After splitting their latest release into two albums,
[#] and
[4], which both went on sale near the end of last year,
AA=, the solo project of
The Mad Capsule Markets bassist
Takeshi Ueda, headed out on a promotional tour. The band chose to end it with this show at Ebisu LIQUIDROOM, which is sold out. It is also worth noting that
Ueda has recently begun increasing his scope as an artist even further by composing songs for idol groups, most notably the track
Gimi Choco!! for
BABYMETAL’s first album.
AA=’s other members include vocalist
Takayoshi Shirakawa, guitarist
Minoru Kojima and drummer
Nobuaki Kaneko. Their line-up is a tad different for this tour, as
ZAX from
Pay money To my Pain is on the drums instead of
Kaneko.
The hall slowly fills and the audience waits, with a screen displaying
AA=’s logo in front of them. It doesn’t take long before the hall is packed. Hardcore and dubstep is coming out of the loudspeakers, and it fades out as the hall turns dark and a whole different kind of music begins to play. The intro for the show is
Beethoven’s
Ode to Joy, though distortion and white noise slowly creep through the classical piece until they overwhelm it completely. Behind the screen the members take their places, although they can’t be seen.
The logo of the band is replaced by a clip of clouds on the screen after the distorted classical piece ends and
Drone starts. The silhouette of bassist and vocalist
Takeshi Ueda shines through the screen briefly a few times, breaking the view of the clouds for a bit. The audience is quietly watching the film, waiting for more to happen.
Ueda starts singing the first part of the song. The calm atmosphere ends abruptly when there’s a sudden break in the music. The screen falls, lights flashing through the hall, and
Takayoshi Shirakawa takes over the vocals.
The tune of
WARWARWAR starts, the audience cheers and the front rows are jumping along with the music. The heavy beat is easy to follow and makes the audience go crazy. In no time the first person starts crowd surfing, followed by several more. The fans sing—in this case, more like scream—along with the vocalist when he shouts “war”. The venue shakes under the unmistakeable power of the bass.
After a short MC
Ueda grabs his bass and they start
The Jam. Melodic lines are replaced by industrial ones. Guitarist
Minoru Kojima takes center stage and shows the audience what he’s got. This is received by fans putting their hands in the air, but another part of the audience continues headbanging along with the music.
Ueda joins the audience in headbanging.
Shirakawa shows off his rap skills in
Distrap, and this time
Ueda sings along without his bass.
Kojima jumps up and down and from side to side on this song, showing his enthusiasm for it. The band is truly an energetic one, and it shows during the concert. The audience appreciates their effort and goes wild along with them.
The next song
the Klock, which was used in the movie “Helter Skelter”, starts and gets the crowd roaring immediately. Since
AA= has two vocalists, a song like
the Klock, which sees
Shirakawa and
Ueda alternate frequently, displays the way their voices complement one another.
Ueda and
Shirakawa have common features, but important differences at the same time, and the contrast between their voices provides an interesting sound. When one does backing vocals for the other it also gives an extra kick to the songs.
The stage is deserted for a moment, colored in deep red. An ominous sound fills the venue before the beginning of
Greed starts up. The fans go wild, and in no time a few people are being carried through the hall by the audience again.
ZAX shows off his skills behind the drums during the song, and the lightshow follows the rhythm, setting more focus on him. The stage is dyed red and purple during the characteristic melody of
Greed and changes immediately to white and red when the vocals start. The white flashes blind people for a bit and the stage turns dark when the song has ended.
Red lights are switching to blue, and they begin alternating between red, white and blue.
sTEPCOde starts and the fans immediately begin thrusting their fists into the air again when
Ueda yells “Liar”. Later on
Shirakawa takes over screaming the word to the audience. A big contrast song-wise follows with
Lasts, a sweet and happy tune, but with lyrics that show a different side.
As
Lasts is a quieter song, the audience watches the show in a calmer state.
ZAX holds up his hand between drumming and the audience quickly follows his example. The smile on his face can’t be wiped out, and his relaxed and cheerful expressions reflect the atmosphere of the song perfectly. Meanwhile,
Shirakawa holds the microphone towards the audience so they can sing along. Even though the character of the song is quiet and happy, a lot happens on stage. After this a few loud songs are played, the last of them being
Kilroy was here, which contains dubstep elements. While the audience applauds and cheers the members leave the stage for a short break.
Ueda holds a small device in his hand and shows it to the audience when all of the members have returned. The device is used for the vocals and exclaims words in a robotic way.
ZAX performs interesting rhythms during the song and gets a chance to show off his skills again while the bassist holds the device up. The crowd loses it during
PRG and applaud when the song ends, silencing themselves afterwards until the next song kicks in. One of the last songs is
Working class, and it sees the stage overwhelmed by flashing red lights that change to white ones. The words “work for peace” are screamed out by the members, filling red-soaked hall.
Peace closes the concert. It’s a good choice to end the set, as the song is energetic and generates lots of interaction with the audience. The drummer claps his hands high in the air during his break before he continues rocking out again. Hands are up in the air, mimicking the band members who show the peace sign while singing and screaming the word “peace”. The instruments close the song and
Ueda thanks the audience and gives a small speech, which receives plenty of applause and cheering, before he too, the last member left, leaves the stage.
The albums
[#] and
[4] will be available worldwide on iTunes starting from March 14th.
Set List:
1. Drone
2. WARWARWAR
3. Vicousness
4. Will
5. Repeat
-MC-
6. The Jam
7. Distrap
8. the Klock
9. Greed
10. posi-Jumper
11. sTEPCOde
12. AA Equal
13. Path of the Arrow
14. Lasts
15. Humanity2
16. Freedom
17. I hate human
18. Kilroy was here
Encore
19. PRG
20. Loser
21. Working Class
22. Peace
