MONORAL at Shibuya O-EAST

This year MONORAL held their 8th annual Halloween party in Shibuya O-EAST, attracting a variety of people who were either really dressed up or wearing various folk costumes. In the background American rock music was played as colorful lights shone like stars through a thin curtain where an organ could be heard playing which created quite a Halloween mood. When the sound effects gradually got louder and Anis’ voice began reverberating throughout the venue, fans clapped and cheered. Then, the curtain on stage was removed revealing band members who were wearing Halloween costumes. With this the audience’s cheering turned into screams of delight.

The image behind this Halloween party was a circus. Anis wore a white unicorn costume; Ali the bassist, wore a Joker costume; guitarist Akira was a doll; guitarist Mikio seemed more like an alien but was actually a worm; and drummer Daigo was a clown. The stage was decorated with colorful lights hanging from the ceiling with a red curtain as a backdrop giving the feeling that we were all in a circus tent.

The live started with a grand guitar rock song Like you and the audience raised their hands and jumped to the music. In Pocketful of joy, the audience clapped and did call and response with the drums. "Welcome! So many of you came here tonight. Don't hurry today because this is our last one-man live this year! I can’t really move that well because I'm wearing such a tight costume, but you guys move for me!" said Anis in his cute and humorous MC. Anis asked the audience, "Is it Tuesday today?" then Tuesday started, and the audience clapped their hands to the music. Visions in my head started with edgy guitar sounds, and fans moved freely, surrendering to their catchy melodies and comfortable groove. Healthy Sick Bastard was a large scale rock song in which low bass and bass drums sounded. The following song, Let me in produced a mysterious mood through digitally enhanced guitar sounds, and the vibrating voice of Anis was very dramatic. The drums and guitar joined in with miraculously good timing, then Costa Rica started. Next a sad slow ballad Nothing more Nothing less and bright middle tune rock Safira were played. In MONORAL's music, each instrument manages to keep a good distance from the other, however work well together in showing off one another’s good points.

About half way through the live MONORAL announced that their new album Via (in which they spent 1 year in the production for) will be released on October 29th, and that they'll do a Latin America tour this December, to which the audience gave a big round of applause. Then the later half of the live started with a slow ballad, Kiri. Clear guitar sounds by Akira were scattered on Anis’ beautiful vocals. In the upbeat tune of Perfect Gold, the audience clapped and did call and response with band members and they jumped all together in the main melody. In an upbeat minor tune Weird kind of swings, Ali’s low bass sounds and Anis, who sang with a loudspeaker, produced a curious mood. In a bright upbeat song Shenanigans, members stirred fans at the front stage in the flashing light. They dashed into Tangled in which bass drums sounded and the audience enjoyed their calls, and a speedy song Kick out the jams; a cover song of MC5 in which guitar and bass sounds were synchronized, and the live ran through in high spirit.

Anis shouted "Arabian Metal!", and the last song Casbah started. This is a heavy song in which drums, bass and guitar played in unison at times. "Thank you so much! See you soon!" Anis said and members left the stage. The audience who were still excited called for an encore and clapped loudly. Drummer Daigo appeared then a heavy groove wild song Welcome to the jungle, which is the cover song of Guns’N’Roses started. Members moved around freely on the stage in colorful flashing lights. In Sparta, fans raised their hands and jumped to the edgy guitar sounds. At the end of this live, everyone was jumping cheerfully together hand in hand.

Even when the house lights were turned on and an announcement that the live had finished could be heard throughout the venue, encore calls never seemed to stop. Members were great and appeared on the stage answering these calls yet again and played a Beatles’ cover song Helter Skelter. The whole audience joined in on the chorus. "See you soon! Peace!" Anis said and members finally left the stage. It was a show where everyone could purely enjoy rock, whether it was Japanese or Western it not seem to matter, we all had a great time.


Set list:

Like you
Pocketful of joy
Tuesday
Visions in my head
Healthy Sick Bastard
Let me in
Costa Rica
Nothing more Nothing less
Safira
Kiri
Perfect Gold
Weird kind of swings
Shenanigans
Tangled
Kick out the jams
Casbah
Welcome to the jungle
Sparta
Helter Skelter