Japanese Rockband the Pillows played at the El Corazon Friday Sept 9th in Seattle, part of a 3 band setup that included Tokyo based all girl band the noodles and San Fran based all ages.
The first thing that surprised me was the size of the venue, or lack thereof. I was expecting bigger things from The Pillows, having toured the U.S. before, but perhaps I had overestimated their popularity. The night before the concert tickets, which were reasonably priced at $20,were still available for purchase.
In any case, El Corazon is a small but intimate venue which I would estimate at around a 500 person capacity. The venue may have been small but it was packed and in one of the rarest instances ever for a non-symphonic concert, it started on time!
All Ages was the first group out and they came out with tons of energy, quickly turning standing room only crowd into a mosh pit. To give you a sense of how tight the venue is, I had to brace myself against the bassist's monitor for most of the night while crazy concertgoers thrashed around behind me.
I had gone to the concert with a few friends and on the drive down they described All Ages music as "Whiny High School Music", and while that may have been so the energy and enthusiasm was infectious, they are a great band to see live, especially in a small club kinda venue. Of course, when your mohawk-wearing bassist ends the concert sporting only his mohawk and underwear that'll get a few cheers as well, but apparently he has the right idea. El Corazon felt like a sauna.
Next up was all-girl outfit Noodles, a band produced by The Pillows lead singer Sawao. Noodles was surprisingly mellow and was a direct contrast to the high energy of All Ages. Guitarist and singer Yoko played up the cuteness factor though, bringing out a my little pony bag during their setup which garnered a few cheers from the crowd. The show stealer for Noodles though was Ayumi on drums. As one of my friends mentioned after the concert, "she was a beast on drums, she completely drowned out the vocals and just overshadowed the bass and guitar." Which was exactly true.
Then came The Pillows, and our group's resident fangirl lost her shit. The crowd surged forward and we were pushed an additional 2 feet towards the center of the stage. The Pillows rocked so hard and the crowd moshed so much that after the first song Sawao leaned over to two little Japanese girls in the front and asked them if they were alright. I can say that they managed to survive the concert.
The Pillows setlist was essentially a "greatest hits" collection with a couple of new songs thrown in, with FLCL songs "Ride on Shooting Star", and "Last Dinosaur" thrown in as encores, much to the delight of the crowd, most who became fans of the band after The Pillows involvement in FLCL.Hardcore fans of The Pillows would have noticed that the band didn't have Suzuki-san, their usual bassist with them, instead opting for the youthful looking Shiro-san, who... well was kinda doing his own thing in the corner. Let's just say he knew his role and knew to give The Pillows the spotlight.
Shin-san, the drummer at one point came to chat with the crowd, but not before donning a Seattle Mariners cap and imitating Ichiro's batting stance, using a drumstick as a bat. The crowd then chanted "Ichiro!" as Shin went through the routine.
As the crowd surged towards the end of their set some more intrepid concert goers actually found themselves on the stage, which would have displeased The Pillows manager, but then Surao himself went crowdsurfing briefly before landing back on the stage with the help of the band's photographer.
For a band that's been around the block more than a few times this is a band that can still bring it. Small venue and soaring temperatures be damned they plan with an energy and enthusiasm that is hard to match.
For those that waited about an hour or so after the concert ended, The Pillows came out and signed some autographs. Sawao and guitarist Manabe the most popular members, while Shin-san simply looked worn out and headed straight to the van.
I'm always a bit disappointed when bands play small venues when they have the ability to draw a larger crowd but there is something to be said for a small concert experience. An intimate venue is more likely to be packed and bands such as The Pillows respond in kind, giving everyone a truly awesome concert going experience.
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