electric_eel_shock_2005_12

» Electric Eel Shock 2005 12 14

Reviewed by Niklas
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City: Stockholm, Sweden
Venue: Lavaland
Date: 14 Dec 2005
Set length: 70 mins

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Electric Eel Shock

Only a handful of bands from Japan have managed to go outside the nation's borders and make a living on their music, performing it to Western audiences. The punk/rock-constellation Electric Eel Shock is one of the few. After some frequent touring in America and Europe during the last few years, they have made themselves a name as en extremely energetic live act that simply must be seen.

Prior to the concert, the front man Aki Morimoto has assured us that this particular show will be one of the highlights during this tour, thanks to all the crazy fans in Stockholm. He's obviously not kidding. Already during the legendary intro of their ace-version of Black Sabbath's "Iron Man", the fans plunge forward towards the stage with anticipation in their eyes. Lavaland isn't exactly packed this evening, but the brave crowd more than makes up for it.

We mentioned up above that Electric Eel Shock are known to house some rather wild parties, and this one is no exception. Stage divers and mosh-pits (that must have resulted in several bruises) succeed each other, while Aki and his partner-in-crime Kazuto are pure entertainers. The real star, however, is the drummer Gian who puts on an amazing performance. For example, his stage outfit consists of three tube socks. He's wearing two of them on his feet, and you can probably figure out the rest on your own.

When the performances are this entertaining, it's easy to disregard that the music itself isn't really out of the ordinary. If you aren't familiar with the band before, you probably won't remember any of the punk-songs the day after, although they contain good energy. The riffs that stick are the ones in the rockier pieces, like "Beat Me", "I Can Hear The Sex Noise" and the funky single "Scream For Me".

7 chalices of 10

(sorry, no setlist)

Read an interview with vocalist/guitarist Aki here