100 Days of Tsurezure, Day 13: Reckoning

/ Homicidol Maniac

As I mentioned in the Weekender, team, ol’ Maniac won’t be providing first-person accounts of his own from the NSLE shows; instead, I turn to friends! And nobody will travel further for, and deliver a better description of, the idol experience than our old pal Daemon. Take it away, sir!

So, everyone raise their hand that was worried about the reception of Not Secured, Loose Ends’ (aka Yukueshirezutsurezure) Western debut! Now, everyone can put their hands down and pretend they knew it was going to go fine all along. TL;DR: NSLE freaking destroyed the Rivoli in Toronto last night and the crowd loved every second of it.

NSLE opened their show with “Six Fall Roar,” and it took all of three seconds for the first mosh pit of the night to form. The crowd proved very willing, and at the urging of the NSLE fans from Japan, the traditional arms-locked, synchronized head-banging circle during the bridge covered the front third of the nightclub’s floor. Then, at the girls urging, the crowd collectively surged to the front for the hands-in huddle during the pounding build up to “Kami Sama?!” only to be thrown back by Shidare’s explosive answering scream crashing over wailing dub step sirens.

NSLE pulled off the perfect, shocking opener to their Western debut. They fully knocked the crowd out of their senses and then never gave them a chance to recover. They relentlessly sprinted through their set, never leaving more than a few seconds between songs. The only let up in intensity was during “Gaga,” their most pop-friendly tune, which ditches the hardcore but still runs at a jackrabbit tempo, and the contemplative “Shinjuku Cinema Connection.”

The rest of the show was NSLE in prime form. Their rock-fueled electronica beats had the crowd jumping while the hardcore vocal drops fell like hand grenades exploding into mosh pits.

In a notable moment, both Shidare and Tsuyame came down into the audience to perform in a ring of onlookers. While Tsuyame quickly returned to the stage, Shidare instead decided to do a walkabout and headed to the back of the club. She’s so tiny, she just sort of vanished into the crowd, and even the women on stage started to look worried, peering into the audience until her distinctive shouts rang out and her puffball twintails bounced back towards the stage.

There was also a cautionary moment that demonstrates how much more practice we Westerners need before attempting some of the more advanced idol audience moves. During “Kyousokaichinari,” there were some lift attempts that were less than elegant. Poor Papermaiden was volunteered for one and was practically launched onstage into Shidare’s arms. It’s a startling way to be introduced to someone, but I believe they are now good friends. We may all want to get together to rehearse this move before we try it again.

By the end of the 40-minute set, both the performers and the crowd were sweat-drenched and nearing exhaustion. NSLE seemed truly touched by the response of the audience. Toward the end of “Ideology“, I saw both Shidare and Komachi holding back tears while they looked over the crowd. I was glad to be a part of their reception, as they deserved every second of it. I’m pretty much of the opinion that NSLE just planted a flag for hardcore idol in the West, and everyone who comes after will have to live up to the expectations set last night.

Yes and please! Well done, Daemon, and I hope you’re right!

13 thoughts on “100 Days of Tsurezure, Day 13: Reckoning”

  1. How was the turn-out? And how many came from Japan? Hope the crowd was fun. Glad they did chekis, so hope both locals and the group enjoyed buppan 🙂

    • The show itself was sold out and when NSLE went on as the second band the place was packed. There are probably about 6-8 die hard fans from Japan here. We are hoping to meet up with them later at Toronto’s very own maid cafe’.

        • The organizer changes the band order every night so no group has to play first or last more than once. It’s a cool idea but I really wish he would post the order beforehand – it would make things easier for everyone attending.

  2. What a great account! I was never as happy to be drenched in other people sweat.

    I was surprised to see how accessible Tsurezure / NSLE is. Maison Book Girl, because of the way they perform, have this untouchable air about them until the buppan/cheki. I don’t remember them selling their own goods. Tsurezure, on the other hand, is really touchy feely! It’s not jist about being face to face with Komachi and holding onto her, it’s also Shidare patting everyone’s head and pulling the fans close. And having kneecaps in your face if you are lucky enough to be in front.

    A greaaat show.

  3. Last night’s performance was epic. I actually got a little choked up seeing the response to YSTZ. It was a fantastic night all around. So far I’ve put up one quick clip on Instagram too: https://www.instagram.com/p/BUTkD_uDrR7/?taken-by=jhh1979

    Tonight I’ll have a bunch of extra glow sticks with me. They’re the wrong shade of blue sadly but they will be up for grabs if anyone is interested. I’ll be wearing a blue Dickies jacket and black ball cap anyway.

    • I forgot to take a photo of the merch but from what I can recall they had a blue scarf, black baseball jersey, hats and t-shirts in blue and black, chopsticks and three CDs (no Mix CD sadly).

      • Thanks. If they ever bring such goodies to the UK, I’m having one of everything. Please come NSLE, and make me a poor man.

  5. Pingback: 100 Days of Tsurezure, Day 14: Honor and Glory | Homicidols

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