Re: Crossfaith - this has been a pretty wild saga. I saw the band for the first time when they played with Bloodywood in May at Toyosu Pit. It was a great show and I was excited to see them again. Now I'm not sure if that will ever happen. Daiki also plays guitar for Knosis, another metalcore band, and he was also kicked out of that band. Either yesterday or today, Daiki released his own statement acknowledging the inappropriate behavior but denying any allegations of pedophilia or that he ever intended to do anything other than invite the underage fan to the show. Crazy stuff. The other interesting wrinkle is that the instigator of all this is Ronnie Radke, lead singer of Falling in Reverse. FiR is the headliner on some upcoming Crossfaith shows. Radke is a polarizing figure on his own, not least for his involvement in a murder in 2006 and multiple arrests for assault.
Re: Music Twitter - Maybe my favorite example of a band that is very popular overseas is Mass of the Fermenting Dregs. This a band where the members are 40+, have gone through some line-up changes and dissolutions, don't have anime or other culture tie-ins, and aren't backed by a major label or promoter, but have gotten popular overseas and sell out shows in Europe and LA. I went to one of their TWO back-to-back shows in LA last year and it was a packed house with everyone singing along. I don't really know how it happened, but their music is awesome and I'm happy for their success.
I would also point to Band-Maid as a very successful band overseas. Hardly any Japanese fans I talk to have ever heard of the band, but they regularly sold out1,000-2,000 capacity venues in the US in 2022 and 2023 and have played at major festivals like Aftershock, Welcome to Rockville, etc. Same thing with Hanabie, who tour all the time overseas selling out venues and playing major festivals (with Sony's backing), but are relatively unknown or not as popular in Japan. Both bands place a huge emphasis on their social media profiles of posting in both English and Japanese.
Re: Crossfaith - this has been a pretty wild saga. I saw the band for the first time when they played with Bloodywood in May at Toyosu Pit. It was a great show and I was excited to see them again. Now I'm not sure if that will ever happen. Daiki also plays guitar for Knosis, another metalcore band, and he was also kicked out of that band. Either yesterday or today, Daiki released his own statement acknowledging the inappropriate behavior but denying any allegations of pedophilia or that he ever intended to do anything other than invite the underage fan to the show. Crazy stuff. The other interesting wrinkle is that the instigator of all this is Ronnie Radke, lead singer of Falling in Reverse. FiR is the headliner on some upcoming Crossfaith shows. Radke is a polarizing figure on his own, not least for his involvement in a murder in 2006 and multiple arrests for assault.
Re: Music Twitter - Maybe my favorite example of a band that is very popular overseas is Mass of the Fermenting Dregs. This a band where the members are 40+, have gone through some line-up changes and dissolutions, don't have anime or other culture tie-ins, and aren't backed by a major label or promoter, but have gotten popular overseas and sell out shows in Europe and LA. I went to one of their TWO back-to-back shows in LA last year and it was a packed house with everyone singing along. I don't really know how it happened, but their music is awesome and I'm happy for their success.
I would also point to Band-Maid as a very successful band overseas. Hardly any Japanese fans I talk to have ever heard of the band, but they regularly sold out1,000-2,000 capacity venues in the US in 2022 and 2023 and have played at major festivals like Aftershock, Welcome to Rockville, etc. Same thing with Hanabie, who tour all the time overseas selling out venues and playing major festivals (with Sony's backing), but are relatively unknown or not as popular in Japan. Both bands place a huge emphasis on their social media profiles of posting in both English and Japanese.