A chilly night as we head up the small lane to La Belle Angele, one of my favourite venues in Edinburgh, I am here to catch Japanese band Esprit D’Air who inspire their audience so much to the point I’m ed a huge birthday card in the large queue to sign for singer Kai, a first for me for sure at a gig.
We have Diamond Black opening up first, a band containing The Sisters of Mercy guitarist Ben Christo. The guitar and drums kick in as they launch into “Ghost in the Glass”, their 2018 single showcases Ben’s voice perfectly with some stunning guitar work ably backed up on bass by Adam, a huge sounding slice of intense modern rock whilst having its toes in a classic rock sound at the same time with its drum/guitar driven sound. The boys cruise through “In Venom” and “Fall Into The Silence” before they rock through “If You Kill My Demons” and then take us gently through “Through The Misery”, a haunting slower paced rocker of a song with some fabulous soaring vocals and subtle guitar work.
We get to meet “The Scarlet” next with its intense guitar intro and vocals before some “Dark Anthems” lead us into the last track tonight with 2017 single, “Sorrow” with its vague Evanescence meets Muse vibe. It’s fantastic song to end a thoroughly entertaining set. I would definitely recommend you catching the band should they play near you as you will not be disappointed.
If you like what we do, consider ing us on Patreon for as little as £1 per month!
The main event now as Esprit D’Air hit the stage. The whole tour is a sell out, an amazing feat with almost every aspect of it personally managed by Kai, a real DIY tour and a great testament to hard work in this day and age. The band are really showcasing last year’s stunning album Oceans with 11 tracks from it on show tonight. The opening intro sound of “Into the Oceans” pulls us in with its hypnotic vibe before we get hit with the “Tsunami” an intense tech rock driven song showing off Kai’s voice backed up by some killer drumming. We hear the symphonic “Ocean’s Call” followed by the softer edged “Calling You” before we fall into “The Abyss”, a much harder in-your-face track, not as intense as the studio version though which features some hard vocals from Ryo Kinoshita. We go back a few years now for a touch of “Starstorm” next, possibly my favourite of the night with its real upbeat vibe.
The new single “Shizuku” is also a favourite tonight with its faster paced tempo, a good taste of things to come possibly with some nice keyboard work, back into Oceans again as we end the main set with another few from the album, highlights being the fantastic fast paced bouncy “Nebulae”. “Dead Zone” is a real soaring song with guest vocals from Ben Christo and not forgetting the epic “Leviathan”, definitely a crowd favourite tonight – in particular an audience member next to me who kept shouting for it and ran off down the front when it came on.
The band head off for a few minutes before coming back on for the encore with a tasty version of “Kurenai” by Japanese band X Japan and end the night with a rousing version of Iron Maiden’s “The Trooper” with Ben Christo back on stage to help out on vocals again. A great fun packed night with great music from both bands tonight. If you love your rock music with a bit of tech synth mixed in with classic rock and a touch of prog for good measure then Esprit D’Air are the band for you, Kai’s vocal range is tremendous backed up tonight with Yusuke on guitar, Takeshi bouncing about on bass and the pounding drums of Jan-Vincent made for quite the powerhouse of a band tonight. The synth backing tracks for the songs were great and needed for the complexity of some of the tracks and I wonder if having a good synth/keyboard player would have created the same effect live. Check out the band’s albums and catch them live next time they are in town as you will definitely enjoy the show.
Don’t fancy Patreon? Buy us a one-off beverage!
Photos by Gary Cooper Photography
