Tribeca Music Lounge and Toho International teamed up to forge an awesome celebration of history’s greatest kaiju; I’m talking, of course, about the 70th anniversary of Godzilla. The party drew a diverse group of fans, punk rockers and Godzilla-curious filmmakers from the Tribeca Film Festival (including Anya Taylor Joy of The Queen’s Gambit fame) for a festive night of rock and fandom.

The evening kicked off with the heavy metal energy of AnChikSho. It was a high-octane set of bashy in-your-face overdrive delivered by the band’s frontwoman, Gelatine Seiko, with clean fingerwork and pleasantly piercing tones from guitarist, Sun. The rhythmic paucity of the band was akin to testing out a bulletproof vest with live ammo, unapologetically loud and proud. Overall, the band got the party started right.

Following the set came the self-described “Fake Scientist” Shyaporn Threeakulstit, who was the best dressed that evening, sporting a three piece suit and no-nonsense demeanor. He delivered a hilarious presentation on how to know if you are being attacked by Godzilla (complete with Powerpoint flowchart) and was unabashed in revealing his inner geek for the 164 foot titan. He rightfully made a final jab for the 1998 Western Godzilla, claiming it is still burned into his memory.

Next came the all girl Japanese pop punk sirens, The Hard Nips. Yoko, Saki, Hitomi and The Gooch came with a militant stomp energy regrouping the crowd with a grittier tone, all in support of a mighty lady roar. The music was almost swamp-like in its color underneath a hypnotic allure of sweet catchy riffs and loveable whiny punk anthems. They paid their respects to Godzilla, with Yoko wearing a custom opera cape, with Godzilla fangs on the hood.

Last came DJ Takuya Nakamura who closed the evening out with some classic hip hop. The NEC educated turntablist kept it classy and smooth, dropping a feel good backbeat while adding some live audio vocal shadings over the mic. Throughout the evening, the back of the stage was covered in a montage of various Godzilla film clips, presented in sequential order. As the wee hours of the morning started to creep, a few epic shots of the academy award winning Godzilla Minus One (2023) were projected as the last of the party started to make their way out.

It was an evening of fun prize giveaways and cool swag. Some lucky attendees received a Halloween Godzilla mask and the libations flowed with little wait. A memorable event to be sure. This writer looks forward to the 75th anniversary.

– Article graciously submitted by composer Brian Morales