Mei ManuelHello everyone! Mei is here again as part of the ONE OK ROCK Live in Manila specials! Yes, I gave it a special name since its a big thing and I do like the ring of it! You know, doing this is one of the best things I have ever done so far for this year and I am enjoying it! More to come, I promise!
Last week, we saw how ONE OK ROCK evolved from a five-member group to the talented foursome we know them today. Now, lets pick up the throwbacks and see how the band made history as a four-man group to their current status as one of Japan’s hottest rock bands of this generation.
Thanks to ONE OK ROCK Wikia for info here and the official oNE OK ROCK website for their current schedule.
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NO SCARED!
After headlining to several major bands in the country, ONE OK ROCK released their next single “Answer is near” in February 16, 2011 and performed it alongside other tracks in their “The Answer is Alive 2011” Tour across Japan’s Zepp music halls from April to June. The band soon became known to another market – the game enthusiasts – for their next single – the double A-side single “Re:make/NO SCARED!” in July 20 with NO SCARED becoming the theme song of hit video game “Black Rock Shooter.”
All three tracks were included in their fifth studio album, Zankyo Reference, released in October 5, 2011. To commemorate its release, the band went on a fourteen-day tour from November to December 2011 for the Zankyo Reference Tour. The tour ended with two shows in Yokohama Arena, the band’s first show in this huge venue. Due to their growing fan base, they sold out both Yokohama Arena dates with more than 24,000 concert-goers in both dates. The tour was documented in Blu-Ray and DVD, released on May 30, 2012.
The band continued to headline many Japanese music festivals both locally and internationally such as Jisan Valley Rock (South Korea), Rock in Japan Festival (Japan), Rising Sun Rock Festival, Monster bash and Space Shower’s Sweet Love Shower to name a few. They also headlined the year-ender concerts Radio Crazy and Countdown Japan 2011/2012.
ONE OK ROCK continued to tour around the country and even announced their first overseas tour “Start Walking the World” slated in May to June 2012, covering South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan. In the Japanese leg of the tour, they were joined by other Japanese acts like 9mm Parabellum Bullet, Hello Sleepwalkers, Crossfaith and Mao Abe. The band further boosted their fame through their headline performances in Rock in Japan Festival, Sumer Sonic, Oga Namahage Rock Festival and Rising Sun Rock Festival.
First step into Worldwide Domination and JinseixBoku=
Undeniably, the band’s release of their next single “The Beginning” further boosted the band’s fame as it was selected as the theme song for the live action adaptation of internationally acclaimed manga Rurouni Kenshin in 2012. The single, released on August 22, 2012, immediately ranked 5 in Oricon and gave the band two major awards from the MTV Video Music Awards and Space Shower Music Video Awards for “Best Rock Video” and “Best Your Choice” respectively. At the present time, “The Beginning” is the band’s most popular single as it continues to rake hits in YouTube. The video for this single has a view count of almost 30 million views and easily made it the most watched Japanese rock video in the popular video site.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh9yZWeTmVM
Following “The Beginning” is the next A-Side single “Deeper Deeper/Nothing Helps” which was their first release in 2013. The single actually went 2nd in oricon upon its release and both tracks were used for the video game Devil May Cry (Nothing Helps) and the TV Ad for Suzuki Swift Sport (Deeper Deeper).
All three tracks were a part of the band’s sixth album “JinseixBoku=“, released in March 6, 2013 and ranked 2nd in the weekly charts.
The band ventured out of Japan and into Europe in October 2013 as part of their “Who are you? Who are we?” Tour. At least four of the five major concert schedules in Europe were sold out almost instantly and they flew to the US in February 2014 for four concert dates. They also performed in their first major rock festival concert overseas at Rock on the Range in Ohio and became one of the main acts in the VANS Warped Tour 2014. The European tour and the Asian leg of “Who are you? Who we are?” Tour were featured in the band’s official documentary “FOOL COOL ROCK” directed by Hiroyuki Nakano which was released in November 2014 in DVD and Blu-ray.
35XXXV to 35XXXV Deluxe Edition
The band, while on tour, had actually been working on their next album alongside renowned music producer John Feldman, who announced on January 12, 2014 that the new album is in the works. The first single from this new album, “Mighty Long Fall/Decision”, was selected as the theme song for the sequel of the Rurouni Kenshin trilogy. The track was released with its A-side partner “Decision” in July 30, 2014, which also became the theme song for the band’s documentary film. The band also announced that they are also the ones selected to perform the theme song for the last instalment of the Rurouni Kenshin movie, entitled “Heartache”.
The band had next performed in Yokohama Stadium for a two day show in September 2014 entitled “Mighty Long Fall Live at Yokohama Stadium”. The show was sold out and unlike their earlier shows, they performed more than twenty songs with 3 new tracks and a cover of Vanessa Carlton’s hit single “A Thousand Miles.”
Afterwards, the band went off to USA, South America and Europe for a more longer tour in the latter half of 2014. They performed at Knotfest and headlined several concerts in the US in the process. They also went off to Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Mexico in November 2014; then France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, UK and Russia in December 2014. The band had also returned for Hoobastank’s Japan Tour in November 27, 2014.
In preparation of the launch of the band’s latest album, the band’s official website had been redesigned and on December 16, 2014, ONE OK ROCK announced that the next album is called “35XXXV”. Prior to the release of the album, they released the album’s third track video “Cry Out” in January 2015 and released the album days later. Criticisms had immediately been pouring in on social media upon the release of “Cry out” and 35XXXV due to the “Americanized” music of ONE OK ROCK. Regardless of this fact, the album immediately achieved first place at Oricon’s weekly charts.
The band then launched the “ONE OK ROCK “35XXXV” Japan Tour” in May 9, 2015, beginning in Shizuoka Ecopa Arena with several guests. Additional dates were announced in May 25, 2015 slated in September 12-13, 2015 in Makuhari Messe’s Chiba Marine Stadium.
The band had also worked alongside Yahoo! Japan for a special MV series showing 24 cities around the globe. Just by searching “ONE OK ROCK” in Yahoo! Japan’s Search App or Website, viewers are treated to 24 different videos showing the band in 24 different cities per hour. A special video for the track “Memories” will be available to viewers if they complete all 24 “one o’clock” videos.
As the band had recently signed up with Warner Music, the band released “35XXXV Deluxe Edition” on September 25, 2015 and announced their American, European and Asian tours respectively as part of the 35xxxv Tour. They also released the English version MV for “Cry Out” and a teaser to “The Way Back – Japanese version” in October 2015.
At the present time, ONE OK ROCK is currently on tour with bands Sleeping with Sirens, All Time Low and Neck Deep for the Back in Future Hearts Tour in the US after headlining several shows in September 29, 2015. The band is also scheduled to perform at OzzFest in Makuhari Messe and in the Anniversary Concert with RADWIMPS in November before moving to the European leg of the 35XXXV Tour in December.
In January 2016, the band will resume the 35XXXV Tour with six shows across Asia, including their first concert in the Philippines.
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The achievement of this band is one of a kind and to be part of their 2016 Asian Tour is something you guys should definitely not miss!
Want to be a part of history as the country finally graces one of the best rock bands of the decade? Purchase your tickets now at any SM Tickets outlets nationwide! You can also purchase your tickets through SM Tickets’ online site or by calling their hotline at 420-2222. Only purchase your tickets through official channels and not through scalpers! Let’s not disappoint ONE OK ROCK for supporting scalpers!
“ONE OK ROCK: The 35XXXV Asia Tour – Live in Manila 2016” is brought to us by PULP Live World, 28 Black and Amuse Asia Inc. Event partners also include Monster Radio RX 93.1, MYX, The Philippine Star, Astroplus, Odyssey Music Video, Pulp Magazine, G/ST and SM Mall of Asia Arena.
For more details for this event, visit either http://pulpliveworld.com/shows/2016/one-ok-rock
or
https://www.facebook.com/events/964161710306885/
For show updates, follow @PULPLiveWorld on Twitter or through Facebook page. Of course, you can also follow this blog and its’ official Twitter feed @hyoukan for updates!
Stand up Manila and lets show we are one with the entire ONE OK ROCK family and give the band a night to behold!
