Stylish wave GENERATION

On December 1, Shibuya O-EAST saw four bands and a roller-coaster ride of visual kei history. The concept was simple: to gather different generations of visual kei in a diverse and bombastic show with music and visuals for all ages and styles. The sound track between performances couldn’t be more suitable as hide’s most famous tracks eased the wait.

The “papa” of visual kei (as he put it himself) Mr. Hoshiko, welcomed the crowd and introduced the line-up for the show. “Now, we probably have many wizened fans here today, so the young ones please be gentle and help the ‘baba-bangyas,’” he asked as the crowd laughed. (note: baba = old woman; bangya = visual kei fan-girl) “And we even have a special guest today,” he added, waving at the second floor as he introduced v-kei’s “mama” Shoji Noriko. The crowd gasped and waved as they turned around in admiration to see a face that has been connected to visual-kei since the scene’s early years. To everyone’s delight, the host also revealed that after each band, one of the members would come out for a brief talk!

The night kicked off with DaizyStripper, who despite not being new to visual-k, were the night’s babies – something not difficult when playing with bands like PENICILLIN, who started their activity in the early nineties. The curtain opened to reveal the band already on stage, and wasting no time, they dove right into Awairo no yume. Vocalist Yu-giri got rid of his hat for the head-banging and the crowd followed. Pumping fists and reversed-diving got the audience moving and ready for PSYCHEDELIC HEAVEN. Again hair flew back and forth as the crowd moved to the beat before all hell broke loose and the whole room started hopping right and then left as bodies twirled over themselves. Drummer Kazami was deserving of praise, displaying not only great skill but energy. Thanking the show’s hosts in a short emcee the band reassumed the lively set with Sunday Driver. With Kazami marking the tempo for the jumping bodies in front of him, the vocalist encouraged the crowd to clap and even graced them with some fan-service as he approached guitarist Mayu and unbuttoned his shirt to reveal a nipple. The enthusiastic cheers faded to give way to Rei’s well accomplished bass lines. Visually, it was quite a memorable piece with the whole venue pulsing and moving to the choreographies. The pumping fists continued for Setsubou no Freesia, both guitarists very energetic as they moved to the song. Not wanting to lose to the heavier bands performing, DaizyStripper ended the show with more moshing and wild head-banging. decade set the hall aflame with its interesting and wild choreographies. While Mayu kept it cool, even when taking the center for his solo, Nao distributed smiles and grins to the audience as he danced and thrashed his head to the beat. The band left the stage under cheers after the pleasing set of songs that got the crowd in a great mood for the rest of the show. But before moving on to the next band, as promised, Yu-giri returned for a short chat with NACK5 BEAT SHUFFLE’s DJ Asai. With hide’s classic Pink Spider going on in the back ground, DaizyStripper’s vocalist announced a new single and lives for the upcoming year. “Come see us!” he encouraged before adding, “Many people think we are not heavy, but we are! Please come check our shows out!”

With Hi-Ho and Doubt going on in the background, the crowd moved in anticipation for the next band. A new band whose five members are far from new to visual-kei made their debut that night. With kazuya and SHUN. (both ex- FANATIC CRISIS) on guitars, former D’espairsRay's ZERO on bass and TSUKASA on drums, and DASEIN’s Ricky on vocals, THE MICRO HEAD 4N’S revealed themselves to an eager crowd. The light went down for a dramatic piano intro flashing brightly as the band came out to loud claps. Wasting no time, they dove into Hello My Clone with its cool beat and strong drums. The band displayed from the start confidence and good stage presence. The rhythm section was particularly strong for this song with boss drummer and bassist showing great skill. Glorius Blaze with its catchy rock tune got the crowd shouting, Ricky’s voice adding to it. The vocalist took the lead for the short emcee, explaining he had gotten a phone call five months back asking him to join the band. “I was busy at the time and told them I'd have to think about it,” he explained. “When I called them back saying I would do it, they told me we already had this gig scheduled!” The vocalist continued, confessing, “I was very shocked because we didn’t even have any songs written at that time!” White lights adequately lit the room for White Soul, the pop-rock beat with well-executed guitar bits causing the crowd to move. Despite the lack of diversity between songs and short amount of instrumental solos throughout the songs, the good execution and confidence on stage seemed to please the crowd, who responded very well to the performance. I Surrender with its twirling towels gave way to a short drum solo during which the vocalist announced the last song, Kono saki zutto. With the crowd mimicking the string trio as they clapped, the slower song took over the room before THE MICRO HEAD 4N’S made their exit. Showing clear potential, the band will surely grace the fans with more solos in shows to come, and by the audience reaction they will definitely make an impact in the visual scene with a taste of old school rock. This time not one but two members came out to chat with DJ Asai; SHUN. and ZERO spoke a bit about the band and introduced some band goods, the guitarist explaining that the goods were all “ZERO-san design.”

POSE and Tell me eased the wait for PENICILLIN, the oldest band playing that day and one of the most iconic v-kei bands still active. Trumpets and a marching band accompanied the band as they made their way to the stage. O-Jiro was the first one out, immediately taking his place behind the drums, the support bassist following suit. With red horns flashing daringly, the band leader CHISATO was greeted by loud cheers that grew as vocalist HAKUEI came in with his outrageously big leopard-print fur-coat. Old school rock took complete control of the house, leaving no doubts as why the band survived this long. Awesome guitar solos, daring vocals and strong drums drowned the venue. NEW FUTURE was followed by Rosetta, the vocalist dancing and striking dramatic poses – always with a diva-like attitude. The drum and bass work was very well accomplished, CHISATO blowing the crowd away with an awesome solo. After a brief emcee, a heated guitar solo opened the path for JUMP#1. As HAKUEI danced and made scary faces, the other members moved to the beat, the sea of people in front of them following the choreographies. The classic Romance set the crowd on fire with the venue singing the chorus in unison and following the furi. The band completely owned the stage, the guitar and bass mingling perfectly with the drums and vocals. HAKUEI's charisma and stage presence were only rivaled by CHISATO, who delivered an ardent solo between some fan-service with the vocalist. Inazuma, with its cool opening, closed the set. The band moved around the stage, interacting with the crowd who head-banged wildly before bidding their farewells and leaving a trail of smoke behind after the bombastic performance. A few minutes later, the band leader joined DJ Asai for a short chat in which he talked about the band schedule for the following months. “That’s a cool t-shirt you have,” DJ Asai noted, and the guitarist confessed, “It’s LM.C’s t-shirt, but they didn’t give it to me!” He added with a teasing grin, “I actually had to buy it!”

The curtains moved once more for the nights last act, revealing LM.C already on stage for ✰ROCK the LM.C ✰. Electrifying and contagious is the best way to describe the performance. Guitarist Aiji and vocalist maya showed immense energy as they moved around the stage non-stop, always demanding more and more from the crowd and supported by their energetic support band. Despite some technical difficulties that prevented the vocalist from jumping, Space Wannabiez electrified the crowd who head-banged between shouts of “Oi!” After a short emcee, the duo moved on to OH MY JULIET., the name Juliet leaving the vocalist’s lips in a yell for a dramatic start. Massive head-banging and pumping of fists accompanied the song, the vocalist twirling endlessly while Aiji kept it cool as he thrashed his head to the beat. The crowd control was impressive and continued throughout METALLY, the guitar speeding off as the fans pumped fists and moved to the wild drumming. SUPER DUPER GALAXY brought with it more fierce guitars while the crowd danced and jumped with maya for LET ME’ CRAZY!! PUNKY HEART, like the title suggests, brought diversity to the show with its punkish sound. Giving the staff a hard time as he climbed up speakers and ran around the stage, maya was contagiously energetic, as were the support members. With the crowd singing and moving to the rhythm, the band closed the show.

Taking the stage once more, Mr. Hoshiko thanked the bands for taking part in the show and invited Shoji Noriko on stage. Over the applause, the long time v-kei supporter confessed, “I will come to lives and head-bang for as long as I can!” The crowd cheered, thanking her with a loud hand of applause. Calling all the bands on stage for a last farewell, the duo asked the audience to, for a whole minute, shout for their favorite member at the top of their lungs! With that earsplitting demonstration of affection, the show came to an end – and It was indeed the perfect way to end the night. We look forward to more surprises with future editions of stylish wave GENERATION!


Set List:


Daizy Stripper
1. Awairo no yume
2. PSYCHEDELIC HEAVEN
MC
3. Sunday Driver
4. Setsubou no Freesia
5. decade

THE MICRO HEAD 4N’S
1. Hello My Clone
2. Glorious Blaze
MC
3. White Soul
4. I Surrender
5. Kono saki zutto

PENICILLIN
1. NEW FUTURE
2. Rosetta
MC
3. JUMP#1
4. Romance
5. Inazuma

LM.C
1. ✰ROCK the LM.C ✰
2. Space Wannabiez
3. OH MY JULIET.
4. METALLY
5. SUPER DUPER GALAXY
6. LET ME’ CRAZY!!
7. PUNKY HEART