Girls Against the Wall: KAWAII POP FES by @JAM x J-GIRL POP WAVE vol. 4 in Taiwan 2015 Live Report

| Idol | Posted by Yasuhiro Okada on Feb.20.2015

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On January 24 and 25, “KAWAII POP FES by @JAM x J-GIRL POP WAVE vol. 4 in Taiwan 2015” took place. GALETTe, Dorothy Little Happy, TOKYO GIRLS’ STYLE, Tokyo Performance Doll, Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku, UPUPGIRLS (KARI), and PASSPO☆ were the 7 Japanese girl groups that performed at the event and Mimi Meme MIMI was the opening act.

This was the 4th “KAWAII POP FES” and the 2nd one held in Taiwan and as usual, from the time they arrived at the airport until the press conference before the event, the performers were constantly reminded of how appreciated their presence was, as evidenced by the huge number of fans rushing to greet them.

The venue for the event, “THE WALL”, has a capacity of 700 so to compare it with a similar venue in Tokyo, it could be said to be about the same size as Shinjuku BLAZE or Shibuya’s CLUB QUATTRO. The first day had 3 performances (GALETTe, Dorothy Little Happy, and TOKYO GIRLS’ STYLE) and the second day had 4 performances (Tokyo Performance Doll, Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku, UPUPGIRLS (KARI), and PASSPO☆).

As each performance seemed to concentrate the essence of the group performing even more so than it would have at a similar event in Japan, there was a feeling of thickness throughout the weekend. Even though there was a special area for those who bought the 2-day pass for the event and there were a lot of local fans gathered, in many ways, the excitement in THE WALL was not that much different than in Japan.

While it was obvious that the groups that had previously appeared at KAWAII POP FES had enjoyed an increase in fans since their last appearance and the feeling of “previous investments” starting to pay dividends was strong, if this was any indicator of how things are overseas, I look forward to seeing how events like this continue to develop.

January 24, 2015 (Saturday)

First up was GALETTe. It was their first time appearing at “KAWAII POP FES” and they were the youngest group there; barely a year had passed since they were formed. However, as the group that is often called the ” Kyushu Dream Team”, they did their best to live up to that reputation. During their 6th song “G” there was an incident where the music cut out but GALETTe finished out the song acapella with the fans clapping to keep the beat. Overcoming such an incident in their first overseas appearance without panicking, it was a performance that the members could gain confidence and feel the response from the audience.

GALETTe Set List
01 Brand-New Style
02 NeoDisco
03 Dance Floor Fever
04 Dresscode wa G.L.T
05 BEAUTIFUL LOVE WORLD
06 G
07 Candy Pop
08 She is WANNABE!
09 Natsural Sweet na Kuuki
10 Jaja Uma to Yobanaide

Dorothy Little Happy was the second performer of the day and it was their 4th time appearing on a KAWAII POP FES stage and their “perfect attendance” seemed to pay off, as there were a considerable number of fans with DLH T-shirts and other merchandise in the venue. Perhaps what was most impressive was when they sang “Demo Sayonara”, the fans responded with “Ore mo!” enthusiastically (Translator’s note: There is a call and response part in “Demo Sayonara” where Dorothy Little Happy sings “Suki yo!” and the audience responds with “ore mo!” Literally, the group is singing “I love you!” and the audience responds with “I do too!” It is one of the group’s most popular songs). It was really great to hear that they had such an overseas fan base that responded so warmly in Japanese. As the event had gathered idol fans from places like Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai as well as Taiwan and a majority of them had been supporting idols through watching them on YouTube and Showroom, it was great to see them support them with the call and response. It feels good to should out “ore mo!” and it easily transcends the language barrier.

Dorothy Little Happy Set List
01 sky traveler
02 colorful life
03 In My Life・For My Life
04 Secret
05 Life goes on
06 STARTING OVER
07 Demo Sayonara
08 Story
09 Mirai he no Niji
10 Akiramenaide
11 Koi wa Hashiridashita
Encore
12 HAPPY DAYS

Next was TOKYO GIRLS’ STYLE, the group that had been a hot topic since making their “artist declaration” at the end of last year. As a group with abundant international experience, this being their 3rd time in Taiwan, TGS was another group with a large number of fans in attendance. The first half of the set was a delicate display of the cool side that the group has been favoring recently before switching to their wilder side which started with “Kodou no Himitsu”. It was as if TOKYO GIRLS’ STYLE was able to condense the present and future of the group into one short hour. From the beginning of the performance their determination was strongly shown to the audience through their music and adult-like expressions; it was extremely fascinating.

TOKYO GIRLS’ STYLE Set List
01 Killing Me Softly
02 Unmei
03 Say long goodbye
04 Partition Love
05 existence
06 Discord
07 Kodou no Himitsu
08 LIFE SIZE
09 Himawari to Hoshikuzu -English Version-
10 Attack Hyper Beat POP
Encore
11 Futarikiri

Author

Yasuhiro Okada

Editor/Writer – Co-author (with Shinshi Okajima) of “Group Idol Shinkaron” (Evolutionary Theory of Idol Groups), one of the first books to analyze the “Idol Warring States Period” (popular media term for the current idol boom in Japan). Author of the book “Idol no iru Kurashi”(Living With Idols), a collection of interviews talking about idols from the perspective of idol fans.