Full house for the final show of LOKA’s international tour, on December 20th, at Shimokitazawa Garden. After their long journey in South Asia and Europe, the four guys of LOKA were finally back to Japan, and this final show was an explosive final highlight out of the 25-dates DEVA’s EX Tour. Garden’s stage was settled in order to put a nice light on each musician, in an unusual but nice setup with individual stages. A giant screen at the back played the role of an opening act: right before the show, PA launched an exclusive and complete documentary video about LOKA’s adventures in Indonesia and Europe. Concert images, backstage scenes, off-stage moments, bad jokes from the drummer Ken’ichi to the guitarist Shin, this documentary gave LOKA’s character to the audience: the guys are high-motivated, talented, but also funny and full of energy!
About their audience now. LOKA’s fans came in numbers to enjoy the tour final show. Shimokitazawa Garden was clearly full of a heterogeneous crowd, composed with men and women of all ages, metalheads, young VK-girls, J-rockers and furthermore even some fans from foreign countries showed up. The various musical origins of LOKA’s members allow them to catch and combine successfully fans from different scenes.
2 hours, 15 songs
LOKA started the show with one of their most catchy songs, the sexy and appealing SLICK. With a strong stage presence and a dynamic performance from the very beginning of the concert, LOKA promised unforgettable memories to their fans. The guys were hot and well-prepared. Indeed we heard in backstage that they worked hard to make this show perfect. Second track was the latest single From yesterday, powerful and touching song, followed by 11th hour. Song after song, the band showed their ability to move from one musical style to one other, from heavy sound to more romantic ballads. Same for vocalist Kihiro, who easily changed from growl, rap or clean vocals.
If charismatic vocalist Kihiro is undoubtedly the leading light of the band, he can always count on his outstanding and stylish drummer Ken’Ichi (obviously a fan-magnet as well, with girls screaming his name all over the venue…). After Don’t ever leave me out in an acoustic version, and Left of me, the ex. SexMachineGuns’ member offered an amazing drum solo, doubled by electro samples. The audience was simply blown away after that.
Headbanging last part for the concert! LOKA played three stunning tracks: Naked to my soul, Oblivion Heart and the wild final song Club Rock Shit, which made some people moshing in the venue!
Of course, the guys came out of the Backstage once again for a 3-songs as encore, cheered by the loud screams of their fans. They started with the very awaited track Alive, followed by the exciting Everybody Rock ‘n Roll and finally Make it Through. A perfect panel of LOKA’s abilities and musical large range of talents.
LOKA-attitude
If the performance is smoothly professional, LOKA’s members never miss the opportunity to joke around in any language. As a proof, a MC fully done in dirty French, hopefully only understood by the Euro-staff members present at the venue. Japanese fans couldn’t give a positive response to the desperate ‘Montrez vos nichons’ (Show me your boobs) from unlucky Kihiro, who sings his lyrics usually almost in English only while the fans in Japan usually are hyped up by Japanese MCs.
In a nutshell, LOKA performed an amazing live, a flawless tour final for the first international tour of a very promising band.
Setlist:
1. SLICK
2. From Yesterday
3. 11th hour
MC
4. Yellow Cherry
5. Fight Night
6. Jive
MC
7. Don’t ever leave me out
8. Left of me9. Drumsolo
10. Tsubasa trigger
MC
11. Naked to my soul
12. Oblivion Heart
13. Club Rock ShitEncore.
1. ALIVE
2. Everybody Rock n’Roll
3. Make it through
Photos: Diletta Fabiani & Helcanen Val
