Babymetal: Da Da Dance

Su-metal and Moametal stand side-by-side, their capes expertly draped around them by their stylists. They look regal, like the queens of a planet we’re not cool enough to know about. It’s a hot July afternoon, and we’re shooting Babymetal backstage at London’s Brixton Academy, where they’re playing later.



Though it’s been eight months since Yuimetal announced she was leaving to pursue a solo career, it’s still strange seeing them as a duo. Their management are at pains to ensure they appear together in pictures and are presented as elegant, rather than as superheroes or a novelty act. It’s clear this is a new dawn for these kawaii-metal pioneers.

It’s remarkable they’re so poised, given their insanely busy schedule. Three days ago, they finished their first performances of 2019 – a pair of shows at the 17,000-capacity Yokohama Arena under the banner ‘Babymetal Awakens – The Sun Also Rises’. They were joined by a stand-in dancer on each night – more on that later.



Then they hopped straight on a plane to England to entertain a curious Glastonbury crowd, playing before Bring Me The Horizon and bagging a selfie with stagemate/American pop idol Billie Eilish.

“We had to fly the night of that arena show in Japan, and we got into Glastonbury on the day of the festival, so everything just seems like a blur,” confesses Moametal. “It seems like a dream still. Babymetal are a heavier band compared to the other artists at Glastonbury. I feel like we were able to perform a new style to a pop-based crowd, who we’ve never had to perform in front of, so everything was new.”

Tonight at Brixton, they’re back with their home team, as hordes of fans dressed in newly purchased Fox God t-shirts assemble. They punch the air and chant as the girls take the stage shrouded in darkness. Then comes the familiar, videogames-on-E-numbers starburst of Megitsune, tonight’s substitute member ‘Rihometal’ keeping pace with the high-kicks and kitsune ears like a stage-school pro.



Next up is peppy single Elevator Girl, and the surprising, Bollywood-tinged Shanti Shanti Shanti. Starlight and Syncopation get their first airings outside Japan, while PA PA YA!! explodes like juice from crushed fruit. The audience, it’s safe to say, are satiated with fun.

Afterwards, we congratulate Su-metal and Moametal. They’re in high spirits, despite the hours they’ve put in. As we’ve previously noted, their work ethic is unbeatable.

“Since I was very small, I just absolutely loved to sing, and that’s been the biggest drive to my work ethic,” explains Su-metal. “Every time I perform, I appreciate the fact I’m able to do what I love the most. And although it’s the same songs, there are different kinds of reactions with the crowd, so that change has always been a really fun factor in my performance.”



They’ll fly back to Japan in two days, on Moametal’s 20th birthday. When Metal Hammer ran our first cover feature with Babymetal in 2015, Moametal was just 16 and Su-metal was 17. A lot has changed for them in these formative years.

They’re no longer cramming in homework between rehearsals, and tonight look more assured onstage than ever, with the experience of countless international shows under their black, snakeskin belts.

With Yui gone, they’re entering another era for Babymetal, and third record Metal Galaxy is set to take them around the globe again. But can they survive this brave new world, and will this be the album that takes them truly stratospheric?