The curtain parted to reveal Lolita 23q’s banner spanning the backdrop, announcing that the stars of the night had finally arrived. The band entered together, presenting themselves to the crowd. Decked out in vinyl black with themes of silver and leather belts, they looked ready to rock, although it seemed someone forgot to tell drummer BAN that Halloween was four days past. His dreadlocked woollen headdress, animal fur mask and black taffeta wings certainly gave him an edge to overcome that accursed ‘drummer anonymity.’ Furthermore, his twin kick basses sported a wicked pair of gothic anime-style images, cute in that dark and menacing way. It was these that the four forward members gathered about as the set commenced.
Jumping broke out instantaneously as the robotic sound of Kyuutai kikagaku yuugi filled the air. Sound effects gave frontman Soshi a digital vocal makeover. Meanwhile, guitarists Yu-ki and ryuto played an unusually rhythmic role throughout the piece. In a musical pause, bassist ryosuke screamed, sans microphone, to the crowd. The instrumental saw guitars, bass and vocal gathered at centre stage, Soshi on the outskirts providing air guitar to fit in. Then, he and ryosuke ran off to the far ends of the stage, handing the spotlight over to the two guitarists whose melody remained in concert with the digital theme. Once more, ryosuke proved that he needed no microphone in order to be heard, yelling a countdown back into the chorus. “O-East!” Soshi cried, “Fists!!” The verse of Ginga no tsubasa had Yu-ki and ryosuke thrashing heads whilst the crowd jumped vigorously. The bassist seemed thoroughly invested in the music, the first requirement of a great performance. A particularly heavy instrumental section had the crowd throwing their bodies back and forth before Soshi entered a dark rap that led into the final chorus with guitars, bass and vocal lining the stage-front and exchanging grins. “I’ve missed you, East!” Soshi yelled after a final bout of down and dirty music.
“We’re Lolita 23q. Thank… … … … … you for coming today!” Soshi’s comically sincere pause drew a few giggles from the crowd. “I, vocalist Soshi, have finally changed my hair.” Such was the following MC, the details of Lolita 23q’s December 23 one-man thrown into the mix. As Soshi then shouted the crowd awake, ryosuke’s actions spoke louder than words, the combined effort heating up the atmosphere in O-East. ALICE in downward took that energy and channelled it into wild headbanging throughout the fast, lively intro. A sinister drum-driven verse broke out into a bright chorus of bouncing bodies and flailing hands before ryosuke led the crowd in a series of dark, rhythmic yells. As the song progressed, Soshi had the crowd diving over each other in time with ryosuke’s yells, the two huddled at centre stage, bassist screaming into Soshi’s microphone. The final chorus saw ryosuke bent low over his bass, almost hitting the stage floor whilst the crowd went nuts down below. Four slow cymbal crashes courtesy of BAN set the dark, dirty tempo for Nejidokei Libido as Soshi let rip with an angry growl and the crowd steadily tossed their heads to the regulated rhythm and wicked guitars. “East… East!!! Let’s rampage!” At Soshi’s order, heads began to fly, double time. Then the vocalist led a round of hand-rolling actions contrasting the heavy guitar. The number saw the band wander about the stage, greeting various sections of the crowd who moved about just as much, bunching up, jumping on each others’ backs, thrashing heads, rolling hands and waving arms at Soshi’s prompts. In the background, BAN thumped the cymbals for all his worth. One ballad version of the chorus gave the crowd a breather before they proceeded to rampage as ordered throughout the remainder of the piece.
ryosuke flipped off the crowd in the aftermath while Soshi led a round of cheerful “Yay!”’s. “Are you ready for the end?” he screamed. “Last!” Hands beating the air in time with the drums, the crowd then burst into a fit of jumping along with ryosuke as the lively beat of FLASH BURN got under their skin. The bassist churned out a short but sweet solo before retreating to the drum kit where he played to BAN. A disco-esque chorus had the crowd waving enthusiastically before jumping throughout the verse once more. ryuto then showcased his impressive control over a wailing beast of a guitar solo. He and ryosuke prepped the crowd for one last round of jumping and all five members met at the drum kit, Soshi bounding off the platform on the final cymbal crash. As the band took their leave, the crowd struggled to outdo each other with louder cries, trying to reach the ears of their favourite members but before long, that vocal power went into the unanimous demand for an encore.
Naturally Lolita 23q obliged, soon making their re-entrance. “Thanks a… … … lot for the encore! I’m really happy! Thank god I changed my hair!” Soshi joked. When ryosuke took the microphone, he executed an accurate impression of the hair-obsessed vocalist. BAN, wiping the sweat from his eyes, confirmed that that woollen hair of his was indeed too hot to handle. When prompted to “say something”, ryuto muttered, “My hair’s in the way.” The notoriously quiet Yu-ki whispered a mysterious message in response to Soshi’s prompting. “You know what wisdom he whispered to me just now?” Soshi teased. “’… What?’ he said. Hey! Listen when people talk!” the vocalist scolded with a laugh.
“We’re going to perform a new song for you now,” he announced to a response of excited applause. WHITE BLADE. featured powerful guitar and explosively fast drums with a sturdily sung but simple vocal melody overlain. The crowd complied all too willingly to Soshi’s request to see fists fly through the instrumental as BAN spun one stick over-head throughout and the electric section bent over the tools of their trades, intensely focused on the music. Another wailing guitar solo via ryuto had Soshi and ryosuke headbanging in tandem. The final vocal melody was a catchy change and the crowd were grinning as they applied their fists to the tail end of the song, needing no encouragement but receiving plenty from the band who seemed to be enjoying the moment just as much. “Thank you!”Soshi cried. “East! Come to our one-man on December 23! Come!” A final drum riff and the crowd spread their arms wide as if to embrace the whole stage. “O-East! Thanks!” ryosuke yelled, once more scorning the use of a microphone as the band said their farewells to each part of the crowd. Left alone onstage, he retreated to his microphone stand. “Let’s meet at the one-man,” he said before leaving the fans behind.
The atmosphere was such that if anyone had been debating whether or not to attend in December, that decision had surely been made for them. Instead of disappointment that the all-too-short set was over, fans glowed with excitement with the prospect of December 23 ahead of them.
Set List
01. Kyuutai kikagaku yuugi
02. Ginga no tsubasa –GALACTIC WING-
03. ALICE in downward
04. Nejidokei libido
05. FLASH BURN
