toe in Chile: Loneliness Will Shine at the End of the World

Brought by Stgo Fusión and its concert curation, toe’s long-awaited return to Chile took place on September 10th. As part of their first Latin American tour in eight years, the Japanese quartet was greeted by a completely sold-out Cúpula. Following a selection of beats from DJ Salamanca Selector, the band took the stage to the sounds of CLOSE TO YOU. It was a fitting track to bridge the seventeen-thousand-kilometer gap from Tokyo, christening what would become a deeply intimate reunion.

The echoes of the opening track faded, immersing us in a jam of scattered sounds that would soon come together into the first chords of LONELINESS WILL SHINE. With their original lineup intact, the quartet began to unfold the melodic dialogue between Hirokazu Yamazaki and Takaaki Mino on guitars, driven by the pulse of Satoshi Yamane on bass and the tempestuous drumming of Takashi Kashikura, all joined by the indispensable support of keyboardist Keisaku Nakamura. Showcasing their signature surgical synchrony, the band launched into Long Tomorrow. As its hypnotic arpeggios progressed, the sheer intensity of the performance overcame early technical hurdles, culminating in a visceral roar from Mino that was met with an explosion of applause.

Such an ovation brought the contrast between this concert and their 2018 visit to Chile into sharp relief. While the energy of those previous dates was held in check by the assigned seating at Teatro Nescafé de las Artes, the open floor of the Cúpula offered a liberating canvas. Because of this, the instrumentals Kaze to Kioku (風と記憶) and Kodoku no Hatsumei (孤独の発明) were met with a chorus of chants and roars, shattering the unspoken collective agreement of silence that usually blankets post and math rock live performances.

The Japanese ensemble handles the construction of soundscapes with ease, and after the frantic Chiaroscuro, where Takashi dazzled with the fury of his drum rolls, violet lights traced the members’ silhouettes for a more melancholic cut, The Latest Number. This serene atmosphere leads into Because I Hear You, where Yamane’s bass takes the helm to weave mathematical progressions with hip-hop and jazz textures. The segment of fan favorites continued with Esoteric and the highly anticipated Sonny Boy Rhapsody, a composition that, according to our interview with the band, amazed Shingo Natsume, director of the acclaimed anime SONNY BOY.

The deep connection between the audience and the band stems from the emotional imprint toe embeds in their work. You only need to read the comments on their songs online to find the personal space where their music resides, serving as the soundtrack to their lives and a refuge for thousands of listeners. This is how the hopeful beacon of NOW I SEE THE LIGHT suggests that navigating through incomprehensible sadness can also leave us with something meaningful. This path soon leads to the most intimate moment of the night with an overwhelming performance of F_A_R. The track closes the main set, reverberating over the attentive silence of an audience moved by Yamazaki’s vocals and the pizzicato arpeggios on Mino’s strings. 

With the entire venue roaring for more, the encore began as the members took back their positions on stage one by one. As the crowd watched in awe, the acoustic rendition of Two Moons and After Image would serve as the canvas for the evening’s heartfelt manifesto.

Faint beams of light swayed over Yamazaki, Mino, and Nakamura as they harmonized the crystalline cycles of notes announcing the farewell, and as the vocalist recited the first verse of Goodbye, Yamane followed Kashikura closely to lock his bass into the drums’ minimalist patterns. Suddenly the chorus broke out, and hundreds of voices joined in communion. Within seconds, the song’s acoustic simplicity intertwined with frenzied percussion and a galloping bassline; the final riffs fell upon a scene of absolute surrender and a collective trance, sealing the climax of an unforgettable reunion. If toe traveled to the end of the world, it was to prove to us that loneliness will shine.