vistlip promoted their new single, Hameln, in Kanazawa on the day before their first one-man live in Kanazawa AZ Hall.
We were able to accompany up and coming visual kei band vistlip for a day in the charming city of Kanazawa in Ishikawa, Japan. It was a hot sultry afternoon of clear weather during the rainy season when the five members Tomo, Yuh, Umi, Rui and Tohya arrived at Hokkoku Newspaper Building. Dressed in mostly dark rock band attire with perfectly styled hair, they were conspicuous in the quiet, laid back town. In Radio Kanazawa located on the fifteenth floor, they recorded their comments for the radio program called "Sunday Style Café", which was broadcast on Sunday afternoon.
Then during the interview with Hokkoku Newspaper, they explained vistlip’s origins. The band was formed on July 7th in 2007, a lucky day of all sevens. They also announced their one-man live in Shibuya O-EAST on July 7th this year, on the anniversary of their formation. The live would celebrate three years of activity from the group. Additionally, they gave some thoughts about their new song, Hameln (which was also released on July 7th), using artless, honest words.
The vistlip members then moved to FM Ishikawa’s station to appear as guests in the live broadcast “Do it!” Their participation on the show was only announced the day before, but many dedicated fans were already gathered and waiting for them in front of the open studio. After a short meeting with a producer, they went into the open studio facing the street, and were greeted by enormous cheers from fans.
The members smiled and waved their hands for the fans throughout the show, and they enjoyed talking with the radio personality, Ms. Matsuoka. She spoke about the members’ image, saying, “You give such a refreshing impression, just like the summer sea.” The members seemed a bit shy and answered, “We are always natural” with bashful smiles. Umi was super natural, eating gummi candy during the live broadcast. As you might guess, he was scolded by Ms. Matsuoka, but it was a lovely scene that made everyone smile. At the end the band members all signed their autographs for the station’s home page, also taking a photo with fans in their background, and with that they’d completed their schedule for the day.
However, too many people had gathered to see vistlip, so they had a hard time extracting themselves from the scene. As they tried to get to their car, many of the fans ran after them. It seemed more like a flock of fans chasing down a popular idol group instead of a young visual kei band, which speaks well of the group’s popularity. This summer vistlip’s momentum continues to rise with no end in sight.
