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HANABIE. Unleash New Music Video “OTAKU Lovely Densetsu” via Sony Music Japan

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Trailblazing Harajuku-core sensation HANABIE. has today unleashed the official music video for “OTAKU Lovely Densetsu“ (via Sony Music Japan). Speaking to themes about personal authenticity and embracing the love of anime and video games from Japanese culture, “OTAKU Lovely Densetsu“ is the band’s latest offering after releasing their cover of Imagine Dragons‘ runaway hit “Believer“. When asked about today’s release, vocalist Yukina commented:

“I wanted to write a song to express my gratitude to all the fans, staff, and bands that I met and played with on our world tour, and to express what I felt on the tour. One of the things I felt was “Japanese culture, such as anime and video games, is truly loved”! We love Japanese culture, but not only about Japanese culture, this is a chaotic and HARAJUKU CORE-like song that makes you think it’s cool to be faithful and straight up to what you like.“

Guitarist and vocalist Matsuri exclaimed:

“‘OTAKU Lovely Densetsu’ is a chaotic song that focuses on anime and games that are part of Japanese culture. You shine brightest when you’re into what you love and just being OTAKU. OTAKU is not just in Japan but also overseas too so be confident being OTAKU! This song is just freestyle and doing what we want, so please enjoy this HANABIE. world! Japan culture rocks!“

Bassist Hettsu shared:

“I think this song is about how OTAKU has become more commonplace since entering the 2021 era, and how everyone is addicted to something and has become an OTAKU! Well, most of all we ourselves are OTAKU! LOL Personally, please listen closely to the end of the intro falling into the outro where you can feel the skipping beat, it’s my favorite part. It’s catchy with hectic changes, so listen to it a lot and get hooked︎“

HANABIE. drummer Chika also commented:

“The intro drum phrase expresses a parallel world feel with the snare out of position! I was inspired while traveling overseas seeing drummers who added blast beats. I think I was able to put it in a good way in the second verse of this song! All OTAKU should continue to be proud and enthusiastic! If you are not OTAKU, I hope you will take this opportunity to step into the world of OTAKU! Thank you!!!!“

HANABIE. released their debut album ‘Reborn Superstar!’ which includes tracks such as “TOUSOU (Run Away)“, “今年こそギャル ～初夏 ver.～ (Be The GAL~ Early Summer ver.~)“, and their viral hit “お先に失礼します。(Pardon Me, I Have to Go Now.)“.

REBORN SUPERSTAR!

HANABIE.

Track Listing:

1. Blast Off

2. 超次元ギャラクシー (Hyperdimension Galaxy)

3. NEET GAME

4. 今年こそギャル ～初夏 ver.～ (Be The GAL~ Early Summer ver.~)

5. Tales of Villain

6. Warning!!

7. 我は宇宙最強のインベーダーちゃんである (I Am the Most Powerful Invader Girl in the Universe)

8. TOUSOU (Run Away)

9. お先に失礼します。(Pardon Me, I Have to Go Now.)

10. Today’s Good Day & So Epic

HANABIE. is:

Yukina

Matsuri

Hettsu

Chika

Live Music, Live Reviews, Media, Photography

A tale of two venues…HANABIE. proves ready for the world stage.

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HANABIE., the unique and fast-rising metalcore band out of Tokyo, delivers the goods at two very different gigs, during their first overseas tour since the group formed in 2015: as openers in an intimate rock venue in a small southern city, and as headliners at a sold-out show in New York.

Written by Jonathan Lane

Following eight dates in Europe and the UK – a mix of festivals and concerts – the self-labeled “Harajuku-core” group continues with gigs across the US. This label signifies a blend of the sensibilities of Harajuku, Tokyo’s home for “kawaii (cuteness)” culture and fashion, and the band’s metalcore thrust.

At the down-to-earth rock ‘n’ roll club, Ground Zero, in Spartanburg, SC HANABIE. opens for Galactic Empire, the Star Wars-themed metal band. An informal survey of fans indicates about half have shown up from near and far to see HANABIE..

HANABIE. strides onstage to a wildly enthusiastic reception that seems to surprise even them – drummer Chika, front woman Yukina, and guitarist Matsuri each takes her bows. Bassist Hettsu hobbles onto the stage wearing a protective boot. She injured herself the night before in Greensboro, NC.  She sets herself up on a stool, plugs in, cheerfully waves to the crowd, receiving warm props for her “can-do” attitude. Hettsu rocks out despite the handicap, providing solid bottom to the kickass music. The band gets right down to business with “Hyperdimension Galaxy“, the first track on their 2023 album, “Reborn Superstar!” and continues to blast the room with their special brand of beautifully crafted metal chaos. It’s a fully satisfying sampling of 8 hits from 2021-2023, including breakthrough music and video hits “We Love Sweets” and the 2023 trilogy of “Pardon Me, I Have To Go Now”, “TOUSOU (Run Away)”, and “Be the GAL~Early Summer ver.~”.

This was an intimate, mesmerizing and head banging performance. HANABIE. quickly won over the half of the crowd that didn’t already know them – interaction with the crowd was warm and friendly. There was moshing.

The band hits another half dozen southern cities together with Galactic Empire, and then switches over to “headliner” mode, hitting cities from New York to L.A., with support from metal band Fox Lake, as well as Dropout Kings on some dates.

At Gramercy Theatre, where other fast-rising Japanese bands (Band-Maid and Nemophila, for example) have had smashing New York debuts in recent years, HANABIE. is up to the task. The band looks right at home on the more expansive stage and thrills the big-city crowd with a 13-song set, including an encore, 2019’s “L.C.G.”

With seven US shows under their belts since Spartanburg, all four members seem to enjoy themselves even more. A very animated Hettsu is back on her feet, Chika shakes the hall with her in-the-pocket drumming, Matsuri’s clean vocals and riffage are both hard and sweet, and Yukina owns the stage, which she leaves briefly for a little crowd surfing. She seems elated as she wraps herself in the Japanese flag a fan has given her, filled with autographs of musicians the fan has copiously collected in the US.

The music perfectly fills these quite different venues, and begs the question, how will this band sound and perform in an arena?

Based on these two slices of HANABIE.’s first overseas tour – the quality of performance, the confidence and stage presence, and crowd enthusiasm – it shouldn’t  be long before we’ll have a chance to answer that question.

HANABIE. will be turning Australia upside-down on December 1, 2, and 3 to finish up what looks to be a very successful overseas tour on three continents.

Hanabie Social Media Links

Set Lists – HANABIE.

Ground Zero, Spartanburg, SC, September 13, 2023

1.    Hyperdimension Galaxy

2.    REIWA Dating Apps Generation

3.    We Love Sweets

4.    NEET GAME

5.    SUNRISE Miso– SOUP

6.    TOUSOU (Run Away)

7.    Be the GAL ~Early Summer ver.~

8.    Warning!!

9.    Pardon Me, I Have To Go Now

Gramercy Theatre, New York, NY, September 24, 2023

1.    Hyperdimension Galaxy

2.    NEET GAME2021

3.    Be the GAL ~Early Summer ver.~

4.    Warning!!

5.    REIWA Dating Apps Generation

6.    We Love Sweets

7.    LOVE Ranbu

8.    Tales of Villain

9.    TOUSOU (Run Away)

10. Pardon Me, I Have To Go Now

11. Today’s Good Day & So Epic

12. Encore: L.C.G

Photography by Jonathan Lane

https://www.photographer-jonathan-lane.com/hom

Yukina (vocals) Instagram @yukina_hanabie

Hettsu (bass) Instagram @hanabie_hettsu

Chika (drums) Instagram @hanabie_chika

Matsuri (guitar, vocals) Instagram @mtr_hanabie

Live Music, Live Reviews, Media, Photography

LIVE REVIEW AND PHOTO GALLERY: HANABIE – A Sold Out Show At The World Famous WHISKY A GO GO, on October 5, 2023

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HANABIE, a 4 piece all female Kawaii-Metal band from Japan came to America and visited us in Los Angeles and ROCKED the house of The World Famous Whisky A Go Go. Their music is hard and electrifying and the ladies are all cute and adorable but fierce and wild on stage and in command of the show with constant interaction with the audience.

Written by Don Marcelo

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As written on Wikipedia:
“HANABIE is a Japanese metalcore band from Tokyo, formed in 2015 The band consists of Yukina (vocals), Matsuri (guitar, vocals), Hettsu (bass) and Chika (drums). They are known for combining loud and heavy music with contrasting Harajuku aesthetics in a style self-described as “Harajuku-core”. – [source] Wikipedia
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HANABIE is fronted by the petite yet powerful and strong presence of Yukina (lead vocalist). She has such great command of the audience that she can tell you what to do and can command you to open up a space for “the wall of death” so that participants can start a mosh pit. The venue has maybe a capacity of 500 or 600 people. To have a mosh pit inside this small venue is almost unheard of (at least I’ve never seen one this big in the past 3 years I’ve been coming to The Whisky to photograph). Participants can sometimes get kicked out when a mosh pit gets started from my understanding. But not at the Hanabie show. Hanabie’s fans are/were respectful on that night that the mosh pit was non-violent and fun (though I’m sure some people had small bruises the next day…I made sure I got topside since I knew a mosh pit was coming up and stayed away from the floor and pit section).

Anyway, the action was non-stop full of intensified energy and emotions from all the members and from the fans. The fans and oh the fans. I love JROCK FANS. They are passionate about the music and the band despite the language barrier. That is the beauty of music. There is no language barrier and despite the differences in language. The audience loved every single minute of the show. I’ve never seen so many flailing hands raised up at The Whisky A Go Go. I became part of the fun with the audience jumping up and down. Flailing my one hand and shooting with my camera with the other hand. I was drenched in sweat after the first song and I wanted to get out of the front row pit area and get on upstairs and continue to shoot from above. But I stayed for at least 4 or 5 songs and the rest of the night I stayed upstairs and continued to cover the show.


One last note, The venue doesn’t allow crowdsurfing and you WILL definitely get kicked out if you do, but if you are the performer, and you’re light weight and petite and can sell out tickets to the venue, I’m sure the staff of The Whisky can make an exception for you, especially since Yukina is small and light weight and she was able to crowd surf and she didn’t get kicked out…oh wait, she’s part of the act…she can’t get kicked out. Nothing really else to say except that this show was EPIC and was so much fun and it has to be one of the best concerts I’ve covered this year. Thank you for coming to visit us in Los Angeles, HANABIE. We all hope to see you again soon. Have a great rest of your 2023 tour. Let’s do this again in 2024. Arigato Gozaimasu!

Photo Gallery of the Hanabie performance. © Don Marcelo Photography 2023


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FOLLLOW HANABIE on all their social media platforms for some hard rockin Japanese Style Metal Core Music AKA Kawaiimetal.


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FOLLOW The World Famous WHISKY A GO GO for all upcoming shows happening at this venue. Also a very huge shout out to the staff of Whisky A Go Go and for being the best music venue on The Sunset Strip. Thank you for being a great host and always taking great care of us pro-photographers. On behalf of all the pro music photographers, I thank you very much for being amazing.
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HANABIE MEMBERS on INSTAGRAM
@ha_na_bie_
@yukina_hanabie – vocals
@hanabie_hettsu – bass
@hanabie_chika – drums
@mtr_hanabie – guitar
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LOCATION:
WHISKY A GO GO
@thewhiskyagogo (INSTAGRAM)
October 5, 2023
Thursday
📸: ©️ @marcdphotos 2023
📸: ©️ Don Marcelo Photography 2023