Kerrang's Tokyo Dome live review & interview with BABYMETAL

BABYMETAL was featured in the new issue of Kerrang! Magazine from United Kingdom with 4 pages about their performances at Tokyo Dome 2 Days. The feature includes reviews of "Red Night" and "Black Night" along with an interview with Su-Metal, Yuimetal, Moametal and Kobametal. Read a summary of the full content transcripted and scans of the great feature below! 

This December, BABYMETAL will claim the UK's biggest venues as their own. That, though, is nothing compared to what's happening in their homeland of Japan. K! Deputy editor George Garner heads east to see the most explosive gig on the planet... 

Welcome to the biggest event in BABYMETAL history.Yes, there have been a lot of notable dates in the kawaii-metallers' calendar-this year - releasing their stunning second album, Metal Resistance, headlining Wembley and a mainstage appearance at Download are but three examples. Still, everything we've seen from them, be it this year or any other, pales in comparison to what is about to unfold. For the victory lap of their headline world tour; BABYMETAL have elected to return home to attempt something truly spectacular: a two-night stand at the 55,000-ca tad Tok o Dome. 

Speaking to Kerrang! via translator beforehand, the nerves are clearly high. YUIMETAL admits she is "still in shock" that she's playing here. MOAMETAL feels the same, admitting it is "definitely a big challenge for young girls of our age to stand on that stage". "In Japan we have played many big venues like Budokan and others, but Tokyo Dome was always a place that I have been dreaming of performing at:' explains SU-METAL."Even in Japan, not everyone gets a chance to perform here!" This is riot just adrenaline and nerves talking. This, indeed, is a venue where only The Biggest Bands In The World get to make their mark, with both Guns N' Roses and Metallica being notable alumni. This show is so big, in fact, that over 1,000 people here alone are on the pay roll to make sure it all runs according ' to plan. Believe us when we say that for the next two days, things are about to get very crazy... 

It's all the way up here that The Red Night begins. First, the video displays light up and announce that the crystal neck braces are to protect you duringl.he harsh battle ahead" and that the Fox God decrees that they should not be removed.With anticipation sky-high, SU-METAL,YUIMETAL and MOAMETAL finally emerge from the elevator holding flags and survey the crowd before kicking into Metal Resistance's title-track. What is first apparent is that everyone in the building is going ballistic.There are no phones allowed. Absolutely no-one in K!'s line of sight is filming,Tweeting, Instagramming or giving themselves a dog face on Snapchat. Instead, 55,000 people are losing their minds, throwing a regimented sequence of raised fists that looks like a recreation of Star Wars:The Force Awakens Starkiller base rally. If, you know, the stormtroopers had all taken a day off to get into kawaii-metal. Innumerable highlights follow, whether it's the way the three girls negotiate the spinning stage while nailing notes and complex choreography, or the constant rush of lazers zig-zagging the venue, eye-dilating lights and streaks of pyro.Their command of the crowd is absolute throughout, but as far as one-two knock-out combos go, Gimme Chocolate!! exploding into KARATE is an overwhelming experience It should, by all rights, be the highlight of both shows, let alone just tonight. But then something very special happens once BABYMETAL finish playingTales Of The Destinies live for the first time even Darkness envelopes the Tokyo Dome to reveal everyone's crystal neck braces lighting up as closer The One begins.That's 55,000 people transformed into a human lighters-in-the-air momentTokyo Dome looks less like a venue and more like a city skyline lit up at night-time. 

As SU-METAL sings, she appears genuinely moved at the sight unfolding before her eyes. It all ends in deafening applause with a video reminding everyone that this is still "TO BE CONTINUED". After the show, K! spots DragonForce/ Sinsaenum star Frederic Leclercq, who is trying to process what he's just seen. He's had the honour of both playing with BABYMETAL and watching them, so you have to wonder: how does it stack up? "It was so great to see them ruling that amazing super-famous venue:' he says."I had nothing to do with tonight but I'm so proud to see what they've achieved. I don't know how much bigger you can get in Japan! They deserve it" It is going to take something special to top it.

Less than 24 hours later,Tokyo's constant haze of vaporous rain has decided to up the ante. It is not so much raining cats and dogs outside as it is elephants and whales.The word monsoon is overheard. Still, said weather has done nothing to dampen the mood, as fans continue to queue in every nook and cranny of the Tokyo Dome. Many are still computing what they saw last night. Tokyo resident Nodoka tells K! she's seen BABYMETAL somewhere between 20 and 30 times now, and it still blew her away. "BABYMETAL;' she explains,"are my energy:' Sitting deep within the bowels of the venue, there are three other extremely happy people keen to relive their favourite experiences. The three BABYMETAL members admit to feeling nervous yesterday and talk of how it all went by in a flash, but there's one moment they are all replaying in their head over and over. "It has to be when we performed The One." says SU-METAL. To be able to sing it with everyone was just amazing. It was also just breathtaking when everyone's neck brace lit up in the crowd:' '1 will never forget that scene,' agrees YUIMETAL "That was such a beautiful, almost mysterious moment," adds MOAMETAL It goes without saying that they're extremely busy with rehearsals, so there isn't much time to chat, but fortunately BABYMETAL's mastermind, guru and primary Fox God liaison KOBAMETAL is on hand to put things into perspective. Remarkably, what was witnessed last night has,from planning to execution, all come together in just over two weeks. "This is the biggest show ever for BABYMETAL and there's a lot of things we did yesterday that we've never tried before," he explains."Stage-wise, technical-wise, we had a lot of things we've never done before. Of course we did rehearsals, but until you do it for real you never know how its going to turn out, or how it's going to look because we didn't have 55,000 people to test on —you're just imagining!" He promises K! that there will be more surprises in store tonight. He isn't lying...

The Black Night is differentThe risks are greater. but so. arguably, are the rewards.Tonight's opening video begins by salting that "A melody played once can never be played again". Yes, BABYMETAL have decided not to repeat any material from the Red Night. 

It begins with 55,000 people all looking in the wrong place.With everyone training their eyes on the stage 10 storeys up, expecting the show to start in the same plat as last night, SU-METAL.YUIMETAL and MOAMETAL actually emerge on crucifixes that rise from the end of the coffin-shaped runways.They then proceed into a perfectly synced step-by-step march to the central stage as BABYMETAL DEATH gets the crowd amped. 

While the glowing neck braces (this time emitting red light) once again prove a highlight during the closer Ijime, Dame, Zettai, the best moment tonight is actually the emotional exchange between band and fans after it's over. It all ends with numerous call-and-response cries of "WE ARE BABYMETAL!" while the  

band sustain what must be at least a five-minute high-tempo crescendo. Finally BABYMETAL take the elevator up to the top stage where SU-METAL pounds an enormous gong. Sparks explode and the girls disappear in a curtain of smoke.A video then starts playing, informing us that. "BABYMETAL have set onwards to their next battle." 

Speaking to K!, SU-METAL explains what tonight meant "When I was singing Doki Doki Morning, which was one of our very first songs, I kept on thinking of how far we have made it in our careers. Thinking back to the first time we performed that song, I don't think that we would have thought I would be in Tokyo Dome today." "It was all like a dream," YUIMETAL nods. It's MOAMETAL, however, who emphatically hits the nail on the head. "I think I let out everything I am capable of at tonight's show:'" he reflects. Even the infinitely wise, omniscient Fox God. may not be able to conceive what's next or indeed. what could it fact be bigger. After all, has any band ever come this far or taken their live show to this level, in just two years. on the back of just two albums? From this point on, BABYMETAL — and maybe even heavy metal itself - is officially entering uncharted territory. 

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Article and Interview by: Kerrang Magazine

Get your copy on: Kerrang.com and Newsstand

Scans by: The Thrawn

Transcription by: Maik Gianino.