JILUKA’s first digital encounter with the European soil took place as one of the closing events of the one-month long online event of HYPER JAPAN. On a Sunday evening, the special event would present fans of the visual kei metal band with an exclusive recorded live performance and a Q&A in collaboration with Chaotic Harmony. Some lucky fans even got their hands on VIP tickets where they could talk a bit with the band members.
JILUKA Profile
JILUKA started activities in the winter of 2015 with currently a four-member line-up, consisting of vocalist Ricko, guitarist Sena, bass player Boogie and Zyean on drums. They express a variety of emotions by combining their aggressive metal sound with diverse musical essences and utilizing striking, melodious music and are known for their energetic live performances. They have released several mini-albums and singles and even released a cover album, which included a metal version of the hit song U.S.A. In February 2020, they released their best-of album, titled XANADU. In the meantime, they have recently released a new album, titled IDOLA.
The show: LINKAGE plot 2021 -ver.TYO-
A special concert filmed at Takadanobaba AREA – a very important venue for many visual kei bands that will close at the start of 2022. From the live show that was recorded on the 10th of July, entitled LINKAGE plot 2021, a couple of songs were selected for viewing during the HYPER JAPAN ONLINE event.
After entering the venue with the black and white chequered floor the venue gets filled with smoke and the exciting music of Xtopia. The tension rises when the gentlemen step onto the stage. The concert is filmed with the audience, with cameras placed at different points, including from within the audience so it gives a feeling that you – the viewer – are part of the show. The band starts off well with Edifice, which immediately warms up the audience. The singer Ricko goes the extra mile to convince the audience it’s time to surrender to JILUKA, he opens his arms and stands on the elevation and starts grunting on Ignite, while you can witness the audience going completely crazy. Hairs fly up on a rhythm, while Sena’s guitar work continues at a faster pace.
The visual kei band manages to incorporate various breakdowns (Ignite, Ajna) that make the room fall completely silent, it gives the feeling that the audience is already completely in tune with the band and follows the band members closely with all the notes that fill the room while breath is held back by the audience.
The four band members did everything in their power to show the audience every angle of the room. At one moment, as a viewer, you are part of the audience, then you watch the drummer Zyean for a moment and then you witness a good moment when the bassist Boogie throws his hair or Sena entices the audience. The camera work is fast and edited to the pace of the music, so you quickly get to see the various sides of the stage, but it is long enough to get a sense of what you are observing. It gives the extra feeling that you, the viewer, are standing in the crowd.
A scream fills the hall as Ajna -SgVer- kicks in. There is no time to catch your breath, the band tries to convince the audience even more but they seem to have succeeded long ago because the hair and arms fly through the air while the band throws in some deep riffs. Ricko goes from screamo to clean vocals with ease, he doesn’t shy away from it after all these years in the band. Suddenly Sena appears on stage with his guitar to add more power to the powerful song.
The last song, Last Phase has been probably chosen for a quieter moment where the clean vocals get much more space. This metal band shows that they are capable of a lot in all fields and also demonstrates that all the band members of JILUKA are well attuned to each other.
Setlist
SE: Xtopia
01. Edifice
02. Ignite
03. Screamer
04. Ajna -SgVer-
05. Suzaku
06. Last Faith
Q&A
Very soon after the showing of the recorded live performance, it was time for a Q&A with the band members. It was already past midnight for the four members, but they were sitting in their at the time current look as if it was an event during the daytime. The band members were happy to answer questions from perfume to favourite bands, surprising fans that they do enjoy BTS. They also shared the knowledge that they are influenced by a lot of overseas bands, Sena shared a couple of bands, such as Metallica and Linkin Park. The band members also assured the fans that when this difficult time is over, that they will definitely come over to Europe. Ricko: “Please wait for us.”
Conclusion
In a few seconds, your living room is turned into a concert hall (if you have the right sound equipment), in any case, it is good material to enjoy the last few hours of the Sunday and the weekend. The nice thing about this event is that you are still part of the audience as a participant, as you can chat with the other viewers of the special event.
While the performance at Takadanobaba AREA was a shortened version of a performance that took place in the month before, it was still a good way for the band to show what they can do on stage. And hopefully, they will be able to do that in Europe soon enough. The Q&A was a perfect closing of a special event where music fans could connect with a band that is on the other side of the world.
