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A concert with a band without a vocal and a solo-artist with a support band. Doesn’t that sound interesting? OFIAM is THE MICRO HEAD 4N’S side project and we had the pleasure of participating in one of their very first concerts!
OFIAM joined yoru (夜) for the 2MAN Live chain show 2020 → 2021 “this entrails.-reverse” concert on the 23rd of October. The concert took place at Takadanobaba AREA, which is an iconic live house within the visual kei scene in Tokyo and will be closing soon. The concert was also available to watch live via ZAIKO for overseas fans and those who couldn’t make it to the venue.
yoru is the solo project of Wato (ex. amber gris) who had originally limited his project to a 1-year activity (2016-2017). However, luckily for his fans, he resumed his activities in 2019.
OFIAM, on the other hand, is a new side project initiated by kazuya (Gt.), SHUN. (Gt.) and ZERO (Ba.) from THE MICRO HEAD 4N’S, which they established just this year. Both OFIAM and THE MICRO HEAD 4N’S don’t have a vocalist at the moment, but if you expected their concert to be lacking because of that, you couldn’t be more wrong!
OFIAM were the opening act. For their intro, they showed some video clips of relaxing nature sceneries while different sentences flashed across the screen: “i’ve been living for this moment”, “believe in yourself”, “change the world” and “in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” Especially during the current situation these words were very relatable. Like the audience, all members wore masks.
OFIAM started their performance with TOGE (棘), which is also the title of their upcoming first single. As mentioned previously, OFIAM is without a vocalist, but SHUN. supported the song with a calm spoken text, giving it a nice touch. For the next song, SORA (天), kazuya took over the vocal parts, before they changed to a heavier song called TSUMI (罪). The song had the perfect rhythm to headbang to.
SHUN. mentioned during their first MC that this concert was only their second concert as OFIAM and thanked their fans for coming. When he wanted to announce the next song, MADARA (斑), the lights suddenly turned off and he was unable to read their setlist, which made the fans laugh. As a surprise Wato joined OFIAM as a vocalist for BACHI (罰). And with AO (蒼) the band proved that a violin and piano can be perfect additions to create a beautiful song.
During the following MC, support drummer TSUKASA made not only the audience but also the other members laugh by rambling on and on about random things like the elections. kazuya revealed their upcoming 2 concerts during his MC. Both are part of his birthday events on the 18th and 19th of December. MUSIC IS PART OF MY LIFE 1 will be an acoustic concert as THE MICRO HEAD 4N’S STILL NIGHT and MUSIC IS PART OF MY LIFE 2 will be the first one-man show for OFIAM. Their first single is also scheduled for December.
OFIAM ended their performance with their new awesome song KOE (声), leaving the stage to yoru.
yoru opened their performance with THE AGAINST, followed by COMING DOWN and DAY AFTER DAY. The audience was hooked from the very beginning.
During his first MC Wato mentioned that he and ZERO share the same hometown and that he is happy to have the opportunity to have them as a guest band.
The support members showed off their skills especially during TIGHTROPE and ALL IS FULL OF LOVE, and Wato, too, proved his ability to hit high notes.
At the end of ALL IS FULL OF LOVE and during parts of WE’RE IN THE DARK the venue turned dark with the only light focus being on Wato, which added extra dramatics to the song and his performance.
In a second MC Wato talked about the bands that joined him during his concerts as guests. For him these bands are the meaning behind the name of the tour, “entrails”, because like internal organs are essential for the human body, bands are the foundation for the visual kei scene.
Directly from the beginning Wato’s impressive stage presence was very noticeable as for most of his songs, he was constantly moving his body to the music and interacting with his fans. Overly dramatic gestures such as eating a piece of cake on stage and throwing his gloves and ring away added a certain thrill to his performance.
Because OFIAM is without a vocalist at the moment, the focus was clearly put on the instruments, which is the complete opposite for yoru with Wato as a solo artist. As part of a two-man concert both could present the charms of their different focuses and therefore deliver a unique experience to their audience.
Due to the ongoing restrictions for concerts, raising one’s voice during performances is still prohibited, but the fans of OFIAM and yoru made sure to show their support by clapping and raising their hands.
OFIAM as an experimental project in terms of sound is a refreshing experience and we are looking forward to their first single and future activities. For those who are interested in the bands’ thoughts about their ongoing projects, OFIAM and THE MICRO HEAD 4N’S STILL NIGHT, please check our band interview (here).
As for yoru we hope Wato will continue his solo project in the future. For now his fans can look forward to the 3rd one-man concert in November.
Report: Chris
English Edit: Franzi
It would be great if you could support us with a small donation.
It might not be much for you, but it would help us providing more and better interviews in the future.
With a little bit of your support we might be able to realize even more!
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