Sendai Kamotsu live report

Sendai Kamotsu's concert at the outdoor arena in a park in Hibiya was heralded by numerous costumed fans, most in the red jumpsuits characteristic of the band. The fans all appeared to be fairly young in age as they eagerly gathered for the Sunday show.

Before the band came on stage, one could hear heroic movie-style music being played from the speakers while the roadies ran around the stage wearing the same red jumpsuits that so charmingly say "What the fuck didn't you know we are gay" on the back. The arena itself was mostly made of stone so when it started to get dark, the waiting got a bit chilly. However, when the band came on, greeted by loud cheers and applause from the audience, the cold was soon forgotten. Giga flare, Wan Chen Chen, Satty and Fullface were wearing their school-uniform inspired costumes from the latest music video, Gay school otokogumi!!, while KURIHARA had his usual mask with a big red mouthpiece-tube and Chiba was wearing an Egyptian-farao inspired headpiece, his make-up in its usual crazy style with some Egyptian influences, and very little else.

They opened their set with Gay school otokogumi!! and Chiba immediately started dancing like a maniac. Saturday night gay bar continued on in the same style and the oily bodybuilders wearing small panties, sunglasses, and head scarves, who were to become a staple in the show, made their first appearance. The mood among the audience was elated and and people moved in unison to the music.

Sendai Kamotsu's music is generally very fun and Chiba encouraged the audience to participate a lot, which they seemed more than happy to do. During Kuririn Manson the audience was headbanging in-sync together, and KURIHARA came sneaking out spewing smoke at the audience with the big tube on his mouth. Pictures and videos suited to the music of the moment were played on large screens behind the band, adding to the mood. Chiba continued to encourage the fans to join him in his antics; one such moment coming during Country Boy where, after dancing with Fullface, he pulled some audience members up on stage to dance with them as well. They finished with the catchy Kamisama mousukoshidake and shiny plastic strips flew over the audience and people sang merrily along.

After plenty of screaming for "one more gay" from the audience, the band finally returned to the stage. Half the band had now changed to their red jumpsuits and the others were wearing white tour t-shirts. Chiba brought a big tube that he put tour-towels in and shot out towards the audience to the crowd's wild enthusiasm. The others also threw instrument picks and water bottles at the audience.

Sendai Kamotsu played their 'gay' theme all out with a tongue-in-cheek seriousness, Chiba especially flirting with the other members and even offering his body to Wan Chen Chen who kicked him every time. Their MCs also had the crowd in stitches and Chiba's joking often had his fellow bandmates literally falling down laughing. The fake golden snake wrapped around him also got to 'say' a few words, most of which seemed to be related, unsurprisingly, to male anatomy.

The mood was high during the entire show, and both the band and the audience were energic and happy. They are really talented musicians and the music transfers well from CD to live performance; it is extremely easy to argue that the music is even more fun live. Sendai Kamotsu is an experience that's hard to describe, but their show is definitiely one of a kind and worth checking out if you get the chance.

Set list

1. Gay school otokogumi!!
2. Saturday Night Gay Bar
3. Triple NEET
-MC-
4. Saipan
5. Kimuchi
6. Cheng-cheng's love story
-MC-
7. Over the Gaynbow
8. Ryusuke Santa Monica
9. Kuririn Manson
10. Afghanism
-MC-
11. Country Boy
12. Samba de Carry on!
-MC-
13. Okuru Kotoba
14. Kamisama mousukoshidake

Encore 1. Otokotachi no Banka
-MC-
Encore 2. Chibaism