The Novembers vs 6eyes

February 21st, Basement Bar shimokitazawa

Basement Bar was tiny and crowded, but somehow I managed to get a perfect view from standing at the very back leaned against the wall. A rare moment for someone who's 160cm tall. Tonight was a 2-man (ie only two bands playing, ne). I had no idea which band was going to play first, and I did not want to stand in the front during 6eyes (more about that later). Turned out though, that there was an opening act as well.

Five guys in white shirts entered the stage, and it sure as hell were neither Novembers or 6eyes. At first I was convinced that they said "Christmas" when they introduced themselves (which would have been strange - and off season), but it was CLISMS. I recognized two off the members instantly as they were in fact the drummer and the guitarist from Otogi Banashi! I had no idea they played in a different band as well. They played sort of sixties(?)-inspired rock with simple vocals. Not exactly my cup of tea, but enjoyable. Kenta Ushio (from Otogi) is pretty great on guitar.

I was still uncertain about who was up next when the Novembers entered the stage for soundcheck. First thing that caught my attention: Vocalist Yusuke Kobayashi's blonde hair. It's not unusual for people to colour their hair (although now that I think about it I can't come up with a single person in a japanese indierock band who has), but Yusuke certainly does stand out. Before he usually would make his hair huge and fluffy and bird-nesty. I didn't see the link before, but he does love the Cure, so it might be slightly inspired by Robert Smith (minus the make-up). When I saw the Novembers in January it was colored brown, and as my friend predicted now it was blonde. And with the usual do, he looked like some kind of 80's poodle rocker. Lovely.

Anyways, I love watching the Novembers live. Both guitarists and the bassist are rocking out and headbanging like this is the last show they'll ever play, and it's incredible to watch. You can never see their faces, because their hair is always covering it, and frankly I don't think they mind not being able to see the crowd or vice versa. They're certainly introverted, but it suits their music. Shoegaze-inspired rock with emovocals and twisted lyrics. They also have catchy melodies, but live I think it's all about making a lot of noise. Especially the title track off their first album "picnic", last song on the album and last during tonight's set. It starts calm and then builds up towards the amazing final. Love it. Last time I saw them Yusuke hurt his leg and blood started gushing from his hand. This time it ended less dramatic, but the energy level was still pretty high. They played a couple of new tracks as well from their upcoming mini-album "paraphilia" due to be released on March 18th.

I saw 6eyes at a club event before Christmas and quite frankly I thought they were awful. I was going to give them a chance, but when you open with a cover of Michael Jackson's "Thriller".... They play rock/punk your supposed to dance to, but there was little in me that felt like dancing when I heard their dull, dull music.

Ahem, anyways, being the open person that I am I decided to give them another chance. Musically they didn't strike me as interesting this time either, but the vocalist was kind of entertaining. And a bit scary. He jumped into the crowd several times, and started passing the mic around. Thank God I was standing in the back. He also grabbed a water bottle from the stage and said: "I think this originally belonged to the vocalist of the Novembers. I'll take 3000yen for that afterwards". Funny! (the Novembers who said during their set that they loved 6eyes were nowhere to be seen)

They ended the show with their 大hit, which title escapes me, but I actually recognized it.

www.myspace.com/clisms

www.myspace.com/thenovembers11

www.myspace.com/6eyesdots

Marvins Revolt, LITE ++

February 13th, O-Nest Shibuya

At first I was mostly keen on seeing LITE live, but when I saw that they were touring with a Danish band I had to ckeck them out too. Can't say that I've heard much about Marvins Revolt before, but my interest in Scandinavian music is mostly limited to the Swedish music scene (why are they so much better than the rest of us?). Anyways, it turned out to be a good night. They were a couple of other bands on the bill as well:

deepsea drive machine. They had a pretty nice sound. Sort of epic and dynamic with lots of electro sounds. Reminded me a bit of Supercar (can't say I'm too fond of them though).

LITE. Energetic rock music, with awesome dynamics. No vocals, and I don't think they need it either. Some of the songs reminded of Battles' more guitarbased tracks. Pretty cool. The bassist was awesome. I like it when the bands make a bit more of themselves rather than just standing there. On that note...

kamomekamome. Wtf? The vocalist enters the stage covering his head and body in a huge white scarf/blanket, does some metal screams in the mic, takes it off and starts doing dance moves that sort of indicated that he might have a second job as a proffesional dancer in an entirely different genre, and then he does sign language. I'm not qualified to say whether it was real sign language or just made up, but it looked authentic enough to me. In other words this guy was not your average rock band vocalist. But by all means. The music itself wasn't that exciting, but it sure as hell wasn't boring too watch.

the Spook of the Thirteenth Lock. More and more people had gathered in front of the stage during the other bands' performance, but when the first non-japanese band went on stage everyone went hiding in the back of the room. Spook plays a mix between traditional Irish music and rock. Not really like Flogging Molly, but I couldn't help but think of them. I don't like Flogging Molly though. Anyways. Spook's intro dragged on forever. I guess having no interest in the traditional bits didn't help much. The rock parts were a bit more interesting, but in the end I didn't find their sound very appealing. I think it's one of those cases where you either love it or hate it.

However, in the two last songs, the vocalist switched out guitar for banjo, and suddenly it became a lot more fun. Unfortunately it was over by then. Kudos to the drummer for walking up to the mic trying to speak japanese that he had written on a a little note: "konbanwa. yoroshiku onegaishimasu. nihon ni kitara, sugu ni............ganbarimasu!" It was cute.

Marvins Revolt. As people were still hiding in the back the vocalist actually asked people to come closer to the stage, and it worked. They pulled off a really good show. The entire band were full of energy and the post-punk music they play is both enjoyable and danceable. Their first album "Killec" was released in Japan before Christmas. They did all eight tracks off of that one plus a new song as well, but after that it was over. "We're sorry, but we don't have any more songs." Nice one. A short set, but a good one.

www.myspace.com/liteband

www.myspace.com/marvinsrevolt

Death Cab for Cutie japan tour!

February 14th, Tokyo Studio Coast

It's been less than a year since I last saw Death Cab live, but it sure felt like a long time. Last time was in Sweden at the Arvika Festival. They were one of the headliners ie they played at the biggest stage and people were going crazy in the front. It was incredibly uncomfortable, so I moved further back where I could hardly see anything. Bummer.
This time however, I was just able to get the last spot at the front row where I did not only have a perfect view, but the crowd was fairly calm as well. Perfect circumstances, but did the band deliver? Of course.

Opening act was the japanese band Straightener. As DCFC have been labelled emotional rock, they sort of fit in the same category. The guitars weren't half bad, but the vocals and piano were more leaning towards straight-forward pop/rock. Especially the vocals kind of turned me off. Add to the fact that some of the songs were attempted to be sung in English, which basically means that it was nearly impossible to hear what was actually sung (except for simple frases like the chorus line "strike me with lightning"), and ultimately it became uninteresting. They only played for about 30 minutes though, although they seem to have quite a few songs in their back catalogue.

Immediately after they finished twelve people rushed on stage and started carrying out equipment faster than you can say "efficiency", and 20 minutes later the stage was ready for Death Cab. I've never seen anyone work that fast on a stage in Norway, especially not when there's only two bands on the bill. Of course it was better like this rather than waiting for one and a half hour while your being squeesed to pieces by the hungry crowd. Bless you, Japan.

Death Cab opened with "Bixby Canyon Bridge". The build-up towards the end works perfectly in a live setting, and it sort of set the standard for the rest of the concert. Studio Coast is not the best livehouse soundwise. In spite of being such a big place, the sound seems quite small, but luckily it wasn't half bad in the front. And for some reason I could hear Chris Walla's guitar incredibly well. The clear guitar sound made the impact even more raw than what I've seen before, and made songs like "Long Division", "the New Year", "I Will Possess Your Heart" and aforementioned opening track sound even more grandeur. In others words it was awesome. I guess the tracks off the latest album is more suited for a bigger format. It was an energetic show throughout the entire time though. I also have to add that Jason McGerr's drumming is impeccable.

They also played "Cath" and "Grapevine Fires" from Narrow Stairs. Personally I was hoping that they would also play a good number of tracks from their first albums, and sure enough, they played "Title Track" and "Company Calls" from We Have the Facts.. along with "Why'd You Want to Live Here" and "A Movie Script Ending" from the Photo Album. Their debut album Something About Airplanes was re-released last year, and they actually played two tracks off of it too.

They did all three singles from Plans. Fun fact of the day: During "Soul Meets Body" Chris Walla was on piano, and right in the middle of the song he added the piano part from Tegan and Sara's "Back In Your Head" (Walla produced their latest album the Con). He only played it once, but I'm 100% sure it was that one. Amusing.

They closed with "Transatlantisicm". I couldn't help but to be moved under that song (no tears though, mind you). It's truly a beautiful song. Enough said.

Admittedly I would have liked to hear songs like "Photobooth" and "No Sunlight" (which I know that they did in Nagoya and Osaka), but I guess you can't please everyone. I wouldn't have minded if they played for three hours though, and added "405", "What Sarah Said", "We Looked Like Giants", anything from Photo Album, some covers, Postal Service, Chris Walla's solo, Ben Gibbard covering Backstreet Boys...ahem. Anyways, it was a fantastic show.

http://www.deathcabforcutie.com/

Straightener's myspace: http://www.myspace.com/straightenerofficial

Lastly, this is a bit unrelated, but bassist Nick Harmer posted some stuff from Japan in his blog. Among other things he bought a gold suit at Tokyu Hands which has resulted in some funny pics.

I quote: "If you visit Japan and skip Tokyu Hands, I’d argue you missed Japan."

Read it here: http://colonycollapse.wordpress.com/

「トキメキNight! vol.3」

February 4th, Shibuya Home

Tonight's event was called "tokimeki Night! vol.3 folk jamboree #1". Headliner was 曽我部恵一(sokabe keiichi), and he had invited some friends as well. It was my first time at Shibuya Home. The place was tiny and packed, somewhere between 100 and 150 people, I guess. I usually like standing in the front, but tonight's acts were all acoustic, which usually happens in a more quiet setting, so I grabbed one of the few barstools by the wall instead. I'm glad I did, becasue I probably wouldn't have been able to see much otherwise.

First up was 上野智文(ueno tomofumi) & CCC band. Ueno usually plays guitar with Sokabe, but he also works at Sokabe's café in Shimokitazawa called City Country City. That's where the CCC band also origins from, and I believe the other two in the band also works at the café. (it's a lovely place btw, and Ueno makes great pasta!) The songs they played were poppy and cheerful and I could almost feel that nice campfire feeling (minus the cheesy parts, mind you). The set ended with 「海の向こうで」(umi no mukou de) which is also on Sokabe Keiichi Band's album "Kira kira!".

Next up was 島津田四郎(shimazu tashiro) who's on Sokabe's label, Rose Records. He played these quirky and funny folk songs. Apparently he will release his second album this summer. He also played a track from his first album, which was a lot more mellow than the others, and where you could hear that he actually has a great singing voice too. There's this cool video here, where he sings with Sokabe:


Next up was 有馬和樹(arima kazuki) from おとぎ話(otogi banashi). Although it was announced as a solo set he did play together with Otogi Banashi's guitarist 牛尾健太(ushio kenta). They played some new songs, some from the latest album, and a couple I didn't know. I only have the latest 「理由なき反抗」("rebel without a cause"), but I need to get the first album too, because they really know how to write charming pop tunes.

This music video pretty much sums it up:


"Neon Boys" is a happy-fun-song too:

www.myspace.com/otgbanashi

Sokabe keiichi was up last. I've seen him play with the band a few times now, but this was my first tme seeing him play solo. The first thing that struck was how incredibly tired he looked though. At sokaban gigs they're all so energetic and happy. All of a sudden he was more calm and uhm, not smiling. The atmosphere was completely different, and the songs sounded more emotional and beautiful. He has a great voice too, although I reckon it has changed a bit since his Sunny Day Service days. I have two of his solo albums, "Blue" and "Love City", but I realize that I need to get more of those too.

Towards the end Sokabe called out Arima. Arima spoke of how he discovered Sunny Day Service when he was in high school, and that he really loved the album "24ji". After that Sokabe and Arima played 「月光荘」(gekkou sou) from that album together! Finally that big smile came on Sokabe's face, and Arima seriously looked like the happiest person alive. It was kind of a touching moment.

For the encore Sokabe was joined by Ueno, and they played "Stars". Sokaban always plays it at the end of the set or as the encore. It's a great ending song, I think.

Go to Sokabe's live blog for pic's and setlist: http://d.hatena.ne.jp/live-sokabe/20090204

After the show I bought Sokabe Keiichi Band's new single 「ほし」(hoshi). The sound is different from the other sokaban tracks, and it leans more towards his solo stuff. I like it a lot. By now you've probably realized that it's been impossible for me to be critical about anything this time around, but seriously, shows like this one is the reason why I love going to concerts.

Here's the music video for "Hoshi":

マヒルノ MAHIRUNO

The more I listen to this band, the more I'm convinced that they're awesome. They were actually the secret guest band who played at Nest Festival last year. I didn't make that much of them at the time, but since then they've released their 1st mini album 「辺境のサーカス」(Circus In Frontier) which is pretty great.

They have 3 songs up on their Myspace. My current favourite is "composision, see-saw & lost child".

www.myspace.com/mahiruno