NMFT6: Vote for the 4th band
I need to choose one more band to complement group_inou, Happy!Mari and jizue to finalize the line-up for NMFT6.tricot would have been PERFECT but unfortunately they're too busy touring Japan to come to Canada in May.
The three candidates for the remaining spot are:
1. 宇宙コンビニ (Uchuu Combini) homepage
pros: - singer has a beautiful voice - drummer and guitarist are highly skilled - very nice people - guitarist lived in Canada for 6 mos - label/management really know how to make good music videos and know how to promote the band - fans on the internet are going crazy for their music based on what little is available on Youtube (all the comments are extremely positive) - only 3 members +/- manager so they're relatively cheaper for me to bring
cons: - their live show has very little energy and sounds almost exactly the same as listening to their CD. On one hand it means they're very tight musicians who make almost no mistakes but it also means there's very little improvisation and not much in terms of playing with passion and intensity. However the music is calm and beautiful and their skill level alone is impressive. - I like it when the NMFT bands support each other by going nuts in the audience and I can't picture uchuu combini making noise or dancing to cheer on the other bands.
2. きのこ帝国 (Kinoko Teikoku) homepage
pros: - they absolutely killed it last year and have become one of the most popular NMFT bands to date - since last May they've released a new 5 song ep and have new material to play in Canada - great people who cheer on the other bands. Kon and Shige stage dove during mouse on the keys' set in Vancouver
cons: - only one year will have passed before their last visit. Personally I don't see anything wrong with this. Zoobombs used to come to Toronto 2 times a year.
3. 百蚊 (hyacca) homepage
pros: - when they're in fine form they can put on one of the most intense, energetic and audience engaging shows on the planet - telephone number, hanazono, and stress will stir any crowd into a frenzy - one of the most memorable bands in the history of NMFT
cons: - they're known to put on the occasional dud of a show when they're too drunk or not drunk enough - the screamed vocals and noise may turn off some people... but who gives a f*ck. However, neither group_inou nor Happy!Mari have aesthetically pleasing vocals and jizue's an instrumental band so it would help to have at least one band where the singer has a nice voice (hence Kinoko Teikoku or Uchuu Combini) - they go nuts on stage but don't really cheer on the other bands that much - they suck at promoting their own music and almost all the videos of them on Youtube are of poor quality especially in terms of sound
Right now I'm leaning heavily towards Kinoko Teikoku. They're the safest choice since they blew audiences away in all three cities last year. They combine beautifully melodic songs with ample power and moments of ferocity.
However, if you'd rather see a new band I don't mind bringing Uchuu Combini. They're not the most energetic and engaging live band but they play beautiful music with awesome female vocals and impressively tricky instrumentation. Since group_inou, Happy!Mari and jizue can be very aggressive and intense Uchuu's music could add a nice change of pace to complement some of jizue's softer/soulful/jazzy material.
Or if you want full on energy throughout the whole night with no rest then Hyacca would be the way to go.
Please write comments here or on Facebook to let me know which of these three bands you want to see the most. I need to make a decision within the next three days so I can move on towards the stage of preparing and promoting the tour. Thanks in advance everyone!