ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION Tour 2015 Wonder Future at Tokyo International Forum

On October 16th ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION performed a show as part of their Tour 2015 Wonder Future at the Tokyo International Forum. Tonight’s set list contains all songs from their newest album spiced up with some of their previously released hit singles.

As soon as the lights go out to mark the beginning, the crowd starts clapping and everyone is standing in front of their seats waiting for what the show will bring. On the outline of the individual raised cubical-like sets, a heartbeat line appears, followed by a soft keyboard sound and pale blue light that lights up each individual part of the stage. The crowd seems hypnotised by these tranquil sounds.

After a minute, someone in the crowd spots the band members coming on stage to take their assigned places and, as if the crowd is doused with cold water, loud clapping ensues. Slowly, the dark background gets more animated starting from where lead vocalist and guitarist Masafumi is singing, spreading its black and white colour scheme towards the rest of the members.

The artwork looks similar to the various jacket covers of the band’s albums and singles, which is no surprise since the jacket artwork artist Yusuke Nakamura is also the set designer of this tour and was asked by the band to join them on this endeavour.

The crowd quickly settles down after that and seems to be content with just watching and nodding along with the songs of the new album, which are performed without a break in between. It is when Masafumi welcomes everyone and announces the title of the new song that the crowd seems to have awoken. They start to clap along with the beat and more and more people join in with the furitsuke.

A few of the more familiar songs are played, and you can see the recognition in the crowd as the first few notes of Rewrite are heard. During the intro, there are numbers counting down towards the beginning of the song to where the beat takes off. When it does, the crowd joins the band in that energy. Massive jumping around and throwing of hands into the air occurs; almost everyone is doing something.

The audience is surprised halfway through the song when the beat changes to something more laidback and gets an almost like psychedelic ‘60s vibe to it all. During the improvisation, every band member gets his moment to show off his individual skills with his instrument and visibly enjoys himself.

You can see some members smiling at the audience as if they want to thank them for the cheering they received during their solo parts. Masafumi brings the song back on track by inviting the crowd to sing along for a few lines before the music bursts back again during the chorus.

When main guitarist Kensuke takes the lead and starts singing the songs Uso to Wonderland and Seaside Sleeping, the crowd is pleasantly surprised. The colour scheme fades from brightly coloured blocks to a moving, psychedelic pulsating background of purple, green and blue, which suits the general vibe of the song.

Just like a beacon of light Kensuke stands on his stage with a spotlight shining on him, singing to his heart’s content while trying to suppress his smile. The crowd happily cheers and nods along when he starts singing. In front of him he has a personal group of fans, the most enthusiastic cluster out of all fans, jumping around with endless energy and throwing continuous furitsuke to cheer him on.

During his short MC, he talks about how it will be their 20th anniversary as a band next year and that he’s kind of sad this tour is almost ending. After that he laughs and quickly urges the band to start the next song as he gets all embarrassed about talking about his feelings.

The show ends with an amazing encore that overwhelms the crowd. With songs like Kimi no machi de, Re:Re and Haruka kanata being played back to back, it is no wonder that the crowd goes wild. As soon as Masafumi announces Kimi no machi, loud yelling ensues and the stages fade into darkness.

The stage brightens up a little before settling into a dark scheme, reminiscent of a late summer’s eve with a purple and blue palette where the first overhead bright stars can be spotted. As the songs reach the chorus, the stages become brighter while the overhead spots functioning as stars continue to shine.

The crowd, with their harmonious furitsuke and jumping along to their favourite tune, looks like a wave rolling onto the beach. Everyone is cheering along from centre stage all the way up to the tribune in the back. When the songs slow down for the final verse the crowd joins in, loudly clapping along with the supporting keyboardist urging them along. As the song ends, the stage fades into darkness and the loudest cheering of the night can be heard.

Though it was a show to promote their latest album, plenty of old time favourites were performed as well. The reaction of the crowd to those songs really made the night a favourable occasion. A definite plus was the contributing artwork of Nakamura, which really adds to the whole ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION experience. The Japanese leg of the tour is ending but the next stop is Europe, so be sure not to miss them out when come to visit.


Setlist:

01. Easter
02. Little Lennon
03. Winner and Loser
04. Caterpillar
05. N2
06. Senseless
07. Rewrite
08. Planet of the Apes
09. Night Diving
10. Eternal Sunshine
11. Arumachi no gunjou
12. Aosora to kuroi neko
13. Prisoner in a Frame
14. Shinkokyuu
15. Ima wo Ikite
16. Uso to Wonderland
17. Seaside Sleeping
18. Signal on the Street
19. Shinseiki no Love Song
20. Neoteny
21. Travelogue
22. Standard
23. Wonder future

Encore:
24. Kimi no machi de
25. Re:Re
26. Haruka kanata
27. Korogaru iwa, kimi no asa ga furu
28. Opera Glasses