With what felt like only a short break after the performances of JAM Project and T.M.Revolution, Yousei Teikoku and FLOW would soon take the stage. Despite an amazing first night these two artists did not disappoint and kept the energy going into the next night. They were less like a follow-up and more of their own main event.
Starting the show was none other than Yousei Teikoku. The military unit fought bravely for their kingdom and was able to soon enlist the audience as loyal subjects for their cause. Grand Dictator Yui had a command over the audience like I had never seen before. At times when the stage would go dark in preparation for the next track, her subjects could be heard screaming her name with all their might.
Grand Dictator Yui gave her subjects an opportunity for their voices to be heard when she commandeered the main screen to display the chorus for Patriot Anthem. After we had shown her that we were capable of following simple commands, the band gave an amazing performance of the song with the help of the audience singing in unison “We are martyr, we are believer, and we just believe the fairy”.
Later that night we would receive additional commands from our Grand Dictator. Grand Dictator Yui instructed her subjects to sing along with Sergeant Major Shiren on the guitar. Shiren led the subjects in the chant of “Das Feen Reich” for the song Geki (檄). Just as we had previously proven ourselves worthy for Patriot Anthem, the same was done here. Once we met her expectations we were allowed to join in on another amazing performance.
At the middle of their set, Yousei Teikoku did something even more memorable than incorporating the audience in their performance. Just as they were transitioning from one song to another, Yui placed the mic low and close to her body and stood straight with her head bowed. At the same time guitarists, Tachibana and Shiren played the iconic riff from One Step Closer to pay their respects to the late Chester Bennington from Linkin Park. Although it was a moment of sadness and reflection, the audience responded with Joy upon hearing such an iconic piece of music.
Yousei Teikoku made this as memorable a show as possible by not only incorporating their latest release, flamma idola, by also finishing the night with one of their most easily recognized songs Kuusou Mesorogiwi. This was the song used for the opening of the anime Mirai Nikki. This was obviously a fan favorite and as previously stated a genius way to end their set. Even as they left the stage and everything faded to black red glowsticks continued to wave wildly amidst cries of “Yui-sama” from her loyalist of subjects.
In stark contrast to the militaristic and gothic stylings of Yousei Teikoku, FLOW soon took the stage. It was as if the brief intermission had opened the door to a whole new world of color and vibrancy. FLOW gave a killer performance and spoke directly to the hearts of their fans by playing some of their hit songs from anime juggernauts like Naruto and Code Geass.
To everyone’s surprise, FLOW’s performance included a cameo of JAM Project’s leader, Hironobu Kageyama. When he took the stage it was obvious what was about to happen. Sometime back, FLOW had covered one of his songs, Cha-La-Head-Ch-La, the most iconic Dragon Ball song of all time! Of course, his presence on stage meant that the audience was in for a real treat when old met new and Kageyama performed the Dragon Ball opening alongside FLOW. The song was a real crowd pleaser and had fans screaming along with the chorus. It was obvious that the crowd loved him as you could see their reaction when Kageyama returned back stage after his performance.
FLOW also had an interesting chain of solos in the middle of their set. They began by introducing their drummer Iwasaki, who played a stellar drum solo. At the end of his solo, bassist Got’s was introduced. Got’s played the smoothest of smooth bass solos on his five-string bass. As his solo came to close Iwasaki joined in creating a groovy fusion of drum and bass. As to be expected, next up was guitarist Take.
Silence fell over the stage and Take appeared clad in a cape, luchador mask, and fake beard. He took to the small platform in the middle of the stage and began to perform a traditional Polynesian fire dance with a large glowing rod. As he spun the rod faster and faster the audience cheered louder and louder. At the end of his performance, he kneeled and handed the rod to kneeling vocalist Keigo who then ceremoniously passed the rod onto a kneeling stage hand. Then Keigo was joined by their other vocalist, Kohshi for the show to continue.
FLOW continued to play songs that it seemed the entire audience knew word for word and note for note. Their presence seemed to deliver a kind of warmth and happiness and made the room into an overall upbeat and high energy environment. Much like Yousei, FLOW closed with perhaps their most iconic song, GO!!! (frankly more known as “Fighting Dreamers” within the anime fan community). Fans sang along with this chorus as well as just about everyone who knows anything about the anime world knows this song.
Just as the night before, fans cheered for an encore and what they received was more than we could have ever imagined. Grand Dictator Yui graced us yet again with her presence on the stage alongside FLOW. The two proceeded to then perform COLORS of Code Geass’ fame. Yui’s gentle and graceful lent them self well to yet another one of FLOW’s light-hearted feel good tracks. It was a perfect way to close out the show and really left everyone in high spirits despite having to say goodbye to Anisong World Matsuri.
- Kyusei Argyros
- Kyouki Chinden
- Mischievous of Alice
- Astral Dogma
- Patriot Anthem
- flamma idola
- Kouusou Mesorogiwi
- Steppin’ Out
- Member introductions, solos
- World End
- Cha-La-Head-Ch-La (FLOW x Hironobu Kageyama)
- kaze no uta
- COLORS (FLOW x Yousei Teikoku)