Babymetal with Avatar at the House of Blues, 9-11-19
The House of Blues may seem like too small a venue to have a wall of death to open up, but when the crowd respects a band as much as Wednesday's crowd did Babymetal, anything is possible. The Japanese group stopped in Boston on their "Metal Galaxy" Tour supporting their upcoming album of the same name.
They brought their unique mix of Japanese pop and heavy metal to what felt like a full crowd. The trio blended impeccable choreography with punchy vocals and ripping metal music. Most impressive had to be their ability to choreograph dance moves to blazing guitar solos and riffs. It's really something unique to them in the metal scene.
Fans of Babymetal in the crowd moshed, bounced and even charged in the aforementioned wall of death all at the deft commands of front lady Suzuka Nakamoto. With no words she managed to part the packed sea of people and arrange for controlled chaos on the breakdown of a song.
The backing band, if a full four-piece metal band can be referred to as such, skillfully balanced their duties as secondary performers with their clearly immense talent. They soloed when appropriate, knew when to back off to avoid distracting from the frontwomen, and generally provided a solid backbone to the performance.
Avatar opened for Babymetal, and the Swedish band clearly brought in a large segment of the audience who showed up in clown paint and merch. The band's theatrical presence and matching toy soldier/clown suits set off the weird, wacky mood of the night. Frontman Johannes Eckerström warmed the crowd up for Babymetal and delivered a chilling Heath Ledger-inspired monologue about the virtues of being outcasts. With a twirl of his circus ringleader's staff and a tip of his hat, he kicked off the set with not a care given to what critics might say.
All in all, Babymetal carried the night with ease, and Nakamoto and Moa Kikuchi delivered perfectly arranged dance performances alongside a third member who appears to have been a temporary fill-in. Previous member Yui Mizuno quit the band in October of 2018, and since then the remaining duo have performed with Riho Sayashi, of pop group Morning Musume fame. It was unclear if Sayashi was the mysterious third performer Wednesday night, however, or if she will become a permanent member of the band.
Babymetal will continue the US leg of their world tour supporting "Metal Galaxy" through October. Their next show will be at New York's Terminal 5 on September 15. "Metal Galaxy" is scheduled for release on October 11th. Click here for Babymetal's full tour schedule.
Avatar will continue to tour with Babymetal for several upcoming US shows, including September 15th's Terminal 5 show. Click here for Avatar's full tour schedule.