The drummer is Kanade Sato.She's an elite 'Batterista' and are a member in a band named Muses. They play fusion jazz rock. Wakazaemon is a monster/ beast/goddess on the bass .
This is the reformed version of Li-sa-X Band with Kotono on vocals and Kanade Sato on drums. This performance also featured Wakazaemon from East of Eden on bass (Their new song "Cross∞Roads" really showcases her insane chops. She is a tiny MONSTER) Li-sa-X Band has some amazing songs too, "Cola Bottle Again" "Just Be My Treasure" "One More Chance is Enough." I describe them as Adult Contemporary Prog Pop Metal. KOIAI (ko-ee-ah-ee) seems a bit more experimental, or rather kinda all over the map, but with Hazuki, Li-sa-X, Kande and Waka, you have some of the top female musicians in Japan right there, who knows what they could do!
KOIAI is an evolution of the Li-sa-X Band, which also had Hazuki in it, but disbanded after their singer left. The band is more Pop based to be honest, most their songs aren't like "A New Picture". As far as Li-sa-X, she's a 19 year old phenom who's been shredding since she was 6; check out her official channel ["Li-sa-X (Official)"] that shows her doing technician covers as early as 7 years old. One of her most popular videos is a cover of Racer-X's "Scarified" played at 8 years old, and when Paul Gilbert saw the video he decided to take her on as a student (Gilbert is big in Japan, speaks fluent Japanese and has a Japanese wife). Li-sa-X also played with guitarist like Marty Friedman, Kiko Loureiro and Guthrie Govan before she was 12 (really just about every Ibanez endorsed guitarist, she's been Ibanez endorsed since around 10). She's an awesome story and really worth getting to know more about. Most of her technical guitar based videos are collabs with other guitarist, I can recommend some if you're interested. As for the rest of the musicians here, you already know about Hazuki, who joked this song should be title "Tendonitis" (she may look like a librarian, but she's a technical wizard!); 21 y/o drummer Kande Sato is another former child prodigy who been playing drums since 3; and the guest bassist here is Wakazamon, who is East of Eden's bassist and recently finished supporting Marty Friedman in his last tour. Lastly, check out this YT short of Li-sa-X practicing that run from "A New Picture" that she plays right after Hazuki's tapping. She's so smooth and effortless, and you can definitely see some of Paul Gilbert's style in her playing. No spoiler in the clip ru-vid.com2mdBhq8f82Q?si=Cq2pNBzl53LJwst6
You forgot to mention she played/toured with Polyphia at the age of 12 as well. Not to mention she reunited with them this year when they returned to Japan for Fox-Fest and later shows.
Kanade Sato (dr) was rated as being in the top 10 female drummers in the world, when she was 14, she is now 21. I was lucky and saw her play live when she was 16, in London for a band now called Muses, and even then it was, how isn't this girl in one of the top bands? So with Lisa-X you have 2 child prodigies in the same band, kicking ass.
The word “prodigy” gets thrown around way too much. In this case, it is fully deserved. Lisa-X has been posting music on youtube since she was seven, did credible covers of Dream Theater and Polyphia at 10, and has had her own band since she was 13. The core members of Lisa-X band were Lisa-X, Rina on vocals and Hazuki, formerly of Disqualia and now the lead guitarist for Nemophila, on co-lead guitar. Rina left the band in 2022 and they took a hiatus to rebuild. They re-emerged as Koiai, and can legitimately claim to be a supergroup. Kotono joined them after stints with various groups including Ironbunny. The big catch was Kanade Sato on drums. Sato is also a member of Muses and is in big demand as a session drummer. She is often compared with the already legendary Senri Kawaguchi. Wakazaemon has been appearing as a guest on bass. She frequently tours with Marty Friedman and is also a member of East of Eden. Another killer. Here are some links worth checking out. The first one is Lisa’s 2017 appearance at the annual female rock festival organized by Show-Ya-she is up there with some of the best guitarists in the world and they clearly love sharing the stage with her. The third one is her collaboration with the even younger drum phenom, Yoyoka Soma, who is herself a force of nature. At NaonのYaon (age 12): ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hbeW7Yuf-a0.html With Hazuki: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mN_oLqTka6M.html With Yoyoka: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-B97HKxg4Cwk.html With Billy Sheehan (!) on bass: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PzsqmnEa89c.html Here are some other links to Koiai: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-g-JEUWnTgJY.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-nQOhmO7Af2I.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2njAh58OA10.html (cover of Dirty Loops version) Overall, rock is not only in good hands, but arguably has been taken over by Japanese women. The future looks great!
Love Koiai! Most of their music is softer, more rock, prog metal, pop influenced than metalcore, or power metal. I enjoy variety and many genre’s so this is great IMO. The cherry on top is the level of musicianship. Lots of fabulous Japanese musicians, but these women are in the top tier.
Great reaction.👍 KOIAI was born, or rather reborn from the ashes of Lisa's previous project, the Li-sa-X Band... this was their last single released with Rina as vocalist, with the collaboration of Billy Shehan and Shane Gaalaas, "Looking Up to You": ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fFxdWRgBxMg.htmlsi=pNLkE0GQXulGQZKV , Lisa reformed the band with one of the most brilliant Japanese drummers, the young Kanade Sato: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5jDVZPzfS1c.htmlsi=nUxALWDKewjvqIT9 , one of the ex-vocalists of IRONBUNNY, Kotono: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-9ggsgNXmhKY.htmlsi=H6lz2Vl7NNwAgf2G , and in this live gig, as guest bassist, ex Marty Friedman and East Of Eden's Wakazaemon: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-gL2GQWhJaNQ.htmlsi=OlXAJFEYoOIiQ7aj ✌
