Tokyo Chaos - Part 1

The live opened with a squealing electric guitar as spotlights searched around the packed livehouse. Suddenly the stage went black and a chorus of "ehhhs" rose up from the first floor as an image of Uchuu Sentai Noiz filled the screen. A few moments later though the screen spluttered to life with an impressive video to open Tokyo Chaos. Each band was portrayed to cheers from the crowd before the introduction movie for SEX MACHINEGUNS was played. The audience roared as the three members plus support guitarist strode on stage to the accompaniment of a thudding marching song.

SEX MACHINEGUNS wasted no time as they began their first, an introduction with a vicious drumbeat and assault of electric guitars. They raised their fists aloft as Anchang screamed "SHIBUYA!" before the headbanging truly began with the famous song, Mikan no Uta. It was a rather theatrical performance that got the whole audience punching the air. The three guitarists raised their guitars together at the same time and swung them in time to the music while Anchang’s piercing vocals threatened to raise the roof off AX.

The second, Famires bomber, began with a wall of pure noise, all three guitars a-blazing. The main riff was played a few times while the guitarists scooted about the stage, pausing momentarily by Anchang's mic to have the crowd shout their name. The theatricality continued with high kicks breaking up the wailing vocals. It was the closest thing to a synchronised dance for metallers. Then amidst rapidly flashing lights the song came to a close, all three members headbanging and an extended outro from Anchang.

The short MC of the evening served as an intermission in the set. The band introduced themselves with grand arm gestures mimicked by the crowd. The MC was short but amusing. Bassist, Shingo, "apologized" that SEX MACHINEGUNS were not as good looking (ikemen) as the other bands that evening before introducing the band's ages. The trio of bassist, support guitarist and drummer were all very young, receiving audible surprise from the audience. Shingo introduced Anchang as being only 28 at first although this was later corrected to '38' following much crowd amusement. The atmosphere was raised a few notches after, and the announcement that they were only playing a total of 4 songs elicited loud protest.

The music continued once more with some gentle balladic strumming while Anchang sang before catapulting into a fantastic squealing guitar led introduction. After allowing the audience a short singalong, Anchang performed an incredible solo, neatly breaking up the wall of sound from the three roaring guitars. In triumph they raised their fists as powerful notes from all three segued into a drumbeat performed at breakneck pace for the finale, German Power. The three guitarists continued to looks as if they were having a great time as they leapt about the stage playing their instruments. At one amusing moment, the music stopped. Anchang and the support guitarist went silent with their heads bowed. Meanwhile Shingo tore between mics roaring into each one and gesturing wildly to the crowd. The music then resumed with a grand flourish until the final powerful closer. The guitarists held their notes for a long time as they screamed their thank yous together before going out with a last extravance from Anchang.

SEX MACHINEGUNS had truly set the standard for the evening to come with their powerful display of true 80s style hair metal.

Set list

Opening SE
Mikan no Uta
Famires Bomber
-MC-
Katare! Namida
German Power


After SEX MACHINEGUNS' performance, a video started again. Parts of PV's and short comments from the bands that appeared this evening, were shown. When the heidi. PV was played, the venue became dark and at the end the bandname was projected onto the screen. A drumbeat followed and a soft rock intro was playing while the heidi. bandmembers, Yoshihiko, Nao, Kousuku and Kiri, calmly walked on stage. They seemed very relaxed and not nervous at all.

They opened the show with Remu, a powerful rock song. During the verses you could feel the emotion Yoshihiko was trying to express, but his voice was also strong enough to not fade into the background during the heavier chorus. He was moving gracefully while singing, sending out a calm vibe. Nao was put in the spotlight when he played a guitar solo with a slow melody, but powerful notes. This song was definitely a good opening of their performance and the fans were headbanging and jumping enthusiastically.

Synchro followed, which has a catchy melody and got the crowd sticking their hands in the air, moving them in circles along the music. The musical quality of heidi.'s performance was very good and they were one of the better bands to play at Tokyo Chaos. During his solo, Nao was jumping around on stage. Drummer Kiri and bassist Kousuku played with a concentrated look on their faces. At the end of the song, the vocalist thanked the audience and held an MC, where he talked about their new single and one-man tour.

After the MC they played four more songs, ending their show with Utakata. As the first notes could be heard, the fans already responded by pumping their fists into the air. During the chorus they were also screaming along with the background vocals. More and more people joined in and started moving to the energetic music. At the end drummer Kiri threw his drumsticks high up in the air, before he and the other members left the stage. The band had definitely played the fan-favorites today.

Set list

Remu
Synchro
Orange Drama
Parade
Sentimental
Utakata


lynch. came on stage about 5 minutes after the previous band had played their set. All the band members were wearing black and the vocalist Hazuki greeted everyone by waving his arms before he took the microphone in his hands and gave a big shout out to all their fans. They opened their set with Ambivalent Ideal, which is their newest song on their single titled the same. This song sounded quite calm live compared to what they usually play at events, but it got a good respond and while Hazuki was moving in a seductive way across the stage, the other members were very focused on playing the song perfectly. For the next song, Yusuke and Reo came forward on the stage and the audience screamed giving the two guitarists big smiles on their faces. Hazuki screamed with all his power and during the chorus while he stood on the monitors dancing, head banging and blowing kisses to his fans. Already during their second song, it was noticeable how heavy the air in the venue had gotten so the band gave everyone a break during their short MC where Hazuki as usual thanked everyone for coming.

Next song in line was The Universe and all the band members head banged together and the audience willingly followed. They put a lot of energy into this song and the high energy reached the whole venue. It was no surprise that Hazuki ended the song with a loud "Wow!" that made everyone smile and laugh a little. They played one more song before they started playing unknown lost a beauty, which was with no doubt audiences most favorite song so far. Everyone head banged and pounded their fists in the air. Hazuki skipped singing the second chorus and instead used the time for dancing and goofing around on stage, but the fans didn’t mind and instead they sang along for the chorus while some were so caught up in the music that it seemed like they didn’t even notice that the vocalist had taken a small break. The last song on their set list was pulse_, which seemed like a good song to end things with as it keeps everyone’s energy up yet has a finalistic feel to it. Drummer Asanao did an exceptional job during this song and the drums were so heavy that one could feel it in your body. As the song came to an end, the members of the band left the stage, all except for Hazuki who still stood on the stage flirting with his fans.

Setlist

Ambivalent Ideal
I'm sick,b'cuz luv u.
MC
the universe
Adore
unknown lost a beauty
pulse_