Bandjanaimon! Rallies Together Bands, Idols, & DJs for Unforgettable Banmon! Fes 2015!

| Artist | Posted by TokyoGirls'Update on Nov.25.2015

Photo by Sotaro Goto

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Bandjanaimon!, the group that calls themselves “the mixed-media of the idol world” because they stand on the borders between bands, DJs, and idols, gathered together a diverse selection of performers for a wild event at Shin-Kiba Studio Coast titled Banmon Fes on October 24, 2015.

Because there was such a variety of different groups on the lineup, this report is the collaborative effort of Okkun, Rhythm, and ykmk. Additionally, photographs were provided by Nathan Gey (France) and Sotaro Goto (Japan). Notations will be made accordingly.

When the doors opened at 2:00pm, attendees were greeted by the sounds of DJ’TEKINA//SOMETHING, who was spinning idol classics from the booth at the far end of the room. When he switched over to Bandjanaimon!’s “Hayai Kyoku”, the 6 members of the group made their appearance on stage to welcome the audience to their event.

POP

Opening up the performances for the day was POP, taking the stage after the now customary announcement by their manager for audience members to not stage dive, mosh, or lift each other up. In spite of the self-imposed “handicap” in an event filled with groups known for their wild fans, POP hit the stage running in their crimson jerseys (tracksuits) as they began with “Daydream”. Alternating between hiding behind their hands and waving to the audience while smiling, POP played peek-a-boo with them as they began “Letter”. Miki Yamamachi lead the others across the stage like she was guiding a plane across the tarmac.

After a short self introduction and enthusiastic thanks for being invited to perform by Ao Shigusawa, POP continued with their legendary debut song “Plastic 2 Mercy”, which was met with a loud shout of delight. The floor shook as the audience jumped up and down along with the members while shouting out a thunderous MIX. Ending with “who am I?”, POP lead the audience as they rocked back and forth and bounced around on the stage. Ao played air drums during the break, the fans shouting every time she hit the imaginary cymbals. Lying prone on the stage, POP threw out reverse kechas to the audience before jumping back to their feet to finish out the song and jog off the stage, their foreheads glistening with sweat.

01 Daydream
02 Letter
03 Plastic 2 Mercy
04 who am I?

words by Okkun
photos by Nathan Gey

drop

drop, the group created by Twin Tail Association Japan, appeared on stage before a sea of red, blue, and green glow sticks. The trio started off with their upbeat idol tune “Nanimo Iranai”, calling for fans to chant, dance along, and jump. Things got heavier as the group picked up air guitars and air drums for their second song, “Hashire”. Complete with metal horns and headbanging, the song also included fans running around in a circular mosh pit, mirroring the movement on the stage.

Leader Misato Misaki introduced their new song “Hocus Pocus,” which had just been released a few days earlier. Just in time for Halloween, the song features a very eerie tone and Victorian-inspired costumes with respective forest witch, Queen of Hearts, and masquerade ball themes. drop turned up the energy again for their last song, “Joudan Janai”, an intense call-and-response packed song packed with “URYA OI” yells to get the audience pumped.

01 Nanimo Iranai
02 Hashire
03 Hocus Pocus
04 Joudan Janai

words by Rhythm
photos by Nathan Gey

As the stage was being prepared for FLiP, Misako and Gumi appeared from behind the DJ booth to introduce the event goods and their new collaboration products with Village Vanguard. While all the special limited T-shirts for Banmon Fes were sold out early in the day, you will definitely be able to find something exciting when you visit any of the Village Vanguard stores scattered across Japan.

FLiP

Okinawa’s FLiP was the first band of the day, starting slow and steady with “Wonderland” but the mood began to heat up towards the middle of the song as guitarist Yuko dug into the strings of her Telecaster for her solo. This was followed by “GIRL”, which had the audience bouncing and clapping along. Attempting to appeal to the audience, which skewed heavily to idol fans, drummer Yuumi tried her best to sound as cute as possible when introducing herself. They went back to business, banging out the steady rock number “JEREMY” before jumping into their grand finale “Kazana”.

Vocalist Sachiko and bassist Sayaka ran over to Yuumi’s drum set and started beating out a rhythm on the bass drum and floor toms, allowing her to run out to the front of the stage and lead the audience in a call and response before returning for a drum solo. Sachiko and Sayaka also returned to their places on stage to close out their set as the audience warmly extended kechas towards the stage.

01 Wonderland
02 GIRL
03 JEREMY
04 Kazana

words by Okkun
photos by Nathan Gey

PassCode

PassCode may have just lost yu-ri Kurohara to withdrawal a few days prior but the electronicore group from Osaka hit the stage as hard as ever! Yuna Imada’s bloodcurdling death scream blasted through the air inside Shin-Kiba Studio Coast and PassCode launched into “Asterisk”, the floor area writhing like a stormy sea, bodies crashing into each other and fists pumping. Continuing into the EDM-heavy “Gekidou Progressive”, lyrics flew like a storm of bullets, the audience banding their heads as PassCode jabbed the air. Moving to the next level, the chiptune intro of “club kids never die” signaled the start of another melee that switched back and forth between hyperactive electronica and grinding heavy metal.

Adding fuel to the fire, PassCode yelled for the audience to get even more excited for their 1st single Nextage, as fans climbed on top of each other to show their appreciation for the group. Chugging away at their air guitars, PassCode closed out their intense set with “Seize the day!!”, a relatively calm punk rock tune that still had its share of fans scrambling to get their attention. Miss iD 2016 finalist Nao Minami reminded the crowd that they would be starting their first national tour the next day as PassCode left the stage and headed back to Osaka.

01 Asterisk
02 Gekidou Progressive
03 club kids never die
04 Nextage
05 Seize the day!!

words by Okkun
photos by Nathan Gey

Yurumerumo!

When the lights came back on, Yurumerumo! appeared and kicked things off with “Nigero”, swaying freely from side to side swinging their arms as their fans waved 6 different colored penlights and scrambled for attention. Half a dozen fans got up on the shoulders of their comrades as Mone sweetly sang her solo lines in the middle of the song.

Chiffon let out a shout as Yurumerumo! took things in a punk direction with “Yoiyoi”, one of the new songs from their 2nd album “YOU ARE THE WORLD” (release date: November 11). As Ano’s voice trailed off like a guitar feeding back, they went back in time with the electropop tune “Sukiyaki”, from their 1st album “Unforgettable Final Odyssey”. Unleashing a wall of screams, the madness to an end with “Only you”, fans jumping as Yurumerumo! commanded them to “fly” (tobe!) and multilayered guitars swirled like oil on water.

01 Nigero
02 Yoiyoi
03 Sukiyaki
04 Only you

words by Okkun
photos by Nathan Gey

Next was Chanmomo◎ and Yuzupon teaming up to DJ an eclectic mix of tunes, highlighted by the song that idol wota can’t help but move their bodies to: “nerve”.

01 Volare (Gipsy Kings)
02 BEER LOVE (The 50 Kaitenz)
03 nerve (BiS)
04 Rock n’ Roll wa Nari Tomanai (Shinsei Kamattechan)
05 urban disco (the telephones)
06 Ginga (Fujifabric)
07 Enjoy Jinsei (Team Syachihoko)

photos by Sotaro Goto

THE HOOPERS

Next up was the boyish girls unit, THE HOOPERS, bringing a very different flavor to a festival where cuteness prevails. Looking cool in sleek white suits, they opened with the brassy and dark “Ame wo Oikakete” featuring some provocative choreography between members to turn up the heat. Next up was the group’s debut single, “Itoshi Koishi Kimi Koishi”, spotlighting lead vocalist Mirai’s dulcet tones and group acrobats Makoto and Sena’s impressive backflips.

The setlist continued with the upbeat “Mikansei na Chizu”, including an audience-wide wave, followed by a cover of the Vocaloid song “Fire Flower”. After a brief MC, the handsome HOOPERS closed out their set with their newest single, “Go! Go! Dance ga Tomaranai”, inviting all audience members to join them in their go-go dance choreography.

01 Ame wo Oikakete
02 Itoshi Koishi Kimi Koishi
03 Mikansei na Chizu
04 Fire Flower
05 Go! Go! Dance ga Tomaranai

words by Rhythm
photos by Nathan Gey

Moso Calibration

After THE HOOPERS’ cool performance, it was time for Moso Calibration, who just began their concert tour the night before at Shibuya duo. The mood intensified as the overture sounded through the hall and they were showered in applause when they appeared. They began with their 6th single “Kanashimi Calibration” and a thunderous MIX echoed through the venue. The performance was amazing as usual but, there was a feeling of unity among the Moso-zoku, the other wota in the audience, and Moso Calibration as they fed off of the energy swirling around the stage.

They ended with “Hajimetedayo Konna Kimochi ni Sasetekuretanowa Koi” just as the Moso-zoku had hit their stride, the movements of the wota-gei, deeply rooted in the history of Dear Stage seemed to be unending. Moso Calibration has been known as the younger sister group of Dempagumi.inc but, the title seems odd now. It may not be an exaggeration to say that Moso Calibration has grown to the point where they can now be considered to be peers of Dempagumi.inc.

words by ykmk
photos by Nathan Gey

DJ Sioringo

DJ Sioringo aka Ringo Koishio from Bandjanaimon! took her spot behind the mixing board and the entire floor area glowed red in support. She ran through several anime songs and was joined by fellow Bandjanaimon! member Miyu Mochizuki on stage. She was the only DJ with an encore, closing out her set with her original song “Koko Wanko”, which had fans begging for more!

01 Sennou Sakushu Tora no Maki
02 Mirror Magic
03 39
04 Give me your love Zenbu
05 Azarashi☆Ribbon
06 Party Love 〜Ookiku Naritai〜
07 Koko Wanko

photos by Sotaro Goto

cinema staff

Gifu alternative rockers cinema staff are no strangers to joining forces with idols as they have performed with Yurumerumo! and the legendary BiS before. Drummer Yohei Kuno even had on an IDOL T-shirt! Starting off with “great escape”, the second ending theme song for Attack on Titan, guitarist Tomotaka Tsuji rolled around on the stage as he picked furiously at his Stratocaster during “Kiseki” and “theme of us”. Informing the audience about their upcoming EP “WAYPOINT E.P.” (release date: October 28) and Kuno’s TV show, voices warmly chimed in, “I already bought it!” (katta yo!) and “I watched it!” (mita yo!) even though neither had been made available yet.

01 great escape
02 Kiseki
03 theme of us
04 YOUR SONG

words by Okkun
photos by Sotaro Goto

SHAKALABBITS

Veteran ska-punk band SHAKALABBITS took the stage, and proved that they still had a lot in their tanks despite having been around since 1999. Vocalist UKI danced around on the stage as guitarist TAKE-C strummed a funky vamp over the rhythms of YOSUKE (bass) and MAH (drums) during their first song “Dazzling Soup”. The tide rose as crowdsurfers spilled over the guardrail near the front of the stage, running back to catch as many waves as they could during “CAN’T ESCAPE THE CHOCOLATE SYRUP”. The front of the floor area continued to be a maelstrom of moshing and crowdsurfing while a small group in the back took it upon themselves to do wota-gei during “GO” and “Pivot”. The sea of bodies calmed down as penlights waved back and forth during SHAKALABBITS’ final song “Monster Tree”. The music industry in many other parts of the world may have forgotten about ska-punk but movement remains strong in Japan as long as there are bands like SHAKALABBITS continuing to fly the flag.

01 Dazzling Soup
02 CAN’T ESCAPE THE CHOCOLATE SYRUP
03 GO
04 Pivot
05 Monster Tree

words by Okkun
photo by Nathan Gey

Bandjanaimon!

Gumi Nanase shouted “Sorry for being late” to the audience as Bandjanaimon! ran onto the stage to close out the night. Starting with “Tsunagaru! Kanaderu! Music!”, the audience switched on their penlights to make the floor area glow with 6 different colors. They rapidly darted about on the stage, Miyu Mochizuki, Yuzu Amanatsu, and Misako Suzuki alternating between dancing and playing their instruments. The lyrics “This is our Banmon music” matched the performance perfectly. Next was “Kimi no Egao de Sekai ga Yabai” which had the audience getting more excited, lifting each other up on their shoulders, dancing wota-gei, and even a sky blue dolphin made of cyalumes appeared for Gumi Nanase!

After “Yuki Furu Yoru ni Kiss Shite”, they reminded the audience about their upcoming single “NaMiDa/White Youth” before performing “NaMiDa” for the first time. NaMiDa is the word for tears in Japanese, but the song was uptempo and cheerful with a chorus line dance part. Even though this was the first time it was performed, it was felt like a familiar anthem played more than years from the quality of performance. The live finished with their beloved tunes, “Takatokotan” and” Pahi Pahi”. Miyu Mochizuki and Omomoko Amaterasu (aka Chanmomo◎) shouted to the audience that they were aiming to go to higher and higher place than before. As they mentioned, after their concert, a new concert tour was announced titled “Teppen Mezasouze! Mushashugyo Tour”.

This means that they aim to be the top and that the tour is part of their training. Thinking what the top means to idols, one of the most often heard dreams is that of a concert at Nippon Budokan. Experiencing this tour, Bandjanaimon! would be taking a big step forward to the stage of Budokan.

words by ykmk
photos by Sotaro Goto

Banmon Fes was an overwhelming day of performances and while it may be physically challenging to try keeping up with the Mon-Sta’s, Moso-Zoku, and other fans of all the different groups, it was a diverse mix of people that came together for their love of music and all things cute and cool.

Related Links

Bandjanaimon! Official site: https://banmon.jp/

cinema staff Official site: http://www.cinemastaff.net/

drop Official site: http://www.drop-collet.com/

FLiP Official site: http://www.flip-4.com/

Moso Calibration Official site: http://mosoclbr.com/

PassCode Official site: http://www.passcode-official.com/

POP Official site: http://www.pop2m.com/

SHAKALABBITS Official site: http://www.shakalabbits.com/

THE HOOPERS Official site: http://thehoopers.jp/

Yurumerumo! Official site: http://ylmlm.net/

Photos by Nathan Gey and Sotaro Goto

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TokyoGirls'Update

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