Attention:
Otoboke Beaver asks…
-No drinks on stage
-Do not upload videos to Youtube
-Do not take our setlist
-Please wear a mask
-Be safe, have fun!
All feasible asks for a crazy night with Japanese Rock Band, Otoboke Beaver and opener, Fake Fruit at the Echoplex.
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I’ll be honest, I didn’t know what to expect last night as I walked into the venue and saw the 8 x 11.5 paper print out of the band’s ask for the night, but boy did I have a blast.
First off, Fake Fruit — a Bay-area indie band consisting of Hannah D’Amato, Alex Post, Miles MacDiarmid and Dylan Allard warmed up the with melodic punk songs of lover angst, socialite woes and growing pains for the first 40 minutes. To liven up an already dynamic performance the band played an ever-changing game of guitar roulette between Hannah, Alex and Dylan as Miles continued to kill the drums over and over.
“This is how we switch up our sec life.. sonically” D’Amato jokes as they switch guitars yet again. Front woman and lead vocalist, Hannah D’Amato, is all jokes and quirky banters as she talks to the crowd about her new found love for Rubik’s Cubes, starting the Lord of the Rings trilogy and how her mom asked if their song “Lying Legal Horror Lawyers” is about her job as a lawyer. So cheeky.
Before Otoboke Beaver could get onto the stage and strum the first string on their guitars, men were screaming “I love you” from every corner of the room. Dressed in 60’s Mod era shift dresses, band members Accorinrin, Yoyoyoshie, Hiro-chan, and Kahokiss, exploded onto the stage with the energy of 100 people, before stop to taking a picture with the crowd and getting back to action.
It didn’t take long before the crowd became a mosh pit and I was lost amongst the wave of adoring fans who followed and swayed with every movement Accorinrin made. If there was a language barrier for anyone in the crowd, you couldn’t tell. The fast paced drums of Kahokiss paired with Yoyoyoshie’s Guitar and Hiro-chan’s Bass create the perfect jet landing deliver for Accorinrin’s fever dream vocals.
“Don’t Light My Fire” by Otoboke Beaver sounds like a child’s sugar rush after watching Teen Titans in the best way. Not only was every one around me jamming out to the song, it seemed like one person after the next was crowd surfing in the short 2 minutes and 20+ seconds of that song’s performance.
Feeling the energy of that song in person was phenomenal, I almost forgot that I should be photographing the show and not just letting the music overtake me.
Photos & Words by Asha Moné
