The popular female rock band BAND-MAID will perform for the first time at KNOTFEST JAPAN 2023, scheduled for April 1 and April 2 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba.

 

KNOTFEST was begun by the American heavy metal band Slipknot, and the festival has been held yearly since 2012. BAND-MAID will perform on Day 1 along with headliners Slipknot, Trivium, and MAN WITH A MISSION.

 

Tickets for the May shows to be held in the United States as part of the BAND-MAID 10TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR are none on sale. The group managed to bring in over 20,000 fans during their solo U.S. tour in 2022. In addition to performing at Pointfest 2023, Welcome to Rockville 2023, and the Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival, BAND-MAID will also perform six solo shows. With some venues selling out instantly last year, you’ll want to snag tickets while you can!

 

On February 3, popular music duo GARNiDELiA held a live YouTube broadcast to announce the release of GARNiDELiA COVER COLLECTION on March 22, 2023.

 

Vocalist MARiA and composer TOKU have been dabbling in cover tracks for some time. The new album will include GARNiDELiA’s spin on popular songs like Haru yo Koi, Friends, DEPARTURES, Kaikai Kitan, and CITRUS. The new album will include 12 songs, including a mix of newly recorded and previously released tracks.

 

The Deluxe Edition will also include the Blu-ray recording of the Tokyo performance of GARNiDELiA stellacage 2022 -stella ship- OSAKA and TOKYO held in 2022. Fans won’t want to miss out on this incredible concert!

 

In addition, both the Deluxe Edition and Standard Edition will include tickets to enter to win a spot in an upcoming special event. More details will be announced soon, so check the official website!

 

GARNiDELiA has also announced a world tour in 2023! GARNiDELiA stellacage 2023 -stella ship- Re:CoNNeCT will commence in May 2023 and more details are expected to be revealed in a YouTube Live on February 17.

Vocalist MARiA and composer TOKU make up the popular duo GARNiDELiA. At the two’s epic finale for 2022, ‘GARNiDELiA stellacage 2022 -stella ship- OSAKA and TOKYO’ at EX Theater Roppongi, the duo announced a world tour coming in 2023. The world tour, titled ‘GARNiDELiA stellacage 2023 -stella ship- Re:CoNNeCT,’ will take place in over 20 cities around the world from May to September 2023, including Shanghai,  Beijing, Chongqing, Chengdu, Shenzhen, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, and a number of cities in Japan. A new visual was revealed alongside the announcement. The duo will also release a Cover Collection series album in the spring of 2023. GARNiDELiA has covered a number of popular J-pop tracks in the past, releasing them on YouTube and streaming services. Fans in the audience were instantly excited by the announcement of the long-awaited album.    More details about the world tour and upcoming album will be announced in January 2023.

MARiA's Comment on World Tour

“It’s been four years since our Asia tour. Finally…finally…I’ll be able to see all of you.*It’s been a long road, but we survived. We persevered. We’ll show you our real strength. And to those of you who have been waiting and supporting us over the past four years, we’ll be back to sing for you soon and show our love. I’m excited about this tour, which will be filled with miraculous moments where we’ll finally be able to share our feelings and make up for lost time.”

toku's Comment on World Tour

“Although we performed overseas plenty of times following our debut, the last few years have kept us from doing so for the first time. We’re so excited to announce this long-awaited opportunity. We can’t wait to perform for our fans in Japan and abroad so we can make up for so much lost time.”  

MARiA's Comment on Cover Album

“The GARNiDELiA cover series began two years ago as a way to fill the void created by our tour being canceled. We had a lot of fun while working on it, aiming to pay homage to so many great songs and bringing our own unique twist and color to each of them. I think this was made possible by our diversity. We really played around with the sound for this album, and we’d be so happy if you could listen and enjoy!”

toku's Comment on Cover Album

“Everyone has heard so many hit songs during their life. We’ve been lucky to have so much inspiration and to be able to play and have fun with this music. I wonder what kind of chemical changes the two of us can make with these songs. At the start of production, I felt like I was really facing each song with a pure heart, encountering a different form of music than I had in the past, partly as a reaction to our tour being canceled. As singers and artists, we’d be so happy if you’d listen to our interpretation of these classic tracks.” *Maria uses the word for ‘love’ instead of ‘meet.’ Both are pronounced the same way.

Vocalist MARiA and composer TOKU make up the popular duo GARNiDELiA, and the two will release their new single Souten on December 8, 2022. The track will be used as the theme song for the Nintendo Switch game Soukai Tenki and was written exclusively for the game itself. For those wondering, Soukai Tenki will be released on the same day. The song has already been performed several times at GARNiDELiA's live shows and has become a popular song among fans.   The jacket art featuring characters from the game was also released.   The full track was unveiled on FM NACK5's ‘FAV FOUR’ during MARiA’s regular segment on November 28.   hether you are a fan of the game or not, you won't want to miss checking out this gorgeous new song!（C）滄海天記プロジェクト

The Seven Deadly Sins: Grudge of Edinburgh Part 1 will air on Netflix worldwide on December 20, 2022. The new animated film was penned by the original series creator Nakaba Suzuki.   The story will focus on Tristan, the son of the protagonist Meliodas, and his mother Elizabeth. Cast members include Yuuki Kaji as Meliodas, Mikako Komatsu as young Tristan, and Ayumu Murase as teenage Tristan. Sora Amamiya will portray Elizabeth and Yohei Azakami will play Deathpierce.   The new trailer shows off the exciting new story and previews SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:XAI’s theme song Lemonade. The Seven Deadly Sins takes place in an ancient time when humans, demons, goddesses, fairies, and giants all lived together.   In the new film, Tristan inherits the power of the Goddess Clan and with it, the ability to heal people’s wounds, but he often ends up hurting others due to his inability to control his Demon Clan power. To protect his family, Tristan heads to Edinburgh Castle and meets a ton of new friends along the way. The movie takes place 14 years after Meliodas restores peace to the world in the anime series.   The Seven Deadly Sins: Grunge of Edinburgh Part 1 Trailerhttp://youtu.be/gH_VSILse-0 The theme song Lemonade is both peppy and emotional. Hiroyuki Sawano created the song as part of his vocal project SawanoHiroyuki[nZk], teaming up with up-and-coming artist XAI.   This song will be included in the first SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] album coming out on January 18, 2023, the first in two years. XAI’s incredible voice has previously been featured in the GODZILLA animated trilogy of films.   |The upcoming film will connect The Seven Deadly Sins and the currently running sequel Four Knights of the Apocalypse currently running in Weekly Shonen Magazine.   Comment from Hiroyuki Sawano“I’ve been involved with The Seven Deadly Sins since the anime began in 2014, through all of the movies and sequels. I’m so happy to be able to create the theme song for Grunge of Edinburgh as SawanoHiroyuki[nZk].This time, I worked with the vocalist XAI. Her expressive, emotional, and powerful voice took the song to another level. It was something beyond my imagination! I hope that you’ll enjoy the track along with this new story from the world of The Seven Deadly Sins.”   Comment from XAI“I’m so happy to perform the theme song for The Seven Deadly Sins, a series that is loved by so many people. The characters in the series are so incredible. No matter what sins we carry, as long as we have friends by our side, we can’t give up and we can always better ourselves. Lemonade is sure to fuel your sense of adventure, so I hope you’ll enjoy it!”

On October 29, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu took part in Porter Robinson’s Second Sky Music Festival in Oakland, California. The following day, the popular singer also appeared at Porter Robinson + Friends, an afterparty event held in San Francisco. American fans are finding their excitement at a fever pitch as the Harajuku-based artist continues to perform abroad!   Kyary Pamyu Pamyu recently made headlines when she performed an unprecedented 62 songs at Nippon Budokan on October 19 during the final stop on her 10th-anniversary tour. Following this impressive feat, Kyary performed at yet another festival in Japan before hastily returning to the United States following her show-stopping performance at Coachella half a year ago.   Porter Robinson's Second Sky Music Festival was hosted by and featured performances by internationally acclaimed DJ and producer Porter Robinson. Other important figures in the dance music scene also appeared including SKRILLEX and RL GRIME.   The event took place in a large parking lot adjacent to the Oakland Coliseum, home of the Oakland Athletics MLB team. Since the show took place close to Halloween, plenty of decorations could be found, and fans lined up from the early morning to get inside.   Although Kyary’s performance was scheduled for quite early in the day, the audience sprawled out as far as the eye could see. As DE.BA.YA.SHI. 2021 began to play, fans began to excitedly call out Kyary’s name. In Japan, regulations are in place to stop the spread of the coronavirus, meaning that audience members are forbidden to yell during concerts–but no such precaution exists in the U.S. It was clear that Kyary was beyond excited to hear the audience’s enthusiasm, and as the show began, the artist called out “Second Sky,” to which the fans responded with excited cries.    The audience danced wildly to Candy Racer and Dodonpa, two of Kyary's most peppy tracks, which played in succession. The singer did her best to speak English. “Hello! I’m Kyary Pamyu Pamyu from Japan,” she began. She then complimented a fan in full Kyary cosplay. “Wow! Nice costume! PONPONPON costume, so nice,” she said.During CANDY CANDY -Remix-, the audience raised their hands high in the air as they followed Kyary’s instructions to jump, swaying from left to right. As the audience moved in sync, a number of hit tracks began to play, including Harajuku Iyahoi and Tsukematsukeru. However, nothing could match the excitement of the moment that the intro to PONPONPON began to play. Porter Robinson, who was watching the live performance from the side of the stage, was moved to tears, and everyone could feel how big Kyary's presence was for local fans.Kyary's performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April of this year became a hot topic, showing that Kyary is still incredibly popular in the U.S. ten years after her major debut.   In addition to her largest national tour to date, Kyary has made numerous appearances at music festivals in Japan and abroad in 2022. The artist’s first overseas performance during her 11th year as a performer was an incredible success and bodes well for Kyary’s future.  

＜Setlist＞ 2022.10.29 “Second Sky Music Festival” OP. DE.BA.YA.SHI.2021 1. Candy Racer 2. Dodonpa 3.Invader Invader 4. CANDY CANDY –Remix- 5. Ninja Re Bang Bang –Steve Aoki Remix- 6. Harajuku Iyahoi 7. Tsukematsukeru 8. PONPONPON –Extended Mix- 9. Fashion Monster

2022.10.30 “Porter Robinson + Friends” OP. DE.BA.YA.SHI.2021 1. Candy Racer 2. Ninja Re Bang Bang 3. CANDY CANDY 4.Crazy Party Night-Pumpkins Strike Back- 5. Kira Kira Killer 6. Isshin Doutai 7. Harajuku Iyahoi 8. Fashion Monster 9. PONPONPON