Lose it Over Loose Ends
If you think pronouncing Yukueshirezutsurezure is HARD, you'll need a portable airbag watching these four girls because they're coming at you HARDER than Luke Cage OD'd on Viagra with morning wood. Last post I said The Taupe will probably impress audience members the most. Well Shidare just called and told me to go ______ myself in the _______ with a pineapple till I'm bleeding from all orifices. Such a lovely girl.
All kidding and hyperbole aside, YSTZ's live performance is like nothing you've ever seen: impassioned dancing/screaming set to catchy pop/EDM with frequent bursts of ferocious hardcore metal. Last year, I brought Maison book girl to Canada because I felt their music (composed by Kenta Sakurai) had the highest quality of any idol group. They really put the focus on the music and its sublime instrumentation (i.e. music first, girls second). Instead of just fusing a pre-existing genre with idol music Sakurai developed a beautifully sophisticated sound that is incredibly original. However, Maison book girl purposely perform with a cool, deadpan persona to mirror the earnest nature of the music and this perceived lack of emotion sometimes limits the degree of fun and energy to which the audience will reciprocate. On the other hand YSTZ wear their hearts on their sleeves. The passion and emotion they exude on stage seems genuine and they don't hold back in making an intimate connection with the audience. The members of YSTZ love to stage dive, crowd surf and go crazy in an effort to make the audience feel comfortable in following suit. Whereas Maison book girl like to play hard to get YSTZ are tomboys who feel at home with the boys and are always down to have fun. Even though Maison book girl's music is brilliant and they eventually did a great job endearing themselves to the Canadian crowd, YSTZ should instantly win the crowd over with their fearlessness, charm, raw power and soulfulness. Even if metal-tinged screamo isn't your cup of tea, YSTZ will try their damnedest to be the most exciting, most ferocious and most fun act in the NMFT10 line-up.
In Japan, when an idol group performs its actually the madcap intensity of the audience and the creative genius of their cheering methods that make it such a spectacle. It'll be tough to recreate the cheers and moves that occur at idol events in Japan because.... we have something called self-esteem. LOL.
Still, it'll be fun to raise some havoc and make YSTZ feel a little bit at home by repping properly to some degree. If we go nuts, they'll step up their game even harder and everyone wins.
This is video footage I took last November at Shibuya The Game.
Tsuyame, Komachi and cococo have their birthdays in November so they held a special birthday concert.
In the video, you can notice a few things. i. fans bring ultramarine coloured glowsticks ii. half the fans are wearing DIY ultramarine coloured T-shirts they made to celebrate the members' birthdays (they actually got Tsuyame to draw the design) iii. During the song "Six Fall Roar" the audience huddles in rings to do a synchronized collective head-bang. iv. The fans have got chants down on lock v. Tsuyame who used to be too shy to scream is almost as fierce as Shidare right now
Here is another video of them doing the collective head-bang in circle formation during "六落叫" (Six fall Roar)
Another move that happens a lot at YSTZ shows that isn't really specific to YSTZ but alt-idol shows in general is people getting hoisted up and carried close to the stage so they can woo or worship the members eye-to-eye.
Now this particular move can be done for any of their songs but in Japan, its during 凶葬詩壱鳴り (Kyousokaichinari) where the audience knows to send a legion of human towers to bumrush the front of the stage during all the screamo parts. When I saw YSTZ at Shimokita Shelter, there were no less than a dozen kids hoisted up in the air all at once forming a human wall sending gestures of worship towards the girls on stage. If we could do the same in Toronto it would be pretty badass.
The song that gets the audience the most hyped is "つれづれ賛歌" (Tsurezure Sanka) which happens to be my favorite song as well. During this song, just before the chorus is a particular catch phrase "_________ に行っていきます！！” (________ ni itteikimasu). Itteikimasu! means "we're going!" or "off we go!" or "we're headed out" (also, you don't really pronounce the 'e' so it sounds more like ittikimasu)
Just before the first chorus it's: お好きなように。。。行っていきます！！ (Osukinayouni... itteikimasu !!) (The way we like it.... off we go!)
It's sort of like a call and response where YSTZ yells 'Osukinayouni' and the crowd shouts back 'Ittikimasu!!!'
And before the second chorus it's: ゆくえしれずに。。。行っていきます！！ (Yukueshirezuni... itteikimasu !!) (To Yukueshirezu..... off we go!!)
And in between these two parts there's also the "くそマザーファック！！” (Kuso Motherfuck!!) (Shit! Motherfuck!) So if YSTZ fans in Canada raised their middle fingers in the air and yelled 'Kuso! Motherfuck!' at the same time the girls do that would be pretty sweet.
Did you get all that? Well, here's some live footage to help you understand: Note: Shidare always stage dives and crowd surfs during the epic screaming part near the latter part of the song.
Summary
Yukueshirezutsure aka Not Secured, Loose Ends will definitely challenge any of the bands to steal the show as most impressive act. Personally, I still think Maison book girl's music is much more original and of higher songwriting quality but YSTZ will wipe the floor with MBG in terms of entertainment value in a live setting. And that's not to say I don't like YSTZ's music. In fact, I think their first ep "Antino未deology" is fantastic and was one of the best releases of 2016.
I've given YSTZ set lengths of 40 min. Since most of their songs are 4min or less they'll perform ~10 songs each night.
Simliar to YSTZ they'll hold scheduled times for taking photographs with the idol members. Unfortunately you'll have to pay for these photographs (called "checkies"). Is it lame to have to pay for a photograph? Sure, but it's also lame that most people pirate music off of bands/artists and this is one way idol groups have decided to actually make back some money. I don't know what the scheduled times are but most likely it'll be right after their set and again at the end of the concert.
Four members of YSTZ's official fan club 'Goonjo' (Ultramarine) will be coming all the way from Japan to the Toronto shows. One of them is the leader who travels everywhere in Japan to watch YSTZ perform. They'll help guide the audience in making noise and performing signature moves. LOL.
YSTZ fans can prepare by: 1. bringing ultramarine coloured glow sticks (I can't believe I just wrote that) Anyone creative enough to build these monstrosities or one up what's shown below will be the MAN:
2. Know the call and response parts to "つれづれ賛歌" (Tsurezure Sanka). See above for details but basically shout "ITTIKIMASU !!" at the two designated times. And shout "KUSO MOTHERFUCK !!" (Raising middle finger, optional). Also, get ready to catch Shidare when she stage dives near the latter part of the song. Let her crowd surf for a bit and then return her to the stage before the end of the song.
3. During "凶葬詩壱鳴り" (Kyousokaichinari) I expect no less than a dozen people getting hoisted up all at once and carried to the front of the stage so they can woo/worship the girls. It should be like a huge mountain of people or cheerleading pyramid on steroids. LOL. This happens during the 3 parts where the girls scream their heads off. Maybe not go so crazy right from the beginning but have 2-3 people hoisted up for first screamo part, 4-6 for the next and then "world's record" for the final screamo finale. (Haha. You guys probably think I'm just kidding but I'm actually serious and want to surprise YSTZ by showing them Toronto knows how to represent!)
4. During "六落叫" (Six fall Roar) is when the group head-banging happens. (no homo) The Rivoli show will be pretty packed (sold out) and there won't be space to do a circle formation head-bang so just form rows grabbing the person beside you shoulder-to-shoulder and head-bang away. At Lee's Palace I might ask the girls to perform Six Fall Roar last so that they can come down from the stage and the crowd can form a circle around them on the dance floor but I don't know if we need to go to such extremes.
Anyhow, YSTZ fans can post away in the comments section if they have ideas on how to make YSTZ feel at home in terms of cheering them on. The audience plays a major role in making idol performances wild and memorable. This time I'm the one bringing YSTZ over but if they feel there is enough fan support in Canada then they'll come back on their own to not only Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver but all around Canada and the US. So if you want YSTZ and other alt-idol groups to realize there's a market for them then make plenty of noise for YSTZ in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver (KUSO! MOTHERFUCK!)
And oh yeah! Can't forget 'The Mix'
Aaaaaaa! Yosha! Ikuzo!!
TIGER! FIRE! CYBER! FIBER! DIVER! VIBER! (short for vibration)
Jya! Jya!
and if you're up to it, follow it up in Japanese:
Tora! Hi! (pronounced He) Jinzou! Seni! Amaa! Shindou!
Kasen tobi jokyo!