My Night with Babymetal

About five years ago someone shared a video of a young J-Pop band that they swore was the greatest thing ever. I watched said video and what I saw was not J-Pop but some kind of mashup of J-Pop, Heavy Metal, and something I could not put a finger on. I had seen Babymetal and what I had seen and heard could never be unseen or unheard. I was an instant fan. I followed the band off and on over the next few years and bought all of their music I could find. My I-phone is loaded with tons of their videos and music clips. I read every interview I come across about them and though most of my friend shave no idea who Babymetal is, I find them to be one of the greatest bands of the decade.

Yesterday I discovered Rob Zombie had joined Babymetal for photos and was defending their music. Fans of his were hating on the young band and for what reason, I could not fathom. Most of the haters were saying they were a “Disgrace”, “Not Metal”, and worse. These same fans failed to quantify why they felt this way and I suspect that most of them never even listened to a single Babymetal song. Rob Zombie was quick to defend the girls saying “These three girls had more energy than 90 percent of the bands we play with.” I was reminded of my youth when Speed Metal hit the scene and Heavy Metal fans said it wasn’t “Real Metal”. Again we saw this hate and elitism with Death Metal and again with Thrash Metal. There will always be hardcore nerds who see their style of fandom as the only legitimate kind but they are failing the very fandom that they represent when they attack other styles as not being legit.

Yesterday was also the day that Babymetal played the Fillmore in Silver Spring, Maryland. I was in attendance with VIP seats that put me high above the band and the mosh pit. Babymetal took the stage at 8:30PM and the fans erupted with cheering. The next two hours were a non-stop wild ride that saw the most energized performance I have ever witnessed first hand. The girls are amazingly talented. They dance and sing and all the while look to truly be enjoying every minute of their performance. The Kami Band was out of this world and any person who says they are not metal is a fraking fool. Babymetal is as metal as Metalica, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, or any other great Metal band. I grew up with George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher of Cannibal Corpse and jammed with him throughout my teenage years. He introduced me to metal an through his tutelage he taught me that Metal was a lifestyle and that either you lived it or your did not. These girls truly live it and discovering that Maometal’s favorite band was Cannibal Corpse was simply a delight for me.

Babymetal may not be what you think of when you picture a metal band. They are cute, and energized, and girls. They are bubblegum, and happiness, and look like they stepped out of an anime. That makes no difference, Those young women prove that you don’t have to be a man to be metal and that metal has transcended language and culture blending the East and West in a way that no one ever thought could be possible. They truly are the best live performance I have seen in the past twenty years and I have seen alot of bands perform from many different genres of music. One of the coolest things about going to the Fillmore was looking at the audience. They were alive and it was electric. It was magnificent and inspiring. The crowd was not a young bunch of metal heads but rather a diverse eclectic group ranging from young to old, biker to businessman, goth to geek, cosplayer to muggle. It was like no other concert I have ever seen and everyone was friendly and happy and just wanted to talk about Babymetal. If this band can bring together so many from so many different places in society, then I wonder if they might not be creating a movement that will transform society. Only time will tell but while we wait to see what happens we can all enjoy Babymetal in all of their glory.

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