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Theatic Alamode – Blood Stain Child and Calmando Qual

March 16, 2010 by

Resulting from my hangover and the quake, I was a tad late for Theatic Alamode last night.

I did get to see 2 really interesting bands, as well as checking out the gothic lolitas and metallers there, so I got my money’s worth. Unlike Tokyo Decadance, I was virtually the only westerner there – I *think* I spotted one other. But now, the bands.

BSC’s music is metal/screamo/electronic – Wiki calls them melodic death metal. There is a melodic electronic track underpinning each song, overlaid by big powerful riffs and fierce vocals.

Formed in 2000, they have released 4 albums, the latest being Mosaiq. Their influences range from In Flames, Children of Bodom, and HIM, to Soulfy, Black Sabath, Megadeath, Slayer, X-Japan, Trivium and Linkin Park.

The singer Sadew is fantastically charismatic, and with his dreads is very much the Japanese Jonathan Davis. Yes, he’s very pretty. Ahem. But also an amazing singer, whether vocalising melodically a la Serge Tankian, or howling like, well, pick your fave screamer.

 
The other members are Ryo, GSR, Violator, Aki and Ryu – the only chick in the band – who has blue hair!!
Although I’m not so much into screamo, I enjoyed the gig immensely, such was the vibe and the musicianship. The fact that all of them are nice looking doesn’t hurt. Check them out at the BSC website or MySpace page.
Following Blood Stain Child was a very eccentric band indeed.
Calmando Qual

If  I thought the BSC frontman was charismatic, I couldn’t take my eyes off Hibiki, singer of Calmando Qual. CQ is an experimental goth/deathrock band which formed in 2001.  Originally Visual Kei in appearance, there’s more of a weird circus/vaudeville/dandy flavour now, it seems to me, as if the carnies have escaped from the asylum.
Hibiki cackles maniacally whilst rolling his eyes and generally acting like he’s insane, with hair teased bigger than Robert Smith’s. Every facial twitch is mesmerising, as is his and offsider/bass player Kenka’s storyelling before each song. I had no idea what they were talking about, but it seemed to hold the crowd. Kenka seemed to be some ancient deranged pirate, while drummer Maya and guitarist Tak didn’t seem to have characters as such.
I found the music less accessible than BSC’s and vocally Hibiki wasn’t as strong, sometimes singing a bit flat. Maybe that’s not the point – Nick Cave in the early Birthday Party was pretty hard to listen to. But there’s no denying the band is intriguing to watch. Newly signed to the Darkest Labyrinth label, CQ has a new single “Doors” being released on May 26.
If you want to experience Calmando Qual for yourself, head to Calmando Qual’s website, the CQ MySpace page, or watch the videos on the Spirit of Metal website.
Both bands are touring now, so if you’re in japan keep an eye out for them.
As for the club itself, there was the usual array of lolitas and some cyber kiddies, as well as the more casually dressed kids there for the metal. I used to be surprised to see little lolitas throwing themselves around to gabba, but after a few of these clubs, the novelty wears off and it seems normal. There were no photos being taken, so I took my cue and refrained.

So there’s no outfit pic for the night, lthough I snapped a self pic for the record. I
toned down my make-up a bit for this club, seeing as I had to get a train to Ikebukuro and knew I’d be asking for directions numerous times. It was cold enough to warrant my fake fur scarf, and I paired it with my icy blue “Angelic” contact lenses. Yes, the Takuya lashes came out again 🙂

Next up…my visit to an amazing accessories exhibition at the Bunka Fashion College in Shinjuku.

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