FUKURO from JAPAN in ANIME EXPO 2024
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| FUKURO from JAPAN in Anime Expo 2024 |
After re-opening my blog, here's my first post, which turns out to be a live report of the visual rock band, FUKURO FROM JAPAN! Anime Expo 2024 just happened last weekend, and after quickly skimming through this year's list of talents, one of the very few music acts that actually came from Japan. Since I am writing on my own blog and not for a company, I have to warn you all that I will be more casual in my writing style. Anyway, read on to see how this band performed during AX2024!
Fukuro is a visual rock band from Tokyo, Japan. They formed on September 6th, 2021 and kicked off their activities with a oneman live on October 22nd, 2021 at Tokyo’s Chelsea Hotel. The band features a unique, mostly guitar-less line up featuring Yoshiatsu (ex-DADAROMA) on vocals, Daisuke on keyboards, Yutara (MonstlloW) on Bass and Lotto (ex-Sioux, AMAMITSUTSUKI) on drums. Yoshiatsu sometimes picks up guitar duties as well. Their jazz-inspired, soulful music brings a fresh twist to visual kei that hasn’t been seen before and promises to appeal to a wide variety of music lovers. Fukuro have always had their sights on touring overseas and are excited to make Anime Expo 2024 their very first overseas outing. They hope this will be the first of many overseas tours for the band.
Taken from the panel description from the AX site.
Fukuro's performance at the convention was assigned to take place at the Community Stage on the 3rd day of the convention (July 6), which was very surprising because, for the last two years, Anime Expo has had its musical talents perform on the big stage, either during the Masquerade Ball or the Closing Ceremony. The community stage is located in the Entertainment Hall, where it could be loud because of the many things going on at the same time. But this seemed to have not phased the band at all. They were very chill as they were setting up for their 8PM slot. Yes, we could clearly see them prepping and even looking at the crowd starting to fill the seats quickly.
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| Yoshiatsu (vocalist) & Lotto (drummer) |
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| Daisuke (pianist) |
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| Lotto (drummer) |
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| Yoshiatsu (vocalist) & Yutara (bassist) |
Even before they got the go-ahead to start the show, their soundcheck was hyping up the audience! Yoshiatsu, the vocalist, was already showing off his awesome vocals, and along with everyone's instruments, I had a feeling that this was going to be good. Other than the announcement that Fukuro would be coming to AX, I had no prior knowledge of the group. So, I honestly had no expectations... but wow! They not only got my attention, they definitely impressed me! Aside from having a pianist in the band, they have a more jazzy style, which surprisingly works out very well. They sure lived up to their panel description. Their unique style is very intriguing and entertaining, making them stand out from many of the visual kei bands I've listened to in the past. I found their music soulful and even sexy at times. Yassss!
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| FUKURO from JAPAN at Anime Expo 2024 |
I've also noticed some people in the audience, who were probably there to accompany someone who wanted to see the band or were just curious about them, actually enjoyed the show, as well! It turned out that having the show on the Community Stage was a good idea, as it easily attracted more and more people to come to watch them perform. Plus, having a smaller stage made the experience more intimate, even in such a busy and loud hall.
By the end of the show, the majority were screaming their name in excitement, and a good number of people lined up to buy merch and for photo ops with the band. Unfortunately, they had to send away more than half of the fans because the hall closes at 9PM. They had some technical difficulties before starting the show, so they started late. Plus, the time slot itself was too late, there really was not much time to accommodate everyone. If this was the only opportunity to purchase merch and get a photo with the band, I'd be really sad. On the bright side, they just had two more shows in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Their last show is in San Diego tonight! If you can make it, go check out this very cool band before they return to Japan!
By the way, I am not a photographer, but I have tried my best to take good pictures of the band. They're actually very good-looking! It is not hard to crush on them at all! Anyway, here's more pictures that I took of them:
I'd like to commend the band for coming all the way to the US. Compared to a certain big Japanese entertainment company I have encountered in recent years, they are much more brave and ambitious in venturing out of their comfort zone. I've been watching the band members' Instagram stories and was surprised that they don't have staff to drive them up and down California for their shows. They truly prove that if there's a will, there's a way! I'm drained of pleading for things to happen here in the US (to that certain Japanese company, lol), so their drive to reach an international audience has earned my respect. The band seems to have enjoyed this tour because they all got matching diamond tattoos last night to commemorate it! That's crazy, right?! Wow!
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| Lotto driving to the San Diego venue tonight. |
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| Yoshiatsu showing off his new tattoo. |
By the way, my sister (Gabby) and I were able to meet them at the end of the show. They were so friendly! Shout out to our friend, Kuri, for the hook-up! Thankssss girrrrl! <3
I will for sure be making a vlog with footage of their performance, so watch out for it on my vlogging channel! Maybe next time I can interview them, too?? TEEHEE.
Check out Fukuro here:
Thanks for reading!
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