#1113 Live Theory 66 | Tokyo Sosha presents LET IT SLIDE Vol.30 2025.5.31 Shimokitazawa ReG (POTSHOT / RUDE BONES)

I went to the two-man live showfeaturing POTSHOT and RUDE BONES!
It was a very fun concert!

What is LET IT SLIDE?

Tokyo Sosha, a company that handles video production, video creation, and online live streaming, seems to be the organizer of this live event. It appears to have been held 29 times so far, but this commemorative 30th installment features POTSHOT and RUDE BONES, two bands that were really making waves in the ska-core scene in the late 90s, in what is surprisingly their first two-man show!

Thinking this would be fun, I headed down to Shimokitazawa for the first time in about 10 years to attend.

Live Report

Today's venue, "Shimokitazawa ReG," is actually a live house where I performed myself around 2012 (though I didn't remember it at all, haha).

I entered the venue just before the start, had a beer, and waited for the show to begin.

The DJ for the day played songs that really struck a chord with ska-core fans, such as The Offspring's What Happened To You?, SCAFULL KING's NEEDLESS MATTER, and SKA SKA CLUE's Santa Monica. After a 10-minute delay, the lights went down and the show started. The opening act was
RUDE BONES.

RUDE BONES

I haven't actually followed RUDE BONES that closely, but I have seen them live a few times (though I don't remember much...)

It was my first time really focusing on them with enthusiasm, but they were a group of cool older guys who are aging really well. They felt like more of a bunch of bad-boy dads than
Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, haha.

In any case, their performance was excellent, and the bass and trombone (HIROSHI BROWN) were cool. However, since there were eight of them, the stage looked a bit cramped, haha.

I was satisfied to hear "Loosen Up," which I like. It was cool. They played a solid set for about an hour.

Then the DJ played tracks by Kojima, GELUGUGU, KEMURI, and SNAIL RAMP, and next up was POTSHOT.

POTSHOT

And then, POTSHOT. I listened to them quite a bit when I was in high school, and although I haven't written about it in my live theory series, I saw them in a two-man show with KEMURI at ZEPP SAPPORO when I was a senior in high school, so this was my first time seeing them live since then.

With that, POTSHOT started right at 8:00 PM.
It had been a while since I last saw POTSHOT, and while I could feel their age a bit, they were still the same cool guys as always.
Everyone was wearing black uniforms, but only Kobayashi-san was in red, haha.

Then, for the first song, they suddenly played "Moshi Moshi, Tokyo kara SKA POP BAND, POTSHOT desu yo!" and went straight into the unexpected We Are Potshot! This got me hyped!
Since this song came first, I was wondering if they would play Someone To Lean On second! So intense!
I didn't expect them to attack with selections from their 1st album "Pots&Shots" like that... but then for the third song, they kept the 1st album flow going with Radio! Too intense!
Hearing three killer tunes like that right off the bat, I felt like I'd already gotten my money's worth, haha.

Then, after a short MC, it was RYOJI's turn.
Following his MC where he said, "Don't go too crazy, just enjoy yourselves freely," they played Freedom! We were screaming our lungs out.
And they followed that up with Feel, and I honestly felt like I was going to lose it, haha.

After that, they continued with early songs, playing HITOTSU as a gift to the event organizer. This is also nostalgic...
And what followed was To That Light!
It's my favorite POTSHOT song, and I seriously felt like I had time-traveled back to my high school days listening to it, haha.

After that, the killer tunes continued with She Is Cute to Party, and the late-set Be Alive was truly moving.

Throughout the whole show, RYOJI's voice was sounding great.
ICHIKAWA also looked like he'd aged, but his cool bass style was still there.
He had many highlights and was really cool.
Kobayashi-san was as powerful as ever, SATOSHI was still rocking his slicked-back hair and shredding away, and the horn section was going wild all over the stage.

And the penultimate song, Mexico, was incredible. ICHIKAWA was so cool...
And for the finale, they ended with everyone's favorite, Clear.

SET LIST

Special Session

And finally, a special session with the members of POTSHOT and RUDE BONES.
They played the super ska standard, THE SPECIALS' Little Bitch.
It was just a great vibe.

Summary

With that said, I hadn't expected that much, but POTSHOT was incredibly fun.
I want to see them again!

Anyway, it's getting late, so I'm going to sleep!
Live shows are definitely best on Saturdays!