live report 池袋スタンダード @ Ikebukuro Edge 2018.6.16 (Soan Project feat. Akuta / The Micro Head 4N's / Develop One's Faculties)

[The Reverend 3566]

池袋スタンダード @ Ikebukuro Edge 2018.6.16

 

Well, it's that time again. In Japan and catching some VK shows... so I'll be sharing my experiences/using the forums as a place to jot down details I'd almost certainly forget after a week of concerts.

 

So for the first show while I'm in town I decided to hit up Ikebukuro EDGE to see Soan Project, The Micro Head 4N's, and Develop One's Faculties. I decided on this show because it started relatively late for VK shows (18:30) and my flight didn't land until after 15:00. I also hit this one up because Dezert & Lynch in Shibuya was sold out 😢 and this seemed like an ok consolation prize.

 

I arrived about 3 minutes after the show was scheduled to start, which in Japan meant I arrived about 3 minutes after the show started, and the first band was already performing onstage by the time I got through the doors.

 

First up was Soan Project with 芥 from Chanty. But I didn't recognize them at first because I thought the only thing I knew about what this band looked like was that Akuta had a bright white wig.

 

(From Soan's twitter)

 

Edge was a little more full than I've seen it before (two other shows in past years). But I suppose it wasn't sold out, because I got in.

 

The band's costumes (pictured above) were looking a little cheap? Mostly just some mesh black stuff and a boa made of feathers or flowers for each member. I guess this is a side project for most of them, so no use spending big books on your part-time look.

 

I've never listened to this half of Soan Project... I wished I could've seen my boy Temari, but I also recognize this set of songs was probably more fun for the crowd in a live setting. Nothing groundbreaking for sure, but the tunes had most of the crowd bopping around, jumping up and down, and participating in the furi.

 

The bassist (is this Ivy from Lack-co etc?) was having the most fun on stage of the group. He eschewed the idea that he needed to stand in his 'spot' on stage and spent the whole show lurking behind the guitarists and singer, moving back and forth to interact with the crowd and other members from different spots. The funniest moment of their set was him attempting some 'fan service' while he was holding a pick in his mouth, looking over at one of the guitarists and leaning in like they should play a game of suck and blow with it, and when the guitarist recoiled he spit the pick and hit him in the face.

 

During Soan Project's set I was stuck in a crowded spot directly near the entrance door (the perils of coming in late), but after the first set I found a good spot near the back that wouldn't get in anyone's way but had a little more room to breath. As usual at VK shows, I was much taller than all of the crowd so I'd feel bad standing in front of someone who wanted to watch.

 

I should've been able to guess that the Micro Had 4N's (still a terrrrible name) were next as I noticed there were multiple people in the audience even older than I am all of a sudden.

 

So I gave up on this band very early because I just couldn't with Ricky's vocals (sorry @Biopanda haha). I hadn't checked anything of theirs out since replacing Ricky with the dude from A(CE).

 

What do I think about them now? Solid but unspectacular. Nimo was capable at singing and stirring up the crowd, and the band sounded good but uninspiring. The shorter-haired guitarist had some nice harmonics thrown in during a heavy section of one song, and he brought a little metal to the proceedings in general.

 

The band were wearing very VK-lite streetwear type shit. At least Zero had on all black and a giant cross necklace... he has always been pretty goth-y hasn't he?

 

Micro Head's set had the unintended consequence of making me feel old. Looking up at half of a band (D'espairs Ray obviously) that I fell in love with when I was first getting into VK, and that I saw on one of their US tours in freaking 2005 sort of threw into stark relief just how much older I was than the typical VK fan. Then I also felt a little bad for the band cause.... they're even older than I am and after having (relatively) successful careers now they're playing at Edge and only the third most popular of three bands for the night? I hope this is just a weekend thing for them at this point haha.

 

They played a song from their new single (I think, pretty sure Nimo said something about 'single' before they started the song) and it was a sporadically noisy ballad with good emoting that I thought worked well live. It could be really boring on the CD, so don't get mad if you check it out based on this recommendation haha. During one song the guitarists all definitely mis-timed a synchronized spin.

 

Tsukasa was really almost invisible during their set. I guess he's never really been very flamboyant or theatrical behind his kit, but I forgot he was there entirely until the second to last song featured some double-bass drum fills. He even left the stage quietly without waving while another member was up front bowing and throwing out picks.

 

After some shuffling of the girls in the crowd and a short soundcheck, the highlight of the night Develop One's Faculties were on stage.

 

(From DoF twitter.)

 

Johannes walked out on stage in his traditional robotic way and I thought to myself "I can see half of this dude's ass and yet I think he's wearing *more* clothes than when I saw them two years ago" haha.

 

I wonder if he acted like a disaffected android once when the band was starting out and got a good reaction and now he's stuck with this act forever. In any case, his statue of liberty x Predator headpiece with LEDs thing is awesome. Those lights really popped whenever the stage lights were dim or off.

 

I like DoF live for the same reasons I do on CD. Some interesting song structures and tight songwriting. Lots of energy and a sound that's not typical of VK. Smart musicianship and a distinct lack of bullshit (from this foreigner's perspective). A few of their songs had incredibly timed full stops that demonstrated a tightness in the band that was impressive. Having a frontman that plays guitar is rare enough in VK, but their overall sound is a bit different too. During one song I noticed that if I closed my eyes I could convince myself I was listening to some 90s slightly math-y emo band.

 

The crowd was definitely enjoying DoF. Perhaps because Yuuya doesn't have his hands free there wasn't a ton of furi to go along with the songs, but there was plenty of rhythms to jump or headbang to.

 

When the house lights came on after the show I dipped out despite a half-hearted 'encore' chant. (Do those happen after the house lights are on here in Japan??)

 

A solid start to a week of VK shows for sure.

Edited June 16, 2018 by The Reverend