Babymetal: The Red Night

This afternoon, while I was randomly clicking around, I saw an advert for a concert by Babymetal, subtitled "Stay Home, Stay Metal". I was just in time, it was due to start in a few minutes, so I didn't have time to read about it. I thought it was a new concert by the group, performed online for the fans. It was actually a recording of a 2016 concert being streamed live for the first time. That didn't reduce my excitement. I was totally engrossed in the music for 88 minutes, sitting at my computer headbanging.

I love Babymetal. They play a wonderful type of power metal, even though they don't like that description. They call their music kawaii metal. These days every band likes to invent a new label for their music to set them apart from everyone else. I remember the good old days when the only music categories were pop, rock, jazz and classical. It's not really about labels, is it? You either like the music or you don't.

What I like about Babymetal is that they're so firmly embedded in Japanese culture. Heavy metal is something that comes from the West (I consider Black Sabbath to be the first metal band), but it can be adapted to any culture, even if there are stereotypes, such as the projection of images of Godzilla.

Here are photos of six of the band's seven members. The drummer is missing, because I didn't manage to get a good screenshot of him. Maybe tomorrow. Yes, there will be another live concert tomorrow afternoon (German time), the Black Night. I'll be sitting watching. I wouldn't miss it for the world.