When: Monday, April 11, 2016, 7:00 PM
Where: 17
Irving Place, New York, NY, United States
One Ok Rock (stylized as ONE OK ROCK) is a Japanese rock band formed in 2005, composed of Taka, Toru, Ryota, and Tomoya.
Prior to
the formation of ONE OK ROCK, high school students Toru Yamashita and Ryota
Kohama were members of the hip-hop dance group, Heads. With the idea of forming
a rock band, Yamashita insisted Kohama learn to play bass, and later invited
fellow student Alex Onizawa to join on guitar. Drummer and classmate Tomo
subsequently joined, however left the group in 2006 to focus on his acting
career. His replacement was the music academy teacher Tomoya Kanki, who became
an official member in 2007.
Following a
series of successful shows around Tokyo, ONE OK ROCK signed with the label
Amuse, Inc, who issued the band’s debut single “Naihi Shinsho” in 2007. Rising
to No. 48 on the Oricon Singles Chart, the record sold well and paved the way
for their second single “Yume Yume” the same year. The singles raised the
anticipation for ONE OK ROCK’s debut full-length, “Zeitakubyō”, which arrived
November 2007, charting at No. 15 on the Oricon Albums Chart.
Taking
their music in a more punk-oriented direction, the group’s sophomore album,
“Beam of Light”, was released in May 2008. Seen as a coming-of-age album for
ONE OK ROCK, the band very rarely played the album’s tracks live, and vowed to
release another record that year. True to their word, in November 2008 ONE OK
ROCK issued their third album “Kanjou Effects”, marking a growth in confidence,
experience and skill. Following the arrest of guitarist Alex, whom subsequently
left the group, Toru assumed lead guitar responsibilities, and the band
re-arranged their songs to be played using only one guitar.
Now
comprised of Taka, Toru, Ryota, and Tomoya, ONE OK ROCK issued their fourth
studio album “Niche Syndrome” in June 2010. Aided by the single Kanzen Kankaku
Dreamer” and “Jibun Rock”, the record was their highest charting and selling to
date, peaking at No. 4 on the Oricon Albums Chart with over 110,000 copies
sold. Maintaining this momentum, the group’s fifth studio album, “Zankyo
Reference”, rose to No. 2 in the charts upon its release in October 2011.
Following the release the band embarked on a 14-date tour of Japan, before
heading out on their debut international tour, which included dates in South
Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore. Once again rising to No. 2 on the Japanese Albums
Chart, ONE OK ROCK’s sixth studio album “JinseixBoku=“ was released in 2013,
followed by their first No. 1 album “ 34XXXV” in February 2015.
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