I had the misfortune to have been in attendance at Anime Expo this past weekend in Long Beach, California. The weather was beautiful, but I was unfortunately sequestered in a dimly lit dealer’s room peddling nerd wares to nerds, instead of enjoying the cool ocean breeze and ogling southern Californian honeys.

The convention organizers managed to snag some big name rockers to perform this year, among them punky diva Anna Tsuchiya and androgynous heartthrob Gackt’s new band S.K.I.N. The other guy working in the booth with me decided to go see Anna Tsuchiya, so I agreed to cover the booth while he took a short break to catch some of her noon time concert. Not only is scheduling a concert at noon a moronic idea, but Ms. Tsuchiya didn’t even start promptly, forcing my coworker to come back from break before he could even catch a single song. Apparently he missed out on a great show though, as I read in Anime Expo’s newsletter: “Dressed in a punk style of ripped tank top and cut-off shorts, she strutted across the stage like a teenager in a mall, not a care about what people thought—I am Anna Tsuchiya; love me for who I am.”
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A little while ago there was some debate on our forums about whether Melt-Banana’s live show was completely amazing or just plain confusing. I can see how the band’s live show would be off-putting if you weren’t intimately familiar with the band’s records or if their brand of noise-punk-grind-experimentalism is simply not your bag. It might not even be all that great if you’re standing more than 15 feet away from the stage.

But hooooo-boy! If you love this kind of music, there is simply nothing more exhilarating and jaw-dropping than a Melt-Banana live performance. I’d seen them do a show with Fantômas way back in my high-school days but the one last night was far superior for one reason: the audience was completely in love with them! Back at the first show, it was at a larger venue and sure people were into it and all but it was nothing like the moshing, screaming masses that greeted them on the Fourth of July at Dante’s. Almost made me feel proud that my fellow countrymen could show them the love they deserve!
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