Japan Underground: TOQUIWA Headlining Set

Event information

Tokyo all girl three-piece TOQUIWA bring their hi-energy J-punk to the UK this month for a tour supporting The Wedding Present. And to celebrate concluding the tour, along with the release of their self-titled debut album, TOQUIWA will play a special headlining show at Japan Underground.

Formed in 1998 under a different guise, the band came third in the 2008 global battle of the bands. Then called The Pinky Piglets, their Trojan horse assault of cute moves and explosive punk rock riffs leave an imprint on all their audiences across the world. The band have already achieved great accolades; they’ve hosted their own radio show on one of Tokyo’s largest stations, penned a song for a TV theme tune and have shared stages with punk rock legends Bad Religion, Guttermouth, Regurgitator and, of course, The Wedding Present.

When David Gedge first saw the band in 2011 it was clear to him that The Wedding Present needed to adopt the band and embark on a cultural exchange between Scopitones and J-punk. A series of shows together followed, including a North American tour, SXSW and The Wedding Present’s own ‘At The Edge Of The Sea Festival’. The bands are now touring Europe and the UK together, full dates are below and their time together has culminated in the band’s Scopitones debut.

“Of all the support bands we’ve ever had, I’ve never seen an audience blown away by the support band quite like TOQUIWA,” David Gedge enthuses when discussing the band - and who can blame him? From the opening dynamite of single ‘Tokyo Merry Go Round’ it’s clear that the band pair the riffs of Dinosaur Jr with the melodies of The B52s and add their own candy-covered sound. The band also pay homage to the label boss with a cover of Kennedy that has all the vitriol of the original but is, dare it be said, twice the fun!