Kirsty Russell
ONE OK ROCK perform at The Roundhouse, Camden, as part of their UK and European tour.
The mixture of people in the room is incredible, there’s metalheads, punks, rockers,elegant women, not so elegant women (us), old men and young men but none of that matters as every person in the room is buzzing for these guys to take to the stage.
The anticipation is real, phones are at the ready, the lights go down and boom, the room is relit by iPhones and Samsungs as screams fill every crevice of the venue. The faint whispers of ‘we are, we are’ and everybody thrusts to the front.
Flames, strobes and flashes introduce the song Push Back. The crowd roars over the instruments as the singer runs out on stage, yet all to come to a halt when the vocal harmonies begin over just a simple drum beat. The instruments are introduced again with a deep heavy red light encapsulating the stage.
Throughout the show there are two girls next to us performing perfectly rehearsed dance
routines to every song, groups of men stand punching the air to every single beat and the
band clearly notice the love for them from every face, and they use this to increase their
performance. Their movements are mesmerising, how they have so much energy we will never
know. We take our eyes away to drink a beer for a second and the guitarist and bassist have swapped places, the singer is on top of the monitor and throwing himself around the stage,
whilst of course simultaneously keeping every note at perfect pitch…easy.
They’re a band full of uniquely cool haircuts, waved around as they each take their solos, the
guitarist transports us to the world of blues leaving us hanging on perfectly timed stops, with
the rest of the band the tension is built and built like the anticipation at the start of Baba
O’riley, leading into the funkiest riff of the 21st century- it is hard not to want to move
your body, until we are all gut punched by the vocals reaching notes that sit on Everest, the
room is still captured in awe. Within the next few songs we are transported into the world of
metal, pop punk, rock, rock ballads and heavy Indian influence with the song ‘Change’ – they
have a song for everyone.
Stand Out Fit In, this is the anthem for the people, every person walked in the door as
themselves and this is the song to celebrate it. Takahiro Moriuchi has everyone’s attention,
as a constant wave is created with each row of people jumping to the beat. For the entirety
of the night, the band’s positivity and charm radiates from the stage, their passion bleeds from
their instruments directly into the crowd. From the first few notes we were thrown into the world
of pop rock, and then we stand with confetti in our hair wondering when we can do it all again.
Have you been to see ONE OK ROCK on tour? Let us know on Twitter @CelebMix
Words by Lucy Jordan
Photos by Kirsty Russell @Lensofmusic
