It seems we are currently living in the golden age of Japanese female metal bands with BRIDEAR, NEMOPHILA and Lonesome_Blue all beating a path to the Western consciousness. Yet, the brightest of the bunch are undoubtedly LOVEBITES, a quintet from Tokyo who peddle a rather nice line in power metal and have picked up a host of awards while leaving a trail of critically-acclaimed albums in their wake. However, it’s the live environment where a metal band are held to account and a near capacity crowd have assembled at The Garage venue to pass judgement on LOVEBITES’ second London show inside three weeks.
There’s no support band tonight, so there’s not too long to wait for LOVEBITES, yet such is the buzz surrounding the band that many present have been queueing outside the venue since early afternoon and once admitted they jostle for a prime position in front of the stage. This only adds to the excitement that’s crackling the air and using Judas Priest’s cover of ‘Diamond And Rust’ as an intro tape takes things to an almost unbearable level. When the band finally appear to the opening refrain of ‘The Awakening’ things go off the dial as hundreds of fists pump the air in affirmation and when that segues into ‘The Hammer Of Wrath’, we are in overdrive territory. It’s an opener that finds the band on top form, and as this is the penultimate date on their The Thin Line Between Love And Hate UK/EU tour, that’s really no surprise. LOVEBITES prove themselves a well-oiled machine with guitarists Midori and Miyako making the perfect tag team, trading blistering solos and riffing in tandem they prove themselves the natural successors to Iron Maiden’s Murray/Smith combo. Hidden behind a huge kit, drummer Haruna certainly makes her presence felt, while vocalist Asami moves around the stage like a gracious swan, intent on making eye contact with all present. I was wondering how new bassist Fami would slot into the band, especially after replacing the powerhouse that was Miho, but she’s made the position her own and bounces around the stage with boundless energy. Five individual characters who come together in an unstoppable force and the result is a foot-on-the-monitor, horns-held-high, celebration-of-metal fest.
With such a deep discography someone is always going to take umbrage with the song selection (my personal bugbear is the omission of ‘Scream For Me’), yet LOVEBITES do a good job of covering all bases and hit us with three tracks from each of their studio albums, along with a couple of EP cuts, to ensure that no one feels disappointed. There’s no slacking from the band as they power through an intoxicating set with ‘Stand And Deliver (Shoot ‘Em Down’)’ being an early highlight and ‘Raise Some Hell’ doing exactly what it says on the tin. From their debut release, ‘Don’t Bite The Dust’ is particularly feisty and generates plenty of headbanging action while ‘M.D.O.’ finds the crowd chanting with fists pumping the air and this makes for a collaborative, interactive gig that creates a bond between band and crowd.
Two well-deserved encores sends everyone home happy and eagerly awaiting the band’s return.
Set List:
- The Awakening
- The Hammer Of Wrath
- When Destinies Align
- Stand And Deliver (Shoot ‘Em Down)
- Shadowmaker
- Judgement Day
- Raise Some Hell
- Soldier Stands Solitarily
- Don’t Bite The Dust
- Rising
- M.D.O.
- We The United
Encores:
- Holy War
- Glory To The World
Great review thanks, hopefully it will help to spread the word about Lovebites even further.
That was an amazing night at The Garage, one of the best concerts I have been to and a fantastic atmosphere.
I have watched and listened to their videos so many times and could hardly believe I was standing barely 15 feet away from them, incredible!
The only sad thing is that next time they tour in the UK, I’m probably going to be somewhere at the back of a stadium not 4 people away from the stage.