that foreign music blog🌎

So, before winter holiday–probably around November, I got into a band called SIX LOUNGE. Funny enough, I’d known about them for about two years through Yonige, which is a band they seem to be very close with–and honestly sound very similar to as far as song arrangement and lyrics go. However, me being me, I didn’t think to ever listen to them until finding the flowery thumbnail for their newest single at the time, “天使のスーツケース“, or “Angel’s Suitcase”. I fell in love with them at first listen, drawn by Yuumori’s smooth vocals—which has quite an impressive range if you listen to more of their songs. I don’t know if he took voice lessons or anything, but he has really good technique. I ended up listening to just about every song available on Youtube, and then bought three of their albums to enjoy over vacation.

Anyway, after finding that they’d be playing in Osaka in January, I reserved the tickets within minutes. For that reason, I was able to start the year with my new favorite band, joined by a new friend who also liked them.

This friend–we’ll call her “A”–is a blonde-haired, blue-eyed cutie pie from the fields of Ohio. She’d been in Japan for a little over a year and we’d met through work at the occasional Head Office trainings. We found out that we both loved rock music, and I offered to take her to one of her first live shows in Japan. Lucky for us, it might’ve been one of the best shows I’d been to.

The venue was familiar, and we made our way there from our hostel in Namba without much trouble. Throughout the the day, I tried to guess what SIX LOUNGE would open their set with. ‘A’–claiming to be more of a casual fan–just laughed and nodded along with my suggestions, though she hoped she’d hear a few of her favorites like “Night Timer” and “発光”, or “Luminescence”. I was confident they would start with “Angel’s Suitcase”, not because it was my favorite song, but because it seemed the right pace to start a concert—not too slow, and not too wild. In any case, it was a fun game.

Although our ticket numbers were in the five-hundreds, we managed to get towards the center of the floor—which was sold out. It was then that we were confronted by the lonesome “SIX LOUNGE” towel hanging on wall behind the drums, though the drum-kit and stage set up didn’t seem to be for them. I knew that another band would be playing that night, but my friend and I were thrown off by the decor. It turned out, though, that’s all it was: decoration, because the band that entered was four-piece group, アルカラ, or “Arukara”. I’d listened to them a little before the show, but hadn’t gotten the impression that they were as experimental they actually are. They use a lot of tempo changes and sound effects in their songs—even an electronic violin in “Let me Down”. They were unconventional in every regard, from their flashy light show to the vocalist’s tambourine accessory—which I had expected him to play, but it’d ended up being more of a prop. They sort of reminded me “Hello Sleepwalkers“–like an indie progressive version that plays more on discords. Honestly, while they didn’t have any screaming, their guitar work reminded me a lot of what you’d hear in math rock because of how unpredictable it was. A good example of this is in their song “Shouganai Na“.

While I enjoyed this band’s sound, their playful stage presence really made the show fun. With the age difference between the band and headliners, SIX LOUNGE, vocalist, Daisuke, shared one of the hilarious conversations he’d had with Yuumori, feeling, in that moment, the generation gap:

Daisuke: So…what movies are you watching these days?
Yuumori: I don’t really watch movies
………….
Daisuke: How about games?
Yuumori: I don’t play games much, either, but I play Pokemon.
Daisuke:…………..
Yuumori:……
Daisuke: How about manga?
Yuumori: I like One Piece
Daisuke:…………….

I’m not sure how old Arukara are, exactly, but they started in 2002, so they’re likely in their early forties. At the very least, they were old enough for Daisuke to continuously poke fun at SIX LOUNGE’s youth, occasionally calling them “Sex Lounge”. This, however, brought him to try to rack up votes, 評価 (ひょうか), for who was sexier, calling us to shout the members names. So, naturally, when SIX LOUNGE started their set, part way through, Yuumori addressed the audience with: “ヒョウがもらわないね”, or “We don’t get any votes?”, which immediately brought us to shout the band members names in the same fashion.

I wasn’t really sure of what to expect of their stage presence, as I’ve been surprised and let down by a variety of bands in the past. I tried not to get my hopes, but the three of them were extremely fun. They started their set with Night Timer and threw in old favorites like “Trash” and “Sweet Little Sister”. Their performance of minute-long punk song, “Piercing” was probably the most energetic, though. They played it three times, each with a different set-up. First they played it as is, then Yuumori gave Riku his guitar. Remembering how Go!Go!Vanillas often switch instruments for their song “Ready!Steady!Go!”, I anticipated Yuumori to take Riku’s bass. Instead, when the riff started, Yuumori flung himself into the crowd and, for the first time, it’d been right in my direction. I couldn’t quite believe it, my arms shooting upwards in panic as I doubted my strength to carry him. Usually I end up on the side opposite of the action–which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it was SO COOL to be so close to Yuumori, even if it was just for a moment.

When he returned to the stage, retrieving his guitar, he teased Riku about playing badly. The sentiment was returned, however, after the third round when Yuumori took on the drums and Shintaro the guitar. By the end of the song, bassist and guitarist glanced at each other from across the stage and Riku said:

“Shintaro’s better.”, at which Yuumori replied, “Yeah well I write the lyrics. ” “Shintaro writes the lyrics, too!” “I WRITE THE GUITAR LYRICS”

Those cute little interactions weren’t uncommon, either, and I really got a sense of how close they all were.

Throughout the show, they addressed us with little comments, asking us to answer back but failing to do so, much to Yuumori’s dismay. After playing drums during “Piercing”, for instance, he was like, “Ah…I’m done. Damn.” and he began to talk to us about how he feels dizzy after a burst of energy. “You know how that is?” he asked us, and while I wanted to shout my answer, my nerves got the best of me.

There were several moments like that, and I left the show with a bit of regret. This is something that is often contemplated during Japanese shows, though–perhaps among Japanese people, as well, who tend to not want to stand out from their peers. And with my friend and I being the only two foreigners there that I could see, I really didn’t want to draw unnecessary attention.

Other songs they played were “切り裂く風”, “うるせえ”, “23歳”, ” White Noise”, “星のメロディー”, “発光“, “STARSHIP“, “LULU“, “メルシー”, “DOOM DOOM IN THE BOOM BOOM“, and they finished their set with “僕を撃て“. For their encore, they played, “俺のロックンロール” and “Under the Cloud“

AND THEN FOR THE SECOND ENCORE, which NO ONE had been expecting–or even calling out for—they surprised us with their most popular song, “Mary Lou“, followed by “ふたりでこのまま“, and “SHEENA”.

I’m really sorry if I made some mistakes with the set list, but even after the show I had a hard time recalling everything. I was simply buzzing from the fact that they played FIVE SONGS FOR THEIR ENCORE. I don’t know if they do that often, but I do remember that when I saw punk band, SHANK, last year, something similar happened.

On my way out of the venue, I had suddenly heard the band from behind the stage doors, but since they’d finished their encore, I thought it’d been some recording. I didn’t think to go back, but in the case of SIX LOUNGE, I was merely lucky enough to be stuck at the bottom of the steps when they’d suddenly run back out onto the stage. I guess it’s worth it to wait a bit after the show to see if it’s really over.

After the concert, two shirts and towel in hand, my friend and I went to karaoke to sing SIX LOUNGE for an hour. I always feel the urge to go after a concert, but that was the first time I’d actually gone and it felt so surreal to sing our favorite songs together.

To finish, SIX LOUNGE and Arukara put on a great show to start the new year, and it certainly rose my standards–perhaps to their misfortune–for when I see them again. Which I definitely will.