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Archive for the ‘おとぼけビ～バ～’ Category

Otoboke Beaver (おとぼけビ～バ～) (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, February 24, 2023)

Posted in おとぼけビ～バ～, Otoboke Beaver, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on February 25, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 24, 2023] Otoboke Beaver 

I saw Otoboke Beaver back in October and since they decided to swing through Philly again, I immediately grabbed a ticket.  The show sold out a few days before it happened (good for them).  And this venue is twice the size of Johnny Brenda’s (from 300 to 650 capacity) so even better for them.

There were several rules up on the wall before the show.  Basically they didn’t want people on stage (understandable) and they didn’t want people taking their setlist (this one I still don’t get) and no posting videos to YouTube (although Instagram is okay–I don’t quite get that either but whatever).  This also meant t hat there was a barrier up between the band and the stage (unusual for Underground Arts).  Sadly this meant that guitarist Yoyoyoshie would not be crowd surfing.  Of course, I didn’t arrive early enough to get that close anyhow.

Nevertheless, I had a pretty good spot up front, but as soon as they started playing, the mosh pit started and I got pushed off to the side a bit.  And by the end of the show I was all the way off to the side in a not especially great place.  That kind of sucked because they are so much fun to watch that I was bummed I couldn’t see them from the front.  But it was neat being near bassist Hiro-Chan who plays barefoot!

They sing (almost) exclusively in Japanese so I can’t really tell which song is which.  And most of their songs are short and fast so who knows what they played (again, not seeing a setlist), but it doesn’t matter because their whole set is about fun-wild fun.

One thing that really impressed me was that before one of the songs, singer Accorinrin stood with her arm raised and the whole band waited for her to begin.  The crowd, not taking the hint, whooped it up, but she was clearly waiting for silence (I understand Japanese audiences are very quiet between songs).  She stood and waited (like a teacher), until eventually she lowered her arms in a quiet gesture and everyone was quiet.  Their songs are very tight and need to be coordinated well.  As soon as their was silence, she was able to start and everyone was in synch.  (more…)

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Gladie (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, February 24, 2023) [Otoboke Beaver]

Posted in おとぼけビ～バ～, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Cayetana, Gladie, Otoboke Beaver, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on February 24, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 24, 2023] Gladie

Otoboke Beaver had a different local band open for each of their shows on this tour.  After the show I spoke to Gladie and they were really psyched to have been chosen to open.

This was actually the fourth time I was supposed to see Gladie.  Most of the shows they were opening for someone and the show as postponed due to COIVD. So I was glad this one actually came through.

They don’t quite fit musically, but they were an excellent warm up.  Gladie are a Philly-based band that was created out of the ashes of other Philly-based band.  Singer Augusta Koch was the singer of beloved band Cayetana, who I only really found out about as they were breaking up (and who actually only put out two albums!).

The band also has Matt Schimelfenig and some other people who may or may not have been on stage that night.

Augusta Koch is clearly in charge of things.  She is a fun frontwoman and made some funny comments about the show.  She was saying how much she loves Underground Arts and how much it reminds her of the club in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (that’s pretty accurate). (more…)

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Otoboke Beaver (おとぼけビ～バ～) (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, October 2, 2022)

Posted in おとぼけビ～バ～, Johnny Brenda's, Otoboke Beaver, Philadelphia, PA, Soft Torture on October 2, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 2, 2022] Otoboke Beaver [rescheduled from from April 9, 2022]

I wanted to get to this show early because it was sold out and I knew it would be crazy.   But between one thing and another I wound up arriving at 8:25.  Only to find out that the opening band (opening bands at Johnny Brenda’s tend to go on a little later than advertised) was DONE.  Apparently Soft Torture, a Philly hardcore band, did a super-fast set (their debut EP has nine songs in about 13 minutes).  Listening to it, they sound really tight with a great vocalist.  Shame I missed them.

But I was there for Otoboke Beaver.  And so was the rest of the riotous crowd.

About their new album, SUPER CHAMPON (ス​ー​パ​ー​チ​ャ​ン​ポ​ン) the band says:

CHAMPON is a Japanese noun meaning a mixture or jumble of things of different type.

Our new album is a mixture of songs from love to food, life and JASRAC. Our music is genreless and has various elements. We hope that it will be our masterpiece of chaos music!

Otoboke Beaver are a four-piece from Japan.  There’s Accorinrin on vocals, Yoyoyoshie on lead guitar (and crowd surfing), Hiro-chan on bass and Kahokiss on drums.  The band plays primarily hardcore, but with a comical and fairly wild edge.  But even that is an extremely limited view of their set.  The songs shift without warning, from frenetic punk to … well, anything else.  It’s amazing how tight the band is that they can keep up with these twists and turns.

Accorinrin is up front.  She stomped around the stage, sometimes pointing finger pistols at the audience, enagaging really well with everyone.   Stage right was Yoyoyoshie who is as ferocious on guitar as her howls of “Otoboke Beaver!” between songs.  On the left was Hiro-Chan standing bare-footed (the band has pleaded that people not put any drinks or throw anything on the stage to protect her feet).  She seems remarkably chill given the frenzy around her, and her growls are awesome.  Kahokiss on drums somehow sounds fantastic while all of this is going on.  How on earth can she keep all of this straight?  It’s really amazing. (more…)

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