Sel'm at SHIBUYA BOXX

The atmosphere of excitement and anticipation for the long-awaited comeback of Sel’m before their sold-out one-man show at SHIBUYA BOXX was almost tangible. Although the band had performed a number of teaser-shows with the new line up under the name BURST-56 in the month before the gig, the one-man at BOXX was their first official performance as Sel’m since the band went on hiatus last year.

As curtains opened to the electronic SE, the audience clapped and cheered, welcoming the members, who appeared one after the other, firing the audience on. ryuga, the last one to appear on stage, urged “Tokyo, let’s go!” and the show kicked off with the heavy, rhythmic Shine. Although the band was back with a new line up, from the start both instrumental and vocal melodies were reassuringly Sel’m-like, and the audience plunged into movement straight away. The temperature in the livehouse rose even more to the energetic intro of fuck, ryuga’s melodic singing and powerful screams interchanging with rhythmic shouts of the audience as the other members pushed them to move more. “Your voice!” ryuga called, and the crowd responded readily to the fast drumming of Pressure. As takuma went to interact with tsubaki and the fans on the right, John took the opportunity to approach the fans on the left side and animate them with his insane moves and diverse facial expressions. As the audience broke out into spontaneous moshing, the members too moved from one side of the stage to the other, using all the capacity BOXX provided them.

“We are Sel’m!” When the audience screams calmed down, MANJ" took the opportunity to announce that the group is back with the strongest five members, and asked the audience to have lots of fun. Starting Creazy Dreamer, all the members urged the fans to pump their fists and scream, and jump together with them to the saturated melodies of the energetic song. Kanade, while having a heavy sound with prominent guitar lines and almost metal-like drumming, was a song that brought to the foreground ryuga’s strong voice, as he sang a moving confession. As the stage went dark and sounds of dripping water immersed the audience into a melancholic state, the set continued to a quieter last hill, members static on the red-lit stage. Following was Physalis, a song in which rhythms kept changing throughout, a feature that could be heard recurring in Sel’m’s works.

“Are you having fun? I want to hear your voice more!” the band fired on the audience, however they stopped shortly as there was trouble with the next song’s intro. “We’re playing live, so things happen! Just make some noise, won’t you?” screamed MANJ" to the warm laughter of the audience, and the show continued smoothly with the upbeat Hallucination, takuma's prominent, strong bass lines coming to the foreground. While another hick-up came at the start of butterfly, (tsubaki quickly announcing “It wasn’t me!”), this seemed to only encourage the audience to double their efforts, pumping their fists to the fast drumming and moving violently. “More voice! We can still go on!” screamed ryuga, smiling and as if embracing the audience with his warm presence. “Shake your heads!”, John too fired them on, and the fans reacted enthusiastically, jumping into fast headbanging to the irregular rhythms of STARS. The last song of the set, illegal World, left no time to rest, as the members moved around the stage, spinning, jumping, encouraging the fans, with takuma screaming violently into his microphone and the crowd breaking out into crazy headbanging and jumping. “We are Sel’m, thank you!" met with exploding screams and the band left the stage.

After several minutes of demanding encore screams, MANJ" reappeared on stage. He announced that it would be his last time doing an MC, which he from then on would leave to the vocalist. “It’s been a long year in which we were troubled with looking for new members, and because the two said that they wanted to do Sel’m we were able to come back now. My hands are shaking, but I would like to introduce all the members. First of all, a person who is very needed in my life” – and to the cheers of the audience, the guitarist tsubaki came out to greet them. He stated that not for a moment had he forgotten that he is Sel’m in the year that they were away, and that he feels like the fans are his family and that he is back home. “Let me say one thing – I’m back!” Te crowd exploded with warm screams of "Welcome back!” MANJ" continued, “Next, the person I've known longest, and who also has the longest hair.” Bassist takuma said that he was happy to see everyone again, and that there have been difficult and sad things, as well as fun things in the year they were away. Then getting nervous and not knowing what to say, he announced, “But basically, I also wanted to say the same thing! I’m back!” MANJ" jumped in: “Wait, I haven’t said it yet, let me do it too! I’m back!” and MANJ" too received a round of screams from the crowd, welcoming the three original members back. Next, MANJ" invited the new guitarist john on stage, saying, “For me, there wasn’t anyone but this guy, he is the strongest guitarist.” john introduced himself confidently : “Nice to meet you, I’m john. I did so much for this one-man show that now that I’m here, I could die. But I’m not going to, I want to have lots of fun…” and suddenly screamed out loud “john desu!” (a "famous" phrase of his one can find references to online), causing the audience to explode in laughter and cheer for him loudly. Finally, it was the turn of the new vocalist ryuga. “It’s a bit difficult to talk after john”, he joked. “It’s been a year and finally this day came. Because of your support we are able to be here, and I am full of gratitude, thank you. Please support us until the end!” Concluding the MC, MANJ" made some exciting announcements of a live-only release, as well as a three-man tour with DEATHGAZE and 12012, which caused stirring in the audience that would not calm down for a while.

The encore started with a slower-paced but heavy birdcage, ryuga’s low, melodic voice enchanting the audience. “This is the song announcing our beginning as these five, the song that transmits our feelings,” he said. The members urged the crowd on, announcing the beginning of Shine. The audience beat their fists and screamed to the heavy melodies, as all the members came to the front to fire them on, screaming. Having not had enough, the band decided to play an extra song, and once again ryuga screamed for the crowd to give him their voices and all their power, starting the energetic fuck. As the audience went wild, the members too enjoyed themselves moving around the stage, interacting with each other and the fans in a fierce finale. As lights filled the hall, the members thanked the audience and slowly left the stage. “Today’s concept was showing the album, and from now on we will continue doing cool stuff so support us please!” screamed MANJ." Left alone on the stage, takuma took the chance to express himself too: “Come to our gigs and lets have fun!" The responding warm cheers of the crowd concluded the evening.

Sel’m's member change might have had fans nervous for a year, but after seeing the powerful and hot show they treated them to at SHIBUYA BOXX, one thing was clear – the band had set out to pursue new horizons, and they were serious about it. The five members looked perfectly organic together, they were confident and strong, and the songs combined elements typical of Sel’m, as well as those that made their music sound fresh and new. Sel’m will surely make their new beginning a successful one.


Set List:

01 Shine
02 fuck
03 Pressure
=BGM=
04 Creazy Dreamer
05 Kanade
~BGM~
06 last hill
07 Physalis
=BGM=
08 Hallucination
09 butterfly
10 STARS
11 illegal World

En1 birdcage
En2 Shine
En3 fuck