Arena Champions: A Wembley Experience

It's tempting, isn't it, to try and look into the heads of the BM girls during such a momentous occasion. The biggest concert ever outside of Japan, by far! What is going through their minds? I know I'm not supposed to care about it. These girls are messengers of the almighty Fox God, who acts through them, and their normal identities are forgotten and irrelevant as soon as they enter the stage. But still. I guess I'm just to down to earth to cling to a legend like that.

It's not very virtuous to speculate about the goings on in someone else's head, but I can speak for myself. I can say that I don't know how long I can keep telling myself that BM aren't my all time favourite act and still believe it. They made me come to London especially for them twice now, and I really don't like visiting London. It's too big, too crowded, dirty, rat infested, old and worn down, joyless and the air quality is so bad that my nose fills up with disgusting black soot during the day. You can walk around the governmental part of Westminster past all the large, pompous buildings and feel like, as my sister strikingly remarked, you're strolling through the Soviet Union rather than England. Speaking of England, visiting there has more general hassles for me as well. Not being able to pay with euros is annoying enough, but some places won't accept my debit card either, or have a lower limit on how much you have to spend with it. Cash withdrawal sometimes costs money too here. It's like going back in time! Even if you can pay for it, decent food can still be hard to come by. We looked around Wembley for a half decent restaurant for ages, finding only pubs and Fish 'n Chips. Not to mention the huge fatty breakfasts served here, which look disgusting to a guy who, at most, has two slices of bread with some Jam or cheese in the morning.

The trip itself was an awesome display of the power of Murphy's law before it even began. Really, this made the troubles on our trip to Frankfurt seem insignificant in comparison. Not signing on in time for the afterparty, due to a combination of personal stupidity and bad luck, was just one of the setbacks. Terrible flight delays also made sure we wouldn't be at the Holliday Inn in time for the reddit meetup, so tired and hungry we decided to walk into the first hotel we came across when exiting Wembley Park station. We even resorted to eating at McDonald's, again a horrifying experience to a guy who, when time is available, likes to spend six hours in the kitchen crafting the perfect curry.

The next day, after declining the English breakfast at our hotel and opting for a "continental" one instead, we at least don't have to walk very far to the Arena. The weather is quite nice and there is already a huge line in front of the merch stand. Japanese fans seem to be in the majority this early on, but that is soon about to change. We soon meet up with kapitan_memo, a friendly Polish bloke who bought one of my spare tickets (don't ask). We pick them up at the box office and I give one to him. We talk a bit about this and that, including the whole afterparty situation. It's a shame since I didn't get to go when I went to see BM at Brixton either. But hey, the main thing is that we're here and greatly looking forward to the show. We split ways as our Polish friend begins his three hour wait in line to buy a t-shirt. Not having the time or the inclination to do the same we start walking about. Under my my sweater I'm wearing the same bright green t-shirt I did in Frankfurt. It might look stupid (like that ever stopped me from doing anything) but, as I found out, it makes it much easier to spot yourself in footage later on. Plus I'm thinking of making this my personal BM concert tradition.

We return just before five to get in line, spending the time singing and joking. When a steward walks by and asks the crowd if we're excited I apparently react a bit too enthusiastically, because he feels the need to remind me I'm not at a football match. That enthusiasm does start to wear a bit as time goes on though. Sleep deprivation, hunger fatigue and general exhaustion slowly start taking their toll. At least Amaterasu seems to smile upon this concert for most of the afternoon. When we finally get inside we our tiredness only continues to increase. A few Australian folks behind us pass the time between the support act and the main event by inflating beach balls and sending them flying around the crowd, to our amusement. Then an inflatable kangaroo appears which cracks me up even more. Still our impatience grows until suddenly, finally, it begins.

Gone is our fatigue the instance the Death choir sounds. The crowd burst into applause, as electrified as we are. Here it is, at last! The album that came out on april fools day is about to make it's live début. Maybe it's fitting then that the concert opens by pranking us. All eyes are fixed on the white figures atop the stairs, amidst the beautiful decor. The white figures we recognize from the Karate video, and we know who's behind those masks. Then suddenly we realise they are are only projections as the the girls appear right next to us on the central platform. April fools! Death opens with a bang and from that moment the show is on. We deliberately kept some distance from the stage to avoid being crushed, but now that the girls are on the platform the crowd squeezes towards them. Oh well, at least I can see them up close from here and get a good look at their faces. Something seems... off. I don't know if I'm projecting my fatigue onto them or if they are nervous about something, or what, but they seem more reserved than usual.

This isn't even close to their biggest concert ever. However, there is something about going to a strange, foreign land so far away from home that's just different. To be in front of such a crowd in Europe must be far more nerve wrecking than a similar crowd of more like minded people. I can feel a certain distance between us as they perform. I suspect there must also be more going on, maybe they're jet lagged, because they did not bring their A-game. Frankfurt was BM at the top of their capabilities, a flawless show. This isn't that. Especially Su is struggling. She regularly fails to hit the high notes throughout the show and it gets worse the further in we get. Now, of course she can have an off day, every singer has one now and again. It's just a pity that it had to be today. What would go through her head right now?

What do we take away from this? Most importantly that BM at their best is earth shatteringly awesome, and BM at their less than best... is still completely awesome! I'm having such a great time. I don't feel how tired I am, don't feel how sore my throat gets from singing along, not for a second. After Death we get Awadama Fever, Iine and then YAVA! We continue having a bit of trouble getting squeezed together, but a few mosh pits quickly solve that problem. By the time Doki Doki Morning rolls around we have plenty of space to dance along, which is good, because despite how goofy that song is I must confess to liking more every time I hear it live. But there are so many great moments. Yon no Uta is so much more fun with a big stage and platform like this one rather than the tiny stage in Frankfurt or the sizeable but still modest one at Brixton. The new songs are greeted with a bit more uncertainty by us than the old ones, not knowing the choreography and the proper audience responses to them yet. But they all sound great live. To my great disappointment we don't get to hear From Dusk Till Dawn or Sis Anger. Tales Of The Destinies and No Rain No Rainbow are also absent, but seeing as Su is barely managing her solos perhaps that last one is for the best.

By the time The One starts up we feel the end approaching. I could have stayed here, listened, danced and sang along for another hour at least. When the girls appear atop the stairs this time they aren't projections, but living flesh and blood. Moa is still all smiles, she having been the most like her normal self all evening. But when the camera zooms in on Yui's face it startles me a bit. She is obviously not coping well. A thought flashes through my mind:  "Girl, you okay?" I can't imagine she is happy about the way tonight went. Don't get me wrong, most of it was still amazing high level artistry, but you could feel the strain. Even as The One starts, would it be too far fetched to suppose that a critically minded artist would ask herself at this moment: did we blow it? Su voice barely holds out through the song. Then the la's start, as does the turning mechanism of the platform they stand on, and they finally have an opportunity to quietly observe the Arena. As planned beforehand, a few people display their national flags at this moment, showing where they travelled from to come and see BM here. The girls themselves seem a bit surprised by this. Just for a moment it looks like they let their guard down. Once again I look at Su's eyes. The audience cheering and singing, the flags from all different corners of the world, the images coming in from Japan so far away of people just as excited as we are, she seems to be overwhelmed by emotion for a few seconds, only to regain her composure shortly after.

If they were worried about their performance tonight this must have been a sight for sore eyes. To be assured that we had an experience to never forget regardless. They stumbled but never fell down. The encore is Road of Resistance and by this point Su just can't hit the notes any more. Maybe the amazing moment we just witnessed was too much for her, who knows. Likely nobody will ever know the full story behind this evening. We are all sad when we're told they'll have to go back to Japan now. After the usual greeting BM leaves the stage for the final time. As we walk out we look deceptively calm, but underneath that exterior we are ecstatic. On the way back to our crappy motel we decide we just have to see them again when they come back to Europe in June. We're hooked!

Two days later we sit in a Thai restaurant once again, by accident rather than by design. After dispelling the hunger fatigue with a nice full English breakfast this morning we spent the day visiting the British museum, which is heaven for a lover of history like myself, spotting a few fellow kitsunes in there as well, and looking around Soho. This part of London is actually quite inviting. It's the first time we've felt the charm and personality that England has to offer, we confess towards each other as we sit down during the afternoon in a quaint little Italian coffee shop. Now we're enjoying one of the tastiest meals I've ever had, at a very reasonable price for our standards. You know, I might actually feel sad leaving this city behind tomorrow morning. My sister ask what time it is and I get my phone to check. To my surprise I discover my phone is switched off. Then I remember: I didn't have a charger that fits English power outlets (another thing about this country), so I decided to save power and turn it off after the concert. After pressing the power switch I discover I have a message from kapitan_memo. He asks if I'm coming to the pub for the afterparty, since apparently there is no guest list and I could probably get in if I wanted................ well dammit. Next time, I promise, next time.

Shock and Awe - A Fan's Perspective On Metal Resistance

I feel like writing this is a bit pointless. If you want opinions on the new BM album, Metal Resistance, there is certainly no shortage of that. If you want reviews written by people who are much better at it than I am because it's their job, those are easy to come by too. I just have to do this. You see, in hindsight I made a grave error in my previous post. I said BM would either have to shock the way  they did before, which I thought impossible, or they would have to to the same thing again only much better. I sit here dumbfounded, because, despite everything, BM have managed to do both!

I'm really not being hyperbolic. Despite BM being the first act I can call myself a fan of in the truest sense of the word, I've always tried to approach them as objectively as possibly when writing these. That's going to be very hard this time but I'll try my best. The idea that this album is just the same thing again but way better holds pretty well with the first third or so. I can easily see Karate as this album's version of Megitsune (soya!) Awadama Fever as this album's Gimme Chocolate, YAVA, the successor to Iine and Amore would pass as the new Akatsuki. But the only song that doesn't blow it's début counterpart out of the water completely is Karate, and that's only because Megitsune was that album's strongest track (in my humble opinion). For the other three it's absolutely no competition.

But then Meta Taro happens and the album goes completely of the rails into wacky town. I now kind of understand what people who were into metal sung by big hairy men felt when they listened to the first album. I might not have had much expectations about what metal is supposed to sound like in those day, but I know big strong Vikings and little Japanese girls are polar opposites. After that the album touches the ground with its feet from time to time, only to float of again. The BBM tracks sound somewhat reminiscent of 4 no Uta and Onedari Daisakusen, but I don't think that's a great comparison. Apart from being much better, they have a much rougher, punky edge to them. Moa and Yui's vocal parts sound forceful and almost a bit shouty compared to their gentle handling of 4 no Uta, while still being quite cute. It's nice to see the dichotomy seep into the vocals as well. The second to last track meanwhile, called Tales of the Destinies in the best of Engrish traditions, gave me flashbacks to being fourteen again and fighting the final boss of Golden Sun 2. It's the most frantic and jarring thing they ever recorded, easily outdoing Iine. Brilliant.

In fact, compared to this the entire first album now seems tame in every aspect, even in weirdness. The shock from two years ago mainly had to do with what BM itself was, not the music. Because the album wasn't that much stranger than, say, Ariel Pink's Pom Pom or Swans' The Seer. No this, this sounds weird! It also sounds heavier, more engaging, more mature, more refined and all round superior to the first album. Another thing about that: when I heard Koba say that he wanted to make a real studio album, not the glorified compilation cd that the last one was, I thought something along the lines of: "Sure Koba, I haven't forgotten that you work for a talent agency with marketability as their number one concern. This album is going to be full of self contained, compact, singlable (not a word, but I don't care) ditties than can each on their own be representative of the image BM is supposed to project, like the last one was." Well, I hereby officially give Koba permission to slap me across the face with his dick, because once again I was wrong. The song most indicative of this is From Dusk Till Dawn, an otherworldly electronic mood piece that hardly has any lyrics. This would never have been on the début. I haven't heard Syncopation yet, but I already feel sorry for the Japanese fans that they didn't get this track. I'm so glad it got included here.

It must be fun writing music for BM, because more and more you get the sense that the sky is the limit. I can't stop listening to Metal Resistance. Never In my wildest dream did I think it would shock me even more than the first album, but it did. I fucking love it.

Music listened to while writing:

• Take a wild guess...

A Karate Punch To Old Expectations

It's funny Isn't it, how your views can change in hindsight, even about yourself? By that I mean I thought I was pretty confident about BM's upcoming album. I was really looking forward to it, counting the days. I immediately pre-ordered it the first chance I got, bought tickets for Wembley and jumped on any hint of new information. And yet, looking back I must admit I was a bit worried if my expectations, whatever they were, could be met.

The thing with BM is that they are a new phenomenon. Yes yes, I know their formation in 2010 has always served as a good comeback to people complaining that they were just a gimmick, a flash in the pan that would fade as quickly as they rose. But let's be brutally honest. One thing we know for sure is that almost every act, be it pop, indie, metal or whatever, runs out of creative juice. Some acts manage to reinvent themselves, a mark of undiluted quality and talent that not many possess. Another thing we know, something much more scary to consider in this context, is that it's hard to be successful, but even harder to follow up success. The plethora of one hit wonders testifies to that, but there are also plenty of one album wonders. Following up an amazing, game changing album has driven some to near insanity.

I became a fan only in the summer of 2014, when their album was already out. For me albums are what counts though, so that they had a string of successful singles before that didn't ease my mind. There is of course a clear evolution apparent in their songs, but that can be interpreted in different ways as well. Sure they have shown signs of evolution, but I wouldn't have expected their sound to not mature at least a bit from the quirky, not yet very committed to the whole metal thing and, lets be honest, gimmicky Doki Doki Morning. But in doing so BM songwriters have raised the bar for themselves time and time again. How easy it would have been to drift of and get stuck in the swamp of trying to top Megitsune (for instance) over and over again?

Now, that doesn't have to happen if you have people in charge who know what they're doing, But in the music industry that includes far from everyone if the stories are to be believed. On top of that is this simple truth: BM couldn't rely on being a one trick pony. The first album was such a shock to the system. That partly explains why it was so well received. I think I made my case sufficiently before that there's more to it than novelty, but that was a big part of it. No follow up album was ever going to match that. So for it to succeed it needed to do one of two things: BM needed to reinvent themselves and produce something just as fresh and shocking, or they needed to up their game and present something that was just miles above what they did before in terms of quality. It was very clear early on that they weren't going to do the first, and for good reason I think. BM may have a core of loyal fans, but they aren't well established enough to suddenly switch gears. So the best we could hope for is that the myriad of songwriters at BM's disposal would come up with some honest to God great music. And that's what they did.

My reaction to KARATE is somewhat hard to describe. It was excitement, fulfilment, followed by my usual intensive listening sessions, trying to unravel all the creative thoughts that went into the songs, and finally relieve. That last one was a surprise, but it allowed me to  realise and put into words all my doubts and worries about the next album, which I didn't even know I had. I'm sure there are plenty of people around more adapt at explaining why KARATE is good. Suffice to say it is. That doesn't automatically mean the rest of the album will be cut of the same cloth, but it reassures me people over there know what they're doing, and the creative juice is far from running out. They will keep on fighting as we will keep on listening and cheering. Osu!

Music listened to while writing:

Albums:

• The Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I
• The Who - Tommy

Individual tracks:

• Sia - Sweet Potato
• BABYMETAL - KARATE

Babymetal: the big questions!

We live in exciting times, don't we? A new album has been announced, as well as the biggest gig our beloved queens of metal have ever done: Tokyo Dome, capacity: 55.000. So right now might be a good time to take a step back and (try to) answer some fundamental questions that need answering. And no I'm not talking about whether or not they are actually metal. To be honest I find that question so uninteresting it's not even funny. I hope you're just as anxious to discuss these questions as I am, and will join me in my journey of pointless speculation. If not, then I apologise for wasting your time.

Question 1: So why all the hate?

It is not enough to simply say that that's what some people will just do in response to something that challenges the status quo, not even when referring to metalheads. Sure, a lot of them see themselves as part of a culture, a group identity. It's a badge of honour worn proudly. That tends to make you feel confident to decide what or who should be part of your scene. Who do those girls think they are to just prance in here, dancing around and acting like this isn't something to be taken super serious?

There's more to it than that though. After all, BM isn't the first to come under fire from these people. It's just the fire was rarely this intense or long lasting. No, reaching the next layer in our explanation requires our hazardous spelunking expedition to the depths of these nigh impenetrable minds to touch upon that contentious word: weeaboo. Let's not kid ourselves, despite all the efforts of Japanese media and government agencies, if there's one thing Japan still isn't, it's cool. Being a fan of Japanese pop culture is decidedly uncool. Though we live in an age where it's much more socially acceptable to be uncool, don't think that doesn't still have an effect on some people. Few things are as typical of Japanese pop culture (to the western mind at least) as the idol: a sort of cross between a role model, a pop star and a salesperson, dipt in a sauce of overwhelming sweetness. If you're the kind of person who looks down on that, the people praising it might as well be recommending tentacle hentai to you. To you all Japanese media falls roughly in the same category.

If you're offended by that (and I'm talking to the real you now, not the hypothetical one of a few moments ago), because of how obviously wrong this is, I would urge you to consider that you might have similar views on other groups of people. Perhaps you think of all football fans as violence prone. Perhaps science fiction fans are, to you, awkward and nerdy, and the media they consume no less so. Perhaps you feel a certain way about bikers, or, as I've often had to endure myself, anthroposophists. It's quite a normal human reaction to the unknown to view it as monolithic, even if that isn't something to be proud of.

So that gives the haters a reason to be cocky and dismissive, but why the anger? Here too I must confess a certain empathy with these people. The rage they feel is one I recognize all too well. Often these people will list bands they feel as more deserving of coverage than BM. So, could it be that their anger actually comes from a good place, a place of love? I remember being dumbstruck time after time at which acts got their time in the sun over the ones I like. Sometimes it's an artist which I just don't get (I still don't understand what people see in Taylor Swift). At other times I'll see artists I positively loathe bathe in adoration. When I try to share the music I like it's often greeted with bemusement: "yes, yes, you go do your little thing over there while we'll hang out with the popular music". That can only happen to you so many times before you start to get mad. Your love for your music is genuine, why don't they see in it what you see? So you start looking for people to blame and an easily identified bunch of villains are those big corporations with their devious marketing strategies.

Of course the real reasons for the dichotomy between popular and niche music are a lot more complicated. I'm glad I've gotten myself out of that pattern of thought, you hurt no one but yourself with it. For some within the metal community though, BM probably wears the smell of corporate marketing. Maybe their initial dislike comes from prejudice, maybe not. But seeing an act they don't like being hailed by the media strikes a very familiar nerve with them. Then they find out the group was put together by a talent agency and they didn't even know what metal was before that, and that seals the deal.

Question 2: Can BM serve as a gateway to new genres?

I remember a dark room many years back. It's late at night, and my sister and I are sitting behind my dad's computer browsing this brand new website called "youtube" for interesting stuff. Then we come across a fragment of a Japanese entertainment program, featuring young women in overly cutesy, brightly coloured clothes, complete with short skirts and ribbons, dancing in front of an equally hideously coloured decor. The music they perform is poppy and sung with high pitched, cute voices. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen before, and I seldom laughed as hard as I did then.

I've certainly come a long way since then. In my defence, I was kind of in shock at the time that something I thought was just a made up stereotype turned out to really exist. At one time I also couldn't imagine valley girls to be real. So when I now see how much milder and more open minded I've become towards idol music, it's really something. Okay, I shouldn't exaggerate. I still think Momoiro Clover Z is only mildly entertaining and hugely exhausting to listen to for an entire album. I'm also appalled that a group as popular as AKB48 can be so while delivering music that's this bad. In fact, Sturgeon's law holds in idol music world just as it does in any other industry.

Nice song, terrible video.

On the other hand I did find a few songs that pleasantly surprised me, in Japanese pop as well as Asian pop in general. Sure I can admit to humming that little saxophone riff in that one Juice=Juice song when I'm in a good mood (even if it's possibly the most boring music video I ever saw). Sure I will admit to having Momoiro Clover Z on my iPod, sitting comfortably between Modest Mouse and My Bloody Valentine. Looking at K-pop for a second, even though Girls' Generation is responsible for the existence of the worst album I ever heard (thanks TJ) I will admit to finding the pop version of Pavement's Gold Soundz in their first single Gee. In other words: I adore it.

Then there is of course Sakura Gakuin, spawning ground of the metal wonder. As I mentioned before I listened to all the albums and I can't deny they all have a certain appeal. The first is filled with nicely paced, sparkling, uptempo pop goodness with an experimental streak to it. The second significantly ups that experimental aspect. It also confirms my belief that the person responsible for the production of the later single version of Iine dropped the ball, because this album's version is definitely superior. Still, both are kind of hit and miss. It's the third album that really grabbed me, the first of them that felt like more than the sum of its parts. It features a slightly more traditional sound, compensated by a return to melodic focus rather than experimental fluff. The result is something that goes beyond the simplicity of pop songs sung by young girls, invoking as it does a kind of nostalgia to my own childhood. These are girls having fun indulging in the theme of discovery, woven throughout the album, while sometimes looking over their shoulder in a fit of melancholy like they're telling me: "Don't you wish you were here again?". It really does give me that sense of childhood wonder that Daft Punk's Discovery was so good at summoning, though that did it without getting childish at the same time. My Generation (as the third SG album is called) doesn't quite manage that and admittedly it can be a bit boring at times. But for what it is, it's very good.

The best part of this entire revelation? It's all thanks to BM. They're the reason I gave all these groups a chance to begin with, and they sort of softened me up to be able to appreciate them for what they were. There are two things to note here however. First: I may not be representative of most listeners. Not everyone is as hungrily searching for new music all the time. There have been quite a number of threads about this on the sub, and most people say they have only been minimally affected one way or another. And that's assuming these are the hardcore BM fans that visit the sub. What about all the more casual listeners? To this my answer is: just give it time. With me it's been a slow process that's still far from finished, why should it be any different with anyone else? I think there has been a small but significant shift with every single BM fan in the way they listen to music, be it concious or not.

Second thing to note: Koba didn't really set out to convert people like me to J-pop when he created BM. He wanted to conquer the metal scene of course, but he was also hoping to bring metal to the masses of pop fans. If we are to believe Metal Hammer and certain Japanese news reports he's making good progress in that direction in Japan. Over here it's a different story. BM may be making headlines in the world of metal, outside it they are still virtual unknowns. This varies from country to country of course, but, with one exception, everyone I know that knows about BM had to hear it from me. If this will change in the future remains to be seen. It all depends on if BM can succeed in their mission of world domination. More on that later.

As for myself, I never had the hostility towards metal I had towards idol music. I just kind of viewed it with disinterest. If there's one thing that definitely changed it's that disinterest. I want to get more into metal music, I just feel I don't know quite yet where to continue from here. I revisited some of my old crushes like Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, tried some songs here and there, but just haven't found the right vibe yet. Iron Maiden seems like the obvious next thing to explore, having their song Paschendale stuck on repeat for times on end, though that is just as much because of my love for history as the song itself (and yes, I know about Sabaton, don't much care for them unfortunately).

Shall I....?

So my answer to if BM can open the way to new genres is: yes... but. Yes, but it will not happen over night, it will only happen to people who let it happen, and for many it will only happen if BM continues their march to the top, like they have been for these past few years, and manage to capture the mainstream consciousness as wel as that of the metal scene. I do hope people open their minds for something new, it makes life so much more enjoyable. It doesn't have to tarnish your identity or whatever. For me the album of the year is still Currents by Tame Impala. My focus hasn't shifted, it has merely expanded.

Question 3: Really now, what makes BM good?

Believe it or not, this is by far the hardest question to answer. You wouldn't think it would be, right? With all the reviews and all the street interviews with fans, surely we have figured out by now what is so likeable about our girls and their music? And yet I've had incredibly difficulty explaining why I like them so much. It's like the vocabulary I normally use to analyse music isn't sufficient any more. So let's take a look at some common motifs in other people's praises of them.

First thing you hear often is that they're "bonkers". They're weird, strange, freaky, you get the point. Does that also make them good though? I'd say no. They're weird all right, but there are plenty of weird things that are nothing but cringe worthy. Next thing you'll hear is that they're "new" and "fresh". Also true but ultimately misleading. If that's all there was to them they would've faded away long ago. Because of course they haven't been new for a while now. They were formed in 2010, went years as a mere sub-unit before finally getting some considerable attention in Japan in 2013 and had their first big break in the west in early 2014. That's almost two years ago now. I'm not saying that these aren't contributing factors, especially for new fans, but I wouldn't have stayed with them all this time if that was all there was to it, and I have a feeling the same goes for a lot of fans.

So what about the traditional ways that idol groups ensnare their fanbases? By that I mean flaunting cute and pretty girls before their mostly male audience to arouse their instincts. These needn't necessarily be sexual, although there are idol groups out there who don't make any secret of the fact that that's what they're going for. Looking at the BM subreddit and the Facebook groups will quickly leave no doubt that for many fans the girls' cuteness is an important part of their enjoyment too. But BM is hardly unique in this, and yet they are the first to capture this kind of audience. That they are the first to do metal (the first to do it right anyway) may account for some of that, but not all.

There has to be something we can point to in their music. Most I usually hear in this vain are vague comments like "I like the way they mix metal and pop" or "it's exciting the way they manage to mix different styles and genres". That puts us on the right track. Is BM style over substance? It most certainly is! But as a guy you might have heard of once said "Quantity has a quality all its own" so do I think that an abundance of great style has a substance all its own. It's true that the way they mix different styles that on first glance shouldn't go together creates a very appealing and unique style of their own. But it goes further still. Their style has an unparalleled richness to it that I don't think even most fans are aware of. The kawaii image is certainly part of it, indispensable even, but they've managed, seemingly effortless, to absorb so many styles of metal and non-metal, it's marvellous.

Now we come to the crux of the matter. Many have alluded to this before, but I don't recall anyone ever connecting all the dots and describing the big picture. It's all a matter of balance. Cuteness can be fun but too much of it, like idol groups tend to do, is probably only fun if the rest of your daily life plays out in a dreary office job in Japan. BM doesn't downplay their cuteness in any way, but it never saturates us because of the metal side of their style. It's one curtailing the other so that, no matter how much we absorb of either one, it's always offset, never too much. In other words: BM have found a way to be both outrageously over the top on one hand and restrained and subtle on the other. They can be theatrical and magnificent in their presentation, they can be overwhelming, making you enjoy things you didn't even know you needed in your life, all while seemingly never going to far in any direction, because it's all balanced out. They can make you dance to Doki Doki Morning one moment and moshing your way through Gimme Chocolate the next. They look like they could do it with anything too, gobbling up any interesting musical genre into their ever expanding new style.

Not holding back on the kawaii

Some people don't like it. Perhaps they just don't get it. I know what that's like. It seems strange to me now but I distinctly remember listening to OK Computer for the first time many years ago and not liking it. Much of it has to do with mindset. What are you listening for, what are you expecting, what do you want from your music? It also has to do with growing accustomed to a certain type of sound, training your ears if you will. Let's hope BM will stay around long enough for people to get across that barrier. I think they will find something to like in the rich stew that is their music.

Stuff at the end

All three previous questions feed back into what is probably the ultimate question: Will they succeed in their mission? Are they good enough to pull it off, will they convert the world to metal once again, and if they do, will there be a generation of purist metalheads that remembers them with fondness rather than disgust? That's something unfortunately even I can't answer. I do think I took a decent stab at the other ones though, so everyone can stop worrying about it now. With all the arguments this undoubtedly prevents, I'll be expecting my Nobel peace prize in the mail soon. In the unlikely event that you have anything to add or discuss though, I look forward to hearing from you. Cheers ;)

Music listened to while writing:

Albums:

• Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
• Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
• Panda Bear - Person Pitch
• Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights
• R.E.M. - Murmur

Individual Tracks:

• Pavement - Gold Soundz
• Juice=Juice - 私が言う前に抱きしめなきゃね
• Iron Maiden - Paschendale

Encounter At Europe Central: BABYMETAL And Their Magic

Japanese translation / 和訳

Was it all a dream? It certainly feels like it now, as I try to hold onto the feeling I brought back with me from Frankfurt. However, just a couple of days ago as I write this, it was a reality.

This year me and my family had plans to finally go on holiday together again, like we used to do. My first real holiday away from home in six years. But due to issues with my father's health that trip had to be cancelled. So to ease the pain I came up with the idea of going to Frankfurt together with my sister and catching the BM concert there. It would be her first time seeing them live.

We finally arrive at Batschkapp about an hour before the doors open. I walk along the crowd spotting quite a few Japanese BM fans who travelled half way around the world just to see them up close. I also notice how I stand out like a sore thumb with my bright green t-shirt and blue jeans. Almost everyone is wearing a BM shirt, and if not at least something appropriate for a metal gig. I'll have to rectify that once I'm inside. Whatever, I'm glad I managed to be here at all, since from the start our journey was anything but blessed. We departed by train early in the morning from Groningen, but only got as far as Meppel before the Dutch Railways let us down yet again. We immediately called a taxi, which we were able to share with a bunch of other people, among them an American very worried about catching his flight and two kids who saw their own holiday go up in smoke. Despite the driver's best efforts we missed the international train in Utrecht, at which point we had a breakdown moment. From what I understood the next train would depart late in the afternoon, too late to catch the concert. At the ticket service office we explained our situation, the lady behind the counter smiled and told us the next train would be leaving in only two hours. She put a sticker on our tickets and gave is two coupons for free hot drinks. We left the office both heaving a sigh of relief.

I walk back to where my sister is standing and see her talking to a girl handing out fake BM euros to use during Onedari Daisakusen. After getting two wads of them (they look great, and there's even a little flyer with it explaining when to throw them) we sit down and sing a few songs from our primary school days. When the gate opens and we can finally walk up to the actual doors of the venue it's still a little while longer. While standing in line someone walks by with a raised camera, which we greet by raising our voices and our kitsunes. We also see some familiar faces passing.

After leaving Miffy's city the rest of our journey went without incident. We spent the hours chatting, playing games and watching the landscape change from flat lowland to more and more wavy hillsides, with one idyllic village after another shooting by (not to mention getting the closest view I ever had of the famous Cologne cathedral), until finally the skyline of Frankfurt rose before us, glittering under the bright sun. The Frankfurt central station was huge, but cosy and inviting at the same time. The weather left nothing to be desired as well, so after buying U-bahn tickets we headed out into the city, feeling absolutely free and without worries. Our afternoon was filled with relaxation and good food, eating ice cream while laying in the park before the European central bank, sitting on a sunny terrace while eating delicious Thai food. While there I noticed four people in BM shirts sitting some distance away from us. I waved my kitsune at them and they walked over. We chatted a bit and they commented on my t-shirt. Damn, I'll definitely have to rectify that tonight!

When the doors finally open we start shuffling in. The concert hall is small. Apparently it has a maximum capacity of 700 people, but it's not entirely filled. A crowd has already formed around the stage and we join them. By pure coincidence we find ourselves behind three fellow Dutchmen. We kill time by babbling about nothing and shout our throats sore like we're piss drunk. Then the lights go out, right on time. The intro starts playing as the Kami band enters the tiny stage. Finally, after looking forward to it for days, finally the moment is here. Then the familiar machine gun riffs sound through the hall and the girls slowly walk up, covered in their hoodies staring serenely at the ground. The audience reacts by storming forward, pushing us to where we are but four or five meters removed from the action. DEATH is first followed by Iine, while the people behind us keep pushing. At last we've had enough, shoulder to should my sister and I start pushing back with all our might. After a while the pushing dies down, with only the occasional resurgence.

The show is flawless, neither the girls nor the band making a single mistake. They do it without fluff, without special effects, without pyro or even a video projector. The show is modest and the girls don't have too much space to do their choreography, in front off the hall that's only about three quarters filled. Yet they give it their all anyway, dancing and smiling just as enthusiastically as would they do in front of an audience in the tens of thousands. Being so close, in such limited company before such a small stage is... odd, to say the least. The atmosphere is strangely informal. I feel like I could spot them sitting at the bar after the show and I could walk up to them to shake their hands, thank them for such a wonderful performance, like I've done so many times after going to see a friend's play, or that of some amateur theatre group. We paid to see them of course, but it's still kind of humbling to consider they too flew half way across the world just to play for us few fans who showed up here tonight. It's almost like they're singing especially for us, for me and my sis. With that thought it dawns on me that this is the best concert I've ever been to, even better than the one in Brixton.

When Akatsuki starts playing my sister smiles: it's her favourite song. She once trained to become a professional singer as well, and though she turned her back on that ambition a long time ago, she takes the opportunity to sing along as loud as she can. After passionately enjoying every note I turn to her. "She sure can sing, can't she?" I say. She nods with admiration. At one time I considered doing a written review of every single Sakura Gakuin album for The SG sub, since BM prompted me to give them a listen as well. I decided against it when I realised I only really like one album (and I don't feel like dealing with all the shit that would be coming my way when I give one album after another a bad review). Maybe coincidence, maybe not, but it's the 2012 one, the one which Su is on the most. Since then she's improved so very much, especially during her live performances, it's something to behold. Anyone who thinks she sounds great on a record, even a live show recording, might I urge you to go listen to her directly with your own ears. You won't be disappointed.

Other highlights include the coolest performance of Megitsune I've ever witnessed (with the looping intro, dimmed light and the girls slowly appearing out of the smoke), singing and dancing along to Doki Doki Morning and joining in the wall of death at Ijime, Dame, Zettai. By that time the girls are covered from head to toe in sweat, no handlers to blow dry their hair here. Despite that we, after the usual chanting and applauding, get Headbanger and Road Of Resistance as an encore. I try to savour the moment as much as I can, knowing that when BM will next leave the stage I won't see them again for a long time. So it ends, under applause the girls say goodbye in what is for me unintelligible German. Just before that though I look in Su's eyes as her smile fades. I see a moment of what is.. yeah what is it exactly? Disappointment, relief, sadness? Is she sad it's over, or sad so few people came perhaps? Or is she just tired and am I reading way to much into this. For me one of the best days I had in years is drawing to a close. I'll be sleeping in my own bed again tomorrow night. For her it's another job done, many more to go in the following days, sleeping in a strange bed again tonight, far away from home. I'm sure she enjoys being in BM, but there will undoubtedly be those moments when melancholy strikes and she just wants to be home.

As my sister and I walk out we're both giddy as hell, the adrenaline pumping through our veins. We're both on such an emotional high that nothing can seemingly bring it down, not even finding out I've been incredibly stupid. Would you believe it: I didn't bring enough cash to buy a t-shirt and there's no ATM anywhere in sight. Dammit! Outside we encounter the same group of people we saw on the terrace again. They too notice the distinct lack of BM t-shirts on my body...

Later that night we walk through the now quit and dark centre of Frankfurt, feeling high on one side, feeling blue on the other. As I look up to the sky, I hear my sister whispering: "I feel like I'm in a dream". I can think of nothing to say except "Yeah, me too."

Maybe coming to Frankfurt was a bit of a waste of time for BM from a business standpoint. Some might say they should focus on places with larger fanbases. But never let it be said that concerts like these mean nothing. The magic is there, whether it's with 5000 or 500 people in the audience. That's 500 stories like this one, or at least, I hope so.

We take the train back the following day, both sad we have to leave this wonderful place where we've saved up so many beautiful memories in such a short time. I sleep a lot on the train, but despite that I have the feeling I've woken up and am desperately trying to hold on to the feeling I had when I was dreaming. I'm home now. Everything seems just a little bit more mundane and boring than before. Coming back and reading of the Wembly announcement kept the fire going just a little bit longer, but I feel fully awake now. As my experiences of this past Wednesday sink deeper and deeper in my memory, me and my sister agree on one thing completely: there will be a next time. We can't wait to feel the magic again.

The Perks And Quirks Of Babymetal Fandom

Over the last few years I've followed a number of acts with great interest. BABYMETAL however is rather a unique animal when it comes to the experience of being a fan, at least, to me it is. Some things are positive, others not so much. Here are some things I've noticed along the way.

Are you old enough to enter?

One funny little thing that pops into my head when I think about my fandom of BABYMETAL is the fact that I know exactly how old they are and when they celebrate their birthday. Ask me about the ages of Tom York or Damon Albarn and my only comeback will be a blank stare, but Yui Mizuno's age, birthday and birth year are all in the front of my mind. It's not like I looked it up either, but every news fragment about them I've seen mentions their age, a concert is held on their birthday and we have legends 1997 and 1999 to remind us when they were born (god I feel old all of a sudden). I imagine this gives some the impression that we're indeed all paedophiles, but come on, how many people of that age do you know who're that successful? I think their ages are well worth mentioning when talking about them. Besides, it's a common part of the whole idol thing to know trivialities like that about the girls. Speaking of which...

The whole idol thing

I tried, I really did, but to no avail. I just can't get into it. A quick warning for those who think I was overly critical at it in the past (just pretend you remember me): you might want to skip this part.

I just can't bring myself to care about the fact that Yui leans forward when she's excited, or that Moa ate a big steak when she was in New York. To me it all seems like the most trivial nonsense imaginable. It's like when people obsess over the dumb  things celebrities do, only it's about the completely inconsequential daily occurrences in the lives of teenage girls with less of an edge to them than weekdays morning television for children.

And yes, they are very cute, everything they do is very cute. But the thing is, It all seems so much like an act, a mask they wear whenever the public eye is focused on them. There's a short video on youtube, uploaded by The Thrawn, called Sakura Gaukuin - How Tall? where for a short moment we see Suzuka looking annoyed. I actually really like that, since all we ever say of her otherwise is her smiling and looking cute, which to me, frankly, gets boring really fast. I've seen what an amazing stage performer she is, she absolute doesn't need to continue the act when she's offstage to get my attention.

To go on a bit of a tangent here, I've thought about the reasons for my distaste of idol culture, and I think at least part of it is due to an insurmountable cultural barrier. Note that this is coming from a guy who's never been to Japan, doesn't know any Japanese people and has very little knowledge of modern Japanese culture, I'm just passing on what heard through the grapevine so take it as you will. Idol culture is the product of a very hierarchical society, where it's quite normal to recognize someone else as your better and in a sense idolize them. I myself come from one of the most egalitarian societies on earth. To me words like "better" or "worse" are very much relative in nature. The Japanese don't see it that way I think. They have a pretty clear image of what, for instance, the perfect girl is like. To be more precise, she's a bit like Yui, Moa and Suzuka.

Despite my going on about this I want to stress that I'm happy for anyone who can enjoy idol culture and don't wish to ridicule or insult them in any way. We all have our quirks, take for example...

Metal fans obsessing over metal things

I'm not the type to care about genre or subculture a lot, but if I had to label myself I'd probably go with "alternative music" enthusiast. Alternative music, alternative rock, indie rock, by this point all those terms are so vague they can include pretty much anything, and I like it that way. Metal music seems to work in exactly the opposite manner, with metalheads arguing over what is and isn't metal.

From what I can tell metal fans are very passionate lovers of music, but one thing they apparently love even more is taxonomy. Every single slightly distinct sound has to be categorized in it's own subgenre, sometimes to a rather perplexing degree. Most readers will probably remember ADoseOfBuckley's rant about some metalhead's reaction to BABYMETAL. A bloke named Brian made a response where he argued that metal subgenres are important because metal is so incredibly diverse. He then goes on to give a few examples, and I have a really hard time telling if he's joking or not. There doesn't seem to be any significant difference between those sound bites, not so much that they should be put in different subgenres.

Doesn't this kind of thing stifle creativity? If you resigned yourself to being, say, a black metal band, does that mean you have to make music that sounds exactly the same for the rest of your career? Might this have something to do with the fact that so many metal fans saw BABYMETAL as a breath of fresh air? I've already seen some people complain that Road Of Resistance doesn't sound like BABYMETAL. I'd like to ask those people if they've considered that might be a good thing. The last thing we want is BABYMETAL becoming just as stagnant as the rest of the genre.

There's other things too of course: do the girls actually like metal music, is it all part of their image? It's the kind of pondering that keeps us all busy while we wait for the next big story. Honestly though, if BABYMETAL decided to start doing Irish folk music all of a sudden, it wouldn't bother me as long as they did something interesting with. It's their fresh interpretations of old genres that makes people take interest after all. Which brings me to...

People take interest

This one is kind of a double edged sword. When mentioning BABYMETAL you are pretty much guaranteed to get a reaction from people. Sometimes they grab their hair with both hands and cry out to the heavens, sometimes they just stare with a look of confusion on their face, sometimes the response is quite positive, even if it's lukewarm at first. Whatever the reaction may be, I've never come across anyone who just didn't care. I know I've introduced BABYMETAL to at least two people who liked it, possibly two more.

Metal fans often express disappointment that the music they love is so often ignored by the mainstream. On that point I can sympathize, because being an alternative rock fan is almost defined by that experience. I know this scene is full of hipsters who pride themselves on listening to music you never heard of, but frankly I'm sick of it. I'm sick of nobody caring about the music I love, sick of every conversation about it lasting a few sentences and always ending with "don't know them". I never wanted to be a hipster, I just like what I like.

That's why seeing such a widespread and varying reaction to BABYMETAL gives me hope...

Hope

The Huffington Post did an article a few days back about which Japanese acts should be on your radar in 2015. In it they proclaimed that "This year is going to see Babymetal go mainstream, trust me." I can't tell you how much I hope they're right. BABYMETAL is like a shining bright light guiding me out of the marshes of obscurity. They have become very special to me. Being able to see their rise over the past year unfolding before my very eyes (well, most of it anyway). Every time I rewatch the footage of them slowly entering the stage at Sonisphere I feel like I'm witnessing a small miracle, the excitement gushing through me. The fact that more and more people are discovering them right now as I type this and that we have no idea yet where it might end, all of it sparks a passion in me like never before. It was pretty satisfying to see Kendrick Lamar make it big, as well as Daft Punk FINALLY getting their big hit, but nothing compares to the absolute ecstatic joy I will feel if BABYMETAL succeed in taking over the world.

I'm not the only one who feels that way. Apart from our mutual desire to see BABYMETAL make it big, like me hoping to become part of the mainstream through them, many have their own high hopes for the metal trio. Metalheads hope they can revitalize interest in metal music, idol fans hope they won't have to hide their hobby any more, even Japanese musicians see a glimmer of hope that BABYMETAL  will finally pave the way for their success abroad. It's quite a lot to put on the shoulders of the three girls and the team behind them, but don't you worry: we'll be behind you, cheering you on, every step of the way.

Why The Red Night Live Album Is Superior To The Studio Album

Live albums are usually somewhat of a mixed bag. They of course miss the slick production and eye for detail a studio recording would have, but in it's place there is the honest experience, the story it tells of that one evening, faded in the memories of most except those who were there. This is the story of one such evening.

Everyone realises by now the girls of BABYMETAL are experienced and professional performers, but the other side of that coin is that they are three teenagers doing their biggest gig up to that point on ground sacred to metal and rock fans. Understandably they sound a bit nervous at the start, which isn't helped by the opener being Megitsune, a song Suzuka has never been entirely comfortable singing. She slowly gets more in her element as the concert progresses, but it isn't until the fourth track, Iine!, that things really fall into place for her. After that she manages quite effortlessly.

There are of course a few more hiccups here and there, such as Yui and Moa sounding out of breath at certain moments, particularly during the performance of Onedari Daisakusen. By far the biggest disruption of the evening though occurs during Head Bangya!! when Yui falls of the stage and is out for the rest of the song. It's a bit sad that my three favourite tracks from the studio album (Megitsune, Onedari Daisakusen, Head Bangya!!) are worse off here, but that's all part of the drama. We now know Yui's accident had no serious consequences, but you can still feel that moment of confusion and concern as one voice is suddenly silent.

Other songs however sound much better. Rondo of Nightmare is transformed from a somewhat lacklustre sibling to Akatsuki into a passionate experience, by way of excellent musicianship of the Kami band and an unleashed Su-metal! Iine! goes from a big ball of weirdness to a pumping, joyful kawaii-metal anthem, but the biggest improvement is definitely the Youtube wonder itself, Gimme Chocolate!!. Now that I've had a chance to hear the song in concert (back in November), and know how it's supposed to sound, the studio version seems a bit lacking. This one is its superior, dark and menacing with the riffs being much more punctuated and less a wall of noise, even though it's one of the earlier tracks and the girls are still struggling somewhat against the band.

I would be committing a great injustice if I didn't take a moment to mention the mind blowing performance of the Kami band throughout. Never missing a beat, these men are truly masters of their trade. Taking centre stage on the album are an extra long rendition of Song 4 as Yui and Moa run to every corner of the Budokan arena to lead the chants and the excitement rises, and Akatsuki, which takes a step back first with it's quiet opening only to burst into full force a few moments later. Suzuka is at her very strongest here too, wrenching every drop of raw emotion out of it that she can. To me this transition is the most memorable highlight of the entire thing. It is a bit strange to hear Babymetal Death being played after that, because it's near the end of the concert after such a peak moment. It's well performed here, but it suffers from not being the opening track.

So our story works its way to its conclusion: a rendition of Ijime Dame Zettai that's so fluent it's hard to distinguish it from a studio recording, the band and the girls by this point being completely absorbed in the flow of the evening. But as we close the curtains, an echo from the future sounds, unbeknown to the characters in the story. The new track Roads of Resistance is played at the end, the studio version mind you, a successful collaboration with the British band Dragonforce. It's a very upbeat tune that leaves me with the feeling that great things are still in store for BABYMETAL, just as there were on that evening in march.

A while back I tried to do a review of BABYMETAL the albumn (yes, another one, because why not). I had the whole thing written down, but threw it away because I wasn't happy with how it turned out. It's just not possible, for me at least, to do the studio album justice in all its weirdness and inconsistency, even though I do love it. Red Night somewhat brings BABYMETAL back with their feet on the ground, not enough to loose their unique charm, but just enough to notice how genuinely great their music is, even when it's not flying high tripping on some weird mixture of kawaii and acid. That makes this a tale to remember, and to relive as often as I can.