Out-of-Body Experience!: Hear You Asia Tour (Toe Live in Manila 2016)
- Clare Batac
- Nov 30, 2016
- 2 min read
Hence the title, it was certainly an intense 2-hour concert that happened last November 27, 2016 at Samsung Hall, SM Aura Premier.
Toe is a four-piece instrumental post-rock band from Tokyo founded by the sperm champions Kashikura Takashi (drums), Mino Takaaki (guitar), Yamane Satoshi (bass guitar), and Yamazaki Hirokazu (guitar).
As of the moment, I can't compose my personal decent description for this band. Can't I just say that they're friggin' awesome and I personally want to thank their parents for not using contraceptives when they had coitus? ArigaTOE!
Anyway, last October, Toe announced on Facebook that they'll be having a concert here in Manila and I swear, I cried my heart out that night. And a month after, there I was, on queue for an hour waiting for the band I've been listening for years. I was surprised to see the see the long line for I didn't know that they were THAT popular here in Manila. I obviously underestimated the crowd. Nevertheless, I was happy to know that these people are listening to some quality music (FAITH IN HUMANITY RESTORED!).
When Toe entered the hall, there was no introduction. They simply grabbed their instruments and just played, and it was a religious moment right there. I managed to shot some pictures to preserve the memory of that night but all I did was laugh, scream my heart out, bang my head and savor their music.
I've been to different gigs, concerts, rave parties for years but this band, they did something that night-- something I felt for the first time. I don't actually know what's the exact term for it but it felt like the bass from the sound system raged all over the place and it made us, the concert goers, felt like we were sort of falling and everyone was like, "Are we in Japan now?"
My friend and I couldn't stop singing "Goodbye" (one of their few songs that has lyrics) on our way out. It was an overwhelming experience to witness a band that played music with such extremity. Until now, despite this entry, I'm still in awe and too speechless to construe what kind of sorcery took place inside that hall.
If you're in Asia, you can still catch Toe on these dates:
December 1, 2016 - Shanghai, China (Mao Live house)
December 2, 2016 - Beijing, China (Yugong Yishan)
December 3, 2016 - Hong Kong (Music Zone)
You can listen to Toe at their Bandcamp and catch their gig announcements at their Facebook page.
Cover photo and first image from Toe's Facebook page.
The rest of the photos are taken by Clare Batac.
Originally posted in Niume, December 1, 2016
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