Tammy Lui
The last time the J-rock (Japanese rock) band visitied Singapore was for their sold out “Who are you?? Who are we??” TOUR in 2013. But the only thing that has changed in the 2 years that have passed is their recognition worldwide, which has grown tremendously, having been nominated for ‘Best Japanese Act’ at the MTV Europe Music Awards for 3 consecutive years since 2013.
Sold out shows in their home country, including one for an audience of 60,000 in Yokohama 16 months ago, are a given for any Japanese band worth its salt. But proof of the foursome’s international appeal lies in the fact that they have also been filling venues across North and South America and Europe. They’ve also performed alongside notable rock bands such as Yellowcard, All Time Low, Hoobastank, Sleeping with Sirens and Against The Current. Not shabby at all, for a group that only made their official US debut 4 months ago. That was when ONE OK ROCK released a deluxe version of their latest album 35xxxv comprising of solely English tracks. It reached #17 on Billboard’s ‘Heatseakers Albums’ Chart.
It’s to promote that album that ONE OK ROCK has returned to Singapore’s Fort Canning Park on Jan 23, for the last part of their ‘35xxxv’ ASIA TOUR.
Some eager fans, who’d been patiently waiting in the queue since 3pm, told UrbanWire that a number of hardcore fanatics had been camping outside since early morning!
Fort Canning Green was like a cabinet full of clothes being stuffed with even more. Bodies would press up against you from all directions, but we suppose that was the only way to accommodate the whopping 5,000 fans there for an electrifying night.
Further proof of their broad appeal? The diversity of fans at the concert, not just in terms of age, which ranged from preteens to working adults, and gender, but language and race. A mix of English, Japanese, Mandarin and even Malay could be heard in the crowd. However, despite the differences in backgrounds, the fans all chanted “ONE OK ROCK!” in complete unison, like a mantra.
At 8.07pm, the music that had been blasting died down, and light flooded the stage. The fans had been heard.
The crowd erupted into roars and screams as vocalist Takahiro ‘Taka’ Morita, guitarist Toru Yamashita, bassist Ryota Kohama, and drummer Tomoya Kanki ran out from backstage, starting the night with the second track of that album, “Take Me To The Top”, sending the audience into a frenzy of explosive energy. Those around us whipped out their phones to capture the entire experience on video.
The band members, too, couldn’t keep to their allocated spots on stage (with the natural exception of drummer Tomoya), running from corner to corner of the stage and head-banging to the beats, while still managing to deliver the opening number exactly the way it sounded in their album!
Even though most of the setlist’s songs came from newest album 35xxxv, the band included a few hits from their previous album JinseixBoku=, such as “Deeper Deeper”, “Clock Strikes”, and “The Beginning”. Fans sang along with every word, their hands in the air.
We applaud Taka for not only demonstrating such vocal control when singing the evidently straining songs, while still managing to hype the crowd up. The 27-year-old vocalist got fans to create a circle at the front of a stage for some intense moshing. Just how does he get the energy? The frontman also made eye contact with several fangirls at the front of the stage, who proceeded to squeal, then scream, “Taka-san! Kakkoii!” [cool or handsome in Japanese] and “Aishiteru!” [‘I love you’ in Japanese].
Although the band’s known for their alt-rock and post-hardcore numbers, they didn’t forget to throw in some stripped down tracks in their set. One of them was “Heartache”, which got fans holding up their phones as torchlights, swaying along with the rhythm. A group of fans from all over the moshpit even went on to harmonize with Taka as he belted out the notes of the emotional number, making that song one of our favourites for the night.
As they wrapped up the approximately 6-minute long performance of “Mighty Long Fall”, the band thanked fans, put down their mikes and instruments, and headed backstage, to the dismay of the fans.
Refusing to believe that it was the end, fans broke into a chant: “ENCORE! ENCORE! ENCORE!”, some even taking it up a notch and saying it in Japanese: “ mou ikkai! mou ikkai! mou ikkai!”
KAI (meaning ‘one more time or again’).
Random groups of fans in the audience broke out into song, singing at the top of their lungs and finally, after nearly 10 long minutes, the band finally came back onstage for their encore, thanking fans for their endless support with a slow, acoustic number, “Wherever You Are”.
The concert ended with a bang with classic ONE OK ROCK hits, “NO SCARED” and “Kanzen Kankaku Dreamer”. With that, a few pictures for the members’ personal Instagrams and a group bow, the concert officially came to a close.
Of course, no ONE OK ROCK concert would be complete without a souvenir from the fans. The last time the band was here, frontman Taka picked out a bright red thong as his memento. This time round, it was Ryota’s and Toru’s turn to choose the gifts, and the 2 were no less cheeky than their vocalist. Ultimately, the bassist and guitarist walked off with a neon-coloured bra and thong respectively (which came from a matching set).
The gifter of the set must have slept very well that night.
Setlist:
- 3xxxv5
- Take Me to the Top
- Memories
- Deeper Deeper
- Stuck in the Middle
- Clock Strikes
- Last Dance
- (Instrumental)
- Cry Out
- Heartache
- Decision
- Suddenly
- The Beginning
- Mighty Long Fall
Encore:
- Wherever You Are
- NO SCARED
- Kanzen Kankaku Dreamer