A Happy End to Idol Renaissance’s 2nd Anniversary Live Sets Up Their Summer Declaration!

| Idol | Posted by Kai Okudara on May.25.2016

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Idol Renaissance celebrated their 2nd anniversary at TSUTAYA O-EAST on May 4, 2016 and it was perhaps their strongest performance yet. From beginning to end, it was pure “Mei-kyoku Renaissance” (Renaissance of famous songs), packed with classic J-pop songs that have been reimagined through their impressive dancing and singing ability that had the audience entranced during the entire 20-song set and encore.

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Idol Renaissance Kouhosei, their cadet group, were the opening act, getting the audience clapping right away with “Ai no Shirushi”. After a stirring rendition of “Haru ga Kite Bokutashi wa Mata Sukoshi Otona ni Naru”, they kicked things back into overdrive with “Neo Disco” before roaring to a close with the foot-stomping “Te wo Uchinarase!”. With the audience already heated up considerably, things were just getting started!

As the house lights dimmed and the intro music began to play, the audience cheered and clapped along. The curtain opened to reveal the 6 members with their fists raised high over their head dramatically. Kicking off with “Miracle wo Kimi to Okoshitain Desu”, Idol Renaissance got the inside of TSUTAYA O-EAST heated up right away as the entire floor area seemed to move in unison with them on stage. Continuing on with “Omatsuri Mambo”, the mood shifted to that of a summer festival as the members shouted out cheerfully, taking a short break in the middle to show their enka skills as well. Without stopping, the next song was “YOU”, the members swaying from side to side to the bouncy melody and pointing out into the crowd with smiles on their faces.

Shuffling heel-toe across the stage, the members dialed imaginary landlines as they waited for answers during “Telephone No. 1” before settling into the breezy and nostalgic “U, Fu, Fu, Fu,” and moving the clock forward a few years with the steady ska rhythms of “Hoshi no Love Letter”. Riko Ishino stood at the front of a line in the middle of the stage to sing the opening lines of “Good day Sunshine” before the other members popped out from behind her, waving their hands cheerfully, the musical time machine arriving in 2012.

Flying high with “7COLORS-Over The Rainbow-“, the members swung their arms like Pete Townshend of the Who in windmill motions as they strummed their air guitars and moved about the stage with quick compact movements. A digital alarm clock rang, signaling the start of “Kinyoubi no Ohayo”, the members acting out their morning routines as Maina Minamibata sung her opening lines. As Marin Miyamoto and Nanako Higa passed each other crossing the stage, they grasped the other’s hand for a brief moment. Closing with fan favorite “17-sai”, Idol Renaissance brought the first act of their 2nd anniversary live to a triumphant end, having performed an impressive 10 songs in a row, their fans cheering and dancing along with them the entire way.

The lights dimmed again and Idol Renaissance walked off stage as a 4-piece acoustic band was setting up. A slideshow (shown below) set to the instrumental for “17-sai” traced the 2-year history of Idol Renaissance with their releases, major concerts, and photos of the members.

Returning to the stage, Idol Renaissance stood in front of the band and rocked from side to side, harmonizing their voices to “Besten Dank” as the fans listed attentively. Finally stopping to greet the packed house, the members were met with loud applause and cheers. Koyoi Momo’oka thanked the audience and jumped up and down with excitement. Marin exclaimed, “Keshiki yo!” (景色よ！, “Such scenery!”), taking in the view before observing how they had already performed 11 songs. Leader Noa Arai was also bouncing as she declared, “Saiko!” (最高！, “It’s the best!”). Marin added that the first part of the live where Idol Renaissance did 10 songs non stop was from their 1st one-man live at Ebisu The Garden Room (October 4, 2015) and the acoustic set is a continuation from their 2nd one-man live at Ebisu LIQUIDROOM (February 28, 2016) before introducing the band members.

The acoustic portion of the live continued with “a fun song” according to Marin, the pace picking up with the steady guitar strumming and clapping of the fans as Riko began singing “Spider”, joined moments later by Noa Arai and Maina, then followed by Nanako and Marin. The clapping kept going for the cheerful “Happy End de Hajimeyo” with it’s marching beat and a melodica replacing the original harmonica parts. Taking on another new challenge, Riko explained that they had taken requests from fans on what song to do and the top song was “Rain”, a ballad by Senri Oe, drawing an audible “Oooooh” or excitement from the fans. A chime shimmered, Riko’s voice and the piano melody piercing the still air in TSUTAYA O-EAST, the stage wrapped in a soft blue light. As the 6 voices mixed together in perfect harmony, the fans were again entranced, applauding at the end of the song.

Nanako shared that she had been unsure if “Rain” was a good choice but was also full of admiration for it. Marin teased that there might be a live where all the songs would be accompanied by a live band in the future.

Citing the special occasion of it being Idol Renaissance’s 2nd anniversary, they had brought with them a new song, “Kimi no Machi Made”, the news being met by enthusiastic shouts of joy from the fans. Rocking through the ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION classic, they swung their arms like gogo dancers and brought back their air guitars for the refreshing “Koi Suru Kankaku”. Even as the sun was setting outside, the mood inside stayed bright and sunny with the steel drums and tropical rhythms of “Taiyou to Shinzo”.

Launching into the fast punk of “Dokan Kyoushinkyoku (Ore-hen)”, Idol Renaissance began the final stretch of the performance, Koyoi shouting for the fans to get more excited. Continuing with “Ano Ko Boku ga Long Shoot wo Kimetara Donna Kao wo Surundarou”, the members huddled up and shot imaginary basketballs as the fans sang along with them. Koyoi declared that they had reached the final song of the evening, “Silhouette” and all the hands in the crowd raised up like waves crashing on the beach, copying the motions of the members on stage. Glistening with sweat, the members ran off stage but returned for the encore almost immediately, pumping their fists to “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!”. Thanking the fans for the encore call and coming to help them celebrate their 2nd anniversary, the members each took turns sharing their feelings about the day and how far they had come.

As you can see in the video above, Koyoi’s “Besten Dank” shout was outdone by Noa’s, causing her to break into tears! Noa was scolded for bullying their youngest member. Before the “unfortunate incident”, Noa did say something worthy of a leader in declaring that she wanted to make Idol Renaissance become more well known in their 3rd summer as a group. With their eyes looking toward the future ahead, the final song of Idol Renaissance’s 2nd year was “Natsu no Kesshin” (Summer Declaration), the minds and hearts in the venue uniting one last time as they danced and sang together.

At the end of the performance, it was announced that there would be a one-man live on June 11th titled “Shin-Taisei Ohirome Suru-naissance!!” (New-Formation Debut Renaissance) to be held at Nijjou Hall in Tokyo. It looks like there will be yet another new development in the “Mei-kyoku Renaissance” coming soon!

Photos by Mime Soga

Set List (original performing artists are listed after song titles)

Opening Act – Idol Renaissance Kouhosei

01 Ai no Shirushi – Puffy AmiYumi
02 Haru ga Kite Bokutashi wa Mata Sukoshi Otona ni Naru – Sunmyu〜
03 Neo Disco – GALETTe
04 Te wo Uchinarase! – THE Inazuma Sentai

Main – Idol Renaissance

01 Miracle wo Kimi to Okoshitain Desu – Sambomaster
02 Omatsuri Mambo – Hibari Misora
03 YOU – Senri Oe
04 Telephone No. 1 – Fukurouzu
05 U, Fu, Fu, Fu, – EPO
06 Hoshi no Love Letter – THE BOOM
07 Good day Sunshine – SAWA
08 7COLORS-Over The Rainbow- – PERSONZ
09 Kinyoubi no Ohayo – HoneyWorks
10 17-sai – Base Ball Bear

11 Besten Dank – Hiroshi Takano
12 Spider – Spitz
13 Happy End de Hajimeyo – Eichi Otaki
14 Rain – Senri Oe

15 Kimi no Machi Made – ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION
16 Koi Suru Kankaku – Base Ball Bear
17 Taiyou to Shinzo – Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra
18 Dokan Kyoushinkyoku (Ore-hen) – THE Inazuma Sentai
19 Ano Ko Boku ga Long Shoot wo Kimetara Donna Kao wo Surundarou – Yasuyuki Okamura
20 Silhouette – KANA-BOON

E1 Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! – androp
E2 Natsu no Kesshin – Senri Oe

Shin-Taisei Ohirome Suru-naissance!!
June 11, 2016 (Saturday)
Nijjou Hall, 2-9-16 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Open: 2:00pm Start: 3:00pm
4,000 yen

Related Links

Idol Renaissance Official site: http://idolrenaissance.com/

Idol Renaissance Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/idolrenaissance

Idol Renaissance YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCayFocSxAQQR6zT-GxfNYLA