It's just past 6 o'clock and in the trendy Tokyo neighborhood of Ebisu people are just starting to rush out of schools and offices while the sun is going down. The street of Meiji is filling up with many youngsters who are gathering to enter the gigantic black shoes box that is the Liquid Room. The crowd is a mix of fashionable university students sporting rock T-shirts and converse sneakers and freshman office workers who didn't have time to stop home to change from their business suits. Many foreigners are also present; they stay in groups drinking their beverages quickly. While waiting for the concert to begin, I start to chat with 2 guys curious to know whom I wanted to see tonight. Personally, I came for the first act because I'm really interested to see Midnight Juggernauts. Their debut album, Dystopia, is amazing, thirteen tracks of hypnotic music with a very relaxing cosmic sound. It's probably my favorite musical discovery from the last few months. But my new friends are telling me that they came for the fresh sound of Foals.When the Midnight Juggernauts take the stage, they open with some of their best tracks, Ending of an Era and Into the Galaxy and Shadows. Perhaps because the Australian band is yet to be truly popular in Japan or because people are worn-out from work the crowd look stunned. True, those 7PM concerts are always a bit more civilized compared to club events.  However, in contrast with the very electronic sound of the album, this live performance is much more rock and the rhythms so the beats quickly wake-up everyone up. The synthesizer, bass and drum of the Melbourne trio captive everyone's attention. They sure know how to entertain, recently their exceptional music allowed them to tour with popular bands such as Justice, Digitalism and !!!. During the last part of the performance, the band members Andy, Vincent and Daniel used their digital camera to record the show and take photos of the conquered audience. They also took time to say a few words in Japanese, something that always pleases the local crowd. All in all, it was a very interesting virtual trip to the band's melodic galaxy. |
After a few minutes of an empty stage, it's now the UK Band, Foals, coming on. Quickly everyone gets closer to the stage and as soon as the boys touch their guitars and bass and drum it's obvious that most people's interest lie in this part of the show. The energy raised, along the room temperature and soon I need to keep my chin up, watching carefully an army of five foot girls jumping furiously around me. We can feel the floor bouncing. Strangely, the main guitarist, Jimmy Smith is siting on a chair. Apparently he broke his leg in a mysterious shower accident a few days before the gig. But the handicap doesn't affect his skills at all. The Oxford boys' kept the best part of the show to the end. They started to play Electric Bloom. It was just an awesome moment. With their math rock songs, the performance reminded me of one of my old time favorite band's Helmet or more recently Battles whom I saw at Fuji Rock last summer. With aggressive drums and powerful lyrics, that last tune sure rocked.
The good news for any of you who couldn't make it to this great evening, is that both bands will be back very soon in Japan. The Midnight Juggernauts and Foals will be playing along Underworld, dAta, The Gossip and many other cool bands for the 2008 edition of Fuji Rock on the beautiful mountain of Naeba. See you there.The featured photos were taken by yoshitaka on the following day, the 16th of May @ Nagoya Bottom Line. |
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review by seb and photos by yoshitaka |
 mag files : Foals, Midnight Juggernauts 新しい風を求めて (08/05/16 @ Nagoya Bottom Line) : review by takuya, photos by yoshitakaphoto report (08/05/16 @ Nagoya Bottom Line) : by yoshitakaNew Math Rock Wave : Midnight Juggernauts & Foals took on the Liquid Room (08/05/15 @ Liquidroom Ebisu) : review by seb, photos by yoshitaka痙攣ギターの暴走は止まらない (07/10/02 @ Scala, London) : review & photos by kaori |
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The official site Foals http://www.wearefoals.com/ check her? --> MySpace / iTunes The latest album  "Antidotes (国内盤 / US import / US import - '12analog / UK import / UK import - Limited Edition with an extra CD / UK import - '12analog / iTunes / iTunes JPN) previous works
"Red Socks Pugie - Single" (UK import / UK import - '7 analog)
"Foals - EP" (iTunes) "Hummer - Single" (iTunes) "Mathletics - Single" (iTunes) "Balloons (Live London Scala) - Single" (iTunes) "Cassius [Single]" (UK import / UK import - '7 analog) "Balloons [Single]" (US import / UK import - '12 analog / / UK import - '7 analog / iTunes - video) |
The official site Midnight Juggernauts http://www.midnightjuggernauts.com/ check her? --> MySpace / iTunes The latest album  "Dystopia" (国内盤/ US import / iTunes) previous works
"A Battle Of Two Cities" (US import) "Road to Recovery - EP" (iTunes) "Road to Recovery (Remixes) - Single" (iTunes) "Shadows - EP" (iTunes / iTunes - video) check the albums? |
 2008New Math Rock Wave : Midnight Juggernauts & Foals took on the Liquid Room : Foals & Midnight Juggernauts (15th May. @ Liquidroom Ebisu)Saturday Night Electro Fever : Digitalism (23ed Feb. @ Shibuya Womb)Diva in Town (traduction francaise) : Björk (19th Feb. @ Nippon Budokan)Diva in Town : Björk (19th Feb. @ Nippon Budokan)2007over all view on Asagiri Jam (06 to 07/10/07 @ Asagiri Arena) |