FLOW Brings Their Long-Awaited ‘Anime Shibari’ World Tour to Austin
FLOW headbands and rainbow lightsticks filled ACL Live as fans waited in anticipation for Japanese rock band FLOW to hit the stage. The wildly successful band made their stop in Austin for one of the last shows on their Anime Shibari World Tour. The tour is a celebration of the band’s musical contributions to anime with a setlist comprised entirely of songs featured in popular anime.
While the band has been to Texas before, this tour marked their first show in Austin. The members of FLOW were open about their longtime desire to perform in Austin and to connect with their Texas fans. Vocalist Keigo noted that the Anime Shibari World Tour was initially planned to take place in 2020 but had to be postponed due to COVID.
Photo Cr: Andy Cantu
In keeping with the theme of the tour, the concert opens with a compilation of clips from different anime that FLOW have sung the opening and ending themes for. This sets the stage for a night of high energy and upbeat songs that keep fans dancing from start to finish. The stages are uniquely separated by the anime the songs appear in. Short anime interludes like one at the beginning of the show, introduce fans to the anime the next group of songs appear in. While all of the first few songs each appeared in different series, that promptly changed when fans heard the voices of Renton and Eureka before the band played “DAYS” and “ブレイブル” from Eureka Seven. “COLORS” and “WORLD END” from Code Geass were also introduced by characters from their series as well as each of the many songs from Naruto.
Photo Cr: Andy Cantu
Halfway through the show, the band revealed to the audience that, alongside waiting years to perform for Austin fans, the road there was not easy. The band’s tour buses broke down numerous times during, the tour and they had to deal with the US’s ever-changing weather while they endured flat tires and broken AC units. Vocalist Kōshi even told a funny story where a toilet broke and sprayed their bassist, Got’s. He referred to it as the “pee shower incident” and told fans they could find all of the band’s misfortunes on tour filmed and posted on his YouTube channel.
Despite their troubles on the road, the band mentioned that they are grateful to be in Austin with their fans and frequently spoke about how much they love the city. Guitarist Take went as far as to speak at length about everything he loved about Austin. In a heartfelt speech to fans, he proudly stated that Austin was the city of art, beautiful nature, music, and their loving fans.
Photo Cr: Andy Cantu
Throughout the show, the band was very open about their love and respect for anime. It was evident in their performances that they enjoyed the songs they were playing and were overjoyed to see fans singing along to the lyrics or getting excited when they heard the anime clips before the different sets. Additionally, the members took every opportunity to tell fans how appreciative they were for the fanbase they were able to gain because of anime and they thanked fans for loving Japanese anime, Japanese music, and FLOW.
Towards the end of the show, each member had the opportunity to be introduced by their fellow members. While both vocalists showed off their incredible voices throughout the show, the other members were given the spotlight with short solos following their introductions. Got’s and Iwasaki both blew fans away with their skills on the bass and drums, respectively, and it was Take’s introduction that really left an impression on fans. The eccentric guitarist spent the whole night jumping around and making faces at the crowd, but nobody was prepared for his light up jacket and glow stick performance.
Photo Cr: Andy Cantu
The end of the show was anything but sad. The members each walked around the stage and waved goodbye while throwing guitar picks and drumsticks to those lucky enough to catch them. As the band took their final bow, Keigo promised fans that FLOW would return to Austin soon and this was not goodbye for good.