Next Music from Tokyo: Vol 12

Feat: The Taupe / Yubisaki Nohaku / Koutei Camera Girl Drei / Lucie,Too / Bakyun the everyday / opening act: Koutei Camera Gal

May 18 Toronto @ Rivoli
May 19 Toronto @ Lee's Palace
May 21 Montreal @ La Sala Rossa
May 23 Vancouver @ Biltmore Cabaret

Biltmore Cabaret
Doors: 7pm Start: 8pm
(opening act: Koutei Camera Gal perform early at 7:40pm)

tickets: $14 (advance). $20 (door)
Advance tickets available online via Ticketfly or at local record stores Red Cat and Zulu.

Next Music from Tokyo (NMFT) is an annual tour that introduces Canadians to the most creative and skilled bands from Japan's indie and underground music scene. The tour began in 2010 and brings a different group of Japanese bands to Canada each year. Tour organizer Steven Tanaka is a Toronto-based anesthesiologist who travels to Japan five to seven times annually, scouting the best possible line-up for each edition. With a long track record of sold out shows, NMFT is proof that music played with energy and passion transcends language barriers, and can be appreciated by audiences anywhere.

For both the fans and Tanaka himself, last year's volume 10 was perhaps the most fun tour in the history of NMFT. That's why the three core bands from NMFT 10 have been invited to Canada again to recreate that magic, along with NMFT 11's hit idol act Koutei Camera Girl Drei, and brand new group Lucie,Too.

The Taupe take a quirky, soulful and experimental approach to psychedelic post-punk, and they love to make use of contrasts. Their music switches unpredictably from calm, beautiful soundscapes to ear-shattering chaos in a heartbeat. On stage, The Taupe are menacing-exuding an aloof, cooler-than-thou aura-but such presence melts away as they perform with passion and show their love for crowd interaction.
https://youtu.be/-kasxJ4km9E

Yubisaki Nohaku are four ladies that throw down a technical but fun combination of prog, noise, pop, and post-rock. Last year, guitarist Junko may have broken all sorts of records in Canada for stage diving, crowd surfing and coaxing free beers from the audience. Very few female bands rock as hard, and on stage, these girls are beautiful, soulful, and fierce.
https://youtu.be/xuB_oNeRdKE

Bakyun the everyday are a four-piece band that plays ultra-melodic pop-punk with dual male-female vocals and an absurd amount of ferocity and raw power. The most popular style of indie music in Japan right now is 'city pop'-a laid-back, textured and dreamy style of pop with urban lyrical themes. Bakyun the everyday pay a backhanded homage to city pop with an equally melodic yet much more aggressive, powerful sound they coin 'city punk.' Fun, emotionally charged music played extremely loud with passion and breakneck speed.
https://youtu.be/Xh2T7WSUr_k
https://youtu.be/2yYG1LF6gQI

Koutei Camera Girl Drei are a three-piece female idol group who made their live debut in Canada this past October before performing a single show in Japan. Their sound involves rapped lyrics over EDM instrumentals, but it's the soulfulness, creativity, and supreme attention to detail in production-coupled with the heartfelt, raw-as-punk ebullience of the girls' on-stage performance-that makes KCG Drei one of the most captivating acts in Tokyo's underground music scene.
https://youtu.be/E6xu2teeB18 <-- Their song entitled 'Toronto Lot' was inspired by Toronto's beautiful cityscape.
As a bonus, two of the three members of KCG Drei perform as a separate, more hip hop influenced act known as Koutei Camera Gal, and they will perform as the tour's opening act.

Lucie,Too consists of three female university students from the small town of Utsunomiya. They play straightforward but incredibly well-crafted indie pop that has taken the Japanese music scene by storm.
Backed by a very small independent record label, their first music video has garnered over 400,000 views in just two months. Similar to Kinoko Teikoku, Regal Lily, and Akai Koen, all of whom toured with NMFT before their big breaks, Lucie,Too is unequivocally destined for greatness.
https://youtu.be/gHsUaS9r5R8
https://youtu.be/8UHTIHCncTU

Next Music from Tokyo prides itself in showcasing a fresh and eclectic line-up of Japanese artists and bands that put on a great show without resorting to gimmicks. The concerts are curated for an audience that is open-minded and loves high quality music of all types. NMFT is the only tour in Canada featuring multiple Japanese artists/bands and will continue its tradition of creating one of the most interesting and intense live music experiences of the year.

for detailed info: http://nextmusicfromtokyo.com