Report on R-Shitei’s final show of their “R-Shitei oneman Tour-SHAMBARA-” at Zepp Tokyo

When the band started their R–Shitei oneman Tour –SHAMBARA– on December 20 of last year, they released their single –SHAMBARA-  a day later. To promote this release, R-Shitei (R指定) went on a one-man tour, which finished with two final shows at Zepp Tokyo, and we were lucky to be present at the last show on January 5 thanks to our good friends at V STAR PROMOTION!

Promo poster for the tour

Having never listened to the band properly before, and with no time to even listen to some of their songs on YouTube beforehand, I went into the concert not knowing what to expect from them. I sat down on the press-only balcony, where I had a great view of the band from the second floor of the venue. I also had a view of the crowd that was down below, which all looked like they were eagerly anticipating the live show to begin. When the dazzling SE (sound effect) began being transmitted, the crowd instantly began to get fired up, and when the SE mixed into the intro of their fresh new song, –SHAMBARA-, everyone clearly let loose with the music. And, even though the song starts off pretty slow, you could immediately feel the excitement of fans and the energy of the band, which they held onto throughout the whole show. Early into the show, I was captivated by vocalist Mamo (マモ) on more than one occasion. Mamo loves to jump on and off the stage box and just dance around, so he’s definitely not boring to look at, and he knows how to put on a show and keep the audience excited.

R-Shitei mostly played songs from their album, 少女喪失-syojosoushitsu-, being one of its greatest songs Suicide Memories (スーサイドメモリーズ). This song was the second song on the setlist that night, and it followed the heavy yet melodical ambiance -SHAMBARA- had set. There were times when I felt like headbanging, but the transitions between the breakdowns and the melody threw me off, in a good way.

Then MELT DOWN came after as the third song. This was the song that was full off heavy riffs and break downs all throughout, which was an intense change from the first two songs. I did not have to guess if it was the right time to headbang, but unfortunately, even if I wanted to, I couldn’t, as everyone else on the press balcony were reserved, so I had to follow suit. Later on the show, Sadomazo (サドマゾ), another fan favorite, began. When Sadomazo began, the traditional furitsuke from the fans also began, flailing their arms in unison with the song. However, once the calmness of the song was interrupted by the intense and heavy breakdown, the floor was attacked by an onslaught of hair from the fans who were headbanging with all their might. The intense headbanging continued throughout the show and even during the encore, as VISUAL IS DEAD was played with great energy from the band members.

Smokey explosions during the song MELT DOWN

Apart from the high quality performance of the guys, the video projections were especially memorable. They were beautiful and maximized the mood of the songs that were played. The colors of the lighting they chose for each song also strangely fit perfectly, which rose the tension that was being experienced all along the show.

Fluorescent lights filled up the venue