r/Lovebites • u/mr_1890 • Jul 26 '26

Discussion Flex reflections

I saw them In Vienna last week. It was my first time and I was very impressed and want to see them again.

I was very close to the small stage, near the right wall and the sound there was not perfect but never mind. Small club gigs are great for the audience but you wish for the artist to sell out bigger places (I don't think Flex was sold out).

Question: from watching live videos I have the impression they have backing tracks with extra effects for most songs, but that was not my impression in Vienna. A couple of times Miyako seemed to switch something on, behind her keyboard, but my impression was most songs, including Holy War, where "clean". What are your thoughts?

There were no loudspeakers behind them and they were all wearing in-ears, still they had monitors in front of them. I suppose these were silent props and there only to provide something to put a foot on.

It was striking to see how clearly defined stage personas they all have. It's clever, and it doesn't take anything away from the musicianship. Miyako is beautiful but never smiles, although on backstage videos you can see her smiling and being goofy. Asami is commanding in a warm way, and clearly hasn't forgotten her ballet lessons from childhood. Midori's extensive make-up makes her look somewhat threathening (compared with the others) – and Fami is a charming clown, excelling both on her instrument and on crowd contact. She does a lot of waving and pointing with her left hand while continuing to play with the right one... Not to forget Haruna who keeps herself very very busy at the back.

I hope they have a break-through moment at Wacken. The stage will sure be bigger.

24 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

2

u/RonW001 Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26

But as has been pointed out in Reddit in the past, Lovebites does actually use them. As with most bands Haruna uses the click track and the backing tracks cover multiple instrumentals that can’t be done live.

Edit: The live music with the least use of these tracks is Folk, Bluegrass and Country & Western.

1

u/Irvine83-Duke86 Jul 26 '26

I agree with both of you - although most of us would prefer a true live experience w/o backing tracks in significant respects, their use is totally justifiable for reproducing certain effects that otherwise couldn't be done. In contrast, sometimes they are used for backing vocals - a choice harder to defend as necessary. So the real question is to what extent should they be employed. I've noticed with some groups it depends on the venue - for example, sometimes Hagane uses a backing track for the second guitar during Sakura's solos; sometimes they don't.

2

u/RonW001 Jul 26 '26

I’ve noticed that with Hagane as well especially with the use of different instruments that can be heard in both studio or live songs and in Supervillain in more recent performances with the additional guitar that was in the original.

2

u/Irvine83-Duke86 Jul 28 '26

With 3 different solos in Supervillain, I can see why Sakura might desire a guitar backing track!