(no subject)
Eventually, I'll post another entry about what I've been up to that isn't concert related. Today is not that day.
On Friday night, I met up with Aki in Odaiba to go see LM.C! The live was at Zepp Tokyo. First, Aki and I met up at the station. We had about an hour to kill until doors, so we went to Venus Fort to eat at McDonald's. Then, we made our way to Zepp Tokyo. I'd never been there before, so I hadn't realized, but Zepp Tokyo is literally under the giant Odaiba ferris wheel.
It was a seated live, so there was no rush to get in. Aki and I stopped to take pictures of the adorable posters for the live. The poster shows an advertisement for a Maya vs. Aiji boxing match and the caption on it is "Float like a rabbit, sting like a mosquito". It's silly and I love it. I bought the tour pamphlet, which has the same boxing match concept. I also bought one of the cute bunny mascot keychains. I'm not part of the fan club, so I didn't get one, but for Team LM.C members they were selling Run LM.C merch (parodying Run DM.C), which I thought was pretty clever.
Aki and I then went to find our seats. We were in the 8th row, on the left side of the center section. It was a lovely view! I'm really glad that Aki offered to get me a ticket as well because I wouldn't have gotten seats that good without being in the fan club. Then we waited about half an hour for the show to start.
The show started with the usual "No. 9" intro, as we all clapped along. Aiji and then Maya took the stage! They were both wearing their Double Dragon outfits and they still had their Double Dragon hairstyles. I'd been wondering if they'd start with "Double Dragon", but they kicked the setlist off with "Let Me Crazy", which made for a good opener. I think I remember the second song being "Oh My Juliet". After that the order gets really fuzzy. (I'm starting to forget the set order and I can't find a good setlist yet.)
Maya was such a cutie. Seriously, I don't even. For some reason, his gestures and demeanor seemed extra sassy that night, bouncing around the stage and flipping the mic around. (Sassy's really the most suitable word I could think of. XD) For instance, he finished singing an upbeat song (don't remember which one) and gave us a sassy little "お疲れ~ (^_−)☆ ". He also tugged at the bottom of his shirt a lot while he was singing, revealing a more sculpted stomach than I'd expected. Not that I was complaining!
Unfortunately, I didn't have as good of a view of Aiji, as the person in front of me was at just the right angle to effectively block him from my view about 70% of the time. Aiji did come over to the other side of the stage a few times though and then I had a much better view of him! He definitely rocked it out, as he always does. I also love it when he sings the background vocals. I really wish that I could see him and Maya perform as The Mad LM.C sometime because I love hearing Aiji do vocals, too!
I could guess when the band was going to play "Double Dragon" because they brought out Maya's tambourine along with his mic stand. I have to admit, the first time I heard "Double Dragon" I liked it, but didn't love it. The more I've listened to it, the more it's grown on me though!
This was my first time seeing a lot of the songs from Strong Pop being performed, like "Ah Hah!", "Baby Talk", and "Game of Life". Strong Pop was a good, solid album, but it's not one of my favorite LM.C albums. I think I appreciate it more after seeing some of the songs performed live though. They were a lot of fun!
Maya got pretty chatty during his MCs. Of course, he talked about the new year. He kept mentioning that the new year was our chance to do something new ("チャンスだよ!") . It was pretty cute. He also had a silly moment where he accidentally said, "Let's go Shibuya!" instead of "Let's go Odaiba!", then quickly realized his mistake as soon as he said it. We all giggled about it. (≧∇≦)
There was a slow set in the middle of the show, which started with "88". As the fans raised up their blue light sticks for "88", I realized that I'd completely forgotten about it, otherwise I would've gotten one when I bought my goods before the show. I was still able to sing along with everyone else though. "88" is really such a lovely song. It could've been my imagination, but I thought Maya looked pretty emotional during the song. The next song was "何も始まらなかった一日の終わりに", which is another beautiful song. The boys then ended the set with "marble-s".
The band performed both "We Are LM.C!!" and "Crazy A Go Go" to pump us up at different points throughout the show. During "Crazy A Go Go", Maya threw a water bottle near our section of the audience, but it went over my head. I did get splashed by it a bit though, which felt nice.
Other songs that I definitely remember the band performing include "Super Duper Galaxy", "Space Wannbiez", "Funny Phantom", "Ghost Heart", "星の在処" and "The Love Song". The setlist was really fun, though I've gotta say, I was a bit disappointed that they didn't play "Punky Heart" because it's my favorite.
The boys wrapped up the show with "Rock the LM.C", which is always the most fun song! Everyone gets so pumped, jumping around while singing and shouting along. During the song Maya was showing off a little, rolling up one of his shirt sleeves to show his muscles. Silly boy. He also went over to Aiji and rolled up one of Aiji's sleeves (while Aiji was still playing guitar) so that we could see Aiji's muscles, too. (｀・ω・´)”
After "Rock the LM.C", Maya and Aiji introduced the band and gave them all high fives before they sent them off the stage. Then Aiji gave us his New Year's greeting and thanked us for coming to the show! (Talk to us more, Aiji!) Maya and Aiji then said their goodbyes to us and made their way off the stage. We started chanting for them to come back.
The band then proceed to announce their new tour in the most adorable and New Year appropriate way. The "Be Strong, Be Pop" intro started playing and a calligraphy banner, written by Maya, was brought onstage. It announced the name of this summer's tour: Strong Side vs. Pop Side! Then from the second floor of Zepp Tokyo, calligraphy banners that had been written by all of the different members were unveiled two at a time, in time to the music. The banners on one side of the stage announced the "Strong Side" concert dates and the banners on the other side announced the "Pop Side" concert dates! It seems that they'll be different setlists for both kinds of shows. Then at the end, the final banner was unveiled at the front of the stage. It was written by Aiji and it announced the tour final, which will take place in Shibuya!
I think the audience was hoping for an encore after the announcement (I know I was), but the lights came on and the end of concert announcement started playing. Maya cutely cut in, telling us to be careful on our way home and to come to the next tour.
Aki and I made our way back to the station. She had gotten so pumped during the live that she was losing her voice. XD I'd almost forgotten how big of an LM.C fan she is because I usually see her at exist+trace shows. We had to go our separate ways at the station, but first we high-fived and confirmed that we'd see each other at the next week's upcoming exist+trace live.
Seeing LM.C again was a lot of fun! Their shows are always so positive and full of energy that it's impossible not to enjoy yourself. Those boys are adorable and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing them again! Aki and I mentioned the possibility of going to the tour final later this year, which I'd love to do.
I've got an exist+trace live coming up on Wednesday, which will be the end of my "four lives in four weeks" schedule. Can't wait! After that, I promise to start updating about other things again.
On Friday night, I met up with Aki in Odaiba to go see LM.C! The live was at Zepp Tokyo. First, Aki and I met up at the station. We had about an hour to kill until doors, so we went to Venus Fort to eat at McDonald's. Then, we made our way to Zepp Tokyo. I'd never been there before, so I hadn't realized, but Zepp Tokyo is literally under the giant Odaiba ferris wheel.
It was a seated live, so there was no rush to get in. Aki and I stopped to take pictures of the adorable posters for the live. The poster shows an advertisement for a Maya vs. Aiji boxing match and the caption on it is "Float like a rabbit, sting like a mosquito". It's silly and I love it. I bought the tour pamphlet, which has the same boxing match concept. I also bought one of the cute bunny mascot keychains. I'm not part of the fan club, so I didn't get one, but for Team LM.C members they were selling Run LM.C merch (parodying Run DM.C), which I thought was pretty clever.
Aki and I then went to find our seats. We were in the 8th row, on the left side of the center section. It was a lovely view! I'm really glad that Aki offered to get me a ticket as well because I wouldn't have gotten seats that good without being in the fan club. Then we waited about half an hour for the show to start.
The show started with the usual "No. 9" intro, as we all clapped along. Aiji and then Maya took the stage! They were both wearing their Double Dragon outfits and they still had their Double Dragon hairstyles. I'd been wondering if they'd start with "Double Dragon", but they kicked the setlist off with "Let Me Crazy", which made for a good opener. I think I remember the second song being "Oh My Juliet". After that the order gets really fuzzy. (I'm starting to forget the set order and I can't find a good setlist yet.)
Maya was such a cutie. Seriously, I don't even. For some reason, his gestures and demeanor seemed extra sassy that night, bouncing around the stage and flipping the mic around. (Sassy's really the most suitable word I could think of. XD) For instance, he finished singing an upbeat song (don't remember which one) and gave us a sassy little "お疲れ~ (^_−)☆ ". He also tugged at the bottom of his shirt a lot while he was singing, revealing a more sculpted stomach than I'd expected. Not that I was complaining!
Unfortunately, I didn't have as good of a view of Aiji, as the person in front of me was at just the right angle to effectively block him from my view about 70% of the time. Aiji did come over to the other side of the stage a few times though and then I had a much better view of him! He definitely rocked it out, as he always does. I also love it when he sings the background vocals. I really wish that I could see him and Maya perform as The Mad LM.C sometime because I love hearing Aiji do vocals, too!
I could guess when the band was going to play "Double Dragon" because they brought out Maya's tambourine along with his mic stand. I have to admit, the first time I heard "Double Dragon" I liked it, but didn't love it. The more I've listened to it, the more it's grown on me though!
This was my first time seeing a lot of the songs from Strong Pop being performed, like "Ah Hah!", "Baby Talk", and "Game of Life". Strong Pop was a good, solid album, but it's not one of my favorite LM.C albums. I think I appreciate it more after seeing some of the songs performed live though. They were a lot of fun!
Maya got pretty chatty during his MCs. Of course, he talked about the new year. He kept mentioning that the new year was our chance to do something new ("チャンスだよ!") . It was pretty cute. He also had a silly moment where he accidentally said, "Let's go Shibuya!" instead of "Let's go Odaiba!", then quickly realized his mistake as soon as he said it. We all giggled about it. (≧∇≦)
There was a slow set in the middle of the show, which started with "88". As the fans raised up their blue light sticks for "88", I realized that I'd completely forgotten about it, otherwise I would've gotten one when I bought my goods before the show. I was still able to sing along with everyone else though. "88" is really such a lovely song. It could've been my imagination, but I thought Maya looked pretty emotional during the song. The next song was "何も始まらなかった一日の終わりに", which is another beautiful song. The boys then ended the set with "marble-s".
The band performed both "We Are LM.C!!" and "Crazy A Go Go" to pump us up at different points throughout the show. During "Crazy A Go Go", Maya threw a water bottle near our section of the audience, but it went over my head. I did get splashed by it a bit though, which felt nice.
Other songs that I definitely remember the band performing include "Super Duper Galaxy", "Space Wannbiez", "Funny Phantom", "Ghost Heart", "星の在処" and "The Love Song". The setlist was really fun, though I've gotta say, I was a bit disappointed that they didn't play "Punky Heart" because it's my favorite.
The boys wrapped up the show with "Rock the LM.C", which is always the most fun song! Everyone gets so pumped, jumping around while singing and shouting along. During the song Maya was showing off a little, rolling up one of his shirt sleeves to show his muscles. Silly boy. He also went over to Aiji and rolled up one of Aiji's sleeves (while Aiji was still playing guitar) so that we could see Aiji's muscles, too. (｀・ω・´)”
After "Rock the LM.C", Maya and Aiji introduced the band and gave them all high fives before they sent them off the stage. Then Aiji gave us his New Year's greeting and thanked us for coming to the show! (Talk to us more, Aiji!) Maya and Aiji then said their goodbyes to us and made their way off the stage. We started chanting for them to come back.
The band then proceed to announce their new tour in the most adorable and New Year appropriate way. The "Be Strong, Be Pop" intro started playing and a calligraphy banner, written by Maya, was brought onstage. It announced the name of this summer's tour: Strong Side vs. Pop Side! Then from the second floor of Zepp Tokyo, calligraphy banners that had been written by all of the different members were unveiled two at a time, in time to the music. The banners on one side of the stage announced the "Strong Side" concert dates and the banners on the other side announced the "Pop Side" concert dates! It seems that they'll be different setlists for both kinds of shows. Then at the end, the final banner was unveiled at the front of the stage. It was written by Aiji and it announced the tour final, which will take place in Shibuya!
I think the audience was hoping for an encore after the announcement (I know I was), but the lights came on and the end of concert announcement started playing. Maya cutely cut in, telling us to be careful on our way home and to come to the next tour.
Aki and I made our way back to the station. She had gotten so pumped during the live that she was losing her voice. XD I'd almost forgotten how big of an LM.C fan she is because I usually see her at exist+trace shows. We had to go our separate ways at the station, but first we high-fived and confirmed that we'd see each other at the next week's upcoming exist+trace live.
Seeing LM.C again was a lot of fun! Their shows are always so positive and full of energy that it's impossible not to enjoy yourself. Those boys are adorable and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing them again! Aki and I mentioned the possibility of going to the tour final later this year, which I'd love to do.
I've got an exist+trace live coming up on Wednesday, which will be the end of my "four lives in four weeks" schedule. Can't wait! After that, I promise to start updating about other things again.