The Novembers, おとぎ話, Qomolangma Tomato

July 12th, Saitama Heaven’s Rock

I always thought that Saitama was far, far away from Tokyo, but turns out it’s pretty close, and that Heaven’s Rock is a really good live venue. Heaven’s Rock lies a couple of minutes away from Saitama Super Arena which is as the name implies a huge arena. Today’s concert was a part of Qomolangma Tomato’s “Camouflage” album release tour, and on the bill they had Otogi Banashi and The Novembers. Otogi Banashi with their charming, sweet songs didn’t fit in anywhere musically, and the band themselves were really surprised to be invited to this event, but apparently Qomolangma were big fans.


I was a bit surprised to see that The Novembers were first up. Compared to Basement Bar with it’s cramped space and awful sound Heaven’s Rock was great. Spacious, no problem seeing the stage from far behind and an excellent sound. Crisp and clear sound quality from beginning to end. We were also able to stand further behind and see almost the entire stage without any problems. It could be because Novembers fans are surprisingly short. I'm so not kidding. There's something off when I feel tall.

I like Kengo’s guitar parts in “dnim”. Like calm waves in the background of an otherwise pretty violent song. They actually played all songs off Paraphilia. Another thing I noticed was that they didn’t play anything from their first self-titled EP at all.

www.myspace.com/thenovembers11

Otogi Banashi were super charming as always. I don’t think that many people had showed up to see them there, like I mentioned earlier they didn’t quite fit in. The crazy moshing from their oneman was nowhere to be seen except for a gang of guys during “Parade”. Regardless, Otogi were smiling as always and as always introduced “Neon Boys” as “a theme song we have made especially for YOU!” They played their cover of “hoshi ni negau wo” (the Japanese version of “When You Wish Upon A Star”. Can be found on the compilation album ”Disney Rocks!”), and afterwards they took two requests from the audience. One was the aforementioned “Parade”, the other “Classic” if I remember correctly. I guess I should mention that at concerts in Norway there’s always someone yelling requests during the show, but in Japan no one ever does that. It’s nice to not have to listen to some idiot who won’t take a hint who yell’s between every single song. And it’s even nicer when the bands ask the audience what they want to hear. Before one of the last songs vocalist Arima started playing a bit from the Pixies – “Where Is My Mind?”! Full cover next time, please!

www.myspace.com/otgbanashi



I listened to Qomolangma Tomato on Myspace some time ago, but I didn’t like them very much. Live however they pretty cool. I realize that this happens to me way too often… What I discovered live that I hadn’t realised before was that they have a killer drummer, a fairly cool guitarist and interesting vocals. I’m not sure I’d go as far as to call it rap, more like talking-ish? Not spoken word though (lord no). Let's just call it rap. Their sound is raw and energetic, and they have some good tunes.

Ironically, although this was the “Camouflage” tour their 3rd album, I’ve come to like the first album 「チョモと僕は柵の中」("chomo to boku ha shigarami no naka") a lot more. Especially the two tracks below are cool. On "Camouflage" the songs are more down-tempo and there's more singing. Quite frankly this guy isn't a great singer at all, and his way more awesome when he's energetic and screaming rather than sensible and dull. Obviously.

Towards the end the drummer says "You know, by coming here tonight you've missed out on Gackt who played at Saitama Super Arena tonight." Oh the loss.

Qomolangma Tomato - Through Your Reality
Qomolangma Tomato - Shoutengai

www.myspace.com/qomolangmatomato
http://www.qomolangmatomato.com/

おとぎ話－青春GALAXY ep + tour

tracklist:
1. GALAXY
2. 青春 (seishun)
3. you
4. 火星 (Mars)

New EP from Otogi Banashi called "seishun GALAXY ep". They truly seem like the nicest people in the world, and they're so adorable in their own nerdy way. Add catchy melodies, cool guitars, lovely lyrics and what more can you ask for? I think Otogi Banashi are a band that you either think are incredibly charming or just they're downright lame though. I'm obviously in the first category.

(photo taken from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/otgbanashi/)

Otogi Banashi played a oneman show at Club Quattro, Shibuya on May 31st. Vocalist Kazuki Arima was wearing glitter on his cheeks. Apparently he had been watching Sigur Rós on YouTube and became inspired. It looked more goofy than cool. Did I mention that they're nerdy? It was a really nice concert though. Great vibe throughout the entire set. I especially enjoyed "new song", "NEON BOYS", "FESTIVAL EXPRESS" and "tobira akeru".





mp3:
おとぎ話 - BOYS DON'T CRY
おとぎ話 - ネオンBOYS
おとぎ話 - 火星 (Mars)

www.otgbanashi.com/
www.myspace.com/otgbanashi

Space Shower 列伝

February 26th, Shinjuku LOFT

Space Shower is a music tv channel I sort of wish I had, but unfortunately. They host an event called "Space Shower retsuden". The bands performed on two separate stages at LOFT, the bar stage was so small that it was hard to get a good view of the stage, let alone be able to enter the room because it was packed with people. Fortunately they had set up a big screen and a couple of tv screens where all the performances from the bar stage were shown. Both bands I wanted to see performed at the main stage, so I was happy that I didn't have to run back and forth between stages. The bad part was that the bands only played for 25-30 minutes each.

おとぎ話. Otogi banashi opened. The band name literally means "fairy tale", and they're incredibly charming and sweet. I think their dream would be to play during the 60's with lots of screaming girls in the front rows. Arima is the sweet and funny vocalist, while Ushio is the cool guitarist. They're all super genki and a bit quirky too. I love the song "Neon Boys". Whenever I hear it it's impossible not to become in a good mood. They played a couple of new songs as well, which were also really nice.


andymori. Andymori is a young and energetic band, but it seemed like they still have a little while to go. The vocals are really quick, and sounds interesting on record, but a bit messy when done live. I'm not sure about the lyrical content either. One song had the theme "if I was a white guy...". They had a lot of energy, but in the end it became a bit frenetic and I lost interest.
Ogre You Asshole. Ogre probably did the shortest set of all the bands today:

Coinlaundry
Flag
Pinhole -new single-
Advantage
Lambda Lambda Lambda
hitori nori

They played their new single "Pinhole". It was pretty up-tempo, but melodious, and kind of had the same feel to it as "shiranai aizu shiraseru ko", but more playful. With the release of the new single they're switching to a major label. I'm not sure how much change is involved with that (other than their income), but here's hoping there won't be any big changes.

It disappointed me that they didn't play any other songs from the latest mini album other than "hitorinori". Instead they played it safe by doing "Coinlaundry", "Flag" and "Advantage", songs they almost always do. I have a feeling that "hitori nori" has become part of that group of songs too. When you play at an event where there's many people who's unfamiliar with your music it's of course safer to do that, but personally I'd like to hear all kinds of different songs from their discography.

Manabu didn't say much today, but I could tell that he tried to be a bit more open towards the audience. No hiding behind his hair anymore. I read in an interview that they now wanted to improve their live performances and connect more with the audience. I guess that's a good thing, but personally I've never had any problems with their past live shows. I'd like to see the crowd wake up for once though.

つしまみれ。tsushimamire is a band who frankly I don't get at all. People were going crazy in front of the bar stage, so I watched the show at the screens in the other room instead. What annoyed me the most was the leadsingers whiny, shrill voice who sounded awful, both when singing and talking/screaming. 「準備はよろしいでしょうか？！」And when she first started talking she went on and on forever. When they finally started playing again it didn't sound any better, and I was glad when it was over.

www.myspace.com/otgbanashi
www.myspace.com/andymori
www.myspace.com/ogreyouassholemusic
www.myspace.com/tsushimamirejp

I didn't see the last band, The Bawdies, because I left to catch the last train instead, but they're featured on Myx this month.

「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":