Goodness, it's a been a long time since my last post! Since KobaP left Capcom and Sengoku Basara news dried up entirely, I guess I lost the passion to maintain this blog. I loved that series so much.
However, last week I had a wonderful experience seeing 女王蜂 (QUEEN BEE/Ziyoou-vachi) live at two different London performances in two days, and I couldn't resist putting a few words down about the shows.
A little background: QUEEN BEE (I'll refer to them using the official English name they used at the shows) are a Japanese rock band who dabble in experimental styles (as well as fashion). They have become massively more well known in the last few years as their music has been used in popular anime like Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia, Fire Force, Hell's Paradise, Undead Unluck, Raven of the Inner Palace, Chainsaw Man, Oshi no Ko and Dororo, and many years after constantly stumbling over their music when looking for a certain niche CD series with a similar name to the band's, I finally got the chance to see them live.
They were initially announced to be playing the HYPER JAPAN 2026 festival at Olympia on 24/07/2026, which I usually attend anyway, so of course I bought tickets for that. Then, since they were in the country already, an announcement was made that they would also play a solo live at the Electric Ballroom in Camden on 23/07/2026. Even though going to a standing concert the evening before a three day convention felt unwise, I couldn't pass up the rare opportunity to see them twice.
QUEEN BEE at the Electric Ballroom (Camden, London, UK) on 23/07/2026
A lot of people attended the show and the line stretched down Camden High Street, prompting many tourists to come over and ask what we were queueing for. Some fans were in wild cosplay, others in band t-shirts, with everyone embracing the self-expression and creativity championed by QUEEN BEE to the best of their ability (it was a sweltering summer day and very sticky in London). QUEEN BEE staff members came out a short time before the doors opened at 19:00 to record footage of the line and invited people to shout out greetings for the band. Even though it was a nerdy, shy crowd, everyone seemed friendly and excited.
It's a small venue (listed with a capacity of 1,200-1,500 depending on the source) and while band merchandise was being sold inside, queueing for the merchandise risked not getting to be anywhere near the stage for the actual show. Fortunately, I'd already picked up what I wanted from the official store online.
There were no support acts so once everyone was inside it was just a matter of sweatily waiting for the next ninety minutes. The noise was deafening; the venue was playing pop music and anison in the background but I could barely hear a word over the noise from the crowd. I only realised that We Are! played when the crowd began singing along! My earplugs ended up being necessary just to survive, but eventually the band appeared and the show began. I took my earplugs out at that point; I wanted to experience everything!
Although I didn't get to see half the band due to my view of the stage, I still had a good time (though I wish people wouldn't wear headgear in standing gigs unless they're shorter than me). QUEEN BEE wore matching black outfits with lace and harnesses for the first half, with Avu-chan in a leather-style miniskirt, crop top and long boots. After the 'intermission' (which was Avu-chan singing solo while the band changed, followed by the others playing an instrumental to keep the music going while Avu-chan changed), everyone switched to floaty cream and teal attire; the outfits are the same ones they wore for the PERSONAL DISTANCE tour in Japan.
It was all so good! When Avu-chan came out and grinned at everyone at the edges of the stage, I got chills.
The setlist was as follows (using official English translations/transcriptions rather than my own):
HALF
火炎 (Fire / Kaen)
MYSTERIOUS
犬姫 (INU-HIME)
BL
催眠術 (Hypnotize / Saiminjutsu)
ヴィーナス (Venus)
KING BITCH
バイオレンス (VIOLENCE)
P R I D E
Introduction
悪 (AKU / Evil)
Q
十 (Ten)
つづら折り (Tsuduraori / Switchback)
売春 [solo version of 売旬] (Baishun / Prostitution)
回春 (Rejuvenation / Kaishun)
首のない天使 (Headless Angel / Kubi No Nai Tenshi)
メフィスト (Mephisto)
十二次元 (12D)
Serenade
01 (ZERO ICHI)
There was no encore (perhaps we weren't loud enough, or perhaps the venue's curfew prevented it) but I felt very satisfied with what we did get. 01 is a great song to end a show with and they included several of my all-time favourite tracks, brought to life anew by getting to see (and hear, and feel) them performed in person by the band. It was a brilliant night out, worth every penny!
QUEEN BEE at HYPER JAPAN (Olympia, London, UK) on 24/07/2026
The performance was scheduled for 17:50 on the Friday, the opening day of the festival and usually the quietest. I began waiting at the stage early in order to get a really good position, which meant watching the act before QUEEN BEE as well. Fortunately, it was a pretty good warm-up act in the form of a solo taiko percussionist! In between each act on the stage, a reel played clips from Hell's Paradise. It's a really good thing that I love the song PERSONAL as I must have heard it at least fifty times over the course of the weekend. QUEEN BEE didn't include it (or 星, their newest single) in the live shows and mostly stuck to upbeat tracks, which seemed to work well (and in hindsight, made sense because we all heard PERSONAL so many times anyway).
It was a really chaotic crowd. Some people were wearing QUEEN BEE t-shirts so I knew exactly why they were there; others were clearly anime fans who became particularly excited during songs like VIOLENCE and 01. An older, beautifully-attired Japanese couple next to me seemed really fired up. I'd never seen such a busy Friday at a UK convention and I'm certain the group's popularity played a part in that. We got to see Hitsujibungaku at the same show last year - they were magnificent too - but I definitely felt that the crowds drawn by QUEEN BEE were bigger, with fans perching in the stairwells to get a better view.
Avu-chan initially wore a silky blue patterned robe with a fur collar before shedding it during 催眠術 (Hypnotize) to reveal their short embroidered dress underneath, which had draconic scales and claws worked into the design. They also had a single clawed black glove and high heels, putting everyone to shame by jumping and kicking when the crowd was exhausted from a day of walking the convention hall in the heat. Avu-chan's trademark crazy, wild-eyed expression with which they occasionally flashed the crowd contrasted sharply with the graceful beauty they projected the rest of the time. The rest of the band dressed in mismatched black outfits and long-sleeved tops with tattoo designs for a cool, edgy look.
The setlist was quite similar to the previous day's show, with a few small differences and a shorter runtime since they'd only been allocated an hour to perform:
HALF
火炎 (Fire / Kaen)
犬姫 (INU-HIME)
ヴィーナス (Venus)
BL
催眠術 (Hypnotize / Saiminjutsu)
首のない天使 (Headless Angel / Kubi No Nai Tenshi)
バイオレンス (VIOLENCE)
P R I D E
強火 (HIGH FLAME / Tsuyobi)
MYSTERIOUS
Introduction
メフィスト (Mephisto)
Serenade
01 (ZERO ICHI)
With a lot of audience members being anime fans, the strategic song selection was successful and while I think there was less singing along than there had been at the previous show (where people clearly knew a lot of the words), the performance drew people in from all across the venue. Having been prepared by my experience the day before I felt less pressure the second time around and soaked up every glorious minute of the concert. It helped that my view was much better!
Overall impressions
Avu-chan has phenomenal stage presence and even more charisma in person than they show in their videos. I've seen quite a few concerts in my time but I struggled to take my eyes off them the whole time they were on stage; it really felt like being hypnotised! I was also deeply impressed by their staying power and energy, belting out song after song without a single break at HYPER JAPAN (and only a brief costume change at the earlier show while the rest of the band performed an instrumental). They looked shattered by the end of both shows, understandable after travelling so far and then having to deal with a city with negligible air conditioning in the middle of a heatwave. Seeing how other performers at the festival were sipping water and taking breaks constantly made Avu-chan's endurance even more impressive.
The other band members were also note perfect. We had Yamaguchi Miyoko on drums and Mii-chan (Nagashima Minori) on keyboards for both shows, and of course regular band members Yashi-chan on bass and Hibari-kun on guitar. I could only really see Mii-chan, Yashi-chan and Avu-chan in Camden but got a full view of everyone at HYPER JAPAN. Yashi-chan was particularly fun to watch in the few moments I managed to tear my attention away from Avu-chan; she always had such a serene expression no matter how powerful the music got. It made me want to smile along with her. I loved how everyone rocked along to the songs whenever they could (like their marching during BL and the bouncing during Introduction). The whole band were professional and amazing throughout.
Even though it was exhausting to do two standing concerts on consecutive dates at my venerable age, I'm really glad I went. I will definitely be making time to see QUEEN BEE if the chance ever comes up again, and if I don't then this was an experience I hope to remember for the rest of my life.
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