The Ging Nang staff reported on the band’s homepage that they’ll be releasing a single, the band’s first, on August 22. 15 minutes in length, the single contains two tracks. Information on the release is as follows:

Ging Nang BOYZ - I Don’t Wanna Die
SKOOL-015
1050 yen
On sale on August 22, 2007

Track 1: I Don’t Wanna Die (あいどんわなだい)
Track 2: Tohoku Shinkansen wa Chihiro-chan wo Nosete (東北新幹線はチヒロちゃんを乗せて)

Technorati Tags: Ging Nang BOYZ, Japan, news, punk, 銀杏BOYZ

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As mentioned on this site in a posting on January 24, Ging Nang BOYZ are going to be previewing their new live DVD, “Boku-tachi wa Sekai wo Kaeru koto ga Dekinai,” at the Bausu Theater (Baus Theater) in Kichijoji from 3/24 to 4/6. All screenings are once a day from 8:45 pm until 11 pm. Tickets are 1300 yen each through Ticket Pia only. As a bonus, the band will be appearing at the 3/24 screening to have a discussion about the movie and talk with fans.

While the DVD goes on sale on 4/11, those people who are lucky enough to get tickets will be able to purchase the DVD early (though you can only purchase the DVD on the day that you have a ticket for). The band will also be selling some other assorted goods related to the DVD release during the screening period.

For those of you who are in Kansai, the band hasn’t forgotten about you! On 4/10 there will be a single screening of the movie at the Kyoto Minami Kaikan. Tickets are 1300 yen in advance or 1500 yen at the door (as if there will be any tickets left!)

I tried to get tickets to the 3/24 screening but was shut out. However, my 2nd choice came through and I’ll be headed out to Kichijoji on 3/30 to catch the show and buy the DVD (and any other related goods they may have left!) For those of you who may be thinking of going, all weekend and Friday shows are already sold-out, though a small amount of tickets are still available for the shows between 4/2 and 4/5. Tickets can be purchased at convenience stores that have a Pia Kiosk and the reservation number/P-Code is 552-911. Good luck, and see you at the show!

Technorati Tags: DVD, Ging Nang BOYZ, Koenji, Kyoto, 銀杏BOYZ

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In recent years, the number of Japanese acts touring abroad has continued to increase dramatically. The Blue Hearts toured the States back in the day, and the yearly South by Southwest music festival continues to draw a large crowd with its Japan Night presentation, often featuring artists which are decently popular here in Japan. Smaller tours by up-and-coming bands in Japan are also on the rise, such as the tours undertaken by Red Bacteria Vacuum, Amppez, and Last Target over the last couple of years.

The newest member to the Touring Club is Akiakane. After Akiakane hit up Taiwan for their yearly (?) show (appearing at the “Spirit of Taiwan” event going held on 2/28 at Chun Shan Soccer Stadium), it turns out that the girls have been hitting up Europe for some dates as well. Tentative dates and venues are as follows:

March
UK shows
16th - Underworld (London)
17th - Rigger (Stoke)
18th - Daenaer Bar (Sheffield)
21st - Daddy Cools (Knaresborough)
22nd - Cavern Club (Exter)

Netherlands shows
23rd - Parkhof (Alkmaar)

Germany shows
24th - Juzi (Gottingen)
25th - Wild at Heart (Berlin)
26th - Hafenklang (Hamburg)
27th - EAC (Freiburgh)
28th - Gladhouse (Cottbus)
29th - Sonic Ballroom (Cologne)
30th - Magnapop (Krefeld)

Belgium shows
31st - Pit’s (Kortrijk)

April
UK shows
1st - TBA
2nd - TBA

I’m not really sure how a European crowd will react to a Japanese girl punk band singing in Japanese and Japanese-accented English, but I wish the girls the best!

While this is Akiakane’s first tour outside of Asia (though Moe toured the U.S. a bit back in 1999 while a member of Softball), Gito Gito Hustler have been making their 6th (7th?) appearance on American shores. The girls put on a great live show and appear to be quite well loved in the States. And playing 24 shows across the U.S. in 29 days gets my respect. More than half of the tour is already over, but if you’ve got a chance to check them out, go! Supporting artists who go abroad is the only way that we’ll get more to come over. And really, isn’t that the best for everyone?
March
1st - High Five (Columbus, OH)
2nd - 31st Street Pub (Pittsburgh, PA)
3rd - Subterranean (Chicago, IL)
6th - Bender’s Tavern (Denver, CO)
7th - Burt’s Tiki Lounge (Salt Lake City, UT)
8th - Double Down Saloon (Las Vegas, NV)
10th - Alex Bar (Long Beach, CA)
11th - The Doll Hut (Anaheim, CA)
12th - Scolari’s Office (San Diego, CA)
13th - Gearhead Records Showcase (Mesa, AZ)
14th - Vaudeville Cabaret (Tuscon, AZ)
16th - Darkside Lounge (Dallas, TX)
17th - South by Southwest Lava Lounge (Austin, TX)
18th - Notsuoh (Houston, TX)
19th - The Circle Bar (New Orleans, LA)
20th - Murphy’s (Memphis, TN)
21st - Rhythm and Brews (Chattanooga, TN)
22nd - Lenny’s (Atlanta, GA)
23rd - Ground Zero (Spartanburg, SC)
24th - The Milestone (NC)
25th - Atomic Burrito (VA)
26th - Sidebar (Baltimore, MD)
27th - Khyber (Philadelphia, PA)
29th - Radio Heartbeat Powerpop Festival (Brooklyn, NY)

See you at the shows!

Technorati Tags: Akiakane, Gito Gito Hustler, live

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Finally! After having talked about releasing a DVD since at least December 2005, Ging Nang BOYZ will release their long-awaited DVD “Boku-tachi wa Sekai wo Kaeru koto ga Dekinai” (僕たちは世界を変えることができない) on April 11. Priced at 3990 yen, the 138-minute DVD looks like it’ll contain live footage as well as other goodies. Product number is SKOOL-008 and the first pressing will be in a “clear package.”

The main question is probably, “What took so long?” Well, from a message posted by principle cameraman/editor Tezuka Kazuki on Ging Nang’s hatsukoi.biz website, from its conception the project quickly ballooned into 600,000 minutes of footage (roughly 1000 videotapes each 60 minutes long) which took 425 days to edit into a releasable product.

Not only will the video be released on DVD, but the band also plans to show the film at a theater in Tokyo before its official release. I’ll be lining up for that! Hopefully I can get tickets for that more easily than it is to get tickets to the Ging Nang/The Back Horn gig at Yokohama Blitz on February 23. Yes, I forgot about tickets going on sale and they are probably sold out already.

Technorati Tags: DVD, Ging Nang BOYZ, The Back Horn, 銀杏BOYZ

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Happy New Year! Welcome to 2007, the Year of the Boar here in Japan. 2006 has been left behind and with it another year of me not doing much with this site. Oh well! Each day brings with it the chance to start anew! And no better chance than right now, since I’m here at work with no real work to do for the foreseeable future.

Some news to start things off: Yamaty, the guitarist for one of my most favorite bands here in Japan, Ping Pong Dash!!, has decided to leave the band after 4 years. No real reason was given in the statement the band released, but it did mention that his decision wasn’t due to any bad blood between the members or anything like that. This leaves Ping Pong with 4 members, including Fat Kohey on the bagpipes, and they are currently looking for a new person to take over for Yamaty as they don’t want to play as a 4-piece (hey, it could be YOUR chance!). Yamaty’s last gig will be on January 19th at Shinjuku Antiknock. Unbelievably, this show will only cost 500 yen to get in and an additional 600 yen will buy you all-you-can-drink for the rest of the night! So, even if you don’t know who Yamaty or Ping Pong Dash!! is, a cheap night out with cheap booze should be all the incentive you need to come check it out! The event is a record release party for THE LONGISLAND LxLxP and their “A Scare of Back to Back” release. Other bands appearing are ALTRA, DAT’S, CHILD STOP, SPLIT SECOND SKATER, and more. Doors at 5:30 p.m. and show starts at 6:00 p.m.

One band I’ve been seeing some press for lately in the indies circles is 3-piece girl-band ROMANES. I haven’t heard them myself yet, but they are supposedly quite RAMONES-esque (as if you couldn’t tell by their name!) and recently did some dates together with Guitar Wolf. I had plans to check them out last night at a Yoyogi Zher the Zoo event with The Vickers, Crispy Nuts, Super Baby Face, and Lump (along with DJ mixes provided by Ryoma and Hayato from Last Target), but other things came up and I had to give it a pass. The group was recently the main feature in Kaze to Rock (風とロック), with lots of pictures and a lengthy interview.

Speaking of Kaze to Rock, it’s a pretty sweet free magazine available at Tower Records and other locations in the Tokyo-area. In the same issue with THE ROMANES, Mineta Kazunobu of Ging Nang Boyz took out a full page ad wishing all of us a Happy New Year. Down in the lower right corner he happened to mention that the live DVD which has been scheduled to come out since early last year will “Soon be on sale!!” It’s about time! I’ve been wanting to see my face on the TV since December 2005 (the DVD contains footage from the Kawasaki Club Citta show I was at, I think)!

These days more and more Japanese bands are breaking out from Japan and doing some touring elsewhere in the world. Once of those bands, Gito Gito Hustler, have swung through the U.S. a couple of times and will be headed abroad again in the near future. But they’re not about to leave Japan without throwing one hell of a party! January 20th sees them play “Yellow Crazy A Go Go!!” Volume 4, featuring their good friends Arinco*Gang and Red Bacteria Vacuum. When I went to Volume 3, the “grand finale” of sorts was a giant Battle of the Bands-type deal where all the girls formed two groups and then rocked out some covers, later polling the audience for the “winner”. It was good fun! As this is also going to be a “New Year Special Event,” there are going to be lots of prizes for audience members. How can one go wrong? The show’s going to be at Shimokitazawa Basement Bar on January 20th. Doors at 6:30 p.m., starts at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are 1800 yen in advance and probably 2000 yen at the door.

That’s all for now! Raise a pint and let’s keep rocking out the whole year through!

Technorati Tags: Ging Nang BOYZ, live, Mineta Kazunobu, news, Ping Pong Dash!!, Gito Gito Hustler, ROMANES, Shinjuku, Shinjuku Antiknock, ピンポンダッシュ！！, 銀杏BOYZ

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Wow. I really didn’t know what to expect from the September 5th “Summer Vacation ver. Extra” show at Yoyogi’s Zher the Zoo. The only band playing that I had heard of before was Paifuku. The only thing I knew about the others (Strut Berry, Perunanguraata, and Fuzz Float) was that their names were really weird.

Not many people at Zher the Zoo tonight; probably less than 20. Nothing makes a show lose its energy faster than no audience. And the crowd tonight didn’t really seem into anything other than the one band they had come to see. Perunaguraata (ペルナングラータ) was up first. They were OK, but there was hardly any crowd interaction. And when the singer did speak, he did it really softly. I did feel bad for them though: even though he kept mentioning the band name throughout the set, when he asked the sparse crowd if anyone remembered their name…NO ONE SAID A WORD (me either, but hell that name is a a mass of katakana gibberish!)

Paifuku was second and they were pretty damn energetic. Jumps in the air, jumps off of the amps, swinging from the pipes overhead, they did everything. Well OK, they didn’t really do any of that besides happily bounce around a lot but it was still fun. They played a new song that I didn’t catch the title of but it was really nice with a good matsuri/festival sound. If you’re a geek for that kind of music (as I am! Nothing better than a festival and a glass of beer!) you’d like the track.

Fuzz Float came on third. From the time they came on stage, I didn’t know WTF was going to happen. All of the guys were older than the “norm” (and by that I mean 30s probably), and the lead singer had this bowl haircut that was long in the back. It kinda reminded me of a bowl-cut mullet, if mullets were washed with a lot of Panteen. But when the music started, I knew that THIS WAS THE MOST POWERFUL ROCK BAND IN JAPAN!!!!11 The singer was all over the place, jumping around the stage, striking sentai-esque poses and doing other random shit. The music, mostly rock with some punkish/ska-punk tunes didn’t really prepare me for his between-song banter. This guy talked like a baby! Imagine babies speaking English, transplant them to Japan and give them Japanese accents and you had a close approximation of this guy. It was funny as hell! I couldn’t stop laughing and when I laughed, it made Sayaka from Paifuku laugh. Which caused those near us to laugh. It was like the Fuzz Float guy was related to the Joker and had laughing gas spewing forth from his mouth or something. And, not only was the music pretty decent with a charismatic, funny lead, but the final bit that made me love this band was his announcement at the end of the set: “Does anyone want any CDs? They’re FREE! And see these t-shirts we’re wearing? Those are FREE TOO!” Free CD-Rs I’ve seen before, but giving away free t-shirts? In JAPAN? NEVER! Yes, my love and respect can be bought, and the price is “free shit”.

Strut Berry was last and they were OK. Pretty good technically but I was all pumped up from watching Fuzz Float play and wasn’t very entertained. Sorry guys!

If you get a chance, go see Fuzz Float! The singer might try to Ultraman your ass and then talk baby-smack to you, but you’ll damn well enjoy it!

Technorati Tags: Fuzz Flout, live, PAIFUKU, Perunaguraata, Strut Berry, Tokyo, Yoyogi, Yoyogi ZHER the ZOO, ファズフロウト, ペルナングラータ

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A while back, while enjoying some drinks and Nagoya-style chicken wings at Yama-chan in Shinjuku, I chatted with PAIFUKU about their band, how they met, their song-writing process, and a lot more. This is the first part of the interview, with more to come soon!

Kevin: First, please introduce yourselves.

Sayaka: I’m Sayaka. I do guitar and vocals in the band.

Kurumi: I’m Kurumi. I do bass and vocals.

Toyo: I’m Toyo, taking care of drums and a bit of vocals.

(K): How did you all come to meet and bring the band together?

Sayaka: Well, Kurumi and I went to the same high school and we thought we’d give it a go and make a band. Then after graduation we both went to a vocational school for music and met Toyo.

(K): Really? When did you first put on a live show?

Sayaka: During high school. We played our high school’s cultural festival but our first real show was at Kichijoji Warp when we were in 11th grade.

(K): How did it go that day in Kichijoji? Do you remember?

Kurumi: I remember being nervous!

Sayaka: Haha, yeah I remember making a lot of mistakes!

(K): What did you play at that show? Original songs? Covers?

Sayaka: Covers. Lots of different stuff…Pornograffiti, Shiina Ringo, Judy and Mary, Yen Town Band, Yuzu, a little bit of everything!

(K): Who took care of drums back then?

Sayaka: Our friend from school.

(K): Ah, ok. Then after that Sayaka and Kurumi went to the same vocational school?

Sayaka: That’s right.

(K): So Toyo, how did you come to join these girls?

Toyo: Well, these two went to the same school, and at that time they were just using a support drummer while looking for a person who could join permanently. The support drummer happened to be my friend, and because he was my friend I kind of got to know the songs by hanging around with him. Then, during summer vacation when the girls would practice in the studio I tagged along for fun and eventually joined. Actually, at that time there was one more person who said they wanted to join, but…

(K): But?

Sayaka: But they weren’t very good! (Laughs)

(K): Ah, shhh!!! (Everyone laughs) Haha, so that person and Toyo had a kind of battle for who could join Paifuku?

Sayaka: There was no need for that! (Laughs)

(K): So, did you call yourselves “Paifuku” from the very start?

Sayaka: Well, we actually went by another name for the first month or so…

(K): What was the name?

Sayaka: Haha, “Blackberry.”

Kurumi: Oh, that’s right!

Sayaka: Yeah we went by “Blackberry” for about a month or so, and then my sister suggested we call ourselves “Paifuku.”

(K): How did you choose “Paifuku” as the name? The first time I heard of your band, I checked in my dictionary for the meaning, but nothing was there! (Everyone laughs) What exactly does the name mean?

Sayaka: ”Fuku wo kubaru” (To give out/distribute happiness/luck).

(K): Ahh, nice meaning isn’t it!

Sayaka: Haha, yeah!

(K): So would you say that you’re a pretty cheerful and forward thinking band? I noticed that a lot of your songs have an underlying theme of “Doing one’s best” and stuff like that.

Sayaka: That’s right!

(K): So you formed Paifuku back in high school, but when was the first time you started playing instruments?

Sayaka: For me, I went to piano class when I was young and then during 9th grade I picked up the guitar.

(K): Why did you decide to start playing guitar?

Sayaka: All of my piano practice dealt with classical music and I didn’t really know anything about chords or any of that stuff. At the time, I thought that the only instrument that had chords was a guitar! (Laughs) I wanted to play some more modern music and here I am!t

(K): Kurumi, how about you? Have you always played the bass?

Kurumi: Well, from kindergarten through junior high school…

(K): From kindergarten?!

Kurumi: Yes, I practiced the piano from kindergarten up until junior high school.

(K): Oh! I thought you had been playing the bass since kindergarten! I was imagining this really cool 5-year-old kid playing bass in class while everyone else was taking a nap!

Kurumi: Haha, no no! Then, in junior high school I played a bit in a copy band, covering stuff like GLAY.

(K): GLAY? If it’s GLAY then it’s all about “Yuuwaku”, right! (Sings the first line of Yuuwaku with Toyo joining in on the “Because I love you!” part)

Kurumi: Yeah! I really liked Jiro from GLAY, so I ended up buying a bass.

(K): Jiro’s the blonde guy, right?

Kurumi: Haha, that’s right. Why do you know that?!

(K): Haha, he’s pretty cool isn’t he?

Toyo: Boooooooooo!

(Everyone laughs)

(K): So Toyo, when did you start the drums?

Toyo: Before going to vocational school. Probably right about at the end of 12th grade. There’s more to the story than that, but…

(K): What? Spit it out! Is it an interesting story?

Kurumi: Yeah, it is!

Sayaka: Yeah! Say it!

Toyo: It’s not something I really want to talk about, haha!

(K): Haha, too bad! From now on it’s Toyo’s “Why I started the drums” storytime!

Sayaka: and Kurumi: Yay!!!

Toyo: Well…I wanted to start playing music at the end of 12th grade, right? But what I actually started as was…a vocalist.

(K): Vocals?! I can’t believe it!

Toyo: Haha, yeah! Then during breaks during my previous band’s practices, our drummer told me that if I just copy what he was doing I could pick up the drums pretty quickly. So I started just messing around and came to think it was pretty fun!

(K): Yeah, my friends have told me that once you start playing the drums you really never want to stop.

Toyo: That’s about right!

(K): Me…I don’t think I can ever play the drums. Maybe I don’t have any rhythm! If I start beating on them, I eventually start hitting everything all at the same time. I can’t keep my individual hands and feet separate! It all ends up looking like one of those drum-beating monkey toys! (Everyone laughs)

(K): Now, I assume that everyone’s liked music for a long time, right? If you can remember, what was the first CD, tape, record, etc. that you ever bought or your first favorite artist?

Sayaka: For me, it was Dreams Come True.

(K): Ahh, Miwa-chan!

Sayaka: Haha, yeah!

Kurumi: I bought TRF!

(K): Wow, TRF!! With Komuro right?

Kurumi: Haha, the “Komuro Family!”

Toyo: If we’re talking about Japanese artists, I liked Makihari.

(K): Noriyuki Makihara?

Toyo: Yes! As for western music, the first CD I bought was The Beatles’ best album…the red one.

Sayaka: That’s “1s.”

Toyo: Ah, yeah! That’s it.

(K): What about live shows or concerts? Were you going to shows before forming the band?

Sayaka: Back in junior high school, I liked this indies band called “Little Mermaid,” and I went to their show.

(K): Little Mermaid?

Sayaka: Don’t worry if you don’t know of them…nobody knows! (Laughs)

(K): Kurumi?

Kurumi: I didn’t go to any shows before joining Paifuku.

(K): Toyo?

Toyo: I didn’t go to any shows either…wait! There was one! Some indies band called “G-Freak Factory!” They’re from Gunma.

(K): From Gunma? Are they still around?

Toyo: Yes.

(K): Really? I lived up near Gunma for about 2.5 years but I’ve never really heard of them, other than maybe seeing them name on a flyer at some point.

(K): What other artists do you respect and admire?

Sayaka: Judy and Mary.

Kurumi: Recently I’ve been really into Spitz.

Toyo: I really like this group called “Tower of Power.” Also The Police.

(K): The Police? Sweet! What about your CD? Your first self-titled album was released back in August by Einstein Records. How did that come about, and how did you come to know Mr. Nakamura (from Einstein Records)?

Sayaka: We basically just sent him our CD.

Kurumi: Yeah, we sent out our CD to a number of different labels, and Mr. Nakamura called us back.

(K): So he got in touch with you and eventually put out your CD?

Sayaka: That’s right.

(K): What would you say the theme of the album is, in one or two words?

Sayaka: Paifuku! (Laughs)

Kurumi: Paifuku!

Toyo: I have no idea…

(K): How about “Paifuku”?

Toyo: OK, that works for me too! (Laughs)

(K): What’s your own personal favorite song on the album?

Sayaka: 222.

Kurumi: Minna de Utaou.

Toyo: Arata naru Tabidachi. (Sayaka and Kurumi laugh)

(K): Haha, why is it your favorite? Sayaka and Kurumi are laughing over here.

Toyo: I like it because it’s the track where I get to sing! (Everyone laughs)

(K): What’s your songwriting process?

Sayaka: We all basically create the songs together.

(K): What do you usually write first? The lyrics? The music?

Sayaka: I usually write the music first and then come up with lyrics that fit, but there have also been times where I write lyrics and then music.

(K): What kind of instruments do you use now?

Sayaka: I use a Gibson.

(K): What color?

Sayaka: Blue! (Laughs) I wanted a Les Paul, but everyone has a black one. I wanted one in a color that wasn’t so common so I picked blue.

(K): How about pink? Is there a pink Les Paul? That might be pretty unique!

Sayaka: Haha, they don’t have a pink one.

(K): You’ll just have to get a custom-made one then!

Sayaka: Haha, OK. That’ll be my next one!

Kurumi: I use a Fender (Japan) Jazz Bass.

Toyo: My set is a Yamaha. I’ve got three snares, all Yamaha. The cymbals are Zildjan. My pedals are Yamaha and DW. Recently I’ve also been using a cowbell.

More to come in the second part of the interview!

PAIFUKU’s next live show will be at Kumagaya Heaven’s Rock on 9/28. After that, they’ll be at Yoyogi ZHER THE ZOO on 10/5, in Kobe at Kobe Bless on 10/21, and then back at Yoyogi ZHER THE ZOO on 11/2 for their own event “PAIFUKU PARTY vol. 1″. If you’ve got the time and the chance, come check them out!

More information can be found at their homepage (mostly Japanese) at:
http://members3.jcom.home.ne.jp/paifuku/

Technorati Tags: interview, PAIFUKU

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I just got word of a cool-sounding show taking place on October 7th at Shin Kiba’s Studio Coast. Looks like it’s going to be an all day event with plenty of bands to see and get your money’s worth.

The line-up for the day consists of:

HAWAIIAN6
Beyonds
Breakfast
COQUETTISH
ENDSZWECK
FC FIVE
Garlic Boys
G-Freak Factory
Holstein
Idol Punch
No-All
Razors Edge
SA
Scum Banditz
Slang
The Genbaku Onanies
Tropical Gorilla
Urban Terror
FUCK YOU HEROES

Doors open at 11:00 and the show starts at 12:00.
Ticket prices are 2800 yen in advance or 3300 yen at the door.
Tickets can be purchased at convenience stores using the Pia ticket system by using P-Code 239-251 and at Lawson using L-Code 38485.

Technorati Tags: live, Shin Kiba Studio Coast, Tokyo

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This Friday night, June 9th, Shibuya CYCLONE will present an all-night concert event with the somewhat unwieldy yet-still-awesome title of “69DAYS -God of Rock is Death God-”. For only 2000 yen in advance or 2300 yen at the door you can see:

マイライト (My Right)
EXTINCT GOVERNMENT
COCOBAT
ENDZWECK
RISE
FREAKS
ガンフロンティア (Gun Frontier)
THE CHERRY COKE$
RED BACTERIA VACUUM
LAST TARGET
FIREBIRDGASS
CARAMEL MAN
WARNING
Dr.Downer
ATGC
DJs:ウッチー (WORM’MEAT), パイン (マイナーリーグ), SEIKI (COCOBAT), NAOTO (マイライト)

I’ll be going for The Cherry Coke$, Red Bacteria Vacuum, and Last Target, though Cocobat and Firebirdgass will undoubtedly put on a great show too. Most of these bands I’ve never heard of, let alone seen, so it will be good to see some new faces and hear some new music. I’ve been a bit focused on the same group of artists for a while now and could use a fresh show!

Technorati Tags: live, Last Target, Shibuya, Shibuya CYCLONE, The Cherry Coke$, Tokyo

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