Not many people — maybe even less than 40 — went to see I Promised Once’s concert in Warsaw, the part of the tour promoting mini-album DUST TO DUST that was released this April. Perhaps, some may not have been convinced by music videos available on the internet, or SIAM SHADE's Hideki’s words — he claimed that I Promised Once is the most promising band in Japan recently and he could see a bright future ahead of them. Or maybe it was the lack of time or the fact that the group started its activities only about two years ago and hasn’t achieved that much yet that prevented some people from going. Certainly, there are many reasons, but what’s more important now is the answer to the question: should those who didn’t attend the concert regret their absence?
The band seemed not to care at all about the shortage of listeners. The members confidently went on stage and immediately dived into the edgy Under the influence from the newest EP. The small stage of the Voodoo club wasn’t big enough for the whole band: not only were there six members, but the really tall Flo’s head nearly reached the ceiling as well. Admittedly the drummer Hiro (because of his position) and the guitarists Nils and Kunio were rather static, but the rest of the band made up for it. The bassist Joe seemed to be everywhere, while vocalist and keyboardist Flo during his vocal parts was out on the front of the stage and frontman George apparently wished to do a few catwalks.
The audience was immediately captivated by the catchy chorus and distinctive rhythm of the opening track and remained in this state till the very end. Perhaps, the band members’ easily noticeable joy when playing music was a big part of their appeal. All of them had real fun on stage; it seemed that doing lives pleased them enormously — it wasn’t important if there were ten, fifty or a thousand people present, as long as they were fully immersed in the music. This was reflected in spontaneous natural interactions with the audience, such as when the singers sang to a particular person or gave him or her the microphone to sing a part of the song, or during the short break after Memories of our days, when Flo took over. Kunio and Joe jumped off the stage to hand glowing sticks out to the fans, giving them something to wave during disco intros.
The set list was predictable, which wasn’t surprising for a band with only two EPs under their belt. Still, being familiar with their songs was very handy, because a local soundman apparently thought the louder the better for this genre. The audience was hit by a wall of sound in the first minute and it was really difficult to catch the vocals sometimes. This didn’t prevent fans, however, from enjoying the music, especially during moments such as the vocal introduction to Far Away that swelled with emotion, dance motifs in They hate us cause they ain’t us, or the energetic Spring Breakers.
After playing the last notes of End Piece, the main set ended and the band left the stage, waving goodbye to the audience. Fans momentarily burst out with cheers for an encore. I Promised Once didn’t make them wait very long — they came back after a moment needed for changing into tour t-shirts. Hiro was first to play a short drum solo. The whole rhythm section was then placed in the spotlight and the rest of the band followed. Before the first encore song, George showed off his Polish language skills by asking fans “Are you enjoying yourselves?” and with visible delight spoke the most popular Polish curse several times. He also devoted some time to teaching the audience the Japanese word for “thank you”. At the end, he announced the next song that “everybody knows for sure” — “Let me go”.
And indeed — judging by the audience’s reaction it was the song everybody was waiting for the whole evening. The fans once again fulfilled the frontman’s request of giving their best. They danced wildly, jumping and singing along. It wasn’t surprising then that when George announced the last song, he said, “This is the best concert we’ve played so far. You’re fantastic. I see a thousand people here, I hear a thousand people.” “We should come back here next week, shouldn’t we?” he joked, turning to his colleagues. Broken Dreams, the debut single released in August 2014, brought again the madness that swept up not only the audience, but the band as well. George jumped off the stage into the crowd and started to jump, encouraging everybody to make an even greater effort. The rest of the musicians gathered at the edge of the stage, switching places, playing passionately and giving high-fives to eager fans.
The concert finished pretty quickly — it lasted a little more than hour, so there wasn’t enough time to get dark outside. It didn’t mean, however, the end of the evening, as an opportunity to get autographs awaited those who like this type of memorabilia (almost every attendee). The musicians entered the room unnoticed at first by the chattering fans and they had some difficulty getting comfortable on one couch. The meeting was held in a very relaxed atmosphere, with lots of laughter, jokes, friendly small talk and even occasional toasts.
To sum it up, even though I Promised Once is a very young band, it has a very strong stage presence. Its members clearly enjoy playing lives and can establish a strong communication with their audience. They are even able to sweep people who are not really into their music up along with their performance. Hopefully the band will fulfill their promise, which the audience had heard many times the evening, and return to Poland next year. If they do that and if you want to see a good show, you know what to do.
Set list
01. Under the influence
-MC-
02. The Walker Part 1 : Realization
03. Spring Breakers
-MC-
04. They hate us cause they ain’t us
05. Far Away
06. Last Dance
07. Memories of our days
-DJ-
08. The Walker Part 0 : Genesis
09. End Piece
Encore
-MC-
10. Let me go
-MC-
11. Broken Dreams
