Introduction The night of September 12, 2005 was a good one for indie rock fans as considerable talent descended upon the O-nest in Shibuya. bloodthirsty butchers were running the show, "official bootleg vol. 006," but once their special guest was revealed to be none other than Ian MacKaye and his latest band The Evens, the bar had definitely been raised. How did the surprise international lineup fare? Read on to find out. back to features		bloodthirsty butchers/The Evens @ Shibuya O-nest When American indie legend Ian MacKaye makes a trip halfway across the globe to be your opening act, you've got to be close to lengendary in your own right. Which is to say, bloodthirsty butchers really do live up to the way they've been cannonized, and they really do have fans that go by the name Fugazi. MacKaye, frontman of Fugazi and formerly of Minor Threat and the Teen Idles, brought his project The Evens to Japan, making an appearance as the special guest at bloodthirsty butchers' "official bootleg vol. 6" event. Now, this may be a Japanese music website, but given the circumstances, only a sadistic lifer would skip over The Evens' portion of the show on account of the duo being American. As soon as MacKaye took the stage with his baritone guitar, the silence which gripped the crowd slowly turned to "oohs" and "ahhs" of admiration. No doubt Japanese fans were well aware of his musical contributions since the early eighties. His greeting of "Can we turn down the air conditioning? It's fucking freezing in here," was met with a mixture of laughter over what was likely half the audience's favorite English word, as well as complaints over not understanding his English very well. However, neither the language barrier nor the quieter style of The Evens watered down MacKaye's left-leaning rhetoric, as he peppered the audience between songs in slow, precisely-spoken words on topics ranging from the Iraq war, distrust of police and the Bush Administration to real punk rock. The Evens' musical style was a bit more than a stone's throw away than the frontman's previous work. MacKaye and drummer Amy Farina (ex-member of the DC band The Warmers) stuck to steady, singer-songwriter fare that often veered in the direction of folk and alt-country. Both members shared vocal duties and harmonized nicely throughout. Nevertheless, there was something eerie and ironic about The Evens. The hefty amount of reverb applied not only to the guitar, but the vocals and drums undoubtedly contributed to the heavy atmosphere. However, it was MacKaye's own performance that was the key. In spite of the mostly placid music, the lyrics were rife with pointed messages and sharp criticisms ("All These Governors" plays exactly how it sounds), and MacKaye's intense presence and piercing gaze lent a constant nervous edge. Without question, the highlight of The Evens' hourlong set was the singalong to "Mount Pleasant Isn't," (referring to the neighborhood in northwest Washington, DC), where the audience was instructed to belt out the chorus "the police will not be excused/the police will not behave" with the band. After some initial coaxing ("Sapporo rocked way harder than you guys!") the non-English speaking audience found the words to be slightly difficult, so everyone was let off the hook and allowed to sing nonsense syllables in place of the words. And that was the multinational event of the night; MacKaye dishing it to the riot police while his Japanese comrades backed him with "nya nya nya." Though the front half of the audience was asked to sit down for the duration of The Evens' performance, once bloodthirsty butchers were ready, everyone was on their feet. In stark contrast to The Evens, the butchers and Yoshimura Hideki said very little to their fans, except for a few profuse thank-yous. Leading off with "Faust," clearly a crowd favorite, the song's opening tidal wave of noise roared with the ferocity of a foundation-jolting shindo-7 shock. While it is ancient news that ex-Number Girl guitarist Tabuchi Hisako joined the butchers as their fourth member, her extra guitar plays the MSG to the butchers' filling cuisine, giving "Faust" its juicy, lively sound (and migraines to anyone unable to handle it). "Kanashimi wo Buttobase" benefitted greatly as well, the extra guitar helping the all-instrumental song walk the fine line between melody and noisy anarchy even better than before. During songs including "no future," "Sanzan" and the aforementioned "Kanashimi wo Buttobase," the incredible noise blanketing the venue could have leveled an entire forest. New treaties aside, Japan should never have to worry about the North Korean threat again, because with big enough amps the butchers could probably vaporize any missile right out of the sky. Unfortunately, the downside to this was that the vocals were often drowned out in the cacophanous wash. At times Yoshimura was almost inaudible and Tabuchi even moreso; her occasional backup "ooh"s rarely poked through clearly. However, the sounds that did punch through the haze of guitar and distortion, most notably the yells and pounding syncopated beats of "lucky man," sounded all the more powerful and attention-grabbing. The set included all four songs from the butchers' +/- split (all covers), which was a slight disappointment in comparison to the butchers' deeper and more personality-filled repertoire. However, the covers played almost like honest-to-god original butchers compositions, which says something about the band's aptitude for originality, and if anything added some balance to the more violent selections. Still, "Plus/Minus" and "banging the drum," especially with their live-only extended instrumental sections, were at once far more engaging and effective at breaking up the set. One facet of the butchers' performance that does not show through on their albums is their drummer's personality. Komatsu Masahiro is by far the most energetic member of the band, and it is a joy to watch him enthusiastically bang on the drums with his characteristic grin. Yoshimura projects a slightly agitated aura as he yells into the microphone and occasionally jumps around, coaxing all manner of noises out of his guitar with the gauntlet of effects scattered about his feet. Imoriya and Tabuchi, however, stick to a much more subdued manner and let their instruments do the talking. After playing 12 songs and returning for a three song encore, the butchers pulled the plug on their torrent of sound and retreated with little more than a quick thank-you. Then again, for a band that has been at this for more than 15 years now, not much more needs to be said. bloodthirsty butchers Set List: 1. Faust (ファウスト) 2. I'VE BEEN LOST 3. B2 4. Kanashimi wo Buttobase (悲しみをぶっとばせ) 5. Goblin (ゴブリン) 6. luckyman 7. no future 8. Acacia (アカシア) 9. happy end 10. Plus/Minus (プラス/マイナス) 11. SUMMER DRESS 1｛ALL HER WINTER CLOTHES｝ 12. banging the drum Encore 1. CHROMATIC 2. Sanzan (サンザン) 3. WAKING UP IS HARD TO DO - Text and photos by James, special thanks to bloodthirsty butchers' Watanabe Kyoko
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