The Lost Tapes de Montreal

Next Music from Tokyo vol 6 at Divan Orange. (May 12, 2014) Uchu Conbini were an absolutely amazing band and it's incredibly sad they broke up. I was almost able to reunite Uchu Conbini and bring them back to Canada again for NMFT7 as a surprise 5th band but the schedule didn't work out. The great thing about this tour is I get to make lifelong friends and I'll be able to hang out with Daijiro, Yuta and Emichoco when I visit Osaka/Kyoto in the future.

Vincent!! What the blood, guy? Diajiro's the man BUT show us more Emiチョコ!!!!!!! LOL. Holy shiet! at the transition to presto tempo during 8films. So badass! Uchu Conbini will be sorely missed.

Jizue brought the house down with their showmanship and preternatural skill. Just watching them play "Dance" is worth the price of admission to NMFT.

More than a few audience members had to change their undergarments after Shin's boss drum solo.

Happy!Mari got the best crowd reaction out of all the bands due to their magnetic charm and relentless energy. Not to mention they played to the crowd with chants of "Go Habs! Rangers SUCK!"

The best part of this vid is Kinoko Teikoku's A-chan wearing her beanie, dancing and having a blast watching Happy!Mari. BTW I was the one who hoisted Eric and then Edwin to jumpstart the crowdsurfing. Edwin's crowdsurfng style is mad stiff. LOL. Just like Uchu Conbini, Happy!Mari have already broken up and but they left an unforgettable impression on the Canadians who were lucky to see them perform live.

Kinoko Teikoku sound waaaaaaay better when you watch them in Japan but they are 100x more fun to watch in Canada because they feed so much off the energy of the audience. Chiaki Sato is nowhere near as animated when she performs in Japan so you guys got to see a much different side to her personality while performing in Canada.

Go! Chiaki! Go! I love how Happy!Mari's drummer Koutarou Takaishi aka Brotarou aka William returns the favor to A-chan and her support by stagediving and crowdsurfing at the end of the clip.

Unfortunately Vincent wasn't able to film nayuta which sucked because nayuta really stepped up their game and put on jawdropping performance. They weren't accompanying us to Vancouver so it was their last performance and they really gave it their all.

So this is a small taste of what the atmosphere and quality of music is like at a Next Music from Tokyo event. Being at the show in person is 100x more intense.

(Videos courtesy of Vincent Yip. Group photos by Bryan Wong-Lim)