Live Review: Hanabie. Brings The Japanese Nu Metalcore to Adelaide – Spotlight Report
‘Let me paint you a picture…’
Certain gigs are more than just an aural experience, they are truly a night at the theatre.
On the final evening of their headline tour, Tokyo’s hyper-pop princesses, HANABIE, brought Harajuku to Adelaide for the first time. A return visit to Australia, almost a year apart from their debut appearance at 2023’s GOOD THINGS festival, the all-girl, all-star cast were joined by Melbourne’s Doom Slayers, THE GLOOM IN THE CORNER, for a choreographed evening of rioting in rhinestone; a screening of pure cinema-core.
Emerging side of stage in characterised iterations of a pitch Black Rot costume, THE GLOOM IN THE CORNER stands their mark. Mikey Arthur’s haunting melodies adding immediate depth to the imagery, the scene is set. Tonight we’ll be taken From Heaven to Hell; ‘Welcome to the Rabbit Hole’.
Beginning the year here on the Trinity headline tour, tonight is far from a simple remake and GLOOM are at their Misanthropic best. Four Ronin warriors engaged in combat against the stage itself, the band’s Behemoth butcher-bassist, Paul Musolino, leans over the crowd in an Apocalypta Arc. From “party song” to “one for all the ladies in the house”, Nor Hell A Fury threatens to Bleed You Out “no matter if you’re a mother, sister or girlfriend”, even a humble reporter on the sidelines of tonight’s dystopian battlefield. Channelling the Yakuza, new song Assassination One may be the band’s most lyrically brutal song yet; gentle jazz keys and waves of symphony crash “one more fucking time” into synonymously epic breakdowns and Joshua Clinch’s rapidfire drumbeats of The Jericho Protocol’s end credits.
HANABIE is to modern metalcore what Stanley Kubrick was to classic film. Often indescribable to those who have not watched, their art features intricately woven themes laden with symbolism that follow unconventional patterns, tantalising and challenging imagination and interpretation.
As a singular-male voiceover announces the commencement of tonight’s Battle Royale, encouraging tributes to “work together, to play and have a good time”, a drum’n’bass beat pulsates as Yukina, Matsuri and Hettsu stand on podiums orchestrating our claps. Wearing double-denim and diamantes they Metamophose! from cute to crucifying, opening with the newest track – OTAKU Lovely Densetsu. NEET Game, the first of many nods to modern Japanese tech-culture is followed by another from 2023’s Reborn Superstar! Kotoshi koso Gal translates to ‘Be the Girl’; Hettsu’s bass hangs as she proudly downs a beer.
Momentarily leaving the stage as Matsuri offers her thanks to both the Adelaide audience and THE GLOOM IN THE CORNER for joining them on their debut headline tour, fears are allayed as Hettsu reappears with GLOOM guitarist Matt Stevens dressed in a koala onesie. The girls donning fluffy hats of their own, the chant goes up for a shoey. Politely declined, Hettsu attests We Love Sweets and offers to skull another beer instead, in the process teaching us all how to say it in Japanese – zugai – while chanting and synchronised hand slamming turns The Gov’s moshpit into a rap battle scene from 8 Mile. Returning to the digital age of where they sought their fame on YouTube and TikTok, a take on Dating App Generations, Reiwa Matching-sedai’s dial-toned destruction leads aptly into GIRL’S TALK.
All of this just a Warning!! the second half opens. A trip-hop interlude building a false sense of security, Yukina’s growl is more lethal and potent than ever in a rarely downtimed track. These are Tales of Villains screaming “Fuck yes, Australia”, soon to be outshadowed by the crowd, who roar for drummer Chika upon seeing her first scene as leading actor tonight. All are bound to be talking about this moment over tomorrow’s Sunrise Miso-Soup, an intense breakdown induces an all-cast danceathon to tonight’s fan favourite. All of us living in HANABIE’s infectiously nu-metal soundtracked Living Card Games, Yukina calls for a circlepit for L.C.G. as Osaki ni Shitsurei Simasu, ‘pardon me for leaving first’, closes the major set.
The former lyrics scream, ‘Sorry, I’m so sorry. Let’s just run away’; that they do, only to return for an encore. Exchanging thank yous in their native language, echoed back by the audience, Choujigen Galaxy sends us into ‘hyperdimension’ with its manic final-level pace. A traditional back-and-forth for all international visitors, an emphatic callback of “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie; Oi, Oi, Oi!” provides the last linking shot in HANABIE’s film. The final scene is picture perfectly titled, Today’s So Good & Epic, as are this band.
