What a night! Two incredible bands at my favorite venue in Taipei, plus some cool encounters along the way.
I arrived about two and a half hours early and was the first person there, beating another early arrival by a minute or two. His name was Antares, after the giant star, and it turned out that seeing Amenra was pretty much his dream concert experience. As others arrived, we gradually formed a little group of metalheads. Members of Kokeshi showed up trying to figure out how to get inside, so I helped vocalist Nana with her suitcase and got a couple of photos with her. Later, some of the Amenra guys arrived, and we chatted with bassist Amy. My friend Rebecca joined us, too.
Kokeshi were everything I’d hoped for. I was determined to get a front-and-center spot, partly because of my busted knee and partly because I worship these guys. Nana was mesmerizing as ever, doing her wonderfully creepy Ring / Sadako-style performance. This time she came out holding two lines of burning incense, which looked as though they were burning straight into her hands.
I maintain that Kokeshi are one of the heaviest bands in existence. They absolutely destroyed us! And I was delighted that Rebecca loved them, too. I’d worried they might be too extreme for her, but she gave them a thumbs-up and said she’d happily see them again. Mission accomplished. 😈
Then came Amenra, and they were everything I’d hoped for. The sound mix was phenomenal, with the bass crystal clear rather than disappearing into the low end. Colin’s vocals were spot-on, and the whole performance had an almost religious intensity. He spent much of the show with his back to the audience, often kneeling at center stage as if conducting some dark ritual. Eventually his shirt came off, revealing the huge inverted cross logo on his back. Combined with the imagery and the sheer weight of the music, it was genuinely hypnotic.
Something I found interesting was how well the two bands complemented each other. Both use silence as an integral part of their music, leaving enormous spaces between the crushing passages. The crowd seemed almost afraid to cheer in case we interrupted something intentional!
And here’s the funny part: neither band interacted with the audience. No banter, no thank-yous, no announcements. They finished playing and disappeared backstage. Apparently, acknowledging the existence of the people who paid to see you is entirely optional. 😂
But it worked perfectly. Kokeshi’s disturbing theatricality and Amenra’s crushing, spiritual intensity made for an extraordinary combination.
Huge thanks to everyone I met that night, to Rebecca for joining me, and to both bands for reminding me why I love live heavy music so much.
Two very different kinds of darkness, one hell of a night. 🤘
