Thee Michell Gun Elephant @ ZEPP TOKYO (14th June '03)Silk Ties and Sledgehammers:
Thee Michelle Gun Elephant Slash and Burn Zepp Tokyo
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| "Michelle Addiction." As I elbowed my way through the sweaty throngs that spilled oput of an overcrowded Zepp Tokyo, these two words clung to the chest of nearly everyone around me. As a tour T-shirt for Japan's most beloved guitar-bashers, Thee Michelle Gun Elephant, "Michelle Addiction" is an apt phrase. Going on ten years TMGE have delivered the hard-core goo to the kids who had the jones, and now, here I am, standing in the middle of hundreds of Michelle junkies - all here in Odaiba to get their fix of punk-sludge and pummeling rock n' roll. I arrived two songs into the set where, after a 4-chord barn-burner, the four-piece dove into a pseudo-swing act, with vocalist Yusuke Chiba banging out sinister chords from a keyboard placed on the stage. As red velvet drapes billowed and tension mounted, the pace quickened until the fuzzed-out licks from Koji Ueno's bass were virtually bludgeoning the dark lounge ambiance that it had originally built up. |
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| The dark silhouette of lead guitarist, Futoshi Abe remained silent and still through the entire set, even as his searing chord progressions sent the crowd into a frothing frenzy. In their black 3-piece suits, Thee Michelle Gun Elephant go transcend gangster-chic into something even spookier and more surreal. Fashionable butchers at a silence, perhaps. |  |
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However you describe them, their blend of grunge, Stooges-style garage-punk and good ol? blues-based rock n? roll hits the unsuspecting listener like a sledgehammer. Chiba's gravelly growl has the reach and projection of a zombified Kurt Cobain, while drummer Kazuyuki Kuhara beats and bashes the skins like a shaman with a bad case of rabies. When they finally left the stage, looks of elation swept across the faces in the audience. These guys were hooked, but sated for the time being. They came for a fix and they got it. As I wiped the sweat from my forehead with trembling fingers I realized: now I?m hooked, too. |
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Thee Michelle Gun Elephant --http://www.rockin-blues.com/  the latest album |
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無断転載を禁じます。The copyright of the article belongs to Jason "jinki" Jenkins and the same of the photos belongs to Ryota Mori. They may not be reproduced in any form whatsoever. To The Top. |
