VISUAL JAPAN SUMMIT 2016 was held from October 14th to 16th at Makuhari Messe Convention Center. Numerous rock bands including
LUNA SEA and
GLAY gathered under the leadership of
X JAPAN. Over 100,000 fans attended the historic three-day event; the biggest visual kei rock festival ever in the genre’s almost 30-year history. On the second day, 21 bands including the legendary
hide with Spread Beaver rocked a capacity crowd of 35,000 fans from 9:00am to 11:00pm.
Three stages were built at the convention center for the event: the main SUMMIT STAGE, as well as the VISUAL STAGE and JAPAN STAGE.
TATSURO from
MUCC and
George from
LADIESROOM appeared as MCs on the VISUAL STAGE and declared the festival open.
George, who’s one of the Japanese rock scene’s toughest veterans, kindly advised fans to ensure they drank enough water to survive and enjoy such a long event.
VALS - VISUAL STAGE
The first band,
VALS, got the event off to an energetic start. The visual kei rock band with two dancers introduced a new style of the genre to the crowd. The dancers
Nao10 and
KEIN moved in unison and sometimes stole the spotlight with rap interludes. Vocalist
Rio fired up the crowd with his powerful vocals while the dancers jumped and span around him. During
Tsukiakari, the vocalist himself wowed the audience by joining in with the pair’s steps.
ASH DA HERO - JAPAN STAGE
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The second artist
ASH DA HERO appeared on the JAPAN STAGE. This audacious rookie seemed to know what it takes to get to the top of rock scene.
ASH thanked
YOSHIKI, the leader of
X JAPAN, for allowing an artist from a different musical genre to perform and went on to say “I came here to get you!”
ASH’s powerful rumbling vocal made a strong impact on the crowd during the hard rock number
Hankou seimei.
ASH asked attendees to raise their middle fingers and sing along with him during the song, leaving his mark on this historic day with his rebellious charisma.
FEST VAINQUEUR - VISUAL STAGE
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The third band, Osakans
FEST VAINQUEUR, took over the VISUAL STAGE. The band members were dressed in the outfits featuring colorful designs of Japanese kimono. The glittering fashion style for their new song
Higanbana –oiran douchu- represented well the androgynous glamor of visual kei. Vocalist
HAL expressed the concept of their new song
WA by elegantly swaying with a folding fan in hand. His high-tone voice and the infectious sweetness of the song’s melody left the crowd spellbound.
The band also wowed those present with a melodic metal song
Gendaiteki giwakutoshi “DOUBT!”. The band’s fans also surprised the crowd with their relentless headbanging. The band’s playfulness shone through in the last song
NANIWA SAMBA, which features a samba rhythm and lyrics in Osaka dialect. “Get some Ame chan!” shouted
HAL as he threw candies to the crowd during the song.
GRIEVA - JAPAN STAGE
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The fourth band
GRIEVA, self-proclaimed “successors of good old visual kei”, emerged on the JAPAN STAGE. The band’s dark and gothic looks completely changed the venue’s atmosphere. The vocalist
kyouki provoked fans to shout out “Kill!” during the first song
Jiko seisin satsugai suisin kai.
kyouki swung his head around as if he was possessed while the rest of members blasted the crowd with heavy sounds. The singer’s shouts and growls cast darkness and lunacy upon those assembled during
Shitou -from GRIEVA- while the three guitarists swung their heads around together. With a sense of foreboding and an aggressive yet nostalgic song melody,
GRIEVA closed their set with
Dead[en]D.
Aldious - VISUAL STAGE
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The fifth act, all-female heavy metal band
Aldious, stood on the VISUAL STAGE. The band made a bold choice to start their set with the melancholic ballad
Kikka. Vocalist
Re:NO’s haunting voice floated out from the stage as the crowd stood still in silence. Gothic metal song
Sweet Temptation followed.
Re:NO gracefully swayed amid the thunderous drum beat and tapping guitar sounds.
Aldious completely owned the VISUAL STAGE with the melodic power metal song
Dominator. The band expressed their strength via their howling guitars and high-velocity of drum beats. The women headbanged together during the song and their intensity left the crowd with a sense of amazement.
Matenrou Opera - JAPAN STAGE
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The crowd moved to the JAPAN STAGE for the sixth band
Matenrou Opera. The group’s signature style of dynamic stage performance was already at its best from the opening song
BURNING SOUL. Vocalist
sono projected his voice with all his might and passion in the midst of a symphonic metal song.
ayame’s keyboard solo enhanced the song’s majesty and led crowd to pump their fists. “Please don’t worry about your necks because this is a festival!”
sono told fans before introducing a cover of
X JAPAN’s
Kurenai.
“Kurenai da!”
sono’s bone-chilling high-tone voice electrified the crowd. The song’s famous guitar intro was followed by
yu’s precise yet beastly drum beat. He and bassist
yo orchestrated this classical visual rock song. The band’s ardent playing thrilled the crowd until the last song
PHOENIX. Veins on
sono’s throat stood out while he let rip his soaring vocals.
A9 - SUMMIT STAGE
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Later, the two MCs appeared on the SUMMIT STAGE to introduce
A9. “Do you want to see some handsome guys!?” asked
TATSURO to loud cheering. The band members, all clad in white, started with
Senkou. The sweet look and voice of
Shou melted ladies’ hearts during a catchy rock song. With their twelve years’ experience, the band knew how to liven up the big venue. Their two guitarists freely moved around the stage during the pop-rock song
SHINING.
“We are
A9. We actually invented the ‘A-Jump’ out of our respect for the ‘X-Jump’ for the next song
RAINBOWS. Please jump and make the ‘A’ sign during the chorus,”
Shou instructed the crowd. Even those who were seeing the band for the first time jumped up with their fingertips touched over their heads. Later, the grand scale unified the big venue during their last song
the beautiful name. The crowd sang along with the band as the lyrics appeared on the stage screens.
A9 brought a sense of oneness to the festival.
defspiral - VISUAL STAGE
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The next band
defspiral consisted of former members of
TRANSTIC NERVE and
the Underneath. Bassist
RYO, vocalist
TAKA, guitarist
MASATO, and drummer
MASAKI, whose talents were once recognized by
hide, took their respective positions on the VISUAL STAGE. 18 years after the fateful encounter with the immortal legend, the band was booked on the same day as
hide with Spread Beaver.
TAKA’s deep masculine vocal started
VOYAGE. “Let’s dance” said
TAKA before
MASQUERADE. During the song, the edgy guitar riffs and groovy bass line had the audience swaying with the vocalist. To close their set on this special day of reunion,
defspiral gave a heartfelt performance of
ESTRELLA, whose title means star in Spanish.
The THIRTEEN - JAPAN STAGE
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The artists to perform ninth were
The THIRTEEN, a unit composed of vocalist
Mao and guitarist
Mizuki from the rock band
Sadie, which is now on hiatus. As they stepped out on the JAPAN STAGE,
Mao held a vinyl copy of
X JAPAN’s album
Vanishing Vision high above his head. “
X JAPAN inspired me to pursue my goal to be a musician. I am happy to be able to perform at this event.”
The THIRTEEN started off by playing their first single
LIAR.LIAR..
The duo rocked out with
Mao’s frenzied growls and
Mizuki’s heavy guitar sound. Their enthusiastic performance was met with singing along from the crowd. The ruthless aggression onstage moved the audience to headbanging and shouting out during
CHAINSAW and
13's BLOOD. Later,
Mao asked the crowd to make a wish of his come true. “Please shout ‘
THIRTEEN!’ after I say ‘We are!’” Much to his delight, the crowd went along with this modified version of
X JAPAN’s famous call-and-response, and
Mao’s wish was fulfilled at
VISUAL JAPAN SUMMIT 2016.
Plastic Tree - SUMMIT STAGE
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Plastic Tree, who will celebrate the 20th anniversary of their major debut in 2017, was the second band to perform on the SUMMIT STAGE. Vocalist
Arimura Ryutaro, guitarist
Nakayama Akira, bassist
Hasegawa Tadashi, and drummer
Sato Kenken took their respective positions. Starting their set with
Irogoto, the vibrations of the bass strings were soon joined by the ensemble of drums and guitar sounds.
Arimura’s sung a song of intimacy with his soft, transparent voice while he relentlessly stroked his guitar. The speed and intensity of the band’s sound increased during
Melancholic.
This aggressive playing continued into
Arimura’s poetic monologue in the ensuing
Fukurou. “Makuhari! Jump and dance!”
Arimura,
Nakayama and
Hasegawa enjoyed letting go of themselves in
Mime. “It’s been an honor for us to be here”, said the vocalist before the last song
Kuuchu Blanco. Singing in his sweet voice while he gracefully moved his arms,
Arimura’s actions expressed hope and fragility. This, his bandmates’ playing, and images of a circus projected on the stage screens created a fantastic ambience and was met with a great ovation.
Read VISUAL JAPAN SUMMIT 2016 Day 2: Part 2 at
http://www.jame-world.com/us/articles-123338-visual-japan-summit-2016-day-2-part-2.html.
Read VISUAL JAPAN SUMMIT 2016 Day 2: Part 3 at
http://www.jame-world.com/us/articles-123483-visual-japan-summit-2016-day-2-part-3.html.
