start time), and DJs FQTQ and petit.
I got there in time for ExceNtRip's set, a band I wasn't familiar with. The show has guitar and bass playing rock-oriented tracks (sometimes with a metal taste) over pico-pico techno backtracks. The female singer adds powerful vocals and has a strong presence on stage, also interacting with the audience at every chance, not leaving anyone indifferent. I'd recommend them to Urbangarde fans.
Posted on April 14, 2012 at 17:05 | Trackbacks (0) | Comments (2) | Tweet |
Nomiya Maki's 30th anniversary concert
Text by Patrick Benny for Tokyo's Coolest Sound. Photos by Kasuga Miwa.
On Monday March 19, I went to Nomiya Maki's 30th anniversary concert held at O-East, coincidentally (?) almost the same place where was held Pizzicato Five's last concert 11 years ago. Back then the building was a larger venue called On Air East... time flies! Outside were a dozen large flower arrangements, and the venue's lobby was decorated with many festive paper lanterns, all adorning the name of people who collaborated with Maki.
The concert featured a full band of 8 musicians, led by Nakatsuka Takeshi on keyboards, also with musicians from Jabberloop, quasimode, Nona Reeves, Qypthone (etc.) on bass, guitar, drums, percussions, saxophone, trumpet and trombone! Screens on each side of the stage showed stylish photos with the words "Desperately Seeking Twiggy", the theme of the show. Tickets were sold out and the venue was full of fans and friends. DJing before the show was Groove Unchant. Oppositely to her "Looker" unit she's been active with last year, this show was to be mostly P5 songs!
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 22:31 | Trackbacks (0) | Comments (0) | Tweet |
Love And Hates "L.A.H." release party
Text and photos by Patrick Benny for Tokyo's Coolest Sound
Last Sunday, February 5, was the release party for Love And Hates' 1st album "L.A.H." The event was held at Shinjuku Marz, starting at 5pm and to finish around 10! The venue was entirely decorated cute and girly style. The stage was very customized with large stars hanging from above, with a large banner that read "L.A.H. Show", and VJ team Onnacodomo contributed extra visual cuteness during the DJ acts.
We got there at 6, in time to catch part of Twee Grrrls Club's DJ set where 3 girls took turns selecting and mixing indie 7"'s. TGC is a collective to which Love And Hates' Yuppa (HNC) and Moe (miila and the geeks) also belong.
Then on stage was Kaji Hideki who appeared on his own. He explained that he had first planned to play the show just by himself, but after a song he soon introduced his usual flutist/saxophonist Nari-san (Scafull King). His set contained some of his less known songs that aren't often played on stage, and because he didn't have much stage time he did a medley to fit as many songs as possible. At the end of the set he was joined by Love And Hates for a song they sang chorus for on his album, and also "Mahna Mahna" from "L.A.H.", a surprising track in which we can hear an unknown side of Kaji-kun's voice.
Posted on February 14, 2012 at 21:41 | Trackbacks (0) | Comments (2) | Tweet |
(M)otocompo vs The Aprils, with BiS, Ezypt
Text and photos by Patrick Benny for Tokyo's Coolest Sound
On February 4 was an event organized by (M)otocompo, together with The Aprils, BiS and Ezypt. It was held at Shibuya Milkyway, and it was my first time at this nice-sized venue. The place was packed, and noticing a good number of idol fans I assumed that BiS had to do with it!
The event started with indies unit Ezypt, which sounded very new wave and 80's influenced. Their set was quite impressive too, fronted by a guy and girl wearing golden glittery outfits while singing and playing a shoulder keyboard. More surprising was the guy at the back, named Pyramy, wearing a large pyramid-shaped hat that completely hid his face. Towards the end of the show he moved to the front to play a pair of handheld cymbals!
The band's sound reminded me of Thai band Futon, and later I found out that they have shared a stage with Momokomotion (Futon's female vocalist Momoko) before. I'd have really liked to buy a CD if they had any, but it seems that their only release (pyramid-shaped) has sold out long ago.
Posted on February 12, 2012 at 00:30 | Trackbacks (0) | Comments (0) | Tweet |
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu in-store live at Tower Records Shinjuku
Text by Patrick Benny for Tokyo's Coolest Sound
Tonight I dropped by Tower Records in Shinjuku for a free in-store live by Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, in promotion for her first single "tsukematsukeru" out this week! It was my first time seeing her.
Tower Records' 7th floor was more packed than I've seen it at any event before, I believe. I estimate there must have been some 500 people in there! I saw some people waving from almost as far as the large information counter at the other end of the floor! Poor staff struggled to keep free a narrow corridor for people to be able to enter the store... and also to prevent people from taking photos.
Kyary was accompanied by two energetic male dancers wearing colorful short pants, tiny tops and wigs, making Kyary look almost normal in a pinkish red dress (photo she posted on Twitter). I stood about 10 meters from the stage and could barely see her face directly once in a while, but thanks to the large screen above the stage everyone could watch the cute choreography.
Posted on January 13, 2012 at 22:17 | Trackbacks (0) | Comments (0) | Tweet |
Tokyo Outbound vol.02, with CTO LAB., Open Reel Ensemble, etc.
Text and photos by Patrick Benny for Tokyo's Coolest Sound
Last Saturday was event "Tokyo Outbound vol.02" at Koenji High, presented by CTO LAB. and Otona no kagaku, a popular magazine that always comes with something that you can build yourself (even down to a theremin, small synthesizer SX-150, the Arudino computer, etc.). CTO LAB makes its music mainly using small instruments (therefore the name which stands for "Compact Techno Organization"), making this a perfect match.
This time featured aside from CTO LAB were Open Reel Ensemble, and many mini-live acts. Start time was a bit early and I got there late, unfortunately missing a mini-live by trauma techno-pop band Urbangarde.
The first I caught was Hitorimisaki who played two songs, the 2nd for which he was joined by singer Ruby. Next was band of three little moa, who played quiet electric tracks with female vocals. They gave away a 2-song demo CD-R. Next on stage was Tenorierie, who had also played at the previous event. She played a similar set of songs all sequenced on her Tenorion.
Hitorimisaki feat. Ruby, little moa, Tenorierie
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 23:36 | Trackbacks (0) | Comments (0) | Tweet |
Sally Soul Stew and The Fave Raves
Text and photos by Patrick Benny for Tokyo's Coolest Sound
The last show I went to in 2011, on December 28, was one organized by Sally Soul Stew, band of bassist Sally Kubota (Les 5-4-3-2-1, The Phantom Gift). I had been to their previous show last May, also held at Shinjuku Red Cloth.
The opening band was The Fave Raves, led by singer Aoyama Haruhiro. I realized only later that this band has been around for a long time, since around 1990, though they had a 9-year hiatus on the way. The band mostly covers U.S. soul classics, and the singer has a great voice and presence that's best experienced live. This time they the band was supported by soul chorus trio The Favelettes and also trumpet and saxophone, taking the audience right back to the 60's.
The Fave Raves
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 23:30 | Trackbacks (0) | Comments (0) | Tweet |
The Aprils "Magical Girls E.P." pre-release party
Text and photos by Patrick Benny for Tokyo's Coolest Sound
Last night (November 22) at Koenji High was the pre-release party for The Aprils' new CD, "Magical Girls" EP going on sale on January 11, 2012. The event was even free to go to by placing a reservation in advance on the band's website. Of course the place was packed! It was even an opportunity to buy the new CD in advance, which probably most of the audience did. The event also featured a lot of special guests and two mini-live shows, all people who collaborated to the release which consists of 4 new songs and 4 new remixes.
The Aprils got on stage right from the start, and opening with exciting brand new song "New Electric", the first track of the album, and then soon inviting the first guest, Marino, to sing her rap part on "Back To The Future Music" as she does on the album of the same name. A remix of that song is included on the new CD. She said she was wearing a dress she bought just earlier that day in Koenji (an area well known for its many secondhand clothing shops). Marino also sold tea from her brand, and she hinted being working on a new release and that she has shows being planned for February and March.
Posted on November 23, 2011 at 22:37 | Trackbacks (1) | Comments (2) | Tweet |
Dorian "studio vacation" release party, w/ Luvraw & BTB, (((sssurrounddd)))
Text and photos by Patrick Benny for Tokyo's Coolest Sound
We've been enjoying some cool autumn weather in Tokyo lately, but last Friday was a hot summer night at Shibuya WWW where was held the release party for Dorian's "studio vacation". It was my first time at WWW, a live space that opened last year, uniquely reusing a room from a movie theater with it's high ceiling and the leveled floor where used to be the seats. The event also featured (((sssurrounddd))) and Luvraw & BTB.
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 23:33 | Trackbacks (0) | Comments (0) | Tweet |
Vanilla Beans & Negicco release day in-store event
Text by Patrick for Tokyo's Coolest Sound
This week was the release of Vanilla Beans' 2nd full-length original album "Vanilla Beans II"! They are now touring several record stores around the Kantō area in a promotion rush, but it all started on release day Wednesday July 20 at Tower Records in Shibuya. A large audience of maybe some 300 or more people filled the live space located downstairs.
The stage was shared with Niigata idol trio Negicco that was also seeing a release on the same day, mini-album "Get It On" also on label T-Palette Records.
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 00:00 | Trackbacks (0) | Comments (0) | Tweet |
Continue reading in the July 2011 gig report archive.
Next entry: "Yellow Magic Orchestra U.S. shows, with Cibo Matto, Buffalo Daughter, Towa Tei" (July 23, 2011 at 20:13)
