V-ROCK Festival 2011: Most Outrageous Performance

All photographs courtesy of V-ROCK FESTIVAL '11.

Most Outrageous Performance: LA’ ROYQUE DE ZAVY

The performance started with a ten-minute video clip that explained that LA’ ROYQUE DE ZAVY couldn’t be fully active as a band and still make a living, causing them to disband. However, their business as a cleaning agency became very successful. One day, they happened to find a baby left on the porch, and they decided to raise it. The baby grew up to be a rock star, but he couldn’t find any good band members which is why they decided to reunite to let their “son” perform at V-ROCK FESTIVAL. Just when you though La Royque de Savyy’s performance had finally begun… The members appeared in the dark. It was awful. Everything sounded bad. It came as a breath of relief then that the lighting flared to reveal the fake actors from the video! At last, the real band showed up in outrageous animal-like costumes.

The guitarist kept asking the crowd if they like to have sex… He kept asking and asking right up until the final party number during which scantily clad, feather-framed, glittering dancers took the stage like a bawdy cabaret act. Their short 30-minute set felt like a two-hour show. There was so much going on all over the stage in such a short time. There’s no doubt about it: La Royque de Savyy were totally outrageous, visually and musically, and no-one ever saw them coming.

Runner-Up: Golden Bomber.

Bet you didn’t see them coming in second, huh? Neither did we, but rest assured, Golden Bomber can always be counted on to deliver a crazy show and though their V-ROCK FESTIVAL set was short, it was full of the gags and surprises everyone has come to expect. The band themselves couldn’t contain their excitement at participating in the festival–vocalist and known fan-boy Kiryuin Sho was so happy to be on the same stage GACKT had just performed that he and Jun rolled around like dogs trying to soak up any lingering traces of his cologne, Egoiste. As they don’t play instruments, members have to get creative with their solos, with Kyan Yutaka using his time to demonstrate his ability to eat corn on the cob at superhuman speeds. After plowing through one ear, then two, he lifted his shirt to show more strapped to his stomach like hidden bombs, which he tore into vigorously. If he got a little messy, well, that was fine, as later in the set he took a “shower,” standing in a kiddie pool on the stage with drummer Kenji pouring water on him from a watering can.  Bubbles flew everywhere as he shampooed his hair live onstage.

We could write a whole separate section on the outrageousness that is Golden Bomber’s allergy to clothing (and what do you know, we have), but we should also take a moment to acknowledge the performance of their fans. Aside from headliner MUCC, Golden Bomber was the only band to pack out the arena, an impressive feat considering they were on mid-afternoon, and the fans showed unmatched enthusiasm–you could practically feel the arena shift as they threw themselves left and right for “Memeshikute.” Even though a show of hands revealed most people were seeing the band for the first time (probably due to the fact that their shows sell out so fast), the fans all seemed to be quite familiar with the choreography for even the most complicated songs and had clearly done their homework. That kind of study takes a bit of outrageous dedication.

Honorable mention goes to Mix Speakers’ Inc. whose animal circus, harmonized opening and gimmick-riddled set kept the audience enchanted.