Keep the Hope Extra

Fiddly alt. rockers Balloons have been more persistent than most in their efforts to raise money for victims of the March 11 quake and tsunami – after all, vocalist Kyosuke Fujimoto hails from Iwate Prefecture. After organising four benefit gigs under the 'Keep the Hope' banner, they're seeing the year out with a scaled-up show at Unit, featuring a dozen other bands. If you like your guitar rock riddled with tricksy fretwork and off-kilter time signatures, you'll probably grok most of the acts here, including math-rockers Lite, emo-tinged post-hardcore groups Akutagawa and As Meias, frenzied skronkers Pasta Fasta and prog-jazz-hardcore oddballs Z. Money raised will be donated to Ashinaga's work to support children in the worst affected regions.