Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
I didn’t quite know what I was walking into on Tuesday night at Cheer Up Charlies for their SXSW music kick-off, but what transpired was a true godsend of trolling that I could not have anticipated.
Tokyo’s electronic sweetheart De De Mouse revved up the night with a whimsical bang. The pocket sized artist, whose music sounds like something straight out of a Final Fantasy game, was all smiles as he bounced several feet off the ground, anchored only by the keyboard in front of him. His bubbly energy and cartoonish setlist — ranging from “Dancing Horse On My Notes” to the animated “My Favorite Swing” — made De De Mouse a whole lot of fun to watch live.
DeDeMouse @SXSW 2016!!! #SXSW #lutesxsw2016 #DeDeMouse pic.twitter.com/guaTFpWr7h
— lute / ルーテ (@lutemedia) March 17, 2016
DE DE MOUSE in SXSW!!
Thank you for coming & fun with us!! hoping came back here someday!!! awesome!! pic.twitter.com/L24xnLRr7u— DÉ DÉ MOUSE staff (@DEDEMOUSE_staff) March 16, 2016
After De De Mouse’s set finished, that’s when things took a turn for the … weird.
Because then entered frontwoman Komuai of Wednesday Campanella, and I’ve never been so close to someone this goddamn electrifying. The fireball immediately stole the night, and my heart, as she came in from the rear of the venue to the tune of the subtly badass “ナポレオン” hoisted on the backs of dudes in anime-eyed glasses. It was a beautiful sight, made even better by all the confused ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ of unsuspecting concert goers.
コムアイ @SXSW 2016!!! #SXSW #lutesxsw2016 #WEDNESDAYCAMPANELLA #水曜日のカンパネラ pic.twitter.com/iJkZ7EJ9HH
— lute / ルーテ (@lutemedia) March 17, 2016
And things only turned up from there.
Komuai, being the humble artist, kindly reminded the crowd that she’s actually one of us. The Wednesday Campanella singer/rapper busted out her phone, which was connected to a projector, and started spitting to “チュパカブラ” while scrolling through all those creepy MSQRD filters we’ve all played with. It was absolutely glorious to watch her go in as her face shapeshifted between the Joker, a creepy Leonardo DeCaprio, and a fucking poop emoji.
Of course, Wednesday Campanella’s set couldn’t end there, so Komuai wrapped things up in style by crowd surfing inside a bubble, performing the group’s 2014 hit, “桃太郎”. I mean, who the hell does she think she is being so flawless.
Few shows at SXSW capture the essence of an artist’s work, but Wednesday Campanella managed to bring the heart of their music to life Tuesday night with performance art akin to the magic of J-pop I’m pretty sure a lot of those at Cheer Up Charlies were excited to experience.
