New Haven, CT – Ok, maybe that is not a literal translation, but if you were one of the lucky ones in the near sold out Toad’s Place in New Haven, CT on May 17, 2024, you know how energized you felt during… and after… Hanabie‘s first stop on their 2024 tour Across North America.
It is really amazing how things come together. In 2023, I was slated to photograph Hanabie’s US debut performance at a large festival in Virginia. As fate would have it, the performance got cancelled. This year, a chance trip to Connecticut brought me to New Haven the week of their first 2024 US performance. I had to go!
The support bands for the night were Outline in Color from Tulsa, OK and Left to Suffer hailing from Atlanta, GA. They set the tone, literally and figuratively, for the night with a powerful death metal sound. Left to Suffer helped set the physical tone, establishing the bounds (or more accurately removing them) for crowd surfing and mosh pits. This was going to be fun!!
Chika (drums) took the stage first to the roar of the audience. After sitting at her kit, she was joined by Yukina (vocals), Matsuri (guitar, vocals), and Hettsu (bass, backing vocals). It took no time for the head banging to begin as they kicked it by kicking off with their January 2024 release, “OTAKU Lovely Densetsu” . This was 花冷え (awesome… Hanabie).
The 花冷え energy only went up from there. Up next was “NEET Game” from their 2023 album, Reborn Superstar, which did a great job setting the tone for a night of crowd surfing. The first surfers hit the crowd wave during “Bukkowasu!!“.
If you have never been to Toad’s Place in New Haven, it is an iconic venue dating back to 1975. It is not huge and there is not much space between the audience and the stage. In other words, this was an up close and personal performance. This appeared to be right up Hanabie’s alley, as they got right in with the crowd. At one time during the night, Yukina appeared to sing from the barrier while a crowd surfer went on by.
The 花冷えness was just beginning as they played a very fun “Be the GAL~Early Summer ver.~” It was clear it was not only about the growls, as Matsuri provided some fine clean vocals as well. “-我甘党- (WE LOVE SWEETS)” followed and of course, pastery was on everyone’s mind for the rest of the night.
After a little “Girl’s Talk“, we were given a 花冷え “Warning!!!” leading to some “Ghost Mania“. There was no slowing down. They next ran away with “TOUSOU” followed by the song that got me hooked on the 花冷え Hanabie in the first place, “– お先に失礼します。 (Pardon Me, I Have To Go Now)“. Thankfully, they did not really leave.
Sadly, Toad’s Place had scheduled a second event for the evening (a raving glow party) and Hanabie was given a very short set. It appeared as though this had caused some chaos before they took the stage and did result in the abbreviated set. They wrapped up the 花冷え show with “Today’s Good Day & So Epic“, thanked the audience and left the stage… or did they.
I can honestly say I have seen many fan induced encores in my life. None has come close to what I witnessed at Toad’s place. It was 花冷え. While not a huge venue, the near sold out audience brought down the house with “One more song, one more song, one more song!!” Who could say no???!!! When they took the stage again, with only a few minutes before the next Toad’s Place event, the audience had decided, the ravers would have to wait. This was 花冷え!!!
They outdid themselves with a two-song encore. What was 花冷え is that they asked if we liked “SUNRISE Miso Soup” and who were we to say no? They finished off the night, right on the raver hour, asking what the audience wanted. Hanabie gave them what they asked for, one of their early songs, “L.C.G.”. After a long goodbye, they left the stage. It was a 花冷え way to end the night.
花冷え is Hanabie and it loosely means the cold that unexpectedly invades the warming spring (if I read it correctly). While that may be the literal translation, it is safe to say that May 17th, 2024, there was no spring cold invasion of Toad’s Place. On the contrary, it was hot and all will agree, 花冷え is nothing short of awesome. Catch them if you can.
Hanabie Gallery
Hanabie Setlist
O•TA•KU Lovely Densetsu
NEET GAME
Bukkowasu!!
Kotoshi koso Gal~Shoka
Ware Amatou
GIRL’S TALK
Warning!!
Ghost Mania
TOUSOU
Osaki ni Shitsurei Shimasu.
Want to TIE-UP
Today’s Good Day & So Epic
Encore:
SUNRISE Miso-SOUP
L.C.G
Show Date: May 17th, 2024
Check out the song that introduced me to Hanabie!
