His electrifying first London gig for two decades proves to be well worth the wait.
Tuesday, 18th December was something of a landmark day in London in the world of J-rock. Japanese guitar legend Tomoyasu Hotei had relocated to the capital in August to kick-start a new chapter in his international career, and Electric Samurai was to be his first concert in the country for 20 years. As a result, many of his diehard fans had journeyed from his home country just for this day, and a predominantly Japanese crowd gathered in the cavernous Roundhouse venue in Camden for this hotly anticipated event.
The pre-gig music piped into the main stage area was a good reflection of Hotei's influences and taste, with the likes of Brit rock classics such as Rock the Casbah and It's only Rock'n'Roll (but I like it). As testament to his greatness, the backing band were also high pedigree. Keyboardist Kishi Toshiyuki of abingdon boys school, who has played with Hotei before, appeared first to play the others in with the blasting three brass notes from the start of Battle Without Honor Or Humanity, his most famous piece. This version was given a more traditional twist with added taiko drums. When the man of the moment finally graced the stage, he was flanked by the rest of the band: drummer Nakamura Tatsuya (BLANKEY JET CITY, STALIN) and bassist TOKIE (RIZE, Ajico and unkie). Hotei wasted no time in displaying his amazing abilities, giving us the well-known howling melody before launching into several minutes of his incredible free-styling. Wheeling from rapid, squealing notes to slow and mellow, it was an exhilarating opener. He continued with the film theme and up next was his re-working of the "Mission Impossible" theme for the latest instalment of the film franchise, "Ghost Protocol". Whilst action-packed and riding on the adrenaline from Battle..., the high distortion of the instruments made this loud track quite muddy and an eardrum onslaught overall. His charismatic, theatrical performance of it was enough to make up for this in the end.
Luckily the arrangement of the other songs made for a clearer listening experience. Bad Feeling, with its great funk riff and crazy solo, was a hit which livened up the otherwise quite subdued audience. He let his instrument do the talking again in the atmospheric guitar ballad Howling, which was played expressively by him and the rest of the band. In the energetic highlight Materials, Hotei treated folks to some of his magic hip wiggling action and another magic solo, ranging from slow and controlled to a climactic guitar mash of such furious pace that TOKIE had to abandon her plectrum and switch to fingerstyle to keep up. Upbeat fan favourites Russian Roulette, Bambina and old Boøwy classic Dreamin' got all the salarymen bopping and twisting away.
He took some time to talk to the fans about his new life as a Londoner, and told them the night was a confusing one as all of a sudden he was surrounded by so many Japanese people again. He amused the crowd with how, having been considered tall in Japan, he now found himself amongst "dinosaurs" over here. It had been a dream of his to come to London, and after his 30th anniversary in the music business it became reality. On his last concert in the city, he reflected: "It was 20 years ago. 20 years. Look at my hair!". His dream was ignited when he discovered UK rock 'n' roll such as T. Rex and Roxy Music as a teenager. This was evident when he played his cover of Bowie's Starman which, whilst not his strongest vocal performance, was a good balance of pop and rock elements and included an interesting buzz synth effect from his guitar. His other covers on the night were varied, ranging from the grim blues of Heartbreak Hotel to a superbly ferocious Born to Be Wild, both of which featured some demanding drumming from Nakamura who was a blur of flying arms and blonde hair.
Before they kicked off the encore, Hotei spoke to the crowd a final time. Showing off his new-found lingo, he jovially asked "How's London? Good fish and chips? Good pint? Alright mate?". He'd obviously learnt a lot during the past four months. On a more serious note, he switched to his mother tongue to tell his loyal followers how he would try his best and work hard in his new home. After sharing his plans to spend Christmas in Japan, his Japanese tour in 2013 and his desire to play again in London and the UK next year, it was back to business. First was another cover, this time the good ol' rock 'n' roll C'mon Everybody which set off '60s dancing, then the '90s pop goodness of Glorious Days. The finale was the slow burning rock ballad Fly Into Your Dream, a full feast for the senses. The deep, rumbling of the bass guitar and bass drum rattled its way through the thorax and the guitar, in contrast, was a piercing wail. When the epically long guitar solo began, the audience was riveted by the awe-inspiring skill and emotion in front of them. As the solo progressed, the intensity was amplified by an increasing sci-fi glow of spotlights illuminating the guitarist, befitting for the out of this world squeals and ululations being emitted. With some head-shaking - and at one point painfully ear-splitting - notes and some wild windmilling, Hotei brought the memorable evening to a dramatic close.
The band left the stage to Hotei's guitar version of Happy Xmas after he wished everyone happy holidays. He had said earlier of his relocation that "it's a late start, but this is my life. I really want to enjoy my life." Judging from the reactions of fans both old and new, everyone's enjoying it with him.
Set list
1. Battle Without Honor Or Humanity
2. Theme from "Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol"
3. Bad Feeling
4. Babylon
5. Heartbreak Hotel
6. Howling
7. Materials
8. Starman
9. Born to Be Wild
10. Russian Roulette
11. Bambina
12. Dreamin'
13. Siren
EN1. C'mon Everybody
EN2. Glorious Days
EN3. Fly Into Your Dream
