After having played five shows across Japan, OBLIVION DUST ended their “Dystolumina” Winter Tour 2023 with a bang on December 9th at the Tokyo livehouse Shinjuku BLAZE. The venue's name suited the occasion because, not only was it an unseasonably
warm winter day, but it also represented the heat the band members were packing that night!
OBLIVION DUST started with No Regrets, an early 2000s classic that got everyone vibing. They followed up with the more recent Glitch. The night's set list featured a lot of recent tracks, especially from their latest mini-album,
Shadows, mixed with a few classics from their early days.
After a solid warm-up, the crowd cheered loudly for each member as they waited for the first MC of the night. Vocalist KEN LLOYD welcomed the fans to their tour finale but also said it felt more like a finale for Shinjuku BLAZE. The venue,
which has been around for over a decade, will close its doors in July 2024. KEN said this would be the last time OBLIVION DUST would be able to play at BLAZE and asked the fans to enjoy the atmosphere to the fullest.
From there, the band eased the crowd back into the show with Searchlight and Under My Skin. The band’s energy continued to build up with Crawl. Ultimately, when
Syndrome started, the entire livehouse came alive and the whole venue rumbled whenever the choruses kicked in.
The second MC spotlight was given to the drummer, Arimatsu, who had just celebrated his 52nd birthday. Bassist RIKIJI played Happy Birthday as the crowd sang along. “ARLY,” as he is nicknamed by his
fans, thanked the crowd for the warm wishes and said his birthdays have always coincided with live shows, so he feels incredibly lucky to always celebrate with his fans.
The Japanese version of Forever was played, followed by a few slower but no less powerful rock numbers:
Traces, With You, and Disappear. Both With You and Disappear had guitarist K.A.Z start the songs backlit on an elevated platform.
After Disappear,KEN jokingly said the song was about making BLAZE disappear, which led into the third MC of the night. The band also made a surprisingly early announcement that OBLIVION DUST's Tour 2024 would be happening
between May to June of next year. Also, a special fanclub-only live concert will happen in March. The news made the crowd incredibly happy!
The music picked up again with some recent hits: Lust & Graffiti, Satellite, and Nightcrawler all shook the venue.
K.A.Z then started Goodbye as all the members lined up at the front of the stage for a good look at the venue. This was the first time the song was played during the tour and KEN said it almost felt like the band and the fans were
saying goodbye to BLAZE with it.
KEN also mentioned the band would be performing the next night at hide Birthday Party 2023, one of the regular tribute concerts celebrating the revered musician. Longtime fans of OBLIVION DUST will know about hide's involvement
in their early days, and that K.A.Z briefly played in hide's backing band Spread Beaver in the 90s.
The show concluded with Everyday Negative, Evidence, and finally YOU. To say every attendee left Shinjuku BLAZE that night satisfied would be an understatement. There was a palpable sense of excitement among fans for what the
future had in store for OBLIVION DUST.
Set list
01. No Regrets 02. Glitch 03. Plastic Wings 04. Searchlights 05. Under My Skin 06. Crawl 07. Syndrome 08. Forever 09. Traces 10. With You 11. Disappear 12. Lust & Graffiti 13. Satellite 14.
Nightcrawler
15. Goodbye 16. Everyday Negative 17. Evidence 18. YOU
OBLIVION DUST will be embarking on another Japan tour in May. The dates can be viewed further down the page and on their official website.
The music video for Everyday Negative from their 2022 mini-album Shadows and footage from OBLIVION DUST "Plug In The Fuse” Winter Tour 2022-2023 in TOKYO can be
viewed below.
