SiM
April 22, 2024 - San Francisco
by Elijah Clower
SiM delivered an amazing performance and more, on the third stop of the PLAYDEAD WORLD TOUR in San Francisco! Not only was it an honor to be able to cover one of their shows but to also experience it as a fan considering this was their first ever show in SF in addition to this also being their first ever headline tour in North America.
The band opened with the high energy song DO THE DANCE which already got the crowd circle moshing. Which went into their more heavier Reggae inspired song KiSS OF DEATH. Surprisingly enough, UNDER THE TREE was their 3rd song played which could arguably be their 2nd most popular song as it comes from the highly popular anime Attack On Titan. During a small break in between songs MAH (Lead singer) even acknowledged that most people in the U.S most likely became aware of the band through the anime. Also mentioning that many people would go as far as claiming them to be an “anime band”. He took no offense to the claim as he admitted many of their biggest hits were made for anime shows, but did make sure to clarify and proudly claim that “We are a Reggae Punk Rock band” so if you were having a hard time categorizing them now you know.
The rest of the set list was mostly filled with some older hit records such as BLAH BLAH BLAH, Devil in My Heart, BASEBALL BAT to name a few, and there were 2-3 breaks in between songs where MAH would interact and talk to the crowd making sure that they were enjoying the show considering the band is Japan based, so they don’t make it to the US often. In Japan its common for the concerts to have no phones out and to basically be completely immersed into the show which MAH brought up but, being in the U.S he was ok with phones being out but made a clear point to the fans to make sure they’re singing along and enjoying the show which was a nice anecdote.
The last song on the setlist (excluding encore) which was the “main event” if you will. Arguably the main reason lots of people came to see the show; which again even the band was aware and pointed out as it’s their biggest song, The Rumbling. The Rumbling (Most popular song from Attack On Titan and 2023 Best Anime Song Winner) blew the roof off the venue. As a fan of the show, I already knew going in that I needed to see this song live and can confirm that any fan that watched that show even if you don’t like their other songs, it's definitely worth going to experience. Absolute legendary show and one for the history books!
