ONE OK ROCK will grace the American shores once more in a litle over a week's time. Just a couple of days ago, their tenth album, "Luxury Disease," was released globally.
In a way, "Luxury Disease" is a throwback to their old days. Frontman Taka said that the album title is the English version of their original Japanese release, "Zeitakubyo." The band has been touring the west more and more alongside various English-speaking bands and have learned what it takes to stand out on the global stage. The west is a different animal compared to Japan, and thus musical groups must make changes and adapt in order to make it. Japanese music historically has not made as many headways into the west like other contemporaries like K-Pop has. There's been a lot of gatekeeping and jealously-guarded materials and access even when it has worked against global expansion. It's great to see more and more bands work on appealing to the global stage, be it more international shows, more media in English, or otherwise. Taka has been singing more and more in English over the last few albums, which is important for any group hitting the world stage.
The band has been around for a good seventeen years at this point and have a wealth of experience both at home and abroad. They've really been hitting their stride as of the last five years. The band is under the Fueled By Ramen label, which is under Warner and 300 Elektra Entertainment.
ONE OK ROCK will be criss-crossing the United States starting in late September and running into late October. The tour begins on 9/19/22 in Austin, TX, before heading to Florida and up the east coast. They then make their way west interspersed with a couple of stops in Canada. The last date of the tour is 10/20/22, in Los Angeles, CA. Most major cities and areas are represented and I recognize quite a number of the venues listed on this tour. Wherever you are, you should be fairly close to a show. Given that the last time they were in town was 2019, you might want to make the effort to come on out.
English band You Me At Six and America's own Fame on Fire will support ONE OK ROCK on this tour. In a way, it's the perfect example of ONE OK ROCK's current trend. Three bands representing three continents and with a sound that has evolved over the years. ONE OK ROCK has gotten a little softer over the course of their ten albums, particularly with their last two albums, "Ambitions" and "Eye of the Storm." They've developed a lot more of a pop-rock sound compared to years past but songs like Renegades, Wonder, and Prove show they can still rock. Fittingly, those are also my favorite songs from the album.
As far as setlist, I'd expect a lot of songs from "Luxury Disease" along with some older songs interspersed. There's a good chance they'll play The Beginning during the set, if only because it's by far their most popular song, period. The Beginning was used as the theme song for Rurouni Kenshin live action adaptation. Similarly, Renegades was used on the soundtrack for Rurouni Kenshin: The Final, which was the fourth movie of the adaptation series. The song Vandalize was used as a theme for the game Sonic Frontiers, so I wouldn't be surprised to hear that either.
You can check out "Luxury Disease" here:
Tour dates are as follows:
9/19/22 Austin, TX - Emo's
9/20/22 Houston, TX - House of Blues
9/21/22 Dallas, TX - House of Blues
9/23/22 Orlando, FL - House of Blues
9/24/22 Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle
9/25/22 Charlotte, NC - The Underground
9/27/22 Philadelphia, PA - Franklin Music Hall
9/28/22 Silver Spring, MD - Fillmore Silver Spring
9/30/22 New York, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom
10/1/22 Boston, MA - House of Blues
10/2/22 Montreal, QC (CA) - Club Soda
10/4/22 Toronto, ON (CA) - Rebel
10/5/22 Detroit, MI - St Andrews Hall
10/7/22 Cleveland, OH - House of Blues
10/8/22 Chicago, IL - Concord Music Hall
10/9/22 Minneapolis, MN - Fillmore Minneapolis
10/11/22 Denver, CO - Ogden Theater
10/12/22 Salt Lake City, UT - The Complex
10/14/22 Portland, OR - Roseland Theater
10/15/22 Vancouver, BC (CA) - Harbour Event Centre
10/16/22 Seattle, WA - Showbox Sodo
10/19/22 Oakland, CA - Fox Theater
10/20/22 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Palladium
