Shibuya VISION again witnessed a DIAWOLF live – this time on November 29th, 2015. DIAWOLF – a duo that consists of A9’s members Shou and Tora – had been visiting several cities in Japan as part of their domestic tour. With Tokyo being the final stop for the tour, expectations were running high and my, how those expectations were fulfilled well!

Kickstarting off the live as the top batter was the band MAKE MY DAY, a band that formed in 2010 and made its major debut in September 2013 under the name ASHLEY SCARED THE SKY. After having a change of members, they changed their name into MAKE MY DAY and proceeded on their second starting point.

Majoring in loud rock and screamo, the band did a terrific job in working up the crowd, setting the night in a perfect mood in anticipation for the upcoming two bands. Half-Moroccan vocalist Isam who was dressed in all black had a tendency to coil the wire of the mic he was holding around his neck which was pretty interesting to watch. Along with Isam’s hardcore shouts, the melodious vocals of half-American Julian who takes on both the role of a vocalist and guitarist make a good balance for the band sound. Even though the band’s drummer left in November, Kyotaro the new drummer did a good job in taking up that place while bassist Moo‘s child-like smile left a refreshing impression as well.

A couple of high power songs later, Julian addressed the crowd and said how at first they were quite worried about this live, and then proceeded to sincerely thank the crowd for receiving them warmly.

After MAKE MY DAY wrapped up, an interval of ten minutes ensued for the set change. When the curtains were pulled apart, the members of the second band LOKA made their appearance. Drummer Ken’ichi‘s drum set was an interesting sight to behold. His crash cymbal was set a lot higher than the usual height and it could be spun around in a full circle. Even before their session started, Ken’ichi was already spinning it over and over again; promising an impressive performance ahead.

As guest band since DIAWOLF’s 3rd showcase, LOKA was also guest band in DIAWOLF’s entire 「CHAOS in Turbulence」 tour which was held in Osaka, Nagoya, Sendai and ending with the finale in Tokyo. The crowd seemed very accustomed to LOKA which was no surprise with vocalist Kihiro‘s fun and candid personality. Right from the beginning, LOKA had already geared up the crowd even further; making the atmosphere even more fun and exciting.

While Isam coiled the mic wire around his neck, Kihiro coiled it around his forearm. Guitarist Sin‘s shocking pink dreadlocks were prominent against all the colours they were wearing. Even though LOKA suffered a member loss earlier in October, whereby bassist Katsumi left due to personal circumstances, there was no lacking in their outstanding performance as their support bassist Miro did an awesome job. Ken’ichi was really fascinating to watch. Every time there was a comma between two beats, he would play one beat, either fling the drum stick into the air or drop it and catch it before playing the next beat.

For the song Eden, Kihiro requested the fans to do the circle mosh. He was apparently requested by Shou to teach the fans to do the circle mosh the first time they guested in DIAWOLF’s showcase, and Shou actually went down the stage to teach the fans how to do the circle mosh in one of the lives during the tour. Kihiro said that there were three circle moshes on the floor during the Sendai live. As expected of the Tokyo crowd, they apparently became the biggest circle and the best part was that they still went back to their own places after that. And Kihiro also aimed and jumped into the crowd – to the loud cheer of the fans!

LOKA’s setlist 291115

Slick

Calling

Daedalus

Eden

Club Rock Shit

Tsubasa Trigger

DIAWOLF took on the stage right after; catapulting the energy and oneness to the highest level. DIAWOLF is a project group of vocalist Shou and guitarist Tora, tonight supported by Matenrou Opera’s bassist Yo and LOKA’s drummer Ken’ichi.

While Shou did most of the talking, Tora was all excited and happy; grabbing the microphone and adding ad-libs of ‘Woo!’ ‘Yay!’ in between Shou’s sentences. During Turbulence, Shou requested fans to twirl their towels during the chorus. Tora immediately jumped for the mic and told the ones without a towel can just twirl their hands. However Shou himself did not have a towel so someone from the floor threw it up.

Inferno was one of the songs that Shou wanted to get the fans do to a circle mosh so he decided to get them to practise it. Ken’ichi started to play and fans actually did the circle mosh along to the melody that was at BPM200. Shou was also very concerned about the safety of the fans as he kept reminding the fans to not hold each other’s shoulders while they mosh because that would make the circle mosh dangerous. After the fans had enthusiastically did the circle mosh, Shou thanked them.

Just like Kihiro, Shou also jumped to the crowd. He was grabbed by people and the staff came and pulled him back by his legs. The staff were also busy thanks to Tora’s mic stand that kept on dropping to the floor somehow so that one of them had to keep coming back to the stage to put it back up. Once Tora wanted to grab him close, but he refused. In the end, he just stood by the side with his arms folded in case the mic stand dropped again. At some point Tora had to pull the stand up himself!

It was a really fun show, and at the end, Shou announced that DIAWOLF would be holding their one-man live at Shibuya Club Asia on March 29th in commemoration of their 1st year anniversary. Tora handed the guitar to fans (to be retrieved by the staff later) and smilingly left the stage, leaving smiles on the happy faces of fans. Again DIAWOLF had proven that they’re a power to reckon on stage!

DIAWOLF setlist 291115

Rebellion

UNCHAINED

Turbulence

Heavenly Dark

Everlasting Flavor

Fallen

Afterglow

INFERNO

Reporting by Mish. LOKA pictures from LOKA.