Otoboke Beaver and Drinking Boys and Girls Choir
The Electric Ballroom, London
By Alex Walden
Drinking Boys and Girls Choir
I must admit, despite being a huge punk fan, I wasn’t really sure how this concert was going to go down. Don’t get me wrong, both Otoboke Beaver and Drinking Boys and Girls Choir have the rhythm and energy to bring the house down, but I wasn’t sure that it would be enough to go against the huge language barrier which would ultimately prohibit the bands lyrics holding as much value as they could with the audience. Afterall, this is London we’re talking about, the birthplace of punk. If there’s any place to put on a good show, this is it.
Nonetheless Drinking Boys and Girls Choir smashed their role as an opening act to the point of near perfection. Fast paced tracks like Secret Revenge and National Police Shit had a really fun and authentic vibe to them that made me remember the joy of live music when done correctly. Once you throw in some moshing, crowd surfing and even some jam sessions including members of the audience while Meena Bae got her own crowd surf in; the venue began to feel alive; it was as if for the next couple hours, all the artists and audience members in this dark venue, were my family.
After a quick plug of their merch stand and KEXP live show, Drinking Boys and Girls Choir left the stage and while they were fun, I’d be lying if I said, I wasn’t craving just that bit more. I guess that feeling means that the group fulfilled their role as a warmup act tremendously.
Otoboke Beaver
I remember speaking to my friend Julian who told me how he was surprised at the fast pace of the songs performed yet he still wanted a bit more energy. All I could think to myself was “up next is Otoboke Beaver, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet”
I had read previously how before the show started, Otoboke Beaver play a warning for the rules of the show saying not to post videos to YouTube, run on stage or throw drinks at the band. I must admit I was kind of worried as to what I had got myself into but I realised that, after all, I’m here for fun, not to see the group fight with the audience and storm off stage. However hearing the recording really changed my view. My perception changed from “yeah don’t mess with us” to “hey we want to have fun, don’t ruin it for us please” which really relaxed me; however that soon changed the moment Yoyoshie shouted “Thank you very much London!, we are Otoboke Beaver! Are you ready?!” I remember Julian pointing out how my eyes completely widened the moment I heard that. I could’ve crawled the walls in excitement.
Now Otoboke Beaver aren’t completely evil, they open up Yakitori serves as more of an ice breaker as for the first minute or so, your eased in with a funky opening that honestly makes you groove. I don’t know what the lyrics “I’m sorry one day, Your post box, throw into Yakitori It’s me” mean, yet I still find myself singing this hook as it’s just so damn catchy. However this crisp and funky opening is merely a false sense of security before you get completely thrown headfirst into the absolute carnage that is an Otoboke Beaver concert.
In an old article I wrote, I described Otoboke Beaver as the musical version of when a character in a kids show drinks an incredibly high caffeine drink and is bouncing round absolutely pinging on e-numbers, well that’s only listening to the music. Seeing them live is more like when a character’s skin on their face starts rippling and is about to fall back and expose their bare skull after travelling incredibly fast or hearing something super loud. It's just unbelievable the sheer level carnage these 4 girls can drum up out of nowhere, its otherworldly. Hearing songs like akimahenka, Don’t light my Fire and my personal favourite of the night, George and Janice live just brings out an unparalleled level of energy; it’s as if my whole body was bursting with rage and for the next 2 minutes or so, I wanted to jump and bounce around until I had no gas left in the tank to even stand up, and I was more than happy with the consequences of doing such a thing.
Luckily it’s not all full throttle, guns blazing action from the Japanese quartet as songs such as S’il vous plait, I am not Maternal, and First-Class Side Guy have a slightly more accessible sound as their Surf Rock undertone allows for a more of a performance from the group rather than them just providing a soundtrack for everyone to go nuts to. Granted it wasn’t perfect, for example, while the guitar solo in S’il vous plait looked like something out of rock cliché as Yoyoshie and Aconrinrin posed back-to-back like something out of an episode of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure as notes rang out across the venue; in reality it sounded rather sloppy when compared to the recorded version. But still it wasn’t all bad, I found myself swaying to and frow as hooks from songs like PARDON? , and First-Class Side Guy almost served as a cooldown for the audience. There were even moments were lead singer Aconrinrin could be seen swaying as she sang before returning to her signature pose of one leg on top of the central monitor which I learnt quickly was a signal to show that for the next song, it was going to go down.
Overall, Otoboke Beaver were arguably the most fun I’ve ever had at a concert, the sheer levels of maniacal energy and amazing stage presence were refreshing and allowed the audience to let loose for a couple hours thanks to a fulfilling warmup act from Drinking Boys and Girls Choir. Granted it wasn’t perfect, but it was certainly pretty damn good. I can happily say that I got my money’s worth out of the show.
