On Sunday, Brisbane's The Fortitude Music Hall hosted one of Japan's really huge acts, One OK Rock – or as their massive Japanese fanbase sometimes refers to them, Wan Oku.
That name is a shortened version of wan okuroku – one o'clock, the time the band used to rehearse when they started out, no doubt due to the cheaper availability of studios after midnight!
Although the band is an enigma, one notable area in which One OK Rock is different from a lot of the many fantastic Japanese bands is they sing mainly in English.
When listening to a lot of their music, particularly the more recent release 2025's 'Detox', it's not possible to discern their country of origin, although the extremely high production quality and musicianship is somewhat of a giveaway.
Their success has only been enhanced by the collaborative work they have done with other major international artists, notably Linkin Park, Ed Sheeran, and Smashing Pumpkins.
As with so many bands, it's hard to pin the music down to a particular label or category, but that isn't necessary in order to enjoy some very energetic, catchy music.
Lead singer Taka (Takahiro Moriuchi) is a bona fide musical talent, having signed with Japan's infamous Johnny's Entertainment as a 13 year old with a boys band.
Taka's mother is an enka singer and actress. His father is also an enka and pop singer who has sold 90 million albums and is one of most successful and famous Japanese singers.
One OK Rock - image © Maxine Thomas
Taka's family musical background is relevant as it has helped form his own stunning musical capabilities.
However, the musical talent is very strong throughout the four piece, with drummer Tomoya Kanki (Tomo) bringing the different music styles together with the high-quality production and live performance of Toru Yamashita on lead guitar and Ryoto Kohama on bass.
The final show (15 March) of this Australian tour kicked off with support from Sydney-based pop-punk band, Stand Atlantic.
Their album 'F.E.A.R.' was nominated for Album Of The Year at the 2022 J Awards, and they have built a strong fan-base across a decade-plus of performance; they have previously supported One OK Rock.
Overall, Stand Atlantic was a solid intro for the night, probably best described as having a skate-punk look and feel, as they ripped into the wild opener 'Kissin' Killer Cobras'.
The band constantly built the energy, as bassist Miki Rich revved up the crowd with his requests for more jumping, while his bass playing was dominant throughout.
Stand Atlantic - image © Maxine Thomas
'Warzone' lifted the vibe again, and is clearly an angry song. 'Frenemies' was one of the more uplifting songs of their set, while 'Criminal' was quite catchy but arguably the angriest of their works for the evening.
One OK Rock then hit the stage at 10pm, quite late for what was to be an explosive two-hour set. The set list has hardly changed across the tour, partly reflecting the anime and imagery posted behind the stage.
So the crowd knew to expect with the opener, 'Puppets Can't Control You'. Straight away, Taka's stunning vocals were apparent, singing initially in Japanese; at the end of the piece we also saw our first indication of what was to be a massive night on the drums for Tomo.
'The Beginning' is one of their earlier songs that really assisted them breaking through at the international level, so the crowd was more than delighted to hear this so early in the set.
One OK Rock - image © Maxine Thomas
This was also one of the more choreographed pieces for the night, and wound up with Taka, Toru and Ryota each on their own riser playing and motioning in unison.
For 'Save Yourself' the crowd was bathed in red, with only a slither of the natural colour on the OOR logo at the front of Tomo's kit. 'Nasty' is one of the highest energy pieces off 'Detox' and led into 'Renegades', co-written with Ed Sheeran.
The song starts quietly but rapidly grows, and as with most of the evening's work, it was the guitar that was most understated, as the bass and drums drove the music. Taka, Toru and Ryota were all gathered around the drum kit as Tomo again had a massive wind-up on 'Renegades'.
One OK Rock - image © Maxine Thomas
'Tiny Pieces' was one of the quieter pieces for the set, but still enjoyable. At this stage, Taka engaged in some fun banter with the crowd in both English and Japanese, highlighting the significant Japanese presence in the audience.
Taka sounded very gentle when chatting with the crowd, belying the huge range and power in his singing voice as he joked that the newer fans may not know the next song, 'Wherever You Are'.
Penned by Taka when aged 17, it's reportedly the most widely-used wedding song in Japan. There were some stunning drum fills in the piece, as Taka switched between the English and Japanese lyrics, and really provided a stunning vocal culmination.
Image © Maxine Thomas
Ryota was next to chat with the crowd, telling everyone that on their world tour, he has been looking for the loudest fans in the world. So the FMH crowd did their best to stake a claim.
Tomo did a brief "Aussie! Aussie!" chant before launching into the much heavier 'Make It Out Alive' for which the intro sounded almost Black Sabbath-like, and he had a real swing – albeit very heavy - on the drums for this one.
'C.U.R.I.O.S.I.T.Y.' is another heavy one and had guitarist Toru providing some light rapping in the middle part, bringing the recently-toured Zebrahead to mind. 'Dystopia' was another great track; at this point I really noticed the precision of each of the band members' playing, particularly Tomo on drums and Toru on guitar.
One OK Rock - image © Maxine Thomas
There is zero laziness whatsoever in their playing, every single note/ beat is struck perfectly with no shortcuts at all. That precision is in part what sets the music (and Japan) apart.
'Kimishidai Ressha' (which translates roughly as 'the train depends on you') was another one where the audience could really experience this feeling of precision, as Toru's left hand was constantly moving up and down the neck; another highlight of the evening.
Taka was again chatting with the crowd in English and Japanese, and it worked perfectly. He noted the significant Japanese presence in the audience, and clearly there were some who had travelled for the show.
One OK Rock - image © Maxine Thomas
The very polite queue prior to the show was one like I had never seen here in Brisbane before, snaking around the entire Brunswick Street precinct and some.
'The Pilot </3' was again flawless, as Toru displayed some similarities with the lovely playing of U2's The Edge, albeit less dominant over the music. As they left the stage, drummer Tomo was almost staggering, such was the energy he had spent so far.
They'd earned a longer-than-usual break, but Tomo came leaping back onstage for the two-song encore. '+Matter' was great and the screen behind them projected each member close-up and live, with some humorous facial expressions, before Taka held up one finger to the crowd, obviously asking whether they wanted one more song.
One OK Rock - image © Maxine Thomas
The final song was the anthemic 'We Are', co-written with Colin Brittain who subsequently became Linkin Park's drummer.
It’s a brilliant song, put together to summarise the fears and concerns of Japanese 18-year-olds in a 2017 NHK youth survey, and this sentiment is clearly portrayed in Taka's lyrics.
It's very simple with only two chords, but great writing and musicianship can take something very simple and make it something fascinating, and that's what this song does.
One OK Rock - image © Maxine Thomas
It was an outstanding way to wind up a great night, and the band remained onstage, soaking up the gratitude and expressing plans for another tour of Australia in the near-term.
This was a brilliant show with a positive, uplifting and optimistic message, one of the real highlights over the past 12 months.
