Lolita 23q

Subiect: Lolita 23q Mar Aug 26, 2008 2:48 pm

Lolita23q (whose full japanese written name is 'shoujo loliita nijuu-san ku') is a band considered as part of the oshare scene. The label however describes their look rather than their sound. Colourful clothes, abundance of accessories, loud make up - these are definitely some of Lolita's characteristics. But don't let their apparent cuteness misguide you - their music might get pretty heavy and rough at times.

It's worth perhaps pointing out how many of the colourful oshare bands seem to be connected in one way or the other, and this group may serve as a perfect example. Before Lolita23q, Sou was in Various Ray with Irokui's guitarist, Hazuki. Yu≠ki played in Kublick together with the future vocalist of HeaRt, Leon's bassit and Zeek's drummer. In Unbrella, Ryosuke performed with Luvie's Temari and Kazoku's Kaiji, he was also the support guitarist for Mei (the members of which went on to create bis and Kamikaze Boyz), and he and BAN met already in their previous band, Yoidore.

Author : Andi (2007-02-04)
BIOGRAPHY
In September 2004, five young musicians created a session band. They played their first live on November 18th in Takadanobaba AREA, and before the year ended they played 3 more lives in that same venue. Still in December, they also released their first CD - 'otanoshimi enban'. In February, it was followed by 'sui-suiren-ren no heya'. Both of these releases were available only during concerts in Takadanobaba AREA.

For the first few months the band was officially only a session project. But after being warmly welcomed by the audience, Sou, Yu≠ki, Megumi, Ryosuke and BAN decided to continue together full-time. Their first live after Lolita23q's official beginning took place on March 1st, at none other venue than Takadanobaba AREA. Later that same month they participated in an event commemorating the release of 'Hysteric Media Zone 6'. Not only were their 2 songs featured on the CD, there was also a free DVD released which accompanied the omnibus. It contained the band's first PV.

June 21st witnessed the release of their first maxi-single, '23ku kikagakukan', which sold out completely and reached #9 at Oricon indies chart. On that same day another CD, tandeki me:Low, was distributed for free by the Shoxx magazine. Still in the same month Lolita23q went on a coupling tour with Soroban, which ended with a two-man concert.

Then came more lives, a 2nd pressing of their first single, and finally, on August 25th, they played their first one-man concert. The gig, which took place at Takadanobaba AREA, was completely sold out. A free DVD 'at random kata shikaku enban' was distributed during the live. Unfortunatelly not everything was as perfect as it might seem - on that same day Megumi officially left the band.

The band found a replacement pretty soon, and two months later they released the first CD of their 'blue city centre trilogy', recorded already with their new guitarist, Ryuuto. The 2nd CD was released a month later, on November 22nd, and reached the 2nd place at Oricon indies chart. On November 24th, they had another one-man, this time at Shibuya O-WEST. Fans who bought the two previous releases were able to buy a special VHS, and also a third CD which completed the trilogy was distributed during that night. The 'ura - tokyochi?xxx video' sold out completely and to express their thanks, together with Hevn magazine Lolita23q organized a special live at the AREA on December 9th - those who bought the video got in for free!

They didn't rest and continued to perform live, playing even on the New Year's eve - as you could expect, in Takadanobaba AREA. The fast pace had it's influence on Sou health - in mid-December he was suddenly hospitalized. The concert which was supposed to take place on that same night was not cancelled, and Ryosuke filled in for the missing vocalist. Sou was discharged 2 days later and, metaphorically speaking, he went from the hospital door straight back to the livehouse. No rest for these boys!

In February, they released 'murasaki no yume' - a compilation of 4 older tracks, 2 PVs and a bonus track (or actually a 'vonustruck' as they prefer to spell it). On March 1st, they held a live commemorating the anniversary of their first official live in Liquidroom Ebisu. The event was sold out.

May 19th was the date of yet another one-man gig. A special CD was distributed during that night. It might be treated like a special edition pre-sale, since a CD containing the very same songs, although slightly differently entitled, hit the stores 5 days later. A recording of the May one-man at Liquidroom is due out on Lolita's first live DVD in July...