Celebrating the 25th anniversary of their debut this year, rock band
OBLIVION DUST released a new mini-album titled
Shadows with six new original tracks and embarked on their
“Plug In The Fuse” Winter Tour 2022 - 2023 in November.
The band kicked off their tour at AKABANE ReNY alpha in Tokyo, Japan on November 20th. The sold-out show was a strong start for the tour, with strong performances from all of the members to boot.
OBLIVION DUST came out blasting with
Lolita and
In Motion, songs from their previous mini-album,
DIRT, before going into one of their classics from back in the late 90s,
Remains.
After warming up the crowd, vocalist
KEN LLOYD gave the first MC of the night. He welcomed the fans back to another one of their shows and jokingly said they might be violating some rules with a packed house like the one they were performing
to that night. Given that the venue was quite intimate, even fans in the furthest rows from the stage still got a fantastic view of the band.
With the fans all warmed up, the band went into one of their newest songs,
Everyday Negative, which serves as the lead track of the
Shadows mini-album. To say the first live performance of this song was well received would be
an understatement. Given that the mini-album seems to be focused around an 80s sound interwoven with EDM, the disco ball hanging above the crowd that spun and sparkled brightly seemed like a fitting accent.
Then the band swiftly went into a familiar fan favorite,
Sail Away, with the crowd clapping in unison on beat with the song.
Satellite, another one of their newest tracks, came rumbling in next. This song showed the contrast between their older classics and their newer work, as the fans seemed to be learning how to respond to the track
and show their enjoyment. However, after the initial response, they quickly seemed to become excited with the band's new fusion sound.
After
Satellite,
K.A.Z went to check on a minor technical difficulty with his sound, as it was giving off an odd pulsing feedback.
KEN told the fans to wait and joked that
K.A.Z went to literally “plug in the fuse", an obvious
play on the title of their tour. Bassist
RIKIJI mentioned that everyone should not spill water around the equipment, as that could be a reason why
K.A.Z's amp was producing the odd feedback. They also joked that not just water but perspiration can also affect the equipment.
The band started back up with some of their classic ballads, including
Destination and
Easier Then, which led into their latest ballad,
Traces, another song from
Shadows.
After
Again,
KEN mentioned that they had created a new arrangement for this oldie but the other members forgot to back him up during the performance. The band and crowd had a good laugh.
With the wind down of the ballads, the band started to ease the audience back in with
Gateway. The pop track seemed to be inviting the fans back to the heavy hitters.
Glitch was next, but by far, out of all of the songs from their latest mini-album,
Searchlights, was clearly
both the band and the fans’ favorite. The screen behind the band had 80s neo noir visuals playing as they jammed out and the fans all gave it their all, showing their love for the song. It seemed to bring out an energy that far exceeded anything else that was played
that night. It was all uphill from there, and everybody was riding on that high.
Back to back, the band played their louder tracks with plenty of energy, including
Haze,
Syndrome,
Nightcrawler and
Under My Skin.
K.A.Z had a huge smile on his face during this portion of the set, and the fans, of course, responded appropriately,
sending all their energy back to the band. The night concluded with
Microchipped, which brought an epic end to an epic night.
As the first show of the tour came to a bittersweet end,
KEN not-so-subtly encouraged the crowd that night to attend their other concerts.
The remaining dates of the tour are available in English on the band's
official website. Links to download and stream
OBLIVION DUST's
Shadows mini-album on various online music platforms are available
here.
On a side note,
KEN announced earlier this year he will be pursuing his “final chapter” while simultaneously debuting as a solo artist. He stated that he will be putting everything he learned from all his projects, including
OBLIVION DUST, into this solo project and molding it into
music that best represents his career and him as an individual. He released his second solo single
Aloe digitally in August.
Set list01. Lolita
02. In Motion
03. Remains
04. Everyday Negative
05. Sail Away
06. Satellite
07. Destination
08. Easier Then
09. Traces
10. Again
11. Gateway
12. Glitch
13. Searchlights
14. Haze
15. Syndrome
16. Nightcrawler
17. Under My Skin
18. Microchipped
