Friday night at Sakura Con I had the privilege and pleasure of attending the American Premiere of Exist†trace, the hot band of lovely ladies from Japan.
Before arriving in Seattle I had heard that Berryz Kobo was going to be performing, but hadn’t heard anything about Exist†trace. When I wandered into the main events hall and saw these five beautiful ladies on the stage I didn’t really know what to expect and looking back on the concert I have difficulty deciding where to start.
The members of exist†trace are Jyou (vocals), Miko (guitar), Mally (drums), Naoto (bass), Omi (guitar).
The one word that comes to mind when I think back to the concert is “Explosion!” The ladies exploded on the stage with an energy and style that had the audience roaring.
I was entirely unfamiliar with their genre, visual Kei, which seems to be a sort of fused Gothic/Punk/Metal. The band’s appearance is a fashion explosion with each having their own style. Not one of them would be out of place on a fashion runway though the dark appearance of Naoto could equally fit in a zombie or vampire movie (Don’t take me wrong Naoto! I enjoy a good or even bad zombie movie – see my review of My Bloody Wedding, and you would be a gorgeous zombie or vampire!)
I don’t speak Japanese (yet!) so I can’t comment on the lyrics but I suspect that it is, at times, pretty explosive, much like their music.
At one point, in commemoration of their first U.S. concert, Jyou brought out a U.S. flag. I couldn’t understand her words but I got a chuckle out of it when she draped it over her shoulders and jumped into the air like a caped super hero (see below.)
Give these ladies a listen and they may just explode their way into your heart.
Enjoy the following pics and for more (and more to come!) see the photo albums on my other site
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[...] Sakura Con in April, I attended the US Premiere of Exist†trace, a Japanese band of the visual kei (pronounced like the letter “K” to my understanding) [...]
[...] Later I wandered into the exist†trace concert not knowing what to expect. These lovely ladies of song blew the audience away with their music, swaying, jumping, dancing, and playing. They are a fantastic, top notch show and if my day hadn’t already turned around, they would have done it on their own. See my article on them for more! [...]