It’s hard to believe that it’s already been 10 years since GO!GO!7188 carved their way into the Japanese rock scene with their classic debut album Dasoku Hokou, but nonetheless, here we are. 10 years is a long time in the modern music business but try telling that to Yuu, Akko and Turkey, who have just released of their tenth (tenth?!) studio album – the energetically-titled GO!!GO!GO!GO!!.

Two powerful forces slammed into Tokyo last Monday. The first was tropical storm Krovanh, which brought a barrage of water and wind to the east coast of Japan. The second was GO!GO!7188’s final show of their nationwide ヘンテナツアー (Hentena Tour). Combined, they created a night to remember.

Less than a month after the release of their latest album, アンテナ (ANTENNA), fidgety Japanese rock band GO!GO!7188 were on the road again with their first nationwide tour of the year. The so-called ヘンテナ グルメツアー09 (HENTENA TOUR 09) didn’t officially kick off until the 6th of March in Chiba, but fans lucky enough to be within easy access to Shibuya were in for a treat – a somewhat last-minute, one-off “pre-tour” gig on the 2nd dubbed the パラボラナイト (PARABOLA NIGHT). Needless to say, as a fan lucky enough to be within easy access of Shibuya, I didn’t miss it.

Fans of the Japanese rock band GO!GO!7188 (myself included) are a lucky bunch. This prolific power trio has been releasing material every year since their debut in 2000 – in total, that’s an impressive fifteen singles, seven original studio albums, three live albums, a handful of DVDs, two cover albums and a Best-Of. And that’s not even counting the side-projects (yes, they’ve even had time for a few of those). アンテナ (ANTENNA) is their latest studio offering, but after nine years of constant recording, touring, and generally rocking out, is the quantity of material finally starting to outweigh the quality?