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Japan Night greets Jakarta in full blast
Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra - JP/DonFans and music enthusiasts alike turned up to see the biggest acts in Japan when they made their first stop on a global tour in the city
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Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra - JP/Don
Fans and music enthusiasts alike turned up to see the biggest acts in Japan when they made their first stop on a global tour in the city.
The Japan Night tour was in town on a mission to showcase the land of the rising run's homegrown musicians currently at the top of the top of its music industry.
At the Jakarta show, gracing the stage were J-rock duo VAMPS, indie sensation (Alexandros) and the one-of-a-kind Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra ' each offering different sounds.
Tickets were sold out weeks prior to the concert on April 4 while ticket holders lined up to enter the Kasablanka hall at Kota Kasablanka, South Jakarta, three hours before the start of the highly anticipated show.
Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra opened the full moon Saturday night with a performance that swept the audience off its feet, literally.
The nine-piece brass and percussion ensemble had got the audience on its feet and dancing at the first blow of the horns.
Tokyo Ska comprises Masahiko Kitahara on trombone, Atsushi Yanaka on baritone sax, Takashi Kato on guitar, Kinichi Motegi on drums, Yuichi Oki on keyboards, Gamo on tenor sax, Nargo on trumpet, Hajime Omori on percussion and bassist Tsuyoshi Kawakami.
The ensemble spent 40 minutes playing both original compositions and covers, such as the 1980s disco track 'Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You', which has brought them to the stages of world-class festivals such as Glastonbury, Coachella and Vivo Latino.
Formed in the late 80s, the former Tokyo street musicians offered a wide spectrum of ska, jazz and rock.
Even after over 25 years in the industry, the band is still able to pull off an energetic stage show ' Gamo did the grand jeté across the stage few times.
(Alexandros) was up next with their first show in Southeast Asia, showcasing their Britrock heavily influenced music.
Although it was the first time many in the audience heard the rock band's music, it didn't take long for them to catch their English lyrics and sing along.
Frontman Yoohei Kawakami grew up in Syria, while bassist Hiroyuki Isobe spent his teen years in Los Angeles ' the reason they speak fluent English and write lyrics in both English and Japanese.
The multicultural influence made the band 'approachable', just like when guitarist Masaki Shirai, who was seemingly the quietest of the group, gave a shocking answer when asked to complete the sentence 'When the world throws me lemons [...]' he answered: 'I'll squeeze them right into my eyes.'
Each member described themselves as an 'Alexandros', but drummer Satoyasu Shomura who has the habit of twirling drumsticks on stage came up with 'crazy Alexandros' to stand out from the rest.
The band, now under the Universal label, belted out the most popular songs from their three previous albums during their indie days such as 'Run Away', 'starrrrrrr' (no typo here) as well as songs from their latest album, Dracula La, and closed their performance with the uplifting 'Adventure'.
The stage was soon transformed into a vampire lair for the performance of VAMPS, the main act at the music festival. The initially scheduled two-hour concert stretched to end over an hour later as the floor asked for an encore, twice.
Veteran musicians Hyde and KAZ write their songs mostly in English to cater to international fans with titles that show their inclination to the devilish charms of the undead.
Hyde's wide range of vocals was unstoppable that night despite the long set list that included 'Bloodsuckers', 'Vampire Depression', 'Love Addict', David Bowie's 'Life on Mars?', 'The Jolly Roger' and the title track of their newest album Sex, Blood and Rock 'n Roll.
Organized by the Japan Night executive committee and local partner Marygops Studios, the concert was on another level with the meticulous lighting play and clean sound although the speakers were set at deafening level for an indoor event.
In all, it was a night to remember, even for the artists.
'I am already in love with you. I don't feel like going home. I know you still don't know our songs yet, but next year, when we come back, we will sing together,' said Yoohei.
