BABYMETAL – ヘドバンギャー！！- Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!!! REACTION

4 comments

1. 😶

2. Real shame you're missing out on seeing them in Dallas. This video was from 2012 when Su-metal was 14, Yuimetal and Moametal were 12, nearly 13.

   The neck brace is an homage to Yoshiki, the founder, drummer, pianist and main composer of X Japan, a big influence on every Japanese rock and metal band. He needed surgery after damaging his neck headbanging. BABYMETAL have used the neck brace a lot in live shows – they have even had concerts where everybody in the audience had to wear a neck brace At the Tokyo Dome in 2016 they handed out 55,000 neck braces with LED bulbs to all of the audience – and another 55,000 the next night.

   'Headbanger' is about a girl going to her first concert on her 15th birthday, but 15 is when compulsory education ends in Japan, so it is also a coming of age song. The girl is realising she must grow up and start making important life decisions – first to start a career or continue to further education. Her first 15 years passed so quickly so she is etching this special night of her 15th into her heart so she will never forget.

   The girls were so impressed with the guy in the video doing the helicopter/fan headbanging that they nicknamed him "Hedoban Kami" (god of headbanging).

   At concerts on or near their own 15th birthdays in 2014 Yui (in Paris) and Moa (in Cologne) were handed the mic and stand half way through the song by Su to take over lead vocals for the first time. There are fancam videos for both of these performances.

   20 is (or was) the official coming of age in Japan, so Moa got to take lead again on her 20th birthday on 4th July 2019 in her home town Nagoya. Once again Su handed her the mic and stand with a change of lyric to "…this special night of my 20th". This is known as Moabanger.
   Momoko was not an official member on her 20th birthday, so Momobanger was 2nd March 2024 the night before her 21st birthday in her home town Yokohama celebrating the last night of being 20.

   The official video like this are great, but BABYMETAL are a live act, that is where you will always see and hear them at their best. You could watch one of the special performances or you could watch an early live 'Headbanger' from their Legend 1997 concert (Su-metal's 16th birthday party in December 2013) abr metal has a high quality video of that one that is safe to use.

3. Subscribed. This MV is 🔥🔥🔥. Great reaction. 🦊 🖖❤

4. One of BM's earliest (their 3rd indie single & 4th live song), dating back to mid-2012 so you can type [song title] + [year] into Youtube Search to see how its rambunctious live performances evolved over time. It's arguably their craziest crowd-participation song, especially the BM ladies' special birthday versions.

   The original lyrics recounts a girl thrilled at attending her first-ever metal concert on her 15th birthday (the end of compulsory education in Japan). Lead singer Su-metal actually began singing it at 14 (& thus initially foreshadowing). But concertgoers would embrace the underlying joy, especially after Sun sang it to mark her real 15th birthday (2013's viral "Legend 1997" video).

   Yuimetal & Moametal then proceeded to co-sing lead for their own 15th birthdays as well (mid-2014). These took place on foreign soil, but unfortunately 'Yuibanger' exists on fancam only, while the original 'Moabanger' is available only on fancam audio.

   Subsequently, Su memorably changed the live lyrics from "ichigo no yoru" (the night of my 15th) to "hatachi no no yoru" (the night of my 20th) to mark turning 20 (2017's "Legend S Baptism SS" video), which re-ignited the crowd-participation ferocity. Japan formally celebrates coming-of-age at 20 years old.

   In turn, Moa's 20th-birthday version was preposterously brilliant (2019's viral "Legend M"/Moabanger video, a must-see). Momometal then actually improved on the latter for her own 20th birthday (2024's viral "Legend MM"/Momometal video).

   Given the song's longevity, several Headbanger performances also marked other career milestones. Back in 2012, the 'Legend I' version featured BM inaugurally performing with a live band (one-off hired musicians who came onstage for the finale), while the 'Legend D' version reverted to using backing tracks (including a riotous 'Night Of 15' remix with the Babybones dancers).

   In 2014, the 'Legend D' version was when the core Kami Band was finally assembled, followed by 'Legend 1999' version (Yui/Moa spraying CO2 fog guns gleefully at the audience) & the aformentioned 'Legend 1997' (Yui/Moa with their CO2 fog guns again).

   In 2015, the 'Red Night Budokan' version supposedly impressed Ozzy Osbourne enough to invite BM to play the next year's Ozzfest Japan), followed by the aforementioned Yui/Moa's 15th-birthday versions & so on.