PERFORMING LIVE AT THE RENOWNED AND POPULAR MUSIC VENUE, THE ECHO, ON NOVEMBER 4, 2024
According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, asterism is defined as “a group of stars that form a pattern in the night sky that is not a part of a constellation or that includes stars from more than one constellation.” The ASTERISM I am talking about is a three-piece Japanese Heavy Mass Metal Band (Metal Music for the Masses) who came back to visit us in America and exhibited a stunning performance and showcased their extraordinary talent on this clear and beautiful night in front of a jam-packed crowd at the renowned venue, The Echo, as part of of their 2024 ONE-MAN PLANET OF METAL TOUR. Not only were they a “SHOOTING STAR”* on this night, They were SUPER STARS!
Written by Don Marcelo
The band consists of three young and talented musicians:
Hal-ca (Haruka) – The Female Phenom Guitarist and Main Vocalist
Miyu – The Badass Bassist Extraordinaire and Vocals who plays a 7-string bass (not 4, not 5, but 7 strings…insert blown brains emoji here)
Mio – The Brilliant non-stop energy Drummer and Vocals
Together they are known as ASTERISM.
As with all the JROCK shows I have covered in the past, the day always start early. California fans from all over drove down or up to The City of Angels and gathered in front of the venue and lined up early with their folding chairs. Some die hard fans even flew from across the U.S. since this is their only U.S. stop of this tour. Some of “THE USUAL SUSPECTS”, as they have been aptly named, were there as early as 6 am (not going to name any names…ahem…John, Rene, Jacky, Aaron, Rick…hehehe). One super fan drove down from the San Francisco Bay Area and got there at 4:30am…John. He wins first place this time around since Erik with a “K” is normally the first one to arrive, but on this day he couldn’t make it. A couple of “THE USUAL SUSPECTS” texted me while I was still in bed and asked me when I was coming over since they knew I was here to photograph and cover this one star-studded event. Of course I ignored the text message and went back to sleep. HA!
But once I arrived in the middle of the afternoon, I started photographing some behind the scenes for TEAM ASTERISM since I was there not just as a Media Photographer, but more importantly as a Crew photographer for the band.
When ASTERISM finally pulled up, hordes of die-hard fans immediately surrounded them and greeted and welcomed them and asked for selfies. The band was very gracious and obliged for some early fan pics.
As part of being a crew photographer, I had the exclusive honor of being part of their staff on this night photographing some great behind the scenes shots, sound check shots, Green Room shots, and group shots along with the LIVE MUSIC for their own personal keepsake and use. Only the LIVE MUSIC shots are being shown here and the other photos are exclusively for them and will not be shown unless they decide to show those photos on their social media page since this is for Press and Media only.
Once the night finally came and the venue filled up with excited fans, the crowd roared with enthusiasm. Lights dimmed and the crowd began to clap and chant “ASTERISM! ASTERISM! ASTERISM!” The introduction of the video on the screen started playing. Then the band came on stage after the intro video and ASTERISM greeted them with delight, full of smiles and electrified energy as they began their set.
They started off with their latest hit, (1) “PLANET OF METAL”. The song highlighted their individual skills as musicians showcasing their talents and techniques with their instruments. They continued to electrify the evening playing instrumental songs: (2) “GUNFIRE”, (3) “BLAZE”, (4 ) “THE DRAGON”, (5) “THE NINJA”. Until finally we hear the first non-instrumental song (6) “THE SQUID” with Miyu on lead vocals this time for this song and Haruka on chorus and back up vocals. As the set continued, next songs were all instrumental (7) “THE ZOMBIE”, (8) “CHURCH” and a “DRUM SOLO” by Mio. Song number (9) is “THE ROBOT” once again with Miyu the bassist as lead vocals and Haruka as chorus and back up vocals.
Finally on song number (10) “LAST WORLD”, we hear Haruka sing, she is after all the Main Vocalist and guitarist. She continued to delight the fans and sang to song number (11) “STARDOM”. Song (12) was another instrumental, “LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS”. And finally, song number (13) just before the encore of course was “THE TITAN” with vocals by the main vocalist and guitarist, Haruka, who once again delighted the fans for the first half of the song with her singing and then Mio showcasing his vocal talents as well as lead vocals for the 2nd half of the song and chorus by Miyu and Haruka and with Haruka finishing off the song as lead vocals.
After song number (13), the members quickly moved to the green room and changed and rested for a few minutes before going back up onto the stage. Song number (14) is called “DAWN”, another instrumental song. With the final song (15) called “METAL”, highlighting Haruka’s singing talents and everyone’s instrumental talents at the same time.
As they waved their goodbyes to the audience, The members shouted to the crowd, “WE WILL BE BACK!”
What a night to remember. A 15 song set delivered by an outstanding and super talented musicians. This night rocked. Thank you for all your hard work TEAM ASTERISM. Fans will always remember this evening for the great music, METAL MASS MUSIC for the masses, and for your gracious presence even during the merch sales where people lined up and purchased all kinds of stuff and got their merchandise signed and their photos taken with the band members. Thank you very much for having me. I hope that we can work together again in the future as I truly enjoyed working with all of you. See you in 2025 and beyond.
From the headline of this article, “SHOOTING STAR”* is one of their songs. ASTERISM truly is a shooting star that has become a SUPER STAR.
FOLLOW ASTERISM IN ALL THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA and find out the latest and greatest with the band:
https://asterism.asia/
https://www.instagram.com/asterism.metal/
https://www.instagram.com/halca1123/
https://www.instagram.com/miyu_asterism/
https://www.instagram.com/mio1q84/
https://www.tiktok.com/@asterism.metal
https://www.facebook.com/asterism2016/
https://x.com/ASTERISM2016?mx=2
https://www.youtube.com/@asterism_metal
Photo Gallery of the performance by © Don Marcelo Photography 2024
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