May'n Live at the Budokan - BIG WAAAAAAAVE!

[Tochiro]

Since no-one has posted anything about May’ns BIG WAAAAAVE concert at the Budokan on Sunday night, I thought I would throw a couple of impressions up.

Surely someone else from the Macross boards went as well? Someone? Anyone???

When the Budokan gig was announced last year, I initially decided not to go. After all, I’d seen May’n live plenty of times before (4 times in 12 months at that point) and the last solo concert she did – 2009 Summer Concert LOVE & JOY – showed that she was trying to move ahead and establish herself solo career apart from her fame for Kanno’s Macross Frontier songs. The song split at LOVE & JOY was approx. 60% May’n songs and 40% Macross F songs. Now, while I don’t mind some of May’ns original stuff, I vastly prefer her Macross songs, so at that point I decided not to go to any more of vher solo gigs.

But then something happened – Universal Bunny came out. As a sheer Sherryl Nome experience, May’n and Kanno blew my socks off with Universal Bunny. I liked every damn song on the album and knew that…sigh… I had to see them performed live.

The problem was that ticket sales had long since ended and only a handful of tickets were appearing for auction, most reaching the $100 mark or higher. After a few unsuccessful bids I managed to score some stage-side tickets for about $70. These are directly to the side of the stage meaning that you have a profile shot of the singer most of the time and the acoustics tend to be rather unbalanced at best. But due to this they were cheaper, so I grabbed them. And so, off I went to see May’n yet again.

The announcement of the Budokan concert had caused a bit of a stir among the fan community. Performing there with Megumi Nakajima and Yoko Kanno for the Macross F Tour was one thing, but doing it alone? Only 2 years since her debut as May’n? And after the series broadcast had long since finished? Could she actually pull it off?

You betcha she did. The BIG WAAAAVE Concert was possible the ultimate performance a May’n fan could hope for. In fact it was possibly too good, since this time I’m CONVINCED that I’ll never need to see a May’n concert again.

First of all, I have to make one thing clear – stageside seating kinda sucks. The sound quality isn’t the greatest. Having said that, the wings of the stage came practically up to the railing in front of us and May’n went out of her way to make sure that people in the side seats didn’t feel left out. She ran up to say hello to each side at least 5 times during the concert, often mid-song, and at one point to do the 3-2-1 portion of ‘What ‘bout my Star?’ with us. Id say there were about 5 people between my seat and May’n during these instances. Heck, even people with center arena seats didn’t get that close. When May’n wasn’t visiting one of the wings, we often had dancers there as well. All in all, it definitely made for a more personal and somewhat different experience.

I began to get some idea of how full the concert would be when I stopped by the merchandise shop on my way into the hall. Literally EVERYTHING was sold out – even the concert pamphlets! Upon entering the Budokan, it was clear that concerns of the fans were unwarranted – it was absolutely PACKED. The hall can hold approx 14000 people for sports events and while I’m not sure exactly how many can squeeze into it when configured for a concert, I’d say we easily had 8000~10000 people there. The only area with any seats was the family and guests reserved area on the 1st floor. Or as, I call it, the Dead Zone – since it’s usually comprised of record company executives who don’t really want to be there.

And so, approx. 15 mins later than scheduled, the concert started….with one heck of a bang as May’n jumped out of a hole in the stage and launched immediately into Universal Bunny.

The set list that followed (with Macross Frontier songs are in bold) was:

01.　Universal Bunny

02.　Get Ready

03.　What'bout my star?

04.　Lion

05.　h@e me? h@e you!

06.　standing bird

07.　Glorious Heart

Acoustic Corner

08.　Aenai toki　

09.　my teens,my tears

10.　YOUR ROCK

11.　Pink Monsoon

12.　Let Me Be Myself

13.　Isolation

14.　Diamond Crevasse

15.　XYZ

16.　Paranoia

17.　May'n☆Space

18.　Obelisk

19.　Northern Cross

20.　Kimi shini tamou koto nakare

Encore 1

21.　Welcome To My Fanclub's Night!!～Styles ver.～

22.　Iteza Gogo Kuji Don't be late

Encore 2

23.　Deep Breathing (10~12 piece string accompaniment)

So in all, of 23 songs, 11 were Macross Frontier. May’n did the majority of Universal Bunny aand May’n Styles albums, as well as half of May’n Street. The only songs I was surprised to see missing in action were the Sherryl version of Aimo and Tenshi ni Nachatta from Universal Bunny/Pink Monsoon single as well as Why?, Blue and Kiss wo choudai from the May’n Street album. It was also a little steange that May’n chose to do my teens, my tears – a song she wrote to commemorate her last year of being 19 and sang at her final concert (LOVE & JOY) before turning 20.

Overall it was a very good mix although, as a Macross fan, I would’ve liked it if the Macross songs were mixed a little more evenly with her original stuff. As far as the Macross songs go, Universal and Obelisk sounded terrific live, as did Pink Monsoon, although this is the fourth time May’n has performed Pink Monsoon live (twice at the Macross Crossover and once on tv) whereas it was the first time for all the other Univeral Bunny material. Older fan favourites such as What ‘bout my Star?, Lion and Northern Cross also got an enthusiastic response from the audience. From among her original songs I’d place XYZ and May’n Space at the top of the list; both being energetic poppy numbers that really got the crowd moving.

I’m not sure that May’ns dancing has improved any, but she was a lot more active during BIG WAAAAVE than I’ve ever seen her on stage in the past. She really seems to have gotten used to performing live and is definitely more relaxed, if no less energetic. She had dancers on-stage with her during the majority of songs, with a grand total of 22 dancers at once (plus the band) for Welcome to My Fanclub’s Night!! The addition of some pretty loud (not to mention HOT from where I was sitting!) pyrotechnics here and there also kept the atmosphere pumping throughout most of the show.

The final song, Deep Breathing, was somewhat of a departure from May’ns normal image and saw her dressed in a ball gown on an elevated podium with a string orchestra backing her (8 violins and 2 cellos from what I could count).

The concert clocked in at approx. 2hrs and 45 minutes – pretty amazing for an artist as young in both career and age as May’n is. Personally I’d say it was indisputably the definitive May’n concert, covering the best of both her Macross and original songs. As such I was very happy I changed my mind and decided to go.

But the best news for those who couldn’t make it is that the concert will be released on DVD on May 28th by Flying Dog Records. No word on whether a Bluray is in the works as well (considering the label, I’d say Bluray is unlikely), but keep an eye on Amazon for preorders soon!

[ATLMYK]

A reply six months later!

Just saw it on bluray and I must say Tochiro you are one luck man! One of the best concerts I have ever seen! You are right in saying this is the definitive May'n performance. May'n's (<-that looks weird) vocals have improved noticeably. Not a sound guy so I am not sure how to describe it but I would say her voice has more depth to it. She does not seem to be forcing the high vocal anymore would be another improvement.

The production value seemed to be pretty high. In some case like May'n Space it felt like a Broadway musical number, and I mean that in a good way. It seems she still has the same band from May'n Act and they have improved as much as she has. I also think her newer material suits the rock/funk fusion feel of the band. Another thing I noticed was the lighting job was as good as I have seen. You would be surprised how much good lighting can add to the overall concert experience. In all cases I think the live versions on this disc are better than the album versions.

For example

Universal Bunny concert

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVBGxz1z7pA

Universal Bunny from album

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpPgI_3DSks

The are many more that sounded even better live but Universal Bunny was the only song I could find clips of. I might do a per song impression later but right now I have to watch it one more time.

Edited July 14, 2010 by ATLMYK

[Tochiro]

Thanks for the reply! Late is better than nothing! lol.

Yeah I picked up the Blu too but have only had time to watch a little bit of it. Glad you enjoyed it tho. Along with the Galaxy Frontier Blu, we now have a lot of great live Macross out there that all the fans can experience region free :-) (and then theres the Maaya Sakamoto Blu in August - my wallet cries!).

The funny thing with May'n is that it looks like she has gone back to playing smaller gigs. Her upcoming double tour in August-September is mostly at smaller venues and is back down to 4000-5000yen a ticket. Big Waaaave tics were close to twice that. Heck, even Mari Iijima's gig on July 31 is 6500yen or so! So I'm curious as to where her career will go from here (and yes, sigh, at that price Ill probably drop by her September Tokyo show, although its the same weekend as the Tokyo Game Show and a potential Maaya Sakamoto gig. Yikes!).

I agree that the production values of Big Waaave were excellent though! I stand by my original statement that it really was the definitive May'n experience :-)

[Seanzilla]

I just received this on Friday after ordering it from CD Japan recently. Watched it over the weekend on the big screen with the surround sound, and wow was that incredible! Ever since I first heard May'n sing, I felt like she has one of the best voices I have ever heard, however after watching this concert, I now think she has the best voice I have heard. Like ATLMYK said, May'n live sounds even better than her cds.

I enjoyed her Styles album but not as much as her Frontier work, but damn those Style's songs rocked the house. Especially H@e me? H@e you! and Standing Bird. Kimi Shini Tamou Koto Nakare is quickly becoming one of my favorite songs of hers, and this was the best it has sounded. The only complaint I would have, if you can call it that, is I think I liked Diamond Crevasse better in the 2008 Frontier Concert, and 2009 Animelo more. Perhaps by the time DC was sung, my expectations were through the roof, and while it was incredible, I felt it was a step back from the other two. Probably just a different sound from the band. But I will rewatch it again (probably many times) and see which I truly like more.

Anyways, if you can stomach the cost for the bluray, I highly recommend!

[Tochiro]

@Seanzilla - glad you managed to get your hands on the blu! Its really interesting to see what a slow burn this concerts popularity has been, lol. So few people I knew at the time were interested in going, yet now everyone is like 'oh damn I should've gone!' hahaha.

I definitely agree that her non-Macross stuff rocked the house waaaaaay more than I had expected it to. The energy of the performance and the crowd really elevated it above the rather mediocre jpop (compared to her Kanno-composed Frontier stuff) that it usually is. And as you mentioned, the lighting, sound quality (the soundchecks were actually done well! It must be a Budokan thing because its rare at smaller venues)and presentation of the event were all well done. While I personally dont rate May'n in my top 5 female Japanese performers as far as voice is concerned, I agree that she was at the top of her game at the Budokan concert. Its a damn fine bluray - heres hoping more people buy it.

[Seanzilla]

While I don't know many Japanese performers, I easily rate her above all of the American ones. Especially today's "pop" artists. The only one that comes close in my view in singing ability is Christina Aguilera... maybe, and even then I like the sound of May'n's voice a lot more.

In talking about her non Macross stuff, I had forgotten to mention Glorious Heart. I rarely give this song much of a chance when I listen to her cd to move onto her faster paced music, but her concert of this song had me checking this one out again. I think if I was introducing her music to friends and was showing them this concert, I would definitely include her performance of Glorious Heart which was beyond amazing.

Tochiro, I assume (hopefully correctly) that you understand Japanese. If so, can you tell me what she said at the end in what seemed like a very heartfelt goodbye to the crowd. Even though I didn't understand the actual words being said, the emotion she displayed as she spoke to her fans had me damn near fighting back the tears.

[Seanzilla]

During her final show of her Phonic◆Nation tour that just ended a couple of hours ago, May'n announced that she will be doing another big show in Budokan on March 6th 2011. That gives everyone about 5 and half months to save up.

[Tochiro]

During her final show of her Phonic◆Nation tour that just ended a couple of hours ago, May'n announced that she will be doing another big show in Budokan on March 6th 2011. That gives everyone about 5 and half months to save up.

Ah she really did leave the announcement until the Tue concert, since I was at the Monday one and she didnt mention anything. Was a good gig tho - very heavily weighted in favour of Macross songs. Will get impressions up soon.

March 2011 eh? Like the last Budokan concert then, this ties in perfectly to take advantage of the hype and new songs from the 2nd movie at the end of Feb. Clever.

...time to start saving ^^;

[Seanzilla]

Ah she really did leave the announcement until the Tue concert, since I was at the Monday one and she didnt mention anything. Was a good gig tho - very heavily weighted in favour of Macross songs. Will get impressions up soon.

March 2011 eh? Like the last Budokan concert then, this ties in perfectly to take advantage of the hype and new songs from the 2nd movie at the end of Feb. Clever.

...time to start saving ^^;

I can't wait to read the impression from the show you saw. I read she did Eternity at the Zepp shows, at least the last one, which is one song I would love to see performed live. One of my favorites and sadly one of the least recognized from the Universal Bunny cd. Wish she did it at the Big Waaaaaaave concert. As for the upcoming Budokan concert, you're right, she is going to have plenty of new songs. From Frontier 2 to the Incite Mill theme (shinjitemill)to Ready Go, to probably another release of her own... I would assume. She seems extremely busy, I guess trying to strike while the iron is hot.