On June 14th, we played a live show in Kyoto.
This was our third “Duo Style” performance.
Kyoto is a very special place for us.
Not only is it Japan’s ancient capital, but I believe it holds a deep spiritual significance for people all over the world.
We feel truly blessed to have been able to perform there again.
This event was planned together with two of our good friends’ bands—HERSHEY’s and The Lula.
At a cool local venue in Kyoto, it turned out to be a truly blessed show.
As we are not yet ready to perform with Kenshin, we played in our “Duo Style,” using drum tracks, with just Tak and Marie.
Although this was our third Duo Style performance, sharing the stage with excellent rock bands like HERSHEY’s and The Lula made us feel, honestly, that programmed drums were a little lacking in power.
It made us strongly wish to return to Kyoto sometime soon as a full band with Kenshin.
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**Setlist at Yaso, Kyoto on 14th June 2025**
1. That’s Why I Love You
2. Kimi Ha Mammoth
3. i-pop
4. Unknown Road
5. Crucified Boy
6. Truth
7. Sonic Soldiers
8. Faith Rider (with MAD Fujiwara)
We would like to extend our thanks to MAD Fujiwara, the guest drummer who jumped in at the last minute to play drums on *Faith Rider*.
In our Duo Style shows, we don’t limit ourselves strictly to heavy metal or Christian songs when selecting material.
We see it as a great opportunity to perform songs we hadn’t played as a band before.
As a result, our setlist has included songs we hadn’t performed in many years, as well as Japanese songs we wrote before we became a Christian band.
Among them, *Kimi Ha Mammoth* is especially meaningful.
Tak wrote it when he was in his first year of high school.
It was also the first song that Tak and Marie ever performed together when they met.
As I mentioned in a previous post, Tak and Marie met in 1995, so this song has been revived after 30 years.
A video of that performance is available on our YouTube channel.
Additionally, *i-pop* is a song from the very early days of this band, around 2004–2005.
It was performed live for the first time in 20 years.
Although it wasn’t a perfect performance—I messed up the lyrics a bit—I’ve posted the video as well.
We’ve actually been rehearsing some of these old songs with our new drummer, Kenshin, so there’s a good chance we’ll be able to share full-band performances of them in the future.
This time, once again, we found ourselves deeply inspired by the city of Kyoto.
We also renewed our commitment to establishing a form of Christian heavy metal rooted in Japanese culture and tradition here in Japan.
Please look forward to seeing us create *Christian Samurai Heavy Metal*.
