Inugami Rocked to the Death on December 10

“Rock until you die!”

These were the words printed on war-like banners planted about the stage of Inugami Circus Dan’s December 10 Shinu Made ROCK! Tour final at Shibuya O-West. “Ladies and gentlemen, to ride this boat you must separate your soul from your body. In order to do that, the ritual is going to begin now. How was your life? Was it like a movie? Or was it like a boring movie? Well, everyone, this is the ritual of your death,” claimed the voiceover.

The band entered one by one, vocalist Kyouko looking like a proper traditional enka artist in her kimono with a flowered headpiece draped in her long black hair. As the first numbers, “Anata ga moshimo” and “Minnagoroshi no Lullaby”  began, her relaxed attitude and sweet, enka-style vocals sometimes seemed at odds with the atmosphere of the evening but the music was all drums and guitar in true rock style.

“We’re Inugami Circus Dan and this is the Shinu Made ROCK! tour final so we have a special guest tonight. Shall I call him? Kuwata Keisuke!” Kyouko called, gesturing to drummer Akira and causing the crowd to break out in laughter. Akira launched into singing a completely unintelligible impression of the enka artist, Kyouko joining him. “This may seem surprising, but that was the best impression of Kuwata-san I’ve ever heard,” said guitarist, George. Kyouko nodded in vigorous agreement. “That’s because he’s probably haunting us,” she said. “Now, let’s go all out! ‘Sakura chiru naka!’”

The number paid tribute to enka artists nationwide, highly rhythmic but with the unmistakable melody of that style.  Kyouko showed off the depths of her voice in jungle drum-accented song “Chikyu ni ochita kodomo tachi” and “Yomi no kuni” was an even more unusual piece that blended enka with rap.

“Don’t you think our songs are frightening?” asked Kyouko. “When we appeared on the radio, we were told that not even one of our songs can be played on air so we had to play completely unrelated music.” No one seemed more amused at this than the vocalist who laughed heartily before launching into a darker topic. “It was in the news that an elementary student got stabbed. Apparently the criminal just wanted to kill someone. It makes you think ‘It could have been me.’”
“The one getting stabbed… right?” George raced to clarify.
“Of course! If I was to kill someone it would be because I was properly angry,” Kyouko retorted. “Anyway, our songs are scary like that. Like this one song about a case that occurred in Scotland. It’s the very story of that incident and that’s what we’re going to play now.”

The waltz number, “Bizarre,” with light cymbals and lilting guitar featured a strong but simple vocal line until it dissolved into creepy laughter as Kyouko played the unstable murderer to chilling effect. Then came one of the biggest highlights of the set, Kyouko and George spotlighted for “Enamel wo nurareta apoli Nail” during which the guitar line vamped endlessly under Kyouko’s spoken monologue. “Mother! It’s because you abused me! Teacher, it’s your fault!” she cried. The rhythmic number came to a halt as Kyouko’s speech turned sweet. “Oh, you came, my old school friend. Who’s that…? Is she your wife…? Well she’s beautiful.” The talk twisted, turned and escalated until the story reached its climax. “Where is everyone? Where’s my body? Oh… Today is my funeral.”

Kyouko thanked the crowd cutely as if she’d been singing about ducks and daises. “We’ve been a band for… How long? That’s right. Thirteen years. Did you think we’d keep this up for so long?” she asked the band.
“I thought we’d just mess around for a while and then break up,” confessed Jin. “But we didn’t. After all, I like music, although I realized recently that I don’t like loud noise. When I listen to rehearsals I really feel like I hate loud sounds.”

“Since you said that, we’ll show you our loud noise!” Kyouko suddenly. “We’ll give you our rock! ‘Shinu made ROCK!’” The super old-school rock’n’roll was the perfect sound for a ’70s beach party montage  with much darker lyrics. “Ryuuki no kuni no Alice” kept the pace upbeat and fun, Kyouko shouting “Arena!” to rile the crowd. “Why? Why? Why is it?” began “Mementomori,” another monologue number accompanied by gentle drums and guitar. “Why am only I dying? If you’re alive, raise your hands!” Suddenly the dark feel widened into a positive atmosphere with shouts of “Sky! Sea!” and other affirmations of the living world in an enka-style chorus while drums and guitar added a round of falling “Ah”’s as backing vocals. What followed was “Heisei Democracy,” a dance number, festival style, with lots of clapping to the funky beat and flicked hands to the enka melody.

The final emcee of the set was a reflection of the most “rock!” happenings of the tour. Jin’s decision was the timing of their repeated viewings of the same TV program in almost every location while George said, “We were ‘rock!’ onstage!” He then talked about the hitchhikers they almost picked up on two separate occasions who happened to be headed to the same destinations, one being a foreigner. Akira talked about how he’d been down with a cold during the tour and thought he was coughing up blood and how “rock!” that would be if he died onstage. Kyouko’s choice tied in with another theme from the tour, “rock sweets,” and how hers was the chocolate bar Black Thunder which she thought sounded very rock. The band struck up a metal jam session to complete the story every time she cried “BLACK THUNDER!” just as they had done on tour.

“Well, we’re not a metal band. So here’s our rock,” Kyouko said at last, launching the instrumentally heavy but prettily voiced, “Shiiku.” Pretty, except for the lyric “Tsukamero!” (Grab it!) for which Kyouko churned out a rockin’ grunge. Then “Taika” had the crowd and band dancing, with Kyouko and Jin executing a human wave. A trademark Beethoven melody was thrown in at speed and lyricized before Kyouko started whipping her long hair back and forth, lunging into the music. The pinnacle of the set was “Inugami tengoku – Bakusou All Night Long,” a song that, despite Kyouko’s earlier claim, would have been 100% metal if not for the high-toned, feminine vocals to bring home a rockin’ set.

“Inugami Circus Dan, formed 1994,” began a video projection. Continuing through the years and music videos, it informed the crowd of the band’s accomplishments as follows:

“Filled with entertainment value.”
“Filled with more entertainment value.”
“Filled with even more entertainment value.”
2011: “Their rock statement: Shinu made ROCK!”
2012: Putting a full stop on entertainment.
BREAK UP
…We wouldn’t do that.
Full album release as Inugami Saakasu Dan.

As Akira explained, the band figure it’s time they took things a little more seriously, thus changing the spelling of the band-name from サーカス to サアカス, an idea they came up with in the middle of the tour.
“Since Jin joined, I feel we’ve become much more rock–but we haven’t tested his angura! (underground)” said George.
“Even though it was an angura band I was invited to join,” Jin added.
As a result, Inugami Circus Dan have decided to return to angura style in 2012, putting a darker spin on their concerts which are full of laughter and ridiculous antics.
“If I flip the switch and get dark, I won’t be able to write my blog anymore,” said Kyouko. “It will say nothing but ‘I want to die.’”

The first song of the encore, “Unmei no Karma” was one they had written for another band, but they performed it because of its supposedly angura, yet mostly poppy, sound. “Inochi mijikashi koiseyo jinrui” featured a very bright melody to revive the upbeat spirit of the night without pretense. Then, for the second encore, after introducing the new collaboration bracelet, Kyouko tried to work the crowd up once more. “We’re di… Wait, what was I supposed to say? ‘I don’t wanna die?’” After discussing in whispers with George, the vocalist finally yelled a “Will you die with us?” to introduce “Shini Time – Jisatsu no uta” Angry melody contrasted with cheerful guitar while the lyrics “Die! Die! Go ahead and die!” and throat-cutting motions gave the crowd something to participate in.

“Who would have thought you would call us out for a third encore?” Kyouko cried, delighted as she took the stage one final time. The last song, “Zankoku Rakuen,” had her long hair whipping through the air as she threw her neck into all-out headbanging. Her demure image was utterly destroyed, hair a mess and flowers nowhere in sight. The evolution was a smooth, non-verbal statement of the band’s outlook, silently backing the tour title and commenting on the variety Inugami Circus Dan have to offer.

With some stylistic changes coming in 2012 along with a new single release preceding the upcoming full album, Inugami Circus Dan are putting the pedal to the metal. 2012 is certain to bring some entertaining shows from this unusual yet versatile band.

Set List

1. Anata ga moshimo
2. Minnagoroshi no Lullaby
3. Sakura chiru naka
4. Chikyu ni ochita kodomo tachi
5. Yomi no kuni
6. Bizarre
7. Hako onnna
8. Enamel wo nurareta apoli Nail
9. Sagashimono – Shibitobana
10. Shinu made ROCK!
11. Ryuuki no kuni no Alice
12. Mementomori
13. Seiyaku
14. Heisei Democracy
15. Yuurei kitan
16. Takara mono
17. Shiiku
18. Taika
19. Inugami tengoku – Bakusou All Night Long

Encore 1

1. Unmei no Karma
2. Inochi mijikashi koiseyo jinrui

Encore 2

1. Shini Time – Jisatsu no uta
2. Hakuchi

Encore 3

1. Zankoku Rakuen

There are 19 photos in this visual kei exclusive.

View Gallery