Happy New Year! あけおめ！
Today we went to see Togaru’s show. It’s the first show of the year! (for both Togaru and shows in general).
I’m going to try my best to give a fair review of Togaru’s set.
MAJOR DISCLOSURE: I love this band. This is the band that when asked the question “Who’s your favorite band?” I’d answer “Togaru”, so there’s that.
I DO think I can be objective though… I have seen them a lot and I think the more I see them the more “normal” sets become. So, when there’s a stand-out show, I DEFINITELY know it’s a stand-out show!
Anyway, on to yesterday’s show.
The set yesterday was pretty long, so there were some variations to the set list. They started with the recent pairing of Yume Ousei and Sando Furyou. Both done very well. Yume Ousei had their usual fucking intense build up at the end (this arrangement started back in October).
Yesterday’s highlight really were all the new songs!!! In a single set, they played THREE new songs, Junsui Datta, 19 Sai and Umi ni Naru!!!
I’m biased, so… uh… yeah I LOVE Junsui Datta. I love how from the show in the 23rd, they have the happy drum bit before the song starts. It has such a happy beat and melody (it’s a fucking sad song though!) and just having that happy drum bit at the beginning really sets the feeling for the rest of the song! After that, they played the brand new fresh from the oven 19 Sai. Nakanishisan had debuted the song just the night before with a video of their band practice on Instagram. So it was great to hear it so soon and it is a good song!
Since it was a longer set, they bookended this section with Proof You Were Alive. They’ve been ending sets with this song but it was used to bookend the first part of the set. The second half started with Izanami (of course) and then the new song Umi ni Naru!! I love this song!! They played it the first time on the 23rd and I really dig it!! It has such a catchy phrase, and I realized yesterday that it has a Blink-182 TOYPAJ vibe going. I love the last part of the song too coz that’s when it gets intense! Definitely a great Togaru-ish composition where you think it’s gonna be this poppish thing and then suddenly a crash of grungy post rock noise and distortion lol.
Finally, they wrapped the set up nicely with NoWhere.
Overall, set-wise, I’d give it a 9/10. I thought yesterday’s show had a sustained energy throughout. There wasn’t any drop in energy but at the same time, there wasn’t a build-up either. The songs were arranged well and the set list had a good mixture of new songs and popular songs to make new fans get a good taste of the spectrum of their music and also it’s a great mix of songs for old fans to feel fresh.
Performance wise, always a solid show. However, I would give it around a 7.5~8/10. The performance was tight, as always, but I thought energy-wise and intensity-wise, it was quite just a regular Togaru show. The EXTREME intense burst of raw energy and power that just blows you away that sometimes Nakanishisan does manage wasn’t really there last night. I felt he was holding back a bit? Or maybe he wasn’t too into it…? Idk… Anyway, it was still fun though and I had a good time!
My fav songs from last night: Junsui Datta & Umi ni Naru.
Thank you!
