Singapore is one of the stops on Japanese rock dance unit Q'ulle's 2016 Asia Tour
Eir Aoi, ONE OK ROCK and ELISA are already coming to Singapore in the first month of 2016 but there are still more Japanese artistes set to make their way to our shores next year. 5-piece Japanese rock dance girl group Q'ulle has announced Singapore as a stop for their 2016 Asia Tour in a post on their official website.
The group, comprising of former members of popular dance unit Danceroid, will kickstart their first-ever Asia Tour, 「other side of ～HOPE～」 in 2016 on 3 April at Spade Box in Nagoya, Japan with performances scheduled in Sendai, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Osaka and cities yet to be announced.
Members of Q'ulle: (from left) Ikura, Yuzuki, Yakko, Manako and Maam
Overseas, they will be holding two performances in China, in Shanghai and Beijing, with stops in Korea, Taiwan and Singapore. The tour will conclude on 15 October, the two-year anniversary of the group's formation in Zepp Diver City Tokyo, where they held their first in-store event.
Details of the Singapore concert will be released at a later date. This will mark member Ikura's second visit to Singapore after her performance with former Danceroid member Kozue Aikawa at local cosplay event EOY 2010 six years back.
It is of interest to note that unlike acts Iketeru Hearts and BPM15Q, who performed in Singapore recently, Q'ulle does not allude to themselves as idols. Instead, they classify themselves as dancing and singing rock artistes. There is a distinction between idols and artistes in Japan, with some musicians choosing not to associate with the former term for career reasons.
Formed in late 2014 after the disbandment of net dance idol group Danceroid, Q'ulle is made up of former members Ikura, Yuzuki, Maam, Manako and Yakko. The group is signed to Kadokawa Media Factory and produced by well-known Vocaloid producer DECO*27.
Music videos of Q'ulle's singles are often accompanied with a dance version.
Possessing a high-energy musical style with many electric guitar riffs and drum beats, their music is reminiscent of that of a girl rock band, albeit interspersed with modern electronic sounds. In addition to their group activities, the girls, who are all odottemitas (net dancers) in their own right, regularly upload videos of themselves dancing to popular songs on the Internet.
In December 2014, they held their first solo live performance, "mic check one two" at Harajuku Astro Hall, Tokyo, releasing their similarly-titled debut single a month later. They released their first album, "Q’&A -Q’ulle and Answer-" in June 2015, which reached #46 on the Oricon Charts and charted for two weeks.
Q'ulle's addictive first single, "mic check one two"
Most recently, they held their 1st Anniversary Live, "Q'ulle First Story" at Tsutaya O-East on December 29th last year. An untitled fifth single has been set for release in May 2016. The Asia Tour is set to bring the first chapter of the activities of the group to a close.
The Japanese entertainment scene in Singapore has experienced a huge revival in 2015, with new events Lantis Festival in March, CharaExpo in June, Moshi Moshi Nippon Festival in September, an all-new all-different Anime Festival Asia just last month and concerts by big-name Japanese artistes Koda Kumi, LiSA, EGOIST and SCANDAL throughout the year.
Lantis Festival Singapore in March 2015
With three major pop concerts already set for the first month of 2016 and Q'ulle's new addition to the line-up for next year, the horizon certainly looks bright for Japanese music lovers in Singapore.
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Q'ulle Official Website: http://qulle.net/
Q'ulle Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/Qulle_official
Q'ulle Official Niconico Channel: http://ch.nicovideo.jp/Qulle
Q'ulle Official Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/qulleofficial/
