Doremidan - Banshun Paraphrenia at Shibuya O-West

Doremidan know how to get their audience in the mood. To a cheerful, retro soundtrack of The Beatles, that perennial love of the VK quintet, the fans milled about, waiting. As the 60s sounds faded, they were replaced by the tones of an accordian as Doremidan reached a little further back in their SE towards something a tad nostalgic, a quaint sound from a bygone era. Not that one could hear it well as the member names on screen encouraged a host of loud cheers and screaming as each appeared. Makoto, as cutely dishevelled as ever and with an infectious smile that could melt even the coldest of hearts, brought the nostalgic music to an abrupt end as the cheery, if weird, world of Doremidan took over.

Always seeming like a band unwilling to fully conform, Doremidan's music, while bearing many of the familiar, well-trodden hallmarks of the visual kei style, always manages something a little extra and quirky. Their fun poppish music is not always to everyone's taste but they know how to put on a fun live that leaves both audience and guests with a silly smile on their face. With their infectious, pace-filled rhythms,Aozora Generation and Kuroi kasen to ichiru no nozomi encouraged dancing among audience and band right from the start. The band barely stayed in their positions, getting close to the audience frequently with Makoto even reaching out to hold their hands in Kuroi kasen.

The new song, Paraphrenia, was played early on, rather than having a special introduction at a later point in the set. In contrast to the other early songs, it had a rather gothic ambience with a strong classical influence in the arpeggios, while still retaining the Doremidan bounce.

"Hello, good evening we are Doremidan," said Makoto as he introduced the night with his first MC. "Did it rain?" he continued, asking the question that seems an obsession of bands. On being given a resounding no, he replied cheekily "Ah, as I thought, we are a band for sunny days." Certainly the music agreed as Doremidan's set was filled with happy numbers that got their crowd moving. The setlist showed off their various musical aspects well, with the sinister, funfair melody of Mugen yoto - maboroshii lamp- contrasting with the 80s feel of Decadance Go Go to which KEN and Ryu joined in the fun shouting "Go Go!" along with Makoto. They even went somewhere towards enka, with a particularly impressive performance of Parade. The tremulous guitar-led introduction gave way to interesting new wave sounding drums that became a ballad with strong 60s influences, reaching a little to both Doremidan's love of The Beatles and a nostalgic Japanese sound.

New bassist Yu looked at home on the stage of his first Tokyo one-man with the group. It appeared he had enjoyed the tour too, although for a different reason perhaps than music, as he called it a 'tonkatsu' (breaded, fried pork) tour. "Oh you ate tonkatsu the whole time, right?" Ryu asked him. "Yes," Yu replied with a bright smile.

Doremidan barely took any breaks as they went from one bright song to the next. Makoto was dancing about with boundless energy, leading the audience in a side-step dance in Traveller or rallying them to punch along in Jussei. He even gave a display of his raw vocals a capella when they played Ame no Platform. The tempo only seemed to ramp up further as the live neared the end of its main set. They even offered a touch of heavier music with strong driving riffs which were accompanied by frantic headbanging. They never lose their quirkiness though and the slightly eerie fairground sound they seem to enjoy was a noticeable interesting point of Blind Android. Yu shone at showing this side of the band himself, with a creepy bassline in Twilight Mix Juice Boogie that rung out beneath KEN's spiky notes.

When the beloved Seishun Rollover came around, the audience were well warmed up and this popular song was given the greeting it deserved as the towels came out and were whipped violently around. That Doremidan energy had to end somewhere though, and did so with Sai, a rather muted if summery offering to close the main set. The fans all produced multicoloured torches which they waved around in time to the music, smiling broadly from happy start to happy end.

Doremidan had barely played a ballad all set, so it seemed fitting that the encore should begin in the delightful Higanbana with its waltz flavour in Reika's drums matching a classical melody from the guitars. It was the only moment of calm though as the other encore songs gave Doremidan's fans much reason to dance again. "Thank you very much Tokyo!" shouted Makoto as he introduced Hallo!! Brand New Day. It made for a cute way to close the first encore as the disco ball spun stars around the room while Makoto's harmonica leant a cute, folksy air. The band couldn't stop smiling as they left, although Reika decided to go one better and leapt into the crowd. Sadly, the girls could not support him and he quickly sunk to the floor. Fighting his way out of the audience, Reika was on stage for a short moment before he leapt again on the opposite side of the stage and again he fell. Pride seemingly undamaged, he grinned cheekily and bowed quickly before going to join his bandmates.

The second encore brought the band back shortly after for a longer chat about their tour experiences. Their recollections brought about a very sudden announcement that appeared rather unplanned. They were to have a new live at O-West! The fans cheered loudly but there was a look of concern on the band's faces as they had no printed information yet. No worry though. As the others gave him some backing music, Makoto went to work on a piece of A4 paper, to produce a quick, handdrawn flier. He showed it to the audience briefly before handing it to a roadie with the instructions to make many copies!

"It's time for our last one!" Makoto yelled. For their last they gave the fans Time Machine, a bright pop-rock sound that brought the customary final song singalong. The band said their goodbyes after but the audience would not stop cheering. Was there going to be a surprise encore? As the lights came up those wishes were granted. Doremidan played not one but two special surprise encores as a gracious thank you to the fans who support them endlessly. The songs reached a little back into Doremidan past too, causing such a ripple of excitement in the fans that the dancing changed from the normal headbanging to a full on chaotic mosh as bodies jumped from side to side. Although it was the extra encore, the audience had a chance to chant the member names in Down by Low before Wakaba no kioku gave the live a good proper, party atmosphere close.

"Thank you for shouting encore again!" Makoto said. "I had forgotten it was the tour final!" His words referred to the jump, where, as the band join hands on stage, the fans come together one last time to hold hands and jump one final celebratory leap with the band. Makoto had apparently forgotten to make everyone jump after the second encore! Whether true or not, Doremidan had given their all for their fans with a live true to their nature and left all attendees with bright, wide smiles.


Set list:

1. Aozora Generation
2. Paraphrenia
3. Kuroi kasen to ichiru no nozomi
mc
4. Wakare uta
5. Maboroshii lamp-
6. Decadance Go Go
7. Aishou kousaten
8. Parade
mc
9. Traveller
10. Ame no platform
11. Jussei
12. Suimin tengoku
mc
13. Blind Android
14. Twilight Mix Juice Boogie
15. Seishun Rollover
smc
16. Rensou Game
17. Sai

En1:
18. Higanbana
19. Kibou Toshi
20. Hallo!! brand New Day

En2:
21. Time Machine

En3:
22. Down by low
23. Wakaba no kioku