Rock Concert in Osaka: Jupiter's Created Equal Tour

On Saturday April 9th I set off to Osaka to see a concert. After wandering Osaka's equivalent of Akihabara, Den Den Town, I went to Shinsaibashi to a small venue called Ruido. Quite literally a hole in the ground, this basement level venue was just as compact as some of Denver’s lesser known concert venues. Here I waited anxiously with a packed venue of other fans for a fantastic performance. In line I met a cool guy from German who was on vacation in Japan, and just so happened to hear about the band performing after arriving. I helped him get a ticket so he could check out show as well.

The band we were awaiting to perform was Jupiter. They are a relatively new band made up of the members of Versailles, abet with a new vocalist. Versailles holds a special place in my music library as the first Japanese band I stumbled upon, way back in high school. So for me, this concert was equally about nostalgia and experiencing something new.

Despite the small venue the performance was polished. The complex lights were synchronized, the audio was clean. Most interestingly, unlike heavy metal concerts in the US, there was no rabble here. Instead the crowd was conducted by the lead singer, complete with specified, choreographed reactions to different parts of the songs. The crowd would sway their arms during sweeping scales, pound their fists perfectly with the meter of a chorus, and hold their open hands up in the air during a guitar solo, as if in reverence to the artist.



The band took their performance as seriously as their getups, yet in the few interims would joke with each other and with the crowd, which was a fun contrast and added to the closeness of the event. Speaking of their appearance, Jupiter is a notable band within the Visual Kei genre. A comparable genre from America would be glam rock. Visual Kei bands have adopted the glam rock aesthetic, but taken it further. In Jupiter's case, they added Victorian influences and effeminate features, the latter being a cultural rejection of the stiff "Japanese salary man" masculinity quite common in pop culture since the early 2000s. As a point of clarification, all of the band members of Jupiter are men in the 30s-40s. Many Visual Kei musicians also carry on the tradition established by the likes of David Bowie and Alice Cooper by creating a stage persona (in addition to the heavy makeup). They build followings around their "character", which enables them to have successful solo careers, collaborations, and carry their fanbase when changing bands.

Jupiter played two encores in addition to their lengthy set. Their performance emphasized the guitar solos heavily, giving a huge distinction to the guitarists during their many times to shine. While I was not permitted to take any photos or video inside the venue, I have included one of the band's music videos (below) so you can experience their aesthetic with perfect audio quality, as well as footage of one of their live performances (up above). I recommend looking at the crowd in the live footage to see their coordinated efforts. The guitar solos are also jaw-dropping.



Afterward the concert no one left, but actually stuck around to take a Polaroid photo with one of the guitarists. Of course I did the same. A good number of people in the crowd were also dressed in the same Visual Kei style, touching up makeup for just a low quality photo.

I had an absolute blast at the show! I am glad to have been able to see not only a live performance in Japan, especially from one who I have listened to for about a decade.


I ended the night grabbing some ever elusive Mexican food from the nearby El Pancho. And the next day I wandered a huge park in Osaka full of families and track clubs running and playing sports. Before I caught my bus back, I saw yet another large group meeting up to practice dancing, this time in from of the bus terminal. The shiny metallic walls of the courtyard provide a mirror-like surface for the dancers, who had congregated in rather larger numbers. This had to have been the third time I have seen such a meetup in Japan, so it is clearly a popular thing to do among Japanese youth.