BABYMETAL, a metal phenomenon whose name at this point needs no introduction, brought heavy metal chaos upon the crowd in Des Moines, Iowa on November 27 as a stop on their 2024 World Tour. Leading up to the show, the venue was buzzing with excitement.

Des Moines, a smaller-scale city only gets a small handful of Japanese acts a year, so BABYMETAL making it a destination on the tour was huge for the Japanese music scene there and the potential it could have in the Midwest. The crowd was diverse, with metal fans ranging from all ages and styles, which was great to see.

As it approached showtime, the stage was bathed in an almost blood-red light as the members of KAMI BAND, the masked instrumentalists walked onstage. Along with intergalactic visuals shown on the background screen, a narrator detailed the lore of BABYMETAL as they traveled through the “Metalverse” spreading the experience of metal everywhere they went, with countries and cities from previous dates on the tour being shown onscreen. Not before long, the BABYMETAL logo appeared on the screen and as the epic narration finished, the members of KAMI BAND wasted no time as they quickly transitioned into the punchy intro of BABYMETAL DEATH. With the rapidly flashing lights, the chugging guitars, and relentless double bass drumming that could be felt in the chest, SU-METAL, MOAMETAL, and MOMOMETAL slowly walked out one by one, setting a sort of ominous atmosphere, complimenting the heavy instrumentation with the chaos that was to come.

This song serves as a great opener as each member’s introduction is woven into the song, a spotlight shining on them each time they introduced themselves and then the band by name. Not long into the song, the serious tone shifted and the girls immediately started interacting with the crowd, waving at fans recording with their phones or just hyping up the crowd. Sometimes, MOMOMETAL and MOAMETAL had so much fun interacting with the crowd that they’d occasionally be rushing back to make their marks onstage, seemingly sharing a laugh with each other when doing so.

Moving in complete sync.Zephyr (JROCK NEWS)

BABYMETAL played a very tight, concise, but familiar set consisting of twelve songs encore included, with the show lasting just about an hour and twenty minutes.  Their arguably greatest hits like Megitsune and GIMME CHOCOLATE!! were expected crowd favorites and had the crowd at their craziest, singing along to the choruses, or chanting at certain parts of the songs. During Megitsune, SU-METAL put a kitsune mask to her face at the most climactic parts of the song, further enhancing the almost ritualistic atmosphere of the performance.

SU-METAL and her kitsune mask.Zephyr (JROCK NEWS)

Throughout the show, energy from both the crowd and the girls was high, with mosh pits constantly forming in the middle, and the members occasionally gesturing towards the crowd and observing the mosh pits. A camera above the crowd occasionally projected different parts of the crowd, zooming in and panning on specific fans who were either going wild to the music, or fans decked out in BABYMETAL merch. With the songs PA PA YA!! and RATATATA it was great to see bits of the music videos intertwined with the visuals onscreen, allowing the featured artists to still have a spot in the live performances.

In a standout moment during the encore, in the intro of Road of Resistance, SU-METAL raised both arms above her head, and lowered them in a splitting motion, motioning for the crowd to prepare a wall of death. Once the two sides came crashing together, the camera over the crowd showed the wall of death colliding on the background screen. Towards the end of the song, the girls got the crowd to sing along during the bridge of the song to the point where it was only the crowd, and it was a sight to see such an anthemic song resonate with everyone in the room.

As the song ended, the camera did one final pan over the crowd, showing them all onscreen with arms in the air as a BABYMETAL flag with the logo colored red, white, and blue was brought out. Holding the flag high, SU-METAL belted out the last two notes of the song before shouting out “THANK YOU DES MOINES!!” and the other two followed with “See you next time” with a pose and a final wave before trotting offstage.

MOMOMETAL and MOAMETAL in perfect sync.Zephyr (JROCK NEWS)

BABYMETAL, who have now been performing as a group for over a decade, have not only matured through the years but have also grown into their sound quite well. The choreography that compliments each song is tight and rehearsed to perfection, and their stage presence is immense. These are performers that have sold out massive stadiums all around the world, and to see them put on such an energetic and dazzling display up close in a more intimate, mid-sized venue was truly surreal and a spectacle to experience.

The stage, bathed in an ominous blood-red light.Zephyr (JROCK NEWS)

BABYMETAL at Vibrant Music Hall, Des Moines, Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Setlist:

1. BABYMETAL DEATH
2. Distortion
3. PA PA YA!!
4. MAYA
5. METALI!! (preceded by KAMI BAND solos)
6. Monochrome
7. Time Wave
8. Megitsune
9. RATATATA (BABYMETAL & Electric Callboy cover)
10. Gimme Chocolate!!

Encore:

1. Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!
2. Road of Resistance