Blog - les 5-4-3-2-1, Budō÷Grape: live report
les 5-4-3-2-1, Budō÷Grape: live report
On Saturday I went to Shinjuku Motion where was held an event titled "TOKYO MOR 2nd Stage" organized by Budō÷Grape (ぶどう÷グレープ). They had invited Les 5-4-3-2-1 to do one more show, after their supposed one-time reunion show in Yokohama last March.
Playing first was a new band called THE2, formed of drummer Shirane Kenichi from GREAT3 (the band of Chocolat's husband Katayose Akito) and a French guy named Davy Bergier who played guitar and sang. While their set-up was minimalist, their sound was quite full, using guitar loops to make it sound like 2 or 3 guitars, and with powerful drumming and quite loud energetic singing. Very rock sound as you can guess. They gave a good show!
Next up was Budō÷Grape. I had seen cute singer Quminco just once before at the Sally Soul Stew show, but it was my first time seeing the full band. I was quite looking forward to see them after getting recommendations from several people. They came up on stage all wearing masks, as often seen on the streets here lately because of the swine flu, saying that they're from Nagoya where they have no cases yet and they don't want to catch it here. But since no one in the audience was wearing a mask, they soon got rid of theirs too.
Their sound was quite new wave, a bit pico-pico, and with a rock'n'roll touch. Singer Quminco's performance was really cute and funny, but I was most surprised by keyboardist Midori-chan who proved to be a great musician.
Next up was a surprise short set by The Shockers, a band that Budō÷Grape's guitarist and 2nd vocalist Nagai Hidehiko used to be part of, together with drummer Nakamura Tatsuya of Blankey Jet City. They played two of their old hits, rock'n'roll-ish songs that were quite catchy.
Last on stage was of course Les 5-4-3-2-1! This time they perforrmed as a full 5-piece band. In addition to Nakayama Tsutomu on Hammond and Kaoss Pad, singer Hitomi and bassist Sally Kubota were also accompanied by guitarist Kikuchi Akira (New Rock Syndicate) and girl drummer Ono-rong (from The Pebbles).
They were very tight and gave a fantastic show filled mostly with upbeat tracks!
Set list: Opening 1 / Dance sanka (les 5-4-3-2-1 et leur style de danse) / Non Non Non / Jazz-ru kokoro (le coeur qui jazze) / Bond Street / uchū de Rendez-vous (rendez-vous à l'univers) / Golden Picnic (new song) / Cutey Honey
Encore: Radical Samba / Dance sanka
As you might have noticed, this time they played the theme song to anime series Cutey Honey! This is the first song I heard by Les 5, as I recounted in my previous report. Needless to say I was more than happy to hear this live!
At the end of the show Quminco came back on stage for a reprise of "Dance sanka", as she also sang on the Sally Soul Stew album.
There was also the great news that Les 5 can be seen again live on July 17 at Shibuya's Aoi Heya. Details at Tokyo Gig Guide. You bet I'll be there again. :)
Larger sizes and more photos at Flickr
Posted on May 26, 2009 at 00:18 | Tweet
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The Sound of 60/90 event report
Last night I went to Aoi Heya in Shibuya with my friend Miwa to see an event featuring Les 5-4-3-2-1....
July 18, 2009 at 11:58
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I wished this reunion could end up as some more material by the original Les 5-4-3-2-1...
Posted by Damian on May 29, 2009 at 00:46
Since they already have a new song (and quite catchy at that), hopes are up. :)
Posted by Patrick on May 29, 2009 at 07:52
You seem to be very well informed of the Japanese independent music scene.
I imagine that you are most often the only non-Japanese in the audience at the concerts by those indie bands. No?
Posted by Raccoon on June 1, 2009 at 01:21
Sometimes, but lately not so much. I guess that there are always more foreigners who like this scene, and also they're well informed with resources like Tokyo Gig Guide.
http://www.tokyogigguide.com/
Posted by Patrick on June 3, 2009 at 21:07