JAPAN NIGHT at HYPER JAPAN in London: Night #1

JAPAN NIGHT is a music festival in which many forms of Japanese music are showcased, and the weekend of 10th and 11th of July brought that music to London. The doors were opened at 18:00 the first day and offered a great combination of garage rock thanks to OKAMOTO'S, pop-rock from [Alexandros] and hard rock from VAMPS.

OKAMOTO'S

The garage rock band who went up first on the Indigo at O2 stage showed the crowd how happy they were at playing in London. OKAMOTO'S started their music career in 2006 and have collaborated with bands such as Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, showing their strong determination to be a great band.

They started their performance with SEXY BODY. As soon as the music began, they had the entire crowd dancing to the rhythm, even though not many of their fans were there. The vocalist joked about this fact when the people screamed for them and told the crowd in perfect English how happy they were to play in London. OKAMOTO'S then continued their performance with a very wide variety of songs but always kept an atmosphere of joyfulness that invited the audience to dance with them.

The final part of their show started with the song Let's Go! Harry up!, followed by The Kids Are Alright. During these two numbers, the band members poured out all their energy to connect with the crowd, and they were very successful in that. They ended the performance with the new song from their latest single Dance with you and promised to try to return to London.

Set list

S.E.
01. SEXY BODY
02. Yokubou wo sakebe!!!
03. Beck
04. Majinai no uta ～JB
05. Madara
06. HAPPY BIRTHDAY
07. Let's Go! Hurry Up!
08. The Kids Are Alright
09. Dance With You

[Alexandros]



Next on stage were pop-rock band [Alexandros]. They started with Stimulator, followed by Run Away and Kick&Spin. After that, the band did a short MC where they talked about the experience of visiting London and thanked fans for being there and for the opportunity to play at JAPAN NIGHT.

After a little break to talk to the crew, the vocalist took up his guitar and they were ready for start the fourth song, Dog 3. However, some technical problems occurred and they played a short cover before going back to their set list again. Famous Day and Wataridori were played next, during which [Alexandros] showed their powerful character on the stage.

After another MC where the band's vocalist Yoohei Kawakami tried to teach a bit of Japanese to the crowd, [Alexandros] concluded their performance with Adventure from their latest release as they did for JAPAN NIGHT in Japan. Once the band members had thanked their fans, they left the stage.

Set list

S.E.
01. Stimulator
02. Run Away
03. Kick&Spin
MC
04. Dog 3
05. Famous Day
06. Wataridori

VAMPS



The hard rock duo were the big favourite for this edition of JAPAN NIGHT, and many people with the band's merchandise had waited for this performance all evening. VAMPS started their performance with WORLD'S END, followed by LIPS and EVIL. HYDE threw all his energy into the show, dancing and jumping all over the stage.

VAMPIRE'S LOVE, their latest ballad, started with an amazing piano solo. Only the pianist was on stage at this point. K.A.Z and the other musicians then returned to the stage to add the sounds of their instruments to the piano melody, before HYDE finally returned to join them. With HYDE back, the vocals started. Some fans in the crowd waved light sticks to the rhythm of HYDE's voice. When the music ended, HYDE spoke to the crowd about London and the opportunity to play at JAPAN NIGHT.

The following songs were pure energy and hard rock with VAMPS and the crowd and headbanging to the music. HYDE threw water at the crowd a few times while dancing around the stage. K.A.Z played his guitar, sometimes swapping positions with the bassist. The first part of the show ended with MIDNIGHT CELEBRATION, during which HYDE stood on the central platform on the stage. VAMPS then left the stage while the sounds of the last chords of this song still lingered.

Immediately, fans started to call for the band with "SEX, BLOOD, R N' R" as their hymn. However, VAMPS came back with REVOLUTION II instead. HYDE waved his microphone stand like a flag while moving around the stage, playing and enjoying his time with all the members of VAMPS and the crowd. After that, there was another MC where HYDE spoke about their next tour in England with Apocalyptica this autumn, also thanking the fans for being there.

With just over forty minutes onstage, VAMPS played an intense set list, and without a doubt gave it their all right up to the very last second of their performance. Starting off with THE JOLLY ROGER and DEVIL SIDE to work up the crowd, HYDE was just as full of energy as the audience, jumping around on stage whilst keeping up his strong vocals. An MC and songs such as HUNTING and REVOLUTION II all in a row made the set list feel slightly lacking. That being said, the fans certainly seemed to enjoy it when HYDE played the guitar for HUNTING, not to mention his great interaction with the audience during these songs.

They closed their show with one of the top favourites of their fans, SEX BLOOD R N' R, a perfect song to get the crowd going again with the headbanging and dancing like there was no tomorrow. As the song ended, VAMPS left the stage.

Set list

S.E.
01. WORLD'S END
02. LIPS
03. EVIL
04. VAMPIRE'S LOVE
MC
05. ZERO
06. TROUBLE
07. BLOODSUCKERS
08. MIDNIGHT CELEBRATION
S.E.
EN1. REVOLUTION Ⅱ
MC
EN2. DEVIL SIDE
EN3. SEX BLOOD R N' R