The Reverend

I'm hardly familiar with either of these bands (maybe seen one video each), but I read specifically because I was curious if Tenten still 'had it'. Glad to hear he seems to -- dude's getting old : )
 
Nice report

| This leftover pizza tastes better once you warm it up.
 
Tracklist:
1. INTRODUCTION
2. THIRTEEN
3. GROTESQUE
4. EXIST
5. JØKER
6. RENATUS
7. AMBLE
8. SENSE OF EMPTINESS
9. FIVE
10. INTERLUDE
11. FAITH
12. OBVIOUS
13. A FOOL
 
With the return of bassist Akinori, lynch. has become a 5-member band once again. With tours 「13th ANNIVERSARY –Xlll GALLOWS- [THE FIVE BLACKEST CROWS], 『TOUR’18「THE NITES OF AVANTGARDE #2」“A BLØODY REVENGE”』, and the release of their compilation album SINNERS -no one can fake my bløod, the band has been on the move during 2018. While the announcement for their new album XIII had warranted excitement, it also brought along with it some skepticism from fans.  Seems reasonable since we have seen an abundance of mediocre re-recordings and mixes from lynch. How the band could have possibly had the time to put together an album, let alone what it was going to sound like, was something to be concerned about.
 
First impressions of XIII are positive. The album feels balanced, as Hazuki’s vocals are not the only prominent feature here but the chords and basslines of the guitars that compliment it, providing strength in the mid-range as well as an actual presence. Tracks such as "THIRTEEN", "RENATUS", and "FIVE" are perfect examples of these nuances, as well as some highlight tracks of XIII that are equally enjoyable. Taking note at one of lynch.’s only hindrances, we see that they've stuck to the same composition style as their last two albums, making a large portion of XIII  feel like a collection of B-sides. It failed to strike immediate chords with me, something that D.A.R.K and even AVANTGARDE  had no problem with. Adding to this is a variation in sound, something unfamiliar that I knew would take time to be accepted as the new norm. The balance in vocal and guitar strings, while being right up my alley, leaves the drumming much to be desired. There is reduced dynamic range, isolation, and maybe even a flat signature, ridding any “tail end” from the drums that could give the album more life. With arrangements mimicking the last two releases, and an unfamiliar sound, my first listen through XIII felt like one big blur.
 
However, after giving the album a couple week’s worth of listening, an appropriate break-in period that I felt was needed, XIII by lynch. has distinguishing attributes that separate it from the rest of their discography. The more I listen to it, the more my initial thoughts beforehand seem like fan uneasiness as lynch. has revisited their past work and refined it, throwing in inspiration from Visual Kei bands of the 90s like Kuroyume, Luna Sea, and Laputa. "RENATUS" has become a track favorite, with an astounding atmosphere that gives the aggression of those guitars a stronger bite. I’m a sucker for melodic tracks, and "AMBLE" sounds almost euphoric, providing many moments of elation that I wish could last forever. The versatility in musical instruments during "FAITH" is one to definitely check out. Lastly, the emotional cool-down track that is "A FOOL" brings XIII to a smooth close, without trying too hard to make it obvious.
 
XIII sounds completely different than it did a couple weeks ago, as the album takes on an empathetic atmosphere, driving a nostalgia trip that's going to be different for everyone. The album  is able to express its confidence here with an abundance of melodies and guitar solos, like a tribute to 13 years of lynch.'s past work, with a glint of 90’s Visual Kei thrown into the mix.  Whether this combination will make one feel something is up to the listener, but overall this album certainly has become a standalone release that I can easily stand behind, only after being given some time to warm up to it first. 
 
 

It said he will bring support members, including ex Avanchick Hyu-Ga, on the YouTube page :shrug:

Guys, turn your read receipts off.

He was fired as of today. Apparently he read the messages but did not answer. Their bassist is now the singer.

He didn't order a pizza in group chat, so this was an amateur-hour copout 

Arlequin are:
Vocalist: Aki
Guitar: Nao
Guitar: Kuruto
Bass: Shohei
Drums: Tamon
http://arlequin-web.com/
 
Arlequin (c. 2013) quickly rose to top-shelf, basically-major-but-not-offically-major status through hard work, experience, sharp management and lots of (well deserved) hype, not unlike their contemporaries DEZERT, NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST, and DIAURA. And like their contemporaries, their name is rooted in sharp, well-composed, heavy-yet-melodic bangers. Unlike those names, Arlequin have the distinction of pushing their heavy x melody juxtaposition to the utmost extreme. Their lead singles are augmented by 7-string riffage, rough inhale vocals and furious drumming in conjunction with uber melodic, anisong-style choruses. "Haka ana", "ALIVE", "Stella", "Dame ningen", "Qualia", "Dilemma" and "ECLIPSE" follow this pattern, comprising their most famous--albeit monotonous work. Don't get me wrong, those are some of the best songs to come out of vk since 2010, but a body of work can't rest upon just highlights alone. It's the tracks that aren't singles on an album that make up the bulk of our listening, and this is where album filler comes to the detriment of bands that slay singles but can't do much else. Arlequin are exempt from this and I'll tell you why.
 
What most people don't know, is that Arlequin have a pretty funky experimental streak throughout their discography. If the band were the strength of their a-sides, and frankly whole first album alone, you'd have a solid but flat group of musicians. Luckily for us, Arlequin's most interesting work is tucked into b-sides, corners of albums, and (kinda) forgotten deep cuts. Why is this? Their A-sides and lead promo tracks are almost always easily digestible variations of their hit formula, and usually helmed by lead guitarist Nao. It wasn't until recently (i.e. post 2015) that Nao's hold loosened from Arlequin's compositions, incorporating bassist Shohei and rhythm guitarist Kuruto's songs into the fold. This, in my opinion, has greatly strengthened and diversified their sound. In fact, most of the tracks on the list aren't Nao's songs. Not to say he isn't a kick ass composer, but the band certainly benefits from bringing together clashing styles--just saying, maybe that's why near equal was a snooze fest. That's why the other guys (I hope?) have come to our rescue, bringing us some weirder variations on Arlequins usual formulas. The current result of Arlequin's more recent, integrative era is a sound representing a veritable pastiche of visual kei history: from minimal 00's alt-metal, 80's x-worship, melodic 90's ballads, and 10's modern boundary breaking. These guys know their shit, they're artists who compose with respect to the past, present and future of the scene that spawned them. Not a whole lot of what sounds like ghost writing; just honest sweat, red eyeshadow, hairspray, and broken bangya hearts (and probably condoms).
 
Without further ado, in no particular order, we'll get to looking at my offbeat favs that (I'd like to think) have solidified Arlequin's place as legends of the modern visual scene. No particular order, writing credits are courtesy of the lovely @peffy, though rocklyric has them up too. Live versions of the songs are linked when possible (and representative of the original), I think Arlequin sound way better live than on studio. Last three songs were remade into superior versions on Arlequin's recent best-of, so while originals are gonna be linked--just know where the sauce is truly at.
 
Albums:
Utopia (2016):

1.) "残響" (Zankyou)
Composer: Shohei
Claim to fame: This sounds like a kaleidoscope
Of all the songs to fit on here, "Zankyou" is the most fitting. A clusterfuck of twinkling, dueling guitars, one hammering out a weirdly dissonant arpeggio and another tapping a lead line, holding on for dear life. What is just two guitar lines becomes the sound of a million starts shining in your face or just an overwhelming series of flashing lights and sounds. Rhythm plays second fiddle, a steady blast beat and bassline crashing against the star show. You'd have to wonder what the track started off as, as its certainly not a bass-centered track. I'd like to think Shohei gave the guys a bassline and said "go apeshit". Triumphant and riveting, "Zankyou" is unforgettable.
 
2.) "ハッピーセット" (Happy set)
Composer: Kuruto
Claim to fame: dissonance man, dissonance
What could be a fun banger is turned sour with dissonant rhythm and acrid lead guitar work, bringing a sense of dread from the get-go. As we await a pretty chorus, we're instead stuck with the same ringing chords and Aki shrieking the vocal melody. It's jarring to say the least--no pretty key shift or soothing refrain here. Kagerou/DEZERT-like octave chords play over the verse in the second half, bringing the tension up before the track implodes with more harshness. It's moody--yes, out of place--absolutely. "Happy set" is skipped over a bit when it comes on shuffle, I find Aki's inhales to be grating--especially without a break at all. That's the same reason I find it so interesting, who knew a mid-tempo track like this would be one of Arlequin's most brutal tracks.
 
3.) "独白" (Dokuhaku)
Composer: Shohei
Claim to fame: CHUG CHUG CHUG CLACK CLACK
"Dokuhaku" is a weirdly shifting, "OBSCURE" esque, chuggy, alt-metal love fest for the first part. Spooky synths, evil laughter, sparse tom-drumming and all. Then it goes into a freak out phase, with blastbeats and screaming and the whole lot. Whats notable is how it just stops and starts between the sections, structure be damned. The acoustic interlude is especially interesting, paired with the stuttering intro cutting off Aki's crooning. The end effect is odd, and it is definitely a grower of a track.  I go back and forth between liking and disliking this track, but in the end it's too engaging a track to put down.
 
4.) "棘" (Toge)
Composer: Nao
Claim to fame: Sad robot from Nagoya in 1997
"Toge" is a track that should immediately resonate with my old-school-loving peers, the chord progression and lead melody are straight up 90's gold. If you close your eyes and focus HARD, mentally stripping away the drop-tuned guitar and bleepbloops, it could easily be a ROUAGE or Laputa track. BUT...Arlequin aren't hellbent on 90's revival, and that's where it gets fun. Effects are overlaid on the guitarline and vocals that make them sound wonky, lightly distorted and distant, inducing an odd, campy-space-movie feel. There is something so weird about this, but it works because its such a traditional, mid-tempo visual ballad. The contrast is incredible but by no means distracting, and one of their ballad (+discography) highlights. In all honesty, someone should make a weird edited fan video of "WALL-E" footage (robot love!!) with "Toge" playing in the back--might actually pull a few tears out of me.
 
exist (2018):

5.) "NEGA ABILITY"
Composer: Shohei
Claim to fame: bass DOMINATION
Easily Arlequin's most stripped down, dark and atmospheric song. No twin guitar fiddles, bleepbloops, distracting melodies. It's Shohei's delayed bass, delicate vox from Aki, and grinding guitar riffs. I've never heard bass mixed so high in an Arlequin song, especially with such a distorted, crunchy tone. This goes out to all the post-vulgar DEG and 2000's MUCC stans, its a raw, emotive, and almost shockingly simple metal banger. The dazzling chorus hits like a bag of bricks through violent verses and sparse intro/exit sequences. Exist was a pretty strong single, and to leave on such an intense note leaves me curious as to the direction Arlequin will head toward with future releases.
 
 
puzzle (2017):

6.) "僻目" (Higame)
Composer: Kuruto
Claim to fame: dizzying slow burn
 Haunting, dissonant chords accent a djenting rhythm line dancing around complexly groovy, polyrhythmic drumming. When the good ol' Aki chorus hits, its sparkle is dampened by the dark mood of the verses, only looking up during an acoustic reprise toward the end. Lead work is less about virtuouso and more about inducing a disorienting atmosphere--which is something later-era Arlequin have been nailing. If I had to guess, I would've thought it was a Shohei composition with the moody, bass-heavy sound, but it seems like dissonance is a theme with Kuruto's work.
 
 
PARANOIA (2016)

7.) "link"
Composer: Shohei
Claim to fame: the DRAMA
Looking at "link" in the context of their overall discography, especially the tracks that came after, it's not too shocking a track. But when it came out, it was a novel take on Arlquin's style. It has the heavy, angular alt-metal/djent chug of Shohei's (and some of Nao's) compositional style, paired with incredibly emotive vox from Aki. The sweet chorus+whispered(?) gang vocals save the track from turning into "NEGA ABILITY", but know it could've easily gone in that direction. Maybe that's why "link" is so interesting, like a time-travelling mix of Arlequin past and present. The overall mood is contemplative, with a meditative heaviness and stillness about the track. The live version is interesting, because the band flubs around a bit (was it the last song off the main setlist?), but I think it shows the band in the full mood of the song.
 
真っ赤な嘘 (Makkana uso) (2017)

8.) "gossip"
Composer: Nao
Claim to fame: DAT RIFFING THO
Now less moody, more party. "gossip" is both early 2000's oshare/punk-rock fun and a tinge of 80's visual, a-la X. All parts of the song hit hard as hell, making for a fun and melodic listen, despite a pretty simple structure. That said, the second half with the dazzling Nao solo and thrashy drumming take the track over the top and really bring the power-metal vibe home. I was very pleasantly surprised to see the band revisit "gossip"'s throwback sensibilities with the even MORE X/Luna Sea-loving lead single "puzzle" in 2017. It stands alone within their discography for the mishmash of visual history, a recurring theme in Arlequin's repertoire.
 
 
Arlequin (2013):

9.) "Fiction"
Composer: Nao
Claim to fame: Bleep-bloop, rapping, triumphant solo...confusion
Let's be honest, Arlequin's first demo was a hot mess. All four tracks were salvaged (after careful reworking) on their Kaichikan... best-of album, which was a testament to the strong melodic sensibilities that the guys had since Arlequin--probably why it sold out like 3x over. "Fiction" is the hottest mess, with a nightmarish smattering of late-2000's visual cliches: slow-down choruses, rapping, high-pitched-leads-over-blastbeats, jumping section, gaze-thot(TM) backing vox, shrieking, bleep-bloops. To add insult to injury, the track randomly goes for a virtuosic solo to close it off, fading into nothing as if we didn't just get rap-screamed at three minutes prior. Why on earth would you want to listen to this? The same reason you'd gladly watch a car crash in slow motion. That and it's fucking Arlequin, who somehow fashion a shitstorm of bad ideas into something quirky and endearing.
 
 
Eclipse (2014):

10.) "像" (Zou) + BOOOOOONUS "ナミダノアト" (Namida no ato)
Composer: Nao
Claim to fame: Weirdly danceable metal + weirdly cryable metal
The ratchetness of their first demo didn't escape later works--thank god. Eclipse shortly followed their demo, with more-or-less the same stuff that made their prior work so fun, but with a bit of refinement. "Zou" is their crazy livehouse banger, with the original 3-and-a-half minutes usually stretched out to ~7 to accommodate an extended gyakudai (reverse-dive) section toward the end of the track. Dubstep synths clash against chugging guitars and drum machines before jumping into a little fiesta section, led by Aki's spicy la-la-la's and the guitars following with an 'oriental'-sounding scale. Of course afterwards all hell breaks loose with the gangshouts in the gyakudai section. Live version is linked because it's awesome, but "Zou" bangs because of the little phases it moves through within its unconventional structure.
Onto "Namida no ato", it has the heaviness and electronics of the usual Arlequin sound, but with this super-melodramatic style that turns it into this odd heavy-ballad. We're tricked into thinking its gonna be heavy, but after the first verse we see what we're in for with the chorus. It also happens to be one of my favourite Arlequin choruses ever, its long and lovely--all the pretty stuff Aki pulls out of his vocal chords, going up and down his range, it's all so beautiful. "Namida no ato" pushes ani-song territory for sure, and I don't think Arlequin even write tracks with progressions this cheesy anymore. Best of all, they repeat the chorus ad-nauseum so you'll literally NEVER forget it. It's a really special song in my opinion, and I love it nonetheless (although that key change before the solo can go!); prime last-song-at-the-third-encore-at-the-anniversary-tour-finale fodder, imagine all the confetti! boku ga kimi no namae wo...
 
Those are my top-10 Arlequin deep cuts! Agree/disagree with these pics/blurbs? Do you have any unsung favourites from Arlequin's discography that weren't featured here? Voice your opinions below! Also if you're a hardcore Arlequin fan and follow their interviews/stuff, I'd love to know more about how they approach composition. That and I'm curious as to what songs are loved/disliked among fans that attend lives.
Any bands that think you have B-sides/live-dists/lowkey songs that are overlooked in favour of lead singles? Let me know and I might continue this series.
 
Back to studying for my GREs...it's been real!
 
emmny
 

Somehow there is no Madmans Esprit thread on MH and seeing they even joined Gan-Shin Records recently I felt like there should be one.
The band was formed 2010 in Seoul and has been active with changing lineup as solo project of vocalist/guitarist 叫號 (Kyuho).
 
 
 
Their style is characterized as "post black metal / visual kei" under the concept "depressive suicidal blackened pop" and their new album is going to be released in October 2018.
 
 
OHP  |  Instagram  |  FB  |  Twitter  |  YouTube  |  Spotify  |  Apple Music  |  Bandcamp

Black suits are a pro ‘my band is breaking up’ move because you can go to job interviews during the day without having to bring a change of clothes for your show at night. 

Nice! The Velvet do the kind of low-budget kei I'll always give a chance, looking forward to it.
 
If you were actually curious: melancholy is a noun, melancholic is the adjective form.

Nice! The Velvet do the kind of low-budget kei I'll always give a chance, looking forward to it.
 
If you were actually curious: melancholy is a noun, melancholic is the adjective form.

The Velvet "new" album re-release 「再上映禁止の水玉キネマ」(Saijouei kinshi no mizutama kinema)
price: 3000 yen (3240 tax-in)
release: 2018/9/9 (pre-release 8/31 at ikebukuro chop)
 
Tracklist:
1.禁曜ロードショウ (Kinyobi Roadshow)
2.迷い猫のドォリス  (Mayoi neko no Doris)
3.致死量メランコリィ (chishiryou Melancholy)
4.Candy Night Lover
5.ストリッパー (Stripper)
6.溺れる人魚 (Oboreru ningyo)
7.変態 (Hentai)
8.ダレカサンガ コロンダ (Dare kasan ga Colonda)
9.同じ月を見ている (Onaji tsuki wo miteiru)
10.感染するアンドロイド (Kansensuru Android)
11.君が見た夢 (Kimi ga Mita yume)
12.真夜中のサーカス (Mayonaka no Circus)
 

Lack-co are in the middle of hosting a series of Monday two-man shows called "ステゴロ" (what does Stegoro mean??)  and having never seen Tenten in any of his bands and The Gallo being one of my favorite active VK bands I had to go to this one while I was visiting Tokyo.
 
東高円寺二万電圧 (Higashi Koenji ni man Den-atsu) is just outside the central Tokyo region defined by the Yamanote Line, but it was a quick trip on a couple trains and Den-atsu is very close to the station when you arrive.
 
To access the venue you first have to descend an outdoor, concrete staircase toward an outdoor landing. The descent actually made me a bit nervous as there was no railing on one side and it was raining at the time. This was a very non-descript entrance from the roadway. After walking down the stairs and making a turn I was looking at a way too-cool-for-school 30-something dude manning the ticket table. Acknowledging that I don't look much like the typical VK fan in Japan, when I asked for one ticket this guy with shaggy hair at the table actually asked me "You know who's playing tonight?" He didn't sound mean about it, I think he genuinely wanted to save me from seeing this show normally reserved for younger women assuming I had just stumbled to the club looking for any live music I could find. I assured him I was there to see The Gallo and he handed me my paper ticket that doubled as a drink ticket.
 
I liked the set up in side Den-atsu as the bar and merch tables were outside the stage area, which meant I could stand pretty much anywhere inside and not be in the way of people trying to sell things. I found a spot in the rear of the club in front of a tiny alcove that was littered with bags belonging to the VK girls in attendance.
 
This was a fairly small club with low ceilings; their website says the capacity is 130 and I'd say this show had about 80-90 people in attendance. The head count reminded me just how niche a scene VK is. I'd consider The Gallo and Lack-co two of the more well-known indies bands, so it was a bit jarring to see the small venue they were playing at even in a giant city. I'm obviously too deep into VK to remember that almost no one cares about this stuff.
 
Obviously The Gallo were going to be playing first... both because Lack-co were hosting the event and because I saw a lot of the girls standing near the stage holding their signature bowl and spoon. One girl near me had a plain bowl with no logo on it that I could see, did I miss something or did this girl just bring her own bowl from her kitchen to clap along with? I think the latter scenario is pretty funny/ingenious actually. I mentioned in a live report from a couple years ago that The Gallo fans kept doing furi during the band's music playing between sets over the club's PA, and during this show the fans clapped along to the bass drum sound check. Gallo fans seem like a fun bunch in general.
 
 
 
The curtain was drawn to reveal the band in their latest Gallo-Vuitton all over print leisure suits. Jojo had his hair cascading through the top of a hat with the top cut off and some Day of the Dead skull inspired makeup for a very Tim Burton-y look overall. Andy had his palm against the ceiling atop the stage, and I don't think he was raising his hand to get the crowd hyped but rather to test whether or not he could pump his fist upward during the show (he couldn't without hitting his hand... a lot of the band members had to deal with this and would only throw up their hands while bending backward to afford themselves a little more space.) Some of the audience were even checking to see if they could touch the ceiling. The stage right guitarist (they have names for these positions in VK but I don't remember them) had one of those guitars with no headstock, and it looked from across the room like the end of the neck had dripping red wax poured on it a la a Maker's Mark bottle.
 
The newer guitarist, Nov, passed out paper plates to the audience so that people who didn't bring their own (like me, no I didn't pack my Gallo plate in my luggage) could clap along and the set began with "Belphegor". "Belphegor" has some pretty obvious clapping along portions, so even a noob like me could get the hang of the plate banging fairly quickly.
 
The highlights of the set for me were the fact that they played "Kuroi Ondori" (ok they played the remade version from Nero, but still) which is a favorite of mine, and also the 'circle pit' that Jojo started with himself dancing in the center of the maelstrom playing with a megaphone set to siren mode.
 
The lowlights, if you can call them that, were that two different songs had the audience doing the wave (do we need that two separate times?) and that the MC music was "Tokyo Cinderella" but they didn't actually play "Tokyo Cinderella".
 
Some of the non-bowl-based audience participation that was fun was the crowd stomping on the floor in time the beat and the crowd holding hands and swaying back and forth. Of course a couple songs had the requisite gyaku-daibu portions, and I'm certainly not jumping into the backs of some tiny Japanese girls, but they were fun to watch. Nov was kneeling on the backs of a couple girls during one diving song and slipped off them and stumbled backwards onto the stage. Wajou occasionally tried to demand the crowd participate in the diving like the other members were, but he is way too smiley and couldn't really pull it off. He just couldn't help being happy even trying to look mean.
 
The Gallo ended their set with a really high energy rendition of "Incubus" (which I'm still disappointed has no theremin in the live version) during which Jojo was leaning over the crowd singing and got some feedback when he put his mic in front of the amp and proceeded to give it a disappointed look and bop the amp on its 'head' like it was a recalcitrant child.
 
With The Gallo finished with their set thus began the churning of the crowd as Lack-co fans moved into the frontmost positions and many girls invaded my small space in the back looking to find their bags and check their phones and makeup. It kind of sucks for people in the back, as the polite spot changing for peoples' favorite bands leads to a weird concert-going scenario where the back of a venue is often more crowded than the front, but it is kind of cool that the scene (or just Japanese live music fans?) doesn't require people who want to be up front for the band playing last to endure being crushed through all the other shows as concerts in the west would.
 
Interesting note about Den-atsu: in tearing down the stage between sets (which isn't quite the production at these Japanese clubs where you basically just have to bring your instrument and plug in) the bands/roadies had to move equipment down from the stage into the audience area and out through a side door that wasn't connected to the stage. So after the curtain was closed on The Gallo, a couple minutes later we saw band members bringing things down from the stage to this side door.
 

(from Lack-co Twitter)
 
While The Gallo fans can be identified by their white bowls and spoons, Lack-co fans had all produced blue and red clamshell castanets to clap along with. I have to say these did dramatically change the sound of the crowd applause in a way that might get old, but was kind of refreshing for the first time.
 
Lack-co's intro SE was a piano rendition of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" that gradually morphed into the requisite fist-pounding, techno track. The first member to take the stage was drummer Higiri, and wow I thought I hated his black face, but this blue Alfalfa x Cindy Lou Who hairstyle he was rocking for the show might actually bother me even more (not bother in the same way obviously, but it was not pleasant to look at.) I resolved to avoid watching him as much as possible.

The band, except for Tenten who had a Lack-co band tee over a white shirt, were all wearing the red suits with writing strewn all over them from their most recent look. I recognized some of the words scrawled on their suits like 'shine' and 'kimoi' as 'mean things to say to someone'. Very edgy boys.
 
Between not loving their output so far, and the majority of their tracks having titles in Japanese, I didn't recognize much of Lack-co's set list other than a riff here or there. The show did remind me of why I keep giving Tenten's bands chances and will continue to; he is one hell of a charismatic frontman. His sly smiles and confident stage mannerisms had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand and made it so it was hard to pay attention to any of the other members of the band. His best move was when he parted the Red Sea of fans to do a bit of 'everyone run into each other from opposite sides of the venue' but just as the opening in the center stabilized, he jumped down and ran to the cameraman at the back of the venue, struck a pose for a moment, then dove back onto the stage just as the cue for the crowd to go wild hit.
 
Lack-co's set actually resembled a straight up rock show the most of any VK bands I've seen I think. There was very little *furi*, most of the synchronized moves were headbanging, clapping, fist-pumping type stuff that required no direction from Tenten or the band. Tenten even commanded an almost bona fide circle pit during which one girl lost her sweater and it ended up absolutely trampled. In fact, I was a little surprised by how much the show, for lack of a better word, rocked. Lack-co has always seemed like an assemblage of too cute ideas in search of a central theme or melody to hold on to on wax, but live their songs resonated nicely even with perhaps a 'jazz' breakdown a little too often.
 
Milk threw a carton of milk into the crowd as the band were leaving the stage... ride that USP hard buddy.
 
Ivy was fun strutting around the stage and headbanging as usual. I say as usual because I'm pretty sure I saw him at three different shows the week I was in Tokyo, at Lack-co and as a session bassist the other two.
 
When the set ended the girls chanted and clapped in unison for an encore. (Though they appear to be saying "an-ko-re" instead of "an-ko-ru"? I guess the first group that did it had only seen the word encore and not heard it spoken??) They even started up a chant for a second encore that was cut off by the house lights and a voice over the PA system telling them, I'm guessing here, that the show was actually over and it was time to go home.
 
This was a fun pairing for a two-man show as both bands and their groups of fans have pretension-free fun jumping around to some quality tunes. I'll be sure to check out Tenten's next band if I visit Japan again 😉.

Yes it is as absurd as you're picturing. Though full disclosure... I don't really ever participate in the intricate furi. I'll do the clapping and maybe some jumping. (and the annoying bands that make you kneel, ugh.)
 
Yeah, I definitely still feel out of place at VK shows, but everyone I've ever interacted with (usually in very tiny ways) has been very nice. And yes, all the live reports I've ever written here I went to the shows by myself.
I went to a Gallo/Mamireta/Archemi/etc. show that I brought two friends I was travelling with to.... it was a lot of fun, I felt like a VK safari guide explaining everything haha.

Wow, that was a great report! Makes me feel like I was there : > As a fellow dude, I appreciate your adventurous VK spirit for venturing into these uncharted, tiny live houses (alone I'm guessing?)

Also, I noticed that 'an-ko-re' 'an-ko-ru' paradox at the one lynch. live I managed to go to. Couldn't make out what they were saying and it drove me NUTS.

nice live report! and very detailed~
i haven't really listened to the gallo but their lives sound fun ^^

thank you for the live report. Imagining you doing furi surrounded by 89 girls is actually hilarious. 

Lack-co are in the middle of hosting a series of Monday two-man shows called "ステゴロ" (what does Stegoro mean??)  and having never seen Tenten in any of his bands and The Gallo being one of my favorite active VK bands I had to go to this one while I was visiting Tokyo.
 
東高円寺二万電圧 (Higashi Koenji ni man Den-atsu) is just outside the central Tokyo region defined by the Yamanote Line, but it was a quick trip on a couple trains and Den-atsu is very close to the station when you arrive.
 
To access the venue you first have to descend an outdoor, concrete staircase toward an outdoor landing. The descent actually made me a bit nervous as there was no railing on one side and it was raining at the time. This was a very non-descript entrance from the roadway. After walking down the stairs and making a turn I was looking at a way too-cool-for-school 30-something dude manning the ticket table. Acknowledging that I don't look much like the typical VK fan in Japan, when I asked for one ticket this guy with shaggy hair at the table actually asked me "You know who's playing tonight?" He didn't sound mean about it, I think he genuinely wanted to save me from seeing this show normally reserved for younger women assuming I had just stumbled to the club looking for any live music I could find. I assured him I was there to see The Gallo and he handed me my paper ticket that doubled as a drink ticket.
 
I liked the set up in side Den-atsu as the bar and merch tables were outside the stage area, which meant I could stand pretty much anywhere inside and not be in the way of people trying to sell things. I found a spot in the rear of the club in front of a tiny alcove that was littered with bags belonging to the VK girls in attendance.
 
This was a fairly small club with low ceilings; their website says the capacity is 130 and I'd say this show had about 80-90 people in attendance. The head count reminded me just how niche a scene VK is. I'd consider The Gallo and Lack-co two of the more well-known indies bands, so it was a bit jarring to see the small venue they were playing at even in a giant city. I'm obviously too deep into VK to remember that almost no one cares about this stuff.
 
Obviously The Gallo were going to be playing first... both because Lack-co were hosting the event and because I saw a lot of the girls standing near the stage holding their signature bowl and spoon. One girl near me had a plain bowl with no logo on it that I could see, did I miss something or did this girl just bring her own bowl from her kitchen to clap along with? I think the latter scenario is pretty funny/ingenious actually. I mentioned in a live report from a couple years ago that The Gallo fans kept doing furi during the band's music playing between sets over the club's PA, and during this show the fans clapped along to the bass drum sound check. Gallo fans seem like a fun bunch in general.
 
 
 
The curtain was drawn to reveal the band in their latest Gallo-Vuitton all over print leisure suits. Jojo had his hair cascading through the top of a hat with the top cut off and some Day of the Dead skull inspired makeup for a very Tim Burton-y look overall. Andy had his palm against the ceiling atop the stage, and I don't think he was raising his hand to get the crowd hyped but rather to test whether or not he could pump his fist upward during the show (he couldn't without hitting his hand... a lot of the band members had to deal with this and would only throw up their hands while bending backward to afford themselves a little more space.) Some of the audience were even checking to see if they could touch the ceiling. The stage right guitarist (they have names for these positions in VK but I don't remember them) had one of those guitars with no headstock, and it looked from across the room like the end of the neck had dripping red wax poured on it a la a Maker's Mark bottle.
 
The newer guitarist, Nov, passed out paper plates to the audience so that people who didn't bring their own (like me, no I didn't pack my Gallo plate in my luggage) could clap along and the set began with "Belphegor". "Belphegor" has some pretty obvious clapping along portions, so even a noob like me could get the hang of the plate banging fairly quickly.
 
The highlights of the set for me were the fact that they played "Kuroi Ondori" (ok they played the remade version from Nero, but still) which is a favorite of mine, and also the 'circle pit' that Jojo started with himself dancing in the center of the maelstrom playing with a megaphone set to siren mode.
 
The lowlights, if you can call them that, were that two different songs had the audience doing the wave (do we need that two separate times?) and that the MC music was "Tokyo Cinderella" but they didn't actually play "Tokyo Cinderella".
 
Some of the non-bowl-based audience participation that was fun was the crowd stomping on the floor in time the beat and the crowd holding hands and swaying back and forth. Of course a couple songs had the requisite gyaku-daibu portions, and I'm certainly not jumping into the backs of some tiny Japanese girls, but they were fun to watch. Nov was kneeling on the backs of a couple girls during one diving song and slipped off them and stumbled backwards onto the stage. Wajou occasionally tried to demand the crowd participate in the diving like the other members were, but he is way too smiley and couldn't really pull it off. He just couldn't help being happy even trying to look mean.
 
The Gallo ended their set with a really high energy rendition of "Incubus" (which I'm still disappointed has no theremin in the live version) during which Jojo was leaning over the crowd singing and got some feedback when he put his mic in front of the amp and proceeded to give it a disappointed look and bop the amp on its 'head' like it was a recalcitrant child.
 
With The Gallo finished with their set thus began the churning of the crowd as Lack-co fans moved into the frontmost positions and many girls invaded my small space in the back looking to find their bags and check their phones and makeup. It kind of sucks for people in the back, as the polite spot changing for peoples' favorite bands leads to a weird concert-going scenario where the back of a venue is often more crowded than the front, but it is kind of cool that the scene (or just Japanese live music fans?) doesn't require people who want to be up front for the band playing last to endure being crushed through all the other shows as concerts in the west would.
 
Interesting note about Den-atsu: in tearing down the stage between sets (which isn't quite the production at these Japanese clubs where you basically just have to bring your instrument and plug in) the bands/roadies had to move equipment down from the stage into the audience area and out through a side door that wasn't connected to the stage. So after the curtain was closed on The Gallo, a couple minutes later we saw band members bringing things down from the stage to this side door.
 

(from Lack-co Twitter)
 
While The Gallo fans can be identified by their white bowls and spoons, Lack-co fans had all produced blue and red clamshell castanets to clap along with. I have to say these did dramatically change the sound of the crowd applause in a way that might get old, but was kind of refreshing for the first time.
 
Lack-co's intro SE was a piano rendition of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" that gradually morphed into the requisite fist-pounding, techno track. The first member to take the stage was drummer Higiri, and wow I thought I hated his black face, but this blue Alfalfa x Cindy Lou Who hairstyle he was rocking for the show might actually bother me even more (not bother in the same way obviously, but it was not pleasant to look at.) I resolved to avoid watching him as much as possible.

The band, except for Tenten who had a Lack-co band tee over a white shirt, were all wearing the red suits with writing strewn all over them from their most recent look. I recognized some of the words scrawled on their suits like 'shine' and 'kimoi' as 'mean things to say to someone'. Very edgy boys.
 
Between not loving their output so far, and the majority of their tracks having titles in Japanese, I didn't recognize much of Lack-co's set list other than a riff here or there. The show did remind me of why I keep giving Tenten's bands chances and will continue to; he is one hell of a charismatic frontman. His sly smiles and confident stage mannerisms had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand and made it so it was hard to pay attention to any of the other members of the band. His best move was when he parted the Red Sea of fans to do a bit of 'everyone run into each other from opposite sides of the venue' but just as the opening in the center stabilized, he jumped down and ran to the cameraman at the back of the venue, struck a pose for a moment, then dove back onto the stage just as the cue for the crowd to go wild hit.
 
Lack-co's set actually resembled a straight up rock show the most of any VK bands I've seen I think. There was very little *furi*, most of the synchronized moves were headbanging, clapping, fist-pumping type stuff that required no direction from Tenten or the band. Tenten even commanded an almost bona fide circle pit during which one girl lost her sweater and it ended up absolutely trampled. In fact, I was a little surprised by how much the show, for lack of a better word, rocked. Lack-co has always seemed like an assemblage of too cute ideas in search of a central theme or melody to hold on to on wax, but live their songs resonated nicely even with perhaps a 'jazz' breakdown a little too often.
 
Milk threw a carton of milk into the crowd as the band were leaving the stage... ride that USP hard buddy.
 
Ivy was fun strutting around the stage and headbanging as usual. I say as usual because I'm pretty sure I saw him at three different shows the week I was in Tokyo, at Lack-co and as a session bassist the other two.
 
When the set ended the girls chanted and clapped in unison for an encore. (Though they appear to be saying "an-ko-re" instead of "an-ko-ru"? I guess the first group that did it had only seen the word encore and not heard it spoken??) They even started up a chant for a second encore that was cut off by the house lights and a voice over the PA system telling them, I'm guessing here, that the show was actually over and it was time to go home.
 
This was a fun pairing for a two-man show as both bands and their groups of fans have pretension-free fun jumping around to some quality tunes. I'll be sure to check out Tenten's next band if I visit Japan again 😉.

Black suits are a pro ‘my band is breaking up’ move because you can go to job interviews during the day without having to bring a change of clothes for your show at night. 

Black suits are a pro ‘my band is breaking up’ move because you can go to job interviews during the day without having to bring a change of clothes for your show at night. 

Black suits are a pro ‘my band is breaking up’ move because you can go to job interviews during the day without having to bring a change of clothes for your show at night. 

Dilemma:
 
Going to be in Boston for work at the end of the month. (Holla at me Bostonians!(?))...
 
These two shows are happening the same night:
Glassjaw & Quicksand in a club
Smashing Pumpkins in an arena (playing the old (read: good) shit)
 
Which should I go to???

Lack-co are in the middle of hosting a series of Monday two-man shows called "ステゴロ" (what does Stegoro mean??)  and having never seen Tenten in any of his bands and The Gallo being one of my favorite active VK bands I had to go to this one while I was visiting Tokyo.
 
東高円寺二万電圧 (Higashi Koenji ni man Den-atsu) is just outside the central Tokyo region defined by the Yamanote Line, but it was a quick trip on a couple trains and Den-atsu is very close to the station when you arrive.
 
To access the venue you first have to descend an outdoor, concrete staircase toward an outdoor landing. The descent actually made me a bit nervous as there was no railing on one side and it was raining at the time. This was a very non-descript entrance from the roadway. After walking down the stairs and making a turn I was looking at a way too-cool-for-school 30-something dude manning the ticket table. Acknowledging that I don't look much like the typical VK fan in Japan, when I asked for one ticket this guy with shaggy hair at the table actually asked me "You know who's playing tonight?" He didn't sound mean about it, I think he genuinely wanted to save me from seeing this show normally reserved for younger women assuming I had just stumbled to the club looking for any live music I could find. I assured him I was there to see The Gallo and he handed me my paper ticket that doubled as a drink ticket.
 
I liked the set up in side Den-atsu as the bar and merch tables were outside the stage area, which meant I could stand pretty much anywhere inside and not be in the way of people trying to sell things. I found a spot in the rear of the club in front of a tiny alcove that was littered with bags belonging to the VK girls in attendance.
 
This was a fairly small club with low ceilings; their website says the capacity is 130 and I'd say this show had about 80-90 people in attendance. The head count reminded me just how niche a scene VK is. I'd consider The Gallo and Lack-co two of the more well-known indies bands, so it was a bit jarring to see the small venue they were playing at even in a giant city. I'm obviously too deep into VK to remember that almost no one cares about this stuff.
 
Obviously The Gallo were going to be playing first... both because Lack-co were hosting the event and because I saw a lot of the girls standing near the stage holding their signature bowl and spoon. One girl near me had a plain bowl with no logo on it that I could see, did I miss something or did this girl just bring her own bowl from her kitchen to clap along with? I think the latter scenario is pretty funny/ingenious actually. I mentioned in a live report from a couple years ago that The Gallo fans kept doing furi during the band's music playing between sets over the club's PA, and during this show the fans clapped along to the bass drum sound check. Gallo fans seem like a fun bunch in general.
 
 
 
The curtain was drawn to reveal the band in their latest Gallo-Vuitton all over print leisure suits. Jojo had his hair cascading through the top of a hat with the top cut off and some Day of the Dead skull inspired makeup for a very Tim Burton-y look overall. Andy had his palm against the ceiling atop the stage, and I don't think he was raising his hand to get the crowd hyped but rather to test whether or not he could pump his fist upward during the show (he couldn't without hitting his hand... a lot of the band members had to deal with this and would only throw up their hands while bending backward to afford themselves a little more space.) Some of the audience were even checking to see if they could touch the ceiling. The stage right guitarist (they have names for these positions in VK but I don't remember them) had one of those guitars with no headstock, and it looked from across the room like the end of the neck had dripping red wax poured on it a la a Maker's Mark bottle.
 
The newer guitarist, Nov, passed out paper plates to the audience so that people who didn't bring their own (like me, no I didn't pack my Gallo plate in my luggage) could clap along and the set began with "Belphegor". "Belphegor" has some pretty obvious clapping along portions, so even a noob like me could get the hang of the plate banging fairly quickly.
 
The highlights of the set for me were the fact that they played "Kuroi Ondori" (ok they played the remade version from Nero, but still) which is a favorite of mine, and also the 'circle pit' that Jojo started with himself dancing in the center of the maelstrom playing with a megaphone set to siren mode.
 
The lowlights, if you can call them that, were that two different songs had the audience doing the wave (do we need that two separate times?) and that the MC music was "Tokyo Cinderella" but they didn't actually play "Tokyo Cinderella".
 
Some of the non-bowl-based audience participation that was fun was the crowd stomping on the floor in time the beat and the crowd holding hands and swaying back and forth. Of course a couple songs had the requisite gyaku-daibu portions, and I'm certainly not jumping into the backs of some tiny Japanese girls, but they were fun to watch. Nov was kneeling on the backs of a couple girls during one diving song and slipped off them and stumbled backwards onto the stage. Wajou occasionally tried to demand the crowd participate in the diving like the other members were, but he is way too smiley and couldn't really pull it off. He just couldn't help being happy even trying to look mean.
 
The Gallo ended their set with a really high energy rendition of "Incubus" (which I'm still disappointed has no theremin in the live version) during which Jojo was leaning over the crowd singing and got some feedback when he put his mic in front of the amp and proceeded to give it a disappointed look and bop the amp on its 'head' like it was a recalcitrant child.
 
With The Gallo finished with their set thus began the churning of the crowd as Lack-co fans moved into the frontmost positions and many girls invaded my small space in the back looking to find their bags and check their phones and makeup. It kind of sucks for people in the back, as the polite spot changing for peoples' favorite bands leads to a weird concert-going scenario where the back of a venue is often more crowded than the front, but it is kind of cool that the scene (or just Japanese live music fans?) doesn't require people who want to be up front for the band playing last to endure being crushed through all the other shows as concerts in the west would.
 
Interesting note about Den-atsu: in tearing down the stage between sets (which isn't quite the production at these Japanese clubs where you basically just have to bring your instrument and plug in) the bands/roadies had to move equipment down from the stage into the audience area and out through a side door that wasn't connected to the stage. So after the curtain was closed on The Gallo, a couple minutes later we saw band members bringing things down from the stage to this side door.
 

(from Lack-co Twitter)
 
While The Gallo fans can be identified by their white bowls and spoons, Lack-co fans had all produced blue and red clamshell castanets to clap along with. I have to say these did dramatically change the sound of the crowd applause in a way that might get old, but was kind of refreshing for the first time.
 
Lack-co's intro SE was a piano rendition of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" that gradually morphed into the requisite fist-pounding, techno track. The first member to take the stage was drummer Higiri, and wow I thought I hated his black face, but this blue Alfalfa x Cindy Lou Who hairstyle he was rocking for the show might actually bother me even more (not bother in the same way obviously, but it was not pleasant to look at.) I resolved to avoid watching him as much as possible.

The band, except for Tenten who had a Lack-co band tee over a white shirt, were all wearing the red suits with writing strewn all over them from their most recent look. I recognized some of the words scrawled on their suits like 'shine' and 'kimoi' as 'mean things to say to someone'. Very edgy boys.
 
Between not loving their output so far, and the majority of their tracks having titles in Japanese, I didn't recognize much of Lack-co's set list other than a riff here or there. The show did remind me of why I keep giving Tenten's bands chances and will continue to; he is one hell of a charismatic frontman. His sly smiles and confident stage mannerisms had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand and made it so it was hard to pay attention to any of the other members of the band. His best move was when he parted the Red Sea of fans to do a bit of 'everyone run into each other from opposite sides of the venue' but just as the opening in the center stabilized, he jumped down and ran to the cameraman at the back of the venue, struck a pose for a moment, then dove back onto the stage just as the cue for the crowd to go wild hit.
 
Lack-co's set actually resembled a straight up rock show the most of any VK bands I've seen I think. There was very little *furi*, most of the synchronized moves were headbanging, clapping, fist-pumping type stuff that required no direction from Tenten or the band. Tenten even commanded an almost bona fide circle pit during which one girl lost her sweater and it ended up absolutely trampled. In fact, I was a little surprised by how much the show, for lack of a better word, rocked. Lack-co has always seemed like an assemblage of too cute ideas in search of a central theme or melody to hold on to on wax, but live their songs resonated nicely even with perhaps a 'jazz' breakdown a little too often.
 
Milk threw a carton of milk into the crowd as the band were leaving the stage... ride that USP hard buddy.
 
Ivy was fun strutting around the stage and headbanging as usual. I say as usual because I'm pretty sure I saw him at three different shows the week I was in Tokyo, at Lack-co and as a session bassist the other two.
 
When the set ended the girls chanted and clapped in unison for an encore. (Though they appear to be saying "an-ko-re" instead of "an-ko-ru"? I guess the first group that did it had only seen the word encore and not heard it spoken??) They even started up a chant for a second encore that was cut off by the house lights and a voice over the PA system telling them, I'm guessing here, that the show was actually over and it was time to go home.
 
This was a fun pairing for a two-man show as both bands and their groups of fans have pretension-free fun jumping around to some quality tunes. I'll be sure to check out Tenten's next band if I visit Japan again 😉.

Lack-co are in the middle of hosting a series of Monday two-man shows called "ステゴロ" (what does Stegoro mean??)  and having never seen Tenten in any of his bands and The Gallo being one of my favorite active VK bands I had to go to this one while I was visiting Tokyo.
 
東高円寺二万電圧 (Higashi Koenji ni man Den-atsu) is just outside the central Tokyo region defined by the Yamanote Line, but it was a quick trip on a couple trains and Den-atsu is very close to the station when you arrive.
 
To access the venue you first have to descend an outdoor, concrete staircase toward an outdoor landing. The descent actually made me a bit nervous as there was no railing on one side and it was raining at the time. This was a very non-descript entrance from the roadway. After walking down the stairs and making a turn I was looking at a way too-cool-for-school 30-something dude manning the ticket table. Acknowledging that I don't look much like the typical VK fan in Japan, when I asked for one ticket this guy with shaggy hair at the table actually asked me "You know who's playing tonight?" He didn't sound mean about it, I think he genuinely wanted to save me from seeing this show normally reserved for younger women assuming I had just stumbled to the club looking for any live music I could find. I assured him I was there to see The Gallo and he handed me my paper ticket that doubled as a drink ticket.
 
I liked the set up in side Den-atsu as the bar and merch tables were outside the stage area, which meant I could stand pretty much anywhere inside and not be in the way of people trying to sell things. I found a spot in the rear of the club in front of a tiny alcove that was littered with bags belonging to the VK girls in attendance.
 
This was a fairly small club with low ceilings; their website says the capacity is 130 and I'd say this show had about 80-90 people in attendance. The head count reminded me just how niche a scene VK is. I'd consider The Gallo and Lack-co two of the more well-known indies bands, so it was a bit jarring to see the small venue they were playing at even in a giant city. I'm obviously too deep into VK to remember that almost no one cares about this stuff.
 
Obviously The Gallo were going to be playing first... both because Lack-co were hosting the event and because I saw a lot of the girls standing near the stage holding their signature bowl and spoon. One girl near me had a plain bowl with no logo on it that I could see, did I miss something or did this girl just bring her own bowl from her kitchen to clap along with? I think the latter scenario is pretty funny/ingenious actually. I mentioned in a live report from a couple years ago that The Gallo fans kept doing furi during the band's music playing between sets over the club's PA, and during this show the fans clapped along to the bass drum sound check. Gallo fans seem like a fun bunch in general.
 
 
 
The curtain was drawn to reveal the band in their latest Gallo-Vuitton all over print leisure suits. Jojo had his hair cascading through the top of a hat with the top cut off and some Day of the Dead skull inspired makeup for a very Tim Burton-y look overall. Andy had his palm against the ceiling atop the stage, and I don't think he was raising his hand to get the crowd hyped but rather to test whether or not he could pump his fist upward during the show (he couldn't without hitting his hand... a lot of the band members had to deal with this and would only throw up their hands while bending backward to afford themselves a little more space.) Some of the audience were even checking to see if they could touch the ceiling. The stage right guitarist (they have names for these positions in VK but I don't remember them) had one of those guitars with no headstock, and it looked from across the room like the end of the neck had dripping red wax poured on it a la a Maker's Mark bottle.
 
The newer guitarist, Nov, passed out paper plates to the audience so that people who didn't bring their own (like me, no I didn't pack my Gallo plate in my luggage) could clap along and the set began with "Belphegor". "Belphegor" has some pretty obvious clapping along portions, so even a noob like me could get the hang of the plate banging fairly quickly.
 
The highlights of the set for me were the fact that they played "Kuroi Ondori" (ok they played the remade version from Nero, but still) which is a favorite of mine, and also the 'circle pit' that Jojo started with himself dancing in the center of the maelstrom playing with a megaphone set to siren mode.
 
The lowlights, if you can call them that, were that two different songs had the audience doing the wave (do we need that two separate times?) and that the MC music was "Tokyo Cinderella" but they didn't actually play "Tokyo Cinderella".
 
Some of the non-bowl-based audience participation that was fun was the crowd stomping on the floor in time the beat and the crowd holding hands and swaying back and forth. Of course a couple songs had the requisite gyaku-daibu portions, and I'm certainly not jumping into the backs of some tiny Japanese girls, but they were fun to watch. Nov was kneeling on the backs of a couple girls during one diving song and slipped off them and stumbled backwards onto the stage. Wajou occasionally tried to demand the crowd participate in the diving like the other members were, but he is way too smiley and couldn't really pull it off. He just couldn't help being happy even trying to look mean.
 
The Gallo ended their set with a really high energy rendition of "Incubus" (which I'm still disappointed has no theremin in the live version) during which Jojo was leaning over the crowd singing and got some feedback when he put his mic in front of the amp and proceeded to give it a disappointed look and bop the amp on its 'head' like it was a recalcitrant child.
 
With The Gallo finished with their set thus began the churning of the crowd as Lack-co fans moved into the frontmost positions and many girls invaded my small space in the back looking to find their bags and check their phones and makeup. It kind of sucks for people in the back, as the polite spot changing for peoples' favorite bands leads to a weird concert-going scenario where the back of a venue is often more crowded than the front, but it is kind of cool that the scene (or just Japanese live music fans?) doesn't require people who want to be up front for the band playing last to endure being crushed through all the other shows as concerts in the west would.
 
Interesting note about Den-atsu: in tearing down the stage between sets (which isn't quite the production at these Japanese clubs where you basically just have to bring your instrument and plug in) the bands/roadies had to move equipment down from the stage into the audience area and out through a side door that wasn't connected to the stage. So after the curtain was closed on The Gallo, a couple minutes later we saw band members bringing things down from the stage to this side door.
 

(from Lack-co Twitter)
 
While The Gallo fans can be identified by their white bowls and spoons, Lack-co fans had all produced blue and red clamshell castanets to clap along with. I have to say these did dramatically change the sound of the crowd applause in a way that might get old, but was kind of refreshing for the first time.
 
Lack-co's intro SE was a piano rendition of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" that gradually morphed into the requisite fist-pounding, techno track. The first member to take the stage was drummer Higiri, and wow I thought I hated his black face, but this blue Alfalfa x Cindy Lou Who hairstyle he was rocking for the show might actually bother me even more (not bother in the same way obviously, but it was not pleasant to look at.) I resolved to avoid watching him as much as possible.

The band, except for Tenten who had a Lack-co band tee over a white shirt, were all wearing the red suits with writing strewn all over them from their most recent look. I recognized some of the words scrawled on their suits like 'shine' and 'kimoi' as 'mean things to say to someone'. Very edgy boys.
 
Between not loving their output so far, and the majority of their tracks having titles in Japanese, I didn't recognize much of Lack-co's set list other than a riff here or there. The show did remind me of why I keep giving Tenten's bands chances and will continue to; he is one hell of a charismatic frontman. His sly smiles and confident stage mannerisms had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand and made it so it was hard to pay attention to any of the other members of the band. His best move was when he parted the Red Sea of fans to do a bit of 'everyone run into each other from opposite sides of the venue' but just as the opening in the center stabilized, he jumped down and ran to the cameraman at the back of the venue, struck a pose for a moment, then dove back onto the stage just as the cue for the crowd to go wild hit.
 
Lack-co's set actually resembled a straight up rock show the most of any VK bands I've seen I think. There was very little *furi*, most of the synchronized moves were headbanging, clapping, fist-pumping type stuff that required no direction from Tenten or the band. Tenten even commanded an almost bona fide circle pit during which one girl lost her sweater and it ended up absolutely trampled. In fact, I was a little surprised by how much the show, for lack of a better word, rocked. Lack-co has always seemed like an assemblage of too cute ideas in search of a central theme or melody to hold on to on wax, but live their songs resonated nicely even with perhaps a 'jazz' breakdown a little too often.
 
Milk threw a carton of milk into the crowd as the band were leaving the stage... ride that USP hard buddy.
 
Ivy was fun strutting around the stage and headbanging as usual. I say as usual because I'm pretty sure I saw him at three different shows the week I was in Tokyo, at Lack-co and as a session bassist the other two.
 
When the set ended the girls chanted and clapped in unison for an encore. (Though they appear to be saying "an-ko-re" instead of "an-ko-ru"? I guess the first group that did it had only seen the word encore and not heard it spoken??) They even started up a chant for a second encore that was cut off by the house lights and a voice over the PA system telling them, I'm guessing here, that the show was actually over and it was time to go home.
 
This was a fun pairing for a two-man show as both bands and their groups of fans have pretension-free fun jumping around to some quality tunes. I'll be sure to check out Tenten's next band if I visit Japan again 😉.

I'll allow this might have been true... but man the look he gave me was so "are you sure bro??" hahaha.
 
I didn't mention it, but I also really enjoy that at every Gallo show I've been to (3 now!) everyone stacks their paper plates on the merch table at the end of their set to be reused. I felt bad because I had folded a *paper* plate and stuck it in my pocket until the end of the show!