{"id":569941,"date":"2025-11-14T13:49:20","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T13:49:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/569941\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T13:49:20","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T13:49:20","slug":"live-review-hanabie-o2-institute-birmingham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/569941\/","title":{"rendered":"LIVE REVIEW: Hanabie @ O2 Institute, Birmingham"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s something different about being in the heavy music scene in 2025. The energy feels charged \u2013 like every show is part of a bigger movement. More women and gender-diverse artists are dominating stages, making noise that\u2019s fierce, fun, and unapologetically theirs. And tonight with Japanese metalcore band HANABIE<\/strong> is no exception. From the glitter to the growls, this is a night where women rule the stage \u2013 and the crowd is here for it.<\/p>\n

\"LakeLake Malice live @ O2 Institute, Birmingham. Photo Credit: Serena Hill Photography<\/p>\n

You can feel the anticipation bubbling before LAKE<\/strong> MALICE<\/strong> hit the stage. The venue\u2019s packed shoulder to shoulder, everyone buzzing with that pre-show adrenaline. As soon as the lights drop and the first distorted note hits, the room ignites.<\/p>\n

Having carved their place in the UK scene with relentless touring and a sound that blends metalcore chaos with futuristic gloss, LAKE<\/strong> MALICE<\/strong> step up like headliners in waiting. Being the only support band is a heavy weight, but they wear it like armour. Alice Guala<\/strong>, all charisma and conviction, storms onto the stage like she owns it. One second, she\u2019s belting a pristine hook that could sit on a pop record; the next, she\u2019s unleashing a death growl that rattles your ribcage. Her voice is a weapon, and she knows exactly how to use it. Blake Cronwall<\/strong>, meanwhile, is pure kinetic energy \u2013 spinning, leaping, and darting across the stage with a grin that never fades. He doesn\u2019t just play the guitar; he attacks it, feeding off the chaos of the pit.<\/p>\n

Midway through the set, he jumps into the crowd, guitar still strapped on, joining the circle pit like it\u2019s the most natural thing in the world. Beer splashes, bodies crash, and the energy doesn\u2019t drop for a second. Tracks like Black<\/strong> Turbine<\/strong> and new single Nobody Wants To Be You<\/strong><\/a> hit like a controlled explosion \u2013 all glitchy electronics and throat-shredding catharsis. The crowd screams every word back, proof that LAKE<\/strong> MALICE<\/strong> aren\u2019t the future of the scene \u2013 they\u2019re the now. By the end, everyone\u2019s drenched in sweat, grinning like maniacs. LAKE<\/strong> MALICE<\/strong> leave the stage victorious, setting the perfect tone for what\u2019s to come.<\/p>\n

Rating: 9\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"HanabieHanabie live @ O2 Institute, Birmingham. Photo Credit: Serena Hill Photography<\/p>\n

If LAKE MALICE<\/strong> were the spark, HANABIE<\/strong> are the detonation. The lights dim, the intro track swirls, and the four-piece stride out in full technicolour chaos: Harajuku fashion meets metal mayhem. The room erupts before they even hit the first note. Then the drop hits, and suddenly it\u2019s chaos: double-kick drums, shredding riffs, and vocals that swing from cute to catastrophic in half a second.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve dubbed their style Harajuku Core, and it\u2019s the perfect name, a sugar-coated sonic uppercut that blends J-pop gloss with hardcore brutality. One minute you\u2019re clapping along to a kawaii chorus, the next you\u2019re dodging a crowd surfer flying past your head.<\/p>\n

Yukina<\/strong>\u2019s vocals are jaw-dropping \u2013 equal parts charm and chaos. One moment she\u2019s beaming like an idol, the next she\u2019s letting out a demonic scream that makes the floor shake. Matsuri<\/strong>\u2019s guitar work is razor-sharp, slicing through the bubblegum melodies with precision. The rhythm section is relentless, keeping the chaos perfectly tight as the crowd loses their collective minds.<\/p>\n

\"HanabieHanabie live @ O2 Institute, Birmingham. Photo Credit: Serena Hill Photography<\/p>\n

The band have clearly fallen in love with the UK \u2013 chatting between songs about visiting the Birmingham Bullring with Yukina<\/strong> commenting \u201cIt\u2019s so big!\u201d as well as asking the audience for local tips to check out the Red Brick Market. The banter\u2019s wholesome, the energy\u2019s infectious, and the audience adores them.<\/p>\n

Even though it\u2019s not a fully sold-out room, you wouldn\u2019t know it. The atmosphere is explosive \u2013 strangers grinning and moshing together, people dressed like kawaii princess\u2019s dancing next to metalheads in battle vests. It\u2019s pure joy. By the encore, the floor is literally shaking underfoot. When they come back out for one last banger, the crowd loses it completely. Every clap, scream, and stomp echoes with that unspoken truth \u2013 this is special.<\/p>\n

HANABIE<\/strong> might look sweet, but make no mistake: they\u2019re dangerous in the best way possible. They\u2019ve got the stage presence, the hooks, and the sheer guts to make even the toughest metal veterans rethink everything they thought they knew about \u2018cute\u2019.<\/p>\n

Rating: 9\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Check out our photo gallery of the night\u2019s action in Bristol from Serena Hill Photography here:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Like HANABIE <\/strong>on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s something different about being in the heavy music scene in 2025. The energy feels charged \u2013 like…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":569942,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,748,393,4884,180961,21815,172317,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-569941","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-hanabie","13":"tag-lake-malice","14":"tag-o2-institute-birmingham","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115548375178149147","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569941\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/569942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}