【連載】BAND-MAID＜10TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR in NORTH AMERICA＞5月後編

■5/26 Columbus, OH Sonic Temple Festival

8日目はオハイオ州コロンバスで4日間に亘りHistoric Crew Stadiumで開催された大型スタジアムフェスティバル＜Sonic Temple Festival＞へ出演。フー・ファイターズやキッスなど、世界的人気を誇るアーティストがヘッドライナーに名を連ねる中、BAND-MAIDはSOUNDWAVE STAGEに出演した。

晴れ渡る青空の下、今年から一新したオリジナルSEが流れると、拳を突き上げたAKANE（Dr）に続き全員がステージに入る。名刺代わりの1曲「DOMINATION」のエネルギッシュな演奏でこの日も幕を開けた。息の合ったドラムとベースのフレーズで始まる「DICE」に続いては、海外人気も特に高い楽曲「Choose me」へ。


タイトルこそ英語が多いものの、その歌詞のほとんどが日本語で構成されるBAND-MAIDだが、「Choose me」をはじめ、その楽曲の魅力は言語の壁などもろともせずに、この10年間で海外人気は爆発的に加速している。



AKANE、MISA（B）が支える安定したリズムと、作曲の中心人物でもあるKANAMI（G）の演奏の盤石さはもちろん、激しい演奏に埋もれないSAIKI（Vo）の力強いヴォーカル、そしてツインボーカル・リズムギターを担うだけではなくそのポップなキャラクターでも注目を集める小鳩ミク（G, Vo）という5人の個性が結集した結果、海外のフェスからとめどなく声がかかる状況になっているのだろう。


続く「endless Story」ではこの日も高々と手を挙げシンガロングする姿が徐々に広がっていく。フェス出演を重ねる毎、着実にファンを増やしていっていることが客席からも如実にわかるほどに、BAND-MAIDの最近の躍進は目に見えて証明されている。

獰猛なギターリフから始まる「Screaming」で再び激しい演奏を繰り広げると、「influencer」「NO GOD」と畳み掛けるように、観客をさらなる沼へ引き込んでいく。各パートのソロも多く難易度の高い楽曲が続くなか、どんどん加速していくような強さを感じるBAND-MAIDの演奏に、メンバーの積み重ねてきた努力と進化を感じずにはいられない。

あっという間に最後の曲となった「Warning!」では、一部サークルモッシュが起こるなど、見渡すかぎりの観客が拳を掲げジャンプする圧巻の光景となった。


Day 8 brought a performance at the Sonic Temple Festival, a stadium festival held over four days in the Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. BAND-MAID appeared on the Soundwave Stage, on the same slate as such internationally famed headliners as the Foo Fighters and Kiss.

With a clear blue sky shining down on the stage and the new original SFX created for this year cued up, a fist-pumping AKANE lead the rest of the band members onto the stage. They kicked things off with "DOMINATION", the number that's swiftly becoming the band's calling card and got the energy of the crowd going right off the bat. From "DICE", which opens with the harmony of the bass and drums, the band continued with "Choose me", a song that enjoys huge popularity overseas. In spite of the English titles of many of their songs, the majority of the band's work has Japanese lyrics, but songs like "Choose me" carry a charm that defies language barriers and has lead to BAND-MAID's explosion in international popularity over the past decade.


The supporting rhythm of AKANE's drums and MISA's bass, the bedrock playing of guitarist and primary song composer KANAMI, the powerhouse vocals and take-no-prisoners performance style of SAIKI, and last but not least the rhythm guitar, dual lead vocals, and moreover the poppy, adorable stage persona of the band's most recognizable member MIKU Kobato - the unbeatable combo of these five highly individual women makes it no wonder that invitations to festivals all over the world are rolling in.

Continuing the OKYUJI, "endless Story" got the audience to gradually raise their hands in the air and sing along. The band's recent boom in popularity was clear from the attendance at their performances, which has grown steadily at each of their festival slots.


From a ferocious performance of "Screaming", with the savage guitar lick opening the song, BAND-MAID rolled along into "influencer" and then "NO GOD" without showing their adoring audience any mercy. A string of impressive solos for each bandmember in a succession of complicated songs did nothing to slow their momentum, and BAND-MAID only appeared to be gaining steam, transforming hard work into hard rock before their fans' very eyes.

In what seemed like no time at all, they reached their end of their set with a performance of "Warning!" that touched off moshing, closing off the day with the spectacular sight of all the attendees raising their fists and jumping together as BAND-MAID's appearance at Sonic Temple drew to a close.

JAPANESE TEXT ＆ PHOTO FG5
TRASLATION Natalie S. Hadjiloukas