LIVE REPORT ~ Japan Nite: March 23 2008
Knitting Factory - Los Angeles, CA
Music Madness From Japan
[featuring]
Petty Booka/The Emeralds
ketchup mania/detroit7/SCANDAL
On the eve of Japan Nite, Hollywood Blvd was full of Michael Jacksons, Marilyn Monroes, street performers and even an Easter Bunny. Despite it being a major US Holiday (Easter), Japan Nite at Los Angeles still drew quite a crowd, even though it wasn’t apparent at first. Very few times has a Japanese rock event been held on the main stage of the Knitting Factory, so we were a bit confused about where we should go after obtaining our tickets, and there seemed to be no fans around to ask.
A security guard took pity on us and pointed our way around to the right of the ticket booth. There was a table with flyers of the various bands near the entrance, but sadly we forgot to grab any. Once inside we wandered a bit through the thick crowd while trying to adjust to the reddish lighting in the Knitting Factory. Seeing banners hanging around the balcony where the second seating area was, we later realized that the bands actually used that space to watch each other's performances.
Note: If you’d like a good spot, get there early! We didn’t quite make it and instead stationed ourselves in a small niche near the back of the venue. The start time was 8:00pm; however, fans should know that most events tend to start a bit later. Japan Nite was no exception, starting between 8:30 and 9.
The first act of the night was Scandal, an all girl band from Osaka. Dressed in schoolgirl uniforms, this five-girl band looked like they had stepped out of an anime – which wasn’t too far from the truth. They have anime versions of themselves on their fliers, CDs, their myspace and their website. There is an animated short also on their website. Scandal has no single vocalist: all of these 16 and 17-year-olds play an instrument as well as sing.
Scandal looks like a JRock band, but they sound more influenced by JPop--a softer rock sound with very catchy tunes, often inducing the audience to throw up their hands and wave peace signs instead of the classic metal horns. The first song started off great until the bassist, Tomomi’s, bass strap broke. However, they just continued playing and singing without stopping. For each of their songs, one girl would sing while the rest would play their instruments and dance around the stage. The crowd was mostly still, but some moved to their music. It wasn’t until the very end that Scandal riled up the crowd enough to get most of them moving to the music.
The most surprising group of the night was probably Petty Booka, a country-western duo. The act consisted of two young Japanese girls on ukuleles singing old country western covers. They also had two support members, one on an acoustic guitar, and another playing a ukulele. The support ukulele surprised the audience with some pretty good riffs considering the size of the instrument. Half of their music was cover songs of the western genre, so it was very different for some in the audience, who grew up on these songs--especially with the higher-pitched vocals of the two girls. At their merchandise table, they had three different albums for sale: Western, Hawaiian, and Bluegrass.
Next up was the highly anticipated band, ketchup mania. Coming out to chanting and bagpipe music, the four-person band was welcomed by a cheering crowd. They were clearly a definite favorite of the night. However, during the first few songs, the bassist had some difficulty and some technicians were running on and off stage to help fix the problem. The audience couldn’t hear the bass. Seemed this night was against the bassists. Meanwhile, the female vocalist, HIRO, was tearing up the stage, running around head banging to ketchup mania’s rock/ska/ punk music. Finally, the bassist got everything working correctly and jumped right back into the fast-paced songs with no problem.
While MCing, HIRO got the crowd pumped up even more. She read her short MCs from notes on the stage floor, but still managed to connect to the fans. During the songs she’d make the audience jump and keep them jumping, which lead to the first mosh pit and crowd-surfing of the night. The energy of this band compelled us to buy their album. However their albums are very different from their live performances. The female voice that the Japanese are known for is clear in recording, if not on stage. But the music itself is still the same, so don’t just go by their album alone; catch them the next time they’re in the US.
Next up was detroit7, an interesting band with a dark, edgy sound and image. Even for long-time fans of Japanese rock, the vocalist’s androgyny confused the audience. The voice was far from smooth and definitely not high-pitched, but she looked distinctly feminine. It took very little time for the crowd to be moving to the music, and the energy carried through the whole set. Their CD also made it into our bag that night, along with a handful of free stickers, and of course, buttons to decorate clothes and bags. During their setlist, the audience got a surprise with the United States’ national anthem, a touching way to connect to the country they came to tour in.
It was over before we knew it, and the stage was soon set for The Emeralds, the last band for the night. They had an old-time American rock sound, with a steady beat, as well as the clearly memorable boys themselves. The three members, Osuke(B), Kazuya(G,Vo,), and Akio(Dr.), were pretty boys; we noticed several girls leaning forward to get a better look. They spent much of their time doing small MCs such as “let’s rock and roll” and “Hey it’s Friday night Rock and Roll party”. They also used chants and rhymes to connect with the audience during some of their songs, such as Love is Rolling.
The Emeralds' final MC was a bit surprising; they thanked the fans, L.A., the other bands (including the Beaches who didn’t play at this stop), and the sponsors; then called out, “Last song!” As the music started, the MC continued with The Emeralds inviting some of their fellow bands back to the stage, including Petty Booka with their ukuleles, the singer of detroit7 on guitar, and the drummer from ketchup mania on tambourine. The crowd had thinned down quite a bit by this point; only about a third of the audience was left. Glancing at the time, we realized we needed to head out as well. As soon as the song wound down we made our exit. In the metro stop we waited tiredly for the last train, finally taking the time to dig through the goodies we had bought, shuffling through the stickers and buttons and unwrapping every CD case.
report by Elffy
links
Japan Nite US Tour 2008
Japan Nite MySpace
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