I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: November 21, 2024] Babymetal

After the horrible attempt to get to this show I was in a bad mood.  It was not helped by the guy next to me who was REALLY getting into the between bands music they were piping in.  He was shouting along and taking up way more than his allotted space.  I spent most of the show trying to inch away from him, but it was quite crowded.

And WOW, did it smell bad.  A scent of body odor or bad breath.  I thought it was just me smelling it but my son, who had moved about eight feet from me when a spot opened said the same thing about the smell.

I was also bummed because I thought we’d be a lot closer with a great view.  But instead the tall guy way in front of me basically blocked my view of the center of the stage (where all the action is). At least there were video screens.

But it’s hard to be cross when Babymetal takes the stage.  First comes the masked Kami band (their masks are cool and the band is incredible).  Then the trio came out Su-metal, Moametal and Momometal.

I didn’t realize that it had been 5 years since I last saw them.  I feel like the previous show was bigger and/or more impressive.  But again, that could just be because of my poor view.

But I was pleased when I saw my son taking videos of songs because that meant he was into it.

They opened with the first song off their first album–basically an introduction to the band.  Which is totally unnecessary.  Not only di d this show sell out, but everyone there knew the words (in Japanese) and what to do and when to do it.  Total crowd synchronicity.  And Su-metal (as a person next to me said) has total crowd control.  She waves her hands and everyone does what she says.

They had a big screen behind them which flashed various images during the different songs.  I loved hearing Pa Pa Ya (Babymetals are mostly in Japanese, so I don’t know if the stupidly catchy choruses are nonsensical or Japanese, but damn if pa pa pa pa pa ya isn’t the catchiest thing to shout.

I will repeat some things I wrote last time

Throughout the songs the trio danced like crazy.  Their precision synchronization was amazing.

The band put out a new album this year, but the album didn’t feature very heavily ion the setlist.  Three songs from 2019’s Metal Galaxy were a great reminder of how much I enjoyed that album.

Then they played a new single that features Tom Morello.  Tom appeared on the video screen although I don’t know if his solo was played of if the band played it.  Speaking of the band, after this song, each member of the Kami Band was given a very brief moment to solo.  Strangely two of them were not in the spotlight when they played.  It was cool to see the guitar players especially.

They played two songs from the new album (which seems a bit more synthy and electronic and not as mashup as the earlier stuff).

But then they moved back to one of the heaviest songs on their debut, the frenetic and fairly insane “Megitsune” a song that starts with heavy heavy guitars, throws in some Japanese traditional sounds and then takes off with a hyper synth sound along with pummeling drums.  The song is in Japanese but that didn’t stop everyone from singing along.  The middle of the song has an incredibly catchy part with furious double bass drums and a delightful pop melody.  I love that they all stopped on a dime for the (short) spoken word middle part.  This is a well-rehearsed and well-choreographed metal machine.

Then they played a new single RATATATA with backing vocals from a (videotaped) guy wearing a discoball crash helmet named Callboy.  I didn’t know the song but it was preposterously catchy.

And then came “Gimme Chocolate,” the song that introduced them to America.  I love that they still play it and that it gets such a huge reaction.

They then left for an encore

They came back and the bells and synths rang out signalling the start of “Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!!!” Su-metal came to the front of the stage and parted her arms signalling a wall of death was about to happen.  And when the song crashed in, so did the people in the pit.  It soon turned into a moshing circle and it was cool that they had overhead video so we could see it.  Last time Su-metal had the chance to really show off her chops with a lengthy ballad.  But not so this time.  They moved right into the finale, with the trio waving flags indicating the beginning of Resistance, an anthem  if ever there was one.

As I said last time:

And that was the end.  They were only on for an hour, but an hour felt like a full show with all of the theatrics and dancing.  It was the right amount of performance for us.

We had a stupidly long drive ahead of us (the drive was so much longer than the show) so I was happy it ended so early.

And I vowed that I will never go to another show at the Wind Creek Event Center.

 

2024, Bethlehem	2019, Philadelphia
BABYMETAL DEATH β	Megitsune β
Distortion Ø	Elevator Girl Ø
PA PA YA!! Ø	Shanti Shanti Shanti Ø
DA DA DANCE Ø	Kagerou Ø (Trio performance, not SU- METAL only. with Kami Band intro.)
METALI!! § (with Tom Morello on video screen)	Starlight Ø
Monochrome ⇔	FUTURE METAL
Time Wave ⇔	Gimme Chocolate!! β
Megitsune β	PA PA YA!! Ø
RATATATA ♦ (with Electric Callboy on video screen)	Distortion Ø
Gimme Chocolate!! β	KARATE ⊗
encore	Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!!! β
Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!!! β	THE ONE ⊗
Road of Resistance ⊗	Road of Resistance ⊗

β Babymetal (2014)
⊗ Metal Resistance (2016)
Ø Metal Galaxy (2019)
§ single (2023)
⇔ The Other One (2024)
♦ single (2024)

Who are those masked players?

As of early 2018, the line-up has been relatively stable, consisting of guitarists Takayoshi Ohmura, Leda, and Isao, bassist Boh, and drummers Hideki Aoyama and Yuya Maeta with members occasionally substituting for one another if needed.