An important event for the fans of Japanese alternative music was planned for December, 5. We had a chance to see the show of Crossfaith, a band from Osaka. Right after the show, the guys were heading to China on their tour, and then to the USA to start working on their next album.

The show took place at Daikan'yamaUNIT. It was not a problem to find the way to the venue: once we set off the train, we noticed people wearing «Pay money to my pain», «One Ok Rock» and «Crossfaith» merch T-shirts who packed their things into the checkroom at the station.
The line of girls and boys who gathered by the venue looked endless. All the tickets for the show were sold out.

When the fans finally got into the concert hall, they immediately gathered by the stage, waiting for the performance to begin. Crossfaith were opening the show. Fans raised their hands high in the air, clapped and shouted, greeting the band.
- "I want to see every person!"- Vocalist Koie said, - "Let's go!"

Fans started moving right from the beginning of the performance. The guys played a good deal of the songs from the 2 previous albums: «The Dream, The Space» and «The Artificial Theory For The Dramatic Beauty». When Omen, the Prodigy cover and the fans favorite started, all the people in the crowd threw their hands up in the air and started to jump. They waved their hands into the beat and sang along loudly. Teru, on the keyboard, ran from one side of the stage to another together with the vocalist, singing the chorus with him. Once back at his place he returned to his mixer, viciously attacking the device and raising it over his head again and again. During the whole show the people won't stop moving in the huge circle pit organized in the middle of the audience area.

Announcing the next song the vocalist asked everyone to come closer to the stage and sing together with him. Then the crowd started moving again.
«Stars Faded In Slow Motion» started. «Are you ready?» - Koie asked the public. Fans cleared a large circle in the center of the hall, 1,2,3! - and the two sides collided in the wall of death and started moshing. At the end of the show the vocalist jumped into the crowd, landing on the dense mass of fans with his back.

Coldrain was the band who appeared on stage next.
The atmosphere was getting hotter and hotter. It seemed that there was not even an inch of free space, the venue was packed. Everyone danced and screamed, singing along each chorus. Closer to the stage something looking like a stage diving and crowd surfing competition started, the audience area looked like a restless ocean.
After only a couple of songs the audience literally exploded with cheers: "Amazing! Cool!" Masato, the vocalist, addressed to the public: "The conditioning is on, but it's still hot here! More air to the stage!" and the crowd went mad, front rows starting another round of stage diving. The center was whirling, people at the sides were singing along the lyrics. Girls who were standing by the stage looked at the band members with pure fascination. Then the people in the crowd started taking their neighbors by the shoulders, so that they were standing two by two, they raised hands, waving and applauding to the musicians. The unique, friendly atmosphere built up at this show. On the last song, «To Bе Alive», Masato followed a good tradition and jumped into the crowd.

Next band, RotterGraffty took their turn onstage. Fans reacted with a storm of applause. The audience got a bit quieter, eyes glued to the stage. Fans waved their hands. After "Silver Starry" the band members poured water on the crowd from the sides of the stage, as the fans asked them. People in the middle went on moshing, holding each other's shoulders. The band threw more water bottles into the crowd, making the water pour on everyone.
The time for the headliners of the show, Pay Money To My Pain, finally came. Barriers that separated the audience area from the stage started shaking and even listed for about 50 cm from the fans' pressure. The atmosphere got even more intense. From the very first second people started stage diving again. Water poured onto the guys in the middle area. Fans couldn't stop screaming the names of the band members.

By that time the heat in the venue became extreme, but the audience looked not tired at all, singing the lyrics together with K, the vocalist and hosting "Hey! Hey!" during guitar solos. K announced the next song, Dance with me, and the fans clapped their hands and cheered the band. Meanwhile the barriers could barely withstand the pressure of the audience and the back wall have already hit sound tech's booth. It was hard to breathe, all the fresh air seemed to evaporate, but the fans were too absorbed in the atmosphere of the show that it didn't trouble them. People were dancing and jumping, gaining the speed. The show was extremely energetic and full of positive emotions; the atmosphere was filled with joy and happiness. The only word that can describe this show is "Amazing".

At the end of the gig all the 4 bands came back onto the stage and sang together, then Teru, the keyboardist of Crossfaith, asked everyone to sit down and then jump on the count of three. After that the members themselves dived into the crowd. The show was incredibly good and people were leaving the venue deathly tired, but extremely happy and fulfilled.

December, 5
Tokyo, Daikan'yama.
Venue: Daikan'yamaUNIT.

Bands:

Pay Money To My Pain
Coldrain
Crossfaith
RottenGraffty

Nippon Project would like to thanks Crossfaith and their management for collaboration.