Polysics Live: Incredible, Or, I Think It Was

Here's some things I'd like to say about Polysics.
1. They are sooooo Polysics.
2. People who love Polysics really really love Polysics.
3. They are the full deal: hyper music, matching outfits, dancing, and a keyboardist who doubles as a robot.
4. Being the full deal, music (or musicianship) isn't necessarily the prime focus.
5. Do we care?
6. Polysics are sooooo Polysics.

It was clear from before the band had even walked on stage that the hype was tangible. And when the band ran onto stage in their beloved orange jumpsuits, it was clear that they were in the mood to rock, which is what they proceeded to do. Lots of head thrashing and fists thrust into the air by frontman Hayashi. He was the epitome of a kid pretending to be the epic rock star, except that ... he wasn't pretending.

For example, at one dramatic point he yelled out (in heavily Japanese accented English), "We... are... going... to... rock your fucking ... WOOOOOOOORLD!!!" Which should've been laughable, even embarassing, except that delivered by Hayashi, it inexplicably worked, and the noisy distorted guitar freak-out ensued. Kayo on the synth was also rad: she really took on her robot role, and seemed largely immobilized except when occasionally flinging her head around, or turning suddenly to sing into the vocoder.

I was totally entertained by the whole show (which was much noisier and less electro than expected), but I would have enjoyed it a lot more if either the musicianship was tighter, or if the sound system was more tweaked. Somehow or another, most of the show sounded pretty muddy. In the studio, Polysics play a lot of catchy tunes, but live I was swimming through an ocean of fuzz, trying to latch onto the melody I knew was in there somewhere. The one time that melody really slapped me in the face was when the band kicked into Baby BIAS, their last song of the set, and my body was suddenly dancing like a robotic toddler.

I'm certain that a small crew of people had just seen the best concert of their lives. And I bet there were also more than a handful who just didn't know what the hell to make of Polysics. In the words of my girlfriend, "I couldn't enjoy it, because it wasn't similar to anything I know." And if that's not high praise, then I don't know what the hell is.