Mono - Arts Centre, Norwich, 2/6/2023

  by Nige Nudds

published: 3 / 7 / 2023

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Japan’s Mono have always remained at the back of my mind for the last twenty years or so, as I preferred the somewhat similar post-rock bands Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky. Tonight’s performance has made me an instant fan and why I ignored them I just do not know! It was allso the first time I’ve ever seen such a massive gong behind the drummer (which they only used twice). Starting proceedings were Dutch band GGGOLDDD (Pronounced ‘Gold’), who combined an original dark goth pop sound with a tinge of Krautrock. Their performance was spellbinding and powerful. Vocalist Milena Eva’s lyrics provided accounts of bruising trauma and abuse, but all the same were very listenable. Japan’s Mono came on stage with the two guitarists Takaakari Goto and Hideki Suematsu seated on either side of bassist, Tamaki Kunishi. They started with ‘Riptide’, the opening track from recent 2021 album 'Pilgrimage of the Soul'. The band started quietly until exploding into a bombastic guitar and drum onslaught which was quite breath-taking. This kind of sound continued in the band's set and, yes, one or two times it made me jump! One of the highlights was ‘Ashes in the Snow’ which was utterly captivating stating with a simple glockenspiel, a few guitar licks and then a sonic avalanche of beauty. They generated an incredible amount of distortion, creating a “wall of sound” effect throughout, but especially so on closer ‘Com(?)’ which they chose to stand up on. The song was much longer than the fifteen-minute studio version at a solid eighteen minutes, reimagined and rearranged and they rocked out fully! Set List: Riptide Imperfect Things Nowhere, Now Here Innocence Sorrow Halcyon (Beautiful Days) Ashes in the Snow Encore: Com(?) Photos by Nige Nudds

Band Links:-

http://monoofjapan.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/monoofjapan
https://twitter.com/monoofjapan
https://www.youtube.com/user/monoofjapan
https://plus.google.com/+MONOofJapan
https://www.instagram.com/monoofjapan/

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