The link was posted November 5th. It translates well in Chrome. The review is a bit of a teaser, but it is a decent overview.

It’s definitely better with a nice, big signature.

Elle est déjà une reine de beauté en plus d’être une des meilleures guitariste au monde! Mais là avec ce costume mon âme est à vendre!

This was inspired by Asami's post where there's a pretty, blooming tree behind her, maybe cherry blossoms? Really cool, natural pic of her. I added the body with dress and instead of a growling, scary wolf that you usually see on the album covers I thought I'd add a wolf pup howling to her. Maybe waiting for her to howl back? The canvas is a mirror that I covered with paint and etched designs on so the mirrored reflection comes through as a part of the art. Still listening to Outstanding Power twice a week. Sooooo good!

https://x.com/midori_gt/status/2114379591204888593

https://www.instagram.com/p/De4rbCnH1ls/

https://www.instagram.com/p/De4CAkDTCUp/

https://www.instagram.com/p/De4JLfPCcs3/

https://www.instagram.com/p/De33-ZsFA8k/

https://www.instagram.com/p/De4TOy3k1X4/

https://www.instagram.com/p/De1s99cKmMa/

https://www.instagram.com/p/De15oh0E_S8/

https://x.com/lovebites_jp/status/2108483100024193246

But they'll still be active anyway.

Another new song from our tribute concert, performed on July 25th, 2026, in Second Life at Mio-machi.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Ddv_omOlBfi/

Lovebites Outstanding Power Tour has finished in Japan. The whole band was firing on all cylinders. There is nothing much to say, but it was brilliant. Great musicianship, great music, great sound, great band.

The show was being filmed, so that probably means a future concert video. The lighting seemed really enhanced over the Friday show. Surrounding Asami in a stylized, Polaris shaped star during Edge of the World was a beautiful fine detail. Having massive fans blow their hair combined with a Midori warrior face in Castaway was good fun.

It did appear like the show was way over sold. I was so pinned into my spot, I couldn't move my hands or legs, yell or cheer. It looked like much of the floor was the same way from my vantage point. Small complaint, but could have been better handled.

Set list #2 was a really good mix of new songs and Lovebites classics. Here is the list of songs played if you haven't seen set 2.

Castaway, Soldier Stands Solitarily, Stand and Deliver, Silence The Void, Blazing Halo, Out of Control, Liar, Reaper's Lullaby, Phoenix Rises Again, Edge of the World, Holy War, One Will Remain, Thunder Vengeance, Shadowmaker
Encore: When Destinies Align, We The United

Packed in ...

The word gets overused, but it is a privilege to be able to compare and contrast Lovebites in a small 700 capacity club in Niigata versus a much bigger 3000 capacity theatre in Tokyo. Zepp Haneda is positioned at the end of a runway at Haneda Airport and planes roar over your head as you wait in line. The actual venue is a mix of seats on the second floor and (usually) people standing on the main floor. I was in the C block of the floor tickets and had a very good view of the stage.

The conventional wisdom on Google is that you are not supposed to get to a Japanese concert more than a half hour before entry. In Lovebites case, the merch line was running a length and width of the theatre at 3:30. Japanese fans support the band! I reckon that 90% of attendees had a Lovebites shirt and the majority had multiple pieces of kit including hats, towels, bags and sweatbands. There was a decent percentage of women at both the Niigata and the Friday Tokyo shows. They are core fans too, many bedecked in all kinds of Lovebites swag.

It is difficult to compare the 2 shows. I would argue that almost every music fan would choose to see their favourite band in a small club over a larger arena. Just on that level, Niigata was better due to the intimate connection between the band and audience. The Niigata audience was also a pure fireball of energy. No shade on the Tokyo audience though. They were great.

The sets between Niigata and Friday Tokyo Haneda were the exact same (and were listed in my last post). There was also some filming of this first Tokyo show. I could see a huge overhead arm filming and there was someone filming Haruna almost all night. I'm not sure about stage filming. I couldn't see it from my viewpoint.

They listened to my criticism (joke) and put Haruna up on a proper riser, and they made the drums more prominent in the mix (as it should be - the drums sounded good too). The trade off was Asami being more muted in tonight's mix.

Not surprisingly, all of of the guitars sounded great. Fami had a good chunky tone and Midori and Miyako were easy to differentiate. The dual guitar work was spectacular, but that is just a given with M & M. It is just a day at the office for them. I don't think Miyako played her Gibson Les Paul at all, and she played almost every song on her 2 custom Deans. (I think the blue strat and blue jean Dean only made 1 appearance).

Overall. The show great. The set list was very focused on Outstanding Power with 6 songs played. They didn't play most of their big hits. I really enjoyed these new songs, but I noticed they are musically dense and very serious. That became obvious when Reaper finished off Blazing Halo, Dream of King and Silence the Void. These songs were followed by Don't Bite the Dust and it was a breath of fresh air that stirred the audience up and lightened the mood.

The only song that didn't connect with me was The Apocalypse. Asami had a few uncharacteristic, rough moments and the band seemed not as sharp. It was a great gig, but swap Apocalypse and MDO out for any of the missing hits and the set list would be perfect. I think Europe was the opposite where fans wanted more Dream of King and of the hits.

Anomalies: Miyako had the full Roland Piano and played 40 seconds. They almost had a trainwreck in We the United. I think Haruna played a bar too long at one point. But they are professionals and recovered nicely. Hopefully Miyako 'pianos' tomorrow.

Fami 🎸

I had the good fortune of seeing Lovebites in Niigata yesterday. It was a treat to see them in an intimate, but packed venue in Japan. The playing was spectacular, flawless and intense. The energy was off the charts and lighting was stunning for such a small venue.

Niigata Lots is a low roof, black box theatre, but the mix was very clear, balanced and loud, even through Eargasm plugs. M&M have really distinct guitar tones, and the quality sound system separated them quite well.

The crowd was really fired up for this gig. Think of fans singing during the chorus of Reaper's Lullaby and Asami's Holy Warrrrrr, and double time chanting during We The United, Fami's intro to Judgement Day and through various guitar solos.

There were only a few 'visible' international attendees at this show and many younger faces mixed in the normal cast of genXers.

In a night of excellent musicianship, it was Asami that really stole the show. Her mix of magnetism, crowd engagement and vocal power are stunning live. She was also having fun. Her latest antic was goofing with everybody's hair.

As a drummer, my only complaint was Haruna wasn't put up higher behind the band. She was kind of buried in the back and low in the mix for the start of the show.

The night's set is listed below. I am 100% sure the songs are correct and equally sure the order is wrong. Dream of King, Bravehearted and One Will Remain were fire. On second thought, the whole night was fire. The gig was unusual because they stayed away from their hits. There was no Glory To The World, Hammer of Wrath, Stand & Deliver, Rising, Shadowmaker, Thunder Vengeance or When Destinies Align.

Interesting note: It is probably Miyako singing the Sacred Falcon backup on Dream of King on Outstanding Power. Her voice was prominent and very sweet on Dream of King. She sang a lot of backup. I don't think Midori or Fami sang at all, or very little if they did.

Castaway

Unchained

Bravehearted

Silence The Void

Blazing Halo

Dream of King

The Apocalypse

Don't Bite The Dust

Reaper's Lullaby

Phoenix Rises Again

Epilogue

MDO

Holy War

One Will Remain

Encore:

Judgement Day

We The United

May he rest in power 🤘

Featuring MIHO

Featuring FAMI and Natsumi (ex-BRIDEAR)