My friend Patrick went to a Cubismo Grafico gig last night in Shimo-Kitazawa, and then wrote this report about the show for the P5 mailing list:

Tonight I went to see Cubismo Grafico Five at Shimokitazawa Shelter! It was my first time at this venue, which is very small, and it was really crowded! Chabe (Gakuji Matsuda = Cubismo Grafico) said the show was sold out!

First of all we had a big surprise to see Chabe come on stage with his left arm in a cast, up to above the elbow! He said he was alright, and that he just cut his finger while fixing a signboard (Escalator Shop’s?), but that they had to cast the whole arm because it would aggravate things if he was to move it.

Cubismo Grafico Five was fronted by Chabe of course, and the other members I didn’t know too well. One was TGMX and another guy was from Doping Panda. The band had generally a rock/punk-ish energetic sound, with lots of keyboards, it was pretty cool! Chabe was at front playing keyboards and percussions (as much as he could manage with one hand). The set was pretty good, with songs from all Cubismo Grafico releases, not just focusing on the latest stuff. They also played a few covers (including “What a Wonderful World” and also “Tout tout pour ma cherie” for which they used P5 samples, or the same samples P5 used for it), and also a few new songs!

Chabe announced that there will be not one but TWO new albums out on July 16! One by Cubismo Grafico Five, and one by himself as Cubismo Grafico. He said that he was planning on releasing three albums at once, a third one by another band called Cubismo Grafico Trio, but then he messed up his arm, so this third album will be postponed to later this year. I think he might have also mentionned a Cubismo Grafico Five single or EP in about a month, but I’m not sure about that. Anyway, lots of good music to look forward to!

I was hoping to hear “Make Peace For Baby Boom” with some Jesper samples during the show, and I was ready to scream “JESPER!!!!!” to get Chabe’s attention, but that didn’t happen. Nevertheless, it was a great show and I’m hoping to see him (or them!) again soon! The next show will be again at Shimokitazawa Shelter on 6/27 (in exactly 2 months) and tickets will be on sale at Pia Tickets starting 4/29. Chabe also said he’s hoping they’ll have a bigger show at Shibuya Quattro after the albums are released.

Going outside after the show, I got a flyer advertising a show with Capsule, Sonic Coaster Pop, Eel and more, including Chabe DJing! And for an instant I thought that I really have to catch that, but then I realized that the show was tonight from 10pm, and since I work tomorrow I had to go back home instead.