Sugar at Tokyo Kinema Club

Sugar could not have chosen a more stylish venue for the final show of their first one-man tour. Tokyo Kinema Club looked like an opera theatre, with heavy red and gold draping and curtains in the background of the high, wide stage, setting the mood for the audience before the live even started. The introduction soundtrack started right on time and, to screams of the audience, the members came out: atsuto with newly-dyed black hair, SIZNA spinning around and pulling faces, Shingo cool and composed and finally Loki, who dramatically took his place behind the microphone stand, which looked like a female mannequin.

The set started with malicious, an upbeat and bright song from their most recent album, 【Re:261156】addere. SIZNA quickly seized the opportunity to demonstrate his usual slightly deranged and lively image. Next was Blossom, a rhythmical and bass-heavy song; it began with an attention shift to the ever-smiling Shingo with his catchy lines, while Loki danced slowly and seductively. When Kunou to yuuutsu ni oborete came on, the vocalist made the previously motionless crowd clap, and as Shingo and SIZNA exchanged solos, the mood and the harmonies of the song changed as if it were not just one song, but a combination of different pieces. A quieter song with unusual rhythm, swim like a butterfly, followed, and while atsuto sang the backing vocals while drumming, Loki fell to his knees, filled with emotion. The live continued with Hone to hane, during which Loki showed off his vocal abilities to the maximum - as the pace and tune of the song changed, his voice went from sounding dark, low and powerful to a higher, more tender, and enchanting whisper. As the song went on, the musicians kept increasing the tempo until it almost spun out of control.

When the lights shone on SIZNA, who had a slightly mad expression on his face, he saluted to the crowd, pointing one arm out into the air. The audience followed his example, and he put on a squeaky voice as he started shouting out incomprehensible phrases in what sounded a bit like English, as he tends to do during these amusing "MCs." The atmosphere of the following Kogoe yureru honoo was dark and powerful, with a sudden turn to lightness, and in the center of it all was SIZNA with his odd charisma, playing the guitar with his teeth, breathing loudly into the microphone and delivering a whole pantomime of madness. Once again he saluted the audience, and the band continued onto the more dynamic and upbeat Togabito no sora, to which the audience started dancing while the members moved around more onstage. For Jakou tadayou naka de, the keyboardist and saxophonist appeared on a smaller stage to the upper left of the main one. Concentrating on the beautiful musical performance, the band did not move much to the jazzy tune, but it was enjoyable to watch and complimented by the crowd's enthusiastic applause.

In the evening’s first MC, Loki greeted the crowd and thanked them for coming to their first oneman tour final before introducing the support musicians. Afterward, the band went on to perform rotten words for dear., which sounded fresh and different from Sugar's usual fare with its elaborate piano melody and catchy beat. Following was antilion, which sounded a bit more dynamic than how it normally sounds, with contrasting soft parts and dialogue between the bass and drum solos. In Memento-Mori, more support musicians joined the band: two girls with electronic violins gave the song a dissonant, captivating sound so intense it sounded more like a symphonic orchestra than a band. The members had wide smiles on their faces as they performed another jazzy, positive tune, Kanashimi ni nemuru hi damari, that painted the atmosphere in light colours.

After a few measures of sound effects, Sugar continued the live with JAM sans the support musicians; atsuto drummed energetically, and the audience danced and made heart-shaped signs with their hands. Meanwhile, Loki sat in front of SIZNA and flirted with him during one of the guitar solos. Biyaku was especially interesting to watch as Loki walked around in circles, slunk around a speaker rather suggestively, fell to his knees and first sang to Shingo before going back to flirt with SIZNA. When Loki pulled SIZNA's hair, the guitarist rushed away with an amusing expression of fear on his face. Afterglow was even more energetic with screaming and headbanging, and then candy got everyone clapping their hands, pumping their fists and dancing. The atmosphere became the hottest for Jifu as Loki laughed in the most demonic way, and all the members moved around and interacted with the audience, warming them up for the gradually increasing tempo of the song. The audience jumped and some moshed as the tempo increased. Concluding the set was berry, the song that involved the most furitsuke choreography, which was demonstrated by Loki with great enthusiasm. All the members seemed to be enjoying themselves, moving around the stage and interacting with each other and with the audience, and the positive and fun atmosphere was the perfect end to the live. The members left the stage, and Loki blew the adoring public a kiss, which was followed immediately by screams for an encore.

atsuto, Shingo and SIZNA returned to the stage first, with atsuto greeting and thanking the audience and talking about things like their trip to America. In the process, he had a joking argument with the bassist. As it was obvious that SIZNA was being unusually quiet, the other members asked him to explain himself: it turned out that he had made a mistake in the set list and missed a song - but the way he said it, with a guilty expression on his face and in a squeaky voice, made it was hard not to feel compassionate for the charismatic guitarist.

Next, the support musicians were introduced, and together the band proceeded to play a lengthy instrumental cover of the jazz fusion composer Chick Corea’s famous piece Spain, making the listeners forget that they were at the live of a band classified in a different genre. Following the song was another long round of talking, this time mostly by Shingo, who presented a piece of jewelry designed by the band: a necklace that could also be transformed into a ring and an earring. They would be selling a limited amount of the items that could be purchased for a rather impressive price. Once again, atsuto and Shingo got into a joking argument, and as a result the audience found out that the jewelery were designed solely by Shingo, as he thought his ideas about the accessories were better than SIZNA's and atsuto's.

Finally SIZNA, joined by the fans, called Loki out on stage and the encore continued with the slow and quiet Sleepy. The darker and more sinister in pain followed; atsuto did the backing vocals for the song. The last song of the encore was Snow White, and all of the support members joined the band to create an intensely saturated sound very different from the usual performances of the band. With a final thanks to the crowd, Sugar once again left the dark stage.

But soon enough, they were called out for another encore, and thanking the audience, the band started again with the atmospheric and calm Hakujitsu ni dakareta aishiki kage. The mood changed for Toikimeku shitsudo, during which Loki danced erotically to the upbeat drumming and distorted guitar while SIZNA continued to show his crazy pantomimes and eccentric facial expressions. Tsuki ni naki, asa wo warau hana to was the very last song of the night - the quiet and slow tune enabled Loki to demonstrate his flawless vocal skills, starting from a deep and dark semi-falsetto and finishing with him singing his heart out. The three other members sang along, leaving a strong impression behind. The members slowly bid farewell to the audience, threw their picks and drumsticks into the crowd, and Loki concluded the show by blowing the audience a one last final kiss.

Although not everything went flawlessly, Sugar was able to successfully conclude their first oneman tour with a very strong, atmospheric and impressive live. The location choice, the sound created by the support members, the set list - everything was chosen perfectly to create a superb show, and this unique band did not fail in impressing the audience and making it a great and unforgettable evening.


Set list:

01. malicious
02. Blossom
03. Kunou to yuuutsu ni oborete
04. swim like a butterfly
05. Hone to hane
06. Kogoe yureru honoo
07. Togabito no sora
08. Jakou tadayou naka de
09. rotten words for dear.
10. antilion
11. Memento-Mori
12. Kanashimi ni nemuru hi damari
13. JAM
14. Biyaku
15. afterglow
16. Candy
17. Jifu
18. Berry

Encore 1
01. Spain (Chick Corea cover)
02. sleepy
03. in pain
04. snow White

Encore 2
01. Hakujitsu ni dakareta aishiki kage
02. Toikimeku shitsudo
03. Tsuki ni naki, asa wo warau hana to