Saturday night, as I was driving home, I passed in front of the Palladium and saw a huge line in front of the venue. I was curious who was drawing such a crowd that early as it was barely 7 pm, and I read ‘Luna Sea’… never heard of them! That’s strange when something like that happens, so many people seem to know about something you are completely ignorant about!
I got curious, checked about the band and it turned out it is a legendary Japanese band, pioneer of the Visual Kei movement, a sort of theatrical movement using a lot of make-up, flamboyant costumes and some androgynous aesthetics. Ryuichi, in white romantic shirt and black leather pants, is on vocals, J on bass, Inoran, described as cold and icy, is on guitar, Shinya, with a girly look appearing ‘in his photo-set dressed like a princess in a lacey dress with ruffles and bows’ is on drums, Sugizo, described as dark and androgynous wearing heavy makeup, is on guitar. What a program!
I watched some videos on YouTube, and yeah, it is definitively very stadium rock, lots of light effects, lots of electric guitar solos, rock oriented with a lot of drama, although not hard rock. I’m not sure of what it is exactly, there seems to have electronic elements in some songs… I would say a sort of Japanese Bon Jovi, with a different aesthetic! Definitively not my cup of tea, but he, what do I know! They are big in Japan,… and in Hollywood apparently.