Yup, yup, yup 👍🍻

Here's the true story of a high school friend of mine. He was keyboards in a pretty successful local band, they played gigs about three times a week and had some steady work. They put out a couple of EPs and got mentioned in the underground papers. scene: rehearsal space at the end of their last summer guitarist: "Hey guys! We should move to L.A.. and try to get noticed! We could be big!" keyboardist: "Gee, I'm not sure I'm ready for L.A. I'm enrolled as a music major at college." bassist "Hey guys! Great news! Christy's pregnant! We're getting married! Her dad's got a sweet gig for me at his business!" vocalist: "Hey guys! I brought a case of Old Milwaukee! Does anybody else want something?"

@@surfingasongwave LOL!! Yep! Sounds like the Bryan Adams song "Summer of '69" Thousands try and few succeed. Like the old saying goes, "if it was easy everyone would be doing it"

Was it in 2020? Man, can it be that long ago? I was thinking 2021…hmm?🤔

@@bobespirit2112 It was 2022, after their first post-covid live shows in Japan that summer and their return to the U.S. that October. They opened for Guns N Roses in Japan late '22 and then for The Last Rock Stars back in the U.S. early in '23.

@@bobespirit2112 My bad. I don't where I got that date. It was Nov 6, 2022. I will edit

@@surfingasongwave I erred when I was looking at the tour date info. It said Guns N Roses 2020 tour which was really their "We're F'N' Back! Tour". It began in 2020.

@@johnmatthew102 No worries! It wouldn't be the first time it took GnR a couple of years to actually do what they planned to do! 🤣 Although they have a good excuse this time ...

I've seen them 5 times. 2 times in Dallas, 2 times in Houston. Once in Austin.

She tucks the pick and holds it with her index finger. She never drops it which is mind boggling. Not common skill for bass players that I am aware of.

Standard Misa!

@stimproid has it wrong. She very quickly and deftly makes a small slit in the space-time continuum and puts her pick in it, then retrieves it later. Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, as they say. 🤣

@@surfingasongwave I stand corrected 😉

@@stimproid 🤣

You're ignoring that most "talented female metal/rock artists from Japan" make their living entirely in Japan and their audience is generally not only middle aged men. Pause one of their live videos from a Japanese venue and look at the faces in the crowd. I've gone to Band-Maid shows in the States and expected an older audience but what I saw was an all-ages crowd. There were older men, but I'd estimate maybe 10% or 15%. There were younger women too, but mostly couples in their 20s to 40s. Some of the younger audience (in the States) have never heard much rock music. It isn't played on the radio anymore. It sounds new and unique to them, and sometime the brashness and volume makes a big impression, especially from women in dresses. Sometimes gimmicks like that lose impact with the older crowd pretty quickly - they've seen it all before - but it's new to the millennials and younger generations.

What a BS post I don’t listen to “whatever comes out “ no matter where the band is from or if they are male or female. Band Maid is one of the best rock bands I’ve ever heard bar none. You don’t know rock music. Now go listen to your K -Pop Idol bands or lame popular American music.

I believe your analysis is inaccurate. All these talented female bands did NOT form to take advantage of middle aged Western men. It is more a result of having plenty of youngsters getting a good musical education and getting the desire to make that their career. Japan is the 2nd largest music market and is capable of supporting any number of bands financially. This has been going on for a long time. I believe Show-Ya, one of the first all female rock band in Japan, started in 1981. Baby Metal formed in 2010. Band Maid started in 2013. Certainly these 3 bands, and many others, were not started with the Western market in mind. As for the "savior" label, I agree with you. More accurate to say torch bearer. They are not only playing rock, but keeping it fresh with their own creative touches.

@@DAVID-io9nj Show-Ya, X Japan, Loudness and other bands of that era were NOT created specifically to cater to a western audience. BABYMETAL was created specifically to cater to idol culture with the bl3nd of idol and metal - that's not up for debate, that is SPECIFICALLY why the group was created, and you can go check the band's official bio if you don't believe me. When BABYMETAL broke out into the western audience there was a formula to breaking out in the west. It's not as if there weren't rock and metal bands in JP before BABYMETAL, but they didn't catch on in the west the same way. Even Mary's Blood and Destrose, bands that preceded the bands that are popular in the west today and share the same members, didn't break through to the west. BandMaid was formed by Miku to follow the BABYMETAL template to break into the western audience, not out of some deep seeded need to "rock out." BamdMaid was created to capitalize on, and cater to, the western audience. The skill of musicianship and songwriting is why they are not limited to being the gimmick band they were created as. Likewise, Nemophila and Lovebites had their own take on reaching a western audience, but make no mistake, THAT is what they were created to do, and that's what they did. There's NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT. Bur these groups AREN'T the "future of rock and metal." They are packaged and sold to middle-aged men. Sure you will find a woman, or someone under 30, here or there, but the OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of their fans are middle-aged men. That is a FACT, period. And middle-aged men are not "the future." Listen, I love these bands. BandMaid first, then Lovebites or Nemophila depending on my mood at the time. But I'm a middle-aged man. I'm not "the future," nor is anyone in my demographic. These bands are not reaching enough of the demographic that is "the future" for they themselves to be "the future." An example of an all female Asian band that is closer to being "the future" is Korea's Rolling Quartz. I don't like them as much, they're more Bon Jovi to, say, BandMaid's Van Halen, but they are more in tune with a young demographic immersed in KPOP than bands that are putting on shred clinics like Yngwie Malmsteen is still relevant - guess what? He's not.

@@FuglyStickI stand by my argument. Even Baby Metal was not started with Western men in mind. The pop idol scene has been present in Japan for a long time. Also, I don't dispute that most of the audience is men. But I believe that to be the case with rock/metal world wide. And I did not claim they are the "future" of rock. There is no denying that rock/metal is not a major part of the overall music scene today. The current trend of pop/idol, or what I call a Las Vegas song and dance act, is very strong. But who knows what will be next. Nothing stays widely popular forever.