The opening to 2001: A Space Odyssey crescendoed over the chanting crowd as FLOW took the Anime Matsuri stage. It was an unexpected yet appropriate introduction: the band had visited the NASA Johnson Space Center two days prior. Casually picking up their instruments, FLOW proceeded to play as though it was their last performance ever.
GOT’S bass shook the room while KEIGO and KOHSHI belted their lungs out. True to the band’s name, FLOW’s vocalists traded rap lyrics as though they were finishing each other’s sentences. Sometimes their harmonies would blend into one resonant voice. TAKE milked the long guitar chords, throwing his arm in the air like an ’80s heavy metal rocker. The audience went wild over the anime theme songs, “Colors” and “Days.”
“Tabidachi Graffiti” demonstrated that the guys didn’t always crank everything up to eleven. IWASAKI’s steady rhythms prevented a total loss of moment, but TAKE’s light strumming and the stringed accompaniment did create a calming atmosphere that had the audience ready to listen to what the vocalists had to say during their MC. KEIGO talked about loving rock music and anime while KOHSHI focused on a more somber subject, the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. “I felt that music was useless because it cannot help hunger or keep people warm,” he said. “My fear from the continuing aftershocks was relieved when I listened to music. Then I realized music is power.”
Forging ahead, FLOW lifted the room’s spirits with an upbeat cover of Siam Shade’s “1/3 no Junjou na Kanjou.” Then came member introductions, where TAKE stole the spotlight by strutting to the center of the stage with light-up sunglasses. The fans followed his every command, repeating nonsense phrases and throwing their fists in the air. FLOW’s energy never waned and perennial favorite, the Naruto theme, “Go!!!,” was the perfect cap to the set. Band members jumped higher than ever, and KOHSHI led the crowd in a sing-a-long of the chorus. It left them wanting more, and one more song was what they got in the encore. FLOW really did seem to find power in their music—not just to play their hearts out from start to finish, but also to bring the worlds of anime and rock ‘n’ roll together.
FLOW’s camaraderie was evident in our interview, as one member would answer a question only to have his bandmates chime in with more details or personal opinions. Even after a busy weekend they remained enthusiastic, with their eyes on the future.
It’s been two years since D’espairsRay’s last appearance in North America, and they’re back with a fresh outlook and a sound that leans more towards the dance-beat side of music. But don’t worry; they’re still the dark visual kei band overseas fans have grown to love. Just before the release of their new album, MONSTERS, on July 28 and the start of their North American tour in August, the band gave purple SKY the lo-down on what it means to be the monster that is D’espairsRay.
The weather’s getting colder, the holidays are approaching, and somewhere in midtown there’s a line of young women with multicolored hair sleeping on cardboard boxes outside a concert hall. By now, every Jrock fan knows what that means: Dir en grey is back in town.
Dance music usually evokes an image of communality—people shaking and grinding in a club to a recognizable pop song, possibly remixed. Miho Hatori’s take with her band New Optimism is about dance as an individual, cathartic expression. Alternately swaying gracefully and thrusting her fists to surreal music with tribal-sounding rhythms, the ex-Cibo Matto singer turned the personal into performance at New York City’s Santos Party House on Oct. 16. Even when audience members joined Hatori onstage at her request, each displayed an idiosyncratic dance style instead of moshing collectively. (Costumed musician-designer Bad Brilliance stole the show, headbanging with the giant, yellow balloon atop his outfit.)