NANO MUGEN FES 2025 Straightener Setlist

No, no, no... isn't this a bit late!
I'm sure many of you are thinking that, but I'm going to do it anyway! Haha.

The reason I'm posting this now is that when I attended, I only knew a few Straightener songs, so the main reason was that I had no preconceived notions about the band.

Since I've listened to the live setlist quite a bit now, I thought I'd write about it based on my impressions of the songs and the atmosphere at the venue.

Setlist (⭐️ for songs I liked)

1. ROCKSTEADY
2. COME and GO ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
3. Seaglass ⭐️⭐️
4. BLACK DYED ⭐️
5. Super Magical Illusion ⭐️
6. Ame no Ashita
7. MARCH
8. Skeltonize! ⭐️⭐️
9. KILLER TUNE ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
10. TRAIN
11. Saiun
12. Melodic Storm

Commentary (Impressions)

1. ROCKSTEADY

Man, they were straight-up cool from the very first song. Starting with the line 'Tabidachi no toki wa~♪', Hori-chan's strumming on his yellow SG was irresistible.

Basically, there were a lot of songs from 'Behind The Tokyo,' the only Straightener album I own, so I had some vague familiarity with them.

The aforementioned 'Behind The Tokyo' is Tenner's only live album, and it's quite a masterpiece.
Even though I skipped the best-of albums and started with this one, I think it's such a good work that I have no regrets.

2. COME and GO

This was my first time hearing this. But, how should I put it, this indescribable sense of déjà vu... On first listen, I thought the riff was like the intro to AKFG's Re:Re: (2016), but from the first verse, the atmosphere was like a whole different world. In conclusion, it was the best.

I think this was the song I listened to the most after I got home. I looked it up, and it seems it was a new song that hadn't even been released for a year yet.

I really like the 'FREE REIN FREE REIN!' part.

3. Seaglass

A song that starts with no intro, just a single guitar stroke and vocals.
The audience erupted in applause at 'Kimi no~ miru sekai wo mite mitai~♪'. It was the most played song on Spotify, so it must be quite popular. I also grew to like it after this live performance.

4. BLACK DYED

The intro, which gradually layered electronic sounds -> bass slap -> wah guitar, was just too good.
The lyrics are all in English, a modern Elle-Garden style song.
The way he sang it, as if asking 'What's Confusing Me?', was also great.

5. Super Magical Illusion

It was definitely exciting.
Since this was the second track on Disc 1 of Behind The Tokyo, it left a huge impression on me, and I got so hyped thinking, 'This is it!'
The C-melody part, 'Hajime kara soko ni aru ka no you ni~♪' (As if it had been there from the beginning), is also really good.
The way he rolls his tongue a bit during the live performance is also so cool.

6. Ame no Ashita

They started by saying, 'We will play a song called Ame no Ashita.'
This one didn't have an intro either, and he just started singing, 'Hajimari to owari ga~♪' (The beginning and the end~).
It was a ballad style and felt monotonous, so it didn't leave much of an impression on me.

7. MARCH

This was also ballad-esque, and it wasn't a song I could really get into. Personally, I don't think ballads suit Straightener very well.

8. Skeltonize!

This is it, this is it!!! This is exactly the kind of Straightener band sound I was looking for!
While faintly incorporating electronic-like sounds, the drum snare hits were placed perfectly, making it an incredibly satisfying, top-tier rock 'n' roll track.

The part, 'Agaki nagara~ mogaki nagara~♪ Ima wa susumu karaaa~♪' (While struggling~ while writhing~♪ I will move forward now~♪), is so cool.

9. KILLER TUNE

Wooooooo!!!!!!!!!
This is actually the only song I knew beforehand.
That's because they played it at the 10th Nano-Mugen.
From the drum entry to the guitar riff and the bass slap, everything is just too perfect.
In particular, the bass solo is just too cool.

The crazy thing about this song is that the lyrics are just this much. There are parts that repeat, but even so, the level of satisfaction is so high that I'm speechless.

10. TRAIN

It flowed right into this song.
Compared to Killer Tune, it's a much simpler song and easy to listen to. The band sound really comes to the forefront, and I grew to like it because it's cool.

11. Saiun

A bit of a ballad style, but since the band was involved, I'd say it's just average among these.

12. Melodic Storm

The final song.
It's very popular, but I thought it wasn't exactly 'rock' and was just okay.
I quite like the arpeggio in the intro.
It was a great way to wrap things up.

Summary

What I thought throughout the whole thing is that Straightener is insanely cool.
I did think I should have studied up more before going, but since there were many songs I came to like after hearing them live, I think it was fine.

If they do Nano-Mugen again, I hope they perform. They seem to have appeared almost every year, so I don't think there's anything to worry about. 🤟