VKH Press was invited once again to WING WORKS special live event “GOD IS IN THE DISPLAY Vol. 6” held on July 5th at Shinjuku BLAZE for vocalist RYO:SUKE’s birthday. This show brought together different bands in the Visual Kei and indie rock music scene in a one-of a kind event. On that day, WING WORKS was the final act in a lineup consisting of bands FO’X TAILS, LIPHLICH, Unite and Dog in the Parallel World Orchestra.
The WING-MEN consists of guitarist Toshi (俊) from ALDEBARAN, guitarist Hirosue Kei (広末慧) from MASQUERADE, bassist Sato, drummer Sho (匠) and programmer MURANCO from the unit band epice. Previous WING-MAN Intetsu provided support as the cameraman.
The curtain opened and the WING-MEN entered amidst flashing laser lights and clapping from the fans. RYO:SUKE entered last and after a quick huddle with the WING-MEN, everyone took their positions and got ready to kick off. They opened with one of WING WORKS newest songs “RAVVE OF MY TRINITY”. All was going well when there was a sudden pause. It seemed like there was definite technical trouble on stage. The fans yelled encouragement as the members huddled around on stage trying to fix whatever went wrong. In a short while the problem seemed to be fixed.
Not wanting to put a dent in the overall live experience however, WING WORKS decided to close the curtains and completely restart the show. Looking at the people gathered, RYO:SUKE told them, "You guys didn't see anything. You didn't hear anything." Everyone laughed and played along in good humor and the venue went dark again.
The music restarted and WING WORKS reentered to even louder cheers than before. They performed “RAVVE OF MY TRINITY” and truly was like nothing ever happened. The technical hiccup was all but forgotten as the song’s mix of hard metal riffs, synth undertones and catchy dance melodies got everyone excited for the rest of the show. Next was “Mr.FANTASIX” and when the intro blared through the speakers, everyone put their hands up in the air waving it to the beat. Bassist Sato couldn’t stop dancing and the rest of the band followed suit. RYO:SUKE wanted the venue to get even crazier and he yelled "Don't be embarrassed come on!". The crowd yelled and screamed their appreciation and when the lights came back up, RYO:SUKE took a moment to formally welcome them to “God is in the Display”.
The next song “VAD†MAN” was accompanied by a myriad of flashing rainbow colored lights that complimented the frantic, almost violent fist pumping of the crowd. When the song ended there was silence for a few breaths before a beat began, prompting everyone to start clapping along.
WING WORKS dedication to stage theatrics never falters and as always, the WING-MEN donned their Guy Fawkes masks for the performance of “ILLUMINA LUMINALION”. The combination of the inscrutable masks, the hard rhythm of the song and the rough chanting during the chorus created an incredible atmosphere that got the crowd hyped up in no time at all. RYO:SUKE dropped to his knees during the verses, gesturing wildly with his hands and pouring his emotions into the song, giving the song an additional layer of drama.
The crowd had tons of fun during this performance, forming a moshpit and jumping from one end of the venue during the chorus. The WINGMEN all played along, jumping in time with the crowd from one side to the next then throwing themselves into head banging.
Everyone caught their breath as the area faded to black once again. Then out of the darkness emanated the sound of heavy, mechanical breathing that echoed through the livehouse.
It continued for a few moments more then the lights slowly brightened and the WING-MEN with masks off once again, began playing the sweet sounding intro of “クライオニクス(Cryonics)”. This brought the pace down and there was not much movement in the crowd or on stage as everyone focussed solely on the music. RYO:SUKE expressed himself through elegant hand gestures as he delivered a strong vocal performance.“Time Machine” brought the pace back up with its mix of upbeat hip-hop flavor and rock, giving RYO:SUKE the opportunity show off a bit of his rap skills.
Afterwards, breathing heavily and sweating under the hot stage lights, RYO:SUKE took a moment to address the audience. It is clear that WING WORKS truly appreciates the fans and he told them just how much their support means and how much he wanted to be able to inspire them.
He asked them to think of all the times that they wanted to quit or give up and the lights dimmed as the crowd fell silent. Then cutting through the silence, he told them to never give up and keep fighting because that’s what it really means to “Burn your soul”.
With that in mind, they played the final song “シルヴァー (Silver)” then exited the stage amidst cheers and scream. As soon as the curtain closed, the dedicated fans began calling for an encore. Before long the entire venue joined in and the chants grew louder and louder.
Without keeping everyone waiting for too long, the curtain opened with everyone already positioned on stage and ready for another round.
They began the encore “Burn Your Soul” almost instantly. The hard and fast rhythm, prompted the crowd to headbang with abandon. Then the music softened and the fans stretched their hands out towards RYO:SUKE as he sang the bridge.
At the end, while the fans were still screaming their appreciation, there was a pause for a quick MC. RYO:SUKE told the crowd in good humor, “I can't believe we had technical trouble!! I won't forget it.” He thanked everyone for making the third edition of “God is in the Display” a possibility and thanked all the bands for coming out and performing. He also talked about the recurring theme in WING WORKS’ releases and how the various CD’s up to this point were telling the story of the android trying to save humanity. Finally, he asked that the crowd would join him for the final song “FIXXION BOY”.
It was then that everything descended into chaos. Just as the song was about to start however, the WING-MEN stopped playing and all the lights in the venue turned on. The crowd let out a huge gasp of surprise and RYO:SUKE looked around in shock, probably wondering if there was another technical problem.
Ex-WING-MAN and now cameraman Intetsu suddenly came out on stage. Smiling, he grabbed the mic and asked the crowd, "It's ‘FIXXION BOY’ time isn’t it?".
RYO:SUKE looked at him utterly confused, "Can we do ‘FIXXION BOY’?". Intetsu smiled again and answered, “We can’t!”. Sure enough, after placing a blue tarp on the stage, the staff brought out a spectacular birthday cake. The entire venue sang “Happy Birthday” to RYO:SUKE and when he blew out the candles, he asked again if it was time for “FIXXION BOY” but there was still something they had to do.
Sato began cheekily eating the cake while RYO:SUKE accepted his fate and removed his jacket and accessories. There was a drumroll, the audience held their breath and RYO:SUKE got his cake smashed into his face for another year in a row.
In yet another unexpected turn of events, SID’s bassist Aki showed up and decided to be the drummer for the last song, much to everyone’s delight. Finally, without any more surprises, RYO:SUKE got to perform “FIXXION BOY”. With bits of cake sporadically flying from his face, he threw all his energy into the performance and delivered a high-energy finale that kept the crowd dancing till the very last note. At the end there was a pause for pictures, then everyone held hands, jumping into the air.
When the stage cleared out, RYO:SUKE was the last man standing, screaming at the crowd,
“Who are your wings?!!”
Set list:
1.RAVVE OF MY TRINITY
2.Mr.FANTASIX -MC-
3.VAD†MAN
4.ILLUMINA LUMINALION
-SE-
5.クライオニクス (Cryonics)
6.Time:machine
7.シルヴァー (Silver)
En1:
Burn Your Soul
-MC-
En2:
FIXXTION BOY
Photo credits: WING WORKS official staff
Many thanks to WING WORKS for this opportunity!
WING WORKS OHP
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