Asobi Seksu dazzles (and nearly blinds) hometown fans in NYC

April 2, 2009, at the Bowery Ballroom

By Eleanor Whitney
Published: April 5th, 2009 | 1:40pm

In a triumphant return to its hometown of New York City after months on tour, Asobi Seksu, in its first time headlining at this venue, sold out the Bowery Ballroom. After a shoegaze-meets-girl-group-pop setup by the two-boy duo Crocodiles and some noisy, poppy punk that verged on chaos by Detroit-based Tyvek, the stage was covered with large sheets of white paper, which left the audience thoroughly confused.

It was an appropriately dramatic setting for Asobi Seksu, who took the stage under a wash of colored lights and to a background of floating, ethereal music. The band started with a heavy drum buildup, which segued into “Sing Tomorrow’s Praise” from its new album, Hush (Polyvinyl). The song featured Asobi Seksu’s signature waves of guitar effects and singer-keyboardist Yuki Chikudate’s soaring, powerful voice. The song punched out of the speakers in time with flashing strobe lights and came across as more raw and rocking than on the record.

With tempo changes and Chikudate’s vocals ranging from sweet to operatic, the band’s compositions contained different personalities within each song. They seamlessly transitioned from sweeping, shoegaze-influenced fuzzy pop, to new wave–like ballads, to heavy rocks buildups. Some segments even inspired head banging from fans clustered near the front of the stage.

The set featured many songs from Hush, including the “Familiar Light,” a floating pop song, and “Sunshowers,” which burst from the speakers with an edge not achieved on the recording. The set also featured audience favorites from the band’s earlier releases, including “Strawberries.” Chikudate explained they had written the song after guitarist James Hanna had a nightmare about talking strawberries, which was induced by eating bad hummus.

At the end of the set, Asobi Seksu took a cue from My Bloody Valentine, one of its major influences, and let the feedback and the instrument reverb build up into a wall of sound. It was accompanied by flashes of too-bright strobe lights, which, intensified by the white paper on stage, resembled an exploding sun. During the ending thrash-out, Chikudate left her keyboard to bang on the drum set and then the band, leaving their instruments, left the stage.

To the audience’s delight, the band members quickly returned and remarked again how happy they were to be home. With that, they played a very punk version of “Me and Mary,” the single and last song from Hush, to enthusiastic cheers from their hometown fans.
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For more photos from this show visit Venus Zine’s Flickr page
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Asobi Seksu feature
Review of Asobi Seksu’s Hush (Polyvinyl)
Review of Asobi Seksu’s Citrus (Friendly Fire)