As part of the OHM Festival at Brisbane Powerhouse, Friday night saw Japanese three-piece The 5.6.7.8's play this stunning venue in front of a sold-out audience (21 March).
The band is perhaps best known for their quirky performance in Quentin Tarantino's cult hit 'Kill Bill', but they have toured for decades and have a huge following (both inside and outside of their homeland).The OHM Festival celebrates among other things 'boundary-pushing music', and I can vouch firsthand that Japan produces much more than its fair share of this type of music. The show itself sounds even more promising when we are told The 5.6.7.8's are 'Tokyo's wildest exports', which is a huge claim and demands further investigation!
Brisbane act Ixaras, led by Ixara Dorizac, is support for the main act, and the band continues to delight audiences. This is the fourth time I have seen Ixaras perform, and I feel their act is becoming more polished, as they add new music and Ixara becomes more chatty with the audience.
Gone was the crazy leaping about onstage, screaming the song lyrics into bakelite telephones, replaced with a more restrained approach, perhaps reflecting the different headline acts (previously, she has toured widely with Grinspoon – amongst others – performing to a different crowd).
At 17, Ixara has a huge future ahead in music, running the Anti-Dismal record label and writing and performing great music. For the performance itself, I thought the first four songs stood out, three of which are off her 2024 album, 'Full Lover Fake Friend'. 'Worry' kicked off the set, followed up with 2023 single 'Lately'. It was all thoroughly enjoyable listening, and I felt this was an excellent set to warm the crowd up for the main act.
Ixaras - image © Bill Prendergast
The Japanese retro-punk, surf rock, garage band hit the stage for their 70-minute set, in a lowkey introduction. The trio was onstage setting up amps and checking drums for a couple of minutes before launching into the set.
They also led off on a strong note, performing what is probably my favourite 5.6.7.8's piece, 'Mothra'. It was a much longer version than the original, the lyrics bizarrely reference one of Godzilla's main foes, but I love the piece, and feel it's one of their most traditional Japanese songs, partly because it's sung in Japanese (interspersed with some Indonesian).
They followed up with their well-known 'I'm Blue' into 'Road Runner'. 'I'm Blue' is a cover of The Ikettes' original, one of the best-known members of whom, Venetta Fields, subsequently settled in Australia in the 1980s. 'Road Runner' is not my favourite song of theirs, being a cover of The Wailers from the late 1950s – not those guys from Jamaica – and reflecting the era of much of The 5.6.7.8's retro music.
The 5.6.7.8's - image © Bill Prendergast
As is so often the case with The 5.6.7.8's, there is a loose and free discussion with the audience, discussing some of the Australian wildlife in a mix of English with the occasional 'chigau' (translates as mistake or different).
Singer and lead guitarist Ronnie (Yoshiko Fujiyama) asked bass player Akiko Omo, "does this one start with A-sus?", before they move into 'Woo Hoo', one of their best-known songs, containing only two words in the lyrics. This live version kept getting faster and faster, leading into a basic guitar solo – on the beautiful Japanese Teisco guitar – which kept shifting up one semi-tone in its culmination.
'Bomb The Twist' kicked off with its countdown from ten; for this song, I was high above the crowd in this stunning music hall. From up high, the crowd was thoroughly enjoying this song, throbbing as one to one of the band's wilder numbers.
The 5.6.7.8's - image © Bill Prendergast
Drummer Sachiko Fujii (sister of Ronnie), sporting a magnificent beehive hairstyle, asked the crowd "Genki desuka? Are you drinking a lot? She is drinking a lot," pointing to her sister. Again very fun, good-natured banter with the crowd, as I have seen so many times before with Japanese bands.
When the trio returned for their encore, there was a "thank you for booking us Power Station, chigau, Power House". We were told this is the one fish song they will do for the evening, before launching into their famous 'The Barracuda', probably my favourite after 'Mothra', followed by the noisy 'Hanky Panky', and winding up with the instrumental, 'Harlem Nocturne'.
Interestingly, one of their best-known pieces, 'I Walk Like Jayne Mansfield', did not feature during the evening. Reportedly, the band who covered The 5.6.7.8's the most was The White Stripes, who regularly played this piece.
The 5.6.7.8's - image © Bill Prendergast
As noted the crowd was a sell-out, a few super-enthusiastic Japanese fans up the front, but a mix of local music fans showing their love and appreciation of great Japanese music and culture.
I loved the show, and while they probably no longer live up to the wild moniker, I have no doubt that over the years they have indeed been one of 'Tokyo's wildest exports'. They had a fantastic stage presence, played great music, and presented immaculately in matching mustard-coloured 1950s fashion (and the eye-glasses were incredible!), harking back to the era of much of their music.
More photos from the concert.
