Stylish Wave EXTRA ‘10

Having swept across Japan to eleven different locations, Stylish Wave finally hit Tokyo on April 18th. Laforet Museum Roppongi was littered with all sorts of fashion as fans of eight different bands packed the hall. Under the rabble of voices played old hide favourites such as Pink Spider, contributing to the growing excitement of the wait.

A

A cloaked and hooded figure crept across the stage amidst the sounds of rain and thunder, warning the audience not to lose their souls. Upon his exit, heroic music brought about the appearance of A (pronounced Ace), at last. The band paraded across the stage whilst vocalist Nimo waved about a flag bearing the letter A. “Let’s do this, Tokyo! Jump!” Nimo cried, and Vanilla Sky began. Clad in outfits inspired by both pirates and navy officers, A made thorough use of their most unusual asset. Stage left, violinist Rookie Fiddler pulled off a dramatic performance, his classical sound bringing the rock music to life. Bassist Toshi dived in front of the vocalist for his 15 seconds of fame before retreating to allow a full view of Nimo whose voice soared in the musical absence.

Then, Nimo’s shout of “Welcome to Stylish Wave. We’re Ace!” cued the final song of the too short set, NUDE. During a run of awesome violin riffs, the crowd took up the challenge to shout. Meanwhile, front and centre, guitarist Mucho Gracias tossed about his dreads during his own solo. Following the number was a short instrumental during which the band bid their fans farewell, concluding a fitting opening to the event. “I told you not to lose your souls,” warned a mysterious voice. “But time is flying, so we’ll continue this next time.”

Canzel

Entering a bright yellow stage, Canzel were greeted by fans clapping rhythmically to the opening music. Drastically contrasted to the mature image of the previous band, Canzel presented a fresh, boyish look, vocalist Icchi the spitting image of a Cabbage Patch Kid. Bursting straight into the catchy Starlight, Icchi led the crowd in a set of difficult actions before the floor began to bounce under jumping feet. Fists pumped vigorously, and at Icchi’s request, heads began to fly. The vocalist showed his stuff as the music mainly dropped out, allowing his voice to float over the crowd.

During the following MC, Icchi made an array of announcements ranging from karaoke tracks, to birthdays, to Canzel’s upcoming one-man. Then, Eigoukaiki element began with a funky sound that soon turned heavy, hundreds of fists pumping under a wash of red light. Meanwhile, the groovy bass line shone through and the positive chorus gave the fans a chance to catch their breath. Drummer Yukimi’s enthusiasm seemed infectious, and digging into the final number, world end switch, bassist Haku stole the show for a moment. The heavy piece was topped off by deep, rhythmic guitar riffs, and then a sea of hands rose in support as the set came to an end. The members each gave fans one last view of their various personalities before they disappeared.

vistlip

The curtains opened on vistlip to reveal vocalist Tomo waving along with the audience to the cheerful tune of Strawberry Butterfly. The band played it up throughout the opening number, getting down to the rhythm, teasing with sexy body language, and generally making their mark on the crowd until Tomo yelled in English “Thank you! Welcome to the vistlip showtime!” They then burst into the heavier Ukiyo graffiti with the crowd jumping rapidly. The song’s evolution allowed Tomo to strap on his hip hop shoes, arm bouncing to the beat in typical hip hop fashion. As he bantered with the audience during his MC, the fans responded with enthusiasm at every turn.

The following number allowed the crowd to turn that energy to good use. Lion Heart had heads whipping everywhere whilst Tomo momentarily disappeared beneath them, diving into his deep growl. On the other hand, drummer Tohya sang cheerfully away to himself despite the hardcore piece. Guitarist Umi’s rap created a mass of jumping bodies, the Tomo/Umi combo proving to be pure metal. However, a melodic chorus skilfully broke up the heaviness of the number. The final piece, Dead Cherry, provided a bright finish to the set. The guitars traversed the stage whilst Tohya continued to beam away behind his drum kit and Tomo encouraged the crowd to shout until they could be heard over the music. With a final round of encouragement for their fans, the band made their way offstage.

Serial⇔NUMBER

With their comedic opening, Serial⇔NUMBER instantly took over the venue. Once again, the curtain opened to reveal the band already in place, clapping along with the crowd. Opening the set with the cute Serial ondo, Serial⇔NUMBER proved to be overflowing with energy and sugary sweet, exposing their cultural roots through the flavour of the piece. Sakura cider then had hundreds of hands flashing towards the stage to the upbeat tune, guitarist Shiyuu shining throughout his well received solo. Even when the song finished and shouts began to ring out for band members, Shiyuu’s guitar continued to wail at random.

Jin Sasaki’s uniquely cheerful MC saw every announcement end with a “Yay!” thus cuing the crowd to cheer. The vocalist’s charisma carried on into the amusing ’habu’ a nice day. Groovy guitar mixed with cute puns keeping the audience in high spirits, the choreography slid along to the melody as the band led the crowd. Then, closing the set in ideal fashion, Churasen ga koronda sent the crowd tearing across the floor, only to freeze on cue. After a sudden heavy riff, the number paused in order for Jin Sasaki to explain the sequence and invite everyone to come join in at their next one-man. The short event, however, only allowed one more round of moshing. Then, with a cry of “Let’s meet again!”, the members left the stage, Jin Sasaki teasing the crowd by pretending to throw his towel.

D=OUT

The audience waited eagerly for the carnival to begin as stylized music played beneath an announcement thanking carnival-goers for their patronage. When the curtain opened, however, it was to reveal the members of D=OUT, missing only vocalist Kouki. In his absence, bassist Reika seemed to take over the stage. “Are you having fun, Tokyo?” Kouki cried upon his entrance. “Jump for me!” With the impressive opening number SUNRISE, D=OUT had the entire floor jumping. On one side of the stage, Ibuki executed sexy body rolls for his fans whilst Reika and guitarist Hikaru played it up, bopping away or else closing in to the very edge of the stage. Satellite TV sent bodies leaping into the air, Kouki’s harsh manner of speaking contrasted by the cheerful tune.

An interesting change of pace came about as gorgeous piano music led into a sweet ballad- Just kidding! Snapping the audience out of the brief lull, Kouki cried, “Who’s gonna sing that crap? Gotcha!” And so the true third song of the set, Kimon, took off. “Let’s head bang!” Kouki ordered, and proceeded to lead by example. The audience went wild throughout the dark number, which then gave way to the poppier Fender, a tune everyone could get into. To finish up, Kouki led the crowd in a chorus of “Yay”’s and then requested that they raise their hands. The set ended with a series of claps that had the whole audience united until the band bid them farewell. “Tokyo, bye bye!”

Irokui.

“Having fun?” vocalist Yuuri called, still invisible behind the curtain which opened along with Colourful Days, a high-energy, positive starting number. The instrumental section kept up constant encouragement of the fans whilst Yuuri himself ran about the stage, exhibiting more energy than anyone else in the venue. Following on, Uragiru Hermes showcased Yuuri’s cute voice punctuated by an unexpectedly rich scream. The heavy turn sent the crowed rocking back and forth along with guitarist Shuuta and bassist Ritsu. The whole audience jumped to Yuuri’s rap and responding to his cute request, they began to head bang wildly. His MC then encouraged them to scream for him before he shut them down, claiming “It’s too loud! You’ll startle me!” Taking a break from the gags, however, Yuuri requested that the crowd face the back of the hall in order to wish the producer of Stylish Wave a happy birthday.

Without hesitation, the crowd followed Yuuri’s next directions, taking up the hands of their neighbours and side-stepping across the floor to the cute tones of Cinderella. Owari ookami then had the crowd clapping above their heads whilst Yuuri wiggled his hips. However, the number came to a halt as Yuuri threw a tantrum, claiming that this was a song to be sung by EVERYONE. “Ready?” he cued – and launched into a completely unrelated piece and after joking around some more he got carried away with the real example. Apologising, Yuuri finally encouraged the crowd to join in and the song resumed, coming to a strong, heavy finish as Irokui. left the crowd breathless.

DaizyStripper

With a whisper of “DaizyStripper” the curtain opened to the introduction of the band’s latest single, Harumeku bokura. Stage left, Mayu could be seen strumming his acoustic guitar whilst vocalist Yu-giri’s voice rang clearly throughout the hall. In the background, drummer Kazami sang along whole-heartedly and the touching piece reached every corner of the venue. However, there was no time to linger in the beautiful ballad as it gave way to an exciting drum riff, Yu-giri’s scream piercing the crowd. Baby Kingdom had everyone rocking back and forth in no time, the heavy piece creating just as intense an atmosphere as the ballad. “Tokyo, let’s see you bloom!” Yu-giri cried as hundreds of hands instantly shot into the air. Front to back, the whole floor went wild.

After a thankful MC, Yu-giri’s shout of “Go for it!” had the crowd overflowing with renewed energy. Hands flew all over the place, the floor a sea of movement as the melodic, upbeat and yet heavy TRUTH shook the house. The crowd rocked out without restraint to the scattered instrumental, guitarist Nao head-banging as he saw fit. Meanwhile, bassist Rei raised a hand to his eyes, surveying the scene of hundreds of rampaging fans. TRUTH’s positive message was an ideal forerunner to the final song of the set, decade, which sent the whole crowd careening from side to side in response to Yu-giri’s “Mosh this way!” Cuddling up to Rei during the verse, Yu-giri threw the bassist’s pick for a lucky fan to catch. Not to be left out, Nao dragged the mic away from his vocalist mid-verse to plant a kiss on Yu-giri’s lips and across the stage, Mayu fell to his knees, wrapped up in the music. “Oh my god!” Yu-giri screamed, riding the excitement as both Nao and Rei tapped their heads to warn the crowd of the final bout of head-banging. “Tokyo! Say you love me! Because I love you!” the vocalist declared. Final riffs had the members going nuts along with the fans.

lynch.

In stark contrast to the pop-rock of the previous band, lynch. entered to a classic rock theme as the audience clapped along, vocalist Hazuki and guitarist Yusuke pumping up the fans. The music dropped out and shouts of “HAZUKI!!!” filled the hall. In the next moment, Adore began and the floor was a tornado of whipping hair until the melodic chorus rang out and hands were raised to wave along instead. Broken open by Hazuki’s scream, I’m sick b’cuz luv u decisively upped the ante. Both Hazuki and the crowd burst into head-banging, the vocalist ceasing only to apply his wicked scream to the music. The crowd enjoyed the piece at random, some swaying violently to the deep rhythm while others raised their hands in appreciation, lips forming the lyrics. Yusuke’s backing vocals offered a pleasant contrast to Hazuki’s guttural cries, the unique contrast of the piece transforming the space into something beyond hall and stage.

Fuelling the charged atmosphere, 59 sent the audience into a frenzy once more, whips of hair lashing back and forth or else full bodied fist pumping rocking the crowd. Screams of “Hazuki” once more reverberated between songs. “Let me hear it!” the vocalist cried, encouraging ever louder cries. “Alright, Tokyo. New song.” Taking to A Gleam in Eye without hesitation, the crowd continued to ride the adrenaline, hands waving as if to conduct Hazuki, the vocalist himself emotionally invested in the number. Waving hands evolved into pumping fists, and Hazuki stripped down to his white undershirt, freely grooving about the stage. Meanwhile, guitarist Yusuke was taken in by the mood, head-banging away. Across from him, Reo played it cool and up on his podium was Asano, striking his drums with an unreadable expression. Still the crowd freely rode the music. Then, “You wanna do it? …You wanna do it? Let’s do it!” Hazuki cried, and the crowd’s support was clear all the way from the back of the hall. EVILLY finished the set up all too soon, support bassist Junji going nuts up front with Yusuke and the jumping scenery of the crowd depicting a club in full swing. Heads flying till the very end, the fans spared nothing, and neither, it seemed, did the band, as they made their sated way offstage.

Despite being denied an encore due to lack of time, the remaining crowd wore thoroughly satisfied expressions. In addition to the performances, the vocalists of Canzel, vistlip, Serial⇔NUMBER, D=OUT, Irokui. and DaizyStripper had all catered to their fans by making appearances between sets, and each band was preceded by keywords, giving the crowd a chance to guess who would be up next. In typical Stylish Wave fashion, the night was a smash hit, bringing the Stylish Wave 2010 Spring Storm Tour to a fitting end.


Set list:

OA: A
1. Vanilla Sky
2. NUDE

Canzel
1. Starlight
MC
2. eigoukaiki element
3. world end switch

vistlip
1. Strawberry Butterfly
2. ukiyo graffiti
MC
3. Lion Heart
4. Dead Cherry

Serial⇔NUMBER
1. Serial ondo
2. sakura cider
MC
3. ’habu’ a nice day
4. churasen ga koronda

D=OUT
1. SUNRISE
MC
2. Satellite TV
3. kimon
4. Fender

Irokui.
1. Colourful Days
2. uragiru Hermes
MC
3. Cinderella
4. owari ookami

Daizy Stripper
1. harumeku bokura
2. Baby Kingdom
MC
3. TRUTH
4. decade

Guest: lynch.
1. Adore
2. I’m sick b’cuz luv u
3. 59
MC
4. A Gleam in Eye
5. EVILLY