In December of 2008 Sugar played their first American concert at Oni-con in Texas. JaME was lucky enough to attend this special event.
On Friday night in Houston, Texas, Sugar prepared to take the stage for their first American live. From the time the doors opened for the event, the crowd continued to grow well after the lights had dimmed. While the venue was not full, the fans who attended made up for this in enthusiasm, calling out for Sugar every second they waited, watching the band's most recent PV on the large screen behind the stage. While the show was supposed to start at around 7:30, fans were teased multiple times as the lights went up and down, their cries of delight and sighs of disappointment filling the hall.
Finally, the lights went down, flashing in a pulsing pattern before the PV and lights were sharply cut off, leaving the crowd in darkness. In the strange calm all you could hear was the clapping and chanting of the crowd, masking the footsteps of the members of Sugar taking the stage. Drummer Atsuto, took the stage first, followed by Shingo on bass, SIZNA on guitar, and finally the vocalist, Loki. The audience went wild each time one of the members appeared on stage, especially for the guitarist SIZNA, whose crazy antics and body movements made him hard to miss.
Before the crowd calmed, Atsuto tore into the intro of JAM, a well-known and well-loved song. The fans all but jumped from their skin at the familiar tune. Loki sang along to the drumbeat with its strong jazz feel, leading to the other members joining as well. SIZNA and Shingo played across the stage towards one another with smiles beaming across their faces as the crowd clapped to the beat. As the song went on, SIZNA came to the edge of the stage, dancing on one leg as he played. Loki then took the front of the stage with his microphone stand in hand, dancing enticingly and drawing the crowd into the mood that Sugar invokes. The crowd reached for the stage towards SIZNA and Loki’s dancing, before calming and swaying to the song's smoother riffs.
Following their energetic opening, Togabito no sora (mental sketch modified) began. SIZNA, with his crazy high-pitched voice and erratic movements, let the crowd know what was coming. With intense energy, Loki approached the edge of the stage, yelling to the crowd as Shingo coaxed them and SIZNA span around the stage. Every time the tempo slowed, the members retracted, only to then rush the edge of the stage when it hastened again and again.
During the next few songs, Loki danced around the stage and sang to the other members. During SIZNA's a solo in Kunou to yuuutsu ni oborete, Loki moved to Shingo as he sat on his bass amp and sang to him. When the tempo changed, he thrashed about and danced off to find SIZNA. Once he reached him, he approached the guitarist from behind and hugged him while SIZNA went on making wild facial expressions.
After playing Kunou to yuuutsu ni oborete and Biyaku Loki did his first short MC. When the lights went down to a green hue, the crowd yelled for Sugar. Once they had calmed a bit, Loki went on to say: "Hello, we are Sugar. Let's enjoy the next song together!" There was a short pause before SIZNA started into Danshou to kuroneko, the crowd moving to its strongly jazz-inspired sound. As the pace of the song hastened, Loki let out a growl and SIZNA broke from his concentration to start dancing around the stage again, while Shingo coaxed the crowd and made them even more energetic. Sugar displayed a strong sense of unity with songs such as this one in how they controlled the tempo changes and their body movements to match.
Hone to hane was next with its high-energy tempo and the band jumped about as Loki spat water into the crowd before breaking into song. As in other songs, Sugar worked wonderfully with their extreme changes in tempo as they played. With each slow section, the members invoked the feeling of the music in their body language just before jumping back into their chaotic dancing when the beat shifted once again. Shingo was all smiles as SIZNA shaked his butt at the audience.
Soon after came afterglow and jifu, during which the band all head banged before running in unison towards Atsuto. Not many of Sugar’s songs inspire head banging and jumping around but these songs were prime examples of the high energy that they possess at a live show. With the sudden intense bursts of energy, Loki went on to splash the crowd with water once again while SIZNA blew kisses and Shingo reached out for the crowd, touching fingertips. Shingo was not the only member reaching for the crowd at that point as Loki took an audience member's hand, kissing her palm right before licking it. Since afterglow had been playing prior to the show while the crowd waited, it was clear that they had been more than ready to enjoy one of Sugar’s newest tracks.
As the show came to and end, Sugar played berry as their finale. The crowd danced along with the band as they hopped around the stage and reached out once again towards the crowd. Repeating riffs a few times, the band eventually went crazy, and playing energetically as they blew kisses, threw guitar pics, drum sticks and water bottles. It was made very clear that Sugar felt comfortable and loved at their live in Texas. Despite a delay in their start and a few microphone glitches, the live was perfect for both Sugar and the crowd, leaving everyone with lasting memories of Sugar’s first, and last, American live concert.
Set list:
01. JAM
02. Togabito no sora (mental sketch modified)
03. Kunou to yuuutsu ni oborete
04. Biyaku
05. Danshou to kuroneko
06. swim like a butterfly
07. Hone to hane
08. Toikimeku shitsudo
09. malicious
10. snow white
11. afterglow
12. Jifu
13. candy
14. berry
