Love Psychedelico's US Tour: A Sweet Memory...

I should really tell you about this, because it was truly a once in a lifetime moment for me. Love Psychedelico had decided to do a 6 city tour in the USA and, for some reason, Pittsburgh was chosen as the second to last stop on the tour. Talk about serendipity; my favorite band from another country coming to my hometown to play a concert on my birthday. No joke.

Believe it or not, the venue was solidly packed. It was a mostly Asian audience, of course, but there were quite a bit of Non-Asians there. Most of them were either brought by others to see what all the fuss was about or were Nihonophiles that were all ready clued in.

The show actually started at 7:20 when the Beat Crusaders took the stage. I thought it was a strange combination, considering they were more punk than Classic Rock and the two bands didn't share the same label, but hey, the audience took to them in a big way.

They bounded onto the stage wearing their trademark signature masks and danced about to their song "Sasquatch", from their "P.O.A." album. With a grand gesture, they threw away their masks and began to play a breakneck 17 song set (mind you, they were only onstage for 30 minutes!) that consisted mostly of the, then just released, "EPopMaking" album (their uber cool T Shirts even read, "EPopmaking Sense", in a brilliant nod to Taking Heads' landmark concert film). They just destroyed. It was an exhilarating set and It just made me all the more jumpier and excited for Love Psychedelico.

There was a break and, at 8:15 PM, the lights lowered and the familiar Love Psychedelico Logo appeared like the Bat Symbol on the stark white curtain that had been raised about 10 minutes before. There was an ominous guitar tone and synthesizers rose up in pitch. The curtain dropped and the opening notes to "Freedom" filled the venue. I felt faint. I'd never thought I'd ever get to see them live, but there they were. Kumi, as cute as ever in a tight John Lennon "New York City" T Shirt and even tighter jeans belted out the lyrics with such great joy and emotion. Naoki ran the length of the stage and made sure everyone knew who the main guitarist was.

The next song, "Free World" got the audience moving with a great extended take. Kumi addressed the audience in Japanese and English and was quite sincere in her thrill to be there, playing for us. They then went into "Humanimation" from the new album, and that went directly into "Standing Bird" and "Everybody Needs Somebody".

At this point, Kumi settled things down with an acoustic set that included "These Days", "Hadaka No Ousama" and "Life Goes On" (with a "Circle of One, Circle Of Life" Singalong), before letting Naoki freestyle on the guitar and then into "neverland". Kumi applauded us for knowing their songs and asked if we were Beatle fans. The cheer from the audience was deafening. They began singing their version of "Help!" and then went into "Fantastic World".

The duo left the stage for a moment while the extended intro for "Mind Across The Universe" played. The audience sang along with the "Oh, Oh"s and Kumi and Naoki returned; Kumi wearing a new shirt and a vest and Naoki looking like the spawn of Keith Richards and Little Steven. Naoki then took the mike and said a few words to the Japanese fans that went untranslated and did a long version of the "N27" instrumental from the "Golden Grapefruit" disc.

"Seven Days" was next, followed by "Carnation" and "I Saw You In The Rainbow". Lastly, before the encore, they did "Lady Madonna" and introduced the band.

There was a 15 minute intermission and they encored with "Your Song", a surprising performance of "Low" and, finally, the heartfelt "Everyone, Everyone".

I was exhilarated and completely exhausted. The lights went up and I knew it was time. I had to meet the band!

Luckily, I knew some security. Unluckily, none of them were working that evening. I spent 20 minutes going from security guard to security guard until, finally, I called up one of my friends and let her speak to one of the on duty guys. After that, it was a cakewalk.

We went straight back to the dressing rooms, but we were told by their manager that it would be a while before they'd come out. It seemed like an eternity, but the reality was - it was only a 40 minute wait. The band had to relax, shower and unwind. I certainly didn't mind waiting for them.

The moment I waited for finally came when the door opened and the band came out (unfortunately, the Beat Crusaders left during the Delico's set, so I didn't get to see what was under the masks up close!). They seemed to be in great spirits, but they almost passed us by. I saw Naoki first and caught a glimpse of Kumi. I didn't know what to say, so I just blurted out, "Kumi!"

They all turned to look at us. I seriously didn't know what to do after that, so I just sheepishly walked over. The Manager remembered us and did the introductions. My Japanese is virtually non existent, but I did my best mix of Japanese and English. Kumi did most of the talking for the band, but I think she was even shyer than I was! We talked for about 5 minutes, shook hands and I got every one's autographs (even the Manager's!), but, due to venue rules, didn't have a camera to document the moment.

It doesn't matter. It's all in my head and I run that moment over and over, every time I listen to their live album. It was a great night. Wish you guys would've been there.

What Does Love Psychedelico Look Like?

When I first became a fan of Love Psychedelico, I had no idea what they looked like. The Internet was quite sparse with photos of my favorite group. The only thing that would usually come up were illustrations of CD cover art and odd photos shot from distances and wild angles. In fact, the first time I ever saw Love Psychedelico was when I finally came across a video for "Free World". I thought to myself, "I would have never thought that's what they looked like!" and it was all the more interesting watching all of their PV Music Videos in order and seeing their visual stylish evolution.

I may post some videos a bit later, but here are some actual UHQ photos of Love Psychedelico from some Japanese magazines I came upon over the past couple years. These photos are most likely new to anyone outside of Japan. I don't know the names of the magazines these photos come from, so if anyone knows, drop me a line!








I'll post more in the future. Until then, I hope you enjoy these!

Welcome!

As you might already know, Hacktone Records is releasing a "Best Of" collection of Love Psychedelico's music on April 29th, 2008. I've created this Fanpage to help spread the word about Love Psychedelico and their music.

First, however, a word about myself and what I'm planning for this page. My name is Terry Thome and I have another blog called "The Shockedelic Cafe" (click the link to go there). That's a general rant blog where I vent or rave about current Pop Culture things going on in my life.

I am also one of the biggest Love Psychedelico fans you'll ever find in the USA. I "discovered" them in 2004 while looking for info on another Japanese Pop band, Spin Aqua. For some reason, everywhere I looked online for that band, Love Psychedelico would be mentioned. The two bands are quite different, BTW. The name "Love Psychedelico" piqued my interest. Just the name itself sounded like a band I might like, so I set out to find out more about them instead. Ahhh, it was serendipity.

I started with an album called "The Greatest Hits". It seemed to me to be the perfect place to begin, right? Within the first two songs, I was hooked. That album contained some of the best rock and roll I'd heard from anywhere in the world. It was a sound that didn't belong to Japan, The USA or anywhere else. It was a sound that just was; a sound that, for all I knew, always had been. It was so fresh and new, yet absolutely familiar and comfortable.

I knew after a little while that "The Greatest Hits" wasn't a greatest hits album, but their debut album. You could've knocked me over with a feather. Virtually every song on that album sounded like a major hit. I played the album to death and showcased it to everyone and anyone who would listen.

I then downloaded the next two albums, "Psychedelic Orchestra" and the just released, "III" (Yes, I downloaded them. I heard what I liked and I proceeded to buy the albums and all of their singles and DVDs as imports. I won't go into why downloading music is a good thing, but this essay I'm writing should be a fine case for it nonetheless). "Psychedelic Orchestra", their original band name, was unexpected even for the high standards I put on it from listening to the first album. It was bigger and bolder. It trumped "The Greatest Hits" in almost every way. That album contains my all time favorite 'Delico song, "Standing Bird"; the lead off song on the album. I can't begin to explain what hearing that song does to me, even after all this time. "III" picked up where "Psychedelic Orchestra" left off. The two albums feel like one sprawling double album, ala The Beatles' "Rubber Soul" and "Revolver". I'm sure they would love that connection.

As I stated parenthetical previous, I then tracked down all of their singles and both DVDs and I even compiled a DVD set of my own that contains all of their PVs (Music Videos to people in the West; with the exception of "Everyone, Everyone" which has seemed to vanish off the face of the earth) and all the Live performances I could find so I could promote the band to my friends easier. Since then, I've voraciously downloaded every video clip I could find and I preorder every CD / DVD that gets released via import. Their Newest CD release is "Golden Grapefruit". My Love Psychedelico collection is far from complete, but I defy any fellow Non Asian North American to one up me on the collection that I have.

Bragging aside, I truly love, love, Love Psychedelico and I'm amazed and overjoyed that Hacktone Records is releasing a Best Of collection of Love Psychedelico's best work. I'm sure It was a daunting task to fill just one 70 minute CD. I know I wouldn't be able to do it. I'd have had to go the Box Set route, since I believe most of their b-sides are as good as their album tracks.

So, what I'm planning on doing here is write about Love Psychedelico and give whatever info I can on the upcoming US release (APRIL 29th, PEOPLE!!!)and (cross fingers) possibly a US tour of some sort. I'll also be posting some of my favorite photos and whatever Youtube type stuff that JVC hasn't taken down (Boo, greedy record companies! Don't ya like free promotion???).

To find out more for yourself, go to http://www.thisislovepsychedelico.com/. You'll hear the opening notes to "Standing Bird" there.

Also, go to their LP MySpace Page: http://www.myspace.com/lovepsychedelicous (which possibly unintentionally makes the site look like it's entitled, "Love Phyche DELICIOUS"! I love it!). There you can download a banner and find out how to be a part of the street team!