July 25, 2006
News for AnimeFest 2006:
AnimeFest announces music guest of honor
PLANO, TX, JULY 25, 2006: AnimeFest is proud to announce that the acclaimed Japanese band FLOW will be attending AnimeFest 2006 as the "Music Guest of Honor". AnimeFest 2006 is a four day anime convention from September 1st 4th which will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel at Reunion Tower in downtown Dallas, Texas. FLOW will be performing a concert on the evening of Saturday September 2nd in the Landmark Ballroom.
FLOW is of the bands attracting the most attention in today's Japanese music scene. They are a five-piece rock act made up of two MCs (KOHSHI, KEIGO), a drummer (IWASAKI), a bassist (GOT'S) and a guitarist (TAKE).
American youth audiences will immediate recognize them from their smash hit songs "GO!!!" and "Re:member" which are used in the opening credits for the mega-hit anime show Naruto, shown on Cartoon Network's "Toonami" programming block. In addition, their single "DAYS" is the theme song for the show Eureka Seven, which was recently added to Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim" programming block.
FLOW's first cover single, Okuru Kotoba, sold over 270,000 copies when released in January 2003. It reigned atop the Oricon indie chart for seven consecutive weeks and also hit an impressive #6 on the overall singles chart. In the spring of that year, their first full-scale album SPLASH!!! that compiled re-recorded songs from their indie era and new songs, was released by Ki/oon Records, debuting at #2. A string of smash singles and more albums followed.
About AnimeFest:
AnimeFest is non-profit organization dedicated to Japanese pop-culture promotion and education. AnimeFest was established in 1992 at a time when "anime", "manga", and "J-Pop" were largely unrecognized in North America. AnimeFest has continuously introduced American audiences to new Japanese pop-culture genres which have grown into a teenage cultural phenomenon across North America. AnimeFest offers diverse programming ranging from anime showings, J-Pop concerts, animation and manga artist lectures, autograph signings, industry discussions, artist workshops, games and fun activities. For more information please call +1-972-596-3561, visit www.AnimeFest.org, or email [email protected]. (in Japanese: [email protected])