The Other East

Gelatine is a band that I’ve been around many times over the last few years, but never had the chance to really shoot. This was the first time I actually decide to elbow through the pit and fight for some shots. 7D in hand, I was going to see if I could keep up with the absurdly energetic vocalist Seiko.

Gelatine is a Japanese punk band that fits into the sub genre of “Insane”. While all the members are relatively quirky, its Seiko that steals the show. This in spite of a bassist wearing a cow kigurumi. Tonight she performed in a sort of skimpy bunny outfit. Wearing bunny ears, and a miniskirt made from stuffed animal fabric and actual stuffed rabbits, she ran around stage screaming and singing with more energy than anyone has any right to have.

Of course the other members brought their own quirk to the stage. The guitarist, who is actually Seiko’s husband, looked like he was in an 80s metal band. Taking the stage with sunglasses and a flying V guitar you can tell he’s thinking about where he can bust out some power moves and stances and he sure as hell did. Adopting the wide stance of a heavy metal shredder, he concluded the set by playing the guitar upside down, vertical, and held out over the audience. I’m told he’s a metal head.

The bassist didn’t have a ton of stage presence, but judging from the nerdy glasses and kigurumi that was the point. He was playing the role of a Otaku on stage, if I was to wager a guess(I’ll put 2 Francs on it) He had chops on the bass though, and didn’t break a sweat even though he was in a cow suit and shredding up and down the neck.

It has to suck to be a drummer in a group like this which revels in crazy stage antics. He left the least impression of all of them on this night, and that’s a side effect of playing in a smaller venue in which you’re sort of trapped in the back. He looked snazzy with a sports jacket, hat, and big sunglasses, though.

Honestly, Gelatine has never really captured me musically. They are fun to watch, and awesome people from my interactions with them, but I’m just not feeling it. I suppose its supposed to be light hearted and crazy, which it is, but I don’t I really find them terribly musically pleasing. I don’t hate them or anything, I guess its not my thing. I know a lot of people are going to hate me for saying that, but that’s how it is. I can stand them enough to enjoy watching them onstage, so they can claim that victory.

Then [geist] played. [geist] was late(more on that later eventually…), and didn’t have a drummer with them. Now former drummer Sai had ceased to be a full member of the band several months ago and became simply a hired member ironically making him the only member of the band taking a check away from each show. He made the band’s show in DC the previous weekend his last, and they had to go on without a drummer this time making do with a click track to launch each song.

They played with Sai’s drum tracks, but the absence still showed in the music. They weren’t a disaster exactly, but they certainly sounded off. This is hardly the first time they’ve soldered on without a drummer, but it would be good for them if they found a drummer in a hurry.

If they handle this situation well it will just be a minor speed-bump. They recently signed on with Hear Japan, and while that move went largely ignored by the various English Jrock news outlets it provides [geist] with access to advertising clout they didn’t have before, and a small global presence. This wasn’t a good set, and hopefully the band won’t have any reason to remember it years down the road, having moved onto bigger and better things.

Maybe one day they can take the Maryland flag to Japan. I hope so.

Tags: gelatine, Jrock, nyc, [geist]