I agree, it's ridiculous. They passed us by entirely on the previous world tour, too. Not really sure what the deal is, they were basically made to hit in America.

It [i]is[/i] strange. Ajikan is easily one of the more popular Japanese bands in America. Thanks to the holy FMA/Naruto/Bleach trinity of anime OPs throughout the 2000s and the general high quality of their music. Always baffled me why they never came over back in the day... well, happy that they are now. Enjoy!

Jacob Collier tomorrow (holy fuck, boy genius among us), Perfume Genius soon. Belle & Sebastian and Pains of Being Pure at Heart (possibly their last tour?!) a bit later in the year.

If you can get down with some thicc harmonies, check out Jacob Collier. He's something else.
Here are two different-styled tracks which show off his chops very well:

Hideaway
[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zua831utwMM[/url]
Flintstones theme
[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zua831utwMM[/url]

So, like I have mentioned earlier, I went to this music festival called 'Down the Rabbit Hole'. Half of the time I was high, and half of the time I was sober. I went alone down the rabbit hole... and it was sooo gooood. There was this place called 'Idyllic garden'... and it was glorious... with a fire pit, super chill music (reggae/soul/jazzy/old skool disco) and such a good vibe.

Anyway, when I was not at that place, I listened/danced/experienced the music on the stages. Here are some of the bands I witnessed, those in bold I enjoyed the most.
[b]My Baby[/b], [b]Cage the Elephant[/b], Pond, Bonobo, [b]Moderat[/b], [b]Typhoon[/b], [b]Benjamin Clementine[/b], [b]Soulwax[/b], Fleet Foxes, [b]Temples[/b], [b]Spoon[/b], Xavier Rudd, De La Soul, Father John Misty.


Highlights: Cage the Elephant was plain awesome, rocking my socks off. Moderat was overwhelming... such a great show, best use of video screen.
Typhoon is currently the best Dutch MC, he brings da good vibes and da party. Benjamin Clementine was intimate and original.
Soulwax, same as with Moderat: great show. Temples and Spoon were psychedelic good vibes.

Bonobo and Fleet Foxes were a bit of a let down. Same with Father John Misty; he was good, but not great.

Temples: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs4i41cOv0s and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6zdVaAe0OE
Moderat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NPxqXMZq7o

[quote="Marekenshin"]they were basically made to hit in America.[/quote]
umm i believe that's Beat Crusaders?

Cage the Elephant live, sounds awesome!
We saw a bit of Moderat but weren't in the mood for that kind of set at the time so skipped out haha. Neat lighting usage, for sure, though!

Double Asian Kung-fu Generation coming up for me Sunday and Monday. Super pumped! Edit: Was amazing, obviously. So good. 11/10.

NOOK IN THE BRAIN TOUR FINAL @ Zepp Tokyo on Saturday.

[quote="Marekenshin"]Double Asian Kung-fu Generation coming up for me Sunday and Monday. Super pumped! Edit: Was amazing, obviously. So good. 11/10.[/quote]

Jelly. Pictures? More notes?

Although admittedly I don't love them quite enough to fly across the country. Only the pillows.

The band requested no photos/video, which I complied with. Some of my friends took a handful of pictures on the down-low.

Setlist for night 1:

1. Kouya wo Aruke
2. Blue Train
3. Kakato de Ai o Uchinarase
4. After Dark
5. Re:Re:
6. N.G.S.
7. Omatsuri no Ato
8. Yoru no Call
9. Inamuragasaki Jane
10. Understand
11. 1.2.3.4.5.6. Baby
12. Kimi no Machi Made
13. Rewrite
14. Easter
15. Blood Circulator
16. Solanin
17. Wonder Future
18. Ima wo Ikite

Encore:
19. Haruka Kanata
20. Kimi to iu Hana

Night 2 had Standard instead of Kimi no Machi and Senseless (played before Rewrite) instead of Easter; Korogaru Iwa instead of Kimi to Iu Hana.

Both nights were amazing, but night 2 was even more intense. Larger crowd, band kicked off the night with more energy and Gotoh was really belting the songs out. The first night, more people were singing along to more songs, but night 2 the energy on the "big" songs was INSANE. Totally surreal experience - we had the front of the balcony for both shows (first venue had like only 600 people!), so a perfect view of the whole band.

123456 baby was WAY better live than I expected. Blue Train had me in tears both nights because I had been fearing for a long time I'd never get to hear it live and then I did. Solanin was glorious. Rewrite/Haruka Kanata were intense as hell, just full on belting along with the whole crowd giving it our all. 10/10 please come back again, Ajikan.

Up next is Mew for their Visuals tour.

Mew Visuals tour is awesome as heck. You get a sweet set full of weird trippy videos like these being projected behind the band, plus your traditional full-scale coordinated light show. Really took their production up a few notches from the last US tour a few years ago.

A sample of the trippy cool videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atptBlyKeYo

[quote="Marekenshin"]Both nights were amazing, but night 2 was even more intense. Larger crowd, band kicked off the night with more energy and Gotoh was really belting the songs out. The first night, more people were singing along to more songs, but night 2 the energy on the "big" songs was INSANE. Totally surreal experience - we had the front of the balcony for both shows (first venue had like only 600 people!), so a perfect view of the whole band.

123456 baby was WAY better live than I expected. Blue Train had me in tears both nights because I had been fearing for a long time I'd never get to hear it live and then I did. Solanin was glorious. Rewrite/Haruka Kanata were intense as hell, just full on belting along with the whole crowd giving it our all. 10/10 please come back again, Ajikan.

Up next is Mew for their Visuals tour.[/quote]

NAISU

I recently bought tickets to a big EDM festival. Never been to a rave or anything like that, it should be fun.

Oh cool, which one? Big festivals are fun but can also be a bit overwhelming. Count on no phone reception when you need it the most, plan meetup spots between sets and such that people can easily find, etc.

We got mad bleep bloops and wubwubwubs coming up for Countdown NYE out here.

The last show I went to was 2013's San Diego House of Blues Aquabats concert.

Dude what the balls, that's depressing.
I hope something good swings by your area with convenient timing for you soon.