It’s the day before ONE OK ROCK’s scheduled ‘Luxury Disease Asia Tour’ concert at Hong Kong’s Central Harbourfront Eventspace. After the cancellation of their ‘Eye of The Storm Asia Tour’ in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic that swept the world, their arrival in Hong Kong marks over four years since they last performed in the city as the supporting act for Ed Sheeran’s ‘Divide World Tour’.
The Japanese rock band slowly piles into the room, each taking a seat on a plushy sectional sofa surrounded by sprawling views of the city. Tomoya and Ryota are all smiles, Toru wears a thoughtful gaze, and frontman Taka is on the edge of his seat, wide-eyed and buzzing with energy. Not yet armed with the knowledge that their long-awaited concert is about to be cancelled due to a storm, it’s clear the band is glad to be back.
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Welcome to Hong Kong! Is there anything you look forward to doing or visiting while you are here?
Taka: Usually when we’re going on tour, we’re not really going out. Just hanging out in our rooms or going for dinner with the members and the crew. But I have a few really good friends in Hong Kong so I’m pretty excited about doing the show and hanging out with them here.
You are currently on your ‘Luxury Disease’ tour, marking the first time in 5 years for ONE OK ROCK to tour Asia after the cancellation in 2020. Is there a country you are particularly excited to be performing in again?
Toru: We are really excited to go everywhere, there is not a specific place that we are especially excited about. Since we have not been able to travel abroad over the past few years, we are excited to perform where we can around the world.
Ryota: I am especially excited about our performance in Hong Kong in such a big venue. When I looked down at our performance venue from our hotel window, I wondered whether we had enough fans in Hong Kong to fill up the space! The venue and the environment make me excited and I look forward to our performance very much.
You have been active as a band since 2005, making this your eighteenth year together. How has your group dynamic and your overall sound developed since your debut?
Tomoya: Our attitude and mindset have not changed over the years. Eighteen years have passed in the blink of an eye. Despite that, all of us remember why we started and we keep on making the music that we have always wanted to make and think is cool.
Prior to the ‘Luxury Disease’ tour, you toured Europe opening for Muse over the summer. What was that experience like, and has it influenced how you view your own touring experience now?
Taka: It was our first time touring Europe for a stadium tour. All the places had really good crowds, lots of people, and huge stages. The Muse is also pretty much a legendary band. So when I heard that we would be touring with Muse in Europe, I was super excited because we just finished the album. The album concept was actually kind of stadium rock music, so it’s [great] timing to do these Luxury Disease performances on crazy huge stages with Muse. I was very excited. We could finally prove it on stage, how much this album was going to be kind of really huge sounds like [proper] stadium rock albums. Yeah, just every experience is always really, really good for us. Someday we want to have a huge tour in Europe or Asia, so that was a great experience for us I think.
You are known for your energetic live performances — can you tell us a bit more about what to expect from your performance for this tour?
Taka: First of all, the most important thing for us is actually just how much we can connect with the audience through rock music as ONE OK ROCK. So we’re trying, all the time, to make it emotional when we play on the stage to reach out to the audience. [It’s more about] just following my vibes. We don’t try to put on a completely perfect performance every time. However, all of us play our roles in hopes that we can provide the audience with the best experience we can offer. So we perform mainly with the mindset of “it’s okay” every time.
What’s your favourite song to perform live in concert, and why?
Tomoya: Our hit songs are different for every place that we go to, and we have to rearrange our set lists according to our fans’ tastes around the world. If I were to choose one song, it would be “Let Me Let You Go” and I hope everyone can enjoy it when we perform it live.
Toru: We hope that everybody gets to enjoy our songs from our new album. But I hope people will get to listen to “Neon”.
Taka: Having been in the audience during performances by other bands, as a fan I would hope to listen to my favourite song. Now that I have to rearrange our own set list, I realise that it is a very challenging process. I also like “Let Me Let You Go”, but one song I will always include is “The Beginning”.
Ryota: Every time we have to choose songs for our set list, I just leave it to the three other members. But if I were to choose, I would choose “Neon” because whether it be America or elsewhere, the audience’s enthusiastic reaction to this song makes me feel happy and I can immerse myself in the feeling while playing the bass.
Editor
Alyanna Raissa J. PayosCredit
Lead image: Rui Hashimoto for @ONEOKROCK_japan via Twitter
