lynch. LAST INDIES TOUR 「THE JUDGEMENT DAYS」 FINAL

If the fans massed at Shibuya O-East had needed warming up, then DEATHGAZE would have done a spectacular job. As it was, the opening act took to the stage amidst an explosion as pent up energy released in the form of screaming and shouting and then moshing, jumping and headbanging. However, despite having all but spent themselves on DEATHGAZE, the crowd only upped the ante as lynch. entered one by one. Drummer Asano, guitarists Reo and Yusuke and bassist AkN coolly took their places amidst chaotic yells which tripled in volume and density the moment vocalist Hazuki appeared.

Hard hitting, All this I'll give you was a perfect start to the set, thrilled shrieks ringing amidst the vibrant intro and disappearing as heads bent and tossed throughout the gruesome verse. The instrumentals rocked the venue quite literally as hundreds of fans jumped heavily, then raising their voices to staggering effect at Hazuki’s slightest prompt. The new fan favourite was followed up by the tried and tested I’m sick, b’cuz luv u. The stage-front lights swivelled to wash over the thrashing forms of the crowd who then sang along with the guitarist-sung melodic line of the chorus, shaking fists in time with Hazuki’s wicked scream in between. The vocalist was in total command, dancing unrestrainedly whilst the fans got down and dirty. Throughout EVILLY they were nothing but a blur as heads or arms pummelled the air. Meanwhile, Hazuki expressed the wild music in whole body spasms whenever he wasn’t applying either that smooth voice or harsh growl to lyrics interspersed with cheerful little ‘whoop’s.

“We’re lynch.!” Hazuki cried, the crowd roaring in acknowledgment. “Blasted, blasted, blasted, THE BLASTED BACK BONE!!” Instant headbanging swept the floor. Meanwhile, Hazuki travelled the stage to observe the full effect. When the chorus came, every single hand was raised high, the crowd jumping as one on the lyric “-bone”. The fans’ yells clearly reaching Hazuki’s ears, the vocalist went nuts, dancing in wracking spasms and tossing a half full cup of water into the over-heated crowd. “DOZE!” he yelled. Fast and wicked, the number took off hard until a deeply rhythmical riff slowed things down only for a moment. Hazuki bounced to the rhythm even as he tossed in growls here and there. Meanwhile, Reo stood in a deep A-frame stance, digging into the music as if the world would end if he missed a single note. “Tokyo!” yelled the vocalist, throwing an air-blown kiss as the tune turned ambient and he danced like a surrealist painting come to life. The ridiculously speedy finish led into dizzy, which brought Reo forward for the deep guitar-line as Hazuki called out to the crowd, holding his hands to his ears all the better to hear them with. A rare treat, the number had the crowd in a frenzy, the band right there frenzying with them throughout, and Hazuki accenting the final beats with hair flying.

After only one chord, the crowd caught on splendidly to the next piece, the telltale guitar of the universe requiring an abundance of fists and voices to complete the livid atmosphere. Reo’s repetitive growl lifted the crowd into the air every time whilst Hazuki teased and seduced them with little flicks of the hand or a sexy smirk. Finally dropping his ‘calm and cool’ act as the already heavy number grew vicious, Yusuke stepped up to prop a foot on the speaker, shaking a hand by his ear to push the crowd past their limits, the unanimous yell continuing until the very end.

Following a blackout filled with a constant cacophony of yells, Hazuki gave back a little appreciation. “I’m feeling great, Tokyo,” he hummed. “Make me feel even better!” On a high, the sultry yet fanatical tones of melt encompassed the venue, Hazuki spazzing out with neck snapping vigour. He strutted and stalked about the stage, all the way over to the lead guitarist. Throwing an arm about Reo’s shoulder, his hand wandered dangerously, capturing the erotic undertones of the music. A nasty growl sent the vocalist into a broken break-dance during the instrumental. Then, neatly wrapping it up, Hazuki licked his palm before mincing away from the crowd. Slowly he carried his mic forward throughout a storm of radio static, slamming the stand down to send a wave of sound through the amplifier and creating a hollow echo that opened prominence. Vaguely lit whilst the others were in darkness, he muttered incoherently into the mic cupped between his hands. Putting feedback to good use, guitars screeched along with booming drums in a deep, heavy interlude. Slowly shifting with each careful strum, Yusuke sang harmony on the next vocal entry, then, lagging behind the rest, he was the last to cut sound to the poignant number moments after the ominous whistle of AMBIVALENT IDEAL began. Whispers reverberated into the introduction until guitar cut in and heads flew, Hazuki tossing about the mic stand as he joined in with the crowd. He moved about with the stand like an overgrown cane, eventually toppling it for a frantic roadie to fix. His demonic growls reverberated throughout the venue, the audience captivated from start to wild, headbanging finish.

Band and crowd well lit by a row of lights across the back of the stage, JUDGEMENT certainly brightened things up. The fans conducted cheerfully, Hazuki yelling “whoohoo!” over their shouting voices. Meanwhile, Yusuke stepped up for his solo amidst the rhythmic cries, head flicking coolly as he played. Reo joined him soon after, Hazuki between them diving forward into a scream. Wicked in the evil sense of the word, next came 59., Hazuki pausing every so often as he made his way across the stage to spew out a growl. The floor was nothing but whipping hair and ripples as patches of people (those who could move an inch) jumped on the musical accents. The deep opening riff of vernie then had the crowd flinging heads at a controlled pace, Reo’s stance so wide as he got down into the music that he was in danger of falling into the splits. Hazuki, obviously as affected as the crowd, abandoned the lyrics midway through to let off some steam with a “YAY~!!” that the crowd loyally echoed. “Okay, Tokyo!” he cued, all dissolving into another round of serious headbanging, the guitars both at the stage front, heads bobbing low over their instruments until the piece came to an end.

alien tune picked up right away, leaving no time to rest. “Rock!” Hazuki cried, the whole crowd leaping as one whenever they weren’t making themselves dizzy by thrashing heads. A cool robotic effect over Hazuki’s spoken lines contrasted with the heavy reverb on the following scream as he leaned back into it with a raised arm to finish, Yusuke and AkN simultaneously leaning back into the final chord. “Are you ready? DAZZLE!” At high speed, the number was over before it began, heads whipping rapidly throughout whilst Hazuki jumped hectically and punched the air, following a light “whoop” with a gross scream. “Shibuya!” yelled Yusuke passionately. Still Asano went nuts on his kit with a perfectly straight expression. The final growl brought Hazuki down to the ground. “Yeah!” he screamed. Bringing an end to the set, ADORE made sure the night ended with a whorl of winding fists, swinging heads and delicately conducting fingers. Not to mention plenty of raised voices as the fans joined Yusuke and Reo in a chorus of shouts. A yell from Hazuki in the instrumental drew a deafening roar in reply. “Tokyo, sing for me!” he requested and they did - loudly. Following an ecstatic jump with a bow, he fell to his knees once more and Yusuke and Reo said goodbye to the crowd with shaken guitars and hurled picks. Jumping up and punching the air in triumph, Hazuki yelled an endless stream of gratitude, applauding the crowd in return as he stumbled off.

The encore call was instantaneous, only growing louder and louder as time passed. Lightening the mood with his re-entry, Hazuki joked with the lighting staff to brighten things up for the happy occasion. On that note, he made several announcements as he aimlessly wandered the stage, beginning with the news that support bassist AkN would officially join the band, bringing the grand total to five members from a beginning of three. He then announced that their next stage would be the impressive Shibuya AX, yet again earning a massive round of applause. Finally, he reminded the crowd that lynch. would be moving on in order to “blow away the major scene full of controlled and uninteresting bands!” The crowd certainly loved that!

“To keep it from disappearing…Roaring in the Dark!” Singing only a few words, Hazuki immediately handed it over to the crowd who easily lived up to the challenge. They then raised the roof with a volley of shouts, dutifully pumping fists all the way until Hazuki raised a hand in the universal ‘stop’ signal, inciting stillness throughout the tense but gentler section to follow. Well in tune with him, the crowd beat the air as he sunk into a vicious growl. The sudden entry of unknown lost a beauty had bodies thrashing and fists flying in a fury. Leading the crowd in a series of double claps, Yusuke seemed uncommonly cheerful. A huge cheer rose as Hazuki cried, “On bass, AkN!” the new official bassist playing his solo up close to the crowd. The number finished with many ‘come hither’ gestures, Hazuki playing teasingly with the mic chord. “Shibuya! Will do it? Will you? Let’s go!” pulse took off with yet another wave of headbanging atop necks that would surely scream in protest after a few hours of stillness. At least the crowd would not be alone in their pain, the two guitarists joining in no holds barred throughout the instrumental. As essential to the band as the new bassist, the crowd yelled their part to perfection, the venue rocking as they jumped with abandon. At the last, the guitars and AkN gathered about Asano at the drum kit, only Hazuki facing the crowd, offering up a “Thank you.”

Finally, he screamed “Last!” in that devilish tone, AGLEAM IN EYE racing ahead. Incredible after a full set and encore, Hazuki’s voice remained silky smooth in the softer sections of the melodic number, nevertheless grating impressively when called for in a flawless transition from croon to shout. Clapping drowsily, Hazuki posed at the stage-front, flicking hair from his eyes. “Thank you! That was lynch.!”

Yet the crowd would not budge, drowning out the implemented BGM with a constant demand for more. The relentless call did its work, lynch. returning to the stage for a final show of appreciation in the form of one last song. “It’s the final song. If you know it, then sing out!” The venue lit up throughout, JUDGEMENT earning a repeat performance. Despite the ferocity of the prior encore call, the crowd were in fine voice, their arms not drooping an inch as they battled on. Hazuki simply basked in the sight and sound, sinking to the floor during Yusuke’s solo. He and AkN worked up the all-too-co-operative crowd, nodding proudly as they lived up to expectations. “Thank you,” the vocalist cried in one last expression of gratitude before screaming himself out. He fell to his knees, running hands down his face in an expression of exhausted satisfaction. Asano slipped offstage, AkN following, fist folded into the sign of a rocker. A scream rang out as Yusuke snagged an impulse and ripped off his shirt, tossing it into the crowd. Inspired by the action, Reo, too, stripped down and pegged his shirt, high-fiving the vocalist on his way out. The central fans waited patiently and Hazuki grabbed up a bottle and hand towel to throw in place of the shirt he was obviously attached to. “Thank you, truly. I’m grateful to you all. Please follow us into the future,” he puffed. One last bow and a series of waves, and he, too was gone. Pumped full of adrenaline, the crowd very slowly filed out, probably to fall dead asleep on their train rides home with lynch. blasting in their ears.

In short, lynch. farewelled the Indie scene in spectacular, hardcore fashion, sending expectations for their major career skyrocketing!

Set List:

1. All this I'll give you
2. I’m sick, b’cuz luv u.
3. EVILLY
4. THE BLASTED BACK BONE
5. DOZE
6. dizzy
7. the universe
8. melt
9. prominence
10. AMBIVALENT IDEAL
11. JUDGEMENT
12. 59
13. vernie
14. alien tune
15. DAZZLE
16. ADORE

Encore I
17. Roaring in the Dark
18. unknown Lost a Beauty
19. pulse
20. AGLEAM IN EYE

Encore II
21. JUDGEMENT