LITE For all the innocence in Birmingham

For the third date of their For all the innocence Tour, instrumental rock band LITE played at The Flapper in Birmingham on October 16th. The small venue had a very relaxed atmosphere, with band members manning the merchandise stand or hanging out in the crowd to watch the other performances. The concert was opened by local bands Dying Giant and IO, who both delivered brief but high-energy performances to a very welcoming audience. As this was a joint tour between LITE and Leicester-based instrumental band Maybeshewill, both headlining bands played a set of around an hour each, with LITE delivering the final performance of the night.

Although the bands had started playing at 7:30pm, the underground performance area of the venue was still quite crowded when LITE came onstage just after 10pm. Having set up their instruments, guitarist Nobuyuki greeted the audience: “Thanks for coming tonight. We are LITE from Japan. Thank you.” With this, the band went into the opening of Ef, but quickly stopped due to an issue with the guitar effects. After a moment to adjust, the band started up again and got a little bit further this time before stopping once more. “Sorry about this,” said Nobuyuki, readjusting his effects pedals as the crowd cheered in support.

With everything set correctly, the band at last headed into Ef, with its impressive rhythm and Kouzou’s skilled guitar playing, quickly erasing any worry from the earlier false start. Akinori’s strong drumming and Jun’s funky bass line really set the atmosphere, and Nobuyuki was tapping his foot to the beat. Kouzou then dropped into a more harmonious guitar section before building up the intensity to something much more forceful, with the audience banging their heads in time. The song built to a crescendo, where it seemed about to end, but instead fell into a brief drumming section, which was quickly accompanied by Jun on the bass, before mellowing out to its conclusion.

The audience cheered and applauded as Kouzou tapped at a few keys on the laptop which sat on a desk beside him and the opening effects of the song Image Game began to play on the sound system. Nobuyuki then joined in with his guitar, as the other members nodded their heads along and Jun began playing a surprisingly gentle bass line. Kouzou seemed very calm and concentrated at his laptop in the centre of the stage, even as the song sped up, building in energy. Jun stepped up his bass line to something much funkier, with the other members joining in this rhythm, and the song built up more and more until coming to a sudden stop, then restarting. The band then repeated this, with the music becoming stronger and fiercer with each continuation. Even Kouzou was bopping his head along at this point, until a calmer moment full of reverb and splashing cymbals gave the members a brief pause before the final crescendo, the music ramping up and up, vibrating the entire room until it came to an end.

Kouzou then set up the recorded piano section to Rabbit, which played out through the speakers with perhaps not quite as much clarity as it deserved. Nobuyuki joined in the piano melody on his guitar, with Jun and Akinori adding their instruments in turn. Kouzou stayed at his desk, playing the small keyboard and synthesiser instead of his guitar, which he really seemed to enjoy. Again the bass line was very strong, and the song briefly fell into a section of just the piano and Akinori’s ticking drum beat before building up again. Nobuyuki became quite animated in his guitar playing and Akinori’s drumming grew harder and fiercer before the main melody returned, this time with much more drumming. This was a wonderful performance from Akinori and the band played extremely well together towards the end of this song, seeming very much in sync. Rabbit was definitely one of the highlights of the evening.

Nobuyuki thanked the audience again and said: “We played at The Flapper in 2006, so I feel nostalgic. Thanks for coming.” Akinori then started Duck Follows an Eccentric by getting out a shaker and the guitarists added a video-game-style melody to this beat. As the bass kicked in, all the members of LITE began to sway in time to the music, the speakers on the edge of the small stage wobbling with the movement. There were a few moments of strong bass and quite a high-pitched guitar riff from Kouzou before the song went into a much harder section, with both guitarists strumming forcefully over Jun’s impressive bass. The audience clearly enjoyed themselves as they swayed along to this lively song, with all of the members putting in a great deal of energy. Nobuyuki brought out a nice solo towards the end, which fit so well with the music that it could almost have gone unnoticed. The other members then built up the music, with Jun’s bass giving an almost improvised sound, and the song ended with a gentle guitar strum before fading out.

Akinori then began the drum intro to Pirates and Parakeets, with Kouzou adding effects and the pre-recorded vocals from his laptop. This song continued quite gently, with Jun lightly tapping his bass and Kouzou adding a rhythmic guitar pattern as the stage lights flashed on and off. In this more laid-back atmosphere, each member seemed content playing alone in his own section of the stage, the music joining them together as the song continued. Nobuyuki then added a lot more guitar, as well as some live vocals for the chanted “Oh” section. The song then fell back into the effects only, with Nobuyuki leading the audience as they clapped along and Akinori beating his drumsticks together at the back of the stage. The music then built back up to something more upbeat before dying out once more to just the drums and effects, and then nothing but Akinori on the drums, delivering an impressive beat to end the song.

This drum beat led LITE straight into Infinite Mirror with Nobuyuki and Kouzou playing guitar riffs which were just out of sync in a way that made them sound both complimentary and somehow as though they were battling against each other, which was a really interesting effect. The bass then kicked in and a hard drum beat continued throughout, with Nobuyuki and Jun banging their heads in time. Kouzou again remained quite still and calm, concentrating on the music, which then grew in intensity, the bass and guitars thrashing out to another crescendo. Jun gave it his all with his bass playing as the music relaxed and then began to build once more, very gradually this time, with Nobuyuki swaying from side to side. The song suddenly became much harder, though perhaps not as much as was expected. The band seemed again very much in sync as they played, despite the lack of interaction between them, each showing a level of concentration and affinity with the music. Infinite Mirror built up once more, with all the members clearly displaying a lot of energy, before it came to a sudden end. This song was another highlight and Nobuyuki thanked the audience again, adding: “We’ve got some T-shirts and CDs here for sale. Thank you for being here. Thanks very much.”

The band then went into the guitar intro of Ghost Dance, which built up with Akinori’s splashing cymbals and another strong bass line from Jun, which could be felt as well as heard. The audience seemed much more relaxed during this song, with all four musicians again playing separately and yet bringing together all the different and complex elements of the music. After a brief slap bass section from Jun, the song continued quite softly, with Nobuyuki and Kouzou’s guitars playing in such synchronicity that you could barely tell that they were two separate instruments. This soft section didn’t last long, quickly becoming something quite heavy as Jun thrashed his head around and Akinori put everything into the drums, while Kouzou again seemed quite nonchalant as he played his guitar. Nobuyuki did his best to move around as he played, but was somewhat hindered by the small stage and his impressive array of guitar pedals. The song came to an end with splashing cymbals and a thrashing crescendo, and the crowd cheered as Nobuyuki announced their final song.

Kouzou began to play out the electronic intro of 100 million rainbows from his laptop as the other members set up their instruments among the warped, screeching tones that surrounded them. Akinori entered into a brief drum and synth section with Kouzou before the song became much heavier, with aggressive bass and drums. There was another brief moment of just the effects, giving the band members a quick break before heading back into the music with an impressive space-age sound. Jun moved around a lot as he played, throwing in more and more energy as the concert progressed, making 100 million rainbows a wonderful display of energy and sound as the band all came together. Even Kouzou began thrashing his head as the song reached its final crescendo, with every member clearly pouring as much energy as possible into the performance and delivering yet another highlight.

The band then left the stage to well-deserved cheers and applause, but returned almost immediately with Nobuyuki announcing: “Thank you very much. We have one more song.” Once the members were all settled again with their instruments, there was a screeching feedback intro and then Human Gift began. The song was full of heavy drum and guitar, with Jun playing a bass line which was less intricate than in previous songs, though still just as strong. Nobuyuki was very animated during this song and all of the members performed energetically. Jun thrashed wildly at his bass, turning to face away from the audience as he played, his performance again seeming somewhat improvised. The guitarists strummed in unison as Akinori put all of his energy into his drums. Again the band seemed to become one entity through the music, which poured out through the venue with so much energy that you couldn’t help but enjoy the experience. The song grew harder and heavier, with each member throwing in as much energy as they could before the song reached its abrupt conclusion and the crowd burst into cheers.

LITE thanked the audience, waving their arms and soaking up the applause which their energetic performance had earned them, and Kouzou took a moment to photograph the crowd before the members left the stage. It was clear that everybody who had attended the concert, both fans and first-time listeners alike, were thoroughly impressed by the band’s powerful performance, which resonated through the venue and never once seemed incomplete for its lack of vocals. With this concert, LITE truly proved that there is more to music than the traditional vocalist front-man and delivered a first-class performance which will likely stick in the audience’s minds for a long time to come.

Setlist:

01. Ef
02. Image Game
03. Rabbit
04. Duck Follows an Eccentric
05. Pirates and Parakeets
06. Infinite Mirror
07. Ghost Dance
08. 100 million rainbows

Encore:
01. Human Gift