JROCK INVASION Episode 1

Though the 29th of December wasn't exactly a warm day, there was no snow and it was dry, which was fortunate for the countless fans that had been queuing up for the J-ROCK INVASION event. Since a day or two before the event, excited fans who were hoping to be in the first row had been in line with blankets and sleeping bags to keep them warm. Evidence of that was the garbage that littered the street a few hundred meters in front of the Cologne Palladium, the sidewalk was covered by the enormous amount of garbage and blankets that had been left behind.

Although the J-ROCK INVASION wasn't sold out, the Palladium was filled to the top. Not only German people had came to the event, but also fans from various other European countries, and even some from Japan had traveled to Cologne for the PS Company bands SuG, SCREW, Kra, alice nine. and Kagrra,. Some of them were die-hard fans of one particular band; others were coming for all five bands.

Most of the attendees had dressed up for the event, with various visual kei-themed outfits and cosplay, some of the outfits looking so great that they almost surpassed the band members', while others were less successful as they had squeezed themselves into outfits that didn't quite fit. It almost seemed like a contest for who would receive the most stares from the other people and the girl in a pink teddy bear suit with Kra's logo on the back may have received this questionable honour.

The crowd started to roar excitedly as the lights went off and the first band, SuG, came out and began to play a little after five. Unlike other concerts, the organization had done well with not delaying the event, which is usually and unfortunately a common snag in JRock events.

Despite the fact that the oshare kei band hadn't been around much longer than a year, SuG's performance was really professional and the band seemed at ease in front of the few thousands of screaming fans. Brightly smiling, the band definitely carried across their theme of "heavy positive rock" with their upbeat rock songs. The five members were dressed in the same colorful, punky outfits as from their I SCREAM PARTY promotional photo shoots and video. Takeru, the blonde vocalist, occasionally moved closer to the edge of the stage and stirred the audience up, receiving an enthusiastic response and so SuG set the mood for the evening.

Their set list contained a selection of all their releases so far plus a brand new song and, after five songs, the band left the stage. Despite being the opener of the festival, the crowd went crazy nonetheless and with their short set they managed to create a big party right from the start.

Instead of having to wait while the set was being changed, the curtains closed and vocalist Takeru and guitarist Yuji, together with a host and a translator appeared. The host quickly explained that instead of just having to wait, they would fill up the space with small interviews. A few questions were being asked, basic ones such as "what does your band name mean?" and "what music do you listen to privately?" but also "what do you think about the girls here?" Each answer was rewarded by loud cheers and then they left the stage again to make way for the next band.

Then it was time for the second PSC indie band, SCREW. Formed in 2006, these newcomers also showed themselves as professional stage men. The band was sporting a more "traditional" visual kei look, although Byo, the vocalist, didn't quite match with the rest as he was wearing a golden suit. Complete with golden sneakers, he was a remarkable sight, though it didn't seem like the outfit was in the right size, and the slightly too baggy pants hung strangely around his skinny frame.

The band had a much more aggressive sound and performance than the cheerful SuG, and presented the fans with a "best-of" set list, which included songs picked from their oldest and newest releases. Despite the fact that they are still quite new and not that well known yet, the audience welcomed them with enthusiasm. Various people were head banging with the heavier songs when there was enough space in the crowd to do so, and others were raising their fists and jumping up and down to the rhythm of their music.

After five songs, they also said their goodbyes to the audience, threw their drumsticks and picks to the crowd and left.

This time, it was golden Byo’s and drummer Jin’s turn for a small interview to fill up the space between SCREW and the next band. The interview went in pretty much the same fashion as SuG’s with very basic questions and they too received loud screams from the audience with every answer. With every interview, the organization also did a little contest with a number of signed posters for each band. During this short intermezzo, the two musicians managed to make the girls in the audience scream even louder as they performed some fan service by kissing each other, and even the drawing of the lottery tickets for the poster contest was given an erotic twinge as they passed the tickets to each other with their lips, receiving even more screams.

One thing that came as a relief to the audience was the sound of the Palladium. During the previous JRock event, JShock, which had been held there during the summer, the sound had been rather poor. This time, it was immediately noticeable from the very beginning of the event that the quality was much better. The sound was clear and the volume of the instruments was geared to one another quite well, which made it possible to hear every part clearly.

Following the indies PSC bands, it was time for the first bigger band of the evening, Kra. The quartet received loud screams as they entered one by one to the opening track, an electronic song that sounds more like trance music than rock, of their newest mini-album Creatures, and were dressed in slightly medieval inspired costumes with long waistcoats.

The band members were all full of energy, happy to be playing in Europe for the first time. Keiyu, the petite vocalist, made up for his short height by climbing onto the box at the front of the stage. Mai and Yuura, the guitarist and bassist, almost looked like twins from a distance as they wore similar outfits and both had black hair. Mai especially seemed to be having an extremely good time, as he was moving around frantically. Also the drummer made a special performance out of his drumming, and despite of being seated behind the drum kit, Yasuno managed to pull it off very well. Occasionally he was pointing up towards the ceiling with one of his pink drumsticks, arm outstretched as he continued playing with his other hand which gave off an elegant impression.

Their set list had obviously been adapted to the concert, as they didn't only play a few songs from their newest releases, but went on a little trip back in time to offer the German fans their older songs as well. All songs were received with a lot of enthusiasm, the fans obviously charmed with Kra's cheerful rock sound.

Soon Kra's performance was over and the band members said goodbye to the crowd, seemingly pleased with their first overseas concert. So, while the curtains closed and the roadies went to change the stage, Keiyu and Yuura came out to do their short interview.

alice nine., the most highly anticipated band, came out then, the members appearing one by one in white costumes, decorated with lots of ruffles, glitter, fur, the bassist’s bare stomach. Drummer Nao threw his jacket into the crowd as he entered the stage, but he didn't even need to; the screams were already ear-splitting and louder than before. Numerous girls were going crazy at seeing their favorite band live for the first time and the band seemed determined to make their wait worthwhile.

They gave a powerful performance, and although two band members weren’t in such great health, it was barely noticeable. Vocalist Shou had been dealing with a cold and fever for about two days before the concert, but he seemed to have no problems during the performance. He sang with a clear voice and moved around energetically, stirring the audience up, albeit with a slightly tired face. A few days after the concert it was announced that guitarist Tora had problems with his back, but during J-ROCK INVASION, no problems were noticeable and the dark haired guitarist performed just like any other time.

Their set list consisted of mostly songs from their newest releases, with a few older ones sprinkled in. The audience was well prepared, recognizing all their songs with ease and sometimes singing along, even the songs from their newest CDs Alpha and Tsubasa, released only a few months before the event.

The band’s performance was over surprisingly quickly, having played only seven songs, which was even less than Kra’s set. The curtains drew closed, and this time it was Shou and Tora who took part in the mini-interview.

It took a little longer to prepare the stage this time, which wasn’t too surprising as it was Kagrra,. Not only were they performing last, they had brought along more instruments and equipment than the previous bands.

As the opening song Amafurase tanmaina, with its rousing, pounding rhythm and mysterious atmosphere, started, the audience knew that they were in for something different. Whereas the other four bands had sounded a little similar in some ways - after all, they all belonged to the same genre - Kagrra, immediately distinguished themselves from the other bands in style. Also, the quality was different, because even though the first four bands had definitely not been bad, Kagrra,’s quality rose above the others. This came as no surprise though, seeing as they were the oldest band of the bunch with a head start of more than five years on most of the others.

For the occasion of performing abroad, they had chosen to wear kimono and yukata, just as they did on their previous overseas performance at the JRock Revolution event in the USA. Vocalist Isshi looked particularly impressive in his kimono, but his appearance wasn't the only impressive thing. His vocals were brilliant and he sang with a pure voice, hitting the highest notes with ease and sounding crystal clear. With a set list that seemed to represent them best - a mix of songs from their older releases as well as some newer ones - it wasn’t hard to please the eager fans.

Most of the band members weren’t focusing very much on their behavior on stage, but rather on their instruments. For a number of songs, the koto was played by guitarist Shin, and this element gave the performance a special touch for its typical Japanese character. Isshi, on the other hand, was moving around delicately, doing special choreography with his hands and arms, matching the rhythm of the songs. At some point, he used a fan with the choreography, and the movement was mimicked by a number of attendees who had brought their own fans, already familiar with the ritual.

Most of the bands had done their MCs in Japanese or with some English words, but Isshi spoke in English. He had also practiced a few German sentences and his pronunciation was very good and easy to understand as he announced that they would be playing a brand-new song, their gift to the audience. Introduced by ear-splitting screams, they started the song Guilty from their upcoming album, Core, unreleased at the time of the event.

With thirteen songs, they had the longest set of the evening and enthralled the audience with their world for about an hour. Unfortunately, their performance was over in what felt like minutes, and after a short interview with Isshi and Nao, the event came to an end.

Hopeful fans waiting for an encore gave up screaming and waiting pretty quickly as they discovered that there would be no encore. Instead, they started to move back to the foyer of the hall to buy some more merchandise and to line up in the enormous line in front of the wardrobe.

The evening had been incredible, all the bands had shown their best and all had given a great show. Also the organization of the event had done really well and no big problems had occurred. The event definitely needs to take place again and hopefully Episode 2 will come soon!


Set lists:

SuG:

SE
1. Candy lowpop
2. LOVE SCREAM PARTY
MC
3. Alterna.
4. Unplugged Superstar
SMC
5. WhitE×BleacH

SCREW:

SE
1. Death’s door
SMC
2. VANQUISH
3. VEGAS
MC
4. Zansatsu Fiction
5. S=r＆b

Kra:

SE
1. LOST NUMBER
2. En
SMC
3. Yamiyo no gene
4. Karasu no makura
SMC
5. Wabun haku
6. Mutaku to mutaku to
7. Showtime
8. [-] (teihen)

alice nine.:

SE
1. WHITE PRAYER
2. Velvet
MC
3. TSUBASA
4. Ruri no ame
5. High collar naru rinbukyoku
MC
6. Shunkashuutou
7. Blue planet

Kagrra,:

1. Amafurase tanmaina
2. Rin
3. Kisai
4. Nue no naku koro…
5. Yousai
6. Genei no katachi
7. Utakata
MC
8. Unmei no ito
9. "Sakebi"
10. Kotodama
MC
11. Zan mikado (guilty)
12. Irodori no sanka
13. Urei