MUCC in LA

December 11, 2008 by rabi

Yesterday, Japanese rock band MUCC came back to Los Angeles for their 2nd headliner show in the U.S. (the first one being in New York on December 7), and I had the opportunity to watch them live at House of Blues. These guys are such pros on stage. They knew how to work the crowd, and their music was really energetic. Everyone on the floor was dancing and moving their arms. I stood near the front next to those speakers on the left side, so my ears (especially my left ear) are still ringing today.

I stood near the bassist YUKKE’s side (do I have a bias toward bassists?), who at some point took out a sexy upright electric bass to play for a couple of songs, but I couldn’t take my eyes off guitarist MIYA, who was on the far side of the stage from where I was. His guitar solos were really something. Vocalist TATSURO spoke to us mainly in simple English, like saying thanks and how he’s very happy, also claiming that his English was broken, but I thought his pronunciation was really good. Drummer SATOchi was hiding behind his drum set (of course) so I didn’t spend too much time watching him.

And the day before the concert, J!-ENT had an opportunity to conduct an interview with MUCC at, of all places, an IHOP, which happened to be close to the band’s hotel… Bassist YUKKE is known to love mangos, and he wrote on his own blog that he missed mangos. So I went to a nearby fresh produce warehouse, and picked up a box of 8 mangos for him. I hope he enjoyed it. In any case, please look forward to my full report and interview, coming up perhaps later this month…