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A Taste of the Far East as Japanese Bands Tour Canada

BY: Elisa F.G.

When I sit down to write these articles, I’m usually left with my own personal list of what to download, shows to catch and an influx of iTunes receipts bombarding my inbox. But this time,  I was left with a sweaty t-shirt, disheveled hair, a strengthened desire to learn Japanese and a bunch of rearranged furniture, remnants of a one-women mosh pit.

New Music from Tokyo (NMFT) is heading back to Canada this month for its 8th edition, with an all-new line-up of Japans freshest, most skilled, musical visionaries, coming in hot from Japan’s indie and underground music scene.  So, if your music palette is craving a revival, circle May 20, 21, 23, and 25 on your calendar folks, cause these bands are rocking hard enough to have been a plan B for bringing a very dead John Snow back to life.

NMFT tour organizer Steven Tanaka is a Toronto-based anesthesiologist at St. Joseph’s hospital, who travels to Japan five to seven times a year, in search of bands who fit the bill – awesome, creative and passionate. That’s a whole lot of jet lag in the name of music!

New Music from Tokyo Vol.8 heralds the return of Mass of the Fermenting Dregs, an all-female, no bulls***, badass band of ferocious rockers who called it quits in 2012, devastating  fans around the globe. Luckily for us Canucks, Mass of the Fermenting Dregs has been resurrected and are packing their bags and making the trip – along with four much younger bands, some of which are still in high school! (My biggest accomplishment in high school was completing it! Jeez, way to go ladies!)

So what do you get when you combine a 3-piece who play lightning fast math-rock, a handful of    whimsical night owls in their first year of university, a drum hero on the rise and three adorable-on-the-outside school girls with bite and grit on the inside? You get a concert line-up like no other you’ll see this summer–unless your summer plans consist of a fourteen-hour plane ride to Tokyo.

Nengu, Gozen Sanji to Taikutsu, Dalljub Step Club, Regal Lily and Mass of the Fermenting Dregs are the rock based line-up ditching their school books and crossing oceans this month, to teach us a thing or two about rock ‘n roll. You coming to class?

  • May 20        Toronto @ Soybomb
  • May 21        Toronto @ Lee’s Palace
  • May 23        Montreal @ Divan Orange
  • May 25        Vancouver @ Biltmore Cabaret

For any and all NMFT Vol.8 tour information, go here.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 38025 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

One thought on “A Taste of the Far East as Japanese Bands Tour Canada

  • “Japan’s” has an apostrophe. “winter blah’s” does not.

    Reply

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