ONE OK ROCK AT HOUSE OF BLUES IN BOSTON
Many of us have experienced the pain of going to Warped Tour and discovering those two bands you really want to see have been scheduled with conflicting time slots. It’s a very special heartache that I hope no one else has to feel. When a band called The Maine announced a lovely, little, lonely weekend in New York, I was purely ecstatic. Then in late Spring, One Ok Rock dropped the tour dates for the “Luxury Disease Tour” and that all-too-familiar pit of darkness came over me (and several friends) upon realizing their New York stop was the exact same weekend as The Maine. Thus readers, we found ourselves at House of Blues in Boston the very next day for One Ok Rock! We had to travel, because there was absolutely no chance we were missing this tour! This is the first time since 2019 that both international bands on the bill, One Ok Rock from Japan and You Me At Six from the UK, have performed on American soil. Yep, pre-Covid, so this tour is kinda a big deal. To give you an idea, people waited over an hour on this half mile long line to enter this show. The line turned a corner, went across an overpass, and circled the block with fans as far as the eye could see.
The first performers of the night were Fame On Fire hailing from south Florida (shoutout to Christian Maravelis for introducing them to me). The energy written into their music was translated well on stage, the crowd was lively and enjoyed the performance they put on. A well performed Linkin Park cover in the style of Fame on Fire is always a sure-fire way to excite any audience. They were the perfect fit for this tour with their strong display of musicianship and engagement and are a good example of what was to come later that night.
Speaking of Warped Tour, my first time seeing You Me At Six was there. For as long as I’ve seen them, they’ve always put on an energetic show with tonight being no exception. Immediately, their singer ran on stage and jumped right into it. “Loverboy” is a great bouncy song to open with and the crowd was ready to match their energy. As a pleasant surprise, “Bite My Tongue”, one of the band’s most recognized singles was not saved for last as audiences have come to expect, but performed third instead. This is something I wish more artists would do.
It’s clear to see that One Ok Rock have genuine love for their performances and the experience to take it another step further. Their light show and production was beautifully synchronized along with dancing to their new song, “Wonder”. This writer always appreciates synchronized dance movements. The crowd engagement was felt throughout the night with their banter and interactions. Despite English not being the band’s first language, their passion was loud and clear as music is a language everyone can understand. The song that got me into One Ok Rock six years ago was “The Beginning”, thanks to a few friends who couldn’t stop blasting their music (rightfully so). The atmosphere in the room was heavy with enthusiasm as the song began, causing the crowd to break out in such a spirited singalong.
Their frontman, Taka Moriuchi, is a force to be reckoned with. The charisma this singer has on stage is one of the best I’ve ever seen. Even if you’ve never heard One Ok Rock before, there’s no denying the amount of control he holds over his singing, even while parading around the stage. But, of course, let’s not forget their guitarist, Toru Yamashita, along with their bassist, Ryota Kohama, both of whom have their playing down well and can effortlessly jump up, down, and all around right on beat along with Taka. Providing steady rhythm to jump to is their drummer, Tomoya Kanki, who performs with so much heart. Whenever there was a momentary pause in percussion, he could often be spotted with the biggest smile on his face.
Their encore was interesting for a number of reasons. To begin with, it consisted of two songs, “Always Coming Back” and “American Girls”. The former of which they’ve never played in America before, and boy was that a wonderful surprise! It was an interesting (and delightful) choice as it was released only on the Japanese edition of their 2017 album, Ambitions. This means listening to, much less even finding this song on Spotify, is nearly impossible for American audiences. When you search this album on there, you’re met with the international edition of the album, which unfortunately does not include “Always Coming Back”. However, it does include the latter song, “American Girls”, which was an excellent choice as a closing song, as it's filled with high energy and is a great way to leave the crowd fulfilled at the end of the night. And that, my readers, they did - they damn well did. You know when people say, “You just had to be there”? Without any doubt, this was one of those ‘had-to-be-there’ shows.