It’s 7am and Hanabie are loitering on the concrete outside Stansted Airport. While there’s nothing glamorous about the scene, the Japanese nu metalcore quartet are a much-needed burst of colour. Later, they’ll be decked out in the technicolour tulle, flouncy skirts and whimsical ribbons of their stage outfits, but right now their luggage is vibrant enough. The girls roll along a trio of pastel-coloured suitcases, while bassist Hettsu trails behind, lugging a vivid purple holdall, the bag complementing her split pink and blue hair. It’s early, but they babble over one another – they can’t stop thinking about how wild their European tour has been so far.
The foursome are a little bleary-eyed, but tour butterflies seem to be the perfect antidote to exhaustion. Over the last week, they’ve barely stopped to catch their breath. Not even 15 hours ago, the gang were performing to one of their biggest crowds yet, luring in 20,000 punters at Austria’s Nova Rock festival. Soon, a van will whisk them off to Donington Park, where they’ll kick off this year’s Download Festival by opening the Opus stage. It will mark their second gig on British soil, their first being a chaotic, sweaty, sold-out evening at Camden’s Underworld last August. Playing the festival will be a total pinch-me milestone for them all.
