XodiacK

With its location adjacent to banks and convenience stores, and its bright white entrance banner, Takadanobaba Area gives off a friendly, all-ages aura, arguably the clearest example of architectural deceit you’ll find in the area. As you walk down the small flights of stairs, the coal black interior quickly give way to a torrential flood of Visual Kei promotional posters, replete with meticulously purchased outfits and hairstyles with enough of a neon quotient to make cartoon rocker Jem look like Chris Tucker.

The ticket counter is immediately visible; behind the front desk is your standard drink bar. Turning left from the front desk, you’ll find restrooms and coin lockers, along with a horde of predominantly female fans waxing obsessive on their favorite manlings. While fans of bands like Sex Machineguns and X JAPAN literally wear their praise on their sleeves, you’ll rarely find VK fans at this level wearing any sort of promotional clothing. Instead, fans show their support by becoming a part of their band’s performance (more on this later).

The hall proper consists of three descending mini-stages, each with a railing in the front for fans to lean on or over, or collide onto should the need arise. In the center of the uppermost stage was the goods corner, consisting mostly of photo sets and posters, with some bands selling their newest singles. a:vout, for whose first Maxi Single this event was organized, was featured in the center of the section. Behind the goods corner was the sound booth and staff. The show started promptly at five.

Velqrow started things off by alternating an inviting slow melody with a deep, heart-pounding riff – the musical equivalent of watching a grocery bag fly in the wind before being hit by a supply truck. Vocalist Mahiro was reminiscent of Virus, and the natural progression of their opening song was profoundly “boss battle” in depth – both considerable accomplishments given that tonight’s live was only their second. The band did look nervous during the MC session between songs – to that effect, they never did introduce themselves individually – but this was made quickly forgivable by their fourth and final song, with arguably the clearest bass solo of the night.

XodiacK, on the other hand, did introduce themselves via none other than a dramatic PowerPoint-like presentation. The presentation told the band’s story amidst foreboding music and shots of individual members with headlines like “7 strings of blast” to indicate their instruments. Once the slide ended and the curtain drawn, the band was already on the stage. Each wore a similar uniform – the closest to 80’s Visual amongst the night’s bands – save for the vocalist, Eros, equipped with a massive gauntlet that invoked equal parts Onimusha and GWAR. Their musical style wasn’t too much different, in fact, as XodiacK was note for note the hardest band of the evening. Eros’ vocal skills were uncanny, shifting from high-pitched screaming to a melodic, deep calling with little to no effort. The other members performed just as smoothly, popping up onto the center of the stage whenever it was time for a solo. The audience loved every minute of it, jumping onto and leaning over the railing of the stage (a Japanese complement of headbanging, perhaps) without fail.

Scapegoat was up next, retaining much of the same ferocity as XodiacK with perhaps a more traditional look and sound. You can get a good idea as to what the band looked like on stage by checking out their web site; in fact, most every band wore almost exactly what shows up on their main logo. In Scapegoat’s case, the players ranged from a cheerleader version of Beastorizer’s Fox to what looked like a Victorian-era edit of Kingdom Hearts’ Sora. The music was nowhere near as cheery, proven if only by two or three members of the band screaming at different levels at the same time on more than five occasions. Scapegoat is a rare case in the scene, such that when they tell the audience to jump, this particular audience listens.

Now, Ageha Biscuits is probably the most difficult band to explain in terms of both looks and sound. On one hand, you have one member who looks like a perfect clone of Street Fighter’s Vega (M. Bison in the US). On the other hand, you have the vocalist, both physically resembling and dressed as if Shazna was cosplaying Card Captor Sakura, replete with pants with the “The More You Know” comet etched all over. Their sound was more Shazna than Vega, though at some points the music breached into garage punk territory. Not a bad thing by any means, though like Rimo and his orchestra, Ageha Biscuits is almost too familiar.

OtogaDead’s name translates to something similar to “the sound is dead.” Granted, their outfits did have a deathly look to it, ranging from your traditional Gothic visuals to something of a Zombie Draco Malfoy. Their sound was by no means dead or lacking: in fact, in addition to allotting zero time for MC during their set, OtogaDead was probably the most “polished” band of the evening. Each member, in particular their guitarists, worked their instruments and the crowd with equal energy. Credit should also go to their stage presence, complete with an inviting blue mist throughout their set and the best timing of a strobe light throughout the evening. As for how their music itself sounded, imagine Kuroyume’s ‘Kôishô’ as performed by BOOWY.

Jewel was next, and much like OtogaDead they refused to use any time for MC. The audience seemed to mind even less for Jewel, here reacting more positively than XodiacK or even Scapegoat. Vocalist Jin hit arguably the highest notes of the evening, while bassist Rui was likely the most prominent of the evening. Not necessarily the most skilled out of the seven, per se, but Rui’s rhythms all but made Jewel’s performance.

a:vout, as mentioned earlier, headlined the evening’s show to celebrate the release of their first single, so as such they closed with a musically diverse, headline-worthy performance. A:vout was one of the few bands, if not the only band, to consistently display dual guitar work – well – without distracting from the rest of the members’ performances. Their sound was a bit softer than Scapegoat, but still hard enough to get the crowd on (and off) their feet.

After a:vout finished, the crowd dispersed.