Bright Garden - 9GOATS BLACK OUT at SHIBUYA BOXX

Less than a year since their first live performance, 9GOATS BLACK OUT has managed to reach the level of popularity that made the tickets to their first one-man virtually impossible to find; even those pre-ordering were not guaranteed a place due to the large number of applications. SHIBUYA BOXX, an average-sized live house with a wide stage, was packed full with fans of both genders and various ages, anticipating the long-awaited show.

As the background music that had been playing stopped abruptly and the lights went off, the curtain was raised to the band's trademark sound effects, exposing motionless figures on stage - the members appearing for the first time in their latest look, which can be seen on their website. The live started quietly with a light, ryo singing first in a soft, soothing voice that became stronger as the song increased in volume and intensity, and ending in soft whispering, showing his skills in full power from the very start. Following was SALOME, a song full of contrasting nuances of madness and gentleness acted out eccentrically and sensually by the vocalist, during which a strong emphasis could be heard on utA’s skillful guitar playing. Next was an older song, yasou -nocturne-, and while hati coolly concentrated on his musical performance, the guitarist appealed to the audience with dramatic gesturing and vivid facial expressions.

Atmospheric instrumental background music played during a brief pause that was followed by Sink and though both the audience and the band remained still, ryo managed to elicit a strong impact solely through the power of his voice and reserved, but expressive gestures. A smooth instrumental transition led into ROMEO, the vocals turning into almost hoarse rapping as akaya sang along in a pleasant and high-pitched voice while ryo crawled around the stage, simultaneously hypnotizing and immobilizing the fans with the terrifying signature look of his wide-open eyes.

raw started with the vocalist singing from the stage floor, and a musical highlight of the performance was utA’s flawless and moving solo, along with ryo’s vocal improvisation towards the end of the song. Starting with whispering that evolved into roaring was Lestat, one of the few songs in which a part of the audience let go and headbanged. On stage, the members also moved more; hati looked gracious and elegant, and utA put a greater accent on the eccentricity of his performance, once again impressing the viewers with his bizarre facial expressions.

A pause followed, the silence filled with the background music familiar to those who have been to events of the band before - but what followed was something unexpected. "If you have ever lost something precious, think of this song," ryo said in a soft voice, and the beautiful Den lille Havfrue in acoustic arrangement started with plain and simple guitar and vocals; other instruments gradually joined in. A song that is rarely played live, it usually comes on last. However, the set continued with a perfectly smooth transition to in the rain, with the quiet sounds of raindrops in the introduction and the atmosphere of calm changing to a higher tension in the chorus.

Another pause followed, during which ryo started pumping up the audience, and float started with an unusual, rearranged introduction, taking the public by surprise once again. They enthusiastically raised their fists and even headbanged to the fresh sounds of the song. The live continued more aggressively with 690min, with more headbanging breaking out as lights flickered around the hall.The vocalist danced wildly around the stage, playfully interacting with hati, who came closer to the center of the stage as the tension in the whole band seemed to grow. As the crowd exploded with an enthusiastic response to ryo’s screams, another heavy song, headache, followed; the vocalist walked from one side of the stage to the other, urging them on and hypnotizing the fans with his looks while singing in a voice that swung between aggressive hoarseness and clean and smooth crooning. utA came to the center of the stage with a distorted solo. The warmed up fans screamed for the band, encouraged by the members, then applauded, quieting down for another SE.

The conclusion of the set started with the quiet, filigreed guitars of Sleeping beauty, the once again quiet and almost motionless band concentrating on their musical performance, as if afraid to disturb the fragile atmosphere of magic in the air. Following was rakujitsu, an older song composed when ryo was with his previous band. The quiet tune created very different, mysterious moods and contained enchanting jazz melodies, and while hati’s intense bass lines stood in the foreground, akaya’s high backing vocals gave the song more charm. Then, ryo introduced the last song of the set. With an image of a bird wanting to fly to the light, a very special song with deeply meaningful lyrics, tenshi, began. With this touching but rather calm song, the live finished, and after bowing to the audience, the band quietly left the stage.

The applause continued for a long time, and the screams for an encore started rather bashfully, but grew stronger as the wait grew longer. Eventually the band came out, the three main members and the support members all standing together at the front of the stage. ryo thanked the fans for the encore but said that since they had already played all the songs they had, they would not play anymore; instead, they would use the opportunity to show their gratitude to the fans, the people they worked with and aki and akaya, thanks to whom the band was able to play such a successful one-man in the short time since their live debut. hati took over, speaking in a serious tone about how quickly eight months had passed by and that he was happy to have been able to spend this time with everyone. He asked the fans to continue following them from now on and thanked everyone.

Next was utA, who started by saying that he had no words to express his feelings of happiness, and he asked everyone to continue believing in their music, continue lending them strength, and together they would be able to see beautiful scenery. ryo concluded, expressing his gratitude and happiness and saying he was glad to see people who believed in the same thing as the band. While the band would continue doing what they believed in and grow stronger, the fans should believe in them and follow them. Lowering the microphone, ryo closed with a simple and sincere, “Thank you." Loud applause concluded the live.

At the end, the atmosphere of unity - bonds that were almost physically tangible - and the warm words of the members were so moving that both the band and people in the audience were moved to tears. 9GOATS BLACK OUT’s first one-man could not have been more successful, leaving a strong impact on anyone who was fortunate enough to experience it. From now on, as the band sets out to continue growing and becoming stronger, they will be sure to reach out and connect with more and more people with their amazing music.


Set list:

-opening SE-
01. a light
02. SALOME
03. yasou –nocturne-
-SE-
04. sink
05. ROMEO
06. raw
07. Lestat
-SE-
08. Den lille Havfrue
09. in the rain
-SE-
10. float
11. 690min
12. headache
-SE-
13. Sleeping Beauty
14. rakujitsu
15. tenshi