Review by Kayla Hamilton (@kaylazomboid)

PALEDUSK -ONE MAN-
O-EAST, Shibuya, Japan
July 26th 2024

Watching the rise of Paledusk over the years has been nothing short of remarkable. One of the hardest working bands in the genre, the musicians behind Fukuoka Chaos Core have truly paved their own way forward. One of the greatest pieces of evidence of this was their one-man show at O-East in the heart of Shibuya on the 26^th of July. Featuring a whole range of incredible guests, it was a night unlike any other.

Despite the stifling heat, the sold-out crowd packed out the venue early on a Friday night. Greeted by a mammoth display of the gates of hell, there was a notable anticipation lingering in the air. As the audience lights dimmed, the stage lights soaked the venue in red. This was the cue for the gates of hell to fully activate and the crowd started to push forward. This is when it dawned on me that even standing quite far on the side, I was not entirely sure that I would be able to avoid the chaos of the pit. The traditional siren sounded that anybody who has seen Paledusk before would recognise, and drummer Bob took to the stage, greeted by a chorus of cheers. He took his place behind the kit as the familiar riff opening riff of Eminem’s ‘Lost Yourself’ kicked in- a introduction they have retained over the years. As Bob thundered along, the rest of the band started to make their way with to the stage. The guitarists Tsubasa and Daidai took their respective spots on the stage, standing up on the boxes to look out over the adoring rabble, then joining in on the song. As they hit their final strum of the intro, the gates of hell opened and frontman Kaito appeared.

There didn’t need to be much persuasion for the crowd to be whipped into a frenzy, further heightening as the ripped right into ‘No!’. As the opening riff started, the whole crowd banged their head in unison then broke off into their own little grooves. Shouting along together in the choruses, in a call and response to Kaito. Without reprieve, the boys headed straight into ‘Black Ice’ and in that moment, I truly felt the room become unhinged. Setting the pace early, as the audience become unglued- there was a sense of freedom that seemed to saturate the crowd. Something you do not often see at shows in Tokyo. I won’t give away too much more of the setlist as the band still has one more show left of the tour, but their first guest appearance was from rapper Vigorman, coming out to do his vocal feature in ‘I’m Ready To Die For my Friends’. It was truly evident that Paledusk pick their guest features carefully, as the love between the rapper and the band was truly evident.

With a few throwback songs, a few more guest appearances this time from singer Such on ‘BBB’ and Aviel from CVLTE singing his section on the reimagined ‘Super Pale Horse’ it was astonishing to witness as they ripped through almost forty minutes of songs without barely a breath between them. Just when you thought the insanity of the crowd could not be matched, as they ripped into ‘Slay!!’ a new level of chaos was attained. Crowd surfers appeared from everywhere, rolling on top of each other and finding their way to the front. Nowhere was truly safe and let’s be honest, if you are a fan of Paledusk- that is the kind of energy you are craving. Tokyo rapper Hideyoshi also joined the party, bringing his effortless groove to the room- a second of reprieve before the world ripped open again. With more “slays” being yelled than you would find a season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, I had to take a moment truly take in what I was witnessing.

Eventually the band took a moment to address the crowd and as they did, the sentimentality of singer Kaito was hard to ignore. His maniacal laughter and snarling growls long forgotten, instead in its place a young man who wears his heart on his sleeve so freely stood before this adoring congregation. Even with a language barrier between him and this reviewer, there was no mistranslating the humbleness and overwhelm that was exuding from every part of him. Make no mistake though- they were only halfway done. It felt like the break was more for our benefit than theirs because there was no time wasted. Daidai was flipping again, Tsubasa was spinning, Bob was ready to go and Kaito, the sunglasses were off and he was back to being an agent of chaos.

Flipping between pre-2019 tracks to their recent hits, there was something for those who many have only just stumbled onto the band or for those who had been there from the start. Probably one of the most poignant parts of the set those was as we headed towards the end. The lyrics of ‘Palehell’ are such a personal story of Kaito’s and you can hear every ounce of passion and belief as he sings it, but it was with the next few appearances you truly felt like you are watching a group of young men living out their dreams. As Masato from Coldrain came out to sing his section on ‘RUMBLE’ and Kenta Koie from Crossfaith performed his feature on ‘Q2’, the respect of these senior musicians to their younger counterparts was heart-warming to witness.

Finishing off the main set with ‘Area PD’, you knew immediately there was no way they were going to be allowed to leave without an encore. Honestly, they may have been a riot if they did. When they finally returned, they invited all the guests out for a group photo. Between the banter and the antics of everybody on the stage, plus the audience participation- it just felt like everybody was a part of a huge celebration of how far Paledusk have come so far.

I have covered this band’s live shows many times. From opening for bigger artists like Electric Callboy to their own headline Australian tour- it’s been a pleasure to see their growth. Their final song, ‘Lights’, I have witnessed them play many times and even now as I write this, I feel myself being moved to tears. There is a sense of authenticity, hope and joy that this band never seems to lose. Phone lights lit up the venue, the collective “whoaaa-oooo-ooos” filled the air- in that moment it felt like everybody in that room also believed that they could achieve their dreams.

As the final “whoas” rang out, there was a moment to bask in what had just happened. An animation hit the screen, inspired from the ‘RUMBLE’ music video and a J-Pop song started playing. Still riding the adrenaline, people kept crowd surfing and Kaito even got on the mic and sang and danced along. While the show was ending, there is no doubt that this is still only the beginning of what Paledusk will achieve in the future. That night will be a moment in the bands history that those who attended will be talking for decades to come.

If you do not have the privilege of attending their last show of this tour in their hometown of Fukuoka, then do not fret. Just do not make the mistake of not taking the chance to see them when you can. Judging from what was witnessed in Shibuya last week- this band will take over the world. It’s not a matter of if, it is a matter of when…

And when they do, you will want to be there. I know I will be.