Nowadays, I can count the number of artists I’m really interested in seeing/hearing live probably on less than two hands. As far as metal bands are concerned, Lovebites are at the very top. Unfortunately, I first discovered them about two weeks after they had finished their first European tour in 2018 (and played at a venue not too far away from where I live) and I had to wait until their European tour in 2024 to finally see them live for the first two times. When they announced their European tour for 2026, I decided to attend three concerts, the ones in Vienna, Tilburg and Paris.
The concert in Vienna was their first one of this tour and involved the longest trip for me. The train ride to Vienna took about 10 ½ hours (including a delay of half an hour). The high speed train which was supposed to go to Munich already ended at Frankfurt Airport, after it had crashed into two deer and a sensitive part at the front of the train had been damaged, thus I had to take another train from there to Munich and arrived there later than originally planned, but since the train from Munich to Vienna I had booked was also delayed, I still managed to catch it – might have been the first time I was happy that a train was delayed!
Because of the long duration of the train ride, I had decided to travel to Vienna already the day before the concert. On the day of the concert, everyone else in my place might have started a sightseeing-tour after having breakfast, especially since there might have been a – though rather slim – chance of running into one or more members of Lovebites, as they tend to do a lot of sightseeing abroad when time allows. But being the AFOL (Adult Fan of Lego) that I am, I paid a visit to the local Lego-store instead (though I didn’t find anything of interest). And afterwards, I went to the Vienna International Centre, which is one of the four global headquarters of the United Nations. There, I went to the shop of the United Nations Postal Administration in order to buy some stamps for my collection, but also for postcards to friends which I sent off from this place, because this allowed me to to use stamps issued by the United Nations Postal Administration in Vienna instead of Austrian stamps. Apart from making the postcards more special – also the cancellation mark says “Vereinte Nationen” instead of “Wien” -, I found the stamps I used more beautiful than the Austrian stamps I could have used. But I digress.
Just like for the two concerts two years ago, I had bought VIP-upgrades for the concerts on this tour. While the ticket-prices for the concerts were quite reasonable and ranged from 23.50 Euros for Tilburg to 33.00 Euros for Vienna, the VIP-upgrades, which had to be bought in addition to the concert tickets, cost (including fees) about 195.00 Euros each. As Mr. Sugiyama, the guy who accompanies them on their overseas tours, recently explained in a stream on the occasion of Lovebites’ 10th anniversary, without these VIP-upgrades, Lovebites probably couldn’t afford doing these tours at all because of the weak yen, the expenses they have and the rather small venues they still play overseas.
Since the check-in for those with VIP-upgrades already began at 5 pm, I left my hotel heading for the venue called Flex half an hour before. It looked like I was nearly the last in line of those with VIP-upgrades. Still we had to wait for more than an hour until we finally got into the venue. Inside, we were told that the VIP-passes and signed posters, which were part of the VIP-package, had been shipped to a wrong address and therefore couldn’t be handed out at the venue, but we would receive an e-mail asking us to confirm our addresses so the missing items could be sent to us after the end of the tour. Those who had VIP-upgrades for other shows as well (I wasn’t the only one), got their VIP-passes and signed posters for the show in Vienna handed out at one of the other concerts.
The fact that the VIP-upgrade also granted early access to the merchandise booth wasn’t that much of an advantage, since there wasn’t much to choose from. I bought one of the two different tour-shirts being available. Apart from that, a baseball-cap was available and the new album, of which I had already ordered the special “Made in Heaven”-edition from Japan when it came out in February because of the live-Blu-ray it included.
Since the stage wasn’t that big and I was one of the last with a VIP-upgrade to get inside the venue – I guess that up to 50 of those upgrades were available for each show –, the first rows in front of the stage were already taken, but on the left side in front of the stage, there was a platform a few steps up, from which I got a good view over the entire stage.
I read somewhere that the venue had a capacity of about 1,000 people, but it was far from being sold out. Shortly after 8 pm Judas Priest’s cover of “Diamonds and Rust” (Miyako has done a beautiful piano-arrangement of this song on her highly recommendable piano-EP “Etude Op. 25”, which came out last year) announced that Lovebites were about to enter the stage and they began their set with “The Castaway”, the opening track of their new album “Outstanding Drumming”… oops, I mean, of course, “Outstanding Power”. 😉 Especially the longer guitar solo section of this song is one of my faves on this album. I had the impression that the sound at the venue was quite good, even where I was standing. The second song of the set was “Unchained”, the only song from their “EP II” (released in 2024) which Lovebites played on this tour. While I would have preferred to hear “Where’s Identity” or “Someone’s Dream” from this EP (there are great live-versions of these songs on the “Made in Heaven”-Blu-ray), I assume Lovebites picked this song because there’s also an official music video of it.
Click on the images to view them in full size.
The third song “Blazing Halo” was the second one from the new album and the first of 3 live premieres at this concert, because unlike “The Castaway”, it hadn’t been performed at Lovebites’ successful concert at Budokan earlier this year. I think it was one of those songs from the new album whose live performance most Lovebites-fans had been looking forward to, because it’s the first Lovebites-song whose music was written by bassist Fami (together with Mao, who isn’t an actual member of the band, but sometimes is involved in the songwriting) and features some cool bass-parts throughout the entire song including the solo-section. Not only is Fami an excellent bassist, but visibly having the time of her life on stage. She is one of the most slaphappy – double entendre intended! – and also tap-happy bassists in metal! (Makes one wonder what might have been if Metallica had opted for Les Claypool instead of Jason Newsted back then.)
Next was “Liar”, the only song from Lovebites’ debut album included in the setlist, starting with Miyako on keyboards – there wouldn’t have been enough space on stage for a real piano. While there are several songs on Lovebites debut I like better, it’s still a very good song, so no reason for me to complain.
What followed was “Holy War”, the first of two songs from their third album “Electric Pentagram” included in the setlist and probably also one of their most popular songs, featuring three short triple-tapping parts (from both guitarists and the bassist) and the two moments of a concert in which Asami usually holds a note for the longest time (“Holy Waaaaaaaaaaaaaar”). Talking about Asami, she is a great frontwoman and one reactor called her a “stage general”, which seems quite fitting. While the live version of “Holy War” from Lovebites’ concert in Tokyo from 2020 might be one of their most-viewed clips so far, I find the live version from Hellfest 2024 (from their “Made in Hell”-DVD/Blu-ray) even more enjoyable to watch.
Already in the middle of the regular set, Lovebites played “Reaper’s Lullaby”, one of my two favourite songs from the new album, which is also the song with their highest bpm-rate so far and probably also their darkest song. Music-wise, it’s Lovebites first Thrash Metal song to enter Black-Metal-territory, whereas the song “Dissonance” on their previous album (which, unfortunately, was not included in the setlist) was their first Thrash Metal song to enter Death-(Metal-)territory, also only music-wise, of course! I find it impressive that a former Soul and R’n’B singer like Asami who hadn’t heard any type of metal before she joined Lovebites 10 years ago, is now responsible for Lovebites’ heaviest and most aggressive songs. As someone whose favourite subgenre is Thrash Metal, it warmed my heart to read that she especially likes Thrash Metal and that, while she wrote the music of “Reaper’s Lullaby” as well as “Dissonance” together with guitarist Miyako, it was her who had approached Miyako with the idea to have “Reaper’s Lullaby” on this album.
The live-performance of this song, also a premiere in Vienna, was definitely an absolute highlight for me and also the one which most other fans had been hoping for/looking forward to the most! In this context, one has to point out that drummer Haruna’s work and her stamina are absolutely outstanding! She may be tiny in size, but as regards her drumming, especially her cymbal-work, she is huge! What makes her especially fun to watch is the fact that it shows that she fully enjoys what she does. To understand what I mean, I recommend to check out the rather short clips she filmed of herself in action at different concerts (which are to be found on a well-known music-related platform), especially the one of the very end of their concert in Wacken this year, it’s less than a minute long.
As if to underline Haruna’s stamina, “Reaper’s Lullaby” was followed by the fastest song on the previous album “Judgement Day”, namely “Soldier Stands Solitarily”, one of my five overall favourite songs by Lovebites.
The next song “Stand and Deliver (Shoot ‘em Down)”, the other song from their previous album included in the setlist, which starts with a cool bass-intro by Fami (which Lemmy might have approved of), is one of those songs to also get the audience involved, especially during the chorus-part. The same goes for “Rising”, the first of three songs from their second album “Clockwork Immortality” included in the setlist and in which Haruna also does some stick-twirls.
The following song “M.D.O.”, also from “Clockwork Immortality”, was my introduction to Lovebites when I first heard it on CD-sampler which had come along with a German metal magazine in autumn 2018. It got me hooked immediately, probably also because it’s a Thrash Metal song (the only one on that album). While I like their Thrash Metal songs “The Hammer of Wrath”, “Break the Wall”, “Set the World on Fire” and “Dissonance” better – together with “Soldier Stands Solitarily” they are my 5 overall favourite songs by Lovebites –, I assume “M.D.O.” was chosen, because it also allows the crowd to shout out loud the chorus “M.D.O.” several times together with the entire band.
“One Will Remain”, the last song on “Outstanding Power” and the third live premiere at this concert, marked already the end of Lovebites’ regular set. Together with “Reaper’s Lullaby”, it’s one of my two favourite songs on the new album, and because of its hymn-like character, I think it’s not only a perfect song to close an album, but also to end the regular set of a concert.
The first encore was “When Destinies Align”. The official music video of this song is one of Lovebites’ most viewed clips and the fact that Lovebites just celebrated their 10th anniversary and this song is also about themselves – a part of the chorus says “We will always be together, Carry on, carry on, This is us, carry on” – might explain why it had to be included, not to forget the great guitar solo section!
The final encore, introduced by Asami shouting “We the…” and the audience replying “United!” was – you already guessed it – “We the United” (one of my two faves on “Clockwork Immortality”), which is a perfect song to end a concert and also to let the audience participate, with the chorus: “We shall go forth, Prideful, we stand united, We can create miracles, Always, there’s a way”. The song has, as many of Lovebites’ songs, a very positive/encouraging message and somehow reminds me of one of my three favourite songs by Helloween, “How Many Tears” (can it really be nearly 41 years since I heard it for the first time?), especially because of the latter’s lines “So stand up for our human rights, Push back this pest of hate, Raise your voice, pass on the light, Unite! It’s not too late”. In my opinion, both songs are like siblings in spirit and also the long dual guitar solo/harmonizing in “We the United” immediately sounded Helloween-ish to my ears when I heard it for the first time.
A Lovebites-concert isn’t over unless you’ve heard Asami screaming “We are Lovebites and we play Heavy Metal!” (most likely inspired by Lemmy’s “We are Motörhead and we play Rock’n’Roll!”) after the final encore.
While a set of about 80 minutes might seem a bit short compared to the Lovebites’ concerts in Japan which last, as one can tell by their numerous official live-DVDs/Blu-rays, 30 to 45 minutes longer, one should bear in mind that they don’t do Meet & Greets after their shows in Japan (unless you are Nuno Bettencourt, one of Midori’s favourite guitarists), which take up to another 45 minutes.
The main reason for me to buy the VIP-upgrade was not just to have my picture taken with the entire band – it’s a beautiful memory, though one might say the pictures would look better without me -, but to get a chance to say at least a few words to the ladies and to give something back (in form of small presents), also an expression to say “thank you”, Bearing in mind that the time-regime is very strict and that you hardly get more than a minute, I should – in hindsight – have stuck to just one type of present for each Meet & Greet. After the concert in Vienna, I got at least enough time to hand over a birthday card, a photo arranged and taken by me (not of me!), to Asami (the other four also got one, but sealed in envelopes), who had had her birthday just about two weeks before the concert in Vienna, and to show them a picture of my Lovebites-Lego-minifigure-project, which they seemed to like. I had included a set of four photos of this project for each of them in my package. I didn’t get any time, though, to say anything about the five CDs I had bought for them. There is, of course, always a chance they already know the albums in concern – though this would surprise me at least in the case of Sieges Even’s “Life Cycle” and Fear of God’s “Within the Veil” – and/or that they might not like them, but at least I did what I felt I had to do. Asami might enjoy Coroner’s “No More Color”, whereas I wonder what they think of Candlemass’ “Epicus Doomicus Metallicus” and Solitude Aeturnus’ “Into the Depths of Sorrow”. I most likely will never find out.
Something which didn’t make any sense to me at the concert in Vienna was the fact that after about 25 minutes, a member of the staff of the venue suddenly told me that cameras were not allowed, while about half of the audience were filming either the entire show or at least parts of it with their smartphones. OK, some might only have taken pics with their smartphones. When I asked another member of the staff after the concert why taking pictures with a compact camera was not allowed, but filming and/or taking pictures with smartphones was no problem, he told me that they had found out that people taking photos with cameras were selling these pics for private profit. Since I’m so “old school” that my mobile phone only serves the original purpose of a phone, I’m no expert on smartphones and the cameras they include, but I could imagine that at least some of the more expensive ones allow you to take pictures which are about as good as those taken with a compact camera. Thus if you take photos with these smartphones and sell them for private profit, it’s OK, but if you take pics with a compact camera just for your own, it’s not allowed! Luckily, when I was being told that cameras were not allowed, I had already managed to take a couple of really nice pictures (which are only meant to illustrate this review and not to be sold).
It also seems that these rules differ from venue to venue. I didn’t have any problems to take pics in Tilburg and Paris. The venue in Tilburg explicitly states on its website that taking pics with professional cameras is not allowed and that cameras with exchangeable lenses and reflex cameras fall under this definition, thus compact cameras do not.
After the Meet & Greet in Vienna, I immediately headed back to my hotel and spent the next day travelling back home. This time, the train ride back took me 11 ½ hours instead of 10, because of a delay of the train from Vienna to Munich.
My second Lovebites-concert on this tour in Tilburg was the closest one for me – a car ride of just about 90 minutes, thus I could drive back home right after the concert. While waiting in the queue for the VIP-check-in, I got into a conversation with other fans, some of them also from Germany, which is always a good thing, because it makes the time you spend waiting go faster. This time I got a place right in front of Miyako’s monitor box.
The venue in Tilburg, Hall of Fame, was much smaller than the one in Vienna. I read it has a capacity of 400 people, and it was already sold out one or two months before the tour started. The setlist was exactly the same as in Vienna – only the festival appearances in Munich and at Wacken (I watched the livestream of the latter online) had a shorter setlist and also included a few songs not played at the club concerts, yet only one new song (“The Castaway”). Unlike at the concert in Vienna, there was no illuminated backdrop of the album cover in Tilburg, thus Haruna remained hidden from my sight most of the time.
I’d also say that the sound in Vienna had been a bit better, but this impression might be due to the fact that my position in Tilburg, not too far away from the loudspeaker on the right side (seen from the audience), wasn’t a position to get an ideal sound.
Also for the Meet & Greet in Tilburg, I had brought along presents, but only got time to say a few words about one of them, some fossilized shark teeth I had found as a kid on a beach in Cadzand-Bad (The Netherlands), where I had spent several summer holidays back in the 70s.
Finally, my third and last Lovebites-concert on this tour was the one in Paris. When I bought my ticket for the Eurostar, the trip to Paris was supposed to last about 4 hours. Unfortunately, the first five stops of the Eurostar were cancelled afterwards, thus I had to take another train to get to Cologne, from where the Eurostar was now to leave, which meant my train ride to Paris took about 5 ½ hours. In Paris, my hotel was within walking distance from the railway station and so was the concert venue, Le Backstage By the Mill (beside the famous Moulin Rouge), from my hotel.
VIP-check-in had been scheduled once again for 5 pm, but it was nearly half past 6 until we eventually got into the venue. Luckily, also here I got into a conversation with other fans, two of them from Switzerland, and a woman originally from northern Germany, but now living in France, so the time I spent waiting went by much faster. As the places right in front of the stage were already taken, I chose a place in a corner a few steps above the ground level right beside the stage where one could also sit down.
Sound-wise, it was not exactly the best choice, since my position was now nearly directly under the loudspeaker, but I had a very good view from the side of the stage – only to see Haruna, I had to bend forward. I also had a conversation with a German guy I recognized from the concert two days before in Tilburg. The capacity of the venue was about the same as in Tilburg and it was also sold out before the tour began, though a bit later then Tilburg.
The setlist was once again the same. Out of the three concerts I attended I’d say that the one in Paris was the one with the most enthusiastic reactions. After Lovebites had finished their final encore, the audience started chanting “Olé, olé, olé, olé, Lovebites, Lovebites!” for about 1 or 2 minutes, also encouraged by Mr. Sugiyama who was filming this. It wouldn’t surprise me if this part should appear in a documentary part about this European tour on a live-DVD/Blu-ray in the future. I know from the footage of Lovebites’ European tour in 2024, that this chant was also to be heard at least at one concert on that tour. Already during the regular set, after Asami had announced that there were only a few songs left to play, someone from the audience yelled: “Ten more songs!” While surely no-one in the audience would have objected, I do understand why this wish could not be granted.
Even though there was luckily no heat dome over Paris on that day – temperatures outside were around 30°C – and there was air condition inside the venue, it did get warmer during the concert and I don’t know how warm it got on the stage. They did have some fans on the stage – not the stagediving type, but the ones to offer a slight breeze -, but it still might have been hot, probably especially for Miyako (because of her outfit).
Even though Christmas was still a few months away, at the final Meet & Greet (for me) on this tour, Lovebites got a little Christmas-package including a Christmas-card (a Christmas-themed photo I had arranged) and a female Christmas-elf (from a Lego minifigure-series a few years ago) for each member as well as my overall favourite Christmas-album “Desemberbarn” by my favourite non-metal singer/songwriter Kari Bremnes from Norway and the Swedish singer/actor Rikard Wolff (RIP). There was, unfortunately, no time left to say anything about the extras for Miyako – let alone show them to her –, but I assume it’s an absolute no-brainer that anything Star Wars-related (in this case, among other things, two different Darth Vader tin boxes from a Lego Star Wars magazine) and Gary Moore-related (a few interviews from “ancient” Kerrang!-magazines from the eighties) is meant for Miyako.
For the picture with the band, I had taken Bjørkisen with me, the green creature Monika Edvardsen (former vocalist of Atrox and Tactile Gemma) had made for me about 20 years ago in exchange for some books on art I had sent her. While I had held him for the pics in Vienna and Tilburg, Haruna got to hold him for the picture in Paris. I think she said “kawaii” (one of three Japanese words I understand), when she saw Bjørkisen for the first time after the concert in Lindau two years ago, and since Haruna out-kawaiis anyone else when she enters a room, I thought that her holding Bjørkisen was a fitting combination.
After the Meet & Greet, the German woman I had already met before the concert and I sat together for another 30-45 minutes and had an interesting and nice conversation, also about special moments at concerts of other favourite artists we had experienced in the past. It seemed we both were similarly enthusiastic about the bands/artists we love. After that, it was back to my hotel and the next day back to Germany.
I can safely say that right now, Lovebites are the most enjoyable metal band for me, especially as regards their live performances, and I’m already looking forward to their next European tour.
– Burkhard – 08/2026