Back to the O-nest

Tonight I went to a show at the Sibuya O-nest. It was a fairly quick decision, because I had been feeling guilty about having not been to a show for three days. I was using that time to figure out my week long trip which starts on Monday (I now have all 8 train tickets and all 4 hostels reserved). When I got off the elevator, I was presented with a surprise.

A fifth band was added to the line up, and they performed a set right on the bar floor (the stage floor is one below). The were called Not Great Men (an excellent Gang of Four reference) and they played a hardcore set. They were really good. Very tight band, and the singing/screaming was divided between the two guitarists and was legitimately in the hardcore style. The best part was their final song, where one of their friends did guest vocals and paroling the front of the crowd intensely. The also had a few moments where their chord progressions were very melodic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsrMocZ3vX4
http://www.myspace.com/notgreatmennnn


Next was Toddle. They come out to a recording of King of Carrot Flowers part 2 by Neutral Milk Hotel.They were a pretty straight forward, poppy indie-rock sound. Every once in a while there would do some cool root substitutions and play high pitched chords, giving them a pop post-hardcore sound. The bassist stole the show in my opinion. He had some crazy footwork and was going around all over the stage. He also became obsessed with my "Say What?" T-shirt because I was in the front row and shouted it about seven times. I caught this after the set:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niuToGoGybQ
http://www.myspace.com/toddleto



After that came Merzbow. I had just seen a hardcore band and an pop/indie band, so this guy came out of waaaaay left field. He is a noise artist. He had two laptops and a home made spring thing, and just let loose the endless throbbing, bass heavy, black noise. It was as if he was seeking out every frequency your ear could hear, and then blasting you with it until that was added to the collection of ringings. I was just so surprised about how large the crowd was and how intent they were on him. The Japanese just seem to have greater patience and appreciation for weird music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbBBczzDeCA

My ears had not recovered when Music from the Mars took the stage. To be honest, I thought they were the least interesting of the night. They were a funky jam band with a guitarist who was trying to be a rock star in the wrong setting (and kind of failing at that). They were quite talented, however, and had two guest musicians, a french horn player and a saxophonist, who really added to the sound, but where under-utilized.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2iUUVDSJq0
http://www.myspace.com/musicfromthemars



The headliner this evening was Far France. Their guitarist/singer warmed up by playing the riff from Merchandise by Fugazi, so I was really excited. Sure enough, their post-hardcore influences were easily heard in their songs, especially in the lead guitarist's top-of-the-neck speed-strumming, dead notes, and harmonics. They sometimes sounded a little more straight rock, but their stage presence was nothing but hardcore. All of them were swinging their necks into the air, wandering the stage, and collapsing after their big finishes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG-_dj8Y4VM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU9IQ1Y7BCs
http://www.myspace.com/ecnarfraf