#conditions of a punk tour 2023

[thrawns-babygirl]

Y'ALL!!

[yridenergyridenergy]

Phalaris Vol.II - Yokosuka Arts Theatre [2023/05/01] live report

Setlist

Hibiki

Schadenfreude

Uroko

Mouai ni Shosu

Utsutsu, Bouga o Kurau

Ningen o Kaburu

13

Devote My Life

Eddie

GRIEF

Beautiful Dirt (2018 Ver.)

Otogi

The Perfume of Sins

Encore:

DOZING GREEN (Acoustic Ver.)

Un deux

Utafumi

T.D.F.F.

Revelation of mankind

First live in which the fans can officially cheer, and we gave it pretty much our all from the moment that the venue turned dark!

I don't remember much about the SE. First, there were three vertical rectangular screens in the back that showed some Roman or mythological painting in the centre, with the long Phalaris album cover mirrored left and right. That reminded me of the UROBOROS era a lot.

Then, the members came on stage and I kept getting struck by the obversation that they were almost all dressed very Phalaris-like! Shinya was in a white outfit as usual, but Die had some foggy black and white tunic (I was on the complete opposite side of him so I couldn't catch all the details); Toshiya had a quite dense black lace head piece like a mourning veil with a brilliant gold crown to hold it in place, a kind of black robe, black dress shirt underneath, skinny black shorts that were about mid-thigh, black boots or high socks, with a separate black lace long skirt; Kaoru wore low and ample black sarouel pants with a sort of black captain/major jacket thar had golden highlights (for makeup, he put some fade to highlight his cheekbones and little 'corners' near his temples with shade around his eyes); Kyo was more normal, wearing super wide beige pants with a large punk shirt (it read in Katakana something-Mugger?) but the highlight was definitely the spiky collar he wore! He had subtle makeup and his hair is short, spiky and blond (maybe blond-pink, or that was a trick of the lights?).

The band had clearly missed our incessant cheering. People still ended up crying out once in a while in the past year but it wasn't official and most definitely held back because it was against the rules. But now, to be granted that freedom again! I was running on very poor breathing and the mask had a tendency to dry my mouth a lot, so I was lucky that this was a seat-assigned concert where I could easily bring a beverage, but my throat's condition turned out better than expected!

The descriptions of songs will definitely be perfected through the next few shows, but here are segments that I remember:

Hibiki was sung emotionally of course but maybe not "uniquely yet", I would say. I certainly was hell into it though.

For Schadenfreude, it's such a poetic, long song, that it felt like the band was still working on giving it its live personality as well, even though they performed it in a previous tour, I think. Also, it surprised me that Kyo did not request that we sing "Ikedomo jigoku ka". There was less interaction with the audience throughout that song, I think. For the back screens, there were some scenes of a mage or ghost, as if they were drawn by the same artist who did Rinkaku and Agitated Screams of Maggots. The lighting was mostly red from what I remember, but I'll have to see it again.

Uroko was a surprise, just like un deux and Revelation of mankind. I had hoped that there would be Uroboros tracks mixed in with the Phalaris songs, but Arche is a good alternative! It felt so great for both us and Kyo that we were able to shout "Anata shidai de" again. The whole band was really into Uroko, Kyo reproducing some of the gestures from the PV, which was shown on the back screen.

By the way, we cheered and clapped after virtually every song, even though the audience sometimes stays quiet after quieter songs. Remember, it only takes one person to have guts and break the silence for the rest to let loose too!

Mouai ni shosu felt tamer than Utsutsu, bouga o kurau. The latter had piercing lines of light from what I recall and Kyo was way more into it. The sound was horrible when you weren't in the middle though, so I couldn't hear Kyo sometimes, even when he later came to the left ramp of the stage right beside me. But during Utsutsu, he went to the right ramp and went a bit crazy, so it's damned that the mic or speakers didn't render the ranges in those two songs well at all. In Utsutsu, Kyo seemed to expect us to sing the second: "Nananananananaze nanda?" He pointed at us when singing: "Onaji ningen desho". And when talking about the laughing eyes, he circled his right eye with his index and thumb.

In Mouai ni Shosu, Kyo also pointed to us when asking: "Docchi da, docchi ga ii?"

Ningen wo kaburu, we did the traditional bits of: "Dare no tame no ikiru no darou?" but for some reason, I thought we backed up Toshiya more with his "Blessing to lose heart" finals.

General things I don't remember which songs they happened in: Toshiya spun two or three times widely with his base and he jumped from Kyo's crate with it, which Kyo promptly took possession right after he left; Kyo signed the throat slicing a couple of times especially in the first half, and he asked us if we were ready to keep going, to break our necks, etc. There was one song where he slid to his knees in the wide space in front of his crate while singing.

During the first break for the change of gears, Kyo sat on Shinya's platform and looked at us nonchalantly, scratching his head but obviously demanding more shouts from us. Before one of the breaks, he threw his mic way up and let it drop on the ground, a technician rushing to place it back on the crate immediately after.

13 had totally different imaging in the background this time. When talking about throwing everything away, Kyo gripped his shirt tightly and gestured pulling it widely toward the back. He seemed to sing the last part in English (Never die), more attentively, like he corrected or clarified the pronunciation. Kyo also slowly put his red mic cord around his neck as he kind of kneeled on his crate while singing about looking down the 13 flights of stairs.

I was right in front of Kaoru but he only came up to the edge of the stage two or three times, compared to Toshiya, Kyo and Die. It felt like Kaoru was really focused, just sometimes teasing us with a kind of frown or nod. He did come on the left ramp of the stage once near the end of the main set, where we could see his fade makeup near his ears dripping down his face because of his sweat. By the way, his speakers in the back feature two new drawings. One is white with a black drawing that honestly looks like his head with a previous makeup but no pupil, upside down and being sucked into a void, while the second is a white drawing on black that seems to represent a skinny big-headed form all haggard-looking with weak but grim arms up at its side.

Kyo came to the left ramp during Devote my life! I really could almost not hear him, but he had us sing the "Zankoku na" throughout the song. He gestured mostly at the fans on the second floor/first balcony. He trotted back to the main stage with a technician ready to take care of his mic cord again.

I can't remember which songs, but Toshiya came to the left ramp and the right one too. Quite sure he was there twice on the left? The second one was right on time for his bass part in one of the songs. By that time, Toshiya had removed his veil (dramatically thrown toward the back of the stage from the front), his lace coat was off and we could at least partly see his chest. He smiled so much throughout the show and he was so dramatic during his single picks especially at the start of the concert.

During Eddie, Kyo called us "kuso, kuso, kuso", pointing at different spots of the crowd. I think he wanted us to sing some parts but it's a very fast song hah.

GRIEF was so intense too. The whole band liked bringing back that song. It might be then that Toshiya was really active?

Oh man, in GRIEF, at the part where we traditionally clap to the rythm, Kyo started clapping too as if he was seriously mocking us, like he was saying we were lobotomized zombies, but it became more and more disturbing to see, more "loose-screws"-like as he did wider and more disorganized claps as he went.

Otogi was so cool! Not yet the sensual performance it ought to be, but Toshiya certainly brought it all! It started with Kaoru playing loyd guitar noise with the three screen panels filling in red from the bottom, then the song's actual first notes were played. The mandela was present in the video, sand, a spiral staircase, etc. It just surprised me so much that the colour associated with that song would be red. Anyway, Kyo was a bit sensual in the way he moved, but he was totally outshined by Toshiya during the slower part. I think that it was at "Hakai no yukusaki/The destination of destruction" that Toshiya opened his dress shirt way wider with his right hand, then traced from his heart all the way to his crotch and just convenientlt transitioned onto his bass to play, then he waved his right arm super wide at the same time as Kyo did so with his left for the parr about: "The spreading of the sky, Go to the Madara". The song ended with the screen filling with bright red again but from the top this time. Holy hell what a song.

The Perfume of Sins man, refer to my previous post. I just want an official recording with that growled "Eyes, nose, ears" segment. Gimme, gimme, gimme! From what I remember, Toshiya was really into this song too.

They left after the main set and it took a while for them to return, even if we were actively screaming for it this time.

When they did come back, it was very serene as the musicians had chairs installed for them and they played Dozing Green in acoustic. It was quite an emotional rendition, but I specifically remember Toshiya setting his bass vertically, so his half-naked legs were literally hugging the bottom part of it.

The rest of the encore kind of blurred into something intense. We didn't get much room to breath or think. Die finally came to the left ramp, wearing those leather tights he showed on Instagram recently and very short shorts. He headbanged right in front of me and I don't know how he could not have possibly meant for me to be able to touch his hair, but I felt it was more respectful to retract my hand a bit. He seemed super happy and like a rock star overall.

For the encore, Kaoru changed to a black "Witched" (?) T-shirt with white and red lines on the front, while Shinya was in black, Toshiya kept the bottom part of his earlier outfit but changed the top for a white arm-less dress shirt, and Kyo changed to a different band T-shirt (some heavy metal band with scribbles for a logo and some Japanese on the back).

Before the last song, Kyo asked if we were alive a few times, then got interrupted by someone who shouted something inaudible, which made him pause in what he planned to say and he went frowning, uttering an: "Ah/huh?" Then he fires us up for the Last Song!

It seemed to me like Revelation of mankind was the wrong song to end, because there is less opportunity for the members to interact, the song demands too much concentration, but everybody on sight was glad to have it.

Kyo stayed for a short time on stage afterward to clap with us and demand more. Then he waved goodbye. Kaoru did so much teasing and threw a lot of picks. He perked his head up and nodded in a smug way when somebody called his name while he was drinking from his Thermos at first. Toshiya and Die smiled so much at the end. Toshiya distributed stuff but the highlight is how he poured the rest of his water bottle on his head, then used his towel to remove some, tied it and threw it very far into the crowd. Die also threw his somewhere. Kaoru stayed last and did the hand/bow thing when he finally left the stage.

[upalldown]

The Murder Capital - Gigi’s Recovery

Second full-length album from the Dublin post-punk five-piece

7/13

Dublin post-punk quintet The Murder Capital are back with an exhilarating second record. Unlike their 2019 debut album, When I Have Fears, which was conceived in a matter of months, the follow-up, produced by John Congleton, has had a much longer gestation period of almost two years.

Fresh from being announced to the Coachella line-up, 2023 feels like the year that The Murder Capital could reach that magical tipping point. The performance will be the pinnacle of a 13-date tour of North America this spring. Their first foray into the U.S. was cut short in early 2020 after the pandemic started to break.

The band’s ascension is part of the burgeoning, guitar-fuelled explosion in Ireland with the likes of Belfast’s New Pagans and Dublin’s Fontaines D.C. In fact, The Murder Capital opened for Fontaines D.C. in one of their very early gigs. They may be cut from a similar cloth, however The Murder Capital’s lead singer James McGovern does not quite have the full-on Irish lilt of Fontaines frontman Grian Chatten. Guitarists Cathal Roper and Damien Tuit maintain a steady pace on the record without sonically overreaching.

Latest single “Return My Head” is two minutes and forty-five seconds of sublime energy with the drumming of Diarmuid Brennan at its anthemic core. You just know that this song is going to be a moment of euphoria in their live set. The accompanying video was directed by bass player Gabriel Paschal Blake.

There are also fragments of Julian Casablancas (“Ethel”) and Trent Reznor (“The Stars Will Leave Their Stage”) nicely tucked away in this record. A tribal bassline opens the brilliant “The Lie Becomes The Self,” a musical journey inwards about societal conditioning, deceit, and discovery—“There in the gutter, starlight, we find ourselves complete/Standing at the foot of your mirror, a clown’s reflection and I am revealed.”

Despite the band having clear influences from New York City’s musical underbelly of the early 2000s, The Murder Capital are driving forward bringing their own flavor of youth and urban, Irish grit to this record. Gigi’s Recovery at times feels eerie and unsettling yet consistently and completely alluring.

https://www.undertheradarmag.com/reviews/gigis_recovery_tehe_murder_capital

[j-kaiwa]

Discussion Article October 1st

Yusaku Maezawa: The Japanese billionaire who wants to fly to the Moon

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa first entered the public eye as a drummer in a hardcore punk band.

He went on to make a fortune as an online fashion tycoon, and is best known outside Japan for spending tens of millions of dollars at record-breaking art auctions.

Mr Maezawa's ambitions now stretch beyond Earth. He hopes to be the first civilian passenger to fly to the Moon, as part of an ambitious project with Elon Musk's SpaceX.

The colourful executive wants to take a group of artists with him on the flight slated for 2023.

Mr Maezawa, 42, has not revealed how much he paid for the trip, which brings together two eccentric billionaires who are not averse to being in the global spotlight.

The Japanese entrepreneur began selling rare CDs and records in 1998 through a company he founded called Start Today.

The mail-order catalogue business moved online at the turn of the millennium and added clothes to its offering.

"I was president of my company while touring around the country with the band," he told the Japan Times earlier this year. "When it became physically impossible to handle both, I chose my company - that was around when I was 25 or 26."

He launched fashion e-retailer Zozotown in 2004, and by the time he was in his mid-30s, he was a billionaire.

Forbes magazine now lists him as the 18th richest man in Japan with a personal wealth of $2.9bn (£2.2bn).

His company recently made headlines after it launched a bodysuit that customers can use to upload their exact body measurements to the clothes shopping site.

He has splashed his cash at high-profile contemporary art auctions and paid $110.5m (£84m) last year for a large piece by Jean-Michel Basquiat - a record for the late US artist.

At the time he said he planned to put it on display eventually at a museum in Chiba, his hometown.

In 2016, he paid $57.3m for another Basquiat work - Devil's Head. He said in a statement he "felt shivers" when he first saw it.

"Regardless of its condition or sales value, I was driven by the responsibility to acknowledge great art and the need to pass on not only the artwork itself, but also the knowledge of the artist's culture and his way of life to future generations," he said.

Now, the billionaire plans to use his trip around the Moon to inspire new "masterpieces," created by the artists he chooses to accompany him.

"They will be asked to create something after they return to Earth. These masterpieces will inspire the dreamer within all of us," the future amateur astronaut told reporters.

The price Mr Maezawa agreed to pay for his ticket to space has not been disclosed, but according to Mr Musk it's "a lot of money".

Still, doubt remains over whether or not Mr Maezawa and his art troupe will make it to orbit the Moon.

The launch relies on a rocket yet to be built, and Mr Musk himself said it was not "100% certain we can bring this to flight".