HANABIE. are no strangers to Australia. Having previously visited our shores last year as part of the 2023 Good Things Festival and their related side shows, the glorious all-girl Japanese kawaii metal band, consisting of members Yukina (vocals), Matsuri (vocals and guitar), Hettsu (bass), and Chika (drums), are back in our country for their own headlining tour, proudly presented by Destroy All Lines.
Despite visiting Australia last year, this headline 2024 Australian Tour was my first time seeing HANABIE. perform live.
After meeting with VIP fans for some cute and creative snaps, where one lovely fan even dressed as a tree and gifted the foursome Koala hats to keep for the photo, there was an excitement in the air at Melbourne’s 170 Russell. The room quickly filled with a diverse crowd of patrons, all super pumped and keen to see their favourite female Japanese metal group.
With the stage only decorated by a banner backdrop consisting of the words “HANABIE.” in capital letters alongside their logo, as soon as the girls appeared one by one in their sparkly and super cute Harajuku Core outfits, the Melbourne venue instantly transformed from a quiet peace into a roar.
Kicking off with ‘O•TA•KU Lovely Densetsu’ the energy in the room was unmatched. HANABIE. masterfully conjured screams just by stating, “Hey Melbourne, I wanna hear you scream!”, and the volume in the venue turned up tenfold by the time the Japanese metal girl band played their third track of their setlist, ‘Kotoshi koso Gal~Shoka ver.~ (今年こそギャル ～初夏 ver.～)’. For this song, Yukina donned cute pink glasses and effortlessly commanded the Melbourne crowd to chant along with her, “SHOKA!”
HANABIE.’s talents are undeniable and their stage presence was phenomenal. Yukina is an excellent and dynamic frontwoman with her demonic growls and fast raps, often jumping up and down, or onto a platform centre stage to elevate herself and tower above the Melbourne audience. Matsuri in comparison provided powerful singing vocals to accompany Yukina’s, and both Matsuri and Hettsu also jumped onto the platforms throughout the night to entice the audience and showcase their excellent guitar skills. All while Chika remained a beast on the drums. At one point, the girls brought out their Koala hats that they had been gifted early that evening and performed in them. From seeing this, I could only the imagine the bliss that the fan who gifted them would have been feeling.
The Melbourne crowd was equally as animated, bouncing, waving their hands up and down, or swaying their arms in the air at command and in content. Scattered throughout the venue were passionate fans with strawberry hats on, reminiscent to HANABIE.’s ‘We Love Sweets’ music video, which they did perform as part of their Melbourne setlist. Others in the audience crowd surfed and I even saw a banana do the same, or at least, a person dressed as one.
HANABIE.’s high octane set included their latest release, ‘Metamorphose!’ plus crowd favourites, ‘SUNRISE Miso-SOUP’ and the epic ‘TOUSOU’. However, HANABIE. has no bad songs and every moment spent in the room with them was glorious. All good things come to an end, however, and despite stating the show was concluding, with the girls receiving a sad response from the audience, HANABIE. went out with a bang, fiercely performing encore songs, ‘Hyperdimension Galaxy (超次元ギャラクシー)’ and ‘Today’s Good Day & So Epic’.
Overall, HANABIE. provided a superb and successful sold-out Melbourne concert, thoroughly entertaining and delighting both dedicated fans and new fans alike in the 170 Russell venue. Showcasing their sweet personas, their cute attire, and their signature sound during their high-energy action-packed set, the Japanese kawaii metal band also always made an effort to affectionately speak in English to their adoring Melbourne audience. All while displaying their supreme abundance of talents, which powers combined, made for a damn great night.
HANABIE. performed a sold-out show in Melbourne at 170 Russell on Tuesday the 12th of November as part of their 2024 Australian Tour, proudly presented by Destroy All Lines. They will perform their final show of their Australian tour on Wednesday the 13th of November (tonight) at The Gov in Adelaide.
For more information and ticketing, visit:
https://www.destroyalllines.com/tours/hanabie
https://hanabie.jp
https://www.instagram.com/ha_na_bie_
Photography by Grant Alexander.
