Macross Crossover Live

[Tochiro]

=D If only we had known about that in advance...

Yes, they did show some scenes from Opening animation and some clips from anime,

with the song "Koi no Banana Moon."

I've been told that it was "Now get out before they start preparation for Tokyo Motor Show!

If we could not clear up this place in time, we have to pay some penalty!!"

Oh dude!

>【チケット一般発売】2009/8/29(土)10：00～

>ローソンチケット／チケットぴあ／CNプレイガイド／e＋／ちけっとぽーと

>発売方法及び場所に関しては直接プレイガイドへお問合せ下さい。

>「ちけっとぽーと」での販売は11月27日 (金)東京公演のみ

>[お問合せ]ちけっとぽーと　TEL：03-5403-3330

The tickets seems to have been on sale on Aug. 29 already.

(Sorry I don't know the details, as my friend got one for me)

They say a shop called ちけっとぽーと(Chiketto Pooto, or Ticket Port?)

will sell some on Nov. 27. Maybe you can try this.

Yeah, I picked mine up a couple of months ago. I seem to remember asking around the forums but noone seemed interested in going so Ill be there all by my lonesome.

It's funny though, I've had a lot of people ask about the concert this week - looks like the Crossover Live really rekindled peoples love of BOMBAAAAAA!

[Black Valkyrie]

Yesterday my friend told me when Mari was singing DYRL, everyone in audience and including her cried.

[Zinjo]

Gubaba - the problem is that she SHOULD have just done all of her Macross songs since thats what everyone wanted and she only ended up singng for 30mins anyway even with the original songs tacked on. It was really just another example of Iijimas Shatner-complex when it comes to her being Minmay in the eyes of her fans. Also, the original songs were deep - something I think had an effect on how long it took her to warm up on the Minmay songs.

Not trying to be Mr. Negative here, but for me Iijima is THE major reason I went to the concert (having seen the Mac. F girls live 3 times already and with a FB concert coming in November). So I would have liked more of her Macross stuff. Well, fingers crossed for today!

Well I can understand you wanting to hear her sing the Macross songs, but you have to realize that she is an artist with a new album out. Naturally she's going to promote it at every opportunity. Keep in mind she doesn't live there anymore, so she doesn't get the exposure the others do. I agree Mari should have been given more time, but the reality is that Fire Bomber had what? Four or Five albums AFTER the series ended! I suspect only May'n and Megumi are getting as much new material as they had.

I doubt her motives were narcissistic, but rather marketing movitated.

The "squeaking" of her old Minmay songs are no surprise either. I doubt your voice is the same pitch as it was when you were 19, I know mine isn't. She could sing in the same pitch she did back then and risk injuring her voice. Not something singers are interested in doing anywhere. The reality is that the soulful songstress mantel has been passed to May'n and that is the way it should be. Frontier is the Macross for the next generation and their "Minmay" is going to be Sheryl...

[Tochiro]

Well I can understand you wanting to hear her sing the Macross songs, but you have to realize that she is an artist with a new album out. Naturally she's going to promote it at every opportunity. Keep in mind she doesn't live there anymore, so she doesn't get the exposure the others do. I agree Mari should have been given more time, but the reality is that Fire Bomber had what? Four or Five albums AFTER the series ended! I suspect only May'n and Megumi are getting as much new material as they had.

I doubt her motives were narcissistic, but rather marketing movitated.

The "squeaking" of her old Minmay songs are no surprise either. I doubt your voice is the same pitch as it was when you were 19, I know mine isn't. She could sing in the same pitch she did back then and risk injuring her voice. Not something singers are interested in doing anywhere. The reality is that the soulful songstress mantel has been passed to May'n and that is the way it should be. Frontier is the Macross for the next generation and their "Minmay" is going to be Sheryl...

Sorry, I think you've missunderstood me. I totally understand that she probably can't do Minmay anymore. That's totally understandable. My point is that she should have stuck to a single style. I would have had no problem if she had chosen to do all the songs in her natural voice- in fact that would have probably been the best way- but the fact that she tried to switch between styles hurt her performance. After two songs she warmed up and did a terrific version of Runner. But as a professional, she shouldn't be subjecting the audience to warm up songs. That just came accross as unprofessional.

And as for the singing of non macross songs, I'm sorry but we are going to have to agree to disagree here. It was not the time or place for self promosion. Did Arai sing any of her orginal stuff? Kasahara? Kajiura even? No. Because this was a Macross concert. Iijima original songs completely broke the pattern and flow of the concert and confused the audience. There was no explanation of what was going in. People stopped waving their glow sticks. That's a sure fire sign that the audience is pissed. Now I'm an Iijima fan and I realize she needs all the promotion she can get. But this was neither the time nor place.

Having said that, she seemed to have done more warming up on Sunday and was also a lot more relaxed onstage. Word had also gotten out that she was doing a few original songs so the audience was prepared and reacted better.

Will have some impressions and pics up tomorrow after work if anyone is intersted.

[dreamweaver13]

And as for the singing of non macross songs, I'm sorry but we are going to have to agree to disagree here. It was not the time or place for self promosion. Did Arai sing any of her orginal stuff? Kasahara? Kajiura even? No. Because this was a Macross concert. Iijima original songs completely broke the pattern and flow of the concert and confused the audience. There was no explanation of what was going in. People stopped waving their glow sticks. That's a sure fire sign that the audience is pissed. Now I'm an Iijima fan and I realize she needs all the promotion she can get. But this was neither the time nor place.

Having said that, she seemed to have done more warming up on Sunday and was also a lot more relaxed onstage. Word had also gotten out that she was doing a few original songs so the audience was prepared and reacted better.

I'm not taking a side here, just a speculation. maybe she agreed to do the show in the first place on the condition that she would be allowed to sing some originals. I've heard about her hesitation to go back to the minmay role, because she wants to promote her own stuff; so maybe this is the way they convinced her to come back.

[Tochiro]

I'm not taking a side here, just a speculation. maybe she agreed to do the show in the first place on the condition that she would be allowed to sing some originals. I've heard about her hesitation to go back to the minmay role, because she wants to promote her own stuff; so maybe this is the way they convinced her to come back.

Good point! I was thinking along those lines myself.

In the end it was worth it for the good songs regardless.

[AcroRay]

My impression of Mari re: Minmay - after what I've read and what she said when I met her - was that she was a bit sick of her "Minmay" typecasting for some time, and has only recently come to amicable terms with the character's place in her life.

It reminded me a bit of how Leonard Nemoy spent some time struggling with the public's perception of him only as "Mr. Spock" rather than the more-widely capable professional and artist that he was, and only relatively recently came to better appreciate that part of his life, and utilize it to its fullest while still maintaining a separate identity.

I think this is a series of phases that many professional entertainers go through if their popular success is defined primarily by a single role or work early in their careers.

I'll add that I firmly believe that ADV's respectful inclusion of her in their MACROSS dub production probably did a great deal to soothe her toward Minmay. She had the opportunity to work with younger people who alternately didn't know her has Minmay, and older experienced people who knew her very well as Minmay but were professionals themselves.

Edited October 22, 2009 by AcroRay

[Marzan]

Sorry, I think you've missunderstood me. I totally understand that she probably can't do Minmay anymore. That's totally understandable. My point is that she should have stuck to a single style. I would have had no problem if she had chosen to do all the songs in her natural voice- in fact that would have probably been the best way- but the fact that she tried to switch between styles hurt her performance. After two songs she warmed up and did a terrific version of Runner. But as a professional, she shouldn't be subjecting the audience to warm up songs. That just came accross as unprofessional.

And as for the singing of non macross songs, I'm sorry but we are going to have to agree to disagree here. It was not the time or place for self promosion. Did Arai sing any of her orginal stuff? Kasahara? Kajiura even? No. Because this was a Macross concert. Iijima original songs completely broke the pattern and flow of the concert and confused the audience. There was no explanation of what was going in. People stopped waving their glow sticks. That's a sure fire sign that the audience is pissed. Now I'm an Iijima fan and I realize she needs all the promotion she can get. But this was neither the time nor place.

Having said that, she seemed to have done more warming up on Sunday and was also a lot more relaxed onstage. Word had also gotten out that she was doing a few original songs so the audience was prepared and reacted better.

Will have some impressions and pics up tomorrow after work if anyone is intersted.

Some of us living half way across the planet really, really appreciate your reviews of the concert. Thanks

My two cents on Mari Ijima is that one her conditions for accepting the gig was that she should be allowed to play her solo material. While I agree with you on that this wasn't perhaps the best ocasion to do it, I kinda also understand her frustration. It must be kinda hard to have peaked as an artist when you were a teenager, never again to regain that popularity...

It must be kinda tough to have peaked as an artist when you were a teenager and never again reach those heights.

[nanoplasm]

Some of us living half way across the planet really, really appreciate your reviews of the concert. Thanks

My two cents on Mari Ijima is that one her conditions for accepting the gig was that she should be allowed to play her solo material. While I agree with you on that this wasn't perhaps the best ocasion to do it, I kinda also understand her frustration. It must be kinda hard to have peaked as an artist when you were a teenager, never again to regain that popularity...

It must be kinda tough to have peaked as an artist when you were a teenager and never again reach those heights.

I agree with Tochiro.

Regardless if there was a conditional agreement to promote her original songs at the concert, the original songs shouldn't be part of the concert in the first place.

Speaking for myself, I am a "fan" of Minmay songs by the artist Mari Iijima. Either one without the other just doesn't do it for me; Minmay songs by other artists are just novelties. For the her to be upset about being typecast as Minmay, or demand conditional agreement to to promote non-Macross originals at a Macross concert, is fundamentally alienating herself from fans like me.

It's not ideal for a singer to be typecast into a single role, but there are MANY other struggling artists not even given the same opportunity.

Instead of being annoyed, she should embrace her role as the voice of Minmay and capitalize on this fact. Many artists promote their own originals as track 2 of their anime-related singles, or as bonus tracks of anime albums. The reverse is also done, to include an anime bonus tracks in original albums.

Take Megumi for example, she (perhaps her mgr) understood her sudden fame is due to her role as Ranka. To make the most out of this opportunity, she signs her name w/ 'heart' Ranka at the Macross events. She also included Macross bonus track in her original album. Because she accepted the fact that there might never be another success in her career as the role of Ranka.

I wish the best for Mari and her non-Macross career, but she should probably focus on feeding the rabid appetite of her loyal Minmay-fan. Fans who has the financial means of splurging on their childhood nostalgic diva/crush/heart-throb.

[UN Spacy]

I don't think the Crossover Live gallery has been posted before.

[Save]

I don't think the Crossover Live gallery has been posted before.

That's not from Crossover Live that was from yesterday's presentation of Ferver Macross Pachinko event held at a hotel in Odaiba.

[Tochiro]

Sorry to keep everyone waiting.

Well, I’ve had a few days to reflect back on both performances last weekend. As I originally posted, yes both days of the concert had serious flaws. But negatives aside, the event was a very personal one for me. Emotional even. Each stage of Macross and it’s music has pretty much defined a period of my life – Macross/Robotech when I was a kid (then rediscovered in Junior High), Macross 2 and Macross Plus in Senior High and during what was to be the first of many trips to Japan, Macross 7 in university (Basara rocked many a drive home with friends), Macross Zero during my first job in Japan at the Prefectural Government, and Macross Frontier during my current job in a totally different industry. No matter where I’ve been in life there’s normally been some sort of Macross OST playing in the background. And while some have played a bigger role than others (ie, I didn’t discover a lot of the original Japanese Macross songs until I was in university and fell out of love with Firebomber for a brief period during the Macross Zero years), I never thought I’d get to see any of the music performed live. Never in my wildest dreams, not even having moved to Japan. I mean, the original Macross was 20 years old and every Macross since had only reinforced its status as a very niche title, especially in Japan which had 30 years of well publicized Gundam and a gazillion other mecha shows that audiences grew up with and could wax nostalgic about.

Unfortunately I missed the 25th Anniversary Concert due to a trip back to Australia, so when I heard about the Crossover Live I knew that I had to go whatever the cost.

As luck would have it, I ended up being able to attend both days. This was fortunate, since it was really necessary see both performances to get the ENTIRE experience.

I’m sure that the organizers did this on purpose to get people to go twice…bastards…..although, according to the BBS set up on the official concert site, this is exactly what a large amount of people did. I’ve heard friends estimate the number of repeat attendees as high as 50% based on the BBS and other forum feedback (not that there’s any hard evidence to back this up, of course).

So how was it? Overwhelmingly terrific with a few flaws which seemed to be more of an issue on Saturday than Sunday. I’ve mentioned these in a previous post, but I’ll touch on them again here briefly. For starters, the hall was stifling. I’m not sure whether the aircon was inadequate or downright broken, but even Fukuyama commented about it when talking to the audience. The sound mixing was also atrocious – but only during the Firebomber segment on both days. Perhaps it was one of Fukuyama’s roadies or maybe it was just that the sound tester didn’t account for the difference in levels between a piano accompaniment to Ai Oboete imasuka? and having FOUR electric guitars rock out for Holy Lonely Night. Poor Kajiura missed half a verse on Saturday due to not being able to hear what was going on. On Sunday she stopped the band all together mid-My Friends and demanded they start again. She constantly had one hand on her earpiece and her face in a scowl. Hang on, this is Kajiura we’re talking about here. She always scowls. That’s kind of her appeal – amazingly cute voice coming out of a goth-clad scowling Japanese girl. The juxtaposition always made me chuckle. Hehehe. Oops, there I go again. Finally, the Producer seemed to be fairly incompetent since there was much more scope for mashups and duets than the straight sets that most of the show was comprised of. But maybe I was spoiled by the Yoko Kanno Tanabata Sonic back in July. By Sunday I knew what to expect and felt that I enjoyed the lineup more as a result. Then again, the lineup was balanced better on Sunday due to the two Arai songs we got in between Iijima and Firebomber, as opposed to the single Kasahara song separating them on Saturday.

Sound and pacing issues aside, the concert was yet another one of those once in a lifetime experiences. I seem to have been using that word a lot over the past 12 months. First the Macross Frontier concert, then the Yoko Kanno one. Whether its due to brilliant marketing (being 2009 and all) or coincidence, or just a side effect of Frontier’s success, this year has definitely been the BIGGEST year for Macross events ever.

<u><b>The Merch</b></u>

All good concerts start with hours of waiting in line to buy merch and this one was no exception. Fans were waiting in line from 8am on Saturday (when goods went on sale at 11am) and just before 7am on Sunday (1when the store opened at 10am). The goods shop featured the largest array of merchandise I’ve ever seen at an anime-related concert, period. Half of the goods were exclusive to the concert while the other half were items that had previously been released (CDs, calendars, caps, Ranka ramen and Sherryl… sausages?). I kept it simple and went with the concert brochure, t-shirt, and a set of stick posters. I also grabbed an advanced sale ticket to the theatrical release in November since it was being sold at 500yen cheaper than normal and also came with a free poster. The line was a few hundred people long and was patrolled by a pair of Macross segways!

I saw people buying $300 or $400 worth of merchandise. Macross events are rare and all, but wow… actually a lot of it seems to have made its way onto Yahoo Auctions ^^;

<u><b>The Venue</b></u>

I’ve never been to two anime events that have really been the same in terms of pre-event atmosphere. Larger events tend to have nothing much once you enter the venue apart from drink vendors and the traditional bouquets sent to the artist/s by supporters and well-wishers. Smaller events tend to have fans singing and generally getting pumped up before the show. Mid-sized ones often have different merchandise for sale inside the venue and often a display or activity of some sort (eg, at the Macross Frontier concert there was a model display and karaoke stand). Being a mid-large scale event, the Crossover foyer featured pretty much what I head expected – product displays from its main sponsor Sankyo. This meant the new Macross pachinko game. There were 3 units on display along with a few tvs playing Macross commercials. There were also posters and Minmay cardboard stands. A lot of them! Also, a few posters for the theatrical release and a prototype for the upcoming 1/2000 SDF-1 model.

No karaoke this time though, which was unfortunate…or was it?

<u><b>The Concert</b></u>

<b>1) Intro</b>

After watching a looping set of Pachinko and Ultimate Frontier commercials, Exedore came up on the screen and introduced himself. He explained about the concert and that the facilities were only made in Miclone size, so noone was to enter unless they had been Miclonized first. Otherwise they might...well, you know...break the arena.

He then introduced the audience to ...

<b>2) Sherryl & Ranka</b>

May’n was the first act and started off with 3 songs including the new single PINK MONSOON. I really like this song for some reason. Yes it’s very 80’s... but in a good kind of way.

Then Megumi Nakajima came on-stage, opening with SOU DA YO (another new song from the theatrical release) and another two songs. We then got a couple of duets between the two (ie, TRIANGLER).

All the Frontier songs were great although there was no mixing things up and no Medley - these were pretty much straight up album versions. They were all done flawlessly although personally (having seen them done a few times before) the big highlight was the new new songs.

On Saturday this opening set lasted around 40 mins. On Sunday it took a bit longer because there was a break for... May’ns birthday! Yes, she was due to turn 20 later on in the week, so Sunday was her last performance as a teen. Anyone who has ever read May’ns blog knows what her favourite food in the whole world is - tai-yaki (a kind of fish-shaped waffle filled with red-bean paste) and, just as she appeared out of the stage to begin a song... Nakajima started singing happy birthday with the audience. Then Aya Endo came out on stage with a HUGE tai-yaki. She claimed it was 10 times the size of a regular one but it more like 20 times the size if you ask me. May’n was caught totally by surprise. Endo gave a little speech about how she had watched May’n grow as a professional over the past two years and how it was thanks to May’n that she was able to keep playing the role of Sherryl. Many tears were shed.

<b>3) Mari Iijima/Minmay</b>

While all the other acts were introduced by an animated clip, Iijima was introduced by a rather artistic animation of an oil painting. This had nothing to do with Macross because, well, her first three songs had nothing to do with Macross either. Now, Iijima’s struggle to accept her fame as Minmay as opposed to an independent artist has been a long one and is well documented elsewhere so I won’t go into it here. Similarly, I won’t go into whether or not she should’ve done non-Macross songs at a Macross event. The main thing to note is that the audience was confused and the hall went pretty silent during these songs on Saturday. By Sunday word had obviously spread and people seemed to be expecting these, so it was less of an issue.

A clip of Macross was played along to a recording of WATASHI NO KARE WA PILOT, before Iijima came out again to do her Minmay songs.

She started off with the 2002 techno remixes of 0-G LOVE and TENSHI NO E NO GU. These...weren’t the best. The tempo was obviously too fast for her and she had serious trouble dropping back into her Minmay voice. She was considerably more relaxed and warmed up on Sunday though. These were followed by her playing the piano while singing AI OBOETE IMASU KA while clouds of stage fog rolled across the stage. A wonderful rendition, made all the more poignant by the simple piano backing.

With the suicide of AI OBOETE IMASU KA composer Kazuhiko Kato on Saturday, it was obvious that his death would come up at some point during the concert. The news didn’t hit, as far as I was aware, until after the concert on Saturday night. It turned out, however, that the staff knew about it on Saturday but conspired to keep Iijima in the dark. She didn’t find out until after the concert on Saturday night. On sunday she took about 10 mins before AI OBOETE IMASU KA to talk about the influence of Kato on her life and how she was certain it was his spirit next to her on Saturday that allowed her to play the song so well. Tears were shed before she noted that while Kato and even Hikaru (Arihiro Ayase) were dead, she was still alive and would go on. Even though she often felt that, living in the US, if she herself died the only one to find her would possibly be the postman. Rather macabre, but she gathered every ounce of Minmay she had left in her for that final song.

<b>4) Ishtar (Saturday)</b>

On Saturday, Iijima was followed by a completely unexpected appearance by Hiroko Kasahara, introduced by some Macross 2 clips. This was a complete surprise, since Ishtar wasn’t featured in any of the concert promotional material. She only performed one song, MOU ICHIDO LOVE YOU - since that was the only real song Ishtar ever sang. And it was an album perfect version of the song. Utterly perfect. The first Macross soundtrack I ever bought was the Macross 2 soundtrack when visiting Japan as a high school student in 1993. And hearing this song made me feel more than a little nostalgic. I never thought I’d hear it performed live, something which made it all the more special.

<b>Myung (Sunday) </b>

I had my suspicions going in on Sunday. The last Macross event which Kasahara had performed at was the <a href="http://www.ex.org/2.6/08-news_macrossconcert1.html" target="_blank">15th Anniversary Concert</a> - a concert notable for having both Kasahara and Akino Arai perform. So, would she show again this time?

Yes, it turned out that she would. And she would be utterly amazing.

I had heard Nakajima cover VOICES at Tanabata Sonic and thought she did a wonderful job. She totally owned the song - both paying homage to the original and making it her own at the same time. But after hearing Arai perform it, I have to concede that she is still the original and best. She sang possibly the best version of the song I have ever heard, accompanied by a string quartet while playing the piano. Despite being 50 (!) her voice hasn’t changed a bit. This was all the more obvious during her second song WANNA BE AN ANGEL. There were no vocal Macross Plus songs done at Tanabata Sonic other than VOICES so, once again, WANNA BE AN ANGEL was something I never imagined I’d get to hear live. And damn it was perfect. Brought the memory of listening to it on an old cassette walkman on the way to highschool back in the day flooding back.

I hope that Bandai/Big Wst/Sankyo decide to cash in and release a DVD of this concert. Even at Japanese prices, having a recording of Arai performing these two songs alone would be worth it imo.

<b>6) FireBomber</b>

And this brings us to the final and certainly loudest act. The three screens in the hall played a bunch of Macross 7 clips, even showing the whole immigration fleet explanation that played at the beginning of the first few episodes. Then Fukuyama came out on stage - and 7000 sets of eardrums simultaneously exploded.

The Firebomber set was approx. the same on both days - 75 mins or so of pure Basara and Mylene goodness - although for some reason (sound level issues aside) I thought they sounded better on the Saturday. That’s not to say that they were bad on Sunday however. Far from it.

All the classic Macross 7 favourites were covered - PLANET DANCE, MY FRIENDS, HOLEY LONELY NIGHT, LIGHT THE LIGHT, MY SOUL FOR YOU, DYNAMITE EXPLOSION, etc. Some songs from the new RE:FIRE album, such as BURNING FIRE and DANGAN SOUL; the latter being a particular favourite of the crowd. Interestingly, I thought that the live versions of both sounded better than those on the album (DVD BANDAI! NOW!).

Noticeably absent were GET FREE, TRY AGAIN and HEART & SOUL. Oh and TOTSUGEKI LOVE HEART. But that would come later ;-)

Fukuyama took time out here and there to talk to the audience about a bunch of different things: How one of the song titles in RE:FIRE was something he thought of when he was 16 but took 30 years to get around to using; how he had originally recorded all the songs for Macross 7 using an electric guitar - until someone tapped him on the shoulder one day and said ‘You DO realise that Basara carries an ACOUSTIC guitar around with him, don’t you?’; how people had, some time over the past few years, just started to think of him entirely as Basara and were always disappointed when they actually met him - why is Basara’s hair LONG? Did Basara get a bit FAT? etc.

Anyways, the Firebomber set was wrapped up by both Tomo Sakurai and Kanna Nobutoshi coming out on stage! Nobutoshi ran on with his best known line, ‘LISTEN to my song!’, at which point Sakurai ran out as well yelling ‘LISTEN to my song TOO!’

<i>Nobutoshi:</i> .........

<i>Sakurai:</i> ???

<i>Nobutoshi:</i> ‘You just MADE THAT UP didn’t you?

<i>Sakurai:</i> Uhm, yes f(^^<img src="http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="wink.gif" />

All four of them then joined spiritua energy to sing LIGHT THE LIGHT together, with the audience joining in on the chorus.

<b>7) Mashups & Closing</b>

We then entered the encore which consisted of 3 songs:

Firebomber meets Sherry Nome: TOTSUGEKI LOVE HEART

Lynn Minmay meets Ranka Lee: TENSHI NO E NO GU

Everyone: IKI WO SHITEIRU, KANJITEIRU

May’n and Fukuyama had done TOTSUGEKI earlier in the year at her MAY’N ACT concert (I highly recommend the DVD!) and this was basically a much louder version. Remember kids, more electric guitars means more awesomeness!

The Iijima/Nakajima duet was just them sitting at the piano singing together and was right up there with Iijimas AI OBOETE IMASU KA as one of the highligts of the night.

The final song was nice, although I must admit I’m not the hugest fan of the new single. I was also a little surprised that Iijima and Sakurai didnt do FRIENDS: JIKUU WO KOETE. A surprising omission.

After that, the spell was broken and the show was over. Khyron came up on screen to ask what the hell was going on before telling people to get the hell out because they had to prepare for the Tokyo Motor Show. Oh and that we had better not engage in any ‘culture’ with the locals on the way home!

Whew. And that, was that. Sorry for the long post but I didn’t want to forget anything since this was such a special and, for me, personal event. It wasn’t perfect and there were flaws. But the overall magic of hearing all the Macross music done live on stage far made up for any shortcomings.

Next up - the Soul G 30th Anniversary Gundam concert tomorrow and Firebomber in concert next month!

EDIT: Here is a scan of a Crossover Live photo montage I scanned from the F-tama fanclub newsletter.

Crossover.pdf

Edited June 12, 2011 by Tochiro

[Marzan]

Thank you for a terrific and very comprehensive review!! It must have been absolutely awesome to hear all those Macross classics

I really, really hope that they come around to release a CD or DVD of this concert.

[Fortress_Maximus]

Yes, thank you Tochiro for the detailed report. For those of us who did not attend this was very helpful. Out of all the attendees you alone shared the most pictures. Thanks!

[DreamsOfIshtar]

Ishtar. <3

That is all.

[UN Spacy]

Thank you very much for the review Tochiro.

I loved every bit of it. >_<

[Jasonc]

Man, I'd love to get one of those, what looks like a concert program. Anyone have extras???

[Tochiro]

Thanks for the kind words guys. I honestly didnt mean to rant for so long, but it seems that no one reviews concerts online anymore. Normally all I can find is a half-legible fanboi blog filled with lulz.

That 15th Anniversary review at (the now defunct EX.ORG) blew me away when I read it a decade ago. Noone does stuff like that anymore so I try to make a point of posting impressions that are as detailed as possible.

Now if only I could start remembering set lists ^^;

[Cancer107]

Thanks for the kind words guys. I honestly didnt mean to rant for so long, but it seems that no one reviews concerts online anymore. Normally all I can find is a half-legible fanboi blog filled with lulz.

That 15th Anniversary review at (the now defunct EX.ORG) blew me away when I read it a decade ago. Noone does stuff like that anymore so I try to make a point of posting impressions that are as detailed as possible.

Now if only I could start remembering set lists ^^;

Great review Tochiro!

I'm glad that I can find VF-19 I drew there =D

As for the set list, I also wrote a small review of Day 1.

マクロスクロスオーバーライブレポート

It is in JP though... Hope it will help you.

[Cancer107]

I seem to remember asking around the forums but noone seemed interested in going so Ill be there all by my lonesome.

Hehe, too bad. If we are lucky let's meet there.

[AcroRay]

I'm glad that I can find VF-19 I drew there =D

Quite an honor!

[isamu]

Well gents, Im back.....

<impressions>

Tochiro, you are honestly the luckiest person I have ever met on a forum. Damn man, will anything else in your life top this? I know it wouldn't for me.

The fact that Hiroko Kasahara was there and sang Mouichido Love You....UN-FRIKKIN-BELIEVABLE!!!!! Plus Tomo Sakurai? I've always had a crush on her! How did she look? What's she been up to lately?

I would have given anything to be there. Dammit Dammit Dammit!!!! Why do these once in a life time events happen only in Japan? It's a shame. C'mon Bandai and Macross musicians....COME TO THE US FOR ONCE!!!!!!

[Hebime]

It was torture all weekend knowing that the concert was going on just a shikansen ride away from me.

I don't even have the heart to read the review right now.

I didn't even try for a ticket, cash is too tight right now.

Glad those who went had a great time, can only hope for a DVD release like the Frontier concert is getting...

[MisaForever]

I think someone just uploaded some of it???? O_O

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxb9mUdpFU0

FREAKIN' AWESOME IF THAT'S IT!!!!!

MORE!!!

http://www.youtube.com/user/Horoist#p/a/u/1/b58nnkTmCcE

Edited October 26, 2009 by MisaForever

[Gubaba]

I think someone just uploaded some of it???? O_O

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxb9mUdpFU0

FREAKIN' AWESOME IF THAT'S IT!!!!!

I'm betting that's the Budokan show. If anyone filmed the Crossover Live, it would be a crappy cell phone cam or something, without luxuries like multiples camera angles...

[MisaForever]

Hmmmmm I just wondered cause this video was just uploaded today.

[UN Spacy]

That IS Budokan.

[MisaForever]

Sorry to get everyone excited. ^^

[Gubaba]

Sorry to get everyone excited. ^^

Not at all. Just because it's a different concert doesn't mean it's not flat-out awesome.

[Tochiro]

Tochiro, you are honestly the luckiest person I have ever met on a forum. Damn man, will anything else in your life top this? I know it wouldn't for me.

The fact that Hiroko Kasahara was there and sang Mouichido Love You....UN-FRIKKIN-BELIEVABLE!!!!! Plus Tomo Sakurai? I've always had a crush on her! How did she look? What's she been up to lately?

I would have given anything to be there. Dammit Dammit Dammit!!!! Why do these once in a life time events happen only in Japan? It's a shame. C'mon Bandai and Macross musicians....COME TO THE US FOR ONCE!!!!!!

Ahahaha, many thanks - it's really just that I was lucky to stick around in Japan for this long. The past 12 months have been full of AMAZING events: Mac F Concert, Yoko Kanno Concert, Macross Crossover, Gundam Soul G, and Firebomber Reunion in Nov. I dont expect any period to ever come close to 2009 again in terms of events, so I feel really fortunate to be here during this time. Fingers crossed I'll still be in Japan when 2012 rolls around ;-)

FYI, Sakurai looked good! Wish she was doing more regular mainstream anime these days.

[ntsan]

Great review! Hope they would release it on DVD or Blu-ray!

[ntsan]

Great review! Hope they would release it on DVD or Blu-ray!

[ntsan]

Great review! Hope they would release it on DVD or Blu-ray!

[isamu]

Great review! Hope they would release it on DVD or Blu-ray!

Yeah, they need to release it on dvd. I don't know why these companies don't release these events on dvd, what the hell!

[blacklotus]

Yes, please, I need a blu-ray version of it. Money's tight right now so I didn't buy tickets from the sculpers. (Anyway, money's spent there ain't going to the Macross singers that we adore)

And TONNES of Thanks to Tochiro for the wonderful review of both days of the concert. You're a lucky person.

p.s. I knew how you felt: I feel the same way when I finally managed to catch a LIVE Noriko Sakai concert. Definitely more emotional than viewing on TV. But since I cannot be there for the Macross Crossover, a blu-ray/dvd will be a nice consolation prize.

Oh well, a pretty nice runner-up prize will be for me to catch Sheryl and Basara in Singapore next month for the AFA09 event. At least this time around, I can watch them on home ground and save the airfare. Too bad no Minmay/ijima and others here, but beggars can't be choosers. And at least the K!On seiyuus will be around in day 1.

Edited October 26, 2009 by blacklotus