Mike Vescera revisited his past in Tokyo
Former Loudness and Yngwie Malmsteen vocalist Mike Vescera showed Tokyo he still got it.
Mike Vescera’s Crash and Burn featuring Jien Takahashi at Holiday Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan on 16th March 2025
The last time I saw Mike Vescera perform was when he reunited on stage with his former Loudness bandmates in Japan in 2015. That time, Mike and his Japanese brothers revisited the classic Loudness album “Soldier of Fortune”. Now, a decade later, Mike is touring Japan with a show that revisits key parts of his back catalogue. The evening I saw him on this tour, Mike was the opening act for Warlord in Shinjuku.
While Mike is American, a lot of his career has been related to Japan in one way or another. Many of his releases are cherished by Japanese metalheads who this evening could revisit some of the highlights of Mike’s career. He was backed on this tour by a local band consisting of guitarist Jien Takahashi (Majustice, Violet Eternal), bassist Ollie Bernstein (Illusion Force) and drummer Yamato (Neu:NOIZ).
Mike’s voice was remarkably intact. He delivered great versions of the hits to the Japanese audience’s delight. The set opened with a trio of excellent Yngwie Malmsteen songs: “Never Die”, “Meant to Be” and “Seventh Sign”. After that, it was time to revisit Mike’s time in Loudness with “Soldier of Fortune” and “You Shook Me”. Obsession’s “Methods of Madness” followed. Thereafter, we got Animetal’s “Pegasus Fantasy”. “Infinite Visions” is a Timo Tolkki-composed song Mike sang on with Jien Takahashi’s band Majustice a few years back. Here we got a fab live version of the song before it was time for Yngwie’s “Crash and Burn”. Throughout the set, the excellent guitarist Jien Takahashi got to show off his guitar skills performing music originally done by players such as Yngwie and Akira Takasaki.
Opening for Warlord meant that Mike could invite Warlord’s Giles Lavery and Jimmy Waldo, both also of Alcatrazz, up on stage to perform. Together they played “Desperate to Survive” (an Obsession song) and Alcatrazz’s “Too Young to Die, Too Drunk to Live”. It was an intriguing and excellent melting pot of rock pedigree on display.
It was a true joy to see that Mike Vescera is still at the top of his game after all these years. I wonder if we will see a third Live at Budokan release with Mike.
