Where did you all see Hanabie?

Saw them in NYC. Show was insane. Easily the best show i've ever been to.

It was awesome being so close to the stage at the Madison show! I was wearing a strawberry hat like in the "We Love Sweets" MV. When they started performing that song, Yukina took my hat and she wore it through the end of the song. Made for an unforgettable night!

Hanabie is one of the best live bands ever, the show in Berlin was perfect, the mix there was spot on 🤘

I watched them in London, one of the best concerts I have been. It was very hot, and they were asking repeatedly if we were ok, and throwing water to the audience from a bottle. TBH I don't remember much about the opening act.

I had the opposite type of experience, seeing Hanabie at LTL festival in Louisville. They drew a large crowd, and I manged to get up front. Yukina directed a big-time wall of death, and stole Hettsu's beer, at least for one good chug! Hettsu BTW, may be the most adorably goofy/cool rocker chick ever! It was super fun!!

It was fun during the Denver show seeing Yukina off to the side watching the opening acts. Then you get Yukina crowd surfing, all of the band members coming out to do a shot, the guitarist for Fox Lake popping out from backstage to stage dive during L.C.G. and watching their manager singing along and having a good time.

Saw Hanabie in Antwerp, Belgium, and then a few days later at the Dynamo festival in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Be it at the smaller venue, or at one of the biggest metal festivals in Europe, they bring the energy. Absolutely loved them!!! They made a lot of new fans at the festival, their t-shirts were selling out quicker than the other bands.

I saw HANABIE With NEMOPHILA at Zepp Nagoya in June. Yukina and Mayu singing Zen together. Chika was on fire 🥁Concert of the century. Till they play together again of course.

At the Arizona show Yukina got on stage to join Dropout Kings during a song for about 10 seconds. It was very cool, she's definitely a fan of them.

I think it was Kenny who I talked to in Frankfurt for quite a while before the concert and he asked me what I thought of Hanabie. Besides my enthusiasm for the Japanese rock and metal scene (I was wearing my BAND-MAID T-shirt, since merch sales hadn't started yet), I stressed that I was incredibly happy that Hanabie had come to Frankfurt and that it was certainly a good thing for the band to be signed to Sony and thus have the opportunity to tour overseas with a strong company behind them. Then he told me that he was from Sony. I already had the impression that he is very proud of "his band", which causes so much enthusiasm, no matter where they play.

Saw them at the Whisky last night. Agree with everything you say, including their opening acts. We were wondering about moshing and crowd surfing at the Whisky but Hanabie opened the pit and Yukina did the stage dive despite a sign banning it. When almost a quarter of the crowd participates, I guess it's impossible to stop. Afterwards at the merch tables, the other bands were mingling. I mentioned Yukina and the mosh pit. They said they were afraid to start it since they were guests, but Yukina as the mainliner couldn't care. Hanabie also joined several of the other bands during their sets and the singer of Dropout Kings joined Hanabie for theirs. At the end, all the members of the other bands joined Hanabie for a shot and photos in front of the crowd. It was a great time.

I saw Hanabie in Berlin and Frankfurt and can confirm a lot of what you said. In Berlin, "Letters Sent Home" opened the concert and Hanabie watched the performance from the upper area. In Frankfurt, "XO Armor" spontaneously stepped in as a replacement for "Avalanche Effect", who had to cancel due to illness. However, Hanabie couldn't watch them because there wasn't a single centimeter more space in Frankfurt's "Nachtleben". Hanabie's performances were super likeable, they even learned some German, very energetic and super heavy. At both concerts, which felt like they were taking place in a sauna, there were Walls of Death to the song Tousou. And at both concerts there was no space between the audience and the stage and the band was within reach. Unfortunately, Yukina didn't do any crowd surfing, but Matsuri gave high fives or shook hands to many fans in Frankfurt after the concert. Two great evenings that are second to none. Who needs perfectionism when you can experience the cutest, friendliest and most entertaining band totally heavy and up close.

Drove 4 hours to Fort Wayne to be one of the first in line, saw an amazing show where Chika gave me one of her drumsticks at the end of the night 🤘 Drove 4 hours back home and saw them in Joliet the next night! Both nights were so great in their own ways! Yukina is a sparkplug, Hettsu always has a smile on her face and loves getting the crowd moving, Matsuri just looks cool and calm, and Chika is a beast once she gets behind the kit!

honestly seeing Hanabie live cemented them as one of my favourite bands and the girls are so sweet and kind having got to meet them afterwards in London, and Kenny is a legend he crowd surfed over us

So glad that you all had such a great time and enjoyed the bands and show! Being able to listen to the recap of these experiences (Babymetal and Hanabie) really makes the day. Thank you so much for sharing all of the content lately, its really appreciated! Keep up the great work Alan, rock on, and much respect! 🤘

I was at this show! To the left and closer to the wall. Probably the best show I've been to in the last few years. High energy from start to finish, the crowd was awesome, the bands were awesome. Just a kick in the face the whole time. We all knew it was hot as fuck in there but nobody was bitching or complaining, we were just having a fantastic time. - I also went to the Babyklok show in Omaha the night before, which was awesome imo but this blew it and everything else I've done In recent time of the water. 20/10 experience would do again

I'm glad you had a great experience as well as liked Fox Lake, Colorado represent. Just saw the in colorado springs at a similar small intimate venue and it sounds like our experiences were similar which is awesome and shows all of these bands consistent energy and crowd interaction. 1 thing I really have to point out is the interaction and connection between these bands is amazing and refreshing to see shout out to Fox Lake, Dropout Kings, and Hanabie for being not only amazing bands but amazing people as well!! Can't wait for Aftershock to see them again the day after tomorrow!!!

I thought 5year had to be needed considering under CoVid19 and just a few fans in the venue. Then I took msg movie and sent andy&eric. I've already know you're one of great youtuber who react to J-music so we're glad you reacted to hanabie. Finally our dream come true. Thank you for your hard work!

I saw BM at the Aragon, and then I saw Hanabie at The Forge. I had more fun at the Hanabie show. I even got to crowd surf Yukina. All the openers came out and celebrated the show during their last song. The band members of Dropout Kings were in the mosh and enjoying the show with us. All around a way better experience. The venue was smaller too sonit had that personal show feeling as well.

Caught them at Rock am Ring with the family, front row on Hettsu's side. They hit the smallest stage in the afternoon with a decent crowd. Already a fan of their songs, but half expected the usual Japanese choreos and scripted interactions. I was blown away-they felt like a legit metal/punk band and I walked away a hardcore fan. Their sound was way heavier than expected, perfect for moshing. The crowd around me had no idea what to expect, thinking it’d be cute or weird. Three songs in, after everyone got over the initial shock, the place erupted. Crowd surfers everywhere, and the audience kept growing as Hanabie pulled in everyone passing by. By the end, they had the biggest crowd I saw at that stage all weekend. It was like witnessing Rammstein’s breakout at Bizarre Festival 2006. My neighbor said, "This is probably the last time we'll see them on a small stage," and I fear he’s right.

I just now got out of their Whisky A Go Go show. That pit was AWESOMELY FUN!!! Took me back to my San Francisco Bay Area Thrash Metal youth of the 80’s. Good friendly violent fun to quote EXODUS. Never thought I’d see a “wall of death” inside the Whisky A Go Go! HANABIE had to have made a huge impression on all of the Sony Label execs in attendance upstairs. Sound-wise I was prepared for an onslaught from the speakers, given what Alan described in this video. But thankfully all of the bands, with exception of the first openers LUCRETIA, had great sound! The drums for LUCRETIA was overpowering the heavy catchy melodies they were performing. Still that made me curious to hear some of their studio tracks. Great fuckin’ show!!! 🤘🏾🇯🇵 🤘🏾

I saw Hanabie in London - their only UK concert, so I travelled from the North I just had to see them (though I regretted not going to other European gigs in addition). Underworld got very hot. The accompanying band were good. Yukina didn’t crowd surf , but I don’t think she did elsewhere in Europe- raw energy and reaction with the crowd. When they were signing our stuff afterwards all the band talked to us within language limitations as individuals - I didn’t know that Chika had studied drums for a year in New York. I chatted for a while with Hettsu, who probably had the poorest English, but who was utterly charming and effusive. Yukina said that she wants to come back to London(hopefully Manchester too- I want to see them multiple times). In London they did lots of things before flying back to Japan - the original Doc Marten’s store and the Abbey Road crossing - corny but nice

I saw them in Berlin (HOLE44). It was awesome these girls rock. Got a fancam of the moshpit from up top the balcony. 😎🤘

Just saw them in San Diego and I could not agree with you more. Hanabie were even better live than I could have expected and Fox Lake absolutely killed it!

Nice you saw them right when they were dipping their toes into america. Ok, sure, also it was a b or c town. I eventually saw them in toronto. Absolutely wild show. Lots of fun. couldnt stop going wild in the pit. My wrist is still a bit messed up. Good times, i was the target since i was the biggest guy in the pit.

I was there in the front row too. I wish I could share your enthusiasm for the opening acts. The heat in there maybe fouled my mood a bit. Hanabie was great though! Especially in such an intimate setting.

That is such a tiny stage!!!

Seeing them in Denver was definitely the best 30 dollars i have ever spent (we wont talk about my flight and hotel lol). Probably the best all around show I've been to. And Hanabie is incredible live. The fact the venue was so small is **chefs kiss** Note that Matsuri sounds 1000x better live than she does on any phone recording I've heard of her Also, Fox Lake and Dropout Kings are sick. Already listened to Fox Lake pretty heavily before this show was announced, and when I heard the lineup, I was shocked. Booked a ticket instantly lol

I saw them live at Orlando a few weeks ago, I was right up front and Yukina was right there in front of me. Definitely the best concert I have ever been too and THE highlight of my year, I’m going to see them again when they come back to America no doubt. And to top it off I got one of Chika’s drum sticks

Oh shit, i was there but didn't notice you. I had a blast. Was very cool that they came to Des Moines. Found myself in the wall of death clip lol.

NICE!!! Glad you liked the situation with the openers, I enjoyed them too!

After watching them live I became a big fan xD Hetts is the best. It is one of the most successful tours out of Japan ever, everyone is talking about them...and at this point I have seen all the people you usually see in the Japanese metal discords and youtube chats appearing in the pictures on the first row.

I saw them in Phoenix. I agree all the bands really were supportive of each other and it made the show that much more meaningful. It was great they got to travel the world and do a tour and that can be completely exhausting so having a couple bands that are there to support you through it can be the difference between loving and hating the gigs. I am so hyped for them, and I hope they continue growing.

Thank you for your 'run through' of the gig. So amazing the bands were supporting each other in the way you describe.. The main reason I want to. see Hanabie at this stage of their career, is the 'raw sound' aspect of their live performances. Who wants to hear a perfect rendition of the studio audio? You mat as well stay at home, save money and listen to the CD or Spotify, etc. Sadly, I have not seen Band Maid, Lovebites or Nemophila at the outset of their careers, so I can only hope that Hanabie, don't change style of their live shows but it most likely will happen. No criticism intended of any of the bands I have mentioned but once you are yards from the stage, security barriers and staff, enormous video screens, it is just no the same experience.

Cool review Alan - building the anticipation for me to see them at Aftershock on Friday (I wasn't able to catch any of their other tour dates unfortunately).

I'm looking forward to seeing how they do at their last stop for the Aftershock festival. The videos I've seen from Louder Than Life looked like they really won the crowd over. I won't get to see them this time around, but seeing the response they are getting from this tour, i can't imagine it will be long before they come back.

Glad to see them headlining and actually interacting with the opening band and being around during their set. I never saw Galactic Empire out supporting Hanabie in Greensboro, and the sets felt very disconnected. Glad their opening act shares that same energy and vibe that carries over.

Thanks for the review Alan. Maybe, just maybe one day Hanabie and other Japanese bands will visit Canada.

wait to c them on Dec. in Thailand. after follow their tours from Europe till US. They become more n more awesome! So jealous all of u guys to be very very close to them.

Yo Glasses backwards hat guy in the beginning! Thanks for the ear plugs at the Babymetal show in Millwaukee

Thank you for the great report. You’re so lucky to see them in that casual, intimate setting. Aftershock will be quite different.

I saw them a couple weeks ago in San Diego and it was exactly as you described it. One of the best and most fun concerts I’ve been to. The venue was also very intimate and warm, but that all made it feel more authentic. The bands were also very interactive with the audience too. It was all truly a unique experience, FoxLake and Dropout Kings gained new fans that night as well. I hope Hanabie does another US tour again in the near future.

Finally, even HANABIE has been discovered by Dicodec... They are so talented that they were featured in a Japanese metal magazine at the same time as BABYMETAL!

Drove to Pittsburgh to see them was great they need to come to Cleveland WMMS would of been all about Hanabie back in the day today we get talk radio

I'm seeing Hanabie on 11/2 in Mesa AZ. I splurged for the VIP package. Fucking psyched.

I was able to see them twice in the US. The first show I saw them at was in Spartanburg. No barrier, they hadn't brought out the boxes yet and Yukina had like a foot of space to work with in front of Chika's drums. Being right in front of her and close enough to where if we synchronized our headbanging correctly we would have headbutted each other was wild. She does have really good stage awareness though so unfortunately she never assaulted me when she was dancing in front of Chika's drums. 😫 The second show was in Madison. I also saw their manager rocking out next to the computer. 🤭 I did prefer this setlist compared to Spartanburg. They also had the time to do a bit of MC outside of Hettsu explaining why she was sitting down with a brace on her ankle. Empty Graves is a pretty hard hitting djent/deathcore band which doesn't translate too well to recordings. Elswhr was pretty great but were really nervous since I think this was the biggest audience they have had ever. I have to agree about Fox Lake and Dropout Kings. Great bands to open for Hanabie for sure.

damn totally not jealous i want to see hanabie, maybe i'll get a chance when i go to japan.

Saw them in Pittsburgh Pa 2 weeks ago. Thought the show was fantastic! Really good time. Everything you said I agree with at the show I saw them. Think my venue was bigger than where you saw them. But crowd was also right up to the stage. I was only 2 people back from stage. Imo it was waaaayy better than Babymetal and Dethklok.

I saw the in a venue called "The Underground" in London they were fantastic and I was close up to them aswell

Saw them in Berlin at Hole44, amazing experience. 🤟

I saw them at the brick by brick in San Diego. Super small bar as well.

I saw them in Colorado Springs! I dislocated my shoulder at the BabyMetal show in Denver, but I still made it! No regrets and I am definitely a new fan of all the bands !

Ah ha! I thought that was you in all the crowd photos from their Instagram posts. Looks like it was an amazing show. Too bad you didn't get to do a proper interview with them. Maybe the next time around. 🤞

Fort Wayne was a blast also!

I'm seeing them when they come to Australia for the Good Things festival in December. Won't be quite as intimate setting as this, but it should be a great show.

I saw them in Indiana the same show Ryan went to. They were awesome!!

Damn damn damn, I could have gone to that if I knew about it.

最高！ありがとう〜〜〜💖

🤘🇺🇦🤘

Great review Alan and as someone who was literally right there everything you said was spot on. One of the hottest shows I have been to in almost 40 years. Thing was the bands were so enjoyable I did not care. Loved the small venue only problem was one asshole who pushed to the front he had lost his damn mind. He is why I was pushed into you from behind a couple of times. As for Yukina, you are right as we put her back on stage it was like lifting a feather, but damn a ferocious feather she is.

I saw them at louder than life, smaller set list but still a great time

Kenny will crowdsurfing too on the last gig (it will be LA?)

how early did you get in line to get first row?

Saw them in Austin. My only gripe? THEY were the opening band for Galactic Empire. (Insert long groan....). Talk about a mismatch. It was worse than the BM Dethklok pairing. Actually... It was a good thing they opened. I didn't have to suffer thru Galactic Empire like I did Dethklok. But still, I would've preferred Dropout Kings by a long shot. The Hanabie part tho... Fuck yeah dude. That shit was fun AF!!!

First meeting and taking pictures with the three ladies of Babymetal themselves and now Hanabie ........I always miss the good stuff.

❤️‍🔥🤟😜🤟❤️‍🔥

Tomorrow at the Whiskey. Trying to get tickets to the NEX fest in Chiba. Hanabie as well as Bring Me The Horizon, Baby-Metal, Paledusk, and Maximum the Hormone.

You Americans are so lucky to see Hanabie is such a small dinky venue, me being a Japanese, I really wonder why they have to go US to have such a small show, I mean, they should at least satisfy local fun before going to abroad.

Sadly they came next to me in august, a month were I work every day :( Tbh I don't believe I would have enjoyed the opening bands, but who knows :)

check Paledusk -Rumble PassCode - Flavor Of Blue The Mad Capsule Markets - All The Time In The Sunny Beach Omerta - Antiamorous (feat. JOHNNASCUS) SPARK!!SOUND!!SHOW!! ヘビーローテンション feat.YUKITERO(空きっ腹に酒)& KAITO(Paledusk)

First!

Kills me that you still pronounce their name wrong... it's not Ha-nobby-a.... it's Honnah-Bee-A. Minor gripe, but audibly it's a world of difference. 😛But yea, it was absolutely surreal getting to see them live, I could not believe when they announced the U.S. tour that they would be coming to Wisconsin, made my year.

Imagine saying you can't believe you're seeing them and that close to them, and then you keep your phone out the ENTIRE time just to record and watch it through your phone. I don't get it lol

They didn't recognize you, Alan?

Second)

It's always cool when you go to a venue and it devolves into the equivalent of a house party from a 90's movie.. only with talent and no anabolic steroids in sight. btw, your energy and obvious delight in the experience totally sold me on you as a reviewer. 🌈ᥫ᭡