Despair @ ElectrockAs I sit in an Internet cafe on the outskirts of Nagoya remembering Electrock from a couple of days earlier, I must say that I liked it. I liked it a lot.

[b]UPDATE![/b] [url=http://www.jgoth.com/modules/myalbum/viewcat.php?cid=3]Pixies are up Die!!Die!!Color!! and Despair![/url]

[b]Rushing to get there[/b]
So I finished washing and preparing the ferrets for the annual road trip to Nagoya and raced off to catch at least half the Electrock show. Sure the Electrock is not about Goth, but 1) electro-rock is pretty cool, 2) [url=http://www.despair-nation.com/]Despair[/url] put in a performance and 3) Jude did his debut for Despair on the ax-board.

[url=http://www.urga.net/]Urga’s[/url] space is kind of nice and cosy. It works out pretty well regardless of the crowd density so a quiet night is okay and a packed night rocks. Tonight it was quite packed so it was rocking nicely.

[b]Kwick Kick Mummy Lee[/b]
First up (when I got there) was a remix performance from Kwick Kick Mummy Lee. Lively and enjoyable affair with KKML with some successful (if mild) moshing going on upfront and even a couple of crowdsurfs by the mixer. Not bad at all. He also distinguished himself by being visually entertaining while doing the performance – something that most of these remix artists fail to do. Worth looking at again.

[b]Die!Die!Color![/b]
Die!Die!Color! were hot with some psyched digital rock. The instrumental-side would be speedy hard rock/metal traditional with extra elektro layers. However, it is the vocals that give this band something extra, with Hiroaki doing male attack screeches and Anna ripping out great power femme. Lots of energy onstage and a sound that keeps making me think “Fight Club.” Die!Die!Color! have balls. I will see them again.

[b]Despair[/b]
Despair just keeps sending shivers down my spine. There is something otherworldly about this unit when they’re onstage. Just a total aural assault with Rieu and Ana fighting for their lives to subdue the machine noise. The band sported a blonde gaijin on the ax-board tonight called Jude! Yes, Sins of the Flesh’s lead vocalist (and many other things), and JGoth.com’s Kansai chief, was doing a special spot for the band, putting in his 100% to keep the band running at its regular energy level (i.e. fucking overdrive!). Nothing can touch Despair when it comes to total industrial and that is why I will go to every performance I possibly can.

The last band I saw was Far East Eclipse. They had a good live sound suited to Electrock’s theme. A technical glitch hit them half-way through the set, which took a while to fix (and lost them the moment I think), but they were good live rockers.

Overall, Electrock is definitely worth seeing for some good live rocky sounds and I’ll be adding that to my list of regular events to mention here. I loved Die!Die!Color! and Despair, especially with two power femmes back-to-back.

And happy new year from Nagoya, origin of the Mangakiss.

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