“So there was a blonde, a redhead and a guy with an afro, and they walked onto a stage…”

It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, but since I couldn’t come up with an ending bit, that’s all you’re going to get.

Akihiro Namba is a bit of a legend in Japan. As the former front man of top punkers Hi-Standard, he’s toured with Green Day, NOFX and basically laid the foundation for the modern Japanese alternative rock scene. He’s also the creator of Ultrabrain and driving force behind newly created Namba69, playing today.

Namba69 was born from Akihiro’s Anti-Nukes drive to help enforce his message of No More Fuckin’ Nukes (one of the songs they played today). While the punk tunes are pretty solid, I couldn’t help but wonder how many in the audience were there for Hi-Standard nostalgia (given the average age, there seemed to be quite a few) and how many were there for Namba69 itself.

Then again, it doesn’t really matter when they open with a punk rock version of “Country Roads” (in Japanese) and send the crowd into a wild frenzy with each song they play after that, does it?

Although there is one thing I would like to know… How does this man with a crimson-colored mop manage to look younger now than he did ten years ago? Whatever it is he’s doing, it’s working.