Anli Pollicino Live in Amsterdam

Even though Anli Pollicino had been unknown amongst Dutch visual kei fans until they announced their European tour, it still didn’t stop a number of fans from queuing at the venue on the morning of June 4th. It amused passersby greatly, and some of them even took pictures of the small crowd gathered in front of Winston's doors. Even though the fans weren’t dressed very extravagantly, it was apparently still a rare sight in Amsterdam's red light district. However, there was barely any need to start queuing so early. Even with the limited number of tickets sold, it wasn’t hard to get to the front of the stage in the tiny Winston.

About 80 people attended the concert, most of them the same people that frequent almost all visual kei concerts in the Netherlands. The number of tickets sold wasn’t much different from the other concerts in Europe - although a big exception was in Romania, where Anli Pollicino was one of the first visual kei acts to perform in the country and sold around 300 tickets.

Originally, two French bands were supposed to perform as well. The plan had been changed, but the fliers had not, so it came as a pleasant surprise when Anli Pollicino started the show because hardly anyone was interested in the French acts.

The band kicked off with Time, and even though the stage was small, the band members had no problems headbanging freely and encouraging the fans to jump along to the beat. From the very beginning they got a great response from the fans. After a number of energetic rock songs, the band took a small break in order to talk to the audience. This time, the interaction between the band and the audience was fantastic because the fans immediately had the chance to respond to Shindy’s shy “I cannot speak Holland” and to cheer while the band members introduced themselves. The five band members wore their most recent costumes, with a stylish but at the same time punk look. Shindy in particular looked chic in his black suit accented by a sole red glove. Guitarist Takuma wore a silver mask slanted jauntily over his forehead, catching everyone's eye as it reflected under the stage lights.

During the new few songs, a couple of white underpants were thrown to the band, and they were covered with messages and drawings from the fans. With next MC, the band showed them off to the audience extensively and they received loud laughter. On one of the underpants there was even a drawing of a hairdryer, which seemed to be a reference to the interview JaME held with Anli Pollicino a while ago. In the interview, they mentioned that Shindy got burnt when he tried to warm himself with a hairdryer. The small interruption caused a lot of laughter, and an incredibly great atmosphere formed between audience and band.

Musically, the band was surprisingly strong, something that cannot always be expected from a visual kei band that has only been around for a few years. They were well adjusted to each other and were very professional, sounding great during both their harder and slower songs. Shindy’s voice might not be the most original one in the visual kei scene, but he sounded impressively bright and clear during the slower pieces. Also, for the guitarists, there were plenty of opportunities to show their talent with a number of speedy, dynamic solos, which were well received.

Before the upbeat song Taste me, guitarist Yo-ichi gave a quick lesson in furitsuke and showed the arm movements for the song. The fans followed his instructions during the catchy chorus, which made everyone in the band light up with bright smiles.

During the encore, drummer Kiyozumi - almost hidden at the back of the small stage - got the opportunity to show himself to the audience. He started the encore by himself and drummed a catchy beat energetically, inviting the audience to move along. Bassist Masatoshi appeared a little later and accompanied the drummer with a groovy bass-riff. Then the two guitarists joined, and finally Shindy returned to the stage. They started on the encore then, which consisted of the songs Monochrome and Mr.0.

It seemed that Yo-ichi had hurt himself some time between the main set and the encore, because during the last couple of songs his head was bleeding. Apparently the blood looked worse than it was because the guitarist just continued playing, smiling cheerfully. After the encore, Anli Pollicino’s show was over, but for the enthusiastic fans there was a small signing session at the back of the venue.

Anli Pollicino had been challenged to prove themselves to the Dutch audience, and they definitely succeeded in multiple areas. If they ever come back to the Netherlands, they can definitely count on a small but dedicated group of fans to support them!


Set list:

1. Time
2. Sweet Kiss
3 SLUM JUMP
(M.C)
4. Labyrinth
5. Free Spirit
6. Sungeki Raspberry
(MC)
7. Peaceful Sleep
8. NEW SONG
9. Snow Venus
(MC)
10. Taste Me
11. Last tears
12. Slave machine
13. Street smarts

ENCORE
14. Monochrome
15. Mr.0


JaME would like to thank Toshihiko Kimura, Jérémy Sobczak and Xavier Norindr for their kind help.