Live report of the Underneath at Yokohama Baysis

The rather small hall Yokohama BAYSIS was full to the very back, since the three-man with girugamesh and DuelJewel was sold out, with both girls and boys, wearing T-shirts or holding towels of their favorite bands, among which many the Underneath fans could be seen.

The Underneath were the evening’s first act and as the lights went off and the starting music played, the fans, including a considerable number of people at the back, clapped with excitement. The members went out onto the stage one by one dressed in rather simple but elegant dark outfits, greeting and exciting the fans that screamed their names loudly. Finally the front man TAKA came out on stage and after shouting to the audience to have fun, the band kicked off with MARIE, strong vocals shaking the hot air of the live house. Although having troubles moving in a packed hall, the public beat their fists and head banged to the intense sound of this song, that switched between hard and more melodic parts. The stage was rather low and the drum set was not elevated so the back rows had troubles seeing some of the members, however this did not stop them from enjoying the live with all their might. The band itself was at first rather calm on the small stage, concentrating on the musical performance, MASATO could be seen head banging and TAL made some eye-contact with the fans, but most attention was concentrated on the charismatic TAKA, who pierced the hall with his sharp eyes. He screamed, greeting Yokohama, and asked the audience to enjoy themselves more, starting another heavy song, GETTING CLOSER. The members shook their fists, and the audience followed their example, screaming on top of their voices. More movement could be seen on stage, as TAKA removed his microphone stand and moved around the stage more freely. TAL and RYO sang along, making eye-contact with the audience, who waved their hands to the uneven beats of the song and clapped all together in other parts, moving simultaneously as parts of one big machine.

The members once again egged on the audience, the lively TAL stepping up and urging the fans to scream. GEKKOH started with hard riffs, members banging their heads half-heartedly, then turned into a more quiet, melodic and catchy tune with a strong emphasis on RYO’s skillful bass lines. Thanking the audience, the band made a short break, in which the fans screamed the names of the members loudly. The following song was a rather heavy, but more slow-paced FALL with a mix of hard riffs and melodic verses, and the symphonic atmosphere was kept undisturbed by the silent crowd. TAKA’s soft voice had a certain hoarseness that made it sound mature and attractive, and his movements were very elegant and gracious, creating a very unique charm. ALONE TOGETHER was another melodic, flowing song, in which TAL seemed to be more in the spotlight, making a lot of contact with the audience, and as TAKA moved from one side of the stage to another toward the audience stretching their arms towards him.

During the MC, TAKA greeted and thanked the audience again, and talked about envying the crazy tour of girugamesh, whose event they were participating in. He then invited the public to see their end of year one-man, which is to take place on 27th of December in Shinjuku LOFT. Firing the audience up once again, the band continued with more of the louder, upbeat songs, starting with the aggressive, heavy but somewhat fresh and catchy FAT FATTY FUCKIN’ PIGS. All the front members bounced around and changed places, then came to the edge of the stage in a sort of heat-up intermission, hovering over the excited crowd shaking their fists and encouraging the public to move more, scream and clap their hands. The band was so busy interacting with the fans that only MASAKI was left playing his part properly, and TAKA and TAL took turns to scream their hearts out into their microphones, as the crowd went wild. Last was another harder contrasting song BITE THE BULLET, to which the audience jumped up into the air energetically, occasionally head banging, and the members switched places, while TAKA bounced all over the stage. The live ended on a very energetic high point with both the band and the audience looking happily tired after having jumped around so violently. Penetrating the darkness with one of his fierce glances, TAKA screamed a farewell to the audience and one by one the satisfied members waved their hands and left the stage as the fans screamed.

It was certainly an enjoyable performance for both fans of the band and the audience who came to see other bands, both the music and the show of these talented musicians was impressive and very enjoyable. Seeing them perform in a small live house like BAYSIS makes one think that the Underneath belong in a much bigger hall - the professionalism and the amount of energy this mature band possessed was overwhelming.


Set list:

MARIE
GETTING CLOSER

GEKKOH

FALL
ALONE TOGETHER
-MC-
FAT FATTY FUCKIN’ PIGS
BITE THE BULLET