Sadon and the Fader + The Shine & Shine & Shine & Shine

First off, my apologies to Sleaze: I got there right before you guys were done playing, and didn’t get my pass until afterwards. I’ll catch you and take photos next time!

Sadon (山東) and the Fader

It’s hard for me to put my finger on an exact description of this five-member act. On the one hand, you’ve got four relatively gruff-looking guys (the Fader) that put out a pretty solid rock performance, which includes some fancy guitar work. Then you’ve got Sadon, who between her cutesy appearance and sweet vocals basically disarms any kind of crazy, mosh pit inducing tendencies you might have. And yet, this seemingly odd combination works pretty damned well.

Their set was decently long, giving the audience plenty of time to really soak it in and enjoy. Other than a few chatty minutes here and there, it was pretty much non-stop music. If you’re looking for something a little smoother than the typical fare of screaming and heavy distortion, this may be just the act you’re looking for; and the eye candy doesn’t hurt.

The Shine & Shine & Shine & Shine

I’d never seen The Shine & Shine & Shine & Shine live, but heard the name making the rounds online and in real life. Watching older recordings of their performances, I thought I had at least an inkling of what to expect. Finally getting to catch a show, I was kind of caught off guard: it was a lot more cute rock than I expected.

While a lot of their core rock is still there, the high end has definitely gone girly pop-ish. Heck, throughout the set there was a constant catcall of “kawaii” (Japanese for cute) from the crowd. That being said, their sound was still solid, despite a lot of high-pitched “yeah!” thrown in for good measure. I was particularly impressed by some very nice guitar work from guitarist Ruan. Diehard fans of their older work may be disappointed, but in general, I think they still dished out some decent entertainment, and the audience that night certainly seemed to agree.