4th Wave of @JAM EXPO 2018 Performers Announced!
Lucky 13? UPUPGIRLS (KARI) & lyrical school Join Forces for “6MIC 7SOUL ∞” Concert!
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6MIC 7SOUL ∞ (∞ is read as “mugendai”, meaning “infinity”), the “miracle stage” featuring rap idols lyrical school and UPUPGIRLS (KARI), was boiling over with excitement at Shinjuku BLAZE on February 23rd. Initiated through ayaka (lyrical school) blogging about her love for Azusa Sekine, the two groups on T-Palette Records came together to make the event happen.
The order of who would perform was decided by a game of jankenpon acchi muite hoi (variation of janken where the winner tries to make the loser look where they point by sticking their finger close to their face and quickly pointing in a direction) between Azusa Sekine and ayaka. It’s cute to see how shy and embarrassed ayaka was when standing next to her favorite idol Sekine; no wonder she lost so easily!
Opening act Idol Renaissance added a carefree element to their already high level of performance that has been attracting fans in the short period of time that they have been a group. They showed their punky side with “Dokan Kyoushinkyoku” and even banged their heads and had the audience calling out to the rock song “Galileo no Showcase”. As usual, they ended with fan favorite “17-sai”. As fast as Idol Renaissance has been rising, could they be filling Shinjuku Blaze on their own at some point this year?
Idol Renaissance
1. YOU
2. Koi Suru Kankaku
3. Dokan Kyoushinkyoku
4. Galileo no Showcase
5. 17-sai
Azusa Sekine and ayaka, the main characters behind the creation of this event took the stage to welcome the audience. ayaka was wearing a shirt with a picture from Sekine’s blog on it and could barely contain her excitement as Azusa revealed that UPUPGIRLS (KARI) would be doing several of her favorite songs. While many fans of idols have experienced that excited yet awkward feeling when they are around their favorite idols, it was fascinating to see idols themselves act in the same manner.
lyrical school hit the stage and got hands clapping right away with their old school hip-hop party tune “Ribbon wo Kyutto” before switching to the jazzy “PARADE”. They then took fans back to their tengal6 (their former name) days with “Put Your Hands Up!” and had them waving their hands side to side to the funky guitar of “brand new day”. The DJ steered the mix towards the “S.T.A.G.E” before the creeping synths of the anthemic “PRIDE” wrapped up the audience in a head-nodding trance.
After a short talk with the audience, lyrical school launched into the G-funk of “Nukegake”, throwing elbows as they rapped. Fans were calling out “lyrical school” and “monogatari” to the fat beats and mellow organ riffs of “Oide yo” before the mood switched to something similar to an ’80’s new wave dance party with “Waratte.net” and turned slightly dempa-kei with “My Kawaii Nichijo-tachi”. The digital vibe turned futuristic with “photograph” before returning to the old-school summer party song “FRESH!!!” lyrical school’s blazing set came to an end with the thickly layered lead track off their upcoming album SPOT (release date: March 10) “I.D.O.L.R.A.P”.
lyrical school
1. Ribbon wo Kyutto
2. PARADE
3. Put Your Hands Up!
4. brand new day
5. S.T.A.G.E
6. PRIDE
7. Nukegake
8. Oide yo
9. Waratte.net
10. My Kawaii Nichijo-tachi
11. photograph
12. FRESH!!!
13. I.D.O.L.R.A.P
UPUPGIRLS (KARI) started their performance with a series of cute songs, most likely because they are ayaka’s favorites. Starting with the breezy ska-rock of “Bare Bare I LOVE YOU”, they showed the feelings of a schoolgirl’s first love. This was followed by the cute Sekine-centered “Cherry to Milk” and “Beautiful Dreamer”. Greeting the audience, they commented about what it was like to spend time with lyrical school. Several times the members repeated the opening like from “FRESH!!!” (“Rap wo suru no wa tanoshii desu”). Sekine spotted ayaka in the female section of the audience and began laying on the fan service even when they continued into “Natural Born・Idol”, calling out to her throughout the song.
Ayano Sato boldly proclaimed “The cute songs are over!” as UPUPGIRLS (KARI) launched into the punk rock of “Ichiban Girls” which transitioned into “UPPER ROCK”, the members rotating around the stage as if they were on a turntable. The mood switched to fist pumping rock with “Kira Kira Mirai” before crowd favorites “Zenryoku! Pump Up!!”, “Jumper!”, and “Uppercut!” had the audience jumping up and down wildly. Sato again called out to the crowd, “Do you have your penlights? If you don’t, you have two hands! Shake ‘em!” UPUPGIRLS (KARI) ended their set with “Party! Party!” as all the penlights shuffled through the colors in almost perfect sync.
1. Bare Bare I LOVE YOU
2. Cherry to Milk
3. Beautiful Dreamer
4. Natural Born・Idol
5. Ichiban Girls!〜UPPER ROCK
6. Kira Kira Mirai
7. Zenryoku! Pump Up!!
8. Jumper!
9. Uppercut!
10. Party! Party!
The audience almost immediately began calling for the encore with a “Upga-lyrischool” chant. All 13 members came back on stage wearing the special T-shirts made for the event and announced that they would be doing “mashups” of their songs. First up was the “Summer Mix” which combined UPUPGIRLS (KARI)’s “UPUP Typhoon” and “Summer Beam!” with lyrical school’s “FRESH!!!” and “Sorya Natsu da!”. Next was the “Party Mix” which was “SAKURA DRIVE” and “Chopper ☆Chopper” from UPUPGIRLS (KARI) and “PARADE” and “brand new day” from lyrical school.
Based on the heat inside Shinjuku Blaze during all the performances of “6MIC 7SOUL ∞” and Manami Arai commenting about how she wanted to do more, can we look forward to a second one in the near future?
Related Links
lyrical school Official Site: http://lyricalschool.com/
UPUPGIRLS (KARI) Official Site: http://www.upupgirlskakkokari.com/
Idol Renaissance Official Site: http://idolrenaissance.com/
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lyrical school Idol Renaissance
Kai Okudara
Writer, researcher, photographer, foodie, KSDD
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