Daikaiju,There Will Be Fire

A Band Review From A Bookers Point Of View

My name is Salina Brilla. I book shows in Huntsville Alabama. I have a podcast with Spice Radio Huntsville called Red Magic Imports. I make a YouTube Channel called DIYLive Huntsville with a friend of mine where we record and interview bands. I work with underground to midlevel bands local and world wide. I write about shows I see and bands I know.

DAIKAIJU is a surf rock band from... I can't tell you. The members are, men. They play music in masks all over the world, who they are and where they are from is suppose to be a secret. There are no vocals, at all. No-one sings and no-one talks. They don't do interviews, or press releases.

However, If you go to Wikipedia this is what you will find.

Wikipedia

Daikaiju (band)

Daikaiju (stylized "DaiKaiju") are a kaiju-themed surf rock revival band from Huntsville, Alabama, consisting of two guitarists, a bassist, and a drummer. The band first performed in December, 1999. The band has played shows across Europe, eastern Asia, and North America. As of 2016, the band is still actively touring.

Daikaiju (disambiguation)

Daikaiju may refer to:

The Kaiju, or giant monster attack, film genre

Daikaiju (band), a surf rock revival band themed after the Kaiju film genre

Daikaiju Gamera

Daikaijū Monogatari

Daikaijū no Gyakushū

So, I guess I can tell you they are from the city I live In. I can also let you know as of 2020 they are still very actively touring. This band is a super big deal here in Huntsville Alabama. I am from Chicago. I was not aware of this fact the first time I booked them to play in the tiny bar I use to run the music calender for. I refer to DAIKAIJU and bands like them as church. It's a time when people come together to share in an experience. This city comes out to see DAIKAIJU. We were at least triple over capacity that first show. The fire marshal would have been pretty pissed about us being over capacity, but what would have really got us in trouble was the fire.

No matter who the four members of DAIKAIJU may be, this is an audience participation band. If they start by playing on the stage, they will move all of the equipment into the audience. They will climb on the bar to play, they will hand audience members their instruments to play. One of them will motion for everyone to sit down low to the ground as if in a meditation and the audience will follow suit, then the band will progress back up and so will every one else. Up they will go by having the audience hold the drum kit and drummer up in the air while he plays.They move all over the space they are in and You are a member of DAIKAIJU as soon as they start playing. They trust the audience, not to drop or break them, not to let them get hurt or harmed, and not to harm themselves. And, then there's the fire setting.

Through the years I have booked DAIKAIJU in that tiny bar I mentioned first many times, a basement, a craft beer store, and lastly an outdoor Music Hall.

At some point of every show they set the drum and cymbals on fire. It's fun. It's dangerous, it's what happens, even if you ask them not too. They do it all over the world. There are photo's of them on roofs, vans, and in parking lots lighting fires. They aren't trying to burn down the business or harm anyone. Fire is part of the experience of DAIKAIJU, think Godzilla. The flyers and event pages state DAIKAIJU ATTACKS! It's what they do!

When I booked DAIKAIJU at the craft beer store I showed the owners videos of the band. I suggested they turn of the sprinkler system because the ceilings were low. There is not a way to turn the sprinklers off for one evening. A huge crowd of people came for the event. It was July in Alabama and the air conditioning was barely working. It was so hot inside the store that steam covered and dripped down the windows.

DAIKAIJU had everyone in a circle around them in the center of the room. The place was so packed we were climbing over eachother. The lights were turned off to conserve heat. The band lit the cymbals on fire. The sprinklers on the low ceiling caught the smoke quickly and out gushed a huge relief of water all over a heat stroked audience. I stayed there beneath the invigorating outpouring for a moment while every one ran out. The band then continued to play and light fires in the parking lot until the fire trucks came.

I love seeing this band. I love being able to host their shows in their hometown. The city I live in. The last time they played the tiny bar they started the cymbals on fire and my son who was bartending threw water on it and put it out. They got a reputation after the sprinkler system incident and even though the tiny bar does not have a sprinkler system they were frightened of the fire marshal.

The last DAIKAIJU show in Huntsville to date was last September 2019, on a Monday. We had church by fire in a glorious outdoor, no roof venue. The attendence was spectacular, the opening bands terrific and a night of good old DAIKAIJU ATTACKS by the boys from Bama who perform surf rock all over the world. Start writing...