An Cafe (or Antic Cafe) (アンティック-珈琲店-（カフェ）, Antikku Kafe?)

An Cafe (or Antic Cafe) (アンティック-珈琲店-（カフェ）, Antikku Kafe?) is a Japanese rock band formed in 2003 and signed to the independent label Loop Ash. They have been described as an oshare kei band, a subset of visual kei; however, they refer themselves to Visual Kei. As of their formation, the group has released four full-length albums and two EPs. On September 1, 2009, the band announced that after their live on January 4 2010 at the Nippon Budokan, they will be suspending activities.

History

An Cafe was formed in May 2003 with Miku, Kanon and Bou, who would later be joined by Teruki after leaving his former band, Feathers-Blue. The band played live shows for their first year, without any releases.

In 2004, After their PMC failed to gain a strong foothold, An Cafe released their first demos and signed a record deal with Loop Ash. Their first release, "Candyholic", was released in March and reached the second spot on the Oricon indies single chart.[1] The band continued touring and releasing, including their first album, Shikisai Moment, in 2005. The band released even more singles in 2006 until their second studio album, Magnya Carta (a play on "Magna Carta").

In 2007, the band announced their first overseas appearance at Project A-Kon. The announcement of this was followed shortly by the departure of guitarist Bou. The last performance with Bou was on April 30, 2007, and was featured in a DVD titled Hibiya On ☆The☆ 0 New Sekai. After Bou left the band, two new members were announced: Takuya was to replace Bou as the guitarist and Yu-ki was to join An Cafe as a keyboardist. The first single with their new lineup was announced as "Kakusei Heroism" followed by "Ryūsei Rocket". At the end of 2007, An Cafe announced their first overseas tour, taking place in Europe in 2008.

In the opening weeks of 2008, An Cafe announced their upcoming single, "Cherry Saku Yuki!!", in February, as well as their next studio album, Gokutama Rock Cafe, which was released on April 9, 2008.[2]

An Cafe's latest EP, Harajuku Dance Rock, was released on March 13, 2009.

They have also announced an upcoming fourth album, entitled BB Parallel World, which is set to be released in Japan on September 9, 2009, and in Europe on October 2, 2009.[dated info] It will contain the title tracks of singles "Aroma", "Summer Dive" and "Natsu Koi ★ Natsu GAME", as well as eight other songs.

In 2010, it has been confirmed that An Cafe will be taking a break from activities. It is yet unknown as to how long they will be on hiatus for, but they have not stated they will be disbanding. The message, issued on their official homepage, claims that "after the Budokan show, each member will concentrate on their own activity to be prepared for the band to restart in the future." The aforementioned Nippon Budokan show takes place on January 4, 2010.[3]



Members

* Miku (みく?) – Vocals (2003-Present)
* Takuya – Guitar (2007-Present)
* Kanon (カノン?) – Bass (2003-Present)
* Yu-ki (ゆうき, Yūki?) – Keyboard (2007-Present)
* Teruki (輝喜?) – Drums (2003-Present)
Former Members

* Bou (坊?) - Guitar (2003–2007)