DWANGO.JP: What's so great about Kishidan Expo?

This year saw the 5th outdoor festival hosted by Kishidan, 「Kishidan Expo 2016 ～Boso Rock’n Roll Champion Carnival～」. Held in Chiba Prefecture’s Sodegaura Seaside Park, the event is a gather of Kishidan’s 「friends」, and is famous for 「miracles」 happening every time.

A quick look at the performing artistes,
September 17 (Sat)
UVERworld, AK-69, Okazaki Taiiku, ORIGINAL LOVE, GACKT presents Camui♂Gakuen, Kishidan, Golden Bomber, Kobayashi Sachiko (OPENING CEREMONY ACT), C&K, Shimizu Michiko, Shonan no Kaze, Sendai Kamotsu, Team Syachihoko, AAA, MAN WITH A MISSION, MONGOL800, RIZE, RIP SLYME

September 18 (Sun)
Antonio Inoki (OPENING CEREMONY ACT), VAMPS, SA, the GazettE, Kishidan, Crazy Ken Band, THE　COLLECTORS, SiM, Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku, TUBE, DJ Dainoji, 10-FEET, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, Mika Nakashima, Momoiro Clover Z, Moriyama Naotaro, Yazawa Eikichi (in no particular order)
reveals a star-studded line-up.

At present, fans are entertained with festivals large and small in Japan. Among them, this particular festival, 「Kishidan Expo」, which places emphasis on a line-up consisting of artistes who are connected with Kishdan, has gained popularity.

For Kishdan Expo 2016 as well, Yazawa Eikichi, TUBE, and Momoiro Clover Z perform on the same day, and a chaotic relay which includes switching between vastly different stage settings, like having Yazawa Eikichi scheduled to perform after the GazettE, has been interesting.

An outrageous gathering of the leading artistes in the various genres of rock, idol, J-pop, hip hop, and dance music were brought together and related to one another solely based on their 「ties with Kishidan」. And from the start to the end, for 2 days straight, a way to enjoy this spectacular narrative was conducted. This is an extremely rare sight for a festival, where during these 2 days, in this magical festival, a 「Battle of the Bands」was waged between the various bands with Kishidan as the axis. This could possibly be the reason why so many inconceivable miracles occur.

It has also grown as a business, and while people are questioning the raison d’etre for festivals, the artiste-led Kishdan Expo has continued to be one of the few festivals which continue to be at its best.

From here on as well, Kishidan Expo will probably continue making miracles happen while growing bigger.