Upon arriving at Gramercy Theatre, it wasn’t surprising to see that the line of fans anxiously waiting wrapped around the corner of the sidewalk and down the side of the venue. Fans from all over came to see [ALEXANDROS] live, and a good number of them were seemingly Japanese or Japanese speaking fans. When entering into the main room, one could practically feel the excitement and energy coming from the audience. The stage was bathed a dark red, and the instruments were placed on the stage with stands.
Soon enough, the band’s stage entrance music started playing over the loudspeakers, and the audience excitedly started cheering. As the members casually walked onto the stage and tested out their instruments, Yoohei interacted with the audience, hyping them up and yelling “New York City!!” before he and the rest of the band joined in jamming along to the main riff of their song MILK. With Yoohei yelling “Are you guys ready!!” they promptly proceeded into their next song Claw, off of their 2016 album Exist!. The band certainly held nothing back as this song provided immense energy as their show opener, with fans clapping along to the rhythm at some points of the song. Despite this being the band’s first time headlining in the US, the fans loyally sang along to their songs in Japanese as though they had been playing around here often.
“We are [ALEXANDROS] from Tokyo! It’s our first tour in the US. We lived here for like six months last year, making songs, recording, and everything, and this is our first show here!” Yoohei exclaimed, to which the audience responded with surprise and cheers. “Glad we made it here” Hiroyuki responded jokingly in reference to the unfortunate circumstance of having to cancel three show dates due to visa complications. Because of Yoohei and Hiroyuki’s ability to essentially speak fluent English, the band was also able to engage in entertaining MCs with the audience. I have a favorite bar in Brooklyn, and the guys from there are here tonight. I’m so glad I can finally prove that I’m really a musician” he said in between chuckles before walking off stage to grab his beer.
[ALEXANDROS] provided a pretty diverse setlist, playing a good number of recent popular singles such as Girl A and Mosquito Bite, older hits like Waitress, Waitress! and Namida ga Koboresou and even unreleased tracks such as Arpeggio which is featured on the new SEGA game Project Judge and off their soon to be released album Sleepless in Brooklyn. By playing such a varied list of songs, it was a nice nod of acknowledgment to older and newer fans of the band. And even after the band members left the stage following their main set, it wasn’t long before the audience began excitedly chanting for an encore. After arriving back on stage, Yoohei with his hands clasped together thanked everyone for the encore. With Arpeggio, the band continued with the unrelenting energy they had exerted since the beginning of the show. And at the climax of the last song they had performed, Yoohei had jumped off the stage and into the front to crowd surf, which in turn created a mosh of chaos with the fans cheering loudly and trying very hard to keep him afloat. In the midst of all the chaos, Yoohei had lost one of his shoes after being helped back onstage with a member of the crew. You can see his Instagram post of a venue staff member later recovering the shoe after the show.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BpTQ6hjlTIo/
Overall, [ALEXANDROS] had proven themselves as a force to be reckoned with, proving that in spite of tour date complications, and playing in a foreign city for the very first time, they could still put on a great show filled with energetic rock and roll tunes, as well as emotional mid-tempo ballads. The band had hinted at hopes of returning in a year, so I can only hope that they are able to make that wish come true, and gave us another taste of what they have to offer.
Sleepless in Brooklyn
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Regular edition CD
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