Kerrang Magazine's new issue released today features BABYMETAL in their Live Reviews segment. Kerrang reviews BABYMETAL at The Wiltern in Los Angeles on July 15 (Show report) plus a 3 questions interview with Su-Metal about the World Tour 2016, the experience in Los Angeles and Download Festival. Check the scans and transcription below.
Kerrang reviews BABYMETAL at The Wiltern + Interview with Su-Metal
KKKK - THE KAWAII-METALLERS TRIUMPHANTLY DRY OFF FROM DOWNLOAD'S RAIN IN LA'S SCORCHING HEAT.
AT TWO o'clock in the afternoon, the street outside the 2.000-capacity Wiltern Theatre in downtown LA is already heaving. At seven o'clock, the doors open. bringing on another two hours of waiting before BABYMETAL hit the stage at nine. There is no support at the show, there is absolutely nothing to do out on the street, and yet during this seven-hour vigil waiting for the kawaii-metal queens' first LA show in two years, there is not a moment where the excitement is less than total. Inside, merch sells in quantities that would make Gene Simmons lick his lips in envy, and when a giant rumble announces the arrival of Su-metal. Yuimetal and Moametal as they launch deafeningly into BABYMETAL DEATH, it's like watching a balloon that's been slowly filling with air all day burst, releasing an explosion of bright, colourful, hyper-charged fun in the Wiltern. The chants of 'Death! Death! Death! Death! might look on paper like a transcription from a particularly aggressive Donald Trump speech at the Republican National Convention, but it's, bizarrely.
Turned intotdeclaration of love and togetherness here tonight. Gimme Chocolate!! follows, ramping the over-caffeinated energy up into the red. Even without the flying platforms and mega-production of their massive Japanese arena shows, there's still not a moment when something isn't happening. Usually while something else is going on.The constant strobe lights make it feel like you're being sucked,TRON-style, into a video game, while keeping an eye on the three of them as they dance across the stage is harder work than it sounds. Between the visuals, the volume and the verdant joy on both sides of the stage it's quite simply an experience of having your mind, ears and eyes blown apart. But what's becoming more apparent now that the dust has settled on the initial WTF!? Of BABYMETAL's existence, is that live they're about more than just the madness. And thanks to the killer songs on this year's Metal Resistance album, the music can take a front seat. Especially in an environment like this where the absence of the theatricality of Wembley or Budokan means everything is placed under a stronger microscope than usual. Su-metal's vocals on KARATE and an enormous Amore are immense while the music itself on Sis.Anger or Meta Taro is far more intricate and imaginative than you may at first notice. If you've seen BABYMETAL live with their full arsenal of tricks, then you'll know how brilliant that is. But what they prove tonight is that, even without all that, stripped down to something approaching a normal band setup, this is a band who still have enough natural power and personality to score a firm goal. And even if you've waited seven hours for a show lasting 80 minutes it's very hard to feel like it wasn't worth it.
Star Shout! SU-METAL (VOCALS)
So, how was the show for you-was the FOX GOD pleased? "This was our second headline show in LA and I was shocked to see more people there than before. The venue was also gorgeous, with nice decorations. We've been to so many places prior to the LA show and we've experienced so much since, I felt like we were able to put everything we've learnt from our World Tour into the LA show. We did a good show with our band and with all the fans there. At the end of our set it really felt like the FOX GOD came down from above and was very pleased with our performance."
You've had a busy summer, what's been the highlight so far? "So much has happened this year, from Wembley to our World Tour this summer, but the highlight has to be our collaboration with Rob Halford [Judas Priest] in Columbus! I still cannot believe that we actually performed onstage with one of the metal legends that we have always considered almost like a God! It all happened in a flash, I was really overwhelmed by the power of what was going on onstage. If I could, I would definitely do it again.".
How did this compared to Download? "Well, the easiest thing to say is that it rained down hard on us at Download, so it was very different from this show, which was indoors and dry! Our performance onstage is always the same, but at a headline show; we feel like we are able to really create the show with the fans."
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Article and Interview by: Kerrang Magazine.
Get your copy on Kerrang and Newsstand.
Scans by: The Thrawn.
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