ZORO's Chaotic Comeback Live: Energy, Antics & 40 Repeats
If you caught wind of a ZORO comeback live last year, congratulations—you're not losing your mind. The band just pulled off *another* one, and this time at Club Malcolm on March 22nd, the energy was somehow even more unhinged.
Here's the confusing part: there are technically *two* ZOROs in the Visual Kei underground. ゾロ (the four-piece) and ZORO (the two-piece duo) share members but operate as separate entities with almost no song overlap. So yes, consecutive comeback years are genuinely possible, and yes, it's as wild as it sounds.
What made this show absolutely legendary wasn't just the music—it was the *performance*. Vocalist Ryuji is essentially a human tornado wrapped in stage dive energy. He crowd surfed before the band even started playing the first song, spat fake blood and water into the front rows (fair warning: phones down, people), and at one point rode on an audience member's shoulders while singing in the back of the room. This is peak Visual Kei chaos in the best way possible.
Bassist Tatsuhi, traditionally the quiet, androgynous presence, proved he's equally capable of launching himself into the crowd. He actually took a hard fall during one of his first stage dives but got right back up, cigarette in hand, and kept performing like nothing happened. The room was buzzing.
With support from guitarist KETCH (luin, dieS) and drummer Ookuma (HELLBROTH, WHITEHEAD) holding down the foundation, ZORO pulled off something remarkable: they repeated the song "PEST" **forty times in a row**. Yes, forty. And the pit never stopped moving.
The limited discography of two-person ZORO means a traditional 3-hour setlist wasn't feasible, but honestly? Nobody cared. When you have this much controlled chaos on stage, the repetition becomes part of the experience—meditative, exhausting, transcendent.
Can't catch ZORO regularly? Ryuji currently fronts **TERESA** (テレサ), an active project featuring Tatsuhi and Ookuma, where he's labeled it an *abare band*—literally a "rampage band" where everyone loses their minds for hours. Different sound, same anarchic spirit. If you're in Japan and craving that Ryuji energy, keep an eye on TERESA's next show.
ZORO may be dormant, but the legacy lives on.
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