Gig review: Babymetal at the Hordern Pavilion, Sydney

Live Review: Babymetal and Reliqa at the Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, June 9 2023

By BRENDAN DELAVERE

ANY FRIDAY night in Sydney you might find yourself at a bar, surrounded by suits celebrating the end of the working week. But if you were one of five thousand at the Hordern Pavilion, you’d find an eclectic mix of battle jacket clad metal heads, Jpop stans and weebs alike –  a crowd like no other.

With the Hordern full to the brim well before local openers Reliqa, the air was
electric. Treading a line between alt rock and symphonic metal, the four piece hit us with solid whomps of down-tuned bass, wavy synth lines and noodling power metal solos.

Front woman Monique Pym flits between unwavering operatic pitch to nu metal raps and back without losing pace.

“Second Nature” slows things down for a moment before “The Ritualist” ventures into djent territory courtesy of some solid riffing from Brandon Lloyd. As customary at the Hordern, sound quality differs depending where you stand, the bass overpowering the vocals closer to the stage whilst simultaneously sounding a bit muddy from the rear stands. It takes half the set for some of these issues to fade, with closer “I Don’t Know What I Am” speeding its way to the end of the 45-minute set.

Reliqa. Pic: Brendan Delavere

It was clear many had lined up all day to get their coveted spot on the barrier. With fan club members with flags from around the globe, no one was giving up their place.

Every time a song ended, the crowd would scream, whenever the lighting rig ran a test or a roadie stepped on stage, the crowd would scream in anticipation. It was nothing compared to the raucous, thundering screams when the room went black and a booming narration introduced Japanese pop metal icons Babymetal.

As the cloaked, masked band tore into the driving riffage of “Babymetal Death”, the trio of Su-metal, Moametal and Momometal took centre stage, resplendent in their black and steel outfits. For the next 75 minutes Sydney was treated to the striking visuals, savage drums and sweeping guitars with a totally kawaii fusion from “Megitsune” and the chanting “Shanti Shanti Shanti” with its Indian rhythms giving it a Japan meets Bollywood flair.

The next hour flew by, unrelenting, “Mirror Mirror Mirror”, “MAYA” and “Monochrome”, all cuts from this year’s record The Other One.

Crowd favourites, the crushing “Distortion”, singalong “PA PA YA!!” and one massive wall of death for “Gimme Chocolate!!” sent waves through the Hordern.

Babymetal. Pic: Brendan Delavere

Closing out with the huge “Road to Resistance”, perfectly choreographed dancing, visually frenetic lighting and every fist pumping in the air.

The chant of “one more song” was soon drowned out by the annoying DJ Otzi “Hey Baby” chant (please can we stop this already!), as the trio returned once more, black flags waving. “Metal Kingdom” and the symphonic “Ijime, Dame, Zettai” close the first indoor Sydney Babymetal experience.

And what an experience, part metal show, part theatre performance, all unforgettable.