LM.C kicked off the beginning of their 10 year anniversary Japan tour with a fun, electrifying live on January 31st at TSUTAYA O-East. It was their first live in a while as well as their first for the year and the venue was bursting with eager fans waiting for their chance to see the band again.
The fun and quirky “No.9” signalled the start of the show and the crowd began clapping along to the thumping beat. Behind the still-closed curtain, the lights of a massive LM.C logo shone through. The curtain opened and the support members entered then guitarist Aiji followed by vocalist Maya who skipped onto the stage and immediately began dancing.
They began with “MONROEwalk”, their newest single and an instant crowd favorite. The catchy rhythms and the band’s infectious enthusiasm had the crowd in constant motion from the start to the end. Even the LM.C staff were taking part, standing to the side of the stage and waving pom-poms in time to the beat.
From newest to oldest, the next song was “☆Rock the LM.C☆”. The whole venue chanted at the top of their lungs, waving their hands in the air backed by Aiji’s solid guitar riffs. Maya couldn’t keep still for a second, dancing in front the stage. He and the crowd took turns singing lines of the song with the crowd then they all belted out “Boys and girls be ambitious!”.
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| Vo. Maya |
Back on stage for “@FUNNY PHANTOM@”, Maya moved from one end of the stage to the next, getting the audience to sing the background vocals. Then for “mR. century”, he stood still in the red lights flooding the stage, and focused on adding vocal power to the the rap verses of the song. Aiji switched back and forth from the guitar to the synthesizer, adding the effects to the song. During “My Favorite Monster”, all the lights began to flash in a dizzying rainbow of colors and the venue was filled with “monsters” going all out clapping and dancing.
After another pause for an MC, “BOOST+BUSTERz” stirred up the venue into a state of electric, manic energy. Maya was running up and down then jumping on the trampoline. Aiji was rocking out and dancing in his corner of the stage while keeping the crowd wild with his heavy guitar riffs. “CRAZY A GO GO” was nothing but a chance for the crowd to go even wilder. Maya grabbed his water bottle and sprayed it over the fired up audience who went even crazier.
“METALLY” kept the momentum going but at the end it seemed the band wasn’t quite satisfied. Maya kept telling the crowd “Not enough!” So he and Aiji decided to do another round of “CRAZY A GO GO”. Not wanting to let the band down, the crowd’s energy this time was almost impossibly higher. Nothing but hair flying every which way among rapidly flashing lights and rapid, angry riffs. “MOGURA” had Maya back in the crowd with the whole crowd of fans reaching and grabbing towards him.
Finally there was a pause for a break and Maya talked about how long it had been since they’ve performed on stage. The crowd screamed their appreciation at the duo and it was easy to tell that everyone was happy to be there. Never keeping still for too long, the giant LM.C logo lit up and then the band launched into “little Fát Màn boy”. Staff began throwing giant colorful balls stamped with the band logo into the crowd and it became chaos of the best kind. The fans bounced the balls back and forth, some reaching the band who gleefully bounced them back. During “Boon!!” everyone was waving along to the beat and the keyboardist and staff donned oversized Mickey Mouse gloves to wave along adding an extra element of silliness and fun. Maya and the bassist cheered for Aiji together with the crowd for his solo. “-SORA 涙色-” eased up the hyper pace of the live thus far and the venue was illuminated by soft blue lights. The crowd clapped along while swaying to the beat and applauded lustily when it was done.
Grabbing the mic, Maya looked at the crowd and asked “Can I say something?”. When the crowd quickly agreed, he smiled saying “This is so much fun”. He bantered back and forth with the crowd for a while, with Aiji jumping as a calm counter to his bandmate’s hyperactive chatter. Maya talked about their decision to start with their new song and the crowd demanded to hear it again to which he responded with an immediate “No way!”. Then he began to talk about an idea of his to record the crowd’s voice for the band to use for an ad. It was an idea that Aiji hadn’t heard about till then and Aiji joking told the crowd “This is why we decided to start at 4 today”. The crowd readily agreed though, and there was an impromptu recording session.
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| Gui. Aiji |
Maya took over the mic again, “It’s our 10th anniversary! That means we’re now a ten year old. I mean just look at my outfit!!” He gestured at his shocking pink getup, sending the crowd into fits of laughter. On a more serious note, he admitted that “Doing LM.C for ten years has been incredibly fun. The phrasing is kinda weak but this is how I feel.” Nonetheless, the crowd understood his feelings completely and they all cheered in love and support.
From that point, the band kept going without barely a pause for breath and the crowd willingly followed. The whole venue sang along when they performed “JUST LIKE THIS!!” and squealed in delight during “Chameleon Dance” when Maya got extra creative with his dances, wiggling and circling his hips. The band struck a pose at the end of the song and the band was so pleased with the crowd’s response that they granted their wish and performed “MONROEwalk” one more time.
The show reached its finale with “BOYS & GIRLS”. Maya and Aiji were at the very edge of the stage, looking down at the fans and unable to keep the smile off their faces. The crowd poured their soul into singing along with their beloved band and when it finally ended, they refused to stop screaming.
Amidst the screams, Maya introduced all the members. He introduced Aiji as “The guy you want to be your Senpai” and himself as “The guy who looks like he’ll be an idiot”. The band stood in the spotlight and waved at the still-screaming crowd. The success of this live promising an exciting year to come.
Setlist:
- SE. No.9
- MONROEwalk
- ☆Rock the LM.C☆
- Loud_Mucker_Complex
- OH MY JULIET
- @FUNNY PHANTOM@
- mR.century
- My Favorite Monster
- BOOST+BUSTERz
- CRAZY A GO GO
- METALLY
- CRAZY A GO GO
- MOGURA
- little Fát Màn boy
- Boon!!
- -SORA 涙色-
- SUPER DUPER GALAXY
- BABY TALK
- Yellow Beauty
- We are LM.C!! ~the Anthem of Strong Pop~
- LET ME’ CRAZY
- JUST LIKE THIS!!
- Chameleon Dance
- MONROEwalk
- BOYS & GIRLS
Thank you to LM.C for this opportunity!
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