I saw on Last.fm that the Polysics were playing in the UK. I got into the ’sics back in, ooh, Augustish, just before going to Japan, and fell in love with their indescribable sound. They are very Japanese, very futuristic, and sound like what music will be like in 2050. Actually, the other day on the bus, I realised what they sound like: punk, with electro. Or, electronica with elements of punk. I don’t know. It just sounds awesome.

Anyway, they were touring the UK for two or three dates, and I thought “Damn, it’d be nice to go, but I won’t get the chance.” That’s shortly before Jade emailed me, suggesting the old Japanese Beginners crew head down to see them. And thus, on February 9th, Jade, John, and I caught the train to London. Checked into our luxurious Iranian-run hotel. We had a hairdryer.

That got old, fast, so off we headed to the Carling Academy. Islington, not Brixton. Found it eventually. We were two hours early, so there were precisely two people in the queue ahead of us. A woman sat next to us and we exchanged small talk. Her and Jade ended up getting on like a house on fire, drooling over Gackt and Gazette and whathaveyou. Pfft, women.

Anyway, headed into the Academy itself, which is quite a titchy place. We were right at the front.

The first band were Mirror Mirror, who were decent enough. Frontman reminded me of Alan Ruck, strangely.

Then we had Cutting Pink with Knives. Musically, they were, uh, a bit, um, shit. However, the frontman disguised this with raw wit and charisma, charming the audience and keeping us all on his side.

No, wait, actually he was an annoying dick.

LOL GUYZ LOOK AT ME I’M A LOUD BRASH AMERICAN AREN’T I COOL HEY LOOK I’LL RUN INTO THE AUDIENCE AND STAND ON PEOPLE THIS IS WHAT I DO JUST PLEASE DON’T ACTUALLY LISTEN TO THE MUSIC YOU MIGHT REALISE WE SUCK HEY LET’S GET A MOSHPIT GOING EVERYBODY FUCKING LOVES MOSHPITS

Sorry. I’m sorry. Those guys just sucked. That photo was the last I took of them, because a security guard motioned for me to stop. I thought it was because I was using the flash.

Luckily, the instant Polysics started to appear, I forgot all about them.

Being at the front paid off big time. First of all, a girl who I am informed is called Kayo appeared and stood absolutely still over her keyboard. She barely moved a muscle throughout the entire performance, making the minimum movement necessary to play the keys and talking calmly into her mic for the vocoder bits. Near the end, she started doing this awesome tiny hand-dance thing. She was a joy to behold.

My long shutter speed led to some unintentionally cool effects.

Unfortunately, a security lady made me stop taking photos in the middle of their “My Sharona” cover, so I stopped there. It was probably for the best: one of my vices at gigs is concentrating on taking photos rather than enjoying the music. Oh, and what enjoyment it was. The crowd were all rabidly singing the English bits (LOCK AND LOLL!!) and occasionally attempting the Japanese/gibberish (PI PI PI PI PI PI!), us in the front row were reaching out towards them, Hiro kept doing weird dances… it was genuinely one of the best live shows I’ve experienced. I didn’t even know most of their songs: I caught New Wave Jacket, Peach Pie on the Beach, Ah Yeah!!, XCT, My Sharona, and they ended with the anthemic Black Out Fall Out, which was oddly beautiful like a ten-ton truck covered in neon and Christmas lights hurtling down a mountainside late at night.

Anyway, it ended, sadly. I bought a t-shirt, and we went outside to ambush the band. We succeeded.

That’s Hiroyuki Hayashi on the left, yours truly on the right. He signed our tickets and I happily babbled broken Japanese at him.

Afterwards, we got to meet the security guard. He asked me about my camera, and he said they didn't allow lenses over 42mm, so I was like "Oh, sorry, I didn't-" and he was like "Oh, no, it's fine,", and was really nice about it, and we shook hands, and I thanked him for keeping me secure, and I didn't feel so bad about flouting the rules. Nice guy. All in all, a great experience.