u/sjioldboy

Checking Japanese blogs, Su had announced BM's participation at the end of their TOKYO IDOL FESTIVAL 2012 set (Aug 4), which was two weeks before Summer Sonic. BM also tweeted the info that day & on Aug 10:

https://x.com/BABYMETAL_JAPAN/status/231731315014250497

https://x.com/BABYMETAL_JAPAN/status/233855081567633408

The second tweet mentioned that they were scheduled to perform only ten minutes (6:10pm to 6:20pm) lol. A J-blogger said their set ended up delayed a bit on the day, before they entered carrying flags (to the 'Ride of the Valkyries' BGM), and then ran through the same songs as at TOKYO IDOL FESTIVAL:

1. DDM / Iine! (medley)

2. Headbanger (released a month prior)

3. BABYMETAL DEATH (one-second gag version).

Left out were IDZ (then confined to Sakura Gakuin showcases only), Uki Uki Midnight (B-side to Headbanger), Kimi to Anime ga Mitai (the Kiba of Akika remake). They would bring all of them back for their next solo gig (Legend I), where they would premiere Akatsuki & Onedari Daisakusen as well.

They were then the youngest-ever performers at Summer Sonic (ages 13 & 14). Su also threw her fox mask to the audience, and announced their first overseas trip (Anime Festival Asia 2012) at the end. They then supposedly went off to watch Momoiro Clover Z, who was the opener at the RAINBOW Stage.

Summer Sonic was already sold-out when BM was added, so they expected a crowd of maybe 50 people already inside the venue. The actual attendance was never estimated, but judge for yourself in the pic BM tweeted:

https://x.com/BABYMETAL_JAPAN/status/237183118077988864

Also, contrarily to some fan claims, Metallica's photographer Ross Halfin apparently didn't stumble upon BM's show at the food court & recommended them to Metallica. Instead, he only went to check out BM performing the next year's edition (2013) at Tokyo's Makuhari Messe (after seeing the 'Justic For Babymetal' tour T-shirt) & then urged Lars Ulrich to see for himself the next day at Osaka's Maishima Sonic Park.

Source: https://www.odatv.com/guncel/babymetal-lifeparki-salladi-120153140

Could open up a new regional market for them, who knows. No small feat drawing a crowd this size at first attempt. BM also traveled all the way from Denmark (Copenhell) for this visit.

I have it now, so am deleting my other thread from yesterday.

Big thanks to the Bilibili uploader who just shared the 2 hour-long show, which was edited to showcase only one song for each performer (except for organizer/curator SiM of course).

Original BM segment is archived here for a month (until July 28 11pm): https://abema.tv/video/episode/806-1_s1_p102

As you probably know by now, the show streamed only one BM song (Road of Resistance). So no Nao guesting on Gimme Choco.

Watch it here: https://abema.tv/video/episode/806-1_s1_p102

The 7:27-long clip is available for a month, until July 28 11pm Japan time.

Unfortunately, the content protection is very strong.

You can get pass the geo-restriction, eg. using Firefox's built-in VPN & set the location to Japan.

But the DRM encryption makes it unworkable to rip or screen-record. Can't even take simple screenshots or make gifs for prosperity's sake. All I got were black screens after trying several apps.

Maybe someone else can do better.

The show is steaming later tonight (Sunday).

It'll be a 4-hour broadcast featuring live in-studio commentary on Abema TV this Sunday. Most likely edited highlights with so many bands to feature, even though BM performed only a short set. Maximum the Hormone declined to give permission, but fingers crossed that Nao teaming up on Gimme Chocolate isn't cut out.

Source: https://x.com/ABEMA/status/2070054390795325909

Hello, I'm sharing this here since it doesn't really belong to the BABYMETAL subreddit.

From the gist I got on J-twitter, the board of directors fielded about 10 questions from investors. No one asked anything specific about BM, but a cleverly-worded suggestion about SG was praised on socmedia after word got out.

Q&A #7 #AmuseShareholdersMeeting #SakuraGakuin

Q: Regarding the brand assets of the former artist group Sakura Gakuin. The group disbanded in August 2021. Its former members are still active today. They continue to work as BABYMETAL, Ayaka Miyoshi, onefive, and as voice actors. How are the songs being utilized? There have been instances where they've sung past songs at individual events.

I'd like to see you organize a "reunion" event, even if it's only held every few years. This would help revitalize their activities. There's a treasure trove of over 100 wonderful songs. By attracting both former and new fans, wouldn't this help boost the careers of those currently active? It might be difficult since some have left the agency or stopped performing, but isn't there something only Amuse can accomplish, such as liaising with other agencies?

A: Chairman Osato: "Sakura Gakuin was a lot of fun, wasn’t it?" [To the other executives onstage] "You were all part of it. Everyone here got to watch them." Managing Director Ohno: "I'll pass along the request. The members still keep in touch with each other. We'll discuss it." Chairman Osato: “Why not just hold a reunion?" [Laughter from the audience]

Source: https://x.com/kokubucamera/status/2068572262115266708

Well, Koba retweeted this article earlier today, seemingly wanting to keep the onging controversy in the public eye. His tweet quickly became today's top BM-related news, so here's the content.

The writer is a self-proclaimed "entertainment business watcher" blogger/vlogger, & one of Yahoo Japan's 2024 Best Expert award winners. But he's more known overseas for his many pro-BM clips in his "Japanese Entertainment by Tokuriki" Youtube channel (if you browse reaction clips regularly).

Edit: she's here on reddit. Paging u/akari36miroku

Source: https://x.com/akari36miroku/status/2066688100273943015

The reviewers generally ascribed to the demographic shift, with attendees leaving from watching BM (3.50pm, whose crowd was mentioned as 80k) & Trivium (5:20pm, Matt Heafy noted that their crowd was 60k-70k) at the Apex stage to watch Behemoth (6:10pm) & Architects (7:45pm, mentioned as 50k) at the facing Opus Stage. GnR's audience (7:35pm) was visibly more sparse over at the Apex. There're also aerial videos (shot from an airplane flying over) of the daytime crowd size that day, which definitely wasn't 20k as another Redditor claimed. The festival crowd itself was said to peak at 95k.

===

...The quickfire performance means we can catch the end of Babymetal’s performance on the Apex stage, with the band no doubt glad that there isn’t a storm in sight, given they were rained off during their last appearance at the festival two years ago. Today, the curse has been lifted and they’re performing in the sunshine, with plenty of spectacle throughout their set thanks to some face-melting riffs and hypnotic choreography. The Japanese kawaii metal band treat the crowd to ‘RATATATA’ for the second time this weekend following Electric Callboy’s performance yesterday, making us wonder whether festival scheduling robbed the Download punters of getting to see the collaboration live together with both bands on stage. Nevertheless, Babymetal on their own are more than enough, closing out their set with a big crowd sing-along to ‘Road of Resistance’.

Source: https://www.clashmusic.com/live/live-report-download-festival-2026-saturday/

===

Tokyo trio Babymetal dazzle at another wonderful Download

Two years ago, I travelled to the annual Download festival, looking forward to seeing the Japanese kawaii rock band Babymetal, only for their show to be cut to just three full songs because of thunder and lightning.

The band returned to the Donington Park main stage, again on a Saturday afternoon, and this year played their allotted hour with the “spiritual home of rock” bathed in sunshine.

I’ve always thought the fusion of J-Pop and metal was a great idea and, judging by sales, streams and listens, millions of fans all over the world obviously agree with me.

Saturday’s show was a triumph, with a huge crowd enjoying massive bangers such as the breakthrough hit Gimme Chocolate, Ratatata, Headbanger and Pa Pa Ya.

The Tokyo trio weren’t the only Japanese band impressing over the three-day event either, with Band-Maid packing out the Dogtooth tent for their first-ever European festival appearance on Friday evening...

Source: https://www.lynnnews.co.uk/whats-on/download-comes-home-to-donington-park-for-sold-out-23rd-edit-9470392/

===

...Apparently, it’s now etched into Babymetal’s lore that, whenever they set foot on Donington’s ground, a downpour tends to follow. It seems like the Fox God is feeling benevolent today, though; it’s a glorious day, second only in brightness to Su-Metal’s beamed-out “We’re so happy to be back at Download with sunshine!” Ideally, they’re the conditions you want for a Babymetal show, where the zipping melodeath is intensified and the overblown opening narrative that uses the word ‘metal’ about 50 times can be enjoyed for its ludicrousness. It’s nice to see that’s a common sentiment, too. No longer are Babymetal paraded around as an oddity or an early-doors gimmick. Ingratiated mid-lineup like a normal band, it’s a lot easier to appreciate as simply a great time.

At the same time, you can still appreciate that, on this grander stage, it is still its own thing. Idol choreography that has the trio dancing and zipping around the stage is by no means commonplace, and the rush of seeing it play out remains. The difference, though, is after all these years of building and refinement (which is why Gimme Chocolate!! feels is a bit rudimentary in this set), the overload of colour and exuberance makes it all the grander. Maximalist eruptions like PA PA YA!! and RATATATA scorch everything in their wake, especially when the Kami Band are this impossibly tight and well-honed. Where it once seemed as though the pillorying of Babymetal was common practice among ‘true’ metalheads, they’ve made themselves so undeniable now that it almost feels impossible to complain. If you’re not swept up into believing that Road Of Resistance is an all-timer of a closer based on today, you’re either an immovable contrarian or dead. Such is the power of Babymetal in 2026; long may it continue.

Source: https://thesoundboardreviews.com/2026/06/17/festival-review-photos-download-festival-2026-saturday/

The Sam Smith/Kobametal fracas that left the organizers red-faced is still blowing up J-twitter, with the BM bashers kinda pushing back yesterday. Pierre Nakano, one of BM's earliest supporters (& who reunited with them on the TV show EIGHT-JAM last year), decided to post his thoughts a few hours ago. It's a fairly evenhanded commentary that is sure to trigger more online debate tomorrow.

Still, it's pretty daring of him to talk underminingly like that, since no other celebrity or journalist has openly broached it on record yet. After all, the awards show is a self-congratulatory industry event whose 5,000 insiders voted to sideline BM & metal bands. (One pro-BM troll viciously scolded them as "masturbatory Galapagos islanders" lol.)

Anyway, here's the translation:

I think it's only natural that quite a lot of people felt uncomfortable with how BABYMETAL was treated at this year's MAJ.

Given their influence and unique status abroad, there's no doubt that they're indispensable in any discussion about "Japanese music culture." Yet, given that their name was rarely mentioned at an event like MAJ -- which aims to showcase "the current state of the Japanese music scene" -- and that an awkward silence seemed to fall over the venue the moment Sam Smith mentioned them, I can completely understand why fans would wonder, "Why is that?"

However, I don't think this was simply a case of "let's ignore them" or a conspiracy theory. Rather, I believe that it's a manifestation of their inimitable quality, which cannot be fully accommodated within our existing industry structure.

BABYMETAL is an exceptionally atypical case, not so much an extension of our domestic scene, but rather one that evolved on its own into a massive force in the international and metal arenas. They are a hybrid entity that traverses metal, idol, dance, live performances, and overseas festival culture, making them very difficult to categorize solely using J-pop evaluation criteria or within the domestic context. As a result, our native awards and discussion forums often find ourselves in a state of "not knowing where to designate them."

Looking back at history, there are many times when established systems and mainstream industries were at a loss whenever something truly groundbreaking appeared. Anything genuinely new would always challenge the status quo at first, including the music business. BABYMETAL is no exception: their very "difficulty to categorize" itself speaks to their innovativeness.

At events like the MAJ, the value standards and accepted yardsticks inevitably tend to be centered primarily on the domestic scene and industry. That is precisely why pointed critique now arises, like "how could an awards show that seeks to promote worldwide expansion, yet won't even nominate an album that unprecedentedly reached No. 9 on the Billboard USA charts." The terse silence when Sam Smith singled out BABYMETAL as "one of the most interesting things in Japan" from his overseas perspective, might be the glaring embodiment of this "structural disconnect."

Even so, I believe this isn't so much a case of them "being unappreciated", but rather a predicament where "our existing structure has yet to catch up."

On the other hand, BABYMETAL themselves are touring worldwide at an elite level where they no longer need to rely on domestic awards. It's squarely this status as a "juggernaut that cannot be contained" that is their most distinctive and fascinating aspect in music originating from Japan.

Rather than try to force them into an existing box, I feel that embracing this very disconnect is the best way to acknowledge BABYMETAL's appeal.

As a fan, it's natural to want them to gain "greater and wider recognition." But I also believe that our inner sense of incongruity is also what validates their specialness. In my view, that's the most natural way to reconcile this discrepancy.

Source: https://x.com/Pinakano/status/2066529447659126795

It'll be a 4-hour show, from 7pm to 11pm local time.

SiM & special guests will appear live in the studio, watching the festival footage & sharing backstage anecdotes.

BM surely won't be able to turn up since they'll have one more tour date (Istanbul) to complete. But the press release said only Maximum The Hormone's set will be omitted, so hopefully BM's 6-song performance will be left intact. Fingers crossed for Nao's appearance on Gimme Chocolate.

Day 1 was supposedly very wild & chaotic since it was raining heavily throughout (although the skies cleared for BM), the grounds resembled a padi field, & the audience were hardcore punk/metal fans.

Screencaps shows machine-translated text.

Source: https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000003394.000064643.html

The awards show is still being streamed on Youtube, with no option to rewind or download, so I'll clip the segment if it turns up as a torrent later.

Eyewitnesses on J-Twitter said emcee Masaki Suda was interviewing celebrity guests Sam, Fujii Kaze, & Gen Hoshino who were seated together at the same table. When asked which Japanese artiste he was interested in, Sam said BM -- which supposedly flustered Suda who was expecting him to mention Hikaru Utada (his 2024 collaborator) or Kaze or Hoshino.

Koba responded several hours later with this clip on his Instagram Stories, which is obviously also a dig at Music Awards Japan for dismissing BM outright despite them being the top-performing overseas performer from Japan.

Otherwise Sam behaved well at the show. He was conservatively dressed, gracious, applauded the award winners, & thanked Gen Hoshino (BM's agency senior) for supporting him on keyboards during his live performance.

Is this their first feat as the domestic main attraction?

Very chaotic lineups though, with the organizer really opting for the kitchen sink.

TUBE, BM's agency seniors FLOW, & Shonan no Kaze are the headliners on the other days.

BM will perform on the same RAINBOW main stage as CANDY TUNE (idol group), ILLIT (K-pop girlgroup), Liella! (school-idol group), Me:I (K-pop girlgroup), KAMI WA SAIKORO WO FURANAI (J-rock band), Kimaguren (J-pop duo).

On the same day, the BangG Dream! girl bands RAISE A Suilen & MyGO!!! are consigned to lunchtime slots at the secondary WIND stage, which is perpendicular to the main stage. Both are built on vast grasslands that can supposedly accommodate 48,000 people. Meanwhile, METALVERSE (mid-afternoon) & PALEDUSK (dinnertime) are relegated to the lesser GARDEN stage. (There's also the smallest HILLS stage.)

The timetable lists 90-minute set slots for the RAINBOW & WIND stages, plus 80-minute slots for the GARDEN stage. Not bad. No word on how long the headliners will play though. BM's set starts at 7:30pm.

LuckyFes'25 drew 38,500 on Day 1, 20,500 on Day 2, & 22,500 on Day 3 for a total of 81,500. They added a 4th day this year, & is aiming to draw 100,000.

CJ shared that he & his lady attended Clint Tustin's wedding (recent?). Barone was there too.

Source: https://x.com/CJMash15/status/2064127509977870842

They style themselves 'brass emo' since half of the six-member band is a horn section.

It's a random chat moment (12:45 to 13:32 in the video) while interviewed by HEY-SMITH's Shuhei Igari at the latter's own Youtube channel.

Here's the translated parts, although Youtube's auto-dubbed English also captured the gist:

Shuhei: Are there any bands or artistes in Japan that you'd like to play a show with?

Cody Okonski (Millington singer/bassist): Actually, maybe to open for BABYMETAL. Well, what I really want is to do a split show with them. Their music is completely different, but I listen to it all the time. Yes, I'll absolutely love to do that.

Shuhei: As a matter of fact, I think that might be possible. The other day... you know SiM?

Cody: (nods)

Shuhei: SiM's Dead Pop Festival?

Cody: Yes, I saw the photos.

Shuhei: We were part of it too. BABYMETAL was there as well. That's how we ran into each other. So it's definitely possible to be together at a festival like that. It's not like there's no chance.

Cody: I'll be very happy if that is possible.

Shared by CJ Masciantonio.

For those out of the loop: 'SAKURAIZATION' is their ongoing live project & concert series, honoring their Sakura Gakuin roots by sampling their predecessors' songs (so far 'Heart no Hoshi' for their 16th single '♡Kakumei Shoujo S♡' in April; 'Berisyubittsu' for their 17th single 'M1X5R' in May; 'Doki Doki Morning' for their 18th single 'Invincible☆Atashi Mode' this month), as part of their "Road to Budokan" campaign to perform at the venerable venue by the spring of 2027.

The article's a good read as they shared their feelings about the aforementioned gameplan & goals. They namedropped several familiar names along the way if you know who the SG alumni are.

The following are the BM-relevant parts, machine-translated. Note: they have a member (Mori Momoe) whose stage name is MOMO.

====

--What was the reaction from the Sakura Gakuin alumni, that is, the members from back then?

MOMO: Kokona Nonaka used our song in her Instagram Stories!

Everyone: Ooh~ thank you~ (applause)

SOYO: Yagi Miki-chan sent me a message saying, "'♡Revolutionary Girl S♡' sounds great."

Everyone: Ooh~ (applause)

KANO: When I went out to eat with MOMOMETAL from BABYMETAL, who was in the same class as me at Sakura Gakuin, she asked: "You're doing Sakura Gakuin songs, right? What kind of song are you going to do next?" I was so happy when she asked that. I also got to meet my senior MOAMETAL, and we talked about onefive's recent activities. She said she's rooting for us, which made me really happy.

GUMI: I hear Sakia Kimura will be coming to see our live show too...

=====

--In '♡Revolutionary Girl S♡', you sampled 'Heart no Hoshi'. But 'M1X5R' also sampled 'Berisyubittsu' while 'Invincible☆Atashi Mode' is sampling 'Doki Doki☆Morning', right?

MOMO: "Berisyubittsu" is a really cute idol song. While retaining that charm, we've also incorporated folk dance into the choreography. In the rap part of the second verse, we've incorporated rage (a trap music microgenre) as well, which completely changes the atmosphere. It's a song that only onefive pull off, because we can handle it all.

--Sakura Gakuin fans are probably feeling a mix of nostalgia and surprise.

GUMI: When I was in Sakura Gakuin, it was mostly seated events. But onefive's shows are standing room-only, so I think fans will be able to get more hyped up and enjoy themselves.

--What are your thoughts on sampling "Doki Doki☆Morning"?

KANO: When our producer consulted with KOBAMETAL-san about it...

GUMI: He said, "Sure, go for it."

Everyone: (laughs)

--How do you think BABYMETAL fans will react?

KANO: It's a song that makes you go "Wow!" from the very first note, so they're definitely going to enjoy it.

MOMO: I think ours captures the kawaii and pop sensibility of BABYMETAL during their "Doki Doki☆Morning" era. But it also has a bit of a Perfume vibe to it.

KANO: I know, right?

SOYO: It also has a Vocaloid-like vibe to it, and it's a song that feels like "BABYMETAL x Perfume = onefive". We routed it in the mixer ('M1X5R')!

--(laughs) You've definitely inherited the Amuse spirit, haven't you?

MOMO: We're taking the approach of using whatever resources we can.

SOYO: But our real goal is to host an Amuse Fest.

GUMI: We were anguished at how our agency doesn't have its own festival, so we want to create one ourselves...

Source: https://mikan-incomplete.com/interview/145257