Opening for THE JEEVAS in their final 2 nights of Japan and providing a more than ample appetizer was Sheffield natives and Japanese newcomers HOGGBOY, a straight-up 4 piece rock outfit with plenty of raw power and attitude to awaken your senses and duly prepare you for the back to back performances of musical creativity and passion as they did this night. Indeed they did as Hogg ( guitars, vocals), Hugh (guitar), Bailey (bass), Richy (drums) showed why they were touring with THE JEEVAS as they have also played with other acts such as THE STROKES, THE WHITE STRIPES, and THE YEAH YEAH YEAHS! as they delivered their psychedelic, acid rock goods which brought to mind such bands as THE JESUS & MARY CHAIN, PRIMAL SCREAM, early SMASHING PUMPKINS and FLESH FOR LULU amongst others. report by michael
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Despite a short 36-minute set, HOGGBOY machinegunned us all into action with their punchy, speeding, sensual cuts from their Chris Thomas-produced debut album titled 'Or 8?' on Sobriety Records. In both sight and sound, they never faltered this night as they kept the momentum going from song to song while even maintaining some time to speak some Japanese to the wild surprise of the crowd for it went beyond the token "arigato." Top cuts from this starter were clearly the ode to both infatuation and heartbreak of "Don't get lost" as well as the primal pleasure of sex beautifully encapsulated in the infectious, racing into a climax of the chorus driven of "Urgh!" Expect to see more of this foursome as they finished us off with their crunchy, psychedelic, acid rock instrumental "Call me suck." Hardly possible to do that as I'll save that for PRIMUS as HOGGBOY departed the stage with a perfectly prepped crowd for THE JEEVAS.
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As the house lights dimmed once more, Andy walked onstage and sat behind the backlit kit as he pounded away a tribal beat as an intro for Dan and Crispian to walk into as Shibuya-AX came to full life with warm smiles and hollering were shared as THE JEEVAS wasted no time to delve into their soul enriching catalogue to exorcise our demons and theirs, launching us into a most inspirational, impassioned world. True to form as they were at FUJI ROCK, Crispian and company traversed their sonically created landscapes, taking us on a most satisfying ride through their obvious and seemingly effortless musical flow about love, lost, disillusionment, wonder, hope, and defiance. photo by hanasan
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The Jeevas @ Shibuya AX(14th Jan '03) 