Bandjanaimon! Reign Supreme in the Magical Land of Sento! Toyosu PIT Tour Final Live Report!

| Idol | Posted by ykmk on Aug.16.2016

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Although the final day July 2016 was blessed with fine weather, it sometimes drizzled on and off, a phenomenon called “Kitsune no Yomeiri” (wedding of the fox) in Japanese. It is believed to happen because of the fox’s mischief, and those who gathered at Toyosu PIT may have been also bewitched by that kind of phantom. What they witnessed upon entering was a big bathhouse (sento), inviting them to paradise. Bandjanaimon! cast a powerful spell of love on every Monster (fan of Bandjanaimon!) during the tour finale of their “Bandjanaimon! Nation-wide Tour 2016 ~Teppen Mezasouze Mushashugyou hen~”!

The audience was divided into several sections whose name were derived from those used at a sento like a “foot bath zone”. The background music, a cover of the famous bath house song “Iiyudana”, set the mood for the afternoon. These attempts only gave the audience a glimpse of the world view but, all of them would eventually be dripping with sweat just as if they had finished soaking in a hot, steaming bath!

Soon as a Japanese-style remix of Bandjanaimon!’s overture signaled to the audience that the show was about to begin, they let out a glad shout like a rumbling of the earth with their 6-colored penlights. Each member was introduced individually with spotlights of their colors and such an gorgeous direction reminded the audience of Bandjanaimon!’s re-major debut.

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The concert opened with their re-major debut single “KimeMaster!” and its catchy choreography provided by Lucky Ikeda. Swinging penlights around, the audience shined like a big mirrorball during “Yuki Furu Yoru ni Kiss Shite”. Memories of the bubble economy period of the 1980’s were stirred up with “RAVE RAVE RAVE”, the members using feathered fans on the center stage like a dancing platform in a discotheque.

During the first MC, the members introduced themselves and announced the task for the day. They set goals for every concert on the tour and the final task was issued to their fans via Twitter in advance. The task was to make the concert place the hottest spring from end to end and make the audience glisten with the “sweat of youth”.

Gumi Nanase encouraged the audience to get heated up with “Pahi Pahi”, following up with “Taka Toko Tan -Forever-”, and “Tsunagaru! Kanaderu! MUSIC”, which sustained the difficult period of various members’ enrollments and withdrawals. Monsters made many circles and ran around them, which exceeded a level of warming up! The air conditioner did almost nothing to keep the inside of Toyosu PIT cool at all!

Cotton Rabbits (Yuzu Amanatsu and Misako Suzuki) spearheaded the unit section of the day, with Misako on drums and Yuzu playing guitar during “Heroes”, a nostalgic-sounding 90’s-style rock tune. Chou Chou Cream (Ringo Koishio and Miyu Mochizuki) followed up with “Ice Cream ni Naritaino♡” composed by PandaBoY. Disguising themselves as clerks of ice cream shop, the two created the atmosphere like a fairy tale. Blue Twins (Oomomoko Amaterasu and Gumi Nanase) concluded the unit section with “Cinderella blues” composed by Tenma Matsunaga from Urbangarde, a refreshing song that reminded the audience of 90’s Eurobeat.

Coming back from another short skit to introduce the next song, Bandjanaimon! slowed the pace slightly with “Prism☆Rhythm” and “Utau MUSIC”. The audience burst into a MIX as the opening piano chords of “Chocolat Love” rang through Toyosu PIT. Looking back their history since this song was released in 2013, it must not have been only me who was moved to tears by its nostalgia.

Implying that the concert was nearing its end, Bandjaianmon! started off the fresh pop tune “Kimochi dake Sanka Shimasu” followed by “white youth”. Lighting and fluttering cherry blossoms dyed the concert hall pink with video set at a school during “Hira Hira”. These effects reminded the Monsters of graduation and how it was similar to the finale of this concert tour. Causing the audience’s huge chorus, the members concluded the main part with “NaMiDa”.

After a few minutes of encore calls, the video showing the memories of this tour began playing. Looking back at their re-major debut, two-man live with Shinsei Kamatte-chan (Misako’s other group), and 2 days concert at Akasaka BLITZ, the words “TASK CLEAR” appeared on the screen. Finally, appearing in bikinis, the members launched into the super up-tempo summer tune “Natsu no Oh! Vibes”. Gumi shouting till her voice became husky, the Monsters rose up again in elation and became heated up with “Kimi no Egao de Sekai ga Yabai!”.

Answering the chanting and clapping again from the Monsters, Bandjaianmon! returned to the stage, greeting the audience and thanking them. Oomomoko vowed to bring the Monsters with her to the peak of idols. Yuzu thanked them for giving her the opportunity to grow up as an idol and a lady. Miyu asked them to do their best to increase the number of Monsters. Gumi told them to follow Bandjanaimon! forever and ever. Ringo stated that she was filled with happiness on a concert stage. Misako declared that they would run through to the future. At the very end, the theme song for this tour “HAPPY TOUR” closed out Bandjanaimon!’s longest concert tour ever with an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction, similar to that of a hot bath at the end of a long day.

Bandjanaimon!, the group that calls themselves the “mixed media of the idol world”, blending together the high energy of idols and the power of a live band, has sometimes been dismissed as being out of the ordinary and sometimes criticized for the insufficiency of performance skills. Yet, through this tour the members seemed to have solved those problems and taken a big step forward to “that place” where all idols want to stand.

Photo by Kenichi Sasamori

Set List
01.KimeMaster!
02.Yuki Furu Yoru ni Kiss Shite
03.RAVE RAVE RAVE
04.Pahi Pahi
05.Taka Toko Tan -Forever-
06.Tsunagaru! Kanaderu! MUSIC
07.Heroes (Cotton Rabbits)
08.Ice Cream ni Naritai no♡ (Chou Chou Cream)
09.Cinderella Blues (Blue Twins)
10.Prism☆Rhythm
11.Utau MUSIC
12.Chocolat Love
13.Kimochi dake Sanka Shimasu
14.White Youth
15.Hira Hira
16.NaMiDa
En01.Natsu no Oh! Vibes
En02.Kimi no Egao de Sekai ga Yabai
En03.HAPPY TOUR