The Babyklok Tour ’23
BabyMetal / Dethklok
Feat. Jason Richardson
The YouTube Theater – Inglewood, CA
Thursday, Ocotber 12th, 2023
Review/Pics: Manuel Gay
At the end of August BabyMetal and Dethklok embarked on the joint-headlining BABYKLOK tour with Jason Richardson in support. Most of the nights were a sell-out and the tour ended with back-to-back shows at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood, CA. We were lucky to catch them on the final night of their tour in this sold-out venue that sits in the shadow of the magnificent SoFi Stadium.
The show started at 7pm when Jason Richardson took the stage to kick-off the evening. The guitarist might be primarily known as a member of All That Remains and previously of Born Of Osiris. But he also released his first solo album “1“ back in 2016 and a follow-up, “2“ in July of last year. Jason actually joked about his own lack of creativity in naming his records. The musician stood alone with his guitar for his whole set. He showcased his virtuoso skills while playing over pre-recorded backing tracks.
He started the set with songs from his more recent album and played older material at the end. Throughout the show the screen behind him displayed a QR code, which he explained at some point directed you to his albums on the streaming platform of your choice. Clever. I don’t think I had seen that before. Before closing his set, he warned the audience that the last song blended different genres and that they should feel free to line dance at some point. “Hos Down” from his album “1″ was the set closer and definitely a hit with the newly gained fans.
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At 8pm the lights went off again for Dethklok to start. We were only allowed to shoot from the soundboard to focus on the screen behind the stage and to be honest there wasn’t a lot more to see anyway as the stage was entirely dark most of the time.
If you are not familiar with Dethklok, they are the fictional band in the Metalocalypse animated series. Animations from the show were projected throughout the whole set, hence the focus on the screen. The screen turned on and a character from the show introduced the band. They opened with “Deththeme” and “Briefcase Full Of Guts”, both from Dethklok’s first album “The Dethalbum“ (2007). Most of the setlist was taken from this album and its 2023 Expanded Edition. The first part of the show could have been a bit unpleasant to watch if you are sensitive to flashing lights, but a warning prior to the show let people know that it might not be suited for people with photosensitive epilepsy.
A couple of times during the show, the band addresses the audience via Facebones, a fictional skull character to educate concertgoers on how to behave. To sum it up: “Wash up before getting in the crowd. Also drink and smoke as you please as long as you don’t become a burden for your friends”. The tone of the messages, just like the animations, was obviously comic. My favorite moment which illustrates that part very well was the song “I Ejaculate Fire” from 2013 “Dethalbum 3“. As the song played, the animation showed a pharaoh receiving oral sex by a demon, he then turns into a demon himself and literally kills people by ejaculating fire on them. The now-demon pharaoh ends up meeting the original demon again and they destroy each other when he ejaculates fire on her while she throws fire back at him with her breast.
In retrospect, the show might not have been suited for a younger/sensitive crowd but the animations definitely got a good laugh from the crowd. The show ended around 9pm with personal favorite “Go Into The Water” for which they were joined on stage by touring musician Laura Christine.
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At 9:30pm, the main course of the evening BabyMetal appeared on stage in front of a frenetic crowd. Saying that the band can rely on a loyal fanbase is to say the least. Most shows on this tour were sold out and the entire front row wept in happiness the entire show.
BabyMetal is a beast of it’s own as it blends metal with J-Pop, electronic music and other genres. Therefore, the audience is very broad, and it was very interesting to see very different people enjoying the same music. The band opened with “Babymetal Death”, followed by “Gimme Chocolate”, both from their 2014 self-titled debut album, which got the audience in a trance from the get go. It is striking that Suzuka Nakamoto (lead singer) and her two back-up singers Moa Kikuchi and Momoko Okazaki don’t lack energy. The whole show is choreographed (the J-Pop influence) and in between songs they make the audience jump and headbang (the metal influence), while running from one side of the stage to the other.
They played a few songs that feature other artists which were somewhat “with us” since they appeared on pre-recorded videos on the giant screen behind the stage. So Thai rapper F.Hero rapped his part of “PA PA YA!!” from 2019’s “Metal Galaxy“, and guitar legend Tom Morello appeared playing his solo on the recently released single “METALI!!”. The setlist incorporated a couple of songs from their most recent album “The Other One“ (2023) and older classics like “Road To Resistance” and “Megitsune”. BabyMetal finished with a one song encore “Ijime, Dame, Zettai”.
The BabyKlok tour came to an end and the Japanese band will fly back to their home country to play a few shows before embarking on a European tour until the end of the year. Next opportunity to catch them live in the US for now will be in April 2024 at the Sick New World festival in Las Vegas.
Related Links:
BABYMETAL
Dethklok
Jason Richardson
